Spiritual Gift Introduction

“How to Identify Spiritual Gifts”

 Romans 12:1-8

 

Introduction

  A) Book of Romans divided two ways

  1. Doctrinally- Chapters 1-8

          Pertaining to Israel only- Chapters 9-11

  1. Practical (to practice; action)– Chapters 12-16 It is in this division of Romans that the spiritual gifts are mentioned. We are to put our learning into practice or action. This is to be done through the local church (note Romans 12: 4)

 

I. The Sacrifice and the Altar

  A) True Christian service/living

  • It must begin with true dedication to the Lord
  • King Saul failed at the altar (I Samuel 10:8, I Samuel 13:8-14)
  • True Christian service will start when you are using your spiritual gift or gifts that God has given you.

  B) Our Sacrifice and our altar

  • Romans 12:1,2…If we fail doing anything in these verses we will never use our spiritual gifts.
  • If we fail these verses we may never know what our spiritual gifts are.
  • Verse 1 .. “that ye present your bodies”
  • How? “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,”
  • Verse 2.. We are not to be… “conformed (become alike) to this world:”
  • We are to be… “ transformed (To change completely)”
  • How? “by the renewing of your mind”
  • Why? “that ye may prove (to others) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

  C) True Consecration (set apart as holy)

  • Some Christians obey God because…
  1. God’s will is good for them
  2. God’s will is acceptable for them
  3. They love God’s will and it is perfect for them.

  D) We are to offer up “Spiritual Sacrifices” to God

  • I Peter 2:5…
  • Hebrews 8:3…
  • How do we offer “spiritual sacrifices?”
  1. Prayer-not just at meal time or bed time
  2. Praise –not only singing, but also through conversation and teaching.
  3. Time- spent on visitation, preparing for church activities, or doing something for the church or pastor.
  4. Tithes and offerings- When we sacrifice something we want to give to God or His church or people.
  5. Body- When we use our bodies properly for Him. Dress properly, neatly, try to be in shape, mainly trying to be a good testimony.
  6. Mind and soul- Thinking thoughts that are Holy thoughts. Not pornographic, covetous, adultery, stealing, etc.

II. We Are Members of the Body

  A) Paul presents this same truth

  • Romans 12:4a…
  • Paul brings it again in I Corinthians 12:12-27…
  • We are given a gift or gifts to benefit the whole church!

  B) Gifts To The Church

  • God has given gifted men and women to the church.
  • Ephesians 4:11… apostles (leaders); prophets(those whose look into the future);  evangelists; pastors and teachers;
  • Why? Read verses 12 and 14…For the perfecting of the saints, (to help the others grow more spiritual, or to help them with a problem that we ourselves may have experienced before) for the work of the ministry, (for the work that needs to be done in the church) for the edifying of the body of Christ: (To lift up our brethren)

  C) The Danger of not using our gifts

  • Read II Timothy 1:6…
  • It is dangerous to serve the Lord without using the gifts that he has given us.
  • Why? Because He may take them away or cripple us in our use of them.
  • 12 men who never heard of the Holy Spirit- Acts 19:1-7…
  • 7 men who tried to fake their spiritual gifts– Acts 19:13-16… 

III. What Are The Purposes Of The “Spiritual Gifts”

  A) For your profit

  • I Corinthians 12:7… But the manifestation (showing) of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
  • Once the Holy Spirit enters our body at the time of salvation he also starts working on giving us a spiritual gift.
  • This “profit”… is it our personal profit? (Answer: Yes and no.) Yes, because we can profit “joy” and “fulfillment” knowing that we have done something to help our people or church. No, because the profit goes to God’s work or our local new testament church.

  B) Dividing the “Spiritual Gifts” three ways

  1. Ministry Gifts:
  • These gifts provide a person with the gift to serve through the church. (Note…I Corinthians 12:7)
  • This includes… Pastors, Teachers, assistants, and church workers. (Note … I Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11)
  • Timothy’s service to Paul was a “ministry gift” (Note… I Timothy 4:14 and II Timothy 1:6) Note, also that Paul reminded Timothy twice of his gift.

     2. Motivation (energy to do) Gifts:

  • This is the Holy Spirit “energizing” the believer (saved person) This means that the Holy Spirit is giving us the desire and the power to carry out (continue doing) whatever our ministry is. (I Corinthians 12:6)
  • “Operations” in this verse means…different workings, activities, duties, with God’s power in action.
  • Every believer (saved people) will look at other believers (saved people) through their own particular motivational gift.
  1. Manifestation (display or demonstrate)Gifts:
  • These are the results of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the lives of the ones we minister to.
  • Example: Bro. Ron has helped Bro. Leonard with the organizing of the deaf church in Hutchinson. The Holy Spirit is working in Bro. Ron’s life and ministry to show proof to all Christians involved, the growth that is being seen in Bro. Leonard’s life and the lives of his people in their church.
  • The profit is not Bro. Ron’s profit as to later say…”see what I did!” but rather to see what the Holy Spirit could do through God’s tool (Bro. Ron).
  • Then later God will establish the spirit and it’s gifts to those we have ministered to, and so on, and so on. (I Corinthians 12:8-10)

  C) Steps to help us discover (find) our “Spiritual Gifts”

  1. Make sure of your salvation;
  • Know for certain, without any doubt in your mind… that you are saved. (Know that you have first-repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of all your sins in the past. Then secondly, asked Jesus to come into your heart and believe it with all your heart that he will come in and clean up your sinful soul and life to begin a new life with Him. Then lastly, become baptized as a step of obedience to the command of our God set as an example by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)
  • Physical abilities- These are the abilities that we receive after birth such as… our strength, intelligence, character, and etc. They must be developed.
  • Spiritual abilities- These are the abilities given to us after we are “born again” (salvation), such as…”Spiritual Gifts”

     2. Overcome and forsake habitual (continuous habit) sin;

  • Pride-
  • Jealousy-
  • Bitterness-
  • Unforgiving spirit-
  • Wrong priorities-
  • Material values-
  • Impure thoughts-
  • Grieve and quench the power of the Holy Spirit-
  • Since these are Gifts of the Holy Spirit… sin will hinder (bother) us from discovering and using our spiritual gifts.
  1. Concentrate on others
  • Share the Lord with others by witnessing to them
  • Get involved with others (Christians, church members)
  • Focus on the needs of those around us.
  1. Discern your motives (figure out why you are doing something)
  • Are you doing it for yourself? Or for others benefit?
  • Are you doing it for God?
  • Each gift will allow you to see others from a different view point and will help you to see what others do not see.
  1. Examine your irritations
  • Why do you get irritated? Is it because you personally have been attacked?
  • Or has God been attacked? Has another church member been attacked?
  1. Find your characteristics (something that makes someone differ from others)
  • Seek out yourself, and find out what it is that makes you different from others.
  • If you don’t know what that is it will be brought out to you later in this lesson.
  1. Give adequate (enough) time
  • You may not know immediately what your gift is… But God knows!
  • Be patient and allow God to show you what it is
  1. Have a humble heart and spirit
  • Finding out our gift is by the grace of God… not our own wisdom.
  • Romans 12:3 and James 4:6
  1. Identify how a gift can be misused
  • When you have problems in the spiritual gift area… you should realize that this particular (special) gift is not yours.
  • Example: Maybe you think that exhortation (lifting people up) is your gift. So you go to someone that is depressed and you try to help them. Then this person is more angry and upset than when you first started…then you should know to keep your mouth shut and let God open it at the right time.

IV. Steps to Help us

  A) God commands all Christians to …

  • Prophecy- I Corinthians 14:1-4
  • Minister- Galatians 5:13-15 and Matthew 20:28
  • Teach- Colossians 3:16
  • Exhort- Hebrews 3:12,13
  • Give- Luke 6:38
  • Rule- Proverbs 25:28   and I Timothy 3:4,5
  • Show mercy- Colossians 3:12  and Zachariah 7:9