"Gifts from the Holy Spirit"

As we continue to meditate on what it means to be spiritual, let us take a look at what it means to have the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit of God is at work in you for a reason.

Gifts From The Holy Spirit

(1 Cor. 12:1-11)

Introduction:

A.  He was out swimming to see the beauty of the tropical fish.  What he didn’t realize is that he was out farther than he thought.  When he realized his situation he began to swim back to shore but started to get scared.  Then he knew he was in trouble, but by this time he was so scared and so tired he couldn’t should.  A person on a large sightseeing boat saw what was happening.  Being a former lifeguard he knew that the drowning man had very little time.  While the captain of the vessel tried to maneuver his boat, the former lifeguard jumped over and began to swim to the drowning man.  Once he got there the drowning man was so frantic he began to claw and push at his would-be lifesaver.  At one point in time he even pushed the man down trying to crawl on top of him.  The rescuer tried to calm the man down but it seemed too difficult.  Finally, he simply said, “If you want to live, you are going to have to quit fighting me and let me help you.”

B.  When they were both safely on the boat, the victim began to apologize.  He said he was so sure he was going to die that nothing else seemed to matter.  His rescuer told him that many people drown because they won’t let the lifeguard do their job and help them.  He said, “If you want to be saved you first have to surrender yourself over to the lifeguard.  If you would just do that first, it would make the rest of the time a lot easier.”

C.  I have tried to present to you some basic understanding concerning what it means to be spiritual.  We have seen how spiritual people think, how spiritual people are led, and this week I want to add two more parts to the lesson that I began last week.

D.  The Bible talks about spiritual people.  Paul tells the church in 1 Cor. 2 about the “spiritual man” and how spiritual people are the only ones who can understand spiritual truths.  Then in chapter 3 he tells them that he could not address them as spiritual but as worldly because they were mere infants in Christ.  When Paul writes to the churches in Galatia, he tells them, “if someone is caught in a sin, you are spiritual should restore him gently.”  Being spiritual is not an option for Christians.

E.  The coming of the Holy Spirit was of great value for the apostles and would also be for us.  Acts 2:36-39.  When we are baptized into Christ two great things take place:  (1) our sins are forgiven (2) we receive God’s gift to us, the Holy Spirit.  The Bible teaches us that we are born again in the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are told that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, especially in our prayer life for he intercedes with God on our behalf.  The Holy Spirit becomes a guide to us as one who leads us and convicts us.  The Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

I. Surrender

A.   When you examine why some Christians seem to succeed and grow while others simply flounder and plateau, the reason is often how much the Christian is willing to surrender.

B.  Learning to surrender is difficult for most of us.  The moment you do, you lose control.  How can losing control help me spiritually grow?  Until I let go of my will and my perceived rights I will always be fighting the Spirit.  The sinful nature and the Spirit are always in conflict.  The only way to become spiritual is to give up, surrender.   Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus saying, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

C.  Paul told the people in Rome that he would give up eating meat if it caused a fellow Christian to stumble.  Why?  Because Paul was willing to surrender his rights in order for his brother to be right with God.  I become spiritual when I surrender my rights for what is right in God’s eyes.  When I surrender my will, for the will of the Father.  When I surrender my relationships for a relationship with Christ.  Then, I begin to become that spiritual person I desired when I was born again.

D.  Can you do this?  I give up.  I surrender.  I let go of me in order to be filled with the spirit.  I yield myself to the Holy Spirit.  Whatever happens, happens.  I don’t stop trying or working, but I stop taking control.  I realize the sovereignty of God and I trust God to do in me his will.  Phil 2:13, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

II.  Service

A.  Open with me to 1 Cor. 12:1.  Paul wants us to talk about what is spiritual.  The word “gifts” is added to that verse.  Paul simply states that he wants to talk about what is spiritual.  He is going to use gifts to tells about the working of the Holy Spirit in the local congregation.  But this opening is say, “About what is spiritual, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.”  So what does it mean to be spiritual? Let’s jump down to verse 7-11.

B.  What I want you to see, is that being spiritual is using the gifts that the Spirit has given you for the betterment of the body.  Spiritual gifts were not about the person who possessed them and their own glory.  They were about serving others.  If we are spiritual people then we are people who use our gifts given to us by the HS.  Paul’s use of the body as an illustration lets us realize how important we are to one another.  This congregation needs you to let the HS work in and through you for the betterment of this body.  Use your gifts!  Paul would say something similar in Rom. 12:4-6.

C.  People talk about demon possession, but how much time do we spend on Holy Spirit possession?  I am a child of God, therefore, the Holy Spirit indwells me help me come before God in holiness and to serve you.  Whatever gift God has given me, let me use it to help others.   We are a body and spiritual people are doing the work of God by the very grace and strength of God.  It is not of ourselves lest anyone should boast.  Or as Eph. 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Conclusion:

A.  What I have learned is that I cannot live for God, I have to live out of God.  It has to be Him at work in me.  I am simply not good enough or strong enough to be perfect enough.  I can only surrender myself to Him.  For in Him we live and move and have our very being.

B.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to you for the benefit of the body.  Serve this body.  Let yourself become a humble servant of the most high.

C.  What does it mean to be spiritual?  As we have seen it means transformation from the inside out.  Are you transformed?