Rev. David Holwick G We Are Gifted, #7
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 1, 2009
1 Corinthians 12:9-10
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I. When you find yourself in a very strange church.
A. You may have attended one. You've probably seen one on TV.
1) The preacher is dynamic and emotional.
2) The congregation is loud and involved.
a) When they have a time of prayer, everyone starts
shouting out and you can't understand a word of it.
b) It's not Swahili - it's tongues.
3) They don't have a time of prayer concerns because people
go forward to ask for healing immediately.
a) Typically, these church services have a start time,
but no posted ending time.
B. For many people, this is what "spiritual gifts" is really about.
1) The Charismatic or Pentecostal movement has taken the
world by storm.
a) In only in 100 years, they have grown to 25% of the
world's Christians.
b) Even in America, they make up 23% of Christians. #34524
2) God seems alive and his power is evident.
3) Is this what the early church was really like?
a) Acts and 1 Corinthians would support this.
b) Certainly an expectation of the miraculous is found
throughout the New Testament.
4) Non-charismatic churches like ours need to consider the
claims these groups make.
5) More importantly, we need to ask God what he wants for us.
II. The miraculous spiritual gifts.
A. The gift of faith and the gift of miracles.
1) The gift of "faith" does not refer to trusting in Christ
for salvation but to "mountain-moving" faith. 1 Cor 13:2
a) It probably refers to a supernatural conviction that God
will reveal his power in a special way in a specific
instance.
2) In this sense, it is very similar to the gift of miracles.
a) Literally, it is "acts of power."
b) Miracles were intended to convert people to God.
1> They were not meant for entertainment value.
B. Gifts of healing.
1) Miraculous healings are found throughout the New Testament.
a) A big part of Jesus' ministry, and also the apostles.
b) Healings often provided an introduction to an
evangelistic sermon.
1> Think of Jesus and the man born blind (John 9),
Peter and the man crippled from birth (Acts 3),
and Paul's similar healing (Acts 14:8).
2> Healing is good, but salvation is better!
2) It is plural probably because each healing was considered
a gift by itself.
Comment by Bittlinger:
"Every healing is a special gift. In this way the
spiritually gifted individual stands always in new
dependence upon the divine Giver." [1]
3) It is interesting that the gift is not of being healed,
but the imparting of healing.
a) There is never any doubt in the Bible that God is the
one who heals.
b) Nevertheless, some Christians may have a special
ministry in this area.
4) Does this mean "faith healers" are legitimate?
a) Such a ministry is biblical, but many of those who
claim it are not authentic in my opinion.
b) They should be assessed by long-term results, not just
what they claim happened at an emotional service.
C. Tongues and interpretation of tongues.
1) Usually the most visible gift at charismatic churches.
a) Tongues are languages which are unknown to the speaker.
b) In Acts 2, the languages are understood by other people.
c) In 1 Cor 12 and 14, they seem to be heavenly languages.
1> No one understands them because they are not human
languages.
2> However, someone may receive a separate gift that
allows them to put the message in normal words.
2) Tongues have always been the most controversial gift.
a) Paul focuses on them here because they were a problem.
1> Few other N.T. passages discuss them.
b) They can be a source of spiritual pride and division.
c) Yet Paul says they have a proper place if handled
correctly.
III. What should we do with these gifts?
A. There have been widely different appraisals.
1) John MacArthur Jr. and many Baptists reject them outright.
a) They were valid in the New Testament, but not now.
1> At least for tongues.
2> They are no longer needed because we have a
completed Bible.
b) Even in the New Testament, they were limited.
2) The Charismatic movement extols them.
a) Some Pentecostal groups say if you don't exhibit one
of these, esp. tongues, you are not saved.
b) Miraculous gifts are these churches' defining mark.
c) And like in 1 Cor. 14, they often get out of hand.
B. A balanced assessment.
1) All the spiritual gifts are for today.
a) Prophecy of Joel 2 ties them to the End Times, which
are not yet completed.
b) The book of Revelation seems to indicate the future
church will be a church of miracles. (Rev 11:6, etc)
2) Not every gift is really from God.
a) Sincere people can be sincerely deluded.
b) The proof is in the results.
3) The purpose of every gift is to build up the church.
a) Gifts which divide are suspect.
b) Gifts which puff up pride are suspect.
c) Genuine gifts point believers, and non-believers, toward
God.
IV. Christianity is a supernatural faith.
A. The God who did miracles in the past can do them now.
1) It is improper to make a radical "then" and "now" distinction.
2) As the church matures, the frequency of the miraculous may
change, but it will always be a part of our experience.
3) Because of our science-oriented culture, we have come to
expect less.
B. We are also a rational faith.
1) Paul stresses the need to communicate clearly.
2) There is no place for naked emotionalism.
a) We want souls changed, not entertained.
V. God gives whatever he wants.
A. If we need miracles, he will provide them.
1) With the way the economy is going, keep your eyes open.
2) In all seriousness, there are families in our church
who will need miraculous provision by God.
B. God's best spiritual gift is salvation.
1) All the other gifts aim to build up believers.
2) If you are not a believer, you miss out on all of it.
3) Where do you stand with Christ today?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Arnold Bittlinger, "Gifts and Graces, A Commentary on 1 Corinthians
12-14 (ET, Grand Rapids, 1967), quoted in Gordon Fee, "The First
Epistle to the Corinthians (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1987), p. 594,
n. 66.
#34524 "Speaking In Tongues: Faith's Language Barrier?" by Kimberly
Winsto, USA Today newspaper online, May 24, 2007.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
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