Last week, as we began our study of the Holy Spirit, we learned that the work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in this world, especially in and through the church (e.g., his people!). This week, we will see that the primary way that he does this is through what the New Testament calls “spiritual gifts.” 

Sam Storms, in his book “The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts” says that: “We must understand that these gifts are not God bestowing to his people something external to himself. They are not some tangible ‘stuff’ or substance separable from God. Spiritual gifts are nothing less than God himself in us, energizing our souls, imparting revelation to our minds, infusing power in our wills and working his sovereign and gracious purposes through us. Spiritual gifts are God present in, with and through human thoughts, human deeds, human words, human love.”    

And this is true, not just for the more overtly supernatural gifts (like many of the gifts identified above in our passage for today), but for all the gifts (and we will look at the different gifts and how to discover what gift or gifts you have been given tomorrow). The power of Peter’s preaching on Pentecost that we looked at last week was a clear example of the Spirit of God making the presence of God known through the exercise of a spiritual gift given to (and then exercised through) this Spirit-filled man! And, as a result, many were saved! You can see, then, how important it is for us to pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to then surrender to the many ways that he may want to make the presence of God known in and through us by means of the exercise of one or more of the many spiritual gifts that he has to offer. As we all use our spiritual gifts in the power of the Spirit, we will see his presence in clear (and possibly even dramatic) expression in our community!

You can see as well, I hope, how crippling it is to the body of Jesus (his church), when any one of its members does not seek to use the gift they have been given. One present example of this at Rio is that we have been in need of Children’s workers on Sunday mornings for a long time. As a result, other people are being pulled from their giftings to fill the void and/or are wearing themselves out for lack of help. If God has given you the gift of teaching children, then that might be a place where you can help! 

This week we will be exploring some principles relating to spiritual gifts, including some more overtly supernatural ones. Here at Rio, we believe that God still works through all the gifts and we want to see them operating in all of their fullness, as outlined in (and regulated by) the scriptures. Now, that may sound a little scary, because some of us have seen these gifts used poorly in the past. But the fact that something is done poorly (and even irresponsibly and harmfully) doesn’t mean that it can’t be done well (and responsibly and helpfully). Here, again, Sam Storms is helpful. He says that, before the Lord changed his heart on this matter, he “was faithful to the eleventh commandment of Bible-church evangelicalism: ‘Thou shalt not do at all what others do poorly.’ (He continues) In my pride I had allowed certain extremists to exercise more of an influence on the shape of my ministry than I did the text of Scripture.” In other words, he so feared being lumped in with the poor practitioners of these more overtly spiritual gifts, that he decided to ignore them altogether. And yet God didn’t give these gifts to his people in order for them to be ignored (or to be used poorly, irresponsibly, or harmfully, I might add)! He gave them to us as powerful means by which he can (and does) reveal his presence, both to his people and to a watching world.