Spiritual Gifts, week 2

Spiritual Gifts

week 2, October 17, 2008

This week looked a lot different than the last week. It was interesting to study scripture that didn't actually use the term spiritual gift.

We reviewed what we talked about last week with the "1st mention concept" and figuring our where we can first clearly see the use of spiritual gifts and the purpose of that giftedness. During this time we got a little bit into the explanation of the dispensations of scripture. We discussed where we are in these dispensations, and found out that we are currently in the dispensation of grace. Here is a list of the dispensations.

1. The Edenic Covenant and The Dispensation of Innocence
2. The Adamic Covenant and The Dispensation of Conscience
3. The Noahic Covenant and The Dispensation of Human Government
4. The Abrahamic Covenant and The Dispensation of Promise
5. The Mosaic Covenant and The Dispensation of the Law
6. The Davidic Covenant and The Dispensation of Grace
7. The Palestinian Covenant, The New Covenant, and The Messianic Dispensation

Last week we looked at 1st mention concept and old testament examples of spiritual gifts. This week we went to the gospels. What can we learn from the life of Christ? What do we see about the giftedness of Christ? What spiritual gifts did He display? Here is a small list of things we thought of that we remembered Christ doing in the gospels.

• Miracles
• Prophecy
• Healing
• Teaching - as early as the age of 12
• Discernment
• Faith
• Service - washing feet

We discussed that if Christ is God and all gifts come from God, then He has the ability to use them all.

We also took a look at John 15 and 16. At first glance very little of this looks like it has anything to do with spiritual giftedness. Reading these chapters can you imagine being the disciples that Jesus was speaking to? They had never heard anything like this. Imagine what the disciples must have felt and thought when Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

What would you think of this? What would you do? Well, we learned what Dan would do. Dan says "I'd jump into Jesus" I can just see Dan in all his fervor leaping on top of Jesus with this look like "what? you said I had to be in you."

But really imagine it. What is Jesus telling the disciples? Read it. Then read further. In John 15:9-17 Jesus tells us how to abide in Him. We discussed how that word abide in verse 10 tells us that to abide we will obey His commands, and therefore abide in His love.

Abide = Obey = Love

In John 15 we found that "The deeper the root, the more the fruit" or, as Dave put it "The more we abide, the more oodles and oodles of fruit we produce." But how could all of this apply to spiritual giftedness? The fruit He is talking about, could it be the fruit of the Spirit? Is this the fruit of the giftedness the He has given us? If so, what could this mean? Does this mean that we will become more effective with our gift(s)? Maybe it means that we will be given additional gifts. Either way this tells us that the more we abide in Him, the more we will receive from him in some way. What else is Jesus trying to communicate through these passages?

Throughout chapters 14-16 of John Jesus addresses some things that we may want to take note of.

• In 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
• and John 15:26 says "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, {that is} the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,"
• and John 16:7-15 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear {them} now. 13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose {it} to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose {it} to you."

What do we see here? Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit coming after Jesus goes to the Father. But what does he say that the Spirit will do? These are permanent works of the Spirit's indwelling.

• teach you all things
• bring to your remembrance all that I said to you
• He will testify about Me
• convict the world concerning sin
• and concerning righteousness
• and concerning judgment
• He will guide you into all the truth

We must also remember that in John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

The author of the bible indwells us.

No other religion has a God that died for them and rose again from the dead, and therefore gives part of Himself to indwell in them. Christ followers are the only ones that have a God that big.

Assignment for next week. Read John Chapters 13-17