An Overview of The Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 (Audio Only)
Message #4
I was listening to a recording from Pastor Chuck Smith from the 2001 Pastor’s Conference. The conference was entitled “Stay The Course,” and as Pastor Chuck explained that through the power of the Word and the focus on teaching the Word, that there were three themes that he felt that had come out of the Word that had enabled Calvary Chapels to “stay the course.”
The great teaching on these three themes. Number one, he said, was grace. Number two was servanthood. Number three was teaching on the Person of the Holy Spirit. One of the three key themes in the Word that Pastor Chuck has enabled Calvary Chapels to stay the course.
But then, as I reviewed Pastor Chuck’s book, “Living Water,” I came across this quote. Pastor Chuck says I do not know of any subject concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is not a contradiction. Both of those things are true. Both the fact that the teaching of the Person of the Holy Spirit is a foundation for this movement’s staying power, and also, there is no subject that Pastor Chuck says concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the exact same subject as is one of the pillars that carry this movement.
Now, we’ve already said that the Holy Spirit is the primary agent of the Godhead at work in the world today. We’ve already said that it is the Holy Spirit’s role to transform us into the image of Christ. It’s his job. And we’ve already made it clear that we cannot live for Christ without the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And yet, at the same time, there is no subject concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Why is that? Why is it that it’s such a critical theme to enable us to live for Christ, yet at the same time, there is no subject where there is greater ignorance in the Church today? And to understand it, you’ve got to understand Genesis Chapter 3. Study it, and study it, and study it until you know your enemy. Because in Genesis Chapter 3, we meet our enemy, the great deceiver, the devil. The serpent. The cunning one. More cunning than any.
And in Genesis Chapter 3, we find Satan’s attack against Mankind. He first questions the Word of God. And then he changes the Word of God. And then he denies the Word of God. That was his first strategy of attack, and it worked – why change it? He’s still doing the same thing today. If he can get us to question the Word of God, if he can get us to change the Word of God, if he can ultimately get us to deny the Word of God, then he can bring the destruction, the devastation, the dissension into the Church that he desires to bring.
And so, if we couple the fact that the Person and the knowledge of the Person of the Holy Spirt is so critical to living the Christian life with understanding the primary attack method of the enemy, then isn’t it clear why there is no subject with which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the subject of the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit?
Guys, I don’t say this to scare you; I say it because it’s true. The enemy works primarily in the Church. We have to understand that. This is where the enemy wants to bring destruction. This is where the enemy wants to bring dissension. This is where the enemy wants to bring disunity. This is where the enemy wants to work, questioning, and changing, and denying the Word of God. He doesn’t have to spend too much time in those deep, dark pits of sin. The work is already started; it’s already destroying people. He wants to destroy the people of God. And so, if he can get us to question, change, and deny God’s Word, then he is on his way to bringing destruction, dissension, devastation into the Church.
And so, our goal in this series is number one, to increase our understanding of the Person of the Holy Spirit. To know him better and his role in our lives better. And thereby, to understand how desperately dependent we are on the work of the Holy Spirit. To not be ignorant of both his work and our need for his work. And so, this is our fourth message, to that end. You can listen to the messages at wordbymail.com, or download the wordbymail phone app and listen there. All the messages build on one another.
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 (NKJV)
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
It is very interesting to note, in your first verse there. Hopefully, the word “gifts” is italicized. When you see that italics in most versions, it means that the translator has inserted that word to help convey the context of what the original writer was writing. Well, in this case, that term “spiritual gifts” sometimes makes us say, “Oh! That’s not me. That’s them, over there. That “loud” church.” Sometimes the term “spiritual gifts” makes us think it’s for someone else. But, let me give you the literal translation of 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1. Now concerning spirituals… (the word “gifts” is added). Or Now concerning spiritual things… Okay, are you interested in spiritual things? Yes, we are. Paul says I would that you would not be ignorant… So, here it is: I do not want you to be ignorant of spiritual things, of spirituals (literally).
The enemy has kept Christians for a large part destitute of knowledge about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you look in Webster’s Dictionary under “ignorance,” it says, “destitute of knowledge.” And that’s the enemy’s role. That’s his job. That’s what he does. He wants to question, change and deny God’s Word. He wants to keep us destitute of knowledge about the most powerful things of God. And, unfortunately, about the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in us, he has done a relatively good job through the years.
Jim Hesterly, Acts 1:8 Ministries, describes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as equipment in order to play the game. He says, Not knowing, understanding, or operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit is like playing baseball without a bat and a glove. Or like playing football without pads and a helmet.
In the same way we look at armor in Ephesians Chapter 6, we need to look at spiritual gifts. We can’t play the game without them. We can’t live for Christ without them. Just like we’re coming more and more to understand that we can’t live for Christ without the Person, the power, the immersion, the baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It’s the same with the gifts. They are the equipment given to us by God to enable us to participate, to play the game, to work in the ministry.
So, before Paul gets into his teaching on the gifts, he gives us a little preface in verses 2 and 3 of 1 Corinthians 12. It’s important to know the Corinthians had considerable trouble with pagan worship. A ton. Very worldly and pagan city, the city of Corinth. A lot of that pagan worship had entered into the Church. A lot of false teachers in the Church, most looking for their own gain. (Some things never change.)
So, Paul gives us a litmus test about the presence of the Holy Spirit. He gives us a way to discern whether the Holy Spirit is operating or not.
1 Corinthians 12:2-3 (NKJV)
2 You know that you were Gentiles (that doesn’t mean a race of people, it means a pagan, an unbeliever), carried away to these dumb idols (not meaning stupid, but meaning unable to speak), however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking (that’s the connection with the dumb idols) by the Spirit of God (meaning the Spirit of God is speaking through someone) calls Jesus accursed (that’s a key phrase), and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Now, there were two great battle cries in the first century Church. We find them both here in verse 3. The first one is, “Accursed be Jesus.” This is the enemies of the Church, including even the Jews, would actually cry out, “Accursed be Jesus!” When a Christian was being persecuted, they would command him to cry out, “Accursed be Jesus,” or they would beat that person or kill them. And, there were even some in the Church that were beginning to say (even at this time) that Jesus was not who he said he was. Actually, the first heresy was that Jesus did not come in the flesh, that he was a spirit. But there were heresies and blasphemies noted by this phrase “Accursed be Jesus!” And so, Paul is saying here that the Holy Spirit speaking through someone would never say blasphemies, would never say, “Accursed be Jesus!”
Likewise, on the other side of this – at that time – a life and death battle line (and which, by the way, it will become a life and death battleline again at some point) were the words, “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord.” Kyrios is a critical word because people and, for a time, even the Jews, were required to say, “Kaiser kyrios.” – “Caesar is Lord.” That word “lord” is “ruler.” He rules my life. And so, the true believers would say “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord.” And Paul says here that no one can say, “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord” without the power of the Holy Spirit. Especially in the first century because saying Jesus is Lord would bring dire consequences at times. And so, the Holy Spirit – through Paul – is saying by the Spirit of God no one will blaspheme Jesus, and only by the Spirit of God can someone say, Jesus is Lord.
Today, not so much with our lips because we have learned to say whatever we need to, but with our lives. We either say accursed be Jesus, or we say Jesus is Lord by our actions. And that determines whether a person has the Holy Spirit in them by how they handle Jesus Christ.
Verses 4-7 are possibly the most important statement for us to understand as a foundation before we go into studying the specific gifts of the Spirit. So, when we get to the specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, I don’t know – besides the baptism of the Holy Spirit – of a more critical foundational text to understand than these next three verses.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NKJV)
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Notice the Trinity in verses 4,5 and 6. Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Differences of ministries, but the same Lord. Diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. No word by chance. Every word chosen by the writer of scriptures, who is the Holy Spirit. And there, the Trinity jumps out at us. Same Spirit, same Lord, same God. Diverse gifts. Differences of ministries, diverse activities. Critically, critically important that we understand that going into the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why?
Why is it so important that we understand differences, diversity? Unity in diversity. Not uniformity. Uniformity means everybody’s the same. That’s what our flesh wants. That’s not what the Holy Spirit wants, never has, never will. The Holy Spirit wants unity in diversity. We’ll see that as we close today, how critical it is.
Why is it so important? Because we have a tendency to say, “If you’re not like me, then you are wrong.” Don’t we? If you don’t think like I think, you can’t be right. If you’re acting differently than I act, you can’t be right. If you’re ministering differently, you can’t be right. WRONG! We have to get that out of our minds. Diversity of gifts. Differences of ministry. Diversity of activities. But all the same Spirit. All the same Lord. All the same God. How freeing it is to leave that place of judgment that says, if they’re not like me, they must be wrong. God help us to always remember diversity, differences, diversity, same Spirit, same Lord, same God.
Now, the other thing that we need to know going into the Holy Spirit gifts, specific gifts of the Spirit, is that each and every believer has been given gift or gifts for the profit of all, for the profit of the Body. Every. Single. Believer. We see that in verse 7.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Last week we studied 1 Peter 4, verse 10, which is an overriding, overarching verse for all spiritual gifts.
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it (that’s a verb, do something with it, take action in obedience) to one another, as good stewards of the manifold (many folded, multi-layered) grace of God.
As each one has received a gift, so do something with it. So, minister it… as good stewards of the many-folded grace of God. Every believer has been created to receive specific and unique gifts. And it is the basking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, where those gifts are poured out on you, enabling you to minister. Go back and really study the baptism of Jesus Christ, and you see that is exactly what happened.
Let’s look at these three statements very closely.
1). Diversities of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
3). Diversities of activities
1). Diversities of gifts
1 Corinthians 12:4 (NKJV)
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
We see this in the fact that there is no one complete list of gifts anywhere in the Bible. In fact, it’s a very frustrating thing to try to compile all of the gifts of the Spirit as they are named in the New Testament. There are basically four texts that we say, “Yes, that’s a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” But every one of those lists is different. Some gifts are kind of renamed. Some are the same. They’re always used in a slightly different context. And none of them seem complete. It is almost impossible to get a handle on the specific gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because they are so diverse. Diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit.
If the Holy Spirit would have said, “Okay. This is the list. It’s right here.” What would we do? We would make it a legalistic regiment, and we would probably beat each other with it. The Holy Spirit doesn’t say that. The Holy Spirit spreads the gifts out so much through the New Testament that we can’t get a hard and fast list of them. It’s exactly what he wants to do so that we can say there are diversities of gifts.
There are two lists here in 1 Corinthians 12. One list is in Romans 12. One list for ministry in Ephesians 4. And then the final overriding statement in 1 Peter 4, verse 10. And we try to take these lists, and we break them down, and we say, “Okay. This list is the manifestation gifts. And this list is the ministry gifts. And this is the power gifts. And this list is the revelation gifts. And this list is the vocal gift.”
We try to break all these lists down, and we categorize them, so they fit in our finite, little minds. But guess what? They’re already described for us in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. There are diversities of gifts. Let it go.
Let’s read in verse 8, the first incomplete list of gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NKJV)
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
King James says severally. It’s the most specific word that the Greek could have. It’s one person, one at a time. That’s a phenomenal thing. Like the Holy Spirit is saying, “Okay, Myrna, these are for you. And these are for you, Steve.” It’s very specific – to each one individually as he sovereignly wills.
Now, just to give you a glimpse at the diversity of the gifts, let me read to you an incomplete list that I threw together yesterday. This is a list of twenty-two gifts of the Spirit that are clearly spelled out in the New Testament, in these four lists that we just referred to.
Twenty-Two Gifts of The Spirit
Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Faith, Miracles, Healings, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation, Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists, Pastor-Teachers, Helps, Administration, Ministry, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership, (my all-time favorite) Mercy, and lastly, Cheerfulness.
Twenty-two incomplete, totally unexhaustive list of spiritual gifts. Each believer given some, severally, as the Holy Spirit wills.
1). Diversities of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
1 Corinthians 12:5 (NKJV)
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
We see differences in ministries as we look around the church today. Differences of ministries. Why are some of you attracted to one area of ministry, and some of you attracted to another area? Do you really think you’re choosing? You do have a free will, and the Holy Spirit won’t work against it. But when your free will finally breaks, which is what God wants, then the Holy Spirit pours into you his will for ministry. And everybody does something different.
The thing that I am most embarrassed about in twenty-five years of serving the Lord is that I think I’ve taught Sunday School once. And that’s because there was a bunch of kids in a room with no adult, and so it was me or no one. And what’s so terrible is I love kids. I would set aside a whole world for my kids. I would easily set aside an adult ten times to be able to minister to a kid (no offense, adults). I love children. But God has never allowed me to serve in that ministry.
Now there are some of you here that BAM! That’s where God drives you. Drives you right into that ministry. I had to tell children’s ministry leaders, “Guys, I’m sorry. But don’t look to me for leadership in children’s ministry. I don’t know. I’ve never been there.” I’m not saying it’s a good thing; I’m embarrassed by it. But God has always had me here serving. First to come. Last to leave. Not at the pulpit, but back there. And so, that’s where God raised me up. He’s raising you up somewhere different. And that’s why, sometimes, we have plenty of people in the children’s ministry because God drives them. He’s driving you.
Pray and see where God is leading you in the ministry because there are differences in ministries, and God has one for you, if not more than one. Where he sends you – go. Be obedient. Be a good steward of the manifold grace of God. Whatever he is calling you to do, do it.
This is what we sometimes jokingly call the org chart. This is the ministry of Calvary Nuevo on paper. This is so I can look at one piece of paper and pray individually for every separate ministry in this fellowship. There are fifty-one separate ministries on this piece of paper. This is a little family church in a little farm town, and we’ve got fifty-one separate ministries going on. One of them has your name on it. The Word of God says to each one has been given a gift for the profit of all. And so, be good stewards and exercise your gift in a different ministry. The test for this area is, try out a ministry and if you feel frustrated and uncomfortable there, then step out of that ministry (not leave the church). If it doesn’t fit you, don’t do it.
Some of you, if I asked you to teach for me next Sunday, you probably wouldn’t be excited to do that. But if I asked you to teach first grade, you’d say, “Sure! I’d love it!” Well, it’s the same gift. It’s just difference of ministry. There is one ministry or activity that stands up here and one ministry of the same gift that’s in the group of first graders. But if God calls you to be a teacher, pray that he lets you teach first grade because that is the greater place to teach, I promise you.
Wherever he calls you, go there. Go there and serve there.
1). Diversity of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
3). Diversities of activities
1 Corinthians 12:6 (NKJV)
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
One of the greatest things about the Spirit of God is he cannot be pigeonholed. He cannot be contained. He cannot be figured out, or designed, or regimented, or “reciped.” There are differences, diversities of activities. He can do whatever he wants, whenever, however, with whomever.
I believe that is so we can never honestly say, “Well, if you don’t do it the way I do it, then you must be missing something because this is the way we do it over here,” with some kind of assumption we are doing it right just because we are doing it a certain way. It’s pretty much always safer to assume that you’re wrong. But there is a way to tell if an activity of the Holy Spirit is of the Spirit or not. Paul gave us that before he started teaching, which the Holy Spirit does so very often.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NKJV)
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
So, how do we allow this freedom of diversity of activities without judging whether someone is right or wrong? And I shouldn’t say “without judging” because we are called to discern whether this activity is from the Lord or not. How do we do that? There is your answer in verse 3.
Guys, the center of Heaven’s focus, the center of the Holy Spirit’s focus is Jesus Christ at all times. Jesus said, himself, when the Helper, the Spirit comes, he will testify of me. He will testify of Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s role is always to set up Jesus, to exalt the mighty name of Jesus Christ, to turn all eyes on him, to put all focus on him. So, all we have to do is say, “Who is getting the focus?” In any activity of the Spirit, including teaching, who’s getting the focus? If it’s not Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is not in it. If Jesus Christ isn’t the focus, the Holy Spirit is not involved.
That’s a serious statement. But we have to recognize we can serve and minister in the flesh until the cows come home. We can minister in the flesh, but when the Holy Spirit is ministering, Jesus Christ is the focus. All eyes on Jesus, he’s the one being exalted, he’s the one being lifted up. So, all we have to do is ask ourselves, who is this gift drawing attention to? Who is this gift promoting? Who are the people’s eyes being set on in the exercise of this gift? If the answer is Jesus Christ is Lord, then it’s the Holy Spirit – Paul says so in verse 3. If the answer is someone else, especially the person exercising the gift, it’s not the Holy Spirit. Period. The Holy Spirit is not here to promote a person. Period.
Jesus Christ and him only. Any other activity that is not exalting the name of Jesus is not birthed by the Holy Spirit. If it’s not Jesus, it’s not the Holy Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts.
There are differences of ministries
There are diversities of activities
But it is the same Spirit, same Lord, same God. It is God working in different ways.
So, who’s in control? Who’s in charge? Verse 11 tells us.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV)
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Guys, the Holy Spirit is in charge. And when the Holy Spirit is not in charge, it’s not because he set down charge; it’s because we took it from him. Which, unfortunately, he’ll allow us to do. But the Holy Spirit will run the gifts. He will administer the gifts. He’s given them to us. He will orchestrate them if we will allow him. He’s in charge. He’s sovereign, and he knows what’s best. He knows what the Body needs.
Our only role is to look to him open to what he wants to do in us, to receive the gifts that he sovereignly willed to us, and then to operate in them. To obey. Obedience. Action word. To take action on the gifts that he’s given us. And he will lead and guide. He will distribute, he will orchestrate.
The manifestation of verse 7.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
And that’s where I want to end today. The purpose of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is for the Body of Christ. It is for the ministry. It’s for the Body.
Let’s look at another of the lists we haven’t seen yet. We normally call these the ministry gifts. But the Holy Spirit calls them the diverse gifts.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Why does the Holy Spirit give us gifts? Why are the gifts of the Spirit so critically, critically important in our lives? It tells us right here: for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, That’s the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:15-16 (NKJV)
15 …Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working (that’s the orchestration of the Spirit) by which every part does its share (obeys), causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
As the Holy Spirit administers gifts, and as we obey him, then we work together, and Paul says to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
See, the Holy Spirit is the Person that administers, that gives and administers, orchestrates the gifts so that the Body edifies itself. So that we have enough Sunday School teachers. So that we’ve got support people. So that we’ve got some teachers, so that we’ve got prayer warriors, and counselors, and intercessors, and every other part of the Body that is needed, the Holy Spirit has provided.
The one thing we’ve got to know is the gifts are never for personal enrichment. They’re never for personal gain. There is no gift, save one, for personal enrichment.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (NKJV)
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
The gift of tongues with no public interpretation is to edify yourself, to build yourself up. We’ll talk about the gift of tongues in just a few weeks.
As a general rule, except for that one gift, no gift is for you. You are the beneficiary of none of the gifts. You receive the gift, but the beneficiary is the Body. Does that make sense? The Holy Spirit wants to use you to edify the Body, to minister to the Body.
This is what I really want you to see today. What is the purpose for the diversity of gifts? Why is there such diversity of gifts? What is the purpose for differences of ministry? Why are there so many differences of ministry? What is the purpose for the diversity of activities? Guys, listen very carefully. It’s to make us dependent on one another to form the Body of Christ. The purpose for all the diversity and all the differences is because the Holy Spirit has designed the Body of Christ to be dependent on one another. That is so powerful! We are the Body of Christ. Listen, as the Holy Spirit writes. This is a tough sentence. The Holy Spirit uses the writer’s personality, but not their content. You can see a lawyer’s personality here in verse 12.
1 Corinthians 12:12-18 (NKJV)
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
18 But now God has set the members, each one of them (that’s us), in the body just as He pleased.
1 Corinthians 12, verse 7, and also verse 11 say that it is the Holy Spirit who wills, who determines, sets gifts as he sovereignly wills. Here it says, God. The Trinity is throughout the Bible.
God has set, God – the Holy Spirit – the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
Guys, each of us has a role to play in the Body, AND this is so important to say – Psalm 139 says that we were formed in our mother’s womb. We were crafted by God. We were skillfully wrought by the hand of God. We were fearfully and wonderfully made, and each one of us different. Each one of us with a unique personality. And guess what? That same God, the Holy Spirit who formed us, then pours gifts out in us that match the personality he formed us with! That’s what is so incredible!
He doesn’t change our personality. He changes our sin, he crucifies our sin, but our personality – he pours gifts in that match our personality. Each one of us different. And so, the ministries and the activities of the gifts are different for each one of us so that we all fit jointly together as one Body of Christ.
It’s phenomenal to fathom how much work – dare I say, how much pre-destination – went into us being created? Where God formed us perfectly, knowing that we would receive Christ, that we would make that free will choice, and then pouring out gifts that match the personality that he formed us with before we were born. It’s a phenomenal thing! All via the work of the Person of the Holy Spirit, and all for the benefit of the Body of Christ.
All we have to do is open ourselves up and say, “Okay. Okay, I’ll let you lead. You give me the gifts that you desire me to have; I’ll obey them.” That’s all we have to do.
The great teaching on these three themes. Number one, he said, was grace. Number two was servanthood. Number three was teaching on the Person of the Holy Spirit. One of the three key themes in the Word that Pastor Chuck has enabled Calvary Chapels to stay the course.
But then, as I reviewed Pastor Chuck’s book, “Living Water,” I came across this quote. Pastor Chuck says I do not know of any subject concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is not a contradiction. Both of those things are true. Both the fact that the teaching of the Person of the Holy Spirit is a foundation for this movement’s staying power, and also, there is no subject that Pastor Chuck says concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the exact same subject as is one of the pillars that carry this movement.
Now, we’ve already said that the Holy Spirit is the primary agent of the Godhead at work in the world today. We’ve already said that it is the Holy Spirit’s role to transform us into the image of Christ. It’s his job. And we’ve already made it clear that we cannot live for Christ without the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And yet, at the same time, there is no subject concerning which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Why is that? Why is it that it’s such a critical theme to enable us to live for Christ, yet at the same time, there is no subject where there is greater ignorance in the Church today? And to understand it, you’ve got to understand Genesis Chapter 3. Study it, and study it, and study it until you know your enemy. Because in Genesis Chapter 3, we meet our enemy, the great deceiver, the devil. The serpent. The cunning one. More cunning than any.
And in Genesis Chapter 3, we find Satan’s attack against Mankind. He first questions the Word of God. And then he changes the Word of God. And then he denies the Word of God. That was his first strategy of attack, and it worked – why change it? He’s still doing the same thing today. If he can get us to question the Word of God, if he can get us to change the Word of God, if he can ultimately get us to deny the Word of God, then he can bring the destruction, the devastation, the dissension into the Church that he desires to bring.
And so, if we couple the fact that the Person and the knowledge of the Person of the Holy Spirt is so critical to living the Christian life with understanding the primary attack method of the enemy, then isn’t it clear why there is no subject with which there is greater ignorance in the Church today than the subject of the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit?
Guys, I don’t say this to scare you; I say it because it’s true. The enemy works primarily in the Church. We have to understand that. This is where the enemy wants to bring destruction. This is where the enemy wants to bring dissension. This is where the enemy wants to bring disunity. This is where the enemy wants to work, questioning, and changing, and denying the Word of God. He doesn’t have to spend too much time in those deep, dark pits of sin. The work is already started; it’s already destroying people. He wants to destroy the people of God. And so, if he can get us to question, change, and deny God’s Word, then he is on his way to bringing destruction, dissension, devastation into the Church.
And so, our goal in this series is number one, to increase our understanding of the Person of the Holy Spirit. To know him better and his role in our lives better. And thereby, to understand how desperately dependent we are on the work of the Holy Spirit. To not be ignorant of both his work and our need for his work. And so, this is our fourth message, to that end. You can listen to the messages at wordbymail.com, or download the wordbymail phone app and listen there. All the messages build on one another.
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 (NKJV)
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
It is very interesting to note, in your first verse there. Hopefully, the word “gifts” is italicized. When you see that italics in most versions, it means that the translator has inserted that word to help convey the context of what the original writer was writing. Well, in this case, that term “spiritual gifts” sometimes makes us say, “Oh! That’s not me. That’s them, over there. That “loud” church.” Sometimes the term “spiritual gifts” makes us think it’s for someone else. But, let me give you the literal translation of 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1. Now concerning spirituals… (the word “gifts” is added). Or Now concerning spiritual things… Okay, are you interested in spiritual things? Yes, we are. Paul says I would that you would not be ignorant… So, here it is: I do not want you to be ignorant of spiritual things, of spirituals (literally).
The enemy has kept Christians for a large part destitute of knowledge about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you look in Webster’s Dictionary under “ignorance,” it says, “destitute of knowledge.” And that’s the enemy’s role. That’s his job. That’s what he does. He wants to question, change and deny God’s Word. He wants to keep us destitute of knowledge about the most powerful things of God. And, unfortunately, about the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in us, he has done a relatively good job through the years.
Jim Hesterly, Acts 1:8 Ministries, describes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as equipment in order to play the game. He says, Not knowing, understanding, or operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit is like playing baseball without a bat and a glove. Or like playing football without pads and a helmet.
In the same way we look at armor in Ephesians Chapter 6, we need to look at spiritual gifts. We can’t play the game without them. We can’t live for Christ without them. Just like we’re coming more and more to understand that we can’t live for Christ without the Person, the power, the immersion, the baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It’s the same with the gifts. They are the equipment given to us by God to enable us to participate, to play the game, to work in the ministry.
So, before Paul gets into his teaching on the gifts, he gives us a little preface in verses 2 and 3 of 1 Corinthians 12. It’s important to know the Corinthians had considerable trouble with pagan worship. A ton. Very worldly and pagan city, the city of Corinth. A lot of that pagan worship had entered into the Church. A lot of false teachers in the Church, most looking for their own gain. (Some things never change.)
So, Paul gives us a litmus test about the presence of the Holy Spirit. He gives us a way to discern whether the Holy Spirit is operating or not.
1 Corinthians 12:2-3 (NKJV)
2 You know that you were Gentiles (that doesn’t mean a race of people, it means a pagan, an unbeliever), carried away to these dumb idols (not meaning stupid, but meaning unable to speak), however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking (that’s the connection with the dumb idols) by the Spirit of God (meaning the Spirit of God is speaking through someone) calls Jesus accursed (that’s a key phrase), and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Now, there were two great battle cries in the first century Church. We find them both here in verse 3. The first one is, “Accursed be Jesus.” This is the enemies of the Church, including even the Jews, would actually cry out, “Accursed be Jesus!” When a Christian was being persecuted, they would command him to cry out, “Accursed be Jesus,” or they would beat that person or kill them. And, there were even some in the Church that were beginning to say (even at this time) that Jesus was not who he said he was. Actually, the first heresy was that Jesus did not come in the flesh, that he was a spirit. But there were heresies and blasphemies noted by this phrase “Accursed be Jesus!” And so, Paul is saying here that the Holy Spirit speaking through someone would never say blasphemies, would never say, “Accursed be Jesus!”
Likewise, on the other side of this – at that time – a life and death battle line (and which, by the way, it will become a life and death battleline again at some point) were the words, “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord.” Kyrios is a critical word because people and, for a time, even the Jews, were required to say, “Kaiser kyrios.” – “Caesar is Lord.” That word “lord” is “ruler.” He rules my life. And so, the true believers would say “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord.” And Paul says here that no one can say, “Iesous kyrios” “Jesus is Lord” without the power of the Holy Spirit. Especially in the first century because saying Jesus is Lord would bring dire consequences at times. And so, the Holy Spirit – through Paul – is saying by the Spirit of God no one will blaspheme Jesus, and only by the Spirit of God can someone say, Jesus is Lord.
Today, not so much with our lips because we have learned to say whatever we need to, but with our lives. We either say accursed be Jesus, or we say Jesus is Lord by our actions. And that determines whether a person has the Holy Spirit in them by how they handle Jesus Christ.
Verses 4-7 are possibly the most important statement for us to understand as a foundation before we go into studying the specific gifts of the Spirit. So, when we get to the specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, I don’t know – besides the baptism of the Holy Spirit – of a more critical foundational text to understand than these next three verses.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NKJV)
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Notice the Trinity in verses 4,5 and 6. Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Differences of ministries, but the same Lord. Diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. No word by chance. Every word chosen by the writer of scriptures, who is the Holy Spirit. And there, the Trinity jumps out at us. Same Spirit, same Lord, same God. Diverse gifts. Differences of ministries, diverse activities. Critically, critically important that we understand that going into the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why?
Why is it so important that we understand differences, diversity? Unity in diversity. Not uniformity. Uniformity means everybody’s the same. That’s what our flesh wants. That’s not what the Holy Spirit wants, never has, never will. The Holy Spirit wants unity in diversity. We’ll see that as we close today, how critical it is.
Why is it so important? Because we have a tendency to say, “If you’re not like me, then you are wrong.” Don’t we? If you don’t think like I think, you can’t be right. If you’re acting differently than I act, you can’t be right. If you’re ministering differently, you can’t be right. WRONG! We have to get that out of our minds. Diversity of gifts. Differences of ministry. Diversity of activities. But all the same Spirit. All the same Lord. All the same God. How freeing it is to leave that place of judgment that says, if they’re not like me, they must be wrong. God help us to always remember diversity, differences, diversity, same Spirit, same Lord, same God.
Now, the other thing that we need to know going into the Holy Spirit gifts, specific gifts of the Spirit, is that each and every believer has been given gift or gifts for the profit of all, for the profit of the Body. Every. Single. Believer. We see that in verse 7.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Last week we studied 1 Peter 4, verse 10, which is an overriding, overarching verse for all spiritual gifts.
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it (that’s a verb, do something with it, take action in obedience) to one another, as good stewards of the manifold (many folded, multi-layered) grace of God.
As each one has received a gift, so do something with it. So, minister it… as good stewards of the many-folded grace of God. Every believer has been created to receive specific and unique gifts. And it is the basking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, where those gifts are poured out on you, enabling you to minister. Go back and really study the baptism of Jesus Christ, and you see that is exactly what happened.
Let’s look at these three statements very closely.
1). Diversities of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
3). Diversities of activities
1). Diversities of gifts
1 Corinthians 12:4 (NKJV)
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
We see this in the fact that there is no one complete list of gifts anywhere in the Bible. In fact, it’s a very frustrating thing to try to compile all of the gifts of the Spirit as they are named in the New Testament. There are basically four texts that we say, “Yes, that’s a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” But every one of those lists is different. Some gifts are kind of renamed. Some are the same. They’re always used in a slightly different context. And none of them seem complete. It is almost impossible to get a handle on the specific gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because they are so diverse. Diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit.
If the Holy Spirit would have said, “Okay. This is the list. It’s right here.” What would we do? We would make it a legalistic regiment, and we would probably beat each other with it. The Holy Spirit doesn’t say that. The Holy Spirit spreads the gifts out so much through the New Testament that we can’t get a hard and fast list of them. It’s exactly what he wants to do so that we can say there are diversities of gifts.
There are two lists here in 1 Corinthians 12. One list is in Romans 12. One list for ministry in Ephesians 4. And then the final overriding statement in 1 Peter 4, verse 10. And we try to take these lists, and we break them down, and we say, “Okay. This list is the manifestation gifts. And this list is the ministry gifts. And this is the power gifts. And this list is the revelation gifts. And this list is the vocal gift.”
We try to break all these lists down, and we categorize them, so they fit in our finite, little minds. But guess what? They’re already described for us in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. There are diversities of gifts. Let it go.
Let’s read in verse 8, the first incomplete list of gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NKJV)
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
King James says severally. It’s the most specific word that the Greek could have. It’s one person, one at a time. That’s a phenomenal thing. Like the Holy Spirit is saying, “Okay, Myrna, these are for you. And these are for you, Steve.” It’s very specific – to each one individually as he sovereignly wills.
Now, just to give you a glimpse at the diversity of the gifts, let me read to you an incomplete list that I threw together yesterday. This is a list of twenty-two gifts of the Spirit that are clearly spelled out in the New Testament, in these four lists that we just referred to.
Twenty-Two Gifts of The Spirit
Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Faith, Miracles, Healings, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation, Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists, Pastor-Teachers, Helps, Administration, Ministry, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership, (my all-time favorite) Mercy, and lastly, Cheerfulness.
Twenty-two incomplete, totally unexhaustive list of spiritual gifts. Each believer given some, severally, as the Holy Spirit wills.
1). Diversities of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
1 Corinthians 12:5 (NKJV)
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
We see differences in ministries as we look around the church today. Differences of ministries. Why are some of you attracted to one area of ministry, and some of you attracted to another area? Do you really think you’re choosing? You do have a free will, and the Holy Spirit won’t work against it. But when your free will finally breaks, which is what God wants, then the Holy Spirit pours into you his will for ministry. And everybody does something different.
The thing that I am most embarrassed about in twenty-five years of serving the Lord is that I think I’ve taught Sunday School once. And that’s because there was a bunch of kids in a room with no adult, and so it was me or no one. And what’s so terrible is I love kids. I would set aside a whole world for my kids. I would easily set aside an adult ten times to be able to minister to a kid (no offense, adults). I love children. But God has never allowed me to serve in that ministry.
Now there are some of you here that BAM! That’s where God drives you. Drives you right into that ministry. I had to tell children’s ministry leaders, “Guys, I’m sorry. But don’t look to me for leadership in children’s ministry. I don’t know. I’ve never been there.” I’m not saying it’s a good thing; I’m embarrassed by it. But God has always had me here serving. First to come. Last to leave. Not at the pulpit, but back there. And so, that’s where God raised me up. He’s raising you up somewhere different. And that’s why, sometimes, we have plenty of people in the children’s ministry because God drives them. He’s driving you.
Pray and see where God is leading you in the ministry because there are differences in ministries, and God has one for you, if not more than one. Where he sends you – go. Be obedient. Be a good steward of the manifold grace of God. Whatever he is calling you to do, do it.
This is what we sometimes jokingly call the org chart. This is the ministry of Calvary Nuevo on paper. This is so I can look at one piece of paper and pray individually for every separate ministry in this fellowship. There are fifty-one separate ministries on this piece of paper. This is a little family church in a little farm town, and we’ve got fifty-one separate ministries going on. One of them has your name on it. The Word of God says to each one has been given a gift for the profit of all. And so, be good stewards and exercise your gift in a different ministry. The test for this area is, try out a ministry and if you feel frustrated and uncomfortable there, then step out of that ministry (not leave the church). If it doesn’t fit you, don’t do it.
Some of you, if I asked you to teach for me next Sunday, you probably wouldn’t be excited to do that. But if I asked you to teach first grade, you’d say, “Sure! I’d love it!” Well, it’s the same gift. It’s just difference of ministry. There is one ministry or activity that stands up here and one ministry of the same gift that’s in the group of first graders. But if God calls you to be a teacher, pray that he lets you teach first grade because that is the greater place to teach, I promise you.
Wherever he calls you, go there. Go there and serve there.
1). Diversity of gifts
2). Differences of ministries
3). Diversities of activities
1 Corinthians 12:6 (NKJV)
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
One of the greatest things about the Spirit of God is he cannot be pigeonholed. He cannot be contained. He cannot be figured out, or designed, or regimented, or “reciped.” There are differences, diversities of activities. He can do whatever he wants, whenever, however, with whomever.
I believe that is so we can never honestly say, “Well, if you don’t do it the way I do it, then you must be missing something because this is the way we do it over here,” with some kind of assumption we are doing it right just because we are doing it a certain way. It’s pretty much always safer to assume that you’re wrong. But there is a way to tell if an activity of the Holy Spirit is of the Spirit or not. Paul gave us that before he started teaching, which the Holy Spirit does so very often.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NKJV)
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
So, how do we allow this freedom of diversity of activities without judging whether someone is right or wrong? And I shouldn’t say “without judging” because we are called to discern whether this activity is from the Lord or not. How do we do that? There is your answer in verse 3.
Guys, the center of Heaven’s focus, the center of the Holy Spirit’s focus is Jesus Christ at all times. Jesus said, himself, when the Helper, the Spirit comes, he will testify of me. He will testify of Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s role is always to set up Jesus, to exalt the mighty name of Jesus Christ, to turn all eyes on him, to put all focus on him. So, all we have to do is say, “Who is getting the focus?” In any activity of the Spirit, including teaching, who’s getting the focus? If it’s not Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is not in it. If Jesus Christ isn’t the focus, the Holy Spirit is not involved.
That’s a serious statement. But we have to recognize we can serve and minister in the flesh until the cows come home. We can minister in the flesh, but when the Holy Spirit is ministering, Jesus Christ is the focus. All eyes on Jesus, he’s the one being exalted, he’s the one being lifted up. So, all we have to do is ask ourselves, who is this gift drawing attention to? Who is this gift promoting? Who are the people’s eyes being set on in the exercise of this gift? If the answer is Jesus Christ is Lord, then it’s the Holy Spirit – Paul says so in verse 3. If the answer is someone else, especially the person exercising the gift, it’s not the Holy Spirit. Period. The Holy Spirit is not here to promote a person. Period.
Jesus Christ and him only. Any other activity that is not exalting the name of Jesus is not birthed by the Holy Spirit. If it’s not Jesus, it’s not the Holy Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts.
There are differences of ministries
There are diversities of activities
But it is the same Spirit, same Lord, same God. It is God working in different ways.
So, who’s in control? Who’s in charge? Verse 11 tells us.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV)
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Guys, the Holy Spirit is in charge. And when the Holy Spirit is not in charge, it’s not because he set down charge; it’s because we took it from him. Which, unfortunately, he’ll allow us to do. But the Holy Spirit will run the gifts. He will administer the gifts. He’s given them to us. He will orchestrate them if we will allow him. He’s in charge. He’s sovereign, and he knows what’s best. He knows what the Body needs.
Our only role is to look to him open to what he wants to do in us, to receive the gifts that he sovereignly willed to us, and then to operate in them. To obey. Obedience. Action word. To take action on the gifts that he’s given us. And he will lead and guide. He will distribute, he will orchestrate.
The manifestation of verse 7.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
And that’s where I want to end today. The purpose of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is for the Body of Christ. It is for the ministry. It’s for the Body.
Let’s look at another of the lists we haven’t seen yet. We normally call these the ministry gifts. But the Holy Spirit calls them the diverse gifts.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Why does the Holy Spirit give us gifts? Why are the gifts of the Spirit so critically, critically important in our lives? It tells us right here: for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, That’s the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:15-16 (NKJV)
15 …Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working (that’s the orchestration of the Spirit) by which every part does its share (obeys), causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
As the Holy Spirit administers gifts, and as we obey him, then we work together, and Paul says to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
See, the Holy Spirit is the Person that administers, that gives and administers, orchestrates the gifts so that the Body edifies itself. So that we have enough Sunday School teachers. So that we’ve got support people. So that we’ve got some teachers, so that we’ve got prayer warriors, and counselors, and intercessors, and every other part of the Body that is needed, the Holy Spirit has provided.
The one thing we’ve got to know is the gifts are never for personal enrichment. They’re never for personal gain. There is no gift, save one, for personal enrichment.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (NKJV)
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
The gift of tongues with no public interpretation is to edify yourself, to build yourself up. We’ll talk about the gift of tongues in just a few weeks.
As a general rule, except for that one gift, no gift is for you. You are the beneficiary of none of the gifts. You receive the gift, but the beneficiary is the Body. Does that make sense? The Holy Spirit wants to use you to edify the Body, to minister to the Body.
This is what I really want you to see today. What is the purpose for the diversity of gifts? Why is there such diversity of gifts? What is the purpose for differences of ministry? Why are there so many differences of ministry? What is the purpose for the diversity of activities? Guys, listen very carefully. It’s to make us dependent on one another to form the Body of Christ. The purpose for all the diversity and all the differences is because the Holy Spirit has designed the Body of Christ to be dependent on one another. That is so powerful! We are the Body of Christ. Listen, as the Holy Spirit writes. This is a tough sentence. The Holy Spirit uses the writer’s personality, but not their content. You can see a lawyer’s personality here in verse 12.
1 Corinthians 12:12-18 (NKJV)
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
18 But now God has set the members, each one of them (that’s us), in the body just as He pleased.
1 Corinthians 12, verse 7, and also verse 11 say that it is the Holy Spirit who wills, who determines, sets gifts as he sovereignly wills. Here it says, God. The Trinity is throughout the Bible.
God has set, God – the Holy Spirit – the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
Guys, each of us has a role to play in the Body, AND this is so important to say – Psalm 139 says that we were formed in our mother’s womb. We were crafted by God. We were skillfully wrought by the hand of God. We were fearfully and wonderfully made, and each one of us different. Each one of us with a unique personality. And guess what? That same God, the Holy Spirit who formed us, then pours gifts out in us that match the personality he formed us with! That’s what is so incredible!
He doesn’t change our personality. He changes our sin, he crucifies our sin, but our personality – he pours gifts in that match our personality. Each one of us different. And so, the ministries and the activities of the gifts are different for each one of us so that we all fit jointly together as one Body of Christ.
It’s phenomenal to fathom how much work – dare I say, how much pre-destination – went into us being created? Where God formed us perfectly, knowing that we would receive Christ, that we would make that free will choice, and then pouring out gifts that match the personality that he formed us with before we were born. It’s a phenomenal thing! All via the work of the Person of the Holy Spirit, and all for the benefit of the Body of Christ.
All we have to do is open ourselves up and say, “Okay. Okay, I’ll let you lead. You give me the gifts that you desire me to have; I’ll obey them.” That’s all we have to do.