Manifestation of the Spirit of God
1 Corinthians 12:1 – 11
I am going to show my age and maybe your age this morning with a question; how many of you remember the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters the Wonder Twins? The Wonder Twins were a fictional extraterrestrial twin brother and sister superhero duo who first appeared in the late 1970’s. One had the ability to transform, to manifest, into any form of water and the other one could transform, manifest, into any animal, so that together they could defeat evil in the world around them. They were just regular teenagers until their powers were needed, then the pair could activate their superpowers by touching hands, fist bumps before fist bumps were cool, and saying the phrase “Wonder Twin powers, activate!”
Our message today is kind of like that, the ability of regular people, believers like you and me, to manifest the powers of the Holy Spirit for the good of God’s church and God’s people. But unlike the Wonder Twins being able to activate their gifts of defeating evil by fist bumping and declaring “activate”, the special powers that we Christians have are only empowered when the Holy Spirit commands “Spiritual Powers, Manifest”!
Our scripture lesson today comes from Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth. Paul spent almost a year and half there during his second missionary journey, but now while he is in Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem, Paul receives reports of problems in the Corinthian church, including jealousy, divisiveness, immorality and the unwillingness to discipline members. The Corinthians had gone astray of the expectations that Paul had established.
So he writes them this letter to try and correct the issues, offer solutions and to teach the believers how to live for Christ in an increasingly corrupt and divisive society. Unfortunately we find similar divisions and challenges within our own denomination and culture today.
In chapter 12 of first Corinthians, Paul addresses an issue that is causing significant division in the church, the issue is concerning Spiritual gifts. Instead of building up and unifying the Corinthian church, the issue of spiritual gifts was splitting it, tearing it apart. Perceived spiritual gifts had become symbols of spiritual and political power, causing rivalries and divisions because some people thought they were more “spiritual” than others because of the gifts that they had received.
Paul writes to them “About these gifts, he says, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray by mute idols.” At one time the Corinthians, in fact all non-Christian people, you and I at one time in our lives, were led by various influences to worship idols; money, power, fame and possessions. Idols that had no life, represented no real god and possessed no good news. That was then but this id now and they should be being led by and receiving spiritual gifts from the living Holy Spirit.
Paul writes to the Corinthians that these gifts are not their own in which they can find personal pride, for which they can brag or boast. These are Manifestations of the Spirit through you, not by you, not by your own power or by your activation and purposes.
Rather Paul tells them that while the gifts that Spirit gives are varied and many in number, they all come from the same Spirit, and they are manifestations of the Spirit. “They are meant to show the Spirit. They are meant to make the Spirit visible to God’s people. They are meant to make us admire and love and submit to the Spirit.” (John Piper)
The reason the Spirit gives the gifts that he does is so that he will be manifested, visible and palpable in the church. When you manifest something, you bring it to light. You put it forward for people to see. (Piper) It is important that we understand that spiritual gifts are not given as a badge of righteousness or spirituality. Rather they are a gift given in spite of ourselves, to fulfill the Spirit’s own purposes, not to enhance our spiritual image to others. This is not just an act of service, but it is an assignment by God to serve others.
Paul tells them that there are varied gifts, they do not belong to them, they are an unmerited gift, a gift of grace, given by the Spirit for the same purpose as every gift and to be accomplished through us by the same God. No gift is any more important than any another because each is the Holy Spirit working through man to accomplish His plan for the people of God’s Church.
So Paul tells them essentially, “the gift is not yours, it is the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are God’s work through man for common benefit of all man! And the exciting part is that God’s work is done through each and every one of us.
Dear ones, Spiritual gifts are not for a chosen few but rather for every believer. The Message translation of the Bible puts this way:
“Each person is given something to do that shows who God is. Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!”
The Spirit manifests Himself into the life of each believer by imparting some gifts to each. There is no believer who does not have a function to perform, and these gifts are given for the common good of the entire body of Christ. Brothers and sisters, you are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God for the benefit, edification and strengthening others.
A spiritual gift is an expression of faith which aims to strengthen faith in others. It is activated and empowered by our faithfulness to the Spirit and they are intended to lift up faith in another. A spiritual gift is an ability manifested in us by the Holy Spirit to express our faith effectively in word or deed for the strengthening of someone else’s faith. Our faith in the promises of God is the conduit through which the Spirit flows on his way to strengthening the faith of others.
Gifts are not for a few but for all, each and every believer has abilities which the Holy Spirit has given and will use to strengthen others. And it is the supreme joy of life to discover what they are and then pour yourself out to others through these gifts. You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God.
God is completely involved in the giving, using and empowering of gifts. Specific gifts, places of service, and activities vary but they all build up the body of Christ. God creates a unique place in the body for every believer. Each believer has a specialized God-designed role! You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God.
Hear the Good News my friends……..
Now I hear what you are thinking, I am not special, I don’t have any spiritual gifts, but the lesson is clear (Dr Wayne Barber writes) “to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” In other words, if you are worried about whether or not God ever gave you a gift, the answer is yes, you have a gift. You want proof? In verse 3 Paul says “no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the power and control of the Holy Spirit”. So if you want to find out if the Spirit is in you and working through you, repeat after me; Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord of all!
So dear ones you are included! Just think, God allows us to be in on what He is up to and allowing us, you and me, once unrepentant sinners, to participate in His works. That should overwhelm all of us. Whether we have a small piece of the pie or we have a big piece of the pie, thank God we get a piece of the pie. That is grace. It is God’s mercy that we are even involved, each one of us has a gift and a part to play. You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God.
Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! Paul tells us and the Corinthians, that the variety is wonderful, and he includes: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple faith, proclamation, communication.
Yet in this room today I see embodied in the souls here, these gifts and nature of the manifested Spirit; faithfulness, forbearance, hospitality, relationship, comforting, leadership, organization, creativity, devotion, endurance, charity, willingness, peace, gentleness, joyfulness, goodness and gentleness. These are all natures of God available to be seen through the presence of the Holy Spirit and they, as well as others, are all manifested, visible and present in us here today! Hopefully you can see some of these spiritual traits in yourself but more importantly I see them, your friends see them, the world sees them and Holy Spirit manifests them when and where He chooses. You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God.
Everyone has a spiritual gift through which God wants to minister to others. Everyone has a gift. Don’t think for a second that God left you out. It is easy to believe that you are nobody in the kingdom of God. But trust me everyone is a manifestation of the Spirit in some tangible way to the people for God for the service of the people of God. You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God!
What we recognize as spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit, through us and through each other. They are the Holy Spirit showing His nature, His works to mankind and through mankind. Friends, please understand that God uses all of us, to show the world how much He loves us and cares about us and He activates, manifests the nature of His Spirit in us and through us when the people around us need it most. Dear ones, You are the Manifestation of the Spirit of God and Holy Spirit commands “Spiritual Powers, Manifest”! Amen.