The Spirit of God in Building the CHURCH
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm. 139:23-24). Without God, the process of self-evaluation is impossible as David states in his psalm. If David recognised the importance of self-evaluation, then every Christian should continually evaluate themselves according to God’s principles in the Bible.
Spiritual Gifts are gifts that are given to believers by God that enable them to complete the jobs that He has called them to perform. Spiritual gifts differ from the Fruit of the Spirit in that everyone can possesses each Fruit of the Spirit, but God gives Spiritual Gifts. You need to possess specific Spiritual Gifts in order to operate in specific ministries. Spiritual Gifts reflect your maturity level in the things of Christ. As you grow in Christ your Spiritual Gifts can multiply or change. I believe that Spiritual Gifts are the talents that God grants.
Every believer possesses unique God given spiritual gifts. These gifts are given to us to further His kingdom and to bring Him glory. The Biblical reference to Spiritual gifts are found in five passages: Act 2:1-4, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 28-30, Peter 4:9-11, and Ephesians 4:11. They are Leadership, Administration, Knowledge, Teaching, Exhortation, Faith, Wisdom, Prophecy, Discernment, Shepherding, Evangelism, Faith, Serving, Pastoring, Apostleship, Hospitality, Mercy, and Interpretation of Tongues. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:28).
Speaking in tongues is still valid in today’s church. I Cointhians 13:8-10 tells us that at the point that spiritual maturity is reached, prophecies that have not yet come to pass will fail, and that the gift of speaking in tongues will stop. This is because the gifts that we currently have are partial gifts. Upon attaining spiritual maturity all things will come to completion doing away with anything that was not whole.
Why do we have spiritual gifts at all? To answer this let ‘s look at Scripture. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Jesus is sharing with us a primary purpose of the gifts of the Spirit: to give the church power in order to preach Christ to the entire world. In Ephesians 4:12 Paul says another purpose of the gifts is to equip the church for building up.
We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader or pastors should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful. Romans 12:4-8 God has given each believer a spiritual gift that He wants us to use for His glory. God wants us to be involved with His work. He is so gracious that by His Holy Spirit He freely distributes gifts to all who are saved. He not only wants us to know our spiritual gifts, and He expects us to grow in them each day.
