Our basic study of spiritual gifts has been from 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 and 28, although we have been incorporating Ephesians 4:11 and Romans 12:6-8. All of these Scriptures contain the lists of the categories of spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has granted to the church.

The Spirit of God has given gifts (i.e., enablements, manifestations, energizings, services) to the church. They are enablements of the Holy Spirit allowing us to minister to one another within the body of Christ. We are not spectators; we are to be involved in the actual operation of the church, carrying out the ministry as God has designed it and the Spirit of God has planned it. So, as we learn our gifts and how they operate, and as we understand how the Spirit of God works through us, we can give a greater, deeper, and broader commitment to do that which God has gifted us to do.

A. The Indwelling Spirit

1. Ephesians 2:22 -- "In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." In other words, the Spirit of God not only indwells individual Christians, but indwells the collective assembly of believers -- indwells any local assembly and any individual believer. The people at Grace Community Church are an assembly of believers who have become the habitation of the Spirit of God. He lives within us individually and collectively, as He does in the worldwide body of Christ.

2. 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17b -- "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God...." The "ye" is plural, thus, collectively you are the composite temple of God "...and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?...for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (vv. 16b, 17b). Collectively, we are the temple of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God doesn't dwell in a church building, and that is why we don't call it a sanctuary; we call it an auditorium. A sanctuary is the name for the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament where God's Spirit dwelt and was manifest. Today, the Spirit of God dwells in the body, both of the individual Christian and the collective, corporate assembly of believers.

B. The Influential Spirit

1. The Priority of His Control

Since we are an assembly of believers that are the habitation of the Spirit, it seems obvious and reasonable that the Spirit of God should be in control of the assembly. We would be denying our very identity if He were not. Since He dwells in us, He should manifest His indwelling by His power and control over us. This is a true fact in the Christian life. For example, you can possess the Holy Spirit and not be controlled by Him -- that is carnality. And the church can be equally carnal. There are certain assemblies in which Christians manifest carnality, selfishness, and self-will, because the Spirit of God is not in control.

That was exactly the case in the Corinthian church. They were believers, they possessed the Holy Spirit, and they were the habitation of the Spirit, but due to their sinfulness and carnality, the Spirit of God had been removed from leadership. His power was usurped and the Corinthians were running the show. I pray that Grace Community Church would be a church where the Spirit of God rules, fills, controls, and energizes.

2. The Products of His Control

As I look at any church, there are certain indicators that reveal if in fact the Spirit of God is in control. There are eight that I know of:

a. Unity

The Spirit is the Spirit of unity (Eph. 4:3). Where there is a loving unity without crushing individuality, the Spirit of God is in control. He seeks unity.

b. Fellowship

The fellowship will be both deep (i.e., honest, intimate, and real), and wide (i.e., inclusive of anyone who cares, who comes, and is a part of the fellowship). It will not be separatistic and superficial fellowship.

c. Worship

An assembly that worships God truly, genuinely, and honestly will have worship that is shared by all. In other words, they will come to honor God, they will come to honor Christ, and they will speak in honor of the Holy Spirit. They will praise God, they will sing praise, they will live praise, and they will talk praise.

d. Evangelism

The Holy Spirit has come to point us to Christ. He is the one who declares Christ. And in a church where the Spirit of God controls, Christ will be declared and evangelism will be spontaneous. It will be top priority. It will be the natural outflow of the lives of the people who make up that assembly.

e. Love

This will be an assembly of people who care about each other. It will be an assembly of people controlled by the attitude of selflessness -- where real love works and where sacrifice is a byword.

f. Obedience

This will be a church that is walking in the path that the Word of God prescribes. It will be a church where spontaneous obedience is the pattern, and where all that ever needs to be said is: "This is what the Bible says," and the response is immediate.

g. Submission to the Lordship of Christ

Christ will rule, and the people will lovingly, joyously, and willingly submit to that rule.

h. Ministry

There will be saints interchanging spiritual gifts. There won't be just a professional pulpit, consisting of hired practitioners, pastors, teachers, and ministers, but there will be the mass of the community of believers ministering their spiritual gifts. If the Spirit of God is thriving in His control of Grace Church, there will be ministry. And the way we minister is by those enablements -- those energizings, those gifts -- that God has given us. It is important for us to understand them. That is why Paul says, "I don't want you to be ignorant of these things" (1 Cor. 12:1). They are vital to ministry.

REVIEW

Now, we have studied the gifted men. God has given to the church Apostles, prophets, evangelists, teaching pastors, and teachers for the purpose of instructing the saints to build them to maturity so they can use their gifts. We are now discussing the specific gifts that belong to the individual believers, through which the Holy Spirit ministers. There are a total of eleven that are mentioned in the New Testament. These eleven gifts are like colors on an artist's palette -- the Holy Spirit mixes these eleven "primary colors" into combinations, so that by the time they are given to you, they are different than they are with anyone else. That is the meaning of 1 Corinthian 12:11: "The Spirit divides to every man individually." No two Christians are alike in the area of their spiritual enablement. We have been studying these primary gifts in order to gain an understanding of all the categories of ministry.

I. THE SPEAKING GIFTS

II. THE SERVING GIFTS  

A. Leadership (Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 12:28)

B. Serving (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28)

C. Giving (Rom. 12:8)

D. Mercy (Rom. 12:8)

Romans 12:8 says, "...he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." Some people, in the body of Christ, have been given the gift of showing mercy. This is one of the gifts that we can be very clear in understanding -- there just isn't that much deviation between what the gift is and how it operates.

1. The Character of God

The word "mercy" is the Greek word eleon. It means "pity," or "mercy," or "compassion." It is a term that is characteristic of the character of God. Psalm 103 contains some marvelous statements about the mercy of God. For example:

a. Verse 8 -- "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."

b. Verse 11 -- "...so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him." How great? "For as the heavens are high above the earth...."

c. Verse 13 -- "As a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him."

God is merciful. God is pitying. God is compassionate. And God grants mercy (Mt. 5:7).

2. The Confusion with Grace

Generally, the concept of mercy is often confused with the concept of grace as they are presented in Scripture. When we talk about God's grace or God's mercy, we sometimes don't distinguish between them. In order to distinguish mercy from grace, I will give a definition and then show how mercy works out in practice.

a. Illuminating the Difference

Grace is extended to men in relation to guilt, which is a result of their sin. Mercy is extended to men in relation to misery, which is a result of their situation. Grace is related to guilt; mercy is related to misery. Grace is God taking care of our sin; mercy is God taking care of the mess we are in.

b. Illustrating the Difference

1) Proverbs 14:20-21 -- "The poor is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich hath many friends." Many people try to get into the rich man's pocketbook, while the poor people don't have many friends. Verse 21 continues, "He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth; but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he." Mercy is not connected with being sinful, but with being poor. Poor people need mercy. This introduces the concept that mercy is related to misery. Mercy is related to a state of being.

2) Proverbs 14:31 -- "He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker...." Why? God doesn't oppress the poor, He reaches out to them. The verse continues, "...but he that honoreth Him hath mercy on the poor." If you want to honor God, have mercy on the poor. Here is the connection: Mercy can be extended to someone who is poor, so it is connected with misery rather than sin.

3) Hosea 4:1-2a -- "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel; for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land" (v. 1). This terrible society oppressed the poor, and no one gave them relief. Relieving a poor man of his poverty is mercy. Instead of anyone helping the poor, there was "swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery..." (v. 2a).

4) Hosea 14:3 -- "...in thee the fatherless findeth mercy." Mercy is connected with poor people and orphans. If you were to trace mercy further through the Old Testament, you would see that God's mercy is relative to man's misery. God is merciful in that He freely, without any merit on our part, takes us out of our misery and meets every need.

You say, "That is the general concept, but how does it relate to the gift? What is the gift of mercy?" The gift of mercy is the same thing. It relates to people who are in need, such as poor people and orphans.

5) Luke 10:25-37 -- Jesus is having a conversation with a rich lawyer. Their dialogue centers on the law. The lawyer desires to know who his neighbor is so that he might inherit eternal life, although he is really testing Jesus. So Jesus responds in verse 30, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side" (vv. 30-31). This was a really strong indictment of the Jewish priesthood. In verse 32, the Levite also passed on the other side. Verse 33 says, "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him."

There is nothing to motivate this man but compassion. If he helps this poor, beaten Jew, he knows he isn't going to receive a great reward from the Samaritans. In fact, he wouldn't even tell a Samaritan because the Samaritans held animosity toward the Jews. And he also wouldn't be popular with his own people by helping this poor, beaten Jew. So, he does this knowing he will never receive any credit from his own people. He does this with absolutely no ulterior motive, knowing there will be no response, no remuneration, and nothing to be gained except the relief that comes from dispensing the compassion that was in his heart. That is the beauty of the selflessness of the operation of a spiritual gift.

Verse 34 continues, "And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Now, this guy was probably in a hurry. We don't know what kind of business he had in Jericho, but he stops and takes the day to take care of this man. He heals his wounds the best he can, takes him to an inn, and takes care of him. Then verse 35 says, "And on the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." You say, "Why did he do this? What did he have to gain? Was this a famous man lying by the road?" No, it doesn't say a thing about him. The Samaritan did it because he had compassion. In his heart there was pity and mercy unmixed with any self- motive.

Then Jesus says to the lawyer, "Which, now, of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise" (vv. 36-37). That is the spirit of mercy. It is giving without any thought of return, and giving to someone who is in misery. It is the poor, the orphans, the mugged, the beat-up, the maimed, the rejected, and the despised who are the recipients of mercy.

6) Matthew 9:27-29 -- "And when Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him; and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." Jesus had mercy. Mercy is eliminating human misery.

7) Matthew 15:21-28 -- "Then Jesus went from there, and departed into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same borders, and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon" (vv. 21-22). Here is a lady whose misery is a demon- possessed daughter. She is also asking for mercy. To the Jewish mind, mercy is related to misery. So, misery can be expressed in poverty, in being an orphan, in being beaten up and left for dead, in being blind, and in having a demon-possessed daughter. It is human suffering. Jesus healed the people who had these miseries -- these terrible sins and diseases.

In this particular case there was an interesting result: "But He answered her not a word" (v. 23a). The reason being that she was a Gentile and Jesus was dealing first with the Jews. But then verses 24-28 says, "But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered and said, It is not right to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made well from that very hour." Such a persistent Gentile He could not turn back, even though His primary ministry was to Israel.

8) Matthew 17:14-15 -- "And when they were come to the multitude, there came to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is epileptic, and greatly vexed; for often he falleth into the fire, and often into the water."

9) Matthew 20:29-31, 34 -- "And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, that they should hold their peace; but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David....So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight...." The fact that mercy is connected with human misery is found throughout the New Testament (Mk. 10:46-47; Lk. 17:11-19).

10) Acts 9:36-40 -- Here we meet a very lovely lady who is dead, but not for long -- Peter raises her from the dead. Verse 36 begins: "Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple, named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas [meaning "gazelle"]; this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did."

In the English language, the word eleemosynary is used to speak of a nonprofit corporation -- it doesn't seek to make a profit. It is considered a charitable organization. The word eleemosynary comes from the Greek word for almsdeeds; eleemosune comes from eleon which means "mercy." So, this could be translated: "The woman was full of good works and mercy deeds." Here is a lady with the gift of mercy.

What do we find out about her mercy deeds? Verse 37 continues: "And it came to pass, in those days, that she was sick, and died; whom, when they had washed, they laid in an upper chamber." Then Peter heard about it, and verse 39 says, "Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber; and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them." The gift of mercy is meeting the misery of orphans, the poor, the sick, the beaten, the abused, and the widows, even if it is making coats or blankets for them. The gift of mercy is doing whatever needs to be done in order to extend compassion and pity to someone in misery. Verse 40 concludes: "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up."

3. The Compassion of the Heart

The gift of mercy is relative to the compassion of the heart, not the giving...that's a different gift. Often these two gifts are given in combination. But mercy emphasizes the compassion of the heart. The idea is conveyed by 1 Corinthians 12:26: "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it...."

a. Sympathy in Suffering

The gift of mercy is the enablement to sympathize with a suffering person -- to come alongside the poor, the sick, the destitute, the orphan, the widowed, and those in prison, and minister. And maybe you won't give them anything, except your heart.

Dr. Criswell tells a beautiful story of a little girl who came home from school and said, "Mommy, my best friend came to school today and said that her mother died." The mother said to her little child, "Well, what did you say to her, dear?" The child replied, "Oh, I didn't say anything, mother. I just went over to her desk, sat beside her, and cried with her." The gift of mercy includes sympathy.

b. Sympathy with Joy

Romans 12:8 says to show mercy with cheerfulness. The Greek word for cheerfulness is hilaros, from which we get hilarious. "With cheerfulness" is to joyously offer sympathy to the sufferer.

Some of you are gifted in the area of mercy. The Spirit of God has given you areas of ministry such as hospital visitation, convalescent homes and shut-ins, the poor, and the needy. Some people have this ministry, and God bless them for it. If God has given you this enablement, use it.

E. Faith (1 Cor. 12:9)

You say, "What is the gift of faith?" Obviously, it is a supernatural capacity for believing God. Obstacles are only challenges to someone with this gift -- they believe what is beyond the visible.

1. Activating the Sovereign

Now, in the early years of the church in the first century, this gift was connected with very astonishing miracles. But in our day, the gift of faith is connected with prayer, and with God's response to prayer as we see Him work. By the gift of faith I don't mean saving faith -- all believers have received that. I don't mean the general faith by which we live -- all believers manifest that. This is a special gift, limited to certain Christians, that involves an intensive ability to trust God -- an unusual capacity to believe God in the face of a storm, in the face of enormous obstacles.

a. Matthew 17:20 -- "...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove...."

b. 1 Corinthians 13:2 -- "...and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains...." The gift of faith can lay hold of the promise of God.

c. Matthew 21:22 -- "And all things, whatever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Faith activates God.

You say, "But I don't always have a lot of faith." Well, you can thank God that someone else has faith on your behalf. When I have a need, I want certain people to know about it because they have the faith to activate the power of God.

2. Assurance in the Storm

Acts 27 provides an illustration of the power of this faith. Paul was in a ship traveling to Rome. There was a storm, the ship was falling apart in the midst the wind, called Euroclydon (Ac. 27:14). Since the ship was being torn to pieces, they frapped it, meaning that they undergirded the hull by tightening it with the winch. They were afraid they were going to go down toward North Africa's coast and be smashed on the Syrtis. So they lowered the gear and were driven with the wind (Ac. 27:15-20). In the midst of this horrible northeaster storm that they thought was going to destroy them all, Paul stood up in verse 21 and said, "...Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (vv. 21b-25). I know some Christians who would be down in the bottom of the ship panicking. So here is Paul on deck, telling everyone to cheer up because they will be all right, in the middle of the severest storm that ever hit the Mediterranean. That is special faith.

3. Acting As Support

This kind of faith supports and undergirds all of us, because all of the gifts edify others. This kind of faith is the power to lay hold of God's promises for the benefit of everybody. As you go through the list of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 -- Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David -- you see their faith strengthening someone else. Throughout the history of the church, there have been thousands of saints who believed God in the face of terrible fear and death, yet who strengthen those around them. Today, there are people with this gift who don't see the obstacles, they just believe God.

Hudson Taylor believed that God could win the Chinese people of his day. Without any money, without any support, and refusing to ask for a penny, he founded the China Inland Mission, and accomplished the greatest work in the history of that nation. George Muller had the same kind of faith. There have been missionaries who have gone into countries and claimed tribes, people, and nations for God. There have been evangelists who have claimed an entire city, an entire county, and an entire country for God, and it has happened in response to faith. And what is exciting is we, who don't have that kind of faith, get caught up and swept along in all the glory of God's work.

When I first came to Grace Church, I was one with not too much faith. I figured that if the Lord was good, by God's grace we might be able to build the church up to a thousand people. But there were some people way beyond me in their faith. Their faith is the engine, and I'm just riding along in one of the cars. I thank God for what He has done in all of our lives because some people activated His power with faith to move beyond obstacles. As a result, I believe God today more than I ever did in the past. I have been a part of seeing His response to the faith of others.

If you have the gift of faith, use it. Spend time on your knees. Spend time believing God and encourage others by allowing them to see what God does in response.

F. Discernment (1 Cor. 12:10)

Add to the serving gifts of leadership, serving, giving, mercy, and faith, the gift of discerning spirits.

1. Evaluating the Spirit

The Greek root for discern, diakrino, means "to judge through, to see through to the truth, to truly evaluate something." So, discerning spirits is simply to evaluate the spirit -- whether it is God, or a spirit other than the Holy Spirit.

2. Exercising the Gift

a. In the Early Church

Now, in the early church, this gift was the watchdog -- the patrol, the guard, the sentinel -- for the church. In the early years of the church the New Testament had not been written, and people would say, "God says...," or "I'm a prophet of God," or "I speak for the Holy Spirit." It was difficult to know who did or did not speak for the Holy Spirit. So, the Spirit of God gave a supernatural ability to certain people who could determine the true from the false. They would say, "That is not the Spirit of God speaking; that is a demon spirit from Satan."

Sadly, the Corinthian church had people with the gift who were either not using it, or when they did use it, they were being ignored by the rest. As a result, someone had actually stood up in the assembly and cursed Jesus, and they had agreed that it was from the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Someone with the gift of discernment should have stood up and said, "That is not the Spirit of God speaking." And they all should have listened to that. In 1 Corinthians 14:29 Paul calls on the Corinthians to exercise the gift: "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge." In other words, "Let them discern, let's have someone checking on what is being said." This is a very important gift for the protection of the church.

1) Rejecting the Counterfeit

Paul illustrates the use of this gift in Acts 16:16-18. There was a young maiden following Paul and Silas. She was saying, "...These men are the servants of the Most High God, who show unto us the way of salvation" (v. 17). That sounds like good PR. Verse 18 continues: "And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." Paul knew that was not the Holy Spirit, but a demon spirit. How did he know? Not by what the spirit said, but God had given him the discernment to know. The gift of discernment in those days was given to recognize the Satanic counterfeit.

Has the gift of discernment ceased?

Some argue that this gift is no longer needed because you can always recognize a counterfeit by comparing that person with Scripture. But I think that is difficult to determine when there is no place in the Scripture that says the gift of discernment has ceased. It is best to allow the gift to shift and change through the flow of the history of the church, so that it can serve any period of history. Today it is just as important to protect the church from impure doctrine as it ever was. Only now the style of operation of the gift is different.

2) Rejecting the Heresies

After the New Testament was complete, a movement arose in the church known as Montanism. It was a disastrous movement in which Montanus claimed to be the only voice of the Holy Spirit. It was very unbiblical. One historian said that the whole Montanist movement was rejected by the church because some in the church discerned that one of his spokesmen, Maximilla, was not speaking from the Spirit of God. As a result, the church denied the credibility of the movement and it was written off as a heresy. God protected the church in those early years from that heresy by some who had the gift of discernment.

The Gift on Gifts

On a certain night, a girl came into the prayer room and began to speak and to pray with one of our staff. He stopped right in the middle and said, "I demand to know what spirit that is. That is not the Holy Spirit." That is the gift of discernment. And praise God that it protected the church from a very difficult situation, and in addition protected her because God delivered her as well.

What is the gift of discernment? It is like "The Committee on Committees" in the United States House of Representatives. Discernment is the gift on gifts. A.T. Robertson says, "It was given to tell whether the gifts were really of the Holy Spirit and supernatural...or...merely...natural or even diabolical!"

3) Rejecting the Hypocrisy

Peter exercised it in Acts 5:3 when Ananias and Sapphira came and supposedly were worshiping God: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...?" How did he know? He had discernment. This kind of gifted Christian can intuitively identify truth from error; hypocrisy from genuineness.

b. In Today's Church

False prophets are everywhere today. I believe there are some people who are gifted by God to unmask these false prophets. Some of them write books to unmask them. I think that some of the people who have done good work on the cults and on the occult may be exercising the gift of discernment. They have the capacity to see through something to the core of its hypocrisy.

The gift can be exercised in many ways today:

1) To Identify Demonism

It can be used to reveal demonism in any form. It can be used to reveal false prophets and spiritual phonies. I have a very dear friend who has this gift. One of the most convincing things to me that this gift still exists is that I see it operate in this person's life. This person can spot a spiritual phony, usually without missing: "Something's wrong in that person's life. I don't know what it is, but something is wrong." While I would blissfully go on, thinking the best, something is wrong. Sometimes, someone will say to me, "You better not put that person in that position. Something is not right." They are protecting the church.

2) To Identify Carnality

I think the gift can even be used to perceive the intrusion of carnal elements into worship. In any ministry throughout the church, there are people who might be ministering in the flesh. And there are some people who can read that, while the rest of us don't know what is going on.

3) To Identify the True Spirit

The gift can discern one in whom the Holy Spirit is genuinely working. My friend will often say to me, "There is a person really energized by the Spirit of God."

4) To Identify Truth from Error

Perhaps the gift of discernment can be used when two Christians are arguing. Instead of going to a pagan court, they are brought before some people who will make a judgment (1 Cor. 6:5). Someone with the gift of discernment might be able to determine who is right and who is wrong.

Those people with this gift are the watchmen of the church. I don't have any reason to believe that this gift has ceased. I do have reason to believe that the ministry is altered from what it was in the first century. But I want to warn you: This gift can easily deteriorate into critical, proud condemnation and degenerate into a judgmental spirit when operated in the flesh.

So, there are the six categories of serving gifts: leadership, supervise the saints; serving, support the leaders; giving, supply the needy; mercy, sympathize with the sick, the poor, and the destitute; faith, secure God's power; and discernment, save the saints from the counterfeits. All of these dimensions, together with the speaking gifts, make the church mature in Christ. We have seen the eleven primary colors on the palette of the Spirit, as He paints the portrait of Christ on the canvas of the church. They are a beautiful combination designed to reveal Christ, but they only really work when you are faithful to minister in your area of giftedness.

Focusing on the Facts

1. In what two ways does the Spirit of God indwell the body of Christ? 

2. Why should the Holy Spirit be in control of all believers? What is the result when He is not? 

3. What are the eight indicators of the Holy Spirit's control of the church? Explain each one. 

4. What is the meaning of mercy? 

5. In what ways is God merciful, according to Psalm 103? 

6. What is the difference between God's grace and God's mercy? 

7. If you want to honor God, what is one thing you can do? (Prov. 14:31)

8. How is God merciful to us? 

9. How is the gift of mercy different from grace? 

10. Why did the Samaritan help the man who had been beaten up? What were his motives? What kind of reward would he receive? What kind of reward would he not receive? 

11. What is another way to translate almsdeeds? What were Tabitha's "almsdeeds"? (Ac. 9:39)

12. What characteristic does the gift of mercy emphasize? 

13. What is a good word for describing the action of the gift of mercy? 

14. What is the gift of faith? 

15. What was the gift of faith connected with in the early days of the church? What is it connected with in our day? 

16. How did Paul manifest special faith in the midst of the storm in Acts 27:15-25? 

17. How is the gift of faith able to support and undergird other believers? Give some examples. 

18. What does discern mean? What is the gift of discerning spirits? 

19. How was the gift of discernment used in the early days of the church? What happened in the Corinthian church when the gift was not exercised? 

20. What are some of the things that the gift of discernment is able to reject? Support your answer with some illustrations. 

21. Why can the gift of discernment be considered as the gift on gifts? 

22. In what ways can the gift of discernment be exercised today? 

23. What is the danger of discernment when it is operated in the flesh? 

Pondering the Principles

1. Look up the following verses: Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 78:38-39; Lamentations 3:22-23; Luke 1:50; Ephesians 2:4-7; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 4:16; 8:12. In your own words, how would you describe God's mercy towards you? How much does God forgive? According to Psalm 78:39, what does God remember about man? How long does God's mercy last? According to Ephesians 2:4-7, what has God done for us? What must we do to obtain God's mercy? For how long does God remember our sins? How does your practice of mercy to others compare with God's mercy towards you? Take this moment to ask God to help you to learn more of His mercy so that you might reflect more of Him to others.

2. Read Luke 10:25-37. What motivates you to serve Christ? Do you do everything without any regard for reward or acknowledgment, or do you hope that someone will recognize what you are doing? Perhaps you have an opportunity right now, like the Samaritan, to help someone by showing mercy to them in their need. Do not delay, but be a true neighbor to this person by showing the love of Christ. Allow the compassion of your heart to move you to act without any thought of what you might receive.

3. Read Hebrews 11. What characteristics of faith can you find that are exemplified by these heroes of faith? Which of these characteristics are true of your faith? Which ones are not? According to verse 13, what happened to the group of heroes in verses 4-12 before they could see God's promises? According to verses 36-39, what happened to this group before they could see God's promises? What does this tell you about faith? How does this relate to your own personal faith? In what ways does your faith need to grow? To help you in your striving to grow in your faith, memorize Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."