1 Corinthians 12: 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
10 and to another the workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the [g]distinguishing of spirits,
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has [o]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then [p]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
Romans 12: 6 but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, [d]in agreement with the faith; 7 or [e]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
Well, we continue this morning with our study of the Spiritual gifts. Today we will consider the distinguishing of spirits, and service, or helps. And as we have done with each of the gifts, I wanted to encourage you to exercise your gifts. Christians can become idle in the exercise of their gifts. Sometimes Christians fail to exercise their gifts because they don’t understand what their gift is. They may become complacent because they don’t immediately recognize a place where they can exercise their gifts. And sometimes they can busy themselves out of being available to exercise their gift. I heard a story about a man who applied for a job as a handyman. The prospective employer asked, "Can you do carpentry?" The man said, “No.” "How about bricklaying?" again the man answered, "No." The employer asked, "Well, what about electrical work?" The man said "No, I don’t know anything about that either." Finally, the employer said, "Well, tell me then what is handy about you?" The man replied, "I live just around the corner."
And it’s a an overused statement, but a true one, that the Lord is not so concerned about you ability, but rather your availability. With that thought in mind, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
We begin today with…
The Scripture passage where we find this gift listed is…
1 Corinthians 12: 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
10 and to another the workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the [g]distinguishing of spirits,
And this is how I defined this gift on our list of Spiritual gifts. “Detecting a genuine or spurious motive by distinguishing the spirit-source behind any person's speech or act.”
Let me be begin by dividing this gift into its use in the time of the 1st century, and its use now.
A person with the gift of the distinguishing of spirits is someone who sort out genuine people from disingenuous people. They get a “sense” about people and whether they are being totally upfront about their motives. But in the first century it served an added purpose. Because the New Testament Scripture wasn’t yet available, there was a danger of the deception of the church. A preacher or teacher could come into a church and begin teaching false doctrine. And since they didn’t have the New Testament Scripture to judge the teaching by, they might be deceived. So, someone in the church, who had the gift of discerning the spirits, perceived that they were false.
If you want to get a quick idea of what this gift is, think of a lie detector test. The theory behind the lie detector test is that when someone is lying, certain physiological changes take place. Their Heart rate and blood pressure go up. Their breathing rate and depth changes. They start sweating.
The person with the gift of spiritual discernment is like a spiritual lie detector. Except, the person with this gift detects more than lies, they detect the evil, good, or benign spirit behind a person’s words or actions.
But now that we have the complete Scripture, we don’t test people’s teaching by this gift. We test it like the Bereans in Acts 17 did. We look at what a person says, and then we search the Scripture to see if it is actually true. But there is an exercise of this gift that continues today.
Christians and non-Christians are led by the spiritual world. Christians are directed, and non-Christians are convicted by the Holy Spirit. They can both be deceived by an evil spirit. And they both have their own spirit as well. There’s an invisible world around us, and some people are especially gifted by God to be in tune with that world.
You may be familiar with believers like this. They perceive that someone that they just met is a Christian. They are individuals who can discern when something is “off” about someone. I’ve had people come up to me in conversation, and say, “Do you know Mr. Such in such?” I think we need to be careful with him. There’s something wrong there. It may be that they perceive when that person is lying, or they may perceive them becoming too friendly, or they see through their baloney when the rest of us may be oblivious.
This spiritual gift is a supernatural perception. Now let me qualify this a little bit. This is not just someone who is good at reading people. We just talked about a lie detector. Well, there are some general ways that people act when they are up to no good. And there are particular characteristics of people who are involved in certain sins. I think most people, Christian or not, can spot someone who is false, to one degree or another. And often we can spot people based on our personal experience.
For example, we’ll have people show up to church asking for money, or gas, or food. And we will help, within certain limits. But after we help, one of the deacons might say to me, “That guy reeked of marijuana, or alcohol.” I don’t always pick up on that. I notice the smell, but I don’t recognize it, because I haven’t been around it. But if you grew up in a household familiar with substance abuse, you spot it immediately. Other people may have grown up around abuse of different sorts or lived with a pathological liar. So, they can see that in others very quickly. To put it bluntly, just because you can spot a drunk, or a liar, doesn’t automatically mean that you have this gift.
But spiritual discernment is something beyond that. It is the Holy Spirit of God within you, seeing the spirit in another person, and communicating with your spirit their quality or character.
Let me show you an example from Scripture that may help clarify our understanding.
Acts 5: But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s [a]full knowledge. And bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?
Notice what has happened here. There were people who were needy and with no means of support in the church in Jerusalem. So, believers who had the means were selling what they had to provide for the poor. And the church was distributing the given resources. It was a beautiful and harmonious expression of love. Nobody was forcing anyone. But there was a married couple in the church named Anaias and Sapphira. They had a piece of property. They saw the praise given to others who sold property and gave it to the church. They wanted the praise, but they didn’t want to lose all the money from the sale of their property. So, they privately decided together that they would sell the property, keep part of the money, but tell the church that they gave all the money from the sale. Have their cake and eat it to. It was sin. The sin was not in keeping part of the money. The sin was lying, and hypocrisy. Ananias was hypocritically professing that his giving was Spiritually motivated. He was professing that he was doing what Jesus had told his 12 disciples and the rich young ruler; “Sell what you have and give to the poor.”
Now, that’s another sermon. But in regard to discerning spirits. They brought the money to Peter. Peter didn’t have any inside information about how much the property sold for. But the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter the truth. Peter supernaturally perceived what they had done, called them out on it.
And we need this gift. Because deception is running rampant in our world, and in our churches.
Let’s look at the next gift.
1 Corinthians 12: 7 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has [o]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then [p]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
Romans 12: 6 but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, [d]in agreement with the faith; 7 or [e]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
I have defined the gift of service or helps as, “seeing tasks and doing them for or with someone in order to lift external burdens.”
In 1st Corinthians the gift we come to now is called “helps.” In Romans it is called “service.” And, in general, I think these refer to the same thing. But we are going to look at each one in order to get a full understanding.
In 1st Corinthians the word is helps. It is the gift of “helps.” And it is a very general term for anyone who gives aid, assistance, or help. It is very general. It could be someone who gives help to the poor, widows, or orphans. It could also refer to people like Aquila and Priscilla who were called Paul’s “helpers.” They helped him in his missionary ministry.
It is seen in the role of the deacon, who is specifically called to do some of the mundane tasks that are necessary for the life of the church, so that the elders can dedicate themselves to the Word of God and prayer.
And in Scripture it doesn’t refer to a specific type of work. The gift is simply stepping in and “helping.” “Doing things that need to be done.” And it is really a beautiful gift. This is the person who sees a need, and immediately steps in to address the need.
I think we all have some measure of this gift. There comes a time when everyone is called on to pitch in and help. But we also have people who are gifted in this area. They are people who just seemingly, naturally see tasks that need to be completed, and step in to complete them. I suspect that you are already thinking of people that you know who always do this. They are usually behind the scenes. They see dishes that need to be washed, tables that need to be wiped, lightbulbs that need to be changed, doors that need to be unlocked, trash that needs to be taken out, doors that need to be held open, help that needs to be given.
And just as some people are particularly in tune with the spiritual world, having the gift of discernment, others are particularly aware of others needs.
I’ll tell you someone that I believe had this gift in our church was Ben Holcomb. He came to this church and saw things that needed done, and he did them. Weeds, mowing. He was up here one day during the week, on his hands and knees, scrubbing a spot on the carpet. And he also was a very charitable man. If he saw a problem with your car, he offered to look at it and fix it. I think you can easily identify him as a man who had the gift of helps.
To further clarify, let me point out a couple of examples from Scripture.
Acts 9: 36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called [p]Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and charity which she continually did. 37 And it happened [q]at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. 38 Now since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, pleading with him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” 39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, crying and showing all the [r]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
Here is a Christian woman named Tabitha who had died. She was not a leader or teacher. She has never been mentioned before this or after. So what was her contribution to the church? “she was full of good works and charity which she continually did” and she made “tunics and garments” likely as part of her charitable work. I think it can easily be said that she had the gift of helps. It’s also likely that she had the gift of mercy, which we will get to later.
Now that word “helps” was used in the list of Spiritual gifts in 1st Corinthians. Let’s look at a second word used in the list in Romans, service.
Romans 12: 6 but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, [d]in agreement with the faith; 7 or [e]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
I wanted to look at the definition of this word because it further defines this gift. The word here is translated “relief” or ministry or service. It is the same word from which we get our word deacon. Deacons are called to be in an official position of service in the church. You say, “What’s their job description?” And here is where I think there has been a lot of confusion in churches. Deacons are often ordained in churches, but their job is determined more by tradition, than by Scripture.
In some churches, if you become a deacon, you are a part of almost a church board that decides the direction of the church. They make the decisions of the church. In other churches all the deacons do if take up the offering and serve the Lord’s supper. In some churches, deacons are in charge of hospital visitation. The problem with all of that is that the word deacon just means “servant.” So, that means that as a group they are to see what needs to be done and do it. It may involve some hospital visitation, it may involve some leadership or building maintenance. It is not narrowly defined as just one thing.
And the word is not just used for the official job of a deacon. It is used for all sorts of acts of service. For example, you remember the story of Jesus and His disciples visiting Mary and Martha. And how Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Jesus, but Martha was busy with “preparations.” You recall what happened.
Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted with [a]all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the [b]preparations alone? Then tell her to help me.”
Now, we’re not here to rehash this story, but the point we want to make is that the word for “preparations” here is the same word for service in the spiritual gifts. That means that she was busy doing what needed to be done to host and care for her company. Was she cooking? most definitely. Was she cleaning? Probably. Was she rearranging space and gathering utensils and getting water, all of that. So, service is simply doing what needs to be done to care for the present needs of whoever you are serving.
It is just a general term for service.
Ephesians 4: 11 And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ,
And let me say this. I’ve known many people with this gift. And many have something in common besides their service. They have a low view of their value. “I don’t do anything.” Maybe that comes because in order to serve, you have to be especially humble. Paul addressed that issue in the Corinthian church. Some people were elevating themselves because they had the showier gifts. And others were devaluing themselves because they had the more humble gifts.
1 Corinthians 12: 14 For also the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason [j]any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason [k]any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has appointed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, how much more is it that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, 23 and those members of the body which we think as less honorable, [l]on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no such need. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no [m]division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is [n]honored, all the members rejoice with it.
All that to say that the gift of service and helps is not just some lowly gift. Do you know who are called servants in the Bible?
Hebrews 1:14 uses it to describe the function of angels. 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
Do you know who else was called a servant?
Matthew 12:18 “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in Whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom.
Now, having read all of that, let me reinforce the truth that this gift, like many of the gifts, has a measure in every Christian. We are all servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are to all serve one another. But some people a special gift in this area. They just want to jump in and help. Whatever they can do, they want to do it. And really acts of service are the backbone of the church.
Let me close with this illustration. During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war.
First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.
Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.'"
Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "faces to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission.
Don McCullough, Waking from the American Dream.