Sabbath: The Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit
Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Cor. 12:4-7, 1 Cor 12:11; Eph. 4:7; 1 Cor. 12:14-31; Rom. 12:3-8; 1 John 4:1-3.
Memory Text: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, NKJV).
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
Going away on a long business trip, a man left his son in charge of the household, with a specific task to do. But the son soon realized that his father had not provided him with the necessary means and tools to accomplish that task. Frustrated, the son had to leave it undone.
Likewise, when Jesus left His disciples and went to be with His Father in heaven, He gave them a specific task: preach the good news of the gospel to the world. But Jesus did not leave His disciples unequipped. What He commanded them to do He enabled them to do, but in His name and through the power and help of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 1:4-7, Paul gives thanks “for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him . . . so that you are not lacking in any gift” (NASB). Spiritual gifts are given through the Holy Spirit in Christ to build His church.
This week we will study the Holy Spirit as the Sovereign Giver of God’s remarkable gifts and look at the difference between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 25.
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It is true that all the fruits of the Holy Spirit are God-given and love binds them all.
It means then that our diversity is an asset not a liability, it is by Gods design. Throught the holy spirit we are one though many. We are essential components of that whole the Bible speak of as "one" "that we all may be one"
If you could have the gifts of the Holy Spirit without the fruit you would be like Simon the sorcerer who wanted to buy the Holy Spirit to use its power.
The gifts without the fruit would be a curse to us and those we associate with just like Simon was told.
Between the gifts and the fruits of the holy spirit, which one prompts and complement the other?
Hi Simeon, The "fruit of the Spirit"/Love, complements the gifts of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that even if we have all the gifts of the Spirit and we do not impart them with the unction of love it is worthless. The fruit of the Spirit speaks of our characters while the gifts of the Spirit speaks of our abilities. We all should display the fruit of the Spirit(which is love) while on the other hand the gifts of the Spirit are more specialized (given to whomever the Spirit decides). The overarching principle is that Love gives substance to the gifts that we are given by the Holy Spirit.
God bless
Thank you for the thought. I had this concept in my head, but you put it all together in such a wonderful way.
Thank you for the amazing lessons which help us see God's love in a new light every week. Knowing that God did not only give us His Son but also gave us strength as well as the tools needed to partake with Him in accomplishing the great commission greatly magnifies His love and the value He has placed on every soul. Lets make use of this light as it makes His service more attractive and surrendering our weaknesses to Him a priority.
As we accept Christ as our personal Saviour, He rewards us with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and the fruit of the Spirit (refer to Galatians 5: 22, 23) will begin to manifest itself in our lives, producing the character of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He also bestows upon each follower spiritual gifts to be applied in the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world. These gifts include faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration, reconciliation, compassion, self-sacrificing service, charity etc. They are given by the Holy Spirit to enable such a follower of Jesus to contribute towards the church's effort to fulfill its divine mission. Clearly therfore these gifts are for the edification of the church. Paul said "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills" (verse 11). It makes sense to be a Christian!
Maybe instead of "using" the fruit of the Spirit, we should allow the fruit to motivate us through life--letting the Holy Spirit be in charge of our will.
Please help me here i am a bit confused do we -as Seventh Day Adventist still believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that include prophecy and instant healing, Baptismal Vow # 8 reads as follows "Do you accept the Biblical teaching of spiritual gifts, and do you believe that the gift of prophecy in the remnant church is one of the identifying marks of that church? why then after the death of E.G White the church was left without a prophet, was it because no one was capable of assuming the role or the whole EGW prophetess was fake.
Surely we still believe in these things,including instant healing. The problem is that in the last days the devil will also operate tremendous miracles like instant healing and many more, so it would be dangerous for Adventist members. That's why Paul warned us about it. Let's not expect a lot of miracles because we can even get them done by the evil and if wasn't for the protection of God, every body would be deceived. God loves you and I.
In Biblical times, God raised up a prophet when there was a specific need at a specific time. If His people needed special guidance, a prophet would be given visions. In my opinion, Desire, if we had need of a major prophet again, God would provide us one (and who knows? maybe we will, before Christ comes), but Sr. White's counsels take us right through end times to Christ's second advent. We have all the guidance we need to get us to heaven--we don't often read the counsels or accept them, but we have them.
Also, don't forget that the gift of prophecy is not only manifested in visions. Just because we don't currently have a prophet (or prophetess) who gets constant messages from God doesn't mean that the gift of prophecy is not alive and well in God's remnant people (who, by the way, are not all SDA's!). When someone is inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak or write messages to inspire or instruct someone else, it is quite possible that person is evidencing the gift of prophecy.
As to instant healing, it still happens, just not with the frequency it did in Bible times; we are so oriented in our present world to the sensational, I feel that miracles might be misinterpreted by many and fail to draw people to Christ, as they were intended to do. I believe God often uses traditional and natural medicine to perform miracles today. But, if God sees that an instant healing would result not only in the person's physical healing but also in a spiritual healing--perhaps for the person's family, as well, He certainly could use someone on whom the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of healing.