Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If you have only the fruit of the Spirit, and you're loving, and you have peace, but you have no gifts that equip you, then it's wonderful.
You're a very peaceful person, but you can't help very many people, because the needs of people are greater than our capacity to help them. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Word and Spirit, The Beauty of Balance, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. Now, if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you this resource, today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. You ready for some good news? Every single Christian, every single Christian, every person who trusts in Christ, is granted a massive spiritual inheritance that far exceeds what our minds can actually comprehend. And so often what we do is we minimize it. We think it couldn't be for me. I've been too sinful. I'm not holy enough.
I'm not righteous enough. Or we're taught against these things. But what I want to show you today is that there is a massive, glorious spiritual inheritance for every single Christian, gifts of the Spirit and fruit of the Spirit. Not just gifts, not just fruit, but the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit for every single believer. We're talking about balance. And in the idea of balance, what we mean is not like staying in this safe little middle zone where we have just a little bit of this or a little bit of that. But balance in the sense of the Scripture says Jesus came full of grace and truth. It didn't mean that he was 50% grace and 50% truth. Sometimes he's a little bit of grace and sometimes a little bit of truth.
Not like us. As parents, we know this especially much. There are some days it's like, I've got lots of grace. Oh, that's all right. Yeah, that's the fourth time you spilled the milk.
Okay, we love you. Other days you got lots of truth. Let me tell you right now. And yet Jesus was full of grace, full of truth. You can't have too much grace. You can't have too much truth.
There's no such thing as that. But if you had all grace and no truth, you'd be loving, but you'd be in deception. If you had all truth but no grace, then you'd have it right, but you'd probably be a Pharisee and hardly anybody would want to be around you.
Well, in the same way, I want to talk to you today about the gifts of the Holy Spirit wherein the Holy Spirit comes upon you, equipping you for service and ministry and the upbuilding of the body of Christ in supernatural ways, but also the Holy Spirit is at work in your life to transform the character of your life. There's no such thing as having too many gifts for the Spirit. You can't say, oh, that person's just too anointed, that person's just too gifted.
There's no such thing as that. And you can't have too much of the character of Christ either. You can't have too much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. But both are necessary because if we have just the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit, then we may have powerful things that get done in the name of Jesus, but without any Christian character, then we not only have brought a terrible witness upon the kingdom of God, but we've probably hurt people along the way. And if you have only the fruit of the Spirit and you're loving and you have peace, but you have no gifts that equip you, then it's wonderful. You're a very peaceful person, but you can't help very many people because the needs of people are greater than our capacity to help them. That's the one thing I've found out in ministry over the last three decades. The needs of people are far greater than any human capacity to help them.
And just having a good character might make them have some assurance that you're loved, and that's a wonderful thing. But what people need for their healing and transformation is something that is supernatural. And so we want to be supernaturally equipped, and we also want to have the character of Christ. So I have an ambitious goal this morning to give you a brief overview of the gifts of the Spirit and of the fruit of the Spirit, talk about some of the distinctness of the gifts of the Spirit and what we can learn from that, and how it is that you can sow into the Spirit rather than the flesh. Can we get all that done in 25 minutes and do some baptisms?
Yes, we can do it. All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I want to read some, read some in 12 and then some of 13 and then one verse of 14, because this is one of the most important places where spiritual gifts are discussed in the Scripture. Starting at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1, Paul writes, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be ignorant in other translations.
I don't want you to not know about it. So there's something about not knowing about the spiritual gifts that can keep you from being able to fully embrace the gifts that God has for you. So if you learn about the spiritual gifts, then it may be they're gifts that God's already given you and you're not even aware of it.
And so you're not using it. Or there could be that they're gifts that God really wants for you to have, and He's ready for you to earnestly desire that. And maybe today He's going to impart the beginning of a gift or going to fan in the flame a gift.
I don't want you to be ignorant about this. Verse 4, there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it's the same God who empowers them all and everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All of these are empowered by one and the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as He wills. For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but many.
If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to part of the body, that would not any less make it a part of the body. Okay, jump over to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.
And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I'm nothing. If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing. And then in the next chapter, chapter 14, 1 Corinthians verse 1, pursue love, that's the fruit of the Spirit, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy. Now if you would just turn to Galatians, just a couple more chapters, just one book to the right, Galatians, and I'll lead you to verse 16. Galatians 5 verse 16. Galatians 5 verse 16. But I say, this is Paul again writing, I say, but walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
That's an amazing promise, right? Walk, walk by the Spirit, and you'll not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.
For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Which parentheses, much talked about verse, does this mean that a Christian who then becomes an alcoholic loses his salvation?
No, because it would absolutely violate everything else that we know about when you're adopted as a child, you're adopted, and God's your Father. I think what this means is that if a person is continually manifesting only these works of the flesh, then you have to question whether that person ever really has known Christ, or could be saying, some interpreters would say, what Paul could be saying is that if you're sowing into the flesh and all these things, the kingdom of God's already at hand, but you're going to just really be missing it all. Might mean both those things. Verse 22, and here we come to the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. All word, no spirit, you dry up. All spirit, no word, you blow up. Both word and spirit, you grow up. When you make a gift of support this month, we'll send you Alan Wright's newest audio album on CD or digital download, titled Word and Spirit.
It's about the beauty of balance. Embrace the fullness of God's Word and his Spirit and grow like never before. With word and spirit, you'll grow up and you'll be helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries, you'll be broadcasting the love of God to thousands every day. Call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website, pastoralan.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Alan Wright. Another important place that you could see some additional spiritual gifts that are listed is in Romans chapter 12. I don't think that that's the complete list of all of the gifts of the Spirit, but God can gift us in many, many different ways. But in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, two important places where the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are listed.
There's so many different kinds of gifts and everybody gets a different sort of gift. I had a real chuckle this week. I was reading a joke about a time during the French Revolution and there were three Christians who had been sentenced to be executed by the old French style of the guillotine. And so the first guy gets up and he said, I'm a Christian.
I'm not afraid to die. And he said, and I have the gift of faith. And he said, I just believe that I'm not going to die today. And so they put him down, put his neck down there. They pulled the rope and the blade just wouldn't come down. It was like it was stuck. And everybody said, well, it must be that this is a sign from God.
They let him go. Next a Christian got up. He said, I want you to know I'm a Christian. I'm not afraid to die. He said, but I have the gift of prophecy.
And the Lord has shown me that I'm going to be spared this today. And they pulled the rope, blade didn't come down. They were in awe. And so they set him free. A third man got up and he said, I want you to know I'm a Christian.
I'm not afraid to die. And I have the gift of serving, what we sometimes call the gift of helps. And so they put him down into the device and he looked up and he was looking at some of the gears in it and the ropes and saw something and he said, hey, wait a minute guys.
I think I see what the problem is here. There's so many different gifts in the body of Christ. And the point of this is every single gift is important in the body of Christ.
There is no reading of the scripture with the exception of this one instance where Paul says that I really would want you to be able to prophesy. He doesn't really highlight one gift like tongues or something and say, oh, it's more important than teaching or serving or giving. Let me give you a real quick overview of these. And I'm going to go lightning fast through a listing of these and just say that if you want to learn more about this, if you're in one of the sermon-based community groups here at Reynolda, you'll be studying this this week. And there is a handout that I've prepared that has an overview of these gifts on it.
If you're not in one of those groups, you can pick one of these up at the Welcome Center. And it has one paragraph, a brief description of what these gifts are because Paul said, I don't want you to be ignorant about the spiritual gifts. And so let me just give you real quickly, starting with some of the ones that are listed in Romans 12 that we didn't look at.
And then I'll add the ones that we read from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 prophecy. A lot of people mistake this and think that this is like fortune telling, like it's like telling the future or that it's telling people what to do. And that's exactly what prophecy is not. The New Testament perspective of prophecy is it where you, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, get a scripture, an image, a word or something that is consistent with the scripture that is meant for the encouragement, edification or the comfort of someone else. And what makes it distinct is that the Lord has a way of identifying either with the need, emotion, thought or some other capacity of letting the person receiving that word know it's truly God who is speaking. Sometimes it'd be because nobody but God could have known that or said that. Or sometimes it's just something you've heard before, but it's so blessed of the Lord in that moment that you know it's God's word to you.
And that's really what prophecy is. And it's so powerful for the help, encouragement, the healing, transformation of persons, the gift of ministering or helps or service as it's called in the ESV. It's just a Spirit-given ability to serve in a great supporting role with joy and with diligence. Every single Christian is called to serve, but people who have this gift love it. And you can and you can serve and you never go, oh, why am I having to do this? And you love seeing people released in their ministry. You love coming alongside somebody.
It's a beautiful gift. There's absolutely no way that the church of Jesus Christ goes forward without lots of people that have that gift and use it. The gift of teaching, not just being a talented teacher, but a supernatural unction to be able to effectively relate the word of God. Exhorting is really to say encouraging. It comes from the same word that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit, the parakleitos.
Exhorter is one who comes alongside. It's like a coach that may challenge sometimes, but it's never in a sense of you ought to, it's in a sense of you can. That's what it communicates to somebody. If you get around somebody who has a gift of encouragement, it gives you courage to do what God has called you to do. The gift of giving, every Christian is called to give and every Christian is called to generosity and every Christian is called to make giving be the first priority of their financial stewardship of their life.
There's no question about that. Every single Christian, we are called by God. If you want to live according to the design of God, have the blessings of God flowing in and through you, then you prioritize your life so that you can be a giver. Every single Christian. But I'm telling you, there are some people, they have just got the gift of generosity because they absolutely just love, love, love to give.
Would give everything away if they could, would just love to be able to do that. And we need people like that in the body of Christ. Listen, some of you, God has made you affluent and put you in a position where you're able to do a lot. And I just celebrate that and we thank you for it. And if God prospers you and you can give a lot, you are making one of the most gigantic impacts in the body of Christ. It is an astounding thing.
It's not celebrated enough because we always try to be a little bit private about people's giving habits, but it's just a wonderful, wonderful gift. And some of you have this gift, fan it into flame. Don't ever be afraid of that gift. Boy, I tell you, I wish all of you could have met King Brown. Oh, I can't wait till you get to heaven and you get to meet King Brown. If you've never met King, first time I ever met King, he looked down.
First time I ever met him, a 34-year-old young preacher come into this church. He looked at me, he said, what size shoe do you wear? I said, well, it's a nine. He said, you know, I found a great pair at the Goodwill last week. I said, what?
And I thought, who is that? He said, yeah. He said, nobody should buy their shoes anywhere except for Goodwill. He said, why go over here? Brother, pastor, he said, why go over here and spend $60 for a pair of shoes at the store?
You can get a perfectly good pair down here for $2 at the Goodwill and that leaves you $58 to give to the missionaries. It's the way he lived his life. He was a mail carrier and he mowed lawns and was one of the biggest givers we had in the church in the history of the church. It's a gift of generosity. The gift of leading or governing or ruling, it can be called. Some people just have an anointing.
It's a servant attitude, but they have an anointing to be able to lead others and people want to follow in the body of Christ. The gift of mercy. When you have the gift of mercy, you are given a supernatural capacity to feel what other people are feeling. Maybe you have this gift and you wonder, why is it I get around people and sometimes something will just move me?
I don't even know this person. Sometimes you'll be moved to tears. You might be awakened in the middle of the night with compassion for somebody, or you might just have a deep hurt that you feel when you're around somebody and you don't even know why. You have a gift of mercy. What God does with that is he puts you in touch with what they're feeling so that you can intercede for them and care for them. It doesn't mean that you need to own their problem, but it does mean that God is supernaturally using you. Those are all listed in Romans 12.
Here's some in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, word of wisdom. This is not intelligent or common sense or a kind of wisdom like that. This is more like what Solomon had when in a unique situation, like you remember that story where these two women come, they both claim the same baby was there and Solomon's like, how could we really get to the bottom of this? He said, I'll tell you what, let's just cut the baby in half. And then of course the true mother said, no, no, no, of course not. Because the true mother would have had such love for the baby and never want to. Well, that was a word of wisdom apt for that situation where sometimes God will give you in a given situation with an individual or a group of people, a word, an utterance that comes from him.
It's not something you thought up because you were smart enough. It's just, this is what should be spoken. This is what should be shared right now for the handling of this situation so that there will be peace and understanding and encouragement and we can move forward. This is a beautiful, beautiful gift that some of you may have and you never known you had it. The utterance of knowledge, the word of knowledge, we generally share these most every week at the end of the service. We ask our ministry team to be praying, Lord, is there something on your heart today that you would like to do? See the invitation of the Scripture and this is just God's plan. It's not that we wake up in the morning and we say, God, I'm going to do some wonderful things today. Will you please bless it? Instead, what a life with God and the Spirit is, is you wake up in the morning, you say, God, you're going to do some wonderful things today. I'd like to cooperate with it.
What are you going to do? You follow the cloud, you follow the Holy Spirit, you keep up in step with the Spirit. And I don't understand the ways of God. Why would God sometimes just lift up a particular need? Sometimes it's because it just flows right out of a sermon that's being preached or a song or something that God wants to confirm that.
Or sometimes there's just something that the Lord is just so gracious. He just wants to build your faith. I was talking to one of the prayer ministers this morning. He said, I'm just praying about this. He said, but I just kept getting the image of an elbow this morning.
And he said, I just wonder if there's something wrong with somebody's elbow that the Lord wants to heal today. Well, we would mention that to you. It might be that it's for you. It's a supernatural thing.
All right. So that's what a word of knowledge is. Faith, the gift of faith. Oh, I love being around people who got a gift of faith. People have a gift of faith.
That's what I call crazy faith. I mean, these people, they believe that mountain. So what? It's a mountain.
It can move into the heart of the sea. So what? That seems like a big obstacle to you.
That's no big deal. Are you talking about God's a mighty God? He's able to do the incredible exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all that we think, all that we imagine. These Hugh boys that are going over to start a professional Christian basketball team in Taiwan, starting it from scratch because they've got faith that they're going to be able to reach thousands of kids with the gospel and adults with the gospel. And I believe it with them. What's the gift of faith that's working within them, right? And sometimes you look at people that give them faith.
They go, Oh man, are they, are you out of your mind? But the gift of faith, God moves through it. There's a gift of healing.
Everybody can be used by God for healing, but some people, this is a regular way that God's spirit manifests through you. Alan Wright, putting a bookmark here in this teaching fruit and gifts. We'll have more in our next broadcast.
It's in the series, the beauty of balance. Hey, stick with us. Alan Wright is back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word. If you've ever thought that being filled with the Holy Spirit meant shutting off your mind, you're in for a wonderful surprise. God's word and God's spirit were never meant to be separated. Word and spirit always belong together.
The key to abundant life in Christ isn't knowing your Bible. The secret isn't being filled with the spirit. The answer is both word and spirit. Though some traditions emphasize studying scripture and some traditions emphasize the spirit, the path to real Christian growth is the fullness of both word and spirit. As someone once said, all word, no spirit, you dry up. All spirit, no word, you blow up. Both word and spirit, you grow up. When you make a gift of support this month, we'll send you Alan Wright's newest audio album on CD or digital download titled Word and Spirit.
It's about the beauty of balance. Embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit and grow like never before. With word and spirit, you'll grow up and you'll be helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries, you'll be broadcasting the love of God to thousands every day. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Alan, I love the way you've broken this down here between fruit and gifts because there is a balance and there is a difference between the two. And do you say that we all have some of each?
Yeah, absolutely. When you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit and it's something that's true of every single Christian. Well, the Holy Spirit is in our life.
He's the spirit of Jesus. And so he's going to produce fruit of love and joy and peace. But every single Christian also has gifts. But here's the thing that we're learning is that both the fruit in our lives and the gifts can be cultivated as we grow in the Lord. And it's not really so much about, oh, you have more of the Holy Spirit, but in a sense, the Holy Spirit has more of you. And so both our effectiveness and power for ministry and our character, both these are growing alongside of each other. So gifts is about power and effectiveness for ministry and fruit is about the maturing of our character. And both are essential and both are guaranteed to the Christian who wants to grow.
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