Spiritual Gifts

  • Gift-giver and Protector

    Ephesians 4:7–12

    “The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still” is the cry of the believer’s confidence in the protecting work of Christ. We may suffer in this world, but in Jesus we are kept from everlasting destruction. We ...Read More

  • A Cause to Glory in Christ Jesus

    Philippians 1:25–26

    In saving us from sin, death, and His holy wrath, our God has placed us in a community that, according to His sovereign determination, needs our gifts and talents. To refuse to serve the body of Christ is tantamount to ...Read More

  • Every Member Ministry

    Ephesians 4:12-13

    Do you consider yourself a minister in the church? Although you might never be ordained to a church office, your gifts are critical to the healthy functioning of Christ’s body. Determining your specific role may not be easy, but ...Read More

  • Sovereign Gifting

    Ephesians 4:7

    Christ bestows gifts upon His people as He sees fit, guaranteeing that all of us have an important part to play in the advance of His kingdom (1 Cor. 12:1–11). As Christians, then, we must truly appreciate the ...Read More

  • The Pastor’s Progress

    1 Timothy 4:14-15

    John Calvin writes, “To neglect a gift is carelessly to keep it unemployed through slothfulness, so that, having contracted rust, it is worn away without yielding any profit.” Some of us know what our gifts are but are not using ...Read More

  • A Call to Self-Examination

    Galatians 6:3–4

    Take some time this day to perform some self-assessment. Do you think that you are more deserving of God’s favor than other people? Repent if you have so thought. Also, if you have believed the Lord cannot use you ...Read More

  • Investing God’s Gift

    Matthew 25:14–30

    John Calvin says, “There will be no excuse of the indolence of those who both conceal the gifts of God, and waste their time in idleness.” Far too many professing Christians are content to sit around and not use their ...Read More

  • Serve One Another

    1 Peter 4:10–11

    Peter does not give us an exhaustive list of gifts here; he gives two broad examples that encompass many of the specific ones listed elsewhere in the New Testament. What are your spiritual gifts? Do you have particular talents that ...Read More

  • Lust for Power

    Acts 8:18–25

    Simon wanted spiritual powers for his own exaltation. We are told to “earnestly desire the best [spiritual] gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), but only for the edification of the church. Furthermore, any gift the Holy Spirit gives us must be ...Read More

  • The Origin of Simony

    Acts 8:1-25

    In a lesser way, simony is still a problem in the church. All too often those who are elected elders, deacons, or vestrymen in the church are voted in almost entirely because they are successful at business or have important ...Read More