gifts of the holy spirit · by the same [holy] spirit” (1 corinthians 12:1, 4, nirv). the new...

Easy Reading Edition May 6-12

READ FOR THIS WEEK’S STUDY: Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15; Romans12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-9; Ephesians 4:11.

MEMORY VERSE: “Brothers and sisters. I want you to know about the giftsof the Holy Spirit.”“There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all givenby the same [Holy] Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4, NIrV).

THE NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCES SPIRITUAL GIFTS AS GIFTS FROMCHRIST AND GIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit is one. But His giftsare many and different. These gifts of grace (charismata) are given in three dif-ferent groups of verses: Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12 through 14; andEphesians 4:7-13. Probably even these verses do not include all the gifts of theSpirit. Jesus promised these gifts when He went to heaven (Ephesians 4:8, 11).No person should expect to receive all of the gifts. And all church membersshould not expect to receive the same gifts. The New Testament compares1 thechurch to the human body. There are different parts of the body. Each part of thebody does a different kind of work, but all parts of the body work together for thesame goal.

This week, we will take a look at some of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and how theyare used in the church.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 13.

SABBATH—MAY 6

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

1 compares—shows how things are the same.

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SABBATH—MAY 6

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Lesson 1 Lesson Title

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Lesson 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

THE CHURCH AS A BODY (1 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Answer the following questionsbased on 1 Corinthians 12:7-9.

1. Why is the Holy Spirit given to thechurch?

2. What seems to be Paul’s mainworry?

3. How does Paul picture the HolySpirit’s work?

4. What point is Paul making whenHe compares the human body tothe Holy Spirit’s work in thechurch?

Through the Holy Spirit, we havebeen born again. Through the HolySpirit, we are members of Christ’sbody. His body is the church. Throughbaptism in water, we are then joinedto a local church. However, the mem-bers of Christ’s body (the church) areas different as all parts of the humanbody. It is very important not to try tomake each person the same as everyother person. We should rejoice inour different gifts.

The body needs all its parts. Eachpart serves a very special purpose.The church is the same way. That isbecause the same as a human body,we need all the different members.

Each member serves a special pur-pose.

But having members with differentgifts does not mean disunity. Paulshows that the parts of the body aredifferent, look different, and work dif-ferently. But they all are working inunity for a common goal. All the workdone for Jesus by different peoplewith different gifts is to be done withone common goal in mind. This goalis serving God for His glory.

What is the greatest cause ofdisunity among us? Is it becausewe are all different and have differ-ent gifts? Or is it because of some-thing else? Explain your answer.

SUNDAY—MAY 7

All the body’s partswork together. All thechurch members withtheir different giftsshould work together.

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Lesson 1 Lesson TitleLesson 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE(1 Corinthians 12:8, 9).

Read 1 Corinthians 12:8, 9. Howinteresting that the “message of wis-dom” (NIrV) and the “message ofknowledge” (NIrV) are gifts of theHoly Spirit. We often think that we getknowledge and wisdom from what welearn through study, work, and thelessons of life. But some people canread, study, and go through life andcome away with no real “knowledge”or “wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs9:10). So, we need the Holy Spirit togive us knowledge and wisdom.

How does 2 Timothy 3:7 helps usunderstand why we need the HolySpirit to help us understand whatthe Bible says about wisdom andknowledge?

Throughout history, some of the“greatest” Bible thinkers did notbelieve the truths of the Bible. Theymight have been experts in the lan-guages the Bible was written in. Theymight have been experts in theirknowledge of the history of Bibletimes. But they did not fully under-stand the spiritual wisdom and knowl-edge about God found in the Bible.

What is the wisdom spoken of in1 Corinthians 2:5-7? Why do weneed the Holy Spirit to know thiswisdom?

Notice the difference Paul shows

between the kinds of knowledge andwisdom. Notice, too, the differencebetween the wisdom of the world andthe “power” of God. That difference isimportant because God’s wisdomchanges lives. His wisdom is not justfacts and ideas. His wisdom is a life-changing power that comes only fromthe Holy Spirit working in us. Worldlyknowledge and wisdom can neverchange us the way the Holy Spirit’swisdom can.

PIX #26

What kind of knowledge haschanged your life? What kind ofknowledge has not changed yourlife? What can you learn from youranswers?

MIRACLES AND HEALINGS (1 Corinthians 12:10).

The gifts of the Holy Spirit will remainin the church until Jesus returns. Thisincludes the gift of healing and the giftof working miracles (1 Corinthians

TUESDAY—MAY 9

MONDAY—MAY 8


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12:8-10). But we should not thinkChristians should refuse medical helpbecause they believe God can work amiracle to heal them. God does not usemiracles too often or uselessly. “Whathuman power can do, God’s power isnot called to do.”—Adapted from TheDesire of Ages, p. 535.

First Corinthians 12:10 talksabout “the working of miracles.”How are we to understand whatthis means?

Someone once said that miraclesare miracles only because they do nothappen often. For example, if the sunrose only once every thousand years,those who saw it rise would believethey had seen a miracle. But becausewe see the sun every day, we call it justa common happening. However, thesun rising really is a miracle in itself.Imagine someone who never beforesaw a cell phone. Imagine how it wouldseem a miracle to that person to reallyhear a voice through such a little box!

What are some other “common”things that might seem to be mira-cles? What can we learn fromthese things that can help us bet-ter understand what miracles are?

Miracles can make our faithstronger. But faith that depends uponmiracles is not real faith (Luke 16:31).Perhaps some of us have seen whatcould have been “miracles.” But maybefor others, the greatest “miracle” is thechange in their life brought about byGod’s power working in them. TheHoly Spirit can do miracles (Matthew12:28) whenever He chooses. But“miracles” are not proof that God isworking. In the same way, the lack of“miracles” is not proof that God is notworking.

Many things we take for granted are trulymiracles.

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What miracles has God done inyour life? Be prepared to shareyour answers with the class.

PROPHECY AND GOVERNMENT(Romans 12:6-8).

What one gift is named inRomans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians12:10, 28; and Ephesians 4:11?

A prophet speaks for God. Evenafter ancient (old time) Israel becamea monarchy,2 it was the prophet whoreceived messages and instructionfrom God. The prophet was to bringthese messages to the king. Theprophet speaks to the people for God.The message may be any messageGod desires to give His people at anytime. It does not matter that the mes-sage is about the past, the present, orthe future. God’s church today needsspecial messages from God. The per-son who gives these messages is theprophet.

What else does the church needfrom God to carry out His plans forthe church? 1 Corinthians 12:28.

What examples in the earlyChristian church show that Godworks through chosen leaders in

His organized church? Acts 9:10-17; Acts 13:1-3.

“Paul and Barnabas were sepa-rated by the Holy Spirit to do a specialwork for God. The results that fol-lowed show clearly that God worksthrough chosen leaders in His organ-ized church. Many years earlier, Godshowed His purpose for Paul throughJesus Himself. But Paul was quicklybrought in touch with members of the newly organized church atDamascus. . . . And now, God’s com-mand was to be more fully carriedout. The Holy Spirit again showedthat Paul was a chosen leader to givethe gospel to the Gentiles.3 The HolySpirit laid upon the church the work ofordaining him and his fellow worker.”—Adapted from The Acts of theApostles,4 pp. 162, 163.

Why has God given the manage-ment of His work on earth to Hischurch as a group?

TONGUES (LANGUAGES)(Matthew 28:19, 20).

“The gift of tongues has a counterfeit(false copy). When God first gave thisgift on the Day of Pentecost,5 it wasperfectly spoken human language.

THURSDAY—MAY 11

2 monarchy—a nation ruled by a king or queen.3 Gentiles—people who are not Jews.4 apostles—God’s disciples who preached the gospel after Jesus returned to heaven. The word apostles

means “people who are sent out.” The apostles were sent out into the world to tell others about Jesus.5 Pentecost—fifty days after Jesus went to heaven, there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the be-

lievers in the upper room (Acts 2:1-4).

WEDNESDAY—MAY 10


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Making sounds that no one under-stands is a counterfeit of His gift.”—Adapted from The Seventh-dayAdventist Bible Commentary, vol. 12,p. 619.

From Lesson 5, we learned that“tongues” means foreign languages.This is because that was the way thegift was shown at Pentecost and atother events6 (Acts 2; Acts 10:44-46;Acts 11:15; Acts 19:6).

Why was the gift of tongues soimportant to the early church?Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15;Romans 1:8.

In the early church, there was aneed for the gift of tongues (foreignlanguages). The gospel had to bepreached to the world, and most ofthe early Christians did not know theworld’s languages.

Who spoke more often in tonguesthan anyone else? 1 Corinthians14:18. What do you think he meantby this statement?

In his gospel work among non-Christians, Paul often had to use a language other than his own lan-guage. Paul’s language was Aramaic.Aramaic was the common language ofthe Jews in the days of Jesus and theapostles. Corinth was a large seaportand business city where people frommany parts of the Roman Empire

came. Some in the Corinthian churchboastfully used languages that someother members could not understand.Paul advised them not to do so if theydid not have an interpreter. This isbecause no one in the church couldprofit from it (1 Corinthians 14:4).

What are some of the gifts oftongues you have known about?What can you learn from them thatcan protect you from other spirit-ual counterfeits you might face?

ADDITIONAL STUDY: Ellen G.White, Testimonies for the Church,vol. 2, pp. 33–35; Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 236–238; Christ’sObject Lessons, “Hidden Treasures,”pp. 112–114; The Great Controversy[War], pp. 624, 625; The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 160–165; Counselsto Parents, Teachers, and Students,pp. 243–245.

Paul taught that the gifts wereprophecy, teaching, apostleship,7

evangelism,8 speaking in tongues,and the working of miracles. Thesegifts were to be used by Christiansfrom all walks of life. Paul’s letter tothe Corinthians shows that some mis-used these gifts. They especially mis-used speaking in tongues.

“In some places, people claim thatspeaking in tongues is important. But

FRIDAY—MAY 12

6 events—things that happen.7 apostleship—the job of being an apostle.8 evangelism—the spreading of the gospel to the world.

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the New Testament makes it clearthat other gifts are more important tothe church. Paul recommends the giftof prophecy as the most wanted gift.”—Adapted from The Seventh-dayAdventist Bible Commentary, vol. 12,p. 610.

“The Jews had been scattered toalmost every nation. And they spokedifferent languages. . . . These manylanguages were a great block toGod’s servants in giving the news ofChrist all over the earth. But Godcould solve the problem of the apos-tles’ inability to speak different lan-guages in a wonderful way. The gift oftongues would be proof that theapostles were sent by God to shareChrist.”—Adapted from The Story of

Redemption [Salvation], pp. 242, 243.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:1. As a class, talk about your answers

to Tuesday’s last question. What isyour understanding of what a “mir-acle” is? What do miracles do foryour faith? What danger is there independing too much on miracles?

2. As a class, talk about the work ofEllen White and the gift of proph-ecy. How does the work of this gifthelp us understand the purpose ofspiritual gifts?

3. Talk about the different spiritualgifts of your class members. Whatcan you do to encourage oneanother to use these gifts?

gifts of the holy spirit · by the same [holy] spirit” (1 corinthians 12:1, 4, nirv). the new...

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