Understanding The Gifts Of The Spirit by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Order in the Operation of Spiritual Gifts

The Corinthian church is the clearest biblical case study of what happens when spiritual gifts operate without order. Anywhere there is heightened spiritual activity, the probability of disorder rises sharply. Charismatic ministries that do not address this tend to be unstable.

1 Corinthians 11 deals with communion. 1 Corinthians 12 opens the subject of spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 13 provides the governing principle — love. 1 Corinthians 14 gives the administration of spiritual things. And 1 Corinthians 15 anchors everything back in the gospel. The sequence is intentional.

Anyone operating in a spiritual gift is at particular risk of:

• Pride — Lucifer is the precedent
• Entitlement — assuming gifts confer status
• Comparison — measuring one gift against another
• Jealousy and envy

This is not a theoretical warning. These are the documented failures that accompany heightened spiritual environments in scripture.

Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 14:32 — "The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet" — means the Holy Spirit can be defaced in operation. He is almighty in himself, but when he comes to a human vessel, that vessel can:

• Quench him — by not allowing him to flow
• Grieve him — by doing what is inconsistent with his purposes

One is restraint; the other is excess or misdirection. The balance between them is love — for God and for his people.

When love governs the operation of gifts, the gifts stop being a performance of giftedness and become a ministry to people. That shift makes the flow of the spirit healthy — everyone is enriched, everyone can receive correction, and no one is above accountability.

Samuel missed seven times in one service. Paul prayed for a sick brother and said, "God had mercy upon us, lest I sorrow upon sorrow" — meaning the outcome was God's grace, not his power. The gift operates through a human vessel, and the vessel can miss. God does this intentionally to keep the gifted person aware that they are a man.

The Gift of the Spirit — and the Gifts Within It

When 1 Corinthians 12:1 says, "Concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you ignorant," the more precise reading is "concerning spirituals" — because the gift is the Spirit himself, not a collection of abilities.

Ephesians 1:3 — he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The gift of God is the Holy Spirit. From within that one gift comes both the fruit and the gifts. Separate the fruit from the gift and error follows — because the gift of faith is directly connected to the fruit of faithfulness. Love is compassion, and compassion was what compelled Jesus to perform miracles — not a desire to display power.

When 1 Corinthians 12 says "to one is given healing, to another miracles," it is not saying some people carry a healing anointing while others cannot walk in it. It is addressing a specific problem: people were exalting certain gifts above others in the gathered assembly. In that context, Paul is saying: when you come together, God will move through different people for different needs. One person may carry the appropriation of healing in that meeting; another, the gift of faith. That is for the sake of order in the body, not a permanent ceiling on any individual.

The same chapter invites believers to covet spiritual gifts — which would be impossible if those gifts were distributed exclusively rather than drawn from a common source in the Spirit.

Do not short-change yourself to one expression of what the Spirit can do through you.

The scope of spiritual gifts is also broader than what is listed in any single passage. Romans 12:6–8 adds prophecy, ministry (serving), teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy. The operations of the Spirit in the Old Testament expand it further still.

The Ministry of Helps — Not a Small Thing

1 Corinthians 12:28 — "And God has set some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."

Paul places helps — the ministry of serving — in the same list as miracles and healings. This is deliberate.

When Jesus was about to feed the five thousand, he could not do it alone. He asked, "What do you have?" A small boy gave five loaves and two fish. That boy went and retrieved it; the disciples distributed it; twelve baskets remained. Who shared the bread? The twelve. Who enjoyed the crumbs? Those who helped. The people who help in a miracle are the ones who carry proof of it. That boy watched bread multiply from what he gave. Everyone else thought it was ordinary. He knew it was not.

When Jesus raised Lazarus, he needed help. "Roll the stone away. Loose him and let him go." Supernatural intention — natural assistance required. This pattern runs through every major miracle in the gospels.

The ministry of helps is not support work for the real ministry. It is part of the miracle itself.

Serving in children's church, administrating a gathering, managing logistics — these carry a genuine anointing. An administrative anointing is one of the most underestimated spiritual capacities. A church built on structure and sound teaching, with no spectacular gifts, can still be a place where people are consistently blessed. The gifts are not always what causes problems — sometimes it is the absence of administration that does.

Romans 12:6–8 further expands what ministry looks like:

• Prophecy — speaking in proportion to faith
• Ministry (diaconia) — the picture of a waiter who takes orders and delivers; an administrating, serving grace
• Teaching — explaining the word systematically
• Exhortation — a counseling, admonition gift; this kind of person thrives moderating a Bible study or advising individuals
• Giving — for some people, generosity comes easily; it is a grace, not merely a discipline
• Leading — governing with diligence
• Showing mercy — a compassion-heavy calling toward the hurting and overlooked

When a gift is advertised, it looks like the most attractive thing in the world. The teaching anointing, the prophetic gift — each one looks like the obvious choice from the outside. But the call is to do what you are sent to do, not what you see and admire in someone else. Operating outside your calling is doing what you were not sent to do.

Mary's purpose was to carry Jesus, nurse him, protect the silence of his hidden years. If she had opened a platform to document his childhood, the story would have been derailed. What we needed was not commentary on his development — we needed his manifestation. The first recorded words of Jesus are: "I must be about my Father's business." The business is salvation. Everything outside that frame creates noise.

Find the assignment. Carry it. Do not swap it for something more visible.

Father, in the name of Jesus — let your mighty hand rest upon every person reading this. Make them able to teach, able to see, able to perceive, able to hear. Let clarity come — step by step — in the name of Jesus.

For those who have been praying quietly, holding desires they have not voiced: Lord, give those desires. Let what has been stirring begin to work. In the name of Jesus.

Every man is sent to a people. Let every person find their people, and let their people receive them. Let this fire not be quenched. Let it not go out. In Jesus' name. Amen.