Read for This Week's Study: 1 Cor. 12:4-7, 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).
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.
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