Questions

1. Fill in the blanks below from 1 Cor 12:1-3: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans you were led _______ to mute ______, however you were led. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the _______ of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the ______ _______.
2. TRUE or FALSE: The Corinthians had fully left behind all patterns of their former lives.
3. What problem was present in the Corinthian church?
4. Lack of leadership
5. Misuse of spiritual gifts for status
6. No spiritual gifts
7. Persecution only
8. The Spirit will guide believers into all __________.
9. TRUE or FALSE: The Holy Spirit enables believers to submit to Jesus as Lord.
10. According to John 16, the Holy Spirit will:
11. Glorify believers
12. Glorify Himself
13. Glorify Christ
14. Glorify the church
15. Which statement best describes “Jesus is Lord”?
16. A casual phrase
17. A political statement only
18. A declaration of allegiance and divinity
19. A symbolic idea
20. Match the verse with the best match of biblical connection. Romans 10:9, Philippians 2, Isaiah 45, Ephesians 2:
21. Every knee will bow
22. Salvation by grace
23. Confess Jesus as Lord
24. Old Testament prophecy
25. How can you tell if a life is truly Spirit-filled? What three things testify to a Spirit filled life?

Discussion

1. To prepare to answer this series of questions you can review this section of the message in this link to the video: I’ve really enjoyed watching (Timestamp start to 8:30)
2. What does the ship “manifest” illustration teach us about the role of believers in the church?
3. Why is it important to understand that the church has “no passengers”?
4. How does knowing that God has assigned you a role shape how you view your life and involvement in the church?
5. What are some common assumptions people make about being “Spirit-filled”?
6. Discuss the practical steps you can take to discern your involvement in the church
7. Discuss the following questions in this link to the video: The Source of a Spirit Filled Life(Timestamp 8:31 to 13:32)
8. According to Paul, what is the source of a Spirit-filled life? Why does this matter?
9. In what ways were the Corinthians still influenced by their old way of life?
10. What warning does this give us today?
11. What are some modern examples of bringing “worldly patterns” into the church?
12. To prepare to answer this series of questions you can review this section of the message in this link: The Power of a Spirit Filled Life  (Timestamp 13:33 to end)
13. How does this passage redefine what it means to be “Spirit-filled”?
14. Why might someone quietly serving be more Spirit-filled than someone highly visible?
15. What dangers come from equating “Spirit-filled” with outward performance?
16. Where are you tempted to measure spirituality incorrectly?
17. What does it truly mean to say, “Jesus is Lord”?
18. What is the central principal Jesus models in this passage
19. What role does the Holy Spirit play in salvation?
20. What is one area of your life where you need to more fully submit to Jesus as Lord this week?
21. Where in your life are you most tempted to seek recognition instead of seeking to glorify Christ?
22. If someone observed your life this past week, what would they say you are most passionate about? Would it reflect Christ?
23. How are you using the gifts and opportunities God has given you to serve others?

Sermon Outline

 I’ve really enjoyed watching Artemis II head out toward the moon. Humanity has now traveled farther into space than ever before and seeing the images—especially the liftoff—is incredible. Space exploration is fascinating. But centuries ago, exploration looked quite different. People set out across the world by ship, traveling in large wooden vessels on long voyages of discovery.

Before any ship left port, the captain relied on something called a manifest—a detailed record of everything needed for the journey. It listed every crew member by name, along with the role each person was responsible to fulfill. It also accounted for every piece of cargo on board. Nothing was left to chance, because a ship would never set sail without knowing it had everything required to accomplish its mission.

In the same way, we have a Captain—the Lord Jesus. And there is a manifest that includes the name of every person brought to saving faith by the Holy Spirit. Beside each name is a purpose, a role, a responsibility. The church has no passengers; it is made up entirely of a crew. Each of us has been entrusted with something to carry out. And through the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need for the journey—to fulfill the mission our Captain has given us, walking with Him as we live out and proclaim the gospel.

This morning, we’re beginning a new series titled Gifted for a Purpose. We’ll be spending time in 1 Corinthians, specifically chapters 12 and 14. In these chapters, the Apostle Paul addresses issues raised in a letter from the Corinthian church, while also reminding them—and the Holy Spirit reminding us—that every believer is gifted by God for a purpose. Each of us has a vital role to play in the advancement of His kingdom.

Over the next several weeks, one of our goals is that, together as God’s people, we would grow in discerning the role and responsibility placed alongside our name in His manifest. We’ll be providing practical, well-rounded tools to help us better understand how God has uniquely gifted us.

We begin in chapter 12, focusing on the first three verses. Here, Paul sets the stage for everything that follows—laying a foundation and establishing key truths before moving into more specific teaching in the weeks ahead.

This morning’s message is titled The Spirit-Filled Life. And in many ways, that phrase can feel a lot like saying “being in shape.” We all know it’s a good thing—we know we should pursue it—but we don’t always have a clear picture of what it actually means. What does it really look like to live a Spirit-filled life? Just like being “in shape,” it can be easy to assume we understand it without truly grasping it.

So how do we begin to discern where we are on that journey? Because all of us are on one—a journey of growth, learning to live lives that are empowered by and reflect the work of the Holy Spirit within us. And we’re walking that journey together.

As we turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we’ll explore this by asking two key questions: first, what is the source of a Spirit-filled life, and second what is the power of a Spirit-filled life? The source—and the power.

The Source of a Spirit Filled Life

The source of the Spirit-filled life may seem obvious—it’s a rhetorical question. Of course, it is the Holy Spirit. But let’s take a moment to reflect more deeply on that truth and consider how Apostle Paul wants us to understand it. Even though we know the answer, Paul invites us to think carefully about it. He begins in verse 1 by setting the stage for what he is about to explain, saying,

1 Corinthians 12:1 – ¹Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

What’s interesting is that the Greek word used here in verse 1 is different from the one used later in verse 4. In verse 4, Paul speaks specifically about “gifts,” using the word charismata—where we get “charismatic”—which comes from charis, meaning grace. So those gifts are rightly understood as grace-gifts. But in verse 1, Paul intentionally uses a broader term rooted in pneuma, the word for spirit. While it can be translated as “spiritual gifts,” it carries a wider meaning. In fact, Paul also uses this word elsewhere in 1 Corinthians to describe spiritual people, not just specific gifts, suggesting that he has a larger category in mind here.

1 Corinthians 12:1 – ¹Now concerning spiritual people, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

Paul also uses this term to refer more generally to spiritual matters—spiritual things as a whole. It’s a broad category. So, what Paul is saying here is, “Brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to be uninformed about spiritual things—about what it means to live as a spiritual person, empowered by the Holy Spirit and shaped by His work in your life.” This sets the stage broadly, before he becomes more specific in verse 4. And he emphasizes this because, in their former way of life, they were living in ignorance of these very things.

1 Corinthians 12:2 – ²You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

The language Paul uses is vivid—you were being carried along, swept away to lifeless idols. These idols had no life, no salvation, no light, yet you were led astray, deceived, and drawn into the worship of false gods. In that state, you were living in ignorance of what is truly spiritual.

This matters deeply to Paul because of the issues he is addressing in the Corinthian church. Though they had gathered to worship Christ, they were still bringing with them the patterns and values of their former lives—the ways of the world—into the life of the church. One of those patterns was a concern for status. As Paul goes on to address, especially in chapter 14, some were misusing spiritual gifts—particularly the gift of tongues—to elevate themselves above others, as if certain gifts made them more spiritual.

Paul steps in to correct this. And that’s why we begin here: to remember that the source of a Spirit-filled life is the Holy Spirit, not human status, or display. It’s also a call for us to examine ourselves. To what extent are we still carrying the world’s patterns into our worship? In what ways might we still be living in a kind of ignorance, shaped more by the spirit of the age than by the Spirit of God? The Corinthians were no longer worshiping idols, but they were still influenced by that old way of thinking. So, Paul reminds them—and us—that the true source of spiritual life is the Holy Spirit alone.

The Power of a Spirit Filled Life

What is the power of a Spirit-filled life? What does the Holy Spirit enable us to do within us? What is His function—what does He actually empower in the life of a believer? These are important questions we need to ask: What does the Holy Spirit do, and what is His role? And part of that answer is given to us by Jesus Himself in the Gospel of John.

John 16:13-14 – ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth...¹⁴He will glorify me.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ—to lift Him up and exalt Him. As Jesus says, the Spirit will lead us into all truth. And remember what Jesus declared about Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The Spirit’s work is to guide us into that truth by drawing our attention to Christ and magnifying Him. That’s why in verse 3, as Paul speaks about the Spirit’s role in our lives, he makes it clear that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will ever say, “Jesus is accursed.”

1 Corinthians 12:3 – ³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Because the role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, it follows that the more we are living a Spirit-filled life, the more our words, our actions, even our thoughts, will exalt the Lord Jesus. And wherever our lives—our motivations, our hearts, our speech—fail to glorify Him, we are not walking in the fullness of the Spirit’s power. For no one, by the Spirit, fails to honor Christ.

If that is true, it gives us a clearer picture of what a Spirit-filled life really looks like: it is a life that glorifies Jesus. We often hear phrases like “Spirit-filled person” or “Spirit-filled church,” but what do we actually mean by that? Do we want to be part of a Spirit-filled church? Of course, we do but we need to define it rightly.

This isn’t about rejecting expressive or charismatic worship—there can be genuine expressions there. But we must be careful not to assume that what is bigger, louder, or more outwardly impressive is automatically more Spirit-filled. A Spirit-filled life, and a Spirit-filled church, is simply one that glorifies Christ. That’s the measure.

So, the person standing up front speaking is not necessarily more Spirit-filled than anyone else. In fact, someone quietly serving—like the person preparing coffee for a class—may be more Spirit-filled if their life is more fully surrendered to Christ and more consistently reflects His glory. To be Spirit-filled is, quite simply, to glorify God—and that is something only the Holy Spirit enables us to do.

So first, the power of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. Second, the power of the Holy Spirit is to bring our lives into submission to Jesus as Lord. Now notice what Paul says next.

1 Corinthians 12:3 – ³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

It’s not just about saying the words—though words are certainly involved. As Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.” But this goes far beyond a verbal confession. It’s about a whole life—heart, mind, and will—fully surrendered to Jesus.

And the reality is, that kind of submission is supernatural. The only way we can truly bow and yield ourselves to Jesus as Lord is by the work of the Holy Spirit—the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead—working within us. That’s why Paul says no one can truly say “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are two important dimensions to this. First, when we say, “Jesus is Lord,” we are declaring that He is King. As Psalm 145 expresses, “I will exalt You, my God the King.” In the first century, people would say, “Caesar is lord,” but the Christian confession boldly declares, “Jesus is Lord.” It is a statement of allegiance—that He is our authority, that He reigns as sovereign King, and that we willingly submit to Him.

But there’s more. There is something especially significant in how Paul phrases this confession in the Greek—something unique in its construction. Without going too deeply into the technical details, this exact expression, “Jesus is Lord,” appears in only a few key places in the New Testament. And one of the clearest examples of this same powerful declaration is found in Philippians.

Philippians 2:10-11 – ¹⁰At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Now, that wording may look a little different, but the same unique construction is still at work here pointing to the glory of God the Father. And in this passage from Philippians, the Apostle Paul is actually drawing directly from the Old Testament, echoing what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 45:22-23 – ²²Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other... ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

The Apostle Paul takes the language from Isaiah and weaves it into a hymn of praise to Christ in Philippians. Where Isaiah speaks of every knee bowing and every tongue confessing to God, Paul applies that directly to Jesus—declaring that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

So, when we come to Him in saving faith, we are not only saying that Jesus is our King—we are also confessing that Jesus is God. And the only way we are able to make that confession, truly and from the heart, submitting our whole lives to Him, is by the work of the Holy Spirit. As Ephesians chapter 2 reminds us,

Ephesians 2:8-9 – ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We cannot boast in our salvation. Our boast is in what Jesus has done. We boast in the power of the Holy Spirit—the One who takes a dead heart, removes it, and replaces it with a living, beating heart of flesh. And on that new heart is written the law of God and the love of God.

With this new heart, given by the Spirit, we come to Jesus and lift up His name. No longer do we live in opposition to Him, but we lay down our lives before Him as our King and worship Him as God.

If you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, give praise to the Holy Spirit. It is only by His work that you even have the ability to say, “Jesus is Lord.”

So, what is a Spirit-filled life? It is a life whose source is the Holy Spirit—a life empowered to glorify Christ and to joyfully submit to Him as both God and King.