The Gifts of the Spirit

Good morning, church. As Sean just mentioned, today is Pentecost Sunday. It's a Christian holiday where we celebrate 2,000 years ago how the Holy Spirit fell and birthed the church of Christ.

So to remember the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we're going to take a break from our series in Matthew, and we're going to open up our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 12. Today's passage is starting in verse 1 to verse 11.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

If you've been here for a while, you know that for us, we doctrinally are reformed, but uniquely we're also charismatic.

We practice the spiritual gifts, and we find that this is such a valuable, important aspect of being one body, to be the church of Christ.

And so we're going to take time to study what that looks like, what the spiritual gifts mean.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, though we are weak and small, though we are undeserving, Lord, I plead, I beg, won't you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us today?

That the Holy Spirit would indwell each and every one of us who have confessed the name of Jesus Christ, who have confessed him as Lord.

That you would fill us as a church collectively so that we would be your body.

That we would step forth boldly in faith to exercise the gifts that you have given.

Not to diminish them, not to quench the Spirit, but to obey faithfully.

Help us to learn humbly what your Word says.

Not to dictate or impose what we think upon the Word, but that we would submit ourselves to your Scriptures

and learn what the spiritual gifts are so that we would step forth in faith.

Oh God, fill us with your Spirit.

Illuminate your Scriptures only by what he can do.

Help us.

In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.

If you are able, please rise to honor the reading of God's Word.

Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says,

Jesus is a curse.

And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.

Now, there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit.

And there are a variety of service, but the same Lord.

And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom.

To another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.

To another, faith by the same Spirit.

To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit.

To another, the working of miracles.

To another, prophecy.

To another, the ability to distinguish between Spirits.

To another, various kinds of tongues.

To another, the interpretation of tongues.

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Have you ever had the experience of witnessing a transformation so dramatic, so drastic,

that you hardly recognize that person anymore?

I knew this guy in college.

And honestly, he wasn't bad looking.

But he wasn't anyone that you'd write home about either.

It's not someone you take a second look at in the street.

But after not seeing him for years upon graduating,

I recently stumbled upon a photo of him.

And I could not believe my eyes.

He had the glow-ups of glow-ups.

He literally looked like a model now.

He got super fit and muscular.

Changed his hair.

Swapped his wardrobe.

Got rid of his glasses.

I think he even maybe got plastic surgery done on his face a little bit.

I couldn't believe, right, that this is the same guy I once knew.

But that kind of transformation, as dramatic as it was,

it pales in comparison to the transformation that we see of the 12 disciples in Scripture.

If you've been with us throughout our sermon series in the book of Matthew,

we've gotten to see a real, honest picture of who these 12 disciples are.

They're brash.

They're arrogant.

They're jealous.

They're petty.

They completely and consistently misunderstand Jesus' teaching.

They fight one another for the number one spot.

And they even try rebuking Jesus.

It's honestly not a good look.

But when you read through the book of Acts in comparison,

by no means are they sinless,

but truly there is a sudden transformation.

They're hardly recognizable.

They're suddenly filled with faith,

joyfully enduring persecution for the gospel,

performing miracles that Jesus performed,

preaching sermons that convert hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

They laid the foundations of the Church of Christ,

which goes on to transform the course of world history.

For generation after generation, cultures are transformed,

marriages restored, addictions healed, sins repented, souls saved.

What gives?

How did they change so dramatically?

How did they affect change in this world?

I think the answer, finding the answer is quite easy.

Just look at what came in between the fumbling disciples of the gospels

and then the faithful disciples in Acts.

If you look in between, what you will find is the event of Pentecost.

That's the hinge on which this whole thing turns.

Luke records in Acts 2 that on the 50th day after Easter Sunday,

that Jesus' disciples were praying together

when the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

And that was the day, the birth of the New Testament Church.

And ever since that day,

every local church has been empowered by the Holy Spirit

to effect change, both in and outside of the church.

This very church is no exception to that.

Peter says so much when he quotes the prophet Joel in Pentecost.

We read this earlier.

In the last days it shall be, God declares,

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

And your young men shall see visions.

And your old men shall dream dreams.

Even on my male servants and the female servants,

in those days I will pour out my spirit.

And they shall prophesy.

That means that you,

yes you,

God has poured out his Holy Spirit on you.

And he's empowered you through the giving of his spiritual gifts

to carry out his mission here on earth.

Whether you know it or not,

whether you believe it or not,

you have spiritual gifts.

And if the Spirit has granted us gifts,

he will hold us accountable

for how we have wielded such power.

So we cannot be ignorant

or misinformed about this topic.

So to that end,

that's why we're taking a break from Matthew.

We'll study a passage by the Apostle Paul

written to the Corinthian church

where he has one main exhortation

regarding the spiritual gifts.

It's to use your spiritual gifts,

your unique spiritual gifts,

for the common good of the church.

In this short passage this morning,

I see four facts about how and why

the Spirit gives his gifts to us.

For one, he gives his gifts to glorify Christ.

That's the first and primary reason why.

Then he talks about how.

He gives it diversely.

There's a diversity in the body.

But while there's a diversity,

there's a unity.

The gifts are for the common good.

And finally, we'll see how the Spirit gives gifts

according to his Spirit,

his sovereign will.

In this letter to the Corinthians,

Paul has addressed a myriad of concerning issues

in the life of the church.

Serious issues like sexual immorality,

infighting, division.

But now in chapter 12,

he begins his discussion on spiritual gifts.

And I thank God that he does.

Spiritual gifts really can be quite the confusing

and misunderstood topic for us.

And apparently even for the Corinthians back then too.

For he explicitly desires for them

not to be uninformed.

Especially for us today,

this is a hotly contested topic in Christendom,

is it not?

Because I think for one,

we all have our own personal histories,

our personal experiences in the past.

Some of us have memories of a high intensity,

emotionally charged experience of the spiritual gifts,

which then can result in a blind excitement,

maybe an unchecked enthusiasm towards the charismatic.

Some of us have experiences of the spiritual gifts,

some of us have experienced the abuses of the spiritual gifts,

which I think leads to skeptical doubt.

But at the end of the day,

all of us are called to submit ourselves to scripture,

first and foremost,

rather than pulling from our own experience,

what we think.

That seems to be exactly what happens with the Corinthians here.

As they're pulling from their former experiences,

Paul reveals a bit of the Corinthian backstory in verse two.

Now,

the city of Corinth was a wealthy port city,

known for its commerce,

cultural diversity,

and most relevant to our discussion,

the worship of pagan gods.

So this is not a church filled with people who grew up going to church,

going to VBS,

believing in Jesus at a young age.

No,

this church is full of people with a checkered past.

They engaged most likely in licentious cult worship of pagan idols.

It's possible that during that cult worship,

they might have experienced moments of falling into a trance,

an uncontrolled ecstasy of speaking frenzied utterances.

And if that's true,

they might've drawn on those experiences to guide them in the worship of the true God,

thinking that worshiping the God of the Bible must be like worshiping these other idols.

Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone about your Christian faith,

only to be met with the response,

oh,

I'm spiritual too.

It's understandable.

Right?

Whenever you meet somebody new,

you try to find connection points.

Oh,

you know,

I used to,

I used to work in that office.

I know someone from your hometown.

When you reveal that you're a Christian,

people try to find the same connection points.

They,

they meditate.

They share,

they,

they follow their horoscopes.

They dabble with tarot cards.

Oh,

they're not.

Oh,

but,

but wait,

you might call yourself spiritual,

but be not mistaken.

There is no overlap between those spiritual experiences and the relationship with the real living God.

Why?

Why?

Because only the spirit of God moves and lives.

All other idols are dead,

mute,

lifeless.

It's like saying that being,

you know what it's like to be in a relationship when you've really only dated lifeless AI girlfriends.

So,

to the Corinthians,

Paul is teaching them that their previous spiritual experiences of worshiping dead idols,

it does nothing to help them understand true spiritual matters.

So then,

what is true spirituality?

How do we define it?

People,

whether 2,000 years ago,

or people now,

they're all hungry.

They're hungry for true spirituality,

but they're deeply confused for the search of it.

We find a simple answer in verse 3.

I think it centers on what you make of Christ.

True spirituality is confessing that Jesus is Lord.

That's, in fact, the central ministry and the goal of the Holy Spirit,

to shine spotlight,

to shine the spotlight on Christ,

to reveal Him as Lord.

Jesus confirms,

so in John 16,

He says,

when the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide you in all the truth,

for He will not speak on His own authority,

but whatever He hears,

He will speak,

and He will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify me,

for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

But if the Spirit's goal is to bring us to confess Jesus is Lord,

right,

is that confession really so difficult?

Why does Paul say that no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit?

Can't anyone really just say those words?

Yeah, I think someone could theoretically, right,

flippantly say those words,

but in the biblical sense that Paul is describing,

this confession is never merely verbal,

just superficial.

Because that word, Lord,

I think it has much more spiritual significance

than maybe your first reading tells you.

In Scripture,

Lord is sometimes used as a substitute

for the Old Testament covenantal name of God,

revealed in the four letters,

Y-H-W-H,

a name so holy that Jews refuse to even pronounce it,

to read it out loud.

So when you say Jesus is Lord,

you're saying that Jesus is Yahweh,

the great I am,

the eternal God,

the uncreated one,

dependent on no one,

the source of all life and existence.

You're confessing a personal confession.

You're confessing that Jesus is my Lord.

You're renouncing all other competing authorities

and submitting yourself wholly to Christ.

So that's why Paul can say

that no one can truly make this confession

except in the Holy Spirit.

Not because the syllables are difficult,

but because the reality behind them

is only possible by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

This is the essence of true spirituality

expressed in a single sentence,

that Jesus is my Lord.

He is Lord over all.

You might be tempted, right,

to downplay just how spiritual

an average Sunday service is

in a gospel-preaching,

Bible-believing church might be.

It might just feel so ordinary,

boring,

vanilla.

It might seem more spirit-filled

to have things like gold dust sightings

or uncontrollable fits of laughter

or people falling over left and right.

But that is not the standard of spirituality.

True spirituality might look ordinary on the outside,

but where Christ is exalted,

where he is confessed as Lord

with our mouths and in our hearts,

there the Spirit of God must be moving.

Everything that the Spirit does

is to glorify Christ.

And so the giving of his gifts

is no different.

The gifts operate at their best.

The church is drawn,

drawn to behold the beauty of Christ,

to stand in awe of him,

to serve him more faithfully.

That's why he gives his gifts,

to shine the spotlight on him,

to make much of him.

And so we must do the exact same

when we exercise the spiritual gifts.

So that's the primary reason

why the Spirit gives his gifts.

Next, let's talk about in what manner,

how he gives his gifts.

And we notice that he gives his gifts diversely,

as we see in verses four to six.

One of the first things you might notice

about these gifts

is that they're just soaked

in Trinitarian theology, right?

You see the Spirit,

you see the Lord,

whom we just confessed to be Jesus the Son,

and then you see the Father God.

This three-in-one God works in tandem

in generously giving a variety of gifts,

a variety of services,

a variety of activities.

You see that word variety repeated again and again.

And I think these pairings are intentional.

I think it makes sense that

for the spiritual gifts,

it makes sense to be paired with the Holy Spirit.

services connect well with serving your Lord,

your Master.

Then activities, the workings,

they're energized, empowered

by the sovereign, life-giving Father.

And so while there is perfect unity in the three,

as they share one essence,

there's really a beautiful diversity

and function and role.

There's a fitting parallelism, I think,

in the Trinity that Sean already mentioned earlier

with the Trinity and with the body of Christ, right?

Just how the one God gives a variety of gifts,

services, workings,

just as there is unity in the diversity of the Trinity,

there is too unity in the diversity

of the body of Christ, right?

To prove his point,

Paul then gets into a list of varied spiritual gifts

in verses eight to 10.

Now, this list is not comprehensive.

We do see other lists with other gifts in Scripture.

But even in this short list,

pay attention to just how wide-ranging these gifts are.

Some are more natural,

some more remarkable,

some more permanent,

some more occasional.

But this list highlights

the beautiful diversity in the body.

Starting off with the list,

with the utterance of wisdom and knowledge,

these two really are notoriously hard to define

because unlike other gifts,

this is the only mention of them in Scripture.

I think the best that we can do

is to read them in the context of the letter

and just try our best to deduce what they are.

If you're familiar with the book of 1 Corinthians

in its opening chapters,

Paul rebukes this immature church

for their craving of worldly wisdom.

A worldly wisdom which is not really any wisdom at all.

So I tend to believe that

those who believe that this word of wisdom

is the spirit-inspired ability

to proclaim Christ crucified

as the true wisdom of God

in such a powerful way

that it moves people's hearts.

In the same realm,

I think these two gifts are related

to a people obsessed with knowledge,

hooked on boasting,

on knowing more than others.

Paul teaches to the Corinthians

that true knowledge

does not come from the ingenuity of man,

but it comes from the Scriptures,

from the Word of God.

So I lean towards understanding

this gift of knowledge

as the spirit-empowered ability

to read,

to interpret,

to discern the Scriptures,

and to teach them

in a lucid, insightful way.

When we think of some

spirit-empowered preachers

in the course of church history,

one who's called

the Prince of Preachers,

19th century pastor Charles Spurgeon

might be one of the first names

that come to mind.

The Spirit of God

used this humble man mightily

as he preached over 600 sermons a year.

600 sermons.

And there was an incredible response

to his preaching.

People came in droves.

He regularly preached

to crowds of more than 10,000 people,

and it's estimated

that he preached

to over 10 million people

in his lifetime.

Here, just one story,

one example from his own pen

of how he displays

how the Spirit worked,

preached through him.

In 1857,

a day or two before preaching

at the Crystal Palace,

I went to decide

where the platform

should be fixed.

And in order to test

the acoustic properties

of the building,

he cried,

or I cried in a loud voice,

behold,

the Lamb of God

which taketh away

the sins of the world.

In one of the galleries,

a workman who knew

nothing of what was being done,

he heard the words,

and they came like a message

from heaven to his soul.

He was smitten with conviction

on the account of sins,

and he put down his tools,

he went home

and found peace,

resurrected life

by beholding the Lamb of God.

It took one line,

a mic check,

a mic check for this man's eternity

to be transformed.

And that's not to bring attention

to Spurgeon the man,

but to highlight

that this alone

can be only

the work of the Spirit.

This is what

the Spirit of God

can do,

even in just one sentence.

Next,

the gift of faith.

Considering that

Paul's argument

is that only

a select group

of people

have this gift,

we can clearly rule out

that the gift of faith

is saving faith

that all Christians

must share.

Instead,

it seems like

I think that

the gift of faith

is this spirit-empowered,

special and situational

impartation of confidence,

the strong conviction

that God will act

in a particular way.

What do I mean by that?

All Christians

are expected

everywhere

to trust in God

for the explicit promises

in Scripture

that he has given.

But there are also

many good situational things

that God has not

explicitly promised

in his word.

Like for someone

to get a particular job

or for someone

to be healed of cancer.

The gift of faith

is having the assurance

that God will do something

that he has not

explicitly already promised.

I was talking to Sean,

our pastor,

and he mentioned

that there have been

some instances

where he'd be praying

for someone,

he'd be praying

for someone

to get a specific job

at this place

or this particular person

would get into this school.

Even though the chances

were really, really low,

he felt a surge of faith

confirming that

this thing will in fact happen.

And lo and behold,

the few times

that he's experienced that,

it happened exactly

as he prayed it would.

Gifts of healing

and working of miracles

are next.

They're probably

the easiest to define

but maybe the hardest

to believe.

I think it's so easy

for us to slip

into a functional naturalism

where even when we

theoretically think

and believe that,

sure, God can do miracles,

but functionally,

we don't actually operate

as if God does anymore.

We don't really pray

for healing

and if we do,

it's filled with doubt,

with second guessing.

Are we guilty

of what James says?

You do not have

because you do not ask.

Or maybe on the other end

of the spectrum,

you struggle with

a triumphalist expectation,

right,

where we assume

that miracles

should automatically happen

when we claim them.

It's a name it

and claim it theology.

Neither of those

are right and good,

but the healthiest posture

is in the middle.

To be expectant,

truly expectant,

but not presumptuous.

To be hopeful in prayer,

but submitted

to God's will.

I think that's

the biblical posture

because while certain people

do have this gift,

it doesn't mean

that they control it

like an on-off switch.

I think the Spirit

sovereignly decides

when and how

this gift will operate.

For instance,

you see in the book of Acts,

the Apostle Paul,

at times he miraculously

heals anybody,

any person ill

that comes to him.

He heals them

right there,

right there on the spot.

But amazingly,

later on in Scripture,

you find Paul

telling Timothy

to take a little wine

for your stomach problems.

instead of sending him

an enchanted

or anointed handkerchief

that could heal him instantly.

Or that he himself,

the Apostle Paul,

struggles with a thorn

in his flesh,

which was likely

a physical ailment.

Interestingly,

the words gifts

and workings,

I think there really

should be an S there

because it's plural

in the Greek.

These are the only gifts

that are in the plural.

plural.

Possibly hinting

that Paul believed

that every instance

of healing and miracles

was a gift in it

of its own right.

So healing and miracles

aren't controlled,

weren't controlled

by Paul back then.

And they aren't to be

controlled by us today.

At the same time,

Paul speaks

as if a select group

of people

really had gifts

of healing and miracles.

So practically,

boots on the ground,

I think it makes sense

that if someone

needs healing,

someone in the church

needs healing,

you then would

specifically look

for those people

you know,

the church knows,

that this person

has the gift of healing

to get them

to come and pray,

to pray for healing,

not as a guarantee

but as really

the most sensible

action to take.

Next, prophecy.

Too much can be said

about the gift

of prophecy.

And if you're interested

in this topic,

I highly recommend

checking out

a prophecy seminar

that we did last year.

Here's Gordon Fee's

definition of this gift.

Prophecy is a spontaneous,

spirit-inspired,

intelligible message

intended for the edification,

for the encouragement

of the people.

Prophecy,

because it's a human report

of a divine revelation,

right,

the human part,

that makes it

a fallible revelation

of God.

So it needs to be tested

by scripture.

And also,

we'd be wise

to be very careful

to make life-altering decisions

based on prophecy,

just one prophecy.

And prophecy also ought to

reveal the secrets

of the heart.

It should make you feel,

how in the world

did they know that?

Now,

I've shared this story

before,

that during one event

for Sovereign Grace,

our denomination,

they invited the prophecy team

from a sister church,

Covenant Fellowship Church,

to pray and prophesy over us.

And one of the team,

one of the team members

came over

and prayed for me,

prophesied over me.

One of the first things

that he said to me

was that he sees

that I was gifted

with an analytical mind,

that he sees, like,

physics or something.

And, um,

to be honest,

I kind of questioned

if he was just making

an educated guess, right?

Like,

like,

I look like an engineer,

so,

maybe he's just guessing.

But,

he proceeded to prophesy

that he saw me

at a crossroads

in my career.

Huh.

Well,

that piqued my interest

because

just the very next week,

I was getting ready

to quit my job

as an engineer

and to start working

for the church.

He then said

that God

saw my struggle,

he saw my fears,

my doubts,

but that I was

making the right decision.

I literally did this

with my face.

And then just a couple weeks later,

that same man

visited Boston

and he prophesied

over my wife,

Christine,

with such clear specificity

about her exact fears

about ministry too.

In those moments,

we felt seen.

Seen by our heavenly father

and felt assured

that he watches over us.

He cares for me.

How could you not feel that

when you hear a prophecy

like that?

That's how the gift

of prophecy

can and does function

so that the secrets

of our hearts

are revealed

for the edification,

for the building up

of his church.

Also,

such an important gift

in the life of the church

is the ability

to distinguish gifts

or distinguish spirits,

rather.

Again,

a debated gift,

but it seems likely

to me that this ability

can identify evil,

satanic spirits

when they are at work,

when they're active.

That gift is very functional.

Not too long ago,

Sean and I

were praying

for someone

whom we weren't

exactly sure

if this person

was oppressed

by an evil spirit

or if they just

struggled

with severe mental illness.

We did our due diligence.

We did our due diligence.

We asked a series

of questions

to discern for a while

and while we do think

that there was

an explicit demonic attack,

at the end of the day,

we weren't 100% sure.

If we had someone

who had the ability

to distinguish spirits,

how much clearer

it would have been

to know exactly

what route of help

to take.

And finally,

I'll address

both the gift of tongues

and its interpretation

together.

As displayed

in Acts 2

in Pentecost,

the gift of tongues

is the controllable ability

to pray to God,

to praise God, right?

It's language

that's directed to God

whereas prophecy

is directed to people.

So it's speaking

to God

in an unknown language

to the speaker,

whether it's

a human language

or a heavenly language.

You see the former

on Pentecost

where people

from all over the world,

all over Asia Minor,

they come

to hear these

uneducated Galileans

to speak in their

own native languages.

But then Paul

speaks also

of a category

like heavenly language

in chapter 13

of 1 Corinthians

indicating that tongues

can be spoken

in a language

that no earthly human

can interpret,

not unless

you have

the gift

of interpretation.

Paul says

so later.

You can't

understand it yourself.

Paul says

so later.

If I pray

in a tongue,

my spirit prays

but my mind

is unfruitful.

Nonetheless,

Paul,

he wishes

that all

would speak

in tongues

for personal

self-edification

and it's reserved

for a private

prayer language

that is unless

it is,

unless there's

an interpreter

in the body

of Christ

which is the

final gift

in this list

that allows

the undiscernible

language of God

to be intelligible,

to be edifying,

to build up

the church.

So that's the list

and the point

of this list

is that when you

read it,

there should be

many more gifts

that you don't have

than you do have.

It drives home

our need

for humility,

for dependence

upon others

and the rest

of chapter 12

Paul highlights

one beautifully

simple metaphor

that the church

is a body.

Each part

inimitable,

each part

indispensable.

The hand

cannot say

to the foot

I have no need

of you.

The eye

cannot say

to the ear

I have no need

of you.

If we were

all the same

parts

what kind

of monstrosity

of a body

would that be?

D.A. Carson

said it well.

Dictators

of the right

and the left

seek to establish

their brand

of harmony

by forcefully

imposing

monotonous

sameness,

by seeking

to limit

differentiation.

God establishes

his brand

of harmony

by a lavish

grant of

highly diverse

gifts,

each contributing

to the body

as a whole.

Diversity

in the body

is a beautiful

thing.

It displays

the abundant

generosity

of the giver.

But when we

look at

ourselves

is that

actually how

we treat

diversity

in the body?

We like

diversity

on paper

but when

the rubber

meets the road

diversity

means

differences

differences.

And those

differences

can lead

to friction,

to conflict.

Maybe someone

in your

community group

has a very

different personality

from yours.

Maybe they're

more expressive,

more spontaneous,

more direct

than you.

Maybe they're

more analytical,

more planned,

more measured.

But instead

of appreciating

the way

that God

made them

differently,

you feel

the need

subtly

to compare,

to compete,

to correct.

Are you the

kind of person

who can look

at other

people's

differences

and to

genuinely

celebrate them?

Or perhaps

someone in the

church serves

in a very

different way

from you.

Some serve

more publicly

with more

visible gifts,

others more

in private.

Some seem

to easily

serve,

flawlessly

serve,

while you

feel like

you're

struggling

through it

all.

Do others'

giftings,

different from

yours,

make you

envious,

make you

insecure,

haughty

or proud,

when they

should really

drive worship

and thanksgiving

for the

diversity in

the body?

The differences

between brothers

and sisters

can pull us

apart when

they really

ought to

bring us

together.

Because the

reality is we

need one

another to be

the church

of Christ.

I don't know

about you,

but I often

feel overwhelmed

by all the

demanding needs

around me,

both inside

and outside

the church.

There is just

so much to

do, so much

ministry to

do, so many

hurting people,

so many

people to

disciple,

so many

people to

evangelize to.

Then I

cycle

internally

between two

unhelpful

responses.

Number one,

I just feel

really guilty

all the time

for not doing

what I think

I'm called to

do, always

dropping the

ball.

Number two,

I resort to

a compassionless,

loveless

rejection of

any need

because, hey,

I'm

overwhelmed.

But God

never intended

for one

person to

do all

the work

of the

church.

As theologian

Kelly Capuch

says, it

takes the

whole body

of believers

to reflect

the one

Messiah.

We need

to link

up arm

in arm

and do

the work

of ministry

together.

together,

everyone

has a

part to

play,

to use

your

unique

spiritual

gifts

to minister

to one

another

and to

this weary

world.

And I

see that

in this

very church.

I thank

God for

that.

When I

see the

multifaceted,

multi-gifted

body do

ministry

and meet

needs,

so often

far better

than I

could do,

than I'm

gifted

for.

So I

praise God

there is

true and

beautiful

diversity

in the

gifts

that he

gives.

For though

they're

diverse,

though we

are very

different,

we're all

aimed towards

one united

goal.

It's for

the common

good of

the church.

Verse 7,

to each

is given

the manifestation

of the

spirit for

the common

good.

Each one

of you

have received

a manifestation

of the

spirit,

spiritual

gifts.

And that

is essential

for the

proper

functioning

of this

church.

Do you

believe that?

Do you

believe that

you are

spiritually

gifted if

you are

in Christ

and you

are empowered

to do

great

ministry?

It might

sound like

the humble

thing to

do,

right?

To deny

like,

oh no,

I'm not

so gifted.

But if

it is

objectively

true that

you have

spiritual

gifts,

if the

spirit of

God is

living

within

you,

that's

not

humility.

That's

laziness.

It's

selfishness.

It's

cowardice.

It's a

missed

opportunity

because the

gifts,

as we've

seen,

and as

you might

have

experienced,

they are

a powerful

reminder that

our God is

not aloof

or distant.

He doesn't

keep us

at arm's

distance.

But that

when you

hear a

prophecy,

a piece

of information

that only

God can

know,

when your

body is

healed of

a debilitating

pain,

when you

are forced,

when you

are encouraged

to look to

Christ by a

word of

wisdom,

you see on

full display,

you see it,

you know it,

that with all

of who you

are,

every fiber

of your

being,

that God

loves you,

God knows

you.

You might

wonder then,

how do I

know what

gifts do I

have,

right?

I don't

think I

have any

gifts.

By

simply

meeting the

needs

around you

in the

life of

the church,

you're going

to be placed

in various

kinds of

circumstances,

with various

needs.

So when

those needs

come up,

try,

try to

encourage that

brother or

sister who

is depressed.

Evangelize

the lost,

organize times

of fellowship,

pray for your

church,

and ask

if the

Lord,

ask the

Lord if

he would

have a

word of

prophecy to

share.

Pray for

healing,

pray boldly

for healing,

and see if

the Spirit

works through

that.

And over

time,

as you

serve in

various

different kinds

of contexts,

God's

love,

I think a

pattern will

emerge.

The body

around you

will then

start to

confirm that

you have

these particular

spiritual gifts.

And,

right,

if you see

someone who's

especially gifted

in one area,

it's your duty

too to just

encourage that.

Take time to

compliment,

to encourage

that, right?

Say,

hey,

I really think

that God

has gifted

you in that

area.

You're really

good at this.

Right?

Serving the

church is a

means by which

we learn how

to serve the

church.

As we learn

then how the

Spirit has

gifted us,

we remember

that with

really great

power comes

great responsibility.

These gifts

are not for

our personal

aggrandizement.

Each and

every single

one of us

will have to

give an

account to

the Lord

on how we

use the

gifts.

Right?

With the

most gifted

of us

having to

give the

greatest

testimony.

We have

the greatest

burden.

We must

use our

various gifts

not for

ourselves

really but

to care

for one

another,

to edify

one another,

to strengthen

one another,

all in

self-forgetful,

others-focused

love.

Right?

The fastest

way, I believe,

to make your

spiritual gift,

to abuse

it is to

make it

about you,

to make

your prophecy

about you,

to make

your service

about you,

to make

your teaching

about you.

But hear

Paul's famous

words at the

start of

chapter 13.

If I speak

in the tongues

of men and

of angels,

but have

not love,

I am a

noisy gong

or clanging

cymbal.

And if I

have prophetic

powers and

understand all

mysteries and

all knowledge

and have

all faith

so as to

remove mountains,

but have

not love,

I am

nothing.

If I give

away all

that I have

and I deliver

up my body

to be burned

and have

not love,

I gain

nothing.

So use

your unique

spiritual gifts

in genuine

love for the

good of those

around you.

We ought to

be careful

to use

these gifts

as they're

intended because

the last

verse of our

passage today,

verse 11,

it reminds us

of the fourth

fact of these

spiritual gifts.

They,

they're not

from us.

You cannot

buy them.

You cannot

work your way

toward them.

You cannot

practice your

way to them.

You cannot

swap out your

gifts to get

the one that

you actually

want.

They might

not match

your personality

or your

preferences,

but the

Spirit gives

gifts according

to His

sovereign will.

In other

words,

we receive

these gifts

by the grace

of God

alone.

Hence,

the name

gifts,

they're gifts.

Undeserved,

unmerited,

these spiritual

gifts are

received freely.

and deep

down,

we know,

we know that

these gifts

must be

given by

grace because

frankly,

we are not

people who

deserve them.

Because of

our sin,

we're not

people who

have proven

ourselves

worthy to

be used by

Him in such

miraculous ways.

when you

take an

honest look

at yourself,

if you're

humble enough

to admit it,

don't you

see that

there is a

lot that

needs to

change?

Don't you

see an

ugly heart

full of

pride,

selfishness,

anger,

malice,

envy,

bitterness,

lust?

And if

you lived

long enough,

you'll know

how hard

it is to

change.

So much

content you

read online

these days is

all about

change,

how to get

yourself to

change,

tips to

change your

body,

your lifestyle,

your financial

circumstance,

your mood,

your productivity.

I bet that

for most of

us today,

there is at

least one

thing that

you're actively

working to

change about

yourself.

maybe you're

able to

change

yourself so

dramatically

that you're

unrecognizable

on the

outside,

but can

you really

make yourself

change on

the inside?

Can you

really change

your sinful

nature?

I see

my own

ugly heart

and so I've

tried to

change myself

again and

again.

Part of my

testimony is

that I've

tried but

failed again

and again

and again.

But the

good news

of the

gospel is

that once

we were

dead in

our sins,

once we

did not

find any

way to

change,

but that

God has

made us

alive in

him by

the power

of his

son,

by the

power of

his spirit.

We can

now rest

easy because

Jesus Christ

has died to

take away

all of the

sin,

all the

ugliness.

he has

paid for

all that

and resurrected

on the

third day

to forgive

us of

our sins

and to

change us

from the

inside out.

It's because

of that

work of

the son,

God has

sent his

spirit,

the same

spirit that

resurrected

Jesus from

the dead,

to now

resurrect us

to new

life,

a transformed

life in

Jesus Christ.

God has

not,

it is not

by our

own strength,

but by the

power of

the Holy

Spirit indwelling

in us,

can we now

live lives

holy to

God,

a changed

life.

Brothers and

sisters,

don't you

remember who

you once

were?

Your

changed

life is

the clearest

evidence that

the Holy

Spirit is

in you.

And if

he is in

you,

God has

deemed you

worthy to

receive power

from on

high.

The Holy

Spirit has

empowered you

to effect

change in

this world

and in the

lives of

those around

you.

What a

grace that

is.

Do you

ever stop

to reflect

on the

fact that

God,

he chooses

to incorporate

his church

into his

ministry?

When we're

so messy

and we're

so weak

that we

can partner

with God,

co-labor

with him,

we can do

this together

for his

glory.

Doesn't it

not amaze

you that he

chooses to

give his

gifts when

we know

that we

have and

we are

and we

will?

We'll

bungle it

up time

and time

again.

Some of

us have

despised

prophecies

and quenched

the spirit

from our

hard-hearted

skepticism.

Others have

struggled with

cowardice and

laziness when

we ought to

boldly use

our gifts

in love

of others.

Still others

have made

their gifts

about themselves

as a means

to promote

their own

reputation,

their own

image.

And yet

while we

botch it

up for

the hundredth

time,

the good

father,