1 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:18,200 In Canto is the story of the Madrigal family and the Madrigal 2 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:23,640 family live in a house in a rural area, but it's a secret 3 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:29,560 area in Columbia Hidden Village. And in the story, each member of 4 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:35,480 the Madrigal family receives a special unique gift as a family, 5 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:41,720 such as Super Strength or the ability to heal with food or 6 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,200 controlling the weather. And all of the magic that all of 7 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,840 the magic that comes to this family comes from a candle that 8 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,120 was given to Abuela the the mother and grandmother of the 9 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,240 family during a difficult season of her life. 10 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,640 And in the story, Mirabelle is the main character of the story. 11 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,720 But the unique thing about Mirabelle is that she doesn't 12 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:09,200 receive a special gift on the day that she comes for her 13 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,960 ceremony. And so this leaves her feeling 14 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,000 sort of left out from the family. 15 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,520 She feels inadequate. She feels like everybody else 16 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,280 has a gift and and they have something to offer to the 17 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,000 family, but she feels like she's not worthy. 18 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,280 She doesn't have a gift to use for the family. 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,960 And as the story goes along, we find out that the Mirabel house 20 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,680 is in danger and and the power is beginning to disappear and it 21 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,920 looks like there's fractures that are going to split up the 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,600 family. And so even though Mirabel knows 23 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,960 she doesn't have any special abilities, she begins to try to 24 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:45,720 figure out what is going on and how she can help. 25 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,760 And in the end, Mirabelle learns that that even though she 26 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,680 doesn't have a a magical power, she has a unique ability to 27 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,280 bring her family together. And she actually fixes many of 28 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,960 the issues and and causes the family that was going to be 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,320 broken and fall apart to come back together in unity. 30 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,919 And she plays a crucial role in healing those rifts and 31 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,920 restoring the magic. And this morning we're going to 32 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,640 talk about spiritual gifts in the church. 33 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,000 And, and maybe you've had similar feelings to that of 34 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,320 Mirabel. Maybe you feel like, OK, well, 35 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,000 this topic of spiritual gifts, I, I don't have a gift. 36 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,920 Or maybe you think that my gift isn't, is, isn't meaningful or 37 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:34,360 it isn't worth anything because that person has a better gift. 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:39,200 And you're comparing yourselves to other people in the church or 39 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,280 maybe you know what your gift is, but but you think your gift 40 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,720 is for yourself. And you're beginning to boast 41 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,600 and in the gift that you have been given by the Spirit and 42 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,280 whatever doubt it is that you're facing, whatever it is that 43 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,720 you're going through in your spiritual gift or your desire to 44 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,000 know what it is, you may not be using it. 45 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,960 All of these things can cause you to not serve the church. 46 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:13,560 The result of that is that you and the church suffer because 47 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,840 the church doesn't get the gift that it needs. 48 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,160 But you don't also grow through the use of your gift. 49 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,880 To not use your spiritual gifts is to not understand the purpose 50 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,000 that the Holy Spirit gives them to us. 51 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:36,440 The purpose of spiritual gifts is to grow the church up into 52 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,880 the fullness of Christ. And so if we don't have your 53 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,160 gift, we can't do that because you have a unique gift, a unique 54 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,560 calling on the Holy Spirit from the Holy Spirit to help the 55 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,440 church grow. God cares so much about his 56 00:03:54,440 --> 00:04:00,280 church that he gives his children specific gifts to help 57 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:05,880 it grow and mature into Christ. And this is exactly what Paul 58 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,240 wanted the Corinthians to understand. 59 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,920 They had questions about spiritual gifts and he wanted to 60 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,040 answer them. He said, I, I don't want you to 61 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:15,840 be uninformed about these things. 62 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,880 I want you to know. And so maybe you have questions 63 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,320 about spiritual gifts as well. And praise be to God that we 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,200 have this part of the letter to the Corinthians so that we can 65 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,000 learn along with the Corinthians at that time of what Paul wants 66 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,000 us to understand about spiritual gifts. 67 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,680 So if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians 68 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,440 chapter 12, we're going to be in verses one through 11 today. 69 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,080 First Corinthians chapter 12, verses one through 11. 70 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,920 And we've been going through this letter first Corinthians, 71 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,520 and this is a letter that Paul wrote to a church that he 72 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,080 started in the city of Corinth. And Paul had many things to 73 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,440 correct in this church because they had allowed worldly 74 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:58,600 thinking to come into the church. 75 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,720 And that's exactly what Paul is addressing here as well. 76 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,280 And last week we Jonah, Pastor Jonah talked about the fact that 77 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,280 they had allowed the world to come in even into their Lord's 78 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,560 Supper, where where they were segregating over over different 79 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,440 socio economic lines. And the wealthy were, were over 80 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,240 here getting drunk and, and eating while poor people were 81 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,960 out there going hungry. And and Paul condemns that. 82 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:23,360 He's like, what are you guys doing? 83 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:24,640 This is not the sort of division. 84 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,160 This is not what the body of Christ is supposed to look like. 85 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,840 And as we go through today's passage, we're going to see that 86 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,400 Paul is going to correct some more of that fleshly thinking 87 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,680 that focuses on self and helps them to see how they're to put 88 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,480 others 1st and use their gift to serve one another. 89 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,160 And So what we're going to see this morning is that if you have 90 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,480 the Spirit, you have a Master, you have power, and you have a 91 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,200 gift. Let's pray for the Lord's wisdom 92 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,080 before we dig into the text this morning. 93 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,200 Father, we thank you for the fact that you have given us your 94 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Spirit. We thank you that that 95 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,240 distinguishes us from the people of this world because we have 96 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,360 Christ's own spirit dwelling inside of us. 97 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,240 Lord, we pray that that you would fill us with a sense of 98 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:17,720 the understanding of what that means today. 99 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,520 Maybe we have misconceptions and misunderstandings about who the 100 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,440 Spirit is, but today we know we will learn who the Spirit is, 101 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,800 Lord, And we pray that by the Spirit's power in our hearts in 102 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,960 our lives, as we read into this text, as we seek to understand 103 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,640 what Your Word has to say, Lord, would Your Spirit help us to 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:42,040 know that we have power, that we have a gift that we can use for 105 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,360 the building of Your Kingdom? Lord, would you open our eyes 106 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,360 and use Your word to do that? Or would you strengthen us as a 107 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,200 church that we can serve one another and grow into the 108 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,040 fullness of our Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, 109 00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:00,440 Amen. So let's go through First 110 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,680 Corinthians chapter 12, verses one through 11, First 111 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,480 Corinthians chapter 12, one through 11. 112 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:12,200 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to 113 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,680 be uninformed. You know that when you were 114 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,480 pagans you were LED astray to mute idols. 115 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,800 However you were led. Therefore I want you to 116 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:26,040 understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 117 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:32,120 Jesus is accursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except in 118 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,840 the Holy Spirit. Now there are a varieties of 119 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,960 gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service 120 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:44,040 but the same Lord, And there are varieties of activities, but it 121 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,840 is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 122 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,720 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for 123 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:57,880 the common good, for to one is given the Spirit, for to one is 124 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,880 given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to 125 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,480 another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same 126 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:08,280 spirit, to another faith, by the same spirit, to another gifts, 127 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,960 gifts of healing, by the one spirit, to another the working 128 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,560 of miracles, to another, prophecy. 129 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,480 To another, the ability to distinguish between spirits, to 130 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,640 another various kinds of tongues, to another, the 131 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:27,880 interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by 1 and 132 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,960 the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he 133 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,880 wills. So the first thing that we will 134 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,120 see today is that if you have the spirit, you have a master. 135 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,040 Before we were Christians, we lived to ourselves. 136 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,760 We we lived the way that we thought we wanted to live, 137 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,520 seeking to indulge our flesh, seeking to build our our 138 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,320 kingdoms. But the moment we received the 139 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:59,560 Holy Spirit, we received a new heart and a new master. 140 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:05,720 Now we understand that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is our Master and 141 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,960 our desire is to live for him. That's because now that you have 142 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,600 the Spirit, you are no longer of this world. 143 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,760 Verse 2 says you know that when you were pagans, you were LED 144 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,120 astray to mute idols. However you were led, and the 145 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,240 Corinthians, before they came to know Christ as their savior, 146 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,680 they were led astray to mute idols. 147 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,880 We've already learned from Paul that idols are not gods at all. 148 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,040 They're, they're nothing. And so they can't instruct and 149 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:35,800 they can't teach anyone. They're mute. 150 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,680 They're, they, they are powerless. 151 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,760 And so the, the Corinthians had been LED astray to worshipping 152 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,800 these false, all these false idols, these false gods. 153 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,640 But they thought that they were real. 154 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,080 But now they understood that they weren't. 155 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:52,160 They knew that Christ, now they understood that Christ was God. 156 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,280 Now they had the Spirit. They recognized through the 157 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,120 Spirit that Jesus is Lord. And so they had a new master. 158 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,560 They were no longer of this world. 159 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,160 We also see that you have, if you have the Spirit, you are no 160 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,040 longer your own. Look at verse 3. 161 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,200 Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking 162 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,760 in the Spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed, and no one 163 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,760 can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. 164 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,320 Now it seems that the Corinthians were confusing their 165 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,400 worship. They were bringing in the ideas 166 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:31,000 of the world into their worship. One of the highest forms of 167 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:36,520 worship in Pagan worship was a supposed superior supernatural 168 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,280 interaction with a deity. And so they thought that if you 169 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,280 could get drunk enough, and if you could go into this area and, 170 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,720 and have these, they had these chants and these prayers and, 171 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,360 and drunkenness and orgies. And they thought that through 172 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,400 this ecstasy they could somehow have communion with the gods. 173 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,200 And they were beginning to bring that into the church. 174 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,920 And Paul is going to address speaking in tongues a lot. 175 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,120 And, and maybe that's what they were doing. 176 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,440 Maybe this led to to speaking in tongues. 177 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,480 And Paul is clear to say no one ever speaking in the Spirit is 178 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,280 going to say Jesus is cursed. No one in the Spirit is ever 179 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,200 going to say that. And so he's correcting their 180 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,720 worship. He's making it clear that when 181 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,560 we acknowledge Jesus is Lord, you can only do that through the 182 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:27,000 Holy Spirit. You can only realize that you 183 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,120 are not your own, that you have a master through the power of 184 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,920 the Holy Spirit, otherwise you won't believe that. 185 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:40,120 This then is how we distinguish between believers and non 186 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,320 believers. If you have the Spirit, you, the 187 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,200 spirit in you testifies that Jesus is Lord. 188 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,080 And if Jesus is Lord, then you're no longer of this world 189 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:57,720 and you're no longer your own. Jesus is your master in the 190 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,360 Gospel according to Luke. He shares the story of the 191 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:04,960 Garricean demoniac. And once when Jesus is is 192 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:09,040 crossing over the sea, after he after he calms the storm, he 193 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:10,880 comes to the country of the Garris scenes. 194 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,280 And there's this demon possessed man who who comes out and meets 195 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:15,920 him. And we learn about this man that 196 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,160 that he was so demon possessed and the demons in him were so 197 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,400 powerful that he could no longer be bound. 198 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,320 They they tried to bind him with chains and shackles, but he was 199 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,960 so strong he would just RIP them apart and continue to go out. 200 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,000 And so they stopped even trying and he would just wander about 201 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,440 screaming in the wilderness. And when he comes to Jesus, 202 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,720 through an amazing display of Jesus power, he casts out the 203 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,080 demons and they go into a herd of pigs and they rush over the 204 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,240 Cliff. And then Luke 835 tells us. 205 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,840 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to 206 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,000 Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting 207 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:00,520 at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they 208 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,560 were afraid. And so this man, after being 209 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,720 delivered from the power of the enemy to Jesus, begged Jesus to 210 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,560 follow him. But Jesus said, no, stay here, 211 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,960 go to your home and tell everyone what God has done for 212 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:17,600 you. And so he did. 213 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,840 He went into the city, and he told everyone what Jesus had 214 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,920 done for him. Well, brothers and sisters, 215 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:30,840 before we were in Christ, we were in bondage to sin and to 216 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,200 the things of this world. We were in bondage. 217 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,960 We were led astray through the world, through the flesh and 218 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,680 through the devil. But now that we have been freed 219 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:44,800 through the power of Christ, we have been saved. 220 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,960 We have been set free from that bondage. 221 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,760 Those shackles have been torn off and we are now free in 222 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:54,200 Christ. Now, through the Holy Spirit, we 223 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,080 recognize that Jesus is our Lord. 224 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:04,080 He is our Master. Do you desire to sit at the feet 225 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:09,400 of your Savior and learn from Him as this man did who was 226 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:16,240 freed from the power of Christ? We should wake up every day with 227 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,640 grateful, joyful, Worshipful hearts for all that Christ has 228 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,000 done for us and come and sit at the feet of Christ and and 229 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,760 immerse ourselves in His Word so that we can experience His grace 230 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,320 in our lives, coming to His Word daily. 231 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,680 And as we come each and every day to God's Word to sit at the 232 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,920 feet of our Savior and to learn and to listen to Him, His Spirit 233 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:47,320 will transform us through His Word into the image of Christ. 234 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,040 Brothers and sisters, if Jesus is your master, if Jesus is your 235 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,880 Lord, then you're no longer of this world. 236 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,080 You're no longer even your own. Your desire should be to honor 237 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,920 and glorify your Master who saved you and freed you from 238 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:13,560 bondage to sin. The next thing that we see is if 239 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,360 you have the Spirit, you have power. 240 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,400 Paul has has laid the foundation. 241 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,960 We first need to understand if you have the Spirit, and if you 242 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,720 do, you acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord, He is your Master. 243 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,280 You truly do have His Spirit. And now that you have His 244 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,920 Spirit, you must recognize that He has given you power through 245 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,640 His Spirit. But what you need to know first 246 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,120 is that your power is from God. Look at verses 4 through 6. 247 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:47,120 Now there are a varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 248 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,440 There are a varieties of service, but the same Lord. 249 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,200 There are a varieties of activities, but it is the same 250 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,520 God who empowers them all in everyone. 251 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:00,840 Paul here teaches that that there are many different kinds 252 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,400 of gifts, there are many different kinds of service, 253 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,480 there are many different kinds of activities, but it's the same 254 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,800 God who empowers them all. And notice the Trinity here, 255 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,720 that that's not by accident. We see the Spirit, we see the 256 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,920 Lord which is referring to Jesus, and we see God the 257 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,960 Father. The Trinity is intricately 258 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:27,040 involved in giving power to His people for the for the purpose 259 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,200 of using that power to grow the church. 260 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,480 God's church is going to be full of people who have His spirit 261 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,480 and therefore have His power. But that power doesn't come from 262 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,400 you. It's not an ability that you 263 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:41,920 have. It's not a natural talent. 264 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:46,000 It's not a natural gift. It is a unique power that comes 265 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,760 from God. Next, Paul shows us that your 266 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,840 power is for others. Look at verse 7. 267 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,920 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for 268 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,560 the common good. Rather than seeing that their 269 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,920 power was for the good of others, the Corinthians were 270 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,599 beginning to see their power as a way to exalt themselves and to 271 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,599 benefit themselves. They definitely saw that in our 272 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,560 text last week, right as Pastor Jonah talked about, they were 273 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:16,960 indulging themselves. Hey, all this blessing, all this 274 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,040 joy. Hey, we receive all these 275 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,960 blessings from Christ and I'm going to enjoy them with me and 276 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,119 my friends and not see them as a benefit to the whole church. 277 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:27,960 That's what the Corinthians were doing. 278 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,840 They were messed up. This led to division in the 279 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,520 church. And, and Jake is going to talk 280 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,320 about the, the rest of chapter 12 next week. 281 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,560 And what we're going to see next week is that there were some 282 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:42,000 people who said, man, I, I, I don't have that gift, so I must 283 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,360 be meaningless. And then there were other people 284 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,280 who said, Hey, I, I don't need you. 285 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,000 There was their spiritual gifts. Their power was actually 286 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,800 creating divisions rather than bringing them together into one 287 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:58,280 body. But Paul wanted them to 288 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,960 understand, and he wants us to understand that if you have the 289 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:06,320 spirit, you have power. That power is from God, but it 290 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:11,400 is for others. In the book of Acts we learn 291 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:16,120 about Simon the sorcerer. He was a magician who for many 292 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:19,880 years he he amazed the people with his power so much so that 293 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,960 they thought he was God. And after hearing the gospel 294 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,920 Phil this Simon the sorcerer believed in Jesus and he 295 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,960 followed Philip everywhere he went. 296 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,000 And one day as the as the apostles came from Jerusalem to 297 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,320 to lay hands on people, they received the Holy Spirit. 298 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,920 And Simon said in Acts chapter 19 verse, Acts chapter 8, verses 299 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,840 19 through 24, give me this power also, so that anyone on 300 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,640 whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. 301 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,840 But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because 302 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,880 you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. 303 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,040 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is 304 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,360 not right before God. Repent therefore, of this 305 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:09,200 wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, that, if possible, the 306 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,600 intent of your heart may be forgiven. 307 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,440 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the 308 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,080 bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, Pray to me 309 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,800 for them, for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have 310 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:27,080 said may come upon me now it it seems that Simon had a repentant 311 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,280 hearted we, but we don't hear about him from here. 312 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,520 So we don't really know what happened to him. 313 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,840 But we do learn from Peter's rebuke that he had sin in his 314 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,000 heart. He had a sinful attitude. 315 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,520 He had a desire to use the power of God for selfishness. 316 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,640 There's actually a word that we have that's based on his name. 317 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:51,800 It's called simony and it's using religion as a means of 318 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,040 profit. Brothers and sisters, we have to 319 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,840 be so careful of this as well that we don't seek to use our 320 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,320 religion. We don't seek to use our power 321 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,360 for ourselves, for our own benefit, for our own profit. 322 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,480 This is so easy to do in our day and age because the second we 323 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,080 think that we have a marketable skill or a marketable product or 324 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,720 a marketable service, we right away begin thinking about, well, 325 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,760 how can I use this to to become wealthy? 326 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,960 How can I use this to bring an income? 327 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,800 And I'm not saying that's bad in and of itself. 328 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,680 We, we need to find ways to to earn a living and earn an 329 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,560 income. But when it comes to religion, 330 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,840 when it comes to the things of God, we should never seek to 331 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,000 become wealthy. We should never seek to use the 332 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,920 power and the gifts of God for our own benefit. 333 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:47,080 We must recognize that that power we have is from God, but 334 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,440 for others, it's not for us. It's not for our profit. 335 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,600 We can take no credit for the power that we have from God. 336 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,200 And our power is not for our benefit. 337 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,560 It's for the benefit of others, the church. 338 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,680 And how we might ask, how does our power, how does the power 339 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,480 that the Holy Spirit has given us, how does it benefit the 340 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,440 church? Well, Paul teaches the Ephesians 341 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,040 that Christ gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, 342 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,560 the shepherds and teachers. Why did he give the church those 343 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:28,520 people to equip the Saints for the work of ministry so that the 344 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:33,360 Saints would build up the body of Christ until we all attain 345 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,800 the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God 346 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:41,680 to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness 347 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,880 of Christ. I will say as a pastoral team, 348 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:49,640 this section of Scripture has shaped our vision for this 349 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,360 church. You may come from a background 350 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,760 where the pastor sits at the front of the stage and and you 351 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,360 come here to hear what the pastor has to say. 352 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,120 And when you go out, you don't go back to the Word of God. 353 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,560 You don't go learn for yourself. You just simply listen to what 354 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:07,880 the pastor says and you don't question anything. 355 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,360 You don't read the word of God because you don't learn more 356 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:12,320 because you don't want to be held accountable for more. 357 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,040 Brothers and sisters, that is wrong. 358 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:20,880 That is false. This section of scripture shapes 359 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,800 our vision for our church because we as leaders are not 360 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,440 here to bottle feed. You come to the church so that 361 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,240 you can grow. No, we as pastors, we as leaders 362 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:35,280 are here to help you grow up in your faith so that you are doing 363 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,000 the work of ministry in the church. 364 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:42,520 Brothers and sisters, you help the church to grow to the full 365 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,200 stature and the fullness of Christ, Not me. 366 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,920 All of us working together through the power that Christ 367 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:55,280 has given to us, work together to build up the church. 368 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,680 And this brings glory to Christ. And that's why the Holy Spirit 369 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:05,000 came to bring glory to Christ. It is the Spirit's joy to bring 370 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,280 glory to Christ and so bring glory to the Father. 371 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,000 Jesus said this when speaking to his disciples. 372 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,720 When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all 373 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,480 truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever 374 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,160 He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you the things 375 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,880 that are to come. He will glorify me, for He will 376 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,880 take what is mine and declare it to you. 377 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:38,560 The Spirit longs to bring glory to Christ, and so He empowers us 378 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,880 so that the church becomes more like Jesus. 379 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,920 And so you must find ways to use the power that you have to help 380 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,960 the church grow in maturity. Next, we see that if you have 381 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,600 the Spirit, you have a gift. Those who have Christ's Spirit 382 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,400 recognize that he's their Lord, He's their master. 383 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,640 They have received power from him through his Spirit, and they 384 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,760 use that power to grow the church. 385 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,320 And the way they do that is through the unique gifts that 386 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,600 the Spirit has given them. And so as Paul begins to list 387 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,360 some of these gifts, I want to emphasize 2 principles. 388 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,160 We will talk a little bit about the gifts themselves, but I want 389 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,480 to emphasize 2 principles that Paul shows us in these gifts. 390 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,160 First, the Spirit gets the glory. 391 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,600 Paul is going to list the gifts, but look at the emphasis. 392 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,600 I want you to listen as I, as I read this section, listen to the 393 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,640 emphasis on the Holy Spirit. For to one this is verse eight 394 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,680 and eight through 10. For to one is given through the 395 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:43,840 Spirit. The utterance of wisdom to 396 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,080 another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same 397 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:52,520 spirit, to another, faith by the same spirit to another, gifts of 398 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,760 healing by the one spirit to another, the working of miracles 399 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,120 to another, prophecy to another, The ability to distinguish 400 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:04,040 between spirits to another, various kinds of tongues to 401 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,160 another, the interpretation of tongues. 402 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:10,400 And so Paul doesn't go into the details of what these gifts are 403 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,520 and what they mean and how they manifest himself. 404 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,000 He simply names some of them. But what he wants to be 405 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,800 abundantly clear is that they all come from the Spirit. 406 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,800 The Spirit gets the glory for your gift. 407 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,120 Nobody can take credit for the gift they have. 408 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,040 No one can boast in the gift they have. 409 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,680 They did nothing to get it. And again, what I want us to 410 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,640 understand is it's spiritual gifts are not natural gifts and 411 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,520 talents and abilities you don't have. 412 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,960 The spiritual gift is not being able to to bake pie really well. 413 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,600 Although I heard listen to the sermon from John MacArthur this 414 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,240 week, he said it's not it's not the ability to make pie. 415 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,040 But I'd be more than happy to verify if you, if you're good at 416 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,480 making pie, but that's not the point. 417 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,720 It's not a natural ability. And that's quite honestly, 418 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,880 brothers and sisters, I kind of wanted to, to give a, a 419 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,480 spiritual gifts assessment to you all that, hey, we're coming 420 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,240 into this section on spiritual gifts. 421 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,600 I wonder if we could give them a test so that they could take 422 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,520 this test and they would know what gifts they have. 423 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,000 But as I began researching and I I listened to one guy and he had 424 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,080 this article and he said the problem with spiritual gift 425 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,480 assessments is that they're usually based on a Myers Briggs. 426 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,720 So they're based on your temperament, your personality, 427 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,920 your character traits. And he said the problem with 428 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,600 that is a non believer and a believer can both take that same 429 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,240 test and have the same results. How can a non believer have a 430 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,800 spiritual gift? They can't. 431 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,320 A spiritual gift is something that if you took this test the 432 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,920 day before you came to Christ and took a spiritual gifts test 433 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,800 the day after you came to Christ, there would be a vast 434 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,160 difference because now you have a unique spiritual gift that is 435 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,520 unique to you. It's something you didn't have 436 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,080 before you came to Christ. So it's not your personality, 437 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,680 it's not your character, it's not natural abilities. 438 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:03,360 It's a unique gift that God has given to you to build up the 439 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,400 church, but we can't take any credit for that. 440 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,080 And we can't coerce the Holy Spirit to try giving us a 441 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,920 certain gift either. Like Simon the sorcerer, I came 442 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,000 to like, well, I'll, I'll serve you for the rest of my life if 443 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,400 you just give me that gift. Or hey, I'll pay for that. 444 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,400 No, you can't do that because the next thing we learn is that 445 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,880 the Spirit gets to choose. Look at verse 11. 446 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:33,520 All these are empowered by one in the same Spirit, who 447 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,280 apportions to each one individually as he wills. 448 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:44,800 God the Holy Spirit, equally. God with God the Son and God the 449 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:52,480 Father uses His wisdom to give gifts to whoever He chooses in 450 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,960 His sovereign will. He makes that decision, and 451 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,840 there's nothing that you can do to influence that decision. 452 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:05,080 We are all saved into one body, Christ's church, and yet each 453 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,440 one of us individually is gifted by the Spirit for the purpose of 454 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,920 growing up the church into the fullness of Christ. 455 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,920 Now, the fact that the Spirit chooses all the gifts shows that 456 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,560 there should be unity. The Spirit who chooses every 457 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,640 gift that each person is going to have is not going to give 458 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,480 gifts that cause tension, that cause division. 459 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,840 He overseas all of the gifts and so he gives the gifts so that 460 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:34,880 there's cohesion, there's unity, there's togetherness in Christ. 461 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:40,000 They all are meant to work together for the good of 462 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,800 everyone. If you have the Spirit, you have 463 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,560 a gift and the Spirit gets the glory because the Spirit gets to 464 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:55,040 choose who gets what gift. Now in John, in John's Gospel 465 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,760 just before Jesus ascension, he shares the story that that no 466 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,160 other gospel writer shares of after Jesus resurrection that 467 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,000 that Peter went out to go fishing. 468 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,120 He there was lots of things going through his mind and he 469 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,800 goes out to go fishing and there were six other disciples who 470 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,480 followed him. And so they, they go out and 471 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,440 they begin fishing, but they don't catch anything. 472 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,560 And then Jesus is standing on the shore. 473 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,120 They don't know it's Jesus, but he says, cast the net on the 474 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,880 other side of the boat. And so they do and, and they can 475 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,600 barely haul in this net. It's about to tear. 476 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,160 They're surprised that it didn't tear, but they can barely haul 477 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:27,960 it in. And, and then they go on the the 478 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,160 beach and, and they enjoy this communion, this fellowship, this 479 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,720 breakfast with Jesus around the fire. 480 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,440 And as they're eating, we, we know this question that Jesus 481 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,360 continually asks Peter, do you love me? 482 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,920 And Peter says, yes, three times he asks the question and three 483 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,320 times Peter says, yes, I love you, Lord. 484 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,040 And then as Jesus begins to talk about Peter's life, he says he 485 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,560 predicts Peter's death and he says, follow me. 486 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,520 But then Peter turns to John and says, when when Peter saw him, 487 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,320 he he, he turned, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this 488 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,920 man? Jesus said to him, if it is my 489 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,560 will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? 490 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,640 You follow me. Now what Jesus is saying is 491 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,920 don't worry about that guy. Don't worry about other people, 492 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,880 don't worry what gift they have. Don't worry what I'm calling him 493 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,760 to do. It's none of your business what 494 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,680 I'm calling him to do. You just worry about yourself 495 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,200 and you follow me. Now he's not saying that in a 496 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,600 way that we shouldn't worry about the church and the body, 497 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,760 but he's saying it's not your business how God gifts someone 498 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:39,960 else. It's not your business what God 499 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,920 calls someone else to. You need to worry about yourself 500 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,000 and maybe you're fixated on other people, whether that's 501 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,200 insecurity and doubt for yourself. 502 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,520 Maybe you feel like I don't, I don't have a meaningful gift. 503 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,160 Or maybe I don't have a gift at all. 504 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:59,960 And man, I wish I had that gift. But what you're failing to 505 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:03,920 understand is that that God is calling you to use your gift. 506 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,320 He's not asking you to account for why you don't have someone 507 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,520 else's gift. The beauty of the gifts is that 508 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:15,080 we work together. I can serve you through the use 509 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,760 of my gift of teaching you the word of God, but you can serve 510 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,800 me with your gifts in ways that I need help, that I need growth. 511 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,680 Brothers and sisters, I can lack faith at times. 512 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:31,520 Some of you have a faith that that that is incredible to me. 513 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,920 And it's shown in your prayer because you pray and you pray 514 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,880 and you pray and you are so persistent in your prayer. 515 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:43,320 You have a faith that teaches me and when we all work together 516 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,560 and use our gifts for one another, that is the beauty of 517 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,920 the church growing together in the fullness of Christ. 518 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,040 Well, on the other side, maybe you are boasting in your gift. 519 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,000 Maybe you think that your gift is so much better than everyone 520 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:00,800 else is that you don't need everyone else. 521 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,680 You need to recognize your need for the body. 522 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,440 You have blind spots that you don't know about, and you need 523 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,120 the body to help you to grow into the fullness of Christ. 524 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,240 And so we need to recognize and thank God for the gifts that 525 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,000 other people have because they serve us. 526 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:24,000 And so we should thank God for other people, but we should also 527 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,720 seek to know our gift and how we can serve the body so that it 528 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,960 grows. Now I just want to sort of 529 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,360 briefly go over some of these spiritual gifts that then maybe 530 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,080 you would pray through it and, and seek the Lord's wisdom on 531 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:38,600 whether you have these gifts or not. 532 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:40,160 I'll just sort of briefly go over them. 533 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,880 Paul mentions wisdom. Maybe you have a, a unique 534 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:48,400 ability to take God's word and to apply it to everyday life. 535 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:53,560 Maybe you have knowledge, which may be a, a deep insight into 536 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:57,120 God's Word that doesn't just come from human understanding. 537 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,120 It comes from the Spirit. And that's what we need to 538 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,000 recognize about these spiritual gifts. 539 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,960 They're not just things that we just conjure up in our flesh. 540 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,160 These are gifts that are unique to the Holy Spirit. 541 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:14,040 They're Holy Spirit empowered. Maybe you have faith, a deep 542 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:17,920 trust in God that allows you to pray fervently and to pray 543 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,720 persistently. Now Paul mentions healing and 544 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,040 miracles and tongues and, and there are some people who 545 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,760 believe that that these gifts exist specifically today. 546 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,880 And there are others who believe that that these gifts were given 547 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,680 to the church for a specific set of time and then they ceased. 548 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,840 And the purpose of those gifts was to validate the church that 549 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,320 the Christ was in his church through his power. 550 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,320 Now I do believe that God can and does do miracles today 551 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:53,320 through faith, through prayers of faith, but I do lean towards 552 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:57,080 that, that those gifts were were for a specific season, for a 553 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,800 specific time. And the reason for that is what 554 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:03,120 we've just learned today. If the Holy Spirit is the one 555 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,920 who gets to choose, then I would ask the question, why don't we 556 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:09,679 have someone with the gift of healing? 557 00:34:11,679 --> 00:34:14,360 Because it's a, it's a Holy Spirit given gift. 558 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,719 And if we don't have people in our church or in our churches or 559 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,560 around the world who have those gifts, then the Holy Spirit is 560 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:23,920 not giving that gift to the church. 561 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,400 And so it seems most practical to me that that those gifts were 562 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,840 for a season during Jesus's ministry and during the life of 563 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:36,040 the early church to validate who Jesus was and that he truly was 564 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:38,400 God the Son. Again, I'm not saying God 565 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,159 doesn't do miracles today. He absolutely does through 566 00:34:41,159 --> 00:34:46,040 prayers of faith. Maybe you have the gift of 567 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,960 prophecy, which is preaching and teaching God's Word, or the the 568 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:54,239 ability to distinguish between spirits, which is a special 569 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,480 discernment. Some people have that special 570 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,000 discernment. You know those people, they, 571 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,840 they, they can read into a situation in a way that you 572 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:02,320 can't. And more often than not, they're 573 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:06,360 right. What gift has the Spirit given 574 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:10,200 you for the purpose of benefiting the church? 575 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:15,880 Now, some of you may know Austin Matthews. 576 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,600 He's a hockey player on the Toronto Maple Leafs. 577 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:25,720 This year, Austin Matthews is set to make $16.7 million, and 578 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:29,240 rightfully so because he's incredibly valuable to the team. 579 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,800 Do do you know what his ability is? 580 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:39,320 Do you know what his gift is? He sits on the bench and he sits 581 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,920 on the bench like nobody you've ever seen before. 582 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,680 Let me tell you. He sits there and he takes that 583 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,040 space, and then when he moves over, that space is nice and 584 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,280 warm for the next guy who slides over. 585 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,880 And he is just gifted at sitting on the bench like nobody, you 586 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:57,640 know? Now, if that sounds ridiculous, 587 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:00,440 it is ridiculous because I made that up. 588 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,080 Obviously, the Toronto Maple Leafs would never pay somebody 589 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,040 $16.7 million to sit on the bench. 590 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,240 They're giving him that money because he's incredibly gifted 591 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:13,600 as a hockey player and he's going to use that gift to help 592 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,280 the team hopefully one day win a Stanley Cup. 593 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,280 Some some of us shaking their heads or there's a lot of hope 594 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:25,080 there. Brothers and sisters, the Holy 595 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,640 Spirit didn't give you the gift to sit on the bench. 596 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,280 He didn't give you the gift to sit down and let everybody else 597 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:38,120 do the work. You have a gift to serve your 598 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,840 brothers and sisters in Christ. It may not be the way that I do 599 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:43,080 it. It may not be the way that 600 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,360 somebody else do it does it. But you have a specific gift to 601 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:50,600 strengthen the church, to help it grow into the fullness of 602 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:55,040 Christ, and it's not going to get there until you start 603 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,560 helping. We are missing out on your gift 604 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:02,000 if you don't serve. And so I want to encourage you, 605 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,440 brothers and sisters, to prayerfully discern where God is 606 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,640 calling you, where God has gifted you to serve the church. 607 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:15,280 Pray this week through these gifts and ask the Lord if one of 608 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,640 them is yours. Maybe ask other people that know 609 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,480 you and say, is there anything that you see in my life, 610 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,880 spiritual gifting that you would say that I'm uniquely gifted and 611 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,520 I should begin to pursue? Maybe there's an area of church 612 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:32,080 that you say I, I think maybe I could serve there. 613 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:37,800 Don't be scared to jump in. We, we don't want people to come 614 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,240 in and serve. And then we're going to lock you 615 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:41,400 in and oh, now you have to do this for the rest of your life. 616 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:46,800 We want you to find an area to serve that empowers you because 617 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:48,880 once you're that you'll know you'll get in there and you'll 618 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,280 be like, you know what? I, I just don't get anything out 619 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:52,880 of this. All right, then tell your leader 620 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,160 and say, I got to try something else. 621 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,320 We'll fill that spot with somebody else and then go to the 622 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,600 thing. We want you to find the area of 623 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,160 service in the church that empowers you. 624 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,920 And the beautiful thing about a gift that empowers is that no 625 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,280 matter what sacrifice it requires, you're willing to do 626 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:12,840 it because you get a sense of joy, a sense of blessing out of 627 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,160 of doing something that God has gifted you to do. 628 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,760 Brothers and sisters, the church will never grow into the 629 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,760 fullness of Christ until we are all working together to build 630 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:29,240 the body of Christ. And I want to take a moment to 631 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:32,120 speak specifically to those in the room who maybe don't 632 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,240 recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 633 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,320 Maybe you're like the Corinthians at at the beginning 634 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,080 where Paul says you once were LED astray to idols and you 635 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:42,560 didn't know Jesus as your Savior. 636 00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,840 Maybe you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but you've 637 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:48,880 heard about him. You've heard about what he has 638 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:52,840 done for you, that that he came down in the form of man, God in 639 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:58,120 the form of man, to live a perfectly righteous life, to die 640 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:02,040 as a sacrifice for our sins, and then die and be buried and 641 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,560 raised again and ascended to the throne. 642 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:08,560 All so that through faith in Him, your sins could be 643 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,600 forgiven. And as we've learned today, look 644 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:16,000 at the care and the love that he has for His church, for his 645 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:21,720 body, to gift it, to care for it, and to help it to grow. 646 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,680 Maybe you would consider giving your life to the Lord today. 647 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,240 Maybe you're sensing that call of the Lord on your life, to 648 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:36,240 trust in Jesus as your Master, to surrender your life and to 649 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:39,960 become a part of his body so that you grow into the fullness 650 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,280 of Christ. We would encourage you to talk 651 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,040 with one of us pastors or or even just someone around you, 652 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,560 someone that you know is a believer, and ask them what it 653 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:52,320 means to follow Christ. What a joy it is to be a part of 654 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:56,360 a body that God himself cares for and grows. 655 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,240 And would we serve together as we grow into the fullness of 656 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:02,360 Christ, that we may bring glory and honor to Him. 657 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:08,480 Let's bow for prayer. Father, we thank you so much for 658 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:13,120 the gift of your Spirit. What a wonderful privilege it is 659 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,920 to have your spirit dwelling in us. 660 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,520 This is this is a down payment. It is a guarantee that that we 661 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,680 know that we are yours, that we can be guaranteed that we are 662 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:27,920 going to go to heaven one day because of the Holy Spirit 663 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:30,640 dwelling in us. But this is the Holy Spirit is 664 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,600 not just for some future date and hopefully one day we'll get 665 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:38,160 to just experience heaven forever, but it is the Holy 666 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:42,960 Spirit has given to us now that we might have power and a gift 667 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,400 to help the church grow into all that you want it to be. 668 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,880 Lord, we pray for that you would fill us with your Spirit. 669 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,320 I pray that that you would help us to understand how you've 670 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:59,760 gifted us so that we can serve one another and grow together so 671 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,400 that we may bring glory and honor to our Savior who is 672 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,040 worthy of all praise. We thank you in Jesus name, 673 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:06,800 Amen.