
The Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-31)
- please open your Bibles this morning to 1 Corinthians
12:12
-
- one rainy morning years ago, I walked to school
- as a primary school youngster, I, like many others,
was fascinated by all things to do with rain: worms, puddles, and the
like
- like other kids, I would not walk around puddles,
but most of the time directly through them
- I remember reading that the act of jumping over
a puddle is quite a feat
- and so, I remember this seemingly uneventful
moment as if it happened yesterday, even though I was probably only
8 years old
- I approached a puddle approximately one foot
in diameter
- and as I approached it, my legs sprung and propelled
me not just up, but over that puddle
- and I landed exactly where I wanted to on the
other side
- and I did it all without really having to think
about it
- it involved the coordination of the muscular
system in both my legs, as well as my abilities of perception and balance
- and I walked on
-
- now this sounds silly
- but it just goes to show how dependent each member
of the physical body is on the other members
- my eyes located a place to land
- my legs sprung me into the air
- the fluid in my ears kept my sense of balance
- my arms helped me keep balance
- and my feet landed and kept me walking
-
- now, imagine for a moment that my eyes, legs,
ears, arms, and feet all had personalities of their own
- as I started to jump, my eyes said, "Land
over there!"
- and my legs responded, "Mind your own business,
Ill land wherever I want"
- then my feet jump in, and say, "Watch out!
Im about to get wet!"
- and then my ears respond: "Stop all the
yelling! I wont get wet up here"
- I would get all wet, lose my balance, possibly
hurt myself, and especially hurt my ego
- I probably couldnt walk or do practically
anything without falling and being clumsy
- if the members of my physical body acted independently,
I would be in a terrible mess
-
- interestingly, the Bible says that the church
is one body
- the Spirit-filled life, according to the Scriptures,
is one if interdependency
- just as the members of a physical body work together
interdependently, so you and I as individual members of the body of
Christ are to work together to accomplish Gods will
-
- lets read the passage in 1 Corinthians
12
- (1 Corinthians 12:11) All these are the work
of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines.
- (1 Corinthians 12:12) The body is a unit, though
it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they
form one body. So it is with Christ.
- (1 Corinthians 12:13) For we were all baptized
by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and
we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
-
- youll notice from this passage that
EVERYBODY IS NEEDED IN THE BODY
- as Charles Stanley says, "Everybody is somebody
in the body"
- you are part of a living organism called the
body of Christ
- you are not the entire organism; you are merely
one part of that organism
- and so am I
- just as in our bodies, each member is related
and dependent on the other parts of the body, so it is in the church
- you are not independent; you are part of the
body of Christ
-
- many people feel that they are insignificant
members of the body of Christ
- they may feel that their gifts are inferior and
unimportant
- in some churches, some gifts are elevated above
others
- preachers are given many strokes; in some churches,
those who speak in tongues are put on a pedestal
- Paul addresses this in the next few verses:
- (1 Corinthians 12:14) Now the body is not made
up of one part but of many.
- (1 Corinthians 12:15) If the foot should say,
"Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it
would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
- (1 Corinthians 12:16) And if the ear should say,
"Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it
would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
- (1 Corinthians 12:17) If the whole body were
an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were
an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
- (1 Corinthians 12:18) But in fact God has arranged
the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be.
- (1 Corinthians 12:19) If they were all one part,
where would the body be?
- (1 Corinthians 12:20) As it is, there are many
parts, but one body.
-
- there is absolutely no need for you to feel inferior
in the body of Christ
- you are an absolutely essential part, and without
you the body of Christ would be missing something
- if something ever stops functioning or encounters
problems in your body, you dont wait very long before taking corrective
action
- lets take something small like a tooth
- I can guarantee that you dont take long
before fixing an abscessed tooth
- if one lung collapses, you dont say, "Oh,
well, I have another lung, everything will be okay"
- if your finger breaks, you dont just ignore
it and get along with the other good fingers
- and so it is in the body of Christ
- (1 Corinthians 12:21) The eye cannot say to the
hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet,
"I don't need you!"
- lets be honest: you are needed in the
body of Christ
- none of us could ever say, "I dont
need you. Ill get along fine without you"
- the Spirit has given you an absolutely vital
role in this church
-
- can I tell you what this means?
- you are a somebody in the body
- you bring a unique contribution to the body of
Christ that no one else could bring
- Bill says something I like
- he says, "Im not the chairman of the
board everyone is the chairman of the board"
- hes right
- Bill is important in this church, and brings
a valuable contribution to the church
- but lets get this straight you are
an equally important person in the church, and you bring an equally
valuable contribution to the body of Christ
- (1 Corinthians 12:18) But in fact God has arranged
the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be.
- another thing this means is that we need to
make sure there is no division in the body
- (1 Corinthians 12:25) so that there should be
no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern
for each other.
- (1 Corinthians 12:26) If one part suffers, every
part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with
it.
- (1 Corinthians 12:27) Now you are the body of
Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
- instead of being divided, we need to show concern
for one another
- if one Christian suffers, all the Christians
in the body of Christ are affected
- if youve ever had a toothache, that one
little tooth screams for attention in your entire body
- it doesnt matter that the tooth is small,
and that all the other parts of your body are functioning fine
- all you can think about is that aching tooth
- when one member of the church suffers, we all
suffer
-
- we need to care for each other and make sure
there is no division in the body, because if one member of the body
stops functioning, it means that we all suffer
-
- YOULL ALSO NOTICE FROM THIS PASSAGE
THAT ALL OF US HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SPIRITUAL GIFT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE
BODY
- (1 Corinthians 12:7) Now to each one the manifestation
of the Spirit is given for the common good.
- (1 Corinthians 12:8) To one there is given through
the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge
by means of the same Spirit,
- (1 Corinthians 12:9) to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
- (1 Corinthians 12:10) to another miraculous powers,
to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation
of tongues.
- (1 Corinthians 12:11) All these are the work
of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines.
-
- you have been given a spiritual gift
- God has put us together and has ensured that
all each believer has a significant role in the body of Christ, and
that when we work together, we accomplish his purposes
-
- you know, our spiritual gifts are simply the
manifestation of the Spirit
- we cant take credit for it
- its not simply a matter of possessing natural
abilities or skills
- the Spirit enables us to do things far beyond
our natural abilities
- whatever gift you have, dont take credit
for it! its the Spirit
- the flip side of that is this: dont every
complain about your gifts
- your gift is significant, because its the
manifestation of the Spirit
- whatever your spiritual gift, it is valuable
and no less important than any other spiritual gift
-
- according to verse 7, your spiritual gifts
are for the benefit of the body
- theyre not for your own good
- the primary purpose of your gift is to build
up the body of Christ
- your eyes are completely useless apart from their
service to the body
- your ears can listen all they want, but theyre
of no use if they dont communicate that information to the body
- and so it is with you: your spiritual gift is
only of value as you use it for the benefit of the body of Christ
- your gifts are Gods way of administering
his grace to others
- we become channels through which Christs
ministry flows
- in Mother Theresas book A Gift from
God, she wrote, "We all long for heaven where God is, but we
have it in our power to be in heaven with him right now. To be happy
with him at this very moment. But being happy in his presence means
loving as he loves, helping as he helps, giving as he gives, serving
as he serves, rescuing as he rescues, and being with him for all the
24 hours. Because we touch him when we touch others."
- when a pastor uses his gifts to exhort believers,
he is showing Gods grace to the people
- when a nursery worker enters the infantry, I
mean nursery, he or she is showing Gods grace to those little
children and the parents
- when a member cleans the church and uses their
spiritual gift of service, they are showing Gods grace to the
entire body
- when a believer visits somebody who is sick,
they are exercising their gift of mercy and showing Gods grace
to that person
- they way God works is through you and me
-
- Charles Stanley tells the story of a painter
who fell of the roof
- as he fell, he cried out, "God, help me!"
- just as he prayed this, is overalls caught on
a nail, and he found himself hanging just below the gutter
- he reached up and pulled himself on to the roof,
and said, "Never mind, God, this nail caught me"
-
- like the painter, were in danger of missing
what God is doing
- we see things as purely human, when in fact they
are divine acts
- when somebody ministers to you with their spiritual
gifts, its not really them its the Spirit
-
- dont ever make the mistake of thinking
its all the pastors job
- if you look at Ephesians 4:11-12, the pastors
job is not to do the work but to get the people to do the work
to equip you to use your spiritual gifts
- some churches hire one or more pastors and expect
them to do all the work
- when they arent proficient in all the spiritual
gifts, the church trades the pastor in for a new model
- and a few years later finds out that he lacks
some gifts, and trades him in, and so on
- but God didnt give pastors to do all the
work in the church
- because the pastor doesnt have all the
spiritual gifts
- Paul teaches very clearly that pastors are to
equip you to do the work of the ministry
- one of the greatest joys in a pastors life
is when he realizes that you pay me to get you to work
- now thats a great job
-
- another thing we notice is that spiritual
gifts are distributed as the Holy Spirit wills
- (1 Corinthians 12:11) All these are the work
of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines.
- (1 Corinthians 12:18) But in fact God has arranged
the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be.
- you know, you dont get to choose your spiritual
gifts
- the Holy Spirit gives them to you as he wills
-
- lets wrap up by looking at one more passage
- (1 Peter 4:10) Each one should use whatever gift
he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace
in its various forms.
- (1 Peter 4:11) If anyone speaks, he should do
it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should
do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may
be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for
ever and ever. Amen.
- its absolutely essential that you begin
using whatever spiritual gift you have been given to serve others
- I dont know what your spiritual gift is
- maybe you dont know
- but you can find out
- how? Ill give you a simple answer: just
get out there and get busy
- start working on something that captures your
interest, that you feel passionate about
- it might take a while, but usually we only discover
our gifts as we get busy
- it might take a while of trying one thing and
another, but what youre doing is looking for something in which
you have been gifted, and to which you can commit for the long haul
-
- I know youre busy
- in fact, if anyone ever came up to me and told
me they werent busy, I think I would die of a heart attack
- Charles Stanley points out that if youre
not using your spiritual gifts, youre robbing the body of Christ,
youre forcing other members to carry your load, youre a
dead weight on the body, and youre out of touch with the Spirit
of God
- but if you make using your spiritual gift a priority,
youll stop cheating the rest of us
- youll bring your unique talents, skills
and gifts to the body of Christ and show Gods grace to us
-
- let me ask you a concluding question: what
are you doing with the gift or the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given
you?
- are you using them for the benefit of the body,
or are you neglecting them?
- are you taking them for granted? what will you
say when the Master returns and asks how you have used this gift?
- I want to share with you an amazing thought
- do you realize that God has limited himself?
- God limits himself through people
- if we do ministry, he is able to minister through
us
- but if we dont do ministry, God limits
his ministry
- he waits on us
- in Word War II, a little French town had a statue
of Christ in their town square
- and when the bombing came, the bomb got the statue
and pieces were broken off
- they stored the pieces, and after the war began
to rebuild the statue of Jesus
- it had cracks now, but they appreciated it even
more
- to their dismay, the only pieces they couldnt
find were the hands of Jesus
- and that was tough on them, because the hands
had the nail prints and that was significant to them
- they thought they would have to take the statue
down, until one person slipped a gold plaque at the bottom of the statue
that said, "He has no hand but ours."
- all of a sudden the community began to understand
something
- we are his hands and the extensions of his ministry
- Father, we thank you for this day, and we thank
you for giving us all spiritual gifts
- each of our gifts are valuable, and every member
is important in this church
- and they need to use their spiritual gifts to
minister to the body
- and now, Lord, we come and submit ourselves to
you
- every man and every woman
- we consecrate our gifts to you
- we ask your blessings upon those gifts
- we ask your Spirit would take and use them for
your glory
- they may seem insignificant
- there may be some who tried and have failed
- encourage them, Lord
- there may be some with great gifts who have had
to learn to submit those gifts to the body so that the body could prosper
- encourage them, Lord
- we surrender and give you and consecrate this
day and every gift we have
- and as the church body leaves, may there be a
sense within us that were part of the team
- help us to learn that we become greater by becoming
a servant of others
- [commitment]
- is there anyone here who hasnt been using
their spiritual gifts and is going to commit to embarking on a journey
of discovery this morning?
-
- take our gifts, mesh them together as a team
at Park Lawn, for your glory, Amen.