The Gifts of the Church

Good evening. Tonight we're on lesson number 20, the gifts of the church. Last week, in lesson 19, we looked at the ministry of the church. And we said that the ministry of the church is for everybody. We often think of ministries being something done by professional clergy, you know, the pastor or the elders or the deacons. But to be a minister is simply to be a servant. And that's what the Bible describes — and actually, "minister" translates as the word "servant." And we're all servants. Christ was a servant, right? He was the suffering servant. He was the one who washed His disciples' feet, right? And if He can do that, so can we. And we are to serve one another. Tonight we're looking at the gifting of the church, which is how God empowers us to serve. God doesn't just tell you to serve. He equips you to serve. He gives you the power to serve and the gifting to be able to do that, to fulfill your role inside the body of Christ.

Let's begin with Bible point number one. The church is that great company of believers whom Christ has saved, in whom He dwells, to whom and through whom He reveals Himself, and in whom He exercises dominion. Went through that quick because we've gone through that quite a lot. That's our definition of the church. The church is the redeemed. These are people He saved, whom He indwells, who He's united to, who have no salvation apart from union with the Savior. We're the people whom He's revealed Himself to, right? That takes His revelation, right, for us to be saved. And we are also revealers of Him. If you are a Christian, you bear His mark, right? And wherever you go, He exercises dominion over us. He is our Lord and our Savior, and we follow Him. We try to be His disciples. United to Christ, the church is the temple of God's indwelling. The church's ministry is every member's service to Christ. We ultimately serve Christ. We think about serving one another, and we think about serving the world, but we know that ultimately our service finds its terminus in Christ, right? Remember, we read last week where Jesus at the last judgment — He will say, you know, people say, "When did I see You naked and clothe You? When did I see You hungry and feed You?" And He says, "Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, you did it to Me," right?

God has equipped the church for ministry with spiritual gifts. Gifts is the first blank for number one. The gifts of the church are manifestations of God's grace. Grace is the second blank. Grace is something that's undeserved, right? It's an unmerited gift. The gifts are manifestations of God's grace that facilitate the functions. Functions is the third blank. The functions of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. So the gifts are manifestations of God's grace that facilitate the functions of the ministry of the body. And we'll be unpacking that as we go through tonight — what that actually means. But basically, we all have different roles to fill, right? And God graciously equips us for those roles so we can serve Him.

God's glorious gifts are the work of the triune. Triune is the fourth blank — the triune God among His people. Every part of God's works are triune. We've talked about that when we talk about the works of God, whether it's creation, whether it's salvation, whether it's the consummation of all things, it's always the work of the triune God. And the gifts are no different. Look here in 1 Corinthians 12, four through six, we see this Trinitarian formula. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." We often call spiritual gifts spiritual gifts, right? Because they are from the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. "There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord" — Lord being Christ, Christ is Lord. "And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all." We see here the Spirit, we see the Son, and we see the Father, all concerning the works of the church — gifting the church, supporting the church, and directing the church in its ministries.

The application for number one: who is the giver of every good and perfect gift? We have the reference James 1:17. Does anyone know James 1:17? No. "Every good and..." Anyone else know James 1:17? "Every good and perfect gift comes from above," right? "From the Father of lights, in whom there is no shadow or turning," right? God is all goodness, and His gifts reflect who He is, right? So He's a giver of every good and perfect gift. Every believer — we'll see in a minute — has a gift, and know that that gift is perfect. It's from the Lord. He's giving you the right gift, just the right gift for you to use that no one else can.

Bible point number two: the gifts of the church are made possible because of its union with the resurrected, ascended, and exalted — exalted is the first blank. We talked about the church as the people whom God has saved and in whom He dwells, right? We are united to Christ. And if you think back to when we did soteriology, we talked about how being saved is being united to Christ. And before we did soteriology, we looked at Christology, right? And Christ's exaltation was His resurrection, His enthronement, and also His coming in judgment. It's all part of His exaltation. And we only receive gifts because of His exaltation.

God imparts Himself to us in Christ, filling and blessing us with His Spirit, and forever possessing us as His own chosen and beloved people. When Christ ascended to the right hand, He sent forth His Spirit on the day of Pentecost, right? And the very minute that you believe, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. God imparts Himself to you by giving His Spirit to you, right, to live in you and to shed the Father's love into your heart. The exalted Christ is the fount of all — all is the second blank — all spiritual blessing. There is no spiritual blessing. There are no spiritual gifts outside of union with Christ. Unless you've trusted in Christ, you don't have a spiritual gift. You may have talents, God-given talents, but you don't have divinely given gifts. Those come only from Christ.

The exalted Christ is the fount of all spiritual blessings, filling us with the very fullness of God. Christ always makes intercession for His church. He lives to make intercession for His church — that's what the book of Hebrews tells us. Christ's intercession is not only His divine petitions on our behalf, but also His special activity. Activity is the third blank. And securing upon the grounds of His sacrifice all blessings that come to man. We do not deserve His spiritual blessings, right? But on the grounds of His sacrifice, He says, "You're accepted."

He says, "You are worthy because I am worthy." And He has received all blessing from the Father. That's part of His exaltation — sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. When He rose there, He brought humanity with Him because He, in His incarnation, added humanity to His deity. And now humanity sits enthroned on the throne of the universe. And all blessing and glory and power and the dominion that are Christ's, He shares with us, His church. At Pentecost, the Spirit formed the church, the body of whom Christ is the exalted head. The whole body was empowered and gifted for ministry by Christ's Spirit. His gifting is the sharing — sharing is the fourth blank — of His own anointing with His body. Just as Aaron the high priest had his head anointed, and the Bible says that the oil dripped down from his beard to his body, right? From our head, Christ, comes all spiritual blessing. The gifts that we receive are simply Christ sharing His own character, His own nature with the church. Don't ever take your gifts that God has given you for granted.

Because they are bequeathed to you by Christ. They are precious. Look at Ephesians 4:7 and 8. "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." We don't deserve this, but it's grace — because of Christ's unsearchable riches. "Therefore He says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.'" He's quoting Psalms here, applying that to Christ — that when Christ went to heaven, He did a victory march. He led captivity captive, if you will, and He gave gifts to men. He's able to give His own fullness by sending His Spirit to be within our hearts.

Look at Luke 4:18 through 19. This is the very beginning of Christ's ministry, His very first sermon at His hometown synagogue in Nazareth. This is: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me." He's quoting, of course, the servant song. This is Isaiah 61. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." That's His anointing, and that's what He shares with His church.

We share the same ministry that Christ has — to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, right? To preach the good news to people who are in darkness, right? To tell people that there is healing in Christ, spiritual healing and physical healing too.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter makes his great sermon. In Acts chapter 2:33 through 36, he says, speaking of Christ, "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear." Remember there were manifestations of the Spirit there on the day of Pentecost. People heard the gospel in their own tongue — at least sixteen different languages were represented there. He says, "This is from Christ. It's His Spirit." Verse 34: "For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" He's speaking about the enthronement of Messiah from Psalm 110.

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." That day at Pentecost was proof of His resurrection and His ascension, right? And the outpouring of the gifts upon the church.

The application for number two: Christ is over all things for the benefit — "benefit" is a blank — for the benefit of who? Says Ephesians 1:22. Does anyone know that? Christ is exalted over all things for the benefit of who? For the church, right? He freely gives of Himself. He freely gives His gifts to His church through His Spirit.

Bible point number three: the gifts of the church are not — "not" is the first blank for number three — are not listed exhaustively in any one — one is the second blank — one place in Scripture. We often wish Scripture was a dictionary or textbook that you could flip through and have everything listed all nice and neat on one page, right? The gifts aren't listed in one place exhaustively. There are several passages that deal with the gifts of the Spirit.

Scriptures that list various gifts include 1 Corinthians 12:8 through 10, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Romans 12:6 through 8, Ephesians 4:11, and 1 Corinthians 7:7. We're going to read these in a minute. They're on the back here. But let's finish this out here on the front. These illustrate the manifold grace — grace is the third blank — of God at work in His church. Church is the fourth blank. His gifts are given by His grace to show His wisdom and His love and His goodness to the church, right? He freely bestows them upon the church. And let's look at a list of some of these gifts.

We're going to look at 1 Corinthians 12:8 through 10. "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." We see in the early church all different diversities of gifts. We see them evidenced among the apostles, right? Remember when people were healed by the apostle's shadow walking by, right? That was an extraordinary thing. But God gifted the apostles for that, right? Gave them utterance to speak the word of God. We have the epistles, right? The pastoral epistles as the inspired word of God. But each of these gifts, whether it was something extraordinary or something what we'd call more common — this is in verse 11 — "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." Do you really think that you have more knowledge than God? None of us do, right? So who are you to question the gifts that God has given you, right? You may think that your gift isn't all that important or all that special. Christ gave it to you. In His infinite wisdom, it's perfect for you, right? And it's perfect for what He wants you to accomplish.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 12:28. This is from the same chapter. It says, "And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps" — which is another way of saying service — "administrations, varieties of tongues." All these various gifts God has appointed for the church.

Look at Romans chapter 12:6 through 8. Paul writes to the Romans, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them." You're given gifts so you can use them, right? "If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

Look at Ephesians 4:11. In another letter, writing to the Ephesian church, Paul writes, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers."

Look at 1 Corinthians 7:7. This may not be a gift that you think of, but Paul considered it a gift. He says, "For I wish that all men were even as myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that." What gift was Paul speaking of? Being single. He considered that to be a gift so he could serve the Lord undivided, with his attention and with all of his heart, right? But he says that even though he wishes that, he says, "God gives gifts and everyone receives his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that." Some of us are given the gift of singleness, others are given the gift of marriage, right? That's another way of looking at the gift. It can be vocations and functions as much as it is individual — what you would normally call a talent or an empowerment for work.

But back over on the front. Look at Romans 12:6. "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." Paul is speaking to the body, saying that every one of us has a different gift and that's according to the grace that's given to us. That tells us how we are to embrace our differences. What if we were all leaders, so to speak, and all had the gift of administration? How nutty would that be, right? But what if we were all mercies, right? I like to use the illustration — you've probably heard it before. Let's say that you come up to church one Sunday and there in the parking lot, one of our Florida sinkholes has opened, right? And Pastor Casey is talking on the phone to someone, counseling, and he's not aware of the sinkhole, and he falls in the sinkhole, right? How to use your gifts, right?

First of all, someone who's a teacher may get out the Bible and say, "Let me tell you something. The Bible says, 'Let your eyes look right on and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove your foot from evil.'" "You should learn from this, you guys. Here are five principles you can learn from this accident," right? That's maybe what a teacher would do. What would, say, someone with the gift of administration do?

Caleb may be saying, "Okay, you go get the ladder. You guys go get the first aid kit. Someone call 911. Let's get a makeshift stretcher in here and whatever you need." The gift of mercy — my wife is 100% mercy. And what a mercy person normally does, they jump in the hole with the person. "Oh, it's okay." They've fallen in the hole, they probably break their hip and their leg at the same time, but they're just doing what their heart tells them to do. They want to make things better and make the person feel loved and comforted, right? Someone with the gift of helps or service, they may think, "You know what? Let's get some water because we're all gathered around here and people are going to be working to get them out of the hole. We need to make people comfortable. Let's give them some food," right? Gift of hospitality — let's make everybody feel welcome. In fact, "I'm going to go greet the 911 people when they first come onto the lot, direct them so they know how to get there, and we'll have a good witness here at our church," right? Kind of get the idea. We all use our gifts to serve the body, but if we all had the same gift, we'd be up a creek, right? So when it says that we all have differing gifts according to the grace that's given to us, we need to embrace that diversity, right? And know it's God's grace that has given us these gifts.

The application for number three: what do you think your gifts might be? Do you know your gifts? Think through them. Look at these as we go through. If you're not sure what your gift is, ask your friends here at church. We're your family. We'll tell you. We can often see gifts in one another, right? We can see, "Oh, that person's got such a servant's heart. That person's a good teacher. That person is a good administrator. That person is so merciful. That person just has a gift of hospitality to make everybody feel welcome." You can see that in people. So ask, ask your brothers and sisters. We'll help you. You can also take inventories — they have little tests you can take online, kind of like a personality test, that may help you. But the best thing to do is just ask, ask your brother and sister. And we'll be glad to tell you what your gifts are.

But point number four: the gifts of the church are — and this definition here is drawn straight from Scripture because you can't beat Scripture's own definition — the gifts of the church are "for the equipping" — equipping is the first blank; that's with two P's, equipping — "of the saints for the work of the ministry." So the gifts of the church are for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. They prepare us for the work of service. "For the edifying" — edifying is the second blank — of the body of Christ. What does edifying mean? To build up — exactly right. To build up, to make strong, to encourage. So it's for equipping the saints for ministry, it's for building up the body, for edifying the body of Christ. "Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." It's the third blank, which is quoted from Ephesians 4:12 through 13. So the gifts of the church are for the equipping of the saints, for the edifying of the body, till we all come to the fullness and complete perfection of Christ, right? It's for us to become more Christ-like, to become strong in our faith, to be like Christ.

God desires that the church "may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share" — share is the fourth blank — "causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." That's Ephesians 4:15 through 16. It's showing that the church, again, is an organic body, right? Christ is our head, and we're all intertwined in our lives with one another. And in serving one another, and in edifying one another, we build up the body. We make it strong when everybody does their share, right? And we have some beautiful servants in this church — people who you don't even have to ask them. They see a need and they get it done. They see someone hurting, they go to them. They see a physical need, they take care of it, right? That's what we do as the body of Christ. Our union with Christ binds us also to one another, right? Our union with Christ is not just that we're united to Christ through faith by the Spirit, but if we are all co-participants in His Spirit, we're brothers and sisters in Christ, right? So we are bound to one another, and we seek to both edify one another and also to serve one another, right?

1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." Each one of you is given a gift — for your own profit? Is it so you can brag, "Well, look at the gift I got," right? No, it's for the profit of all, right? So that you can equip others for the work of the ministry. You can serve others, and you can build up the body. You can edify others. If you can equip others, serve others, make the ministry multiply so to speak, and you can also build up the church, that's what your gift is for.

1 Corinthians 14:12 says, "Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel." You should seek to take your gifts and hone them, right? It's okay to pray to God to ask for more gifts, if you're doing it for edifying the church. That's what he says here in 14:12 — that you may seek to excel. You can see the church flourish, right? 1 Corinthians 14:26: "How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." He's saying, "These gifts that you have, use them for edifying, for building up the body."

Look at Ephesians 4:11 through 13. We read verse 11 just a minute ago. "And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." So you can have a big TV show and a wide social media platform — is that what he says? No, he says, verse 12, "For He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." You see a familiar ring there. You're seeing again the church being equipped for ministry, the edifying of the body. "Till we all come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man."

Application: "How can you use" — use is the blank — "your gift to equip and edify others?"

I asked you just a moment ago to consider your gift, and I want you to be thinking about that, praying about that over the next couple of days if you don't know your gift already. But don't just ask the Lord, "What is my gift?" Ask how you can use your gift. If you have a gift and it's not being used, what's the point of it? So ask the Lord, "How can I use my gift to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and to edify the body of Christ till we all come to a complete man, perfect in Christ Jesus?"

But point number five: every — every is the first blank for number five — every member of Christ's body has a spiritual gift. You are a born-again believer. If you are the saved whom Christ indwells, whom He's revealed Himself to and through, and whom He exercises His dominion over, then you have a spiritual gift. This manifestation of God's grace is an affirmation of His love — love is the second blank — and care. God's gifting is an affirmation that you are loved by Christ. Don't you give gifts to people whom you love, right? You forget a loved one's birthday or Christmas, you feel pretty sour and bad, right? Because you want to show them a token of your love. Well, His gift is an affirmation of His love. He has given you a gift or gifts from His own anointing. This is His headship over His church. Christ is set over the church — this is the husband, the head over his wife, right? The husband is commanded to lay down his life for his wife, right? He has been given charge over her to protect her, to provide for her, to lay down his life for her, to wash her with the water of the word, right? So that he could present her a radiant, spotless, beautiful bride. And he says, "I'm speaking of a mystery, but I'm speaking of Christ and the church." Christ is the head of the church for our benefit, right?

Through His gifting, Christ's prophetic office is exercised because your spiritual gift testifies of His grace — grace is the blank. It's not only of His love, but of His grace. Your gift testifies of His grace.

Look at 2 Corinthians 4:7. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." When you use your gift to serve others, you're exercising in a prophetic manner, saying, "This is the gift of God. This is not me," right? "This is the power of God within me. I'm just a clay vessel," right? An earthen vessel, and the glory and the power is all to God, right? The One who's equipped me, the One who's empowered me — it's strictly by His grace.

Through His gifting, Christ's priestly office is exercised because your spiritual gift is both His intercession — that's the fourth blank — and blessing. Your spiritual gift is both our High Priest Christ's intercession and blessing. That's what a priest does. He intercedes. He blesses. He makes sacrifice. Christ has already made His sacrifice, so therefore He intercedes for us and He blesses His people.

Look at Ephesians 1:3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." It's through union with Christ that we receive all blessing. If you're looking for blessings outside of Christ, you're barking up the wrong tree. You will not find those, right?

Look at Hebrews 7:24 through 26. "But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." He's before the throne of God interceding on your behalf. That intercession is not just His praying on your behalf, but it's His giving of His Spirit to you, right? "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens."

Through His gifting, Christ's kingly office is exercised because your spiritual gift is part of His dominion, or His reign, exercised in us. Remember, Christ's church are those whom He saved, in whom He indwells, whom He revealed Himself to and through, and whom He exercises His dominion in.

His kingly office is exercised in us through His gifts. Look at Romans 5:17. "For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." He shares His reign in us by giving us His Spirit, right? And by gifting us His righteousness and His grace.

Ephesians 2:4 through 6. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ." We share in His exaltation. We share in His reign. Where does Christ sit in the heavenly places but on the very throne of God, right?

Look at Revelation 1:4 through 6. "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." We're kings and priests because He shares His kingdom and His priesthood with us.

Look at 1 Corinthians 12:18. "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased."

God has set each one of us with our gifts in the exact station, the exact place that He needs us to be, right? You serve the Lord just as mightily holding the door open and greeting people as the missionary serves the Lord overseas. He served the Lord just as effectively sweeping the floors and cleaning the tables as Pastor Casey does when he preaches on Sunday morning behind the pulpit. Those are all service to the body. That all allows ministry to happen, right? It's all part of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and edifying the body of Christ. Those of you who set out the water in the kitchen to make the coffee — that again is an act of worship, right? That's part of the church's ministry. And no one gift is to be looked down upon, because God has put each one of them in the body just as He chooses.

The application for number five: give thanks to God for loving and blessing you in Christ. Have you ever thanked Him for the gifts and the roles and the ministries that He's allowed you to be a part of?

We sometimes do ministry as if, "Oh, no. No one else is going to do it. I've got to do it." As if it's a chore, right? It's not a chore. It's a privilege, right? And we're to thank God for that, right? It's a way that we reciprocate His love, right? He loved us. He's given us His commands and we want to obey them, right? Because we love our Savior.

Bible point number six: every member of Christ's body has a spiritual gift. This manifestation of God's grace is a responsibility — responsibility is the first blank — entrusted to you to serve Christ. Your gift is a responsibility that's been entrusted to you.

Remember what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, right? "With great power comes great responsibility," right? With the gifts you have, you're responsible for them, right? You're responsible to use them for the Lord.

"To hide" — hide is the second blank — your talent is to sin against your master. And we have Matthew 25:14 through 30. You know the parable of the talents, right? There's one who was afraid of losing his talent, so he hid it, right? Did the master show pleasure to him? Not at all, right? To ignore your gifts is to deprive the body of the care that it needs. Which one of you would not provide for your own, right? If you have it within your hand to provide food or shelter or warmth or any good thing for those you love, you would do it, right? How much more the body of Christ, right? When we don't use our gifts, we're depriving — we're defrauding, actually — our brothers and sisters of the love and care of Christ, because we're not exhibiting it. We're not showing it. We're not giving honor where honor is due.

Gifts are never to be self-serving or quarreled over, as did the Corinthians. You read 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14, you'll find that the reason why Paul gets into the gifts in such detail there is the Corinthians are fighting over them, right? And they're misusing them. "Mine's more important than yours, and I deserve the priority," right? We're never, ever to quarrel over them, right? Only use them to serve one another. Gifts are not for your own personal fulfillment or experience, but are for glorifying Christ — Christ is the fourth blank. Now, in using your gifts, you will have great joy. You'll have great satisfaction, great pleasure, because you're doing what you were created for, right? And it's His Spirit coursing through you as you exercise your gifts. And so you'll take great pleasure in that, but that's not the end goal. The end goal isn't for your self-fulfillment. It isn't for your self-aggrandizement. It's simply for glorifying Christ. His glory is what we seek.

1 Peter 4:10 says, "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." As you've received a gift, minister — use it — being a steward of the manifold grace of God. A steward was a householder, right? Who would go and provide food for the whole house, right? You'd go into the cupboard and say, "Okay, we're having barbecue ribs today," and you'd bring out the ribs and provide, right? You're to be a good steward by using your gift in service of others. And if you don't, you're denying people from feasting on the manifold grace of God. Let it not be.

Romans 12:4 through 5: "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another." We're intertwined with one another. So we've got to use our gifts to edify one another and to equip one another for the work of the ministry.

The application for number six: give thanks to God for giving you a unique purpose — purpose is the blank — purpose in life. You have a purpose in life, and that's to glorify Christ. How do you glorify Christ? You use the gift that He has given you to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and to edify, build up the body of Christ. There is a crisis of meaning in our society.

People don't have purpose. When you have a life divorced from God, divorced from the church, divorced even from a nuclear family, it's like, "What is the purpose? Is it for me to work until I'm seventy years old, get my gold watch, retire, and then stare at the apartment walls until I die? Is that what it is?" No. Our purpose we find in honoring Christ, glorifying Christ, using the gifts that He has given us. If you lack purpose — if you feel like your life is unfulfilled — ask God, "What is my gift?" Then ask Him how you can use your gift.

Bible point number seven: Scripture often distinguishes between two types of gifts. For example, in Romans 12:6 through 8, which we read a little bit earlier, there are gifts of speech — speech is the first blank — such as prophecy, teaching, and exhorting. These are using your words, as we tell our children. Those are gifts that we use our words for. In Romans 12:6 through 8, there is also listed gifts of practical helpfulness — helpfulness is the second blank — such as serving, giving, leading, and mercy. Those often involve words, but not necessarily. Can't you quietly serve? Can't you quietly lead? Can't you quietly show mercy? Can't you quietly show love and hospitality to someone? You betcha. Just going up to someone on Sunday morning who's sitting by themselves and starting a conversation, letting them know they're valued, that they are welcome — you're showing the gift of hospitality. You often think hospitality means you've got to have twenty people over your house every day. No, it's making people feel welcome. Making people feel a part, making people know that they are loved by Christ and by you if they're in the body of Christ.

These gifts are all equal — equals is the third blank. This is number seven. The third blank is equal. They're all equal expressions of the character — character is the fourth blank — of Christ. Christ demonstrated these gifts in His speech. Did He not exhort? Did He not teach? Did He not prophesy? Yes. But did He also not serve? Did He also not give? Did He also not lead? Did He also not show mercy? Yes — it's both His actions and His words.

1 Peter 4:11 says, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers" — which is another word for serves — "let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." So he's saying whether it's through your speech or it's through your actions, do it for the glory of Christ, that He may be exalted above all things.

Application number seven: don't envy — envy is the blank — someone else's gift. Focus on God's glory. It's easy to envy someone's gift. You know, when I hear someone like Jimmy Singh, I'm like, "Man, how did he hit the jackpot with that voice?" You know, some people are very blessed. When I see our young ladies play the piano and the recorder and the different instruments up here, what a blessing that is to have that musical talent, right? When I see people's gift of administration exercised so well and so faithfully — some people are born encouragers, they're great at that. Some people make anyone feel at ease; the gift of hospitality just flows from their sleeve. It's easy to envy that, right? Don't. God has given you a gift. Focus on your gift and focus on the glory of God.

Bible point number eight: regarding the miraculous gifts, such as healing, languages, prophecy, etc. Continuationist — it's a big word, that's a theological word, okay? Continuationists claim all these gifts continue — continue is a blank — in the church today. They're called continuationists because they believe that these miraculous gifts continue in the church today. In other words, that Benny Hinn can throw his jacket across the crowd and they're healed, you know, or slain in the spirit, right? Or that people are speaking in tongues of angels today, or that any of these supernatural gifts allow them to prophesy and predict the future. There are some people who believe that, and they're called continuationists. They believe that those miraculous gifts continue in the church today. Continuationists assert that gifts are to be desired, expected, and practiced as any other gift, right? We're to desire the best of the gifts, right? And expected and practiced in the church.

In contrast, cessationists — that's another big word — cessationists assert that the miraculous gifts ceased. That's why they're called cessationists. Ceased is the second blank. That the miraculous gifts ceased, they stopped being in the church. They ceased after the apostolic age — age is the third blank.

They would say that these gifts had a special function, to support divine revelation when it was given in the early church. Now some bullet points about this here that may help you understand. Miracles were given under apostolic ministry to authenticate their work — work is the first blank. This is under the first bullet point of number eight. In other words, miracles were given to authenticate the work of the apostles. Let me read to you from the book of Hebrews. This is Hebrews chapter 2, verses 2 through 4. "For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" He's saying that these hearers of Christ, the apostles — these sent ones — were given these supernatural gifts to authenticate their ministry. A prophet was able to not only foretell the future but was able to work miracles. We think of Elijah and Elisha, right? It confirmed that they were a prophet because it would have to be a man of God who could do such miracles, right? And so it validated their word — that not only was there a word from God but their actions were from God.

2 Corinthians 12:12 also speaks about this apostolic work. It says, "Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." He's saying that the works that were unique to an apostle — even designated as the works of the apostles — these signs and wonders and mighty deeds were done among you with perseverance, thoroughly set before your eyes, to prove their office and to confirm their word, right?

The second bullet point: the church's foundation has been laid, okay? And we find that in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 through 20. We read this of course many times, about a year ago when Pastor went through the book of Ephesians. It says, "Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone."

Those works were unique to the apostles and the prophets. The foundation's been laid. You lay a foundation once, right? You don't keep laying foundation upon foundation. It was already laid, and built upon that, the church grows. The third bullet point: no new revelation is given, as God has spoken in Christ. Hebrews 1:1 through 2 — I don't have to read that to you. We've gone over that a lot here as we've been studying the book of Hebrews on Sunday mornings. God spoke in various ways and times past through His prophets, but in these last days He has spoken through His Son, spoken through Christ, right? Christ is the final, perfect revelation of God, the express image of God, right? We don't need any more revelation beyond what we have in Christ. So therefore there are no new prophecies, no new word of God being added, because the canon is closed with Christ and the apostles. Jude 3 talks about the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints, right? It's not continuing to be delivered. The faith — which is a way of saying the articles that constitute our faith, the principles of our doctrine, the gospel — was once and for all delivered to the saints. Revelation 22:18 — don't even have to look that up. I know you already know what that means. Don't add, right? Don't add to the words of this book. That's bad for you. It's what He warns at the very end of the Bible, the very last chapter, right? Scripture is sufficient — sufficient is bullet point number three.

The fourth bullet point: tongues were known — known is the blank — known languages. Oftentimes people speak of tongues as being tongues of angels, these ecstatic utterances that no one knows what they mean and it's mysterious. Well, we have it described in Scripture on the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2, verses 5 through 12. "And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven." They had all come there for Pentecost. It's one of the feasts that all the men were required to attend each year. "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?'" Verse 9 begins the list. "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs — we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."

So we see evidence — the only place where tongues is described here fully — they were speaking in languages, right? Not gibberish.

The fifth bullet point: tongues were a sign of judgment to unbelieving — unbelieving is the blank — unbelieving Israel for refusing God's word.

If you look at 1 Corinthians 14, such an important passage is on the back of your sheet. Paul is talking about tongues here. He says, "In the law" — speaking of the Old Testament, he's quoting Isaiah and also alluding to Deuteronomy — "'In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that, they will not hear Me," says the Lord.' Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe." He's saying prophecy builds up, it edifies, but tongues doesn't.

And he quotes here Isaiah 28:11 and alludes to Deuteronomy 28:49. I'm not going to turn there, but let me explain and you can read this in your own time. In Deuteronomy 28, the state of Israel is horrible. The priests are drunk. They're doing their duties inebriated, right? And not only that, the religious leaders of Israel are mocking the prophet of God. They're mocking Isaiah — "Precept upon precept, line upon line, blah, blah, blah" — and they're slurring their speech and being unintelligible. And God tells them, "Okay, you want to play that way?" He says, "I am going to send some unintelligible speech your way." And He's speaking of Assyria to judge them.

What happens in that chapter — you'll see when you read it in your own time — is that Israel, the leaders are saying, "We can speak lies and we can hide ourselves in deceit. We have made a covenant with death." They said, "God, You don't control my life. You can't touch me. I've made a deal with the devil. I've made a covenant with death." And God says, "I'm going to annul that covenant with death. I'm going to take you out with the Assyrians." And the Assyrians did that during the time of Isaiah's ministry — wiped out Israel. It was a terrible thing. This was part of nothing but a republication of the Mosaic law from seven hundred years before. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, we find both the blessings — if you keep the covenant, right? — and also the curses. The blessings are just a small part of that. The vast majority of it is the cursings. And in there, He says that you will hear the tongues of a foreigner among you. And just as God had promised to establish them in the land forever, in the same way He promises, "I will take you out of the land forever. I'm going to destroy you," is what He says. So this is the context that Paul has in mind when he's quoting this.

Many people think, "Oh, well, he's just saying that it's a sign for unbelievers, that they're going to hear people speaking their own language and say, 'Oh, this is a sign from God.'" He's saying, "No, this is a sign of judgment." And this sign of judgment was brought about within forty years of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. In fact, I want to read to you from Matthew 23 — the very end of Matthew 23 — verses 32 through the first two verses of chapter 24. Jesus says, "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down."

Read any Bible commentary, whether it's dispensational or covenantal — they all agree that this is speaking of the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in AD 70. It was a horrific thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, right? And so tongues, Paul says, was a sign against unbelieving Israel, right? And if that purpose has been fulfilled in AD 70, then with the close of the apostolic ministry, that gift is no longer here.

The sixth bullet point: the miraculous gifts today are not those described in Acts. People say, "Well, I'm speaking in languages." They're not speaking in languages. Back when the Azusa Street revival took place in the early 1900s and tongues kind of was reborn, so to speak — it had never been practiced in the church before that — Harvard was very interested in this. And so they actually took the people from Azusa Street and had linguists listen to them, and they were not speaking any known languages. They were actually speaking according to the vocal pattern of their native tongue, vocalizing sounds according to their normal speech patterns, right? Not languages. The gifts of healing that people claim today are not the same apostolic gifts, right? You have leg lengthenings and healing of soft tissue injuries. That is not what we see practiced by the apostles. God can heal — don't get me wrong. God can do anything He wants to. But I don't believe there's anybody that has the power of God to heal in their hand, such that they lay their hand on you and you're healed, right?

Prophecy — no one's speaking a new word of God anymore, right? Only in republishing the word of God, saying "Thus says the Lord" and quoting the gospel — then in that sense you could say you're a prophet. But there is no new word from God, no new revelation, because Christ has spoken, right? Miraculous gifts were predicted to end. We find this in 1 Corinthians 13:8 through 10. Now there's controversy — what does "that which is perfect has come" mean? There are different interpretations. Some view it as the coming of Christ. Some people view it as the completion of the canon. Some people view it as the end of Israel's age with the destruction of the temple and no more Levites and priests and all that in AD 70. But the point is it's predicted that they would end. They would cease. And I believe you can very well indeed say they have ceased.

Now, some of our reformed brethren — godly people that you and I would agree with 99% of what they believe — some of them actually are what we would call continuationists. Very few of them; they're a minority. Sam Storms is a very good pastor who's a continuationist. I'm not a huge fan of Mr. Piper, but he's a continuationist as well. And they would mainly argue this: they would say, "I'm not for all this charismatic chaos and the abuses that you see happening in churches, but I am a cautious continuationist." In other words, "I don't want to rule out what God can do. In some corner of the world, God may be using tongues and God may be using the laying on of hands to heal people." I like to flip that on them. So I'd say, "Well, I'm a cautious cessationist. I believe the gifts have ceased, but I'm open if you want to prove me wrong. I'll cautiously say yes, if you can show me where." But I don't want to give license — a blanket theological cover — for all kinds of harm to be done in the church, through people who are wells without water and through mirages that cannot feed and bless people but only lead people astray, right?

Application for number eight: why are the Spirit and the word inseparable? And I have for reference John 6:63 — look this up in your Bibles, John chapter 6, verse 63. One of the great maxims that came out of the Reformation was: never the word without the Spirit, never the Spirit without the word. God's gifts are used alongside His word, right? And if someone says, "I have a gift of the Spirit," and it doesn't line up with the Scripture, and it doesn't edify someone, it doesn't equip them for the works of ministry described in the Scripture, then it isn't a spiritual gift, right? The word and the Spirit always work together.

Look at what Jesus says in John 6:63. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." The Spirit is none other than the Spirit of Christ. The word is none other than the word of God, Christ — the Word of God made flesh, right? We use the word and the Spirit to minister.

So I want to leave you with a charge. Use your gift. If you don't know your gift, ask the Lord what your gift is. Study these passages that are on the back that we looked at, these lists. Ask your fellow brother and sister. Ask your family members. Then ask God, "How can I use my gift? How can I use my gift to edify one another and to equip the saints for the work of the ministry?"