WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.379 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:07.339 are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:11.259 for the glory of God. If we can serve you in 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:15.060 any way, then visit our website at citychurchmanchester 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:20.079 .org to find out more. This is 1 Corinthians 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:26.170 chapter 12 verses 1 through 31. Now about the 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:28.570 gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I 00:00:28.570 --> 00:00:32.729 do not want you to be uninformed. You know how 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:35.369 when you were pagans, somehow or other, you were 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:39.210 influenced and led astray to dumb idols. Therefore, 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:41.570 I want you to know that no one who is speaking 00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:45.429 by the Spirit of God says, Jesus be cursed. And 00:00:45.429 --> 00:00:49.570 no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy 00:00:49.570 --> 00:00:53.909 Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts. but 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:56.750 the same Spirit distributes them. There are different 00:00:56.750 --> 00:00:59.869 kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are 00:00:59.869 --> 00:01:02.810 different kinds of working, but in all of them 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:06.750 and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:09.170 to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is 00:01:09.170 --> 00:01:12.409 given for the common good. To one there is given 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:15.069 through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:17.549 a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 00:01:17.769 --> 00:01:20.709 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another 00:01:20.709 --> 00:01:23.680 gifts of Spirit. to another miraculous powers, 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:27.299 to another prophecy, to another distinguishing 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:30.239 between spirits, to another speaking in different 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.000 kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.140 of tongues. All these are the work of one and 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:41.439 the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:45.959 one just as He determines. Just as a body, though 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.579 one, has many parts, but all its many parts form 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:54.109 one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all 00:01:54.109 --> 00:01:57.909 baptized by one Spirit, so as to form one body, 00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:02.489 whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. And 00:02:02.489 --> 00:02:06.069 we were all given the one Spirit to drink. And 00:02:06.069 --> 00:02:09.009 so the body is not made up of one part, but of 00:02:09.009 --> 00:02:12.550 many. Now if the foot should say, because I am 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:15.810 not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:18.270 not for that reason stop being part of the body. 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:21.340 And if the ear should say, because I'm not an 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:24.419 eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not, 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:26.639 for that reason, stop being part of the body. 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:30.259 If the whole body were an eye, where would the 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:33.180 sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:36.500 ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:40.259 fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every 00:02:40.259 --> 00:02:43.800 one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.319 they were all one part, where would the body 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:50.629 be? As it is, there are many parts but one body. 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:53.810 The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need 00:02:53.810 --> 00:03:02.770 you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't 00:03:02.770 --> 00:03:05.949 need you. On the contrary, those parts of the 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:08.330 body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 00:03:08.949 --> 00:03:11.270 And the parts that we think are less honorable, 00:03:11.509 --> 00:03:14.819 we treat with special honor. And the parts that 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:17.819 are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:21.039 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:24.979 But God has put the body together, giving greater 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:28.139 honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there 00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:30.759 should be no division in the body, but that its 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.680 parts should have equal concern for each other. 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.780 If one part suffers, every part suffers with 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:41.719 it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.419 with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:48.740 each one of you is part of it. And God has placed 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:51.680 in the church, first of all, apostles, second 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.900 prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:59.479 gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.580 of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:07.479 Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:11.460 miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:15.719 speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.620 desire the greater gifts, and yet I will show 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:21.399 you the most excellent way. This is the word 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.519 of the Lord. Well, thank you for reading that, 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:26.360 Scotty. It's great to have you here. Great to 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:28.779 have your excellent accent reading the Bible 00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:31.660 from the front as well. And I should say with 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:34.220 that, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:37.000 the room. As the Americans would say... Thank 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.040 you for your service. We appreciate all that 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.620 you do. And for you veterans who are maybe no 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:43.620 longer in the war zone with small children anymore, 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:46.040 we're thankful for you too for all that you did 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.160 do. But anyway, keep your Bible open. We're going 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:52.120 to be in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And for the 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.060 sake of time, as you can see, there's a lot going 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:57.360 on in that passage. We are going to be primarily 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.439 focusing in on verses 1 to 11 together. Now, 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.620 the last time I preached... I went a little bit 00:05:04.620 --> 00:05:07.300 over the time that was allocated for my preach. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:09.560 I tell you, you preach one 45 -minute sermon 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.019 here and you put on some blacklists. So we're 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:14.959 going to focus in on those first 11 verses together. 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.639 And as you can see, there is a lot to cover here. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.540 So I hope we've had our Weetabix because we are 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:24.040 just going to jump straight on in to the text 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:31.759 together. Verse 1. Now, about the gifts of the 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.110 Spirit. That's what we're going to be talking 00:05:34.110 --> 00:05:37.529 about today. Now, here's the context for what's 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:40.990 been going on in this letter. So this is the 00:05:40.990 --> 00:05:44.430 letter that Paul wrote to a young church in the 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:47.649 city of Corinth. And there's been a whole lot 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:49.769 of confusion in this church over a number of 00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:52.889 things. And here we come to find out that there's 00:05:52.889 --> 00:05:55.889 a lot of confusion amongst this young church, 00:05:55.990 --> 00:05:59.290 this group of young believers following Jesus. 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:02.310 There's confusion over what they should be doing. 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:05.889 with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:09.110 1 with me. Paul says to them, I don't want you 00:06:09.110 --> 00:06:12.509 to be uninformed about the gifts of the Spirit. 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:15.329 Maybe we feel a little bit uninformed about this. 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:17.949 So we're going to dive into the text and try 00:06:17.949 --> 00:06:20.750 to unpack what is Paul talking about here when 00:06:20.750 --> 00:06:23.689 he's talking about the gifts of the Spirit. What 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:27.990 are the gifts? I've got a broad definition, which 00:06:27.990 --> 00:06:31.319 will be on the screen behind me. Here is... A 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:35.519 definition of the gifts of the Spirit is an ability 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:42.560 that comes from God to build up the church. An 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.019 ability that comes from God to build up the church. 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.459 Now, I just want to hopefully, helpfully make 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:54.220 a distinction here. We're not talking about talents. 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:57.920 We're not talking about natural abilities. We're 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.170 talking about gifts. The gifts of the Spirit. 00:07:02.629 --> 00:07:04.730 You know, being naturally good at something, 00:07:04.790 --> 00:07:07.949 and everyone in this room is naturally good at 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.430 something. Everyone's good at something. Being 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:13.949 naturally good at something doesn't necessarily 00:07:13.949 --> 00:07:20.269 mean it's a spiritual gift. Example, just because 00:07:20.269 --> 00:07:23.329 you might be somebody who's really good at words, 00:07:23.430 --> 00:07:25.470 really good at writing, really good at performing, 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:29.029 really good at public speaking, doesn't necessarily 00:07:29.029 --> 00:07:32.790 mean, That you would have a gift in preaching 00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:36.290 the Bible. And in the same way, just because 00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:39.069 you might be someone who's not very good at reading, 00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:41.730 who's not very good at writing, who hasn't gone 00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:45.290 to university, who hasn't got these degrees, 00:07:45.470 --> 00:07:49.490 doesn't necessarily mean that God wouldn't give 00:07:49.490 --> 00:07:53.689 you the gift to be able to preach. So what we're 00:07:53.689 --> 00:07:56.689 talking about here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:02.879 are supernatural gifts, not natural talents. 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:05.620 Does that make sense? So let's get that in our 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.899 heads. We're talking about supernatural gifts, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.540 gifts that God gives to the church to build up 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:17.519 his people. God given spirit empowered abilities 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:21.279 that when they're exercised, make people go, 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:25.730 wow, only God could do that. It's not about the 00:08:25.730 --> 00:08:27.509 person. It's not like, look at how impressive 00:08:27.509 --> 00:08:31.189 he or she is. It's only God could do something 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:34.049 like that. And here's the context of what's been 00:08:34.049 --> 00:08:37.649 going on in Corinth. The people in this church 00:08:37.649 --> 00:08:41.590 in Corinth have been using and abusing the gifts. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:44.000 They've been using them in ways that glorify 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.960 themselves, that make people look at them, that 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.679 make people think they're really impressive, 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:51.240 that they're really spiritual. You can imagine 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.940 them in the church with the Christians around 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:57.840 them, speaking out loud or behaving in ways that 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.919 make the church go, look at how spiritual that 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.379 guy is. Isn't he impressive? That's the problem. 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.940 And the big problem isn't that they were just 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.659 being show -offs, because nobody likes a show 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:13.009 -off, right? That's not the big problem. The 00:09:13.009 --> 00:09:16.529 big problem is that there were some in this church 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:21.049 in Corinth who were using the gifts to do the 00:09:21.049 --> 00:09:25.809 very opposite of what God intends them to be 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:29.149 used for. They were using the gifts in a way 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:34.350 that was bringing division and confusion. Whereas 00:09:34.350 --> 00:09:38.009 God has given these gifts to his people that 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:43.480 they might bring unity. and power. Unity, the 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:45.639 whole second half of what we just read there 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.539 is all about the unity of the body. Christians 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:55.399 together, united in one spirit. The spirit unites, 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.860 whereas the church in Corinth, people were using 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:00.159 the gifts in a way that was causing disunity. 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:06.139 The gifts bring unity and power. And here's the 00:10:06.139 --> 00:10:08.789 key verse. If you're a scribbler. This is the 00:10:08.789 --> 00:10:11.009 verse I think you want to highlight in 1 Corinthians 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:13.409 chapter 12. It's verse 7 and it'll be on the 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:17.789 screen as well. Here's the key verse. Now, to 00:10:17.789 --> 00:10:22.929 each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is 00:10:22.929 --> 00:10:27.850 given for the common good. What's that saying? 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:32.970 Saying to each one, every Christian, every follower 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:49.029 of Jesus is given a gift, a manifestation Now 00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:51.129 here's the thing, if you're a Christian here 00:10:51.129 --> 00:10:53.710 today, maybe you sometimes find this actually 00:10:53.710 --> 00:10:57.190 quite hard to believe. Maybe you find it hard 00:10:57.190 --> 00:11:00.029 to believe that God has given you any sort of 00:11:00.029 --> 00:11:04.210 gift for the building up of the church. Because 00:11:04.210 --> 00:11:06.429 let's be honest, sometimes being a Christian 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:10.350 here in Manchester, sometimes it doesn't feel 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:14.809 particularly powerful, right? You know, the church 00:11:14.809 --> 00:11:17.789 in Manchester isn't exactly exploding with growth. 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:21.769 And actually, sometimes following Jesus can feel 00:11:21.769 --> 00:11:25.029 far from being a life fueled by spiritual power. 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:28.370 Actually, often it can feel like a really hard 00:11:28.370 --> 00:11:31.490 and long, difficult road. And maybe sometimes 00:11:31.490 --> 00:11:34.190 you just hit a point in your walk with Jesus 00:11:34.190 --> 00:11:39.830 where you go, where is the power? Where is God 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:44.110 at work in my life? I feel weak. I feel futile. 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:48.059 Where is this power? Let me tell you about something 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:50.480 that happened this week. And when it happened, 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.820 I immediately thought, yes, this is going to 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.200 be a great sermon illustration for Sunday. So 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:57.360 I've been thinking about this for the last few 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.220 days. Wednesday night, I got back from work and... 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.200 For a lot of you, maybe our parents in the room 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:05.500 as well, you know what I'm talking about, that 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:08.960 chaos of the evening. Straight in from work, 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:10.259 I'm going to be turning around to head out to 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:12.559 an elders meeting shortly later. We're doing 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.139 tea time. There are dishes stacking up. The girls 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:18.100 are in the bath. My kids are in the bath needing 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:20.580 bath time. There's clothes on the floor. You 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:22.799 know, it's just the chaos. It's life. Clothes 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:25.379 on the floor, dishes piling up, bubbles, giggles, 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:28.059 you know, busy household. We've got a short amount 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:29.879 of time before I've got to get back out the door. 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.600 And in this moment of busyness and life and laughter, 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:39.080 all of a sudden, everything went dark and everything 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.919 went completely silent because there was this 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.000 massive power cut. And it wasn't just in our 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:47.759 area. Sorry, it wasn't just in our house. It 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:49.360 was not even just our street. It was the whole 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.799 area. You know, looking out the window, all the 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:53.860 streetlights had gone off. And so there was this 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:56.259 really weird moment where we'd just gone from 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:59.409 being in the light, everything being busy. Everything 00:12:59.409 --> 00:13:01.230 suddenly went dark. Everything suddenly went 00:13:01.230 --> 00:13:06.110 quiet. Until I just heard a cry from the bathroom. 00:13:06.809 --> 00:13:10.330 My youngest child just goes, what's happening? 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:13.409 Just freaks out, poor little thing. I think she 00:13:13.409 --> 00:13:15.509 thought she'd gone permanently blind for a moment 00:13:15.509 --> 00:13:19.350 or something. But the point is, in that moment, 00:13:19.429 --> 00:13:22.889 we had no power. We had no power whatsoever. 00:13:22.950 --> 00:13:25.769 So what do we do? We went and got the candles 00:13:25.769 --> 00:13:28.450 out. And so now me and my wife, Judy, we're trying 00:13:28.450 --> 00:13:30.070 to do bath time. We're trying to do the dishes, 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:32.990 like these little tea lights in our hand, trying 00:13:32.990 --> 00:13:35.669 to figure out, trying to do life shuffling around 00:13:35.669 --> 00:13:41.950 in the dark. And I just think that all too often, 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:46.809 as followers of Jesus, we too often can think 00:13:46.809 --> 00:13:56.700 of life with Jesus being a bit like that. trusts 00:13:56.700 --> 00:13:59.320 in him, everyone who has turned to him in faith, 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:03.220 he's called every single one of us, whoever you 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:05.740 are, wherever you're coming from, the call on 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:08.000 every single one of our lives as followers of 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.820 Jesus is that we would do the work of building 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:15.519 up the church. For us, it's here in Manchester, 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:20.269 here on earth. And I think too often we think 00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:24.309 and we speak and we subtly act like all we have 00:14:24.309 --> 00:14:29.029 to help us do this amazing work is a little tea 00:14:29.029 --> 00:14:32.129 light of God's presence. You know, we're shuffling 00:14:32.129 --> 00:14:37.250 around. We feel weak. We don't know what to do 00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:39.830 next. And so we just hold the little tea light 00:14:39.830 --> 00:14:43.429 of God's presence in our life. And I just think 00:14:43.429 --> 00:14:48.899 sometimes we're so... Quick to forget who Jesus 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:53.500 is, who he says he is. We forget that because 00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:56.360 of Jesus, because he is the one who has come 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.799 from heaven into our present darkness, because 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:02.340 he is the one who has come and done battle against 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:06.320 every supernatural. Power in this world that 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.159 he's broken the powers of sin. He has broken 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.720 the powers of death. He has shone a light in 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.360 the darkness because Jesus has done that. And 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:20.159 because now by faith in him, we are united to 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:25.059 him. We have union with him. That means that 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:28.429 every single one of us. However weak you may 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:33.230 feel, every single Christian has access to the 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:38.309 supernatural power of God by the Holy Spirit, 00:15:38.429 --> 00:15:43.090 whose power can shine so brightly in our lives 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:46.649 by his gifts. And it's not just for the benefit 00:15:46.649 --> 00:15:50.309 of us as individuals, it's for the benefit of 00:15:50.309 --> 00:15:53.370 those around us. It's for the benefit of his 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:56.820 people. And so here's where I'd like to go for 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.440 the rest of our time as we go through 1 Corinthians 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:05.480 12. It is precisely because of the work and ministry 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:10.179 of the Holy Spirit that we as followers of Jesus, 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.779 we have the power we need for the building up 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.899 of the church. If you go away with anything, 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.139 this is what I want you to hear. If you're a 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:24.179 Christian, you have the power you need. to play 00:16:24.179 --> 00:16:27.500 your part in building up the church. Now, maybe 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:30.759 you go, okay, but how do I know that? I hear 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:35.379 you saying it, but how do I know? Let's be honest. 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:38.220 How many of us as followers of Jesus at some 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:43.000 point in our lives have battled with really knowing 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.480 whether or not we belong to the Lord, whether 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.419 or not we really do have the indwelling power 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:53.470 of the Spirit in us? You know, you might be saying, 00:16:53.509 --> 00:16:56.029 yeah, I'm a Christian, I follow Jesus, but I 00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:59.389 just don't feel much power. I don't see these 00:16:59.389 --> 00:17:03.830 gifts at work in my life. So how can I know? 00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:08.009 How do I know if I truly do have the Spirit of 00:17:08.009 --> 00:17:11.349 God at work in my life? Just look at verses 1 00:17:11.349 --> 00:17:13.849 to 3 with me for a minute. If you've still got 00:17:13.849 --> 00:17:15.589 your Bible open, if you haven't, open it up again. 00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:20.279 Verses 1 to 3. we see that Paul is wanting to 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:24.940 reassure the church in Corinth, these young Christians 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:26.720 who have all these questions about the gifts 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.640 of the Spirit. He wants to reassure them that 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:32.700 actually every Christian has the Spirit. It's 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:35.059 not just Mr. or Mrs. Impressive over here who 00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:37.380 is putting on a spiritual show who have the Spirit. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:42.339 He's saying every Christian has the Spirit. And 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:46.240 what does he say? is the outward sign of knowing 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.279 that the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:51.420 Look at verse three with me. It's on the screen 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:54.440 as well. I'll read it again. He writes, I want 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:57.279 you to know that no one who is speaking by the 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:01.579 Spirit of God says, Jesus be cursed. And no one 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:06.579 can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:09.859 Now, that's not saying that if you're not a Christian, 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.319 that somehow you can't say the phrase Jesus is 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:14.940 Lord without your face melting or something. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.220 That's not what Paul is saying here. What he's 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:21.740 saying is you can't follow Jesus. In fact, he 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:25.079 goes further. You can't even have the desire 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:30.000 to want to follow Jesus and to call Jesus the 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.380 Lord of your life, except by the wonderful, powerful. 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:38.740 life -transforming, supernatural work of the 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:43.079 Holy Spirit in your life. What am I saying? Well, 00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:45.660 what's verse 3 saying? Verse 3 is showing us 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:52.319 that on our own, you and me, away from God, there 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.940 is nothing inside us. There's no amount of spiritual 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:59.960 fuel that we can fill ourselves up with to keep 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:02.910 following Jesus in this world. It's too difficult. 00:19:02.970 --> 00:19:05.769 We don't have the faith in ourselves to do that. 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:09.509 And let's be honest. Sometimes it doesn't take 00:19:09.509 --> 00:19:11.950 much for us to doubt that God is good. It can 00:19:11.950 --> 00:19:13.630 just be a Wednesday morning when it's raining 00:19:13.630 --> 00:19:16.490 again outside. We go, Lord, where are you? Why 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.869 have you betrayed me like this? It doesn't take 00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:21.470 much for us to take our eye off who God truly 00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:25.029 is and off his goodness. But God has given us 00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:30.549 his Holy Spirit. He has put his Spirit in us. 00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:35.650 To sustain us. That we might have this ability 00:19:35.650 --> 00:19:39.470 to keep living for Jesus even when it's really 00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:43.329 difficult. Even when it's tough. Even when we 00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:46.609 struggle with doubt. We doubt his power is at 00:19:46.609 --> 00:19:51.150 work in our lives. In fact, follow me on this. 00:19:52.269 --> 00:19:56.789 Here's the crazy thing. Sometimes our very doubts 00:19:56.789 --> 00:20:01.609 about God's power at work in our lives. can be 00:20:01.609 --> 00:20:05.369 the very sign that God is indeed at work in your 00:20:05.369 --> 00:20:09.509 life. It can be the sign that we do have the 00:20:09.509 --> 00:20:12.829 Spirit, because if we didn't have the supernatural 00:20:12.829 --> 00:20:16.549 work of the Spirit working in our lives, we wouldn't 00:20:16.549 --> 00:20:19.369 even be concerned with these things. Because, 00:20:19.450 --> 00:20:23.910 verse 3, the desire to want to have Jesus as 00:20:23.910 --> 00:20:26.890 Lord is a supernatural desire that has been given 00:20:26.890 --> 00:20:31.769 to us by the Spirit. He did the work. He put 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:34.549 that desire for Christ in you. It didn't come 00:20:34.549 --> 00:20:38.109 from yourself. What I'm saying is you cannot 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:42.670 love Jesus except by the work of the Holy Spirit 00:20:42.670 --> 00:20:46.369 at work in you. If your heart longs for Jesus 00:20:46.369 --> 00:20:49.670 and you know him, that is a sign that the Spirit 00:20:49.670 --> 00:20:51.950 is at work in you, no matter how much you might 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:55.509 be struggling today. And it's only because... 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:59.720 God the Holy Spirit delights in God the Son, 00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.759 that you and I are able to love Christ today. 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:08.339 Because the love that the Holy Spirit has for 00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:12.119 the Son of God, the ever -glorifying love of 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:16.380 God who delights in himself, that love, Romans 00:21:16.380 --> 00:21:20.400 5 verse 5, has been poured into the hearts of 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.920 every believer by the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.440 And so the point I'm making here is the point 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.420 that Paul wants the church to hear clearly is 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:35.480 every Christian has the Holy Spirit. It's not 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.660 just for the impressive. It's not just for the 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:42.259 super spiritual. Every believer is indwelt by 00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:45.130 the power of the Holy Spirit. And so what that 00:21:45.130 --> 00:21:47.690 means is if you're a Christian here today, if 00:21:47.690 --> 00:21:50.750 you are someone who says, yes, Jesus is my Lord, 00:21:50.890 --> 00:21:53.269 it doesn't matter what your day job is. It doesn't 00:21:53.269 --> 00:21:55.190 matter whether you're on minimum wage, whether 00:21:55.190 --> 00:21:57.529 you're making millions. It doesn't matter whether 00:21:57.529 --> 00:22:00.430 you've been in the trenches with Jesus for years 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:03.509 or whether you still have that newborn baby Christian 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:06.269 smell on your head. It doesn't matter who you 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:11.009 are. According to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, God 00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:16.250 has given, verse 7, Each one. Every believer. 00:22:16.609 --> 00:22:20.829 Every follower of Jesus. He has given us unbelievable 00:22:20.829 --> 00:22:26.329 power. The ongoing supernatural power by the 00:22:26.329 --> 00:22:30.849 Holy Spirit to build up the church. If you know 00:22:30.849 --> 00:22:35.190 Jesus, you have the Spirit. But here's the thing. 00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:38.650 Let's pull back a little bit. It seems to me, 00:22:38.690 --> 00:22:41.009 and I think it seems to Paul, that according 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:44.380 to him, it's... possible to have the Spirit. 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:47.019 It's possible to be a Christian, to repent of 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:48.960 your sins, to have the Spirit at work in your 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:54.000 life and be following Him, but to not follow 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.660 Him as earnestly as we should. You know, it's 00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:02.140 a bit like we're living like His power is a little 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:04.440 flickering tea light and we forget that this 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:07.180 is a God who has the power to fill the whole 00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:11.130 world with light. And why do I say that? Look 00:23:11.130 --> 00:23:13.029 at the last verse that was read to us by Scotty 00:23:13.029 --> 00:23:19.029 there in verse 31. Paul writes, now eagerly desire 00:23:19.029 --> 00:23:24.329 the greater gifts. Eagerly desire. That phrase 00:23:24.329 --> 00:23:29.869 literally means burn with zeal for the gifts. 00:23:30.809 --> 00:23:34.589 Pursue them earnestly with everything you have. 00:23:35.609 --> 00:23:39.150 Chase after them. And here's what I think a lot 00:23:39.150 --> 00:23:41.150 of us miss. Here's something that I missed for 00:23:41.150 --> 00:23:45.230 a long time in my walk with Jesus. Here, right 00:23:45.230 --> 00:23:47.109 in front of us, it's been read from the front. 00:23:47.150 --> 00:23:49.869 We're talking about it right now. God's word 00:23:49.869 --> 00:23:53.009 is open. The authority of God's word is being 00:23:53.009 --> 00:23:55.990 spoken to us right now through the Bible. And 00:23:55.990 --> 00:23:58.869 here is a direct command from scripture, from 00:23:58.869 --> 00:24:02.430 God's word that tells. us as believers, that 00:24:02.430 --> 00:24:06.109 we should be zealously pursuing the gifts of 00:24:06.109 --> 00:24:08.369 the Spirit. And I just want to ask you, are you 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:12.910 doing that? Are we doing that, City Church? Are 00:24:12.910 --> 00:24:17.869 we pursuing God with this burning desire that 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:21.269 Paul draws out here? Are we longing for more 00:24:21.269 --> 00:24:24.130 of his power in our lives, that we would know 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:27.720 him? more powerfully, more personally, that our 00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:30.700 faith would go deeper than it has before in trusting 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:33.859 that he is who he says he is? Are we pursuing 00:24:33.859 --> 00:24:35.720 him like that or are we settling for a little 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:40.220 tea -like kind of Christianity? The instruction 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:45.059 here is to desire the gifts. And that instruction 00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:50.339 is also an invitation to come and desire more 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:55.390 of God, to desire more of who he is. Because 00:24:55.390 --> 00:24:58.529 when we pursue spiritual gifts, as Paul is speaking 00:24:58.529 --> 00:25:03.150 about here, we're not pursuing things. We're 00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:07.009 not pursuing stuff that is somehow separate from 00:25:07.009 --> 00:25:11.369 who God is. Sam Storms, who is a reformed preacher 00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:13.930 and teacher in America, he puts it this way. 00:25:14.049 --> 00:25:18.289 He says spiritual gifts are nothing less than 00:25:18.289 --> 00:25:22.920 God himself in us. energizing our souls, imparting 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:25.359 revelations to our mind, infusing power in our 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.140 wills and working his sovereign and gracious 00:25:29.140 --> 00:25:33.920 purposes through us. In other words, Sam Storms 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.579 is saying that pursuing the gifts of the Spirit 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:41.200 is actually the pursuit of God himself. It's 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.920 coming to him. It's asking for more of him, for 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.980 more of his. presence in our lives, to have a 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:49.220 deeper experience and knowledge of who he is, 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:52.839 to have a greater vision for how he works and 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:57.680 for his glory, to have an ever -increasing outworking 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:01.960 of his power, that we, his people, who struggle, 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:07.440 who are weak, that we might be built up in faith. 00:26:08.279 --> 00:26:11.420 And so the question is, are we doing that, church? 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:15.650 Have you, in your walk with Jesus, have you ever 00:26:15.650 --> 00:26:21.190 stopped and asked him for his gifts? And so what 00:26:21.190 --> 00:26:23.789 I want to do for the rest of our time is look 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:26.470 at this list of gifts here in verses 7 to 10. 00:26:27.210 --> 00:26:30.170 Have a brief overview of, well, what are they? 00:26:30.269 --> 00:26:32.769 How do they fit into the Bible? And then just 00:26:32.769 --> 00:26:35.529 close by thinking, what might it look like for 00:26:35.529 --> 00:26:39.369 us to pursue these gifts together? So I've got 00:26:39.369 --> 00:26:41.809 on the screen here, the gifts. How's everyone 00:26:41.809 --> 00:26:45.470 doing? Great. I'll take your overwhelming silence 00:26:45.470 --> 00:26:49.789 as a good sign for doing great. Look at verses 00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:53.809 7 and 8 with me here. I'll just read it. Now, 00:26:53.809 --> 00:26:56.990 to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:00.329 is given for the common good. To one, there is 00:27:00.329 --> 00:27:02.269 given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, 00:27:02.369 --> 00:27:06.289 and to another, a message of knowledge by means 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:09.130 of the same Spirit. So here's the first gifts 00:27:09.130 --> 00:27:10.750 that I think we can put together in this list. 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:14.119 Words of wisdom and words of knowledge. The word 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.480 that we read there for message of wisdom, message 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:19.339 of knowledge is the word logos, which literally 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:22.240 means word. Words of wisdom, word of knowledge. 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:26.200 Now here's the thing. Every single Christian 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:30.599 should be used to saying words of wisdom and 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:33.259 knowledge on a regular basis. Doesn't matter 00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:36.259 whether you think you're very clever or not. 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:38.880 Every Christian can say words of wisdom. Why? 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:42.740 Because of this. Because of the Bible, because 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:46.400 we read this, we pray this, we sing this, we 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:49.980 open this up. And here we see and read and receive 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:53.779 the wisdom of God into our lives. We can open 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:56.200 it and say, what should I do with my life? Right 00:27:56.200 --> 00:27:58.559 here, God tells me what the purpose of my life 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:01.960 is. So every Christian should have some sense 00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:05.480 of wisdom and knowledge because we are those 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.619 who are growing in Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:13.480 1, Christ who is the wisdom of God. So the great 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:15.660 news about being a Christian is even if you're 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:19.339 not very intelligent, you're wise. God has given 00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:21.160 you wisdom. He says, come to me and I will give 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:24.779 you wisdom. So every Christian has wisdom. Every 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:27.799 Christian has knowledge. But I don't think that's 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:32.119 what Paul means here. He's not talking in broad 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:35.440 terms about wisdom and knowledge. He's talking 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:38.180 about something more specific. And there's loads 00:28:38.180 --> 00:28:41.700 we can say on this. But I think what Paul is 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:47.180 referring to here are human words spoken under 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:51.319 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that communicate 00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:56.140 insight into spiritual realities. I'm aware that's 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:59.099 quite a long definition. Human words spoken under 00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:01.500 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that communicate 00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:05.769 insight into spiritual realities. It's those 00:29:05.769 --> 00:29:09.670 times in our walk with Jesus where we are prompted 00:29:09.670 --> 00:29:14.690 by the Holy Spirit to say things that God wants 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:19.630 someone to hear. I was reminded of this just 00:29:19.630 --> 00:29:24.190 this week, that God does this. And it's not strange. 00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:26.029 It shouldn't surprise us that God does this. 00:29:26.250 --> 00:29:29.430 I was meeting with a Christian brother who was 00:29:29.430 --> 00:29:32.549 telling me a bit of his story. And he told me 00:29:32.549 --> 00:29:35.809 about this stage in his life where he's a Christian, 00:29:35.950 --> 00:29:40.130 he's following Jesus, but he's struggling. It 00:29:40.130 --> 00:29:42.910 wasn't that he wasn't believing that God was 00:29:42.910 --> 00:29:44.930 real. It was that he was struggling to believe 00:29:44.930 --> 00:29:48.910 that God was good and that God cared for him. 00:29:49.789 --> 00:29:51.589 And he's moved to another country at this point 00:29:51.589 --> 00:29:54.369 in his life. He's starting a university there. 00:29:54.650 --> 00:29:58.190 He's on the bus and he misses his bus stop. He 00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:00.450 doesn't know where he is until he gets off at 00:30:00.450 --> 00:30:03.849 the next stop. And a lady gets off at the same 00:30:03.849 --> 00:30:05.589 time. And he decides, I don't know where I'm 00:30:05.589 --> 00:30:07.390 going. I'll just follow this lady and see where 00:30:07.390 --> 00:30:09.529 she goes, which is a smart move, just to try 00:30:09.529 --> 00:30:11.589 and see if she might lead him to where there 00:30:11.589 --> 00:30:14.049 might be community. So he's following this lady. 00:30:14.130 --> 00:30:15.890 There's a path ahead. It can go left or right. 00:30:15.950 --> 00:30:18.589 She goes left. He's following a bit behind. As 00:30:18.589 --> 00:30:20.750 he goes to follow left, there's a dog there barking. 00:30:21.109 --> 00:30:23.150 So he turns the other way and goes right. So 00:30:23.150 --> 00:30:24.369 now he's walking and going, I don't know where 00:30:24.369 --> 00:30:27.349 I'm going. And he ends up on a street. And there 00:30:27.349 --> 00:30:30.099 on the street, he finds a church. And then in 00:30:30.099 --> 00:30:32.480 this church, he sees there's a library. And so 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:36.059 he goes to the library. And in that library, 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:39.400 he meets someone who has come from the same country 00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:41.799 that he's come from. And they say, hey, why don't 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:43.880 you come and meet some of these guys next door? 00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:46.400 Come and hang out with us. And so he's, you know, 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:48.099 making conversation with people. And they say, 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:51.180 how are you doing? He says, I'm doing fine. And 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:55.160 then somebody, no one he's met before, someone 00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:57.599 who doesn't know him. Somebody who doesn't know 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:00.180 his story, somebody who doesn't know about his 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:02.779 struggle at this point in his life, just turns 00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:05.960 to him and says, hey, do you know that God loves 00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:11.039 you? And in that moment, it would have been like 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:15.019 an infusion of faith. His faith was just boosted 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:19.519 up as this weird set of circumstances God had 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:21.539 led him to, led him to this point where somebody 00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:25.059 just said, you've got to hear this. God loves 00:31:25.059 --> 00:31:29.250 you. And he cares for you. I think that's what 00:31:29.250 --> 00:31:31.950 these gifts look like. It looks like words of 00:31:31.950 --> 00:31:35.190 knowledge, words of wisdom that God in a moment 00:31:35.190 --> 00:31:38.950 might give to us as his children, as those who 00:31:38.950 --> 00:31:41.789 are chasing after him, that we can say to a brother 00:31:41.789 --> 00:31:45.690 or sister that their faith might be built up. 00:31:46.170 --> 00:31:48.509 And so we should pursue this for one another. 00:31:48.890 --> 00:31:51.910 I want that. Don't you want that? To be able 00:31:51.910 --> 00:31:57.950 to pass on, to build up faith. So that's the 00:31:57.950 --> 00:32:01.630 first set of gifts. Then verses 8 to 10, we see 00:32:01.630 --> 00:32:04.430 a group of these three together. Faith, healing, 00:32:04.549 --> 00:32:09.230 and miraculous powers. Now again, all Christians 00:32:09.230 --> 00:32:12.009 have faith, right? We all have what we might 00:32:12.009 --> 00:32:16.650 call saving faith. Ephesians chapter 2. By grace, 00:32:16.670 --> 00:32:21.519 you have been saved through faith. So it's through 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.500 faith in the Son of God who died for us that 00:32:24.500 --> 00:32:27.559 we receive the grace we need that we might be 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:31.079 saved. And this faith in and of itself is a gift 00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:35.220 from God. He gave us the faith to trust in Christ, 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:38.960 to lean on him, to depend on him. And this saving 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:41.220 faith is given to all believers at all times. 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.059 It will not be taken away from us, praise God, 00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:48.319 because we belong to him. But the gifts of the 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:51.160 Spirit listed here in 1 Corinthians 12, are not 00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:54.680 things that are given to every member of the 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:57.799 body of Christ at all times. These are gifts 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:02.299 that refer to specific situations in specific 00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:06.660 ways. And so faith here, I think, means something 00:33:06.660 --> 00:33:09.200 different. We're not talking about broad stroke 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:12.400 saving faith. We're talking about something more 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.480 specific. What is it we're talking about? I think 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:19.920 we're talking about... A mysterious surge of 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:23.920 confidence in God's power to act in a certain 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:27.920 situation. A mysterious surge of confidence in 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:31.279 God's power to act in a certain situation. We 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.599 see this in the Bible. We see this in the book 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:36.180 of Acts. Think of the apostles in the book of 00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:38.819 Acts where they are going out on mission. They 00:33:38.819 --> 00:33:41.779 are taking the gospel. They are seeing these 00:33:41.779 --> 00:33:45.759 signs and wonders. this incredible faith for 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:49.700 immediate healings, incredible faith for immediate 00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:53.660 deliverance. They don't pray, God might do this. 00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:55.579 They pray, God, you will do this. We know you 00:33:55.579 --> 00:33:58.480 will do this. I think that's what the gift of 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:01.680 faith is. And so it makes sense to me that we 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:04.500 group these three gifts together, faith, healing, 00:34:04.579 --> 00:34:08.980 and miraculous powers, because faith is the gift 00:34:08.980 --> 00:34:12.639 that... God is going to do something extraordinary 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:16.920 in a specific moment to glorify himself and build 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:23.099 up the church. Now, we know, as those who read 00:34:23.099 --> 00:34:26.940 the Bible, we know that a day is coming where 00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:31.420 sin and sickness and suffering will be no more. 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:34.920 And we long for that day. We look forward to 00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:37.550 that day. And because we know that day is coming 00:34:37.550 --> 00:34:39.989 where Jesus will come back and make everything 00:34:39.989 --> 00:34:43.949 new, we can answer the question, will God heal? 00:34:44.010 --> 00:34:47.590 We say, yes, God will heal. We know a day is 00:34:47.590 --> 00:34:51.010 coming on the day when Jesus comes back and he 00:34:51.010 --> 00:34:55.909 will wipe every tear, every illness, every suffering 00:34:55.909 --> 00:34:59.789 will be dealt with. Does God heal everyone like 00:34:59.789 --> 00:35:05.050 that right now? No. Lots of us are sick. All 00:35:05.050 --> 00:35:09.349 of us know people who have died. But can God 00:35:09.349 --> 00:35:15.050 heal? Yes. But it's extraordinary when he does. 00:35:15.210 --> 00:35:19.570 It's not ordinary, it's extraordinary. And we've 00:35:19.570 --> 00:35:22.429 seen this here, haven't we? We've seen this here 00:35:22.429 --> 00:35:25.230 at City Church. Some of you might remember this. 00:35:25.369 --> 00:35:30.710 Our dear friends, Josh and Sarah. When Sarah 00:35:30.710 --> 00:35:34.610 was pregnant with Jesse. And there was a moment 00:35:34.610 --> 00:35:39.429 when they received terrible news that Jesse wasn't 00:35:39.429 --> 00:35:42.429 going to make it. I was still at City Church 00:35:42.429 --> 00:35:45.070 when this happened. I remember it devastated 00:35:45.070 --> 00:35:51.269 us. The whole church moved to pray. It was really 00:35:51.269 --> 00:35:55.090 hard to hear the news that a young mum and dad 00:35:55.090 --> 00:35:58.349 were going to lose their baby. And so what did 00:35:58.349 --> 00:36:02.130 we do? I'll never forget this. A group of us 00:36:02.130 --> 00:36:05.150 went to Josh and Sarah's house and we spent a 00:36:05.150 --> 00:36:08.710 long time that evening crying together and just 00:36:08.710 --> 00:36:11.389 praying and asking the Lord that he might heal. 00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:15.789 Asking that he might come and do what he can 00:36:15.789 --> 00:36:21.510 do, which is bring life. Do the miraculous. Go 00:36:21.510 --> 00:36:26.170 against what the doctors and praise God. We just 00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:28.869 saw little Jesse running out to City Kids. God 00:36:28.869 --> 00:36:32.840 healed. He did it. We've seen that. We can testify 00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:37.300 to that. And I can remember for myself, I remember 00:36:37.300 --> 00:36:41.000 when we received that news that Jesse was better, 00:36:41.079 --> 00:36:43.460 that he was going to be healthy, that he was 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:45.559 born. I just remember this sense of faith in 00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:48.659 my own soul, just being like, I just knew, I 00:36:48.659 --> 00:36:52.900 knew God would do that. I don't always feel like 00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:55.820 that, but we just trust. And I think that's what 00:36:55.820 --> 00:37:01.269 the gift of faith looks like. It's a... A confidence, 00:37:01.449 --> 00:37:05.789 an extra level confidence of trusting God's power. 00:37:06.929 --> 00:37:09.110 And verse 10, look at me. Let's keep going through 00:37:09.110 --> 00:37:12.070 this list. Verse 10, prophecy and distinguishing 00:37:12.070 --> 00:37:14.469 between spirits. Now, I think we compare these 00:37:14.469 --> 00:37:19.070 because prophecy, get future fortune telling 00:37:19.070 --> 00:37:20.530 out of your head. That's not what we're talking 00:37:20.530 --> 00:37:23.590 about here. It's not about predicting the future. 00:37:23.710 --> 00:37:26.889 That's not what Paul has in mind. Again, Sam 00:37:26.889 --> 00:37:29.599 Storms. has a helpful definition where he says 00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:35.059 that prophecy is the human report of divine revelation. 00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:39.559 John Piper, who many of us will also know as 00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:42.800 a pastor in America, he says that prophecy is 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.960 the spontaneous personal revelation from the 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:49.739 Holy Spirit for the purpose of edification or 00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:53.050 guidance or conviction. That needs assessment 00:37:53.050 --> 00:37:56.530 on the basis of biblical teaching. In other words, 00:37:56.550 --> 00:37:57.929 of course, Piper has a much longer definition. 00:37:58.170 --> 00:38:03.190 In other words, God may choose to reveal something 00:38:03.190 --> 00:38:08.250 to a believer in a specific situation. Now, we're 00:38:08.250 --> 00:38:10.590 not saying that God will reveal something new 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:15.349 about himself. You know, we're not Mormons. We're 00:38:15.349 --> 00:38:17.800 not Jehovah's Witnesses who say, The Bible isn't 00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:20.000 actually right. We trust the words of this book. 00:38:20.139 --> 00:38:23.079 Everything in this book we believe to be true 00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:26.280 and full and it is enough for us. God has given 00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:29.019 us everything we need to know who he is. There 00:38:29.019 --> 00:38:32.000 is a full stop at the end of the Bible. We don't 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:34.460 add to it. We don't take away from it. So we 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:36.599 don't say God says something new about himself 00:38:36.599 --> 00:38:39.940 in prophecy. Rather, he says something specific 00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:43.960 to a person or a situation that is for the building 00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:47.969 up of the church in that moment. And so distinguishing 00:38:47.969 --> 00:38:50.369 between spirits, I think, has in mind the ability 00:38:50.369 --> 00:38:53.429 to discern what is from the Holy Spirit and what 00:38:53.429 --> 00:38:56.429 is from other spirits, from demonic spirits. 00:38:57.309 --> 00:38:59.630 And just think again, open your Bible, look in 00:38:59.630 --> 00:39:02.210 Acts chapter 9, we see this. Think about when 00:39:02.210 --> 00:39:06.489 Ananias receives a vision from the Lord to go 00:39:06.489 --> 00:39:11.070 and find Saul and pray for his healing. We see 00:39:11.070 --> 00:39:16.949 examples of this gift at work in the Bible. in 00:39:16.949 --> 00:39:20.010 the church as well. Charles Spurgeon, who some 00:39:20.010 --> 00:39:22.050 of us might know that name, is a famous preacher 00:39:22.050 --> 00:39:25.989 from the 1800s. He was a proper Bible guy, a 00:39:25.989 --> 00:39:28.110 guy who went around the country telling people 00:39:28.110 --> 00:39:32.980 about Jesus. And there's a famous incident. with 00:39:32.980 --> 00:39:34.860 Spurgeon, that's recorded, where he's in the 00:39:34.860 --> 00:39:37.880 middle of preaching. And imagine being this guy 00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:40.099 on the receiving end. He's in the middle of preaching 00:39:40.099 --> 00:39:43.260 the gospel and he points at someone in the congregation. 00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:44.659 I'm not going to point at any of you, don't worry. 00:39:44.820 --> 00:39:48.980 He points and he says, this man has sold his 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:52.139 soul to Satan for six pence. That's what he says. 00:39:54.090 --> 00:39:57.170 It was true. This man in that moment, Spurgeon 00:39:57.170 --> 00:39:59.269 had no way to know this. But what happened that 00:39:59.269 --> 00:40:02.489 morning, that man had been stealing from his 00:40:02.489 --> 00:40:05.050 boss. So he'd just gone and robbed his boss in 00:40:05.050 --> 00:40:07.969 the shoe shop that he worked in. And then he'd 00:40:07.969 --> 00:40:10.909 snuck into church and heard Spurgeon preaching 00:40:10.909 --> 00:40:12.570 because he was kind of a celebrity. And then 00:40:12.570 --> 00:40:14.130 Spurgeon points at him and says, you've sold 00:40:14.130 --> 00:40:16.289 your soul to Satan. There's no way he could have 00:40:16.289 --> 00:40:19.650 known that. But the man confessed it was true 00:40:19.650 --> 00:40:23.050 that he had done that. And this is what the man 00:40:23.050 --> 00:40:26.650 said. He said, at first, I was afraid to go again 00:40:26.650 --> 00:40:29.590 to hear this man preach, lest he should tell 00:40:29.590 --> 00:40:33.329 the people more about me. But afterwards, I went 00:40:33.329 --> 00:40:38.590 and the Lord met with me and saved my soul. That's 00:40:38.590 --> 00:40:40.889 what I think the gift of prophecy looks like. 00:40:41.590 --> 00:40:45.110 God speaking in a specific moment to a specific 00:40:45.110 --> 00:40:49.059 person that his church might be built up. And 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:51.639 then finally, the one that we all have all the 00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.239 questions about, the gift of tongues and the 00:40:55.239 --> 00:40:59.320 interpretation of tongues. And I would love to 00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:01.099 talk to you about that, but I'm not going to. 00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:04.420 Because if you scan your eyes forward in chapter 00:41:04.420 --> 00:41:08.079 14, you see a whole chapter is dedicated to tongues 00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:10.320 and prophecy. And so Ralph's going to preach 00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:12.460 on that in two weeks time. So come back in two 00:41:12.460 --> 00:41:15.099 weeks time to hear what Ralph will bring to us 00:41:15.099 --> 00:41:17.659 from that. But all I'm trying to do here is set 00:41:17.659 --> 00:41:19.940 us up. To give us a bit of an overview of what 00:41:19.940 --> 00:41:22.139 these gifts are. And hopefully that will serve 00:41:22.139 --> 00:41:24.980 the preaching over the next few weeks. But let 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:27.920 me just start to wrap up here. Because I'm aware 00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:31.119 that we have gone fast through this passage together. 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:39.820 There is power. Power available to every believer. 00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:44.900 And God has given every single one of us a gift. 00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:49.639 A gift for building up. his people. And so we're 00:41:49.639 --> 00:41:50.599 going to close here. I'm going to invite the 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:51.980 band up, actually, who are going to come and 00:41:51.980 --> 00:41:53.420 lead us in worship in just a couple of minutes. 00:41:54.739 --> 00:41:56.719 But here's the question you might be going out 00:41:56.719 --> 00:42:02.840 with. How do I know my gift? How do I know what 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:05.860 God has given me? And here's what I would love 00:42:05.860 --> 00:42:09.940 to encourage you in. Don't look inside you. Look 00:42:09.940 --> 00:42:13.559 around you. Don't look inside you to see what 00:42:13.559 --> 00:42:16.400 am I naturally good at. Look around you to see 00:42:16.909 --> 00:42:22.449 Where is power needed? Where in this church, 00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:26.409 where in my community, where in this world is 00:42:26.409 --> 00:42:31.030 the power of God needed? Who needs encouragement 00:42:31.030 --> 00:42:34.230 in your life right now? Who needs a word from 00:42:34.230 --> 00:42:37.969 the Lord to build up their faith? Who needs someone 00:42:37.969 --> 00:42:40.050 to come alongside them and put their arm around 00:42:40.050 --> 00:42:43.389 them and pray that God might heal them of the 00:42:43.389 --> 00:42:46.190 sickness that they're battling? Who might need 00:42:46.190 --> 00:42:48.809 God to come and work and move in a miraculous 00:42:48.809 --> 00:42:51.489 way in their life right now? You know, who has 00:42:51.489 --> 00:42:55.110 God put uniquely around you, brother or sister? 00:42:56.230 --> 00:42:59.650 Who has he put around you that you might be used 00:42:59.650 --> 00:43:04.889 by him to strengthen faith, to build up for God's 00:43:04.889 --> 00:43:10.550 glory? God is good. Amen? God is good. And he's 00:43:10.550 --> 00:43:13.309 not left us on our own. He's not left us in this 00:43:13.309 --> 00:43:17.349 work to build his church here on earth in our 00:43:17.349 --> 00:43:19.869 own strength, but he has given us the power we 00:43:19.869 --> 00:43:23.269 need that we might be able to do it. He is the 00:43:23.269 --> 00:43:27.309 God who draws near to every single one of us. 00:43:27.769 --> 00:43:30.550 In Christ, he's the one who stepped into this 00:43:30.550 --> 00:43:33.630 world, who stepped into our darkness, who came 00:43:33.630 --> 00:43:36.489 not as a little tea light, but as the light of 00:43:36.489 --> 00:43:40.340 the world. shining in the darkness, who came 00:43:40.340 --> 00:43:43.780 and conquered sin and who conquered death and 00:43:43.780 --> 00:43:46.519 who disarmed every power that might stand against 00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:48.980 the church because he is the one who would build 00:43:48.980 --> 00:43:51.039 a church that the gates of hell would not prevail 00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:53.900 against it. This is the God we know. This is 00:43:53.900 --> 00:43:58.579 the God we serve. And now he has given us himself. 00:43:59.739 --> 00:44:01.920 We're not talking about him giving us things. 00:44:02.059 --> 00:44:06.219 He has given us himself, his heart. Holy Spirit, 00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:09.760 the Spirit of Christ at work in every believer, 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:13.320 that whoever believes in him, whoever turns to 00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:18.800 Jesus may receive his Spirit and walk in his 00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:24.320 power. And so, church, let's ask for more of 00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:28.139 his power. Let's receive his help in our lives. 00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:31.639 Let's ask for his presence and ask that his power 00:44:31.639 --> 00:44:35.070 might come and build us up. where we need building 00:44:35.070 --> 00:44:38.949 up, that we would labour until the day where 00:44:38.949 --> 00:44:43.690 Jesus returns and the work will be done. Are 00:44:43.690 --> 00:44:47.889 you feeling weak this afternoon? Are you feeling 00:44:47.889 --> 00:44:50.570 a little bit like a slumber in your walk with 00:44:50.570 --> 00:44:55.409 Jesus? Hear this, there is power. There is power 00:44:55.409 --> 00:44:59.250 in the name of Jesus. He has given us his spirit, 00:44:59.349 --> 00:45:04.219 so let's pursue him and his gifts. Let me pray. 00:45:07.780 --> 00:45:11.860 Father, we thank you. We thank you for that love 00:45:11.860 --> 00:45:16.920 that you have set upon us in the Lord Jesus. 00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:21.260 And God, we thank you that you have called us 00:45:21.260 --> 00:45:25.960 as your people, as your church, to labour for 00:45:25.960 --> 00:45:30.929 you to build up your work here on earth. And 00:45:30.929 --> 00:45:32.590 Lord, I thank you that you haven't left us to 00:45:32.590 --> 00:45:35.690 do this on our own. God, by your spirit, come 00:45:35.690 --> 00:45:40.949 and speak to us now. Help us, Lord, now to pursue 00:45:40.949 --> 00:45:44.690 you in faith that you would give us the gifts 00:45:44.690 --> 00:45:48.590 we need to build one another up. Lord, we know 00:45:48.590 --> 00:45:51.150 you're not a far away God. We know that you've 00:45:51.150 --> 00:45:54.570 drawn near to us. And so I pray that each of 00:45:54.570 --> 00:45:57.289 us would know your presence in our lives. that 00:45:57.289 --> 00:46:00.050 you would give us a deeper sense of faith, that 00:46:00.050 --> 00:46:02.789 we would pursue you earnestly and chase after 00:46:02.789 --> 00:46:06.750 you so that we might do the work of making you 00:46:06.750 --> 00:46:09.909 known here in Manchester, across the Northwest 00:46:09.909 --> 00:46:14.550 and beyond. Jesus, we thank you for your kindness. 00:46:15.730 --> 00:46:18.469 We thank you, Lord, that you have sent your spirit 00:46:18.469 --> 00:46:24.849 to us. We pray these things in the powerful name 00:46:24.849 --> 00:46:26.329 of Jesus. Amen.