Twenty years ago this week, a young and popular
president of the United States was assassinated
in Dallas. That tragedy seems to have symbolized
the unreality, the despair of life, the meaninglessness
of existence that has characterized the world
in the 60s and 70s. That despair seems somewhat
to be declining in the minds of this generation.
And yet there's the question that has been asked
by the philosophers of the ages. Why am I here?
What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose?
Every life has value before God. But the life
of the believer in Jesus Christ has eternal significance.
far beyond the few years spent on earth. For
the believer in Jesus Christ is one who has been
chosen in eternity past to be a part of God's
eternal purpose, the church, the body of Jesus
Christ. And it is that which gives the years
of life for the believer a value which is beyond,
really, our comprehending. Romans chapter 12,
verses 6 through 8, is our text for today and
speaks to this theme that your life has meaning.
And since we have gifts that differ according
to the grace given to us, let us exercise them
accordingly. If prophecy according to the proportion
of His faith, if service in His serving. or he
who teaches in his teaching, or he who exhorts
in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality,
he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy
with cheerfulness. The context of our text shows
us that we are to think properly about ourselves
having the right perspective. The right perspective
is God's perspective. And what does God say about
us? God says, number one, that He has given us
everything we possess. And secondly, as possessors
of those gifts, He has then made us vital, functioning
members of the body of Jesus Christ. When you
and I get that perspective on who we are, it
changes our thinking about ourselves and we have
a proper balanced self -esteem so that we don't
think more highly or more lowly than we ought
to think regarding ourselves. The Lord Jesus
Christ has gifted each of us to contribute toward
the building up of the body of Christ. And my
friend, the exercise of that gift is not an option.
It is a command. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12
and verse 7, we are reminded that we have the
manifestation of the Spirit, what he says, for
the common good. That is, for the good of everyone,
not just ourselves. The gifts we have are for
the good commonly within the body, the local
church. where we are. In our text, verse 6, he
says, we have gifts that differ according to
the grace given to us. This word gifts is the
word charismata. It is the word where we get
charismatic. In a very biblical sense, all believers
are charismatics because all believers have charismata.
spiritual gifts. He says we have gifts that differ.
That is, they are varying in kind. They are diverse.
God in His manifold wisdom has given a variety
of gifts to the body. And it is that which makes
the church interesting and even exciting. And
He gives these gifts according to that sentence
in verse 6. according to the grace given to us.
In other words, these gifts are not earned, nor
are we to personally and individually seek certain
gifts, but they are given to us by grace. The
very word charismata has its root in the Greek
word grace, charis. Charismata, grace, gifts.
1 Corinthians 12, 11 says that God gives them
by His Spirit just as He wills. The very moment
that you are saved, God chooses to give you certain
gifts. It is not up to you to say, God, this
is the gift I want, please give it to me. It
is as He wills that He gives them. It is up to
you and to me to say, God, what gifts do I possess?
that I may develop them and exercise them within
the body. My theme this morning is that God has
given your life meaning by entrusting you with
these spiritual gifts. What are the gifts? Let's
define the word, first of all. The gifts are
special spirit -given abilities. to serve Jesus
Christ in His body, the church. Now, by that
definition, we are saying the gifts are not certain
things. First of all, they are not natural abilities.
Even non -Christians have natural abilities.
Spiritual gifts are given to us as believers
the moment that we're saved, the time of our
second birth. They are not natural abilities,
though the two of them... may complement each
other. Furthermore, we are not saying that spiritual
gifts are the same as spirituality. Just because
one has a spiritual gift does not automatically
mean he's spiritual. Spiritual gifts can be exercised
in the energy of the flesh, leading to waste
and failure, but nonetheless it's true. So spiritual
gifts do not automatically equal spirituality.
And thirdly, we are not saying that spiritual
gifts are the same as spiritual maturity. The
Corinthian church is an example of this. For
though they had all the gifts and exercised all
of them, even to the point of abuse in some cases,
Paul says that they were babes in Christ. They
ought not to have been, but they were. They were
infants spiritually. And so the possession of
spiritual gifts does not mean that one is automatically
spiritually mature. Maturity comes over the process
of time. It is not attained instantaneously.
It comes through experience and through growth.
Another way to define spiritual gifts and one
that intrigues me is this. It is a channel. through
which the Holy Spirit ministers to Jesus Christ.
A spiritual gift is a channel through which the
Holy Spirit ministers to Jesus Christ. And here's
what I mean. We are the body of Jesus Christ.
We are so identified with Him that when God sees
us, He does not see where we end and Christ begins.
We are one with Him. So that when the Holy Spirit
ministers to you through this person's spiritual
gift, he is actually ministering to Jesus Christ.
And so spiritual gifts are the channels through
which the Holy Spirit ministers to Christ himself.
In Romans chapter 12, we have a list. It is a
partial list. Only seven of the gifts are listed
here. Others are listed elsewhere in the New
Testament. But let's look at these seven since
they are in the context of our message this morning.
The first one on the list is the gift of prophecy.
That very word is sometimes misunderstood as
being foretelling the future. But the idea biblically
in prophecy is actually foretelling. It is proclamation.
The gift of prophecy is the gift of preaching,
to edify, to reprove, to comfort, to exhort the
people of God. Now there was the office of a
prophet in the Old Testament and then again in
the New Testament. Those prophets used their
gift of prophecy. to deliver direct revelation
from God. Before the New Testament was completed,
that is how God delivered His will to the assemblies
scattered throughout the Roman Empire. He used
the office of prophet to speak to His people.
But in a biblical, more general sense, the gift
of prophecy is the gift of preaching. And it
says here, The one who exercises this gift is
to do so according to the proportion of his faith.
I believe the meaning of that is that he is to
say what God wants him to say, nothing more and
nothing less. Secondly, we have the gift of service.
One who has the gift of service gives practical
support to the ministry of God's people. in unseen
ways, but it is always with faithfulness and
genuine inner delight. The Greek word is the
word deacon. It means to minister to, to wait
upon, to care for another's needs. There's a
woman in the book of Romans who exemplifies the
gift of service. Her name is Phoebe in Romans
chapter 16. a servant, a deaconess is the literal
word of the church, and served the Lord's people.
This is the gift which is perhaps most common
in the body of Christ. And though it is unheralded,
it is the one that is probably the most needed.
I thank God for those who are ministering in
this body. often in unseen ways, but who do it
with diligence and faithfulness and an inner
joy and delight. And then there's the gift of
teaching. One who has the gift of teaching is
one who instructs with the Word of God. He declares,
explains, breaks down, and clarifies the Word.
This is perhaps the most frequently listed. of
the gifts in the New Testament, but not the most
frequently given. In fact, the Holy Spirit says
through James that we ought not, many of us,
to seek to be teachers because those who have
the gift of teaching will have the greater accounting
at the judgment seat of Christ. It is a solemn
responsibility to be a teacher, for one who teaches
instructs God's people in the Word. And then
there's the gift of exhortation. The literal
word means one who's called alongside. It is
the word paraclete, which is used of the Holy
Spirit in the Gospel of John. So here is the
gift that most closely aligns with what the Holy
Spirit is doing today to believers. It is the
gift of exhortation. It is a gift of motivation.
It is the person who is able to drive home to
the heart certain truths. It's one who is a counselor.
Swindoll says, the teacher tells what, the exhorter
tells how. The exhorter says, get moving. Here's
how it's applied. And probably Dr. Swindoll is
an excellent example of one who has the gift
of exhortation. I think Priscilla and Aquila
in the New Testament would exemplify this gift.
But we see them sitting down with Apollos, for
example, and explaining to him more fully the
Word of God and exhorting him, motivating him,
and with Paul as well. And then there's the gift
of giving. One who has the gift of giving is
able to sense needs even before they are expressed.
And he delights in being able to provide for
those needs. He does it with joy, generosity,
and frankly, the one who has the gift of giving
does not necessarily have a lot of money. We
had a testimony of that a couple of weeks ago
as one of the missionaries spoke about his wife
who has the gift of giving and gives away everything
they have. One who has the gift of giving is
exemplified, I think, collectively in the church
at Philippi, where even out of their own time
of need, they gave once and then again to the
Apostle Paul to provide for him. Often we think
that those who have the gift of giving are the
ones responsible for the support of God's ministry,
and that is not true. It may be that those who
have the gift of giving will contribute, but
God's plan is not that a certain group within
the church financially support the church. According
to 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, all of us are to share
in a fair and equal manner, proportionally according
to how God blesses us. It should not fall upon
the shoulders of a few who have the gift of giving.
We did a survey recently. of our giving by envelopes
here in our church. And we found that 20 % of
those who give using envelopes give 80 % of the
total money in our ministry. Just 20 % give 80
% of the money. Do you think that matches what
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9? That is,
by the way, the average of four churches across
America. But it certainly is not the norm of
the New Testament. The gift of giving has nothing
to do with how much money one has. Rather, it's
with the ability to sense a need and then in
some way to be able to provide for that need,
whether it be in money or food or clothing or
in some kind deed. And then the gift of leading.
Literally, the word means to stand before. It's
the ability to preside. It incorporates the idea
of giving vision and direction. One who has the
gift of leading has creative ideas. He's a problem
solver. I think a great example of this is James,
who was the head honcho of the church in Jerusalem.
And when their problem came up in Acts chapter
15, that could have divided. the church between
Jews and Gentiles. It was James who stood up
and drew upon the report from Peter and from
Paul and Barnabas and solved the problem by giving
a solution. James had the gift of leading. By
the way, this is a gift that elders need. And
he says that those who exercise this gift are
to do so with diligence. In other words, with
zeal, earnestly, without sloth. And then he mentions
in number seven, the gift of showing mercy. This
is the ability to feel with others their sorrows
and to minister cheer and consolation to them.
It involves deeds of love and kindness, and probably
a biblical example of this would be Epaphroditus.
who, according to Philippians chapter 2, ministered
to Paul in a very wonderful way in his time of
need. You will notice that after each of these
gifts, there is a refrain. Regarding mercy, he
says, is to be shown with cheerfulness. Regarding
leading, with diligence. Regarding giving, with
liberality. Exhortation, he's to do it in his
exhortation. Regarding teaching, he's to be...
faithful in his teaching regarding service in
his serving, and one who prophesies is to do
it according to what God tells him to say. Each
of these refrains seems to suggest this, that
we are to be absorbed with the ministry and the
gifts that God has called us to exercise. We
are not to be concerned about others and whether
they are using their gifts properly or not. But
he says God has given to each of us different
gifts according to his grace. Now, according
to your gift, be involved in exercising that
gift. Don't be concerned about the other guy
and judging him. You just take care of what God's
called you to do. That seems to be the thrust
of that refrain. Now, why are the gifts given?
Let's ask that question. To me, this is exceedingly
interesting. Why is it that God has given us
gifts? The answer, briefly, is that each believer
may be completed in Jesus Christ and be like
Him. That each believer may be matured, may grow
up in Jesus Christ to be like Him. Dr. John MacArthur,
in his book, The Body of Christ, says, This means
that the only way an individual Christian will
ever be a man of full stature in Christ is when
he has all those gifts being ministered to him.
A Christian can never be completely like Jesus
Christ until he has been built up in all the
areas represented by the spiritual gifts. Now
let's talk about that statement because I believe
he hits on something that is fresh and vital.
The variety of gifts is needed so that the characteristics
of Jesus Christ may be fully realized in his
body. In other words, as our church matures and
as each of us exercises his gifts, We will take
on as a church a composite likeness of Jesus
Christ. That's why it is so very important that
every one of us exercise his own spiritual gifts.
Every gift is a characteristic of Christ himself.
Was he a teacher? Yes. Did he show mercy? Yes.
Did he proclaim the word of God? Yes. Did he
give? Yes. Did he exhort? Yes. Did he lead? Of
course. And so you see the spiritual gifts are
but various aspects of what Jesus is like. And
as you exercise your particular aspect of what
he's like, and this person and that person, the
other person, exercises their gifts, then together...
We are a composite likeness of Christ. Let's
put it a different way. The church as Christ's
body is to do what his physical body did when
he was present on earth. We are to manifest who
he is and what he is like. We are to show his
nature and his likeness. just as His physical
body did during those years He lived here in
this world, in that body. For we are now His
body. As each one ministers his gift to the others,
they are built up in that area. Let me give an
example of this or two. Teaching. As one ministers
the gift of teaching to the body, He instructs
us in doctrine so that we grow in our understanding
of the Word of God. As a result of that, not
only are we strengthened personally, but we learn
how to communicate God's truth to others as well.
For that gift of teaching builds us up that we
might teach others. As one ministers to you who
has the gift of mercy, You are consoled and comforted.
But as a result of that, you then know how to
comfort others too. 2 Corinthians 1 explains
that. As you have a gift of giving and you minister
to another, the needs of that other person are
supplied. But more than that, that other person
learns generosity in giving himself. And so while
not all of us have all the spiritual gifts, yet
all of us should be characterized by each of
these characteristics. I will have an area of
specialty that God has given to me, as you will
for yourself. But nonetheless, I am to be characterized
by the other areas as well, as I grow up and
mature and as others minister to me. That's why
as one who has the gift of prophecy or preaching
and who sees things in black and white, which
I do, I need somebody who's got the gift of mercy
to cool me down and temper me and to shave off
the sharp edges a little bit. I need that ministry
to me. On the other hand, if you have the gift
of mercy, you may need somebody like me around
to give you some backbone to stick up. for what's
right and wrong occasionally, see? That's how
we need each other, and as all of us do our thing
that the Holy Spirit has gifted us and called
us to do, we as a body are healthy, and we reflect
a balanced picture of Jesus Christ. There's another
key passage that we must take time to look at.
And that is in Ephesians chapter 4. I'm going
to read verse 7 and then verse 11 through verse
16. But to each one of us, grace was given according
to the measure of Christ's gift. And he gave
some as apostles and some as prophets and some
as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers
for the equipping of the saints. for the work
of service, to the building up of the body of
Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
to a mature man, to the measure of the stature
which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a
result, we are no longer to be children tossed
here and there by waves and carried about with
every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men.
by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking
the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects
into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom
the whole body, being fitted and held together
by that which every joint supplies, according
to the proper working of each individual part,
causes the growth of the body for the building
up of itself in love. Now there are four important
truths that I want us to see regarding the building
up or the maturing of the local church in this
passage. Number one, the source of this maturity.
Would you notice that the building up, the maturing
of the body is the work of no one else other
than Jesus Christ? He said, I will build my church.
But how does he do it? In verse 7 he says that
all believers have been given grace according
to Christ's measure. We've talked about that
already. But in addition to that, in verse 11,
he says that the Lord gives to the church gifted
people. And he mentions apostles, prophets, evangelists,
and pastor -teachers. Those two should be read
together like teaching shepherds would be a good
way to put it. Now in verse 11, he gives us a
chronological development of the offices. It
began with apostles, and then prophets came shortly
after that. And according to Ephesians chapter
2 and other places, they are a part of the foundation
of the church. And therefore, as the church age
developed, the apostles and prophets ceased because
their function ceased. We don't have time to
go into all of that. But then he mentions evangelists.
Evangelists are still with us today because evangelists,
very simply, are church planters. There are people
who go into new areas where the gospel has not
been clearly preached. They declare the gospel.
People are won to Christ. They start churches.
And then following the evangelist comes the one
who is the teaching shepherd, the one who stays
with the body for a period of time, who's called
of the Lord Jesus Christ to shepherd that church
and to teach them the doctrines, to build them
up in the faith. And so the source of maturity
is Jesus Christ as He functions in the way that
He tells us He will in verses 7 and 11. Now regarding
those who are pastor -teachers, he says, they
are for the equipping of the saints for the work
of ministry. In that very critical sentence,
we have the steps to maturity. There are two
of them. Number one, those who are leaders, those
who are the teaching shepherds, are to equip
the saints. And that is a very rich Greek word.
It's used in the Gospels of mending the fishing
nets. It's used in Galatians 6, verse 1, of the
restoration of one who has fallen. It was used
by Dr. Galen, the Greek physician, who some people
said was crazy, but whom I say was ahead of his
time. Dr. Galen talked about... this word in
the sense of furnishing a house. A surgeon would
use it in the sense of repairing, mending, setting
a broken bone. But I think probably the best
way to understand it in this context is that
it means to complete. It's used that way in 1
Thessalonians 3 .10, and the idea is this. It
means that something is okay as far as it goes,
but it needs to be finished. You ladies preparing
for your Sunday dinner will get out the ingredients
for a pie perhaps. Doesn't that sound delicious?
And so you get all the ingredients out in the
cabinet, all that you need, but you're not finished.
It's okay as far as it goes, but you've got to
go on from there and mix the ingredients and
put them in the oven and then serve the pie.
That's its purpose, right? And so what he's saying
here is that pastor -teachers are to take the
church where it's at on to maturity, on so that
it accomplishes its full purpose. It's to complete
the saints, to mature them, to equip them. The
job of the pastor is not to fill the building.
The job of the pastor is not to visit everyone
in the church. The job of the pastor -teacher
is not to print the bulletin. The job of the
pastor is not to do the custodial work. Not that
the pastor teacher is above any of those things.
And he may be involved in some of them, but his
primary focus must be the study of God's Word
and the feeding of God's people so they are equipped.
One of the reasons I'm delighted to serve in
Grace Church is because our church body as a
whole and our elders in particular have this
vision of what the pastor -teacher is to do.
And therefore, I am freed from some of the things
that some pastors are involved in in order to
spend time and study and the teaching, the proclamation
of the Word of God. I thank God for that vision.
I believe it's consistent with what is said here.
But then who is to do all of the other things
that need to be done in ministry? Well, the answer
is the saints. Often we have the idea that we
hire a professional staff to do the ministry,
and that is not biblical. Those who are brought
on to the full -time staff of the church are
brought on for one purpose primarily, and that
is to equip the saints and to free them so that
they can be doing the work of ministering to
the body. What are the works of service? By the
way, that is step number two. The saints do the
work of service. In other words, they use their
gifts. What are the works of service? Well, it
includes visiting the ill and the shut -ins.
All of us are involved in that. Discipling people,
giving of clothing or food or money to needy
people, that's a work of ministry to the body.
Evangelism, counseling. All of these are works
of ministry. May I say frankly that there are
some necessary activities which are not actually
works of ministry. For example, it's important
that somebody comes and makes the coffee here
on Sunday mornings. I mean, this is Scandinavian
territory. And so somebody comes and prepares
that. That's important work. It's necessary.
Somebody has to clean up after us. That's pretty
necessary too. And then somebody needs to direct
traffic and, you know, a variety of other things
that need to be done, but technically they are
not works of ministry because a work of ministry
involves my direct input into another life. We
are, all of us, to be involved in the work of
service of ministry. That's how the body is matured.
The leaders equip and the saints do the work
of the ministry so that the whole body is built
up of itself. And then in verse 13, we see how
to measure maturity. How do you know when a church
is maturing? He talks in verse 13 about attaining
to a mature man. There are three measurements
for maturity. They are not how much money is
given. or how large the church is, or how many
are in Sunday school, or how many are baptized.
Those do not measure the maturity of a church.
They measure some things, but not maturity. According
to Ephesians 4, maturity is measured, number
one, by the unity of the church. Till we all
attain to the unity of the faith. Unity within
the fellowship. Secondly, The deep knowledge
of Jesus Christ. A full knowledge of the Son
of God. How well do we know Him? And thirdly,
by how Christ -like we are. How much we measure
up to the fullness of the stature of Christ.
How adult we are in being like Him. Of course,
that comes from the deep knowledge of Christ
and the... performing of our ministry. That's
how you measure maturity. And what's the result
of maturity? We must rush on. Verses 14 through
16 give us three results of a maturing church.
Number one, doctrinal stability. A maturing church
will not be susceptible to religious fads. And
of course, neither will maturing individual believers.
These days there are many schisms, isms, and
spasms around, and they are catching up all kinds
of believers who are not maturing. Maturing believers
have a stability in doctrine. There is not a
tendency to follow after new things that come
down the pike. Secondly, the result of maturity
is truth speaking in love. What that means is
that a mature church proclaims the truth of God
with compassion. In other words, it is a fundamentalist
church with love, with the right spirit. It truth
speaks in love, literally. And thirdly, a mature
church is one in which each member is doing its
part. Verse 16. According to the proper working
of each individual part, that causes the growth
of the body for the building up of itself in
love. So a mature church is one in which there
is not a hired staff doing all the work, but
in which the staff is conservative, it is small,
what is needed only to equip the saints and to
free the saints so that the church and each member
of it is involved in the building up of the body.
And as that is done, then God is going to raise
up, as the church grows, gifted people within
the church who will work themselves on to staff
full time because their ministry will be so necessary
that others may be equipped and the church may
function. That's the way it works. That's where
we are as a church anyway. That's our theology
of what a local church is all about. And could
I boldly say and frankly say that if this is
the kind of church you're looking for, if you
want to be an integral part of a functioning
body, if you are willing and desirous to be involved,
to exercise your spiritual gifts, as God has
called you to, in a local church like this, we
welcome you. We want you to be a part of Grace
Church. We also recognize that not everyone will
want this level of commitment. Yet that does
not change God's plan. or the biblical teaching
that it is the norm that that commitment should
be made. Is your life on target with God's purpose?
Your life has meaning and has significance if
you're a believer in an eternal sense. But are
you doing what God wants you to do? Is your life
having the impact and the significance that it
should within a local church? This one... or
another one where you do belong. What are you
doing with your spiritual gifts? There are two
things we have to be aware of. One of them is
carnality. We must be aware of living for the
flesh and in the energy of the flesh, because
when we do that, it completely destroys the impact
of whatever spiritual gifts we possess. But we
also must beware of carelessness, that we just
don't float along through life without making
the commitments that Jesus Christ tells us we
should in the church. For when we do that, it
weakens the church where we ought to be. It robs
us of eternal reward that we should receive if
we were serving faithfully. And it also dishonors
the head of our body, Jesus Christ. Because somewhere
down there is a member that's not functioning,
and that's not normal. That's not his plan. You're
a member of the body if you're a believer. Are
you a functioning, vital member of somebody,
some church? Heavenly Father, I pray that you
will lead us to make the decisions and the commitments
we need to make this morning that we might be
on target with your purpose. for our lives. And
Father, if there be some friend here who's not
even saved, who cannot say for sure his sins
are forgiven, and he's on his way to heaven,
I pray that that one today would trust the Lord
Jesus, that he might be a part of the body of
Christ, be gifted to serve, even as we've talked
from your word this morning. In Jesus' name I
pray, amen.