We are glad you're here this morning. We really
are. As we were getting ready to leave on the
airplane flight a couple of weeks ago to go to
California, I realized that I had checked in
my luggage the book that I had intended to take
with me to read on the plane. And so this little
bit of regret came out of my mouth and my daughter
who was taking us to the airport said, hey, I'll
buy you a book. I didn't get you a Father's Day
present. Well, I had forgotten that, but she
said, let me buy you a book. Let's go over to
the bookstore. So we went to the airport bookstore,
and I picked up one called Chicken Soup for the
Christian Soul. Are you familiar with the Chicken
Soup series? This is one that is a bestseller.
I guess it's the authors of bestsellers. It's
not a bestseller yet, if I read it more carefully.
But it's got some interesting stories in it.
And there's a section here on humor, and one
that... that popped out at me and I thought I
would read you this morning is collections from
bulletins. These are called holy, holy bloopers.
And here is an example and this is the one I
want to read to you. It says, during the absence
of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege
of hearing a good sermon when J .F. Stubbs supplied
our pulpit. The reports I have had that you've
had some rare privilege here the last three weeks,
and I am glad for that. I'm glad for those who
ministered God's word in my absence. One of the
fun things about vacation is going shopping to
find gifts. Notice I limited that. Not going
shopping, but going shopping to find gifts. When
you have a mission, when you go shopping. Not
just to go shopping, but you've got to have a
purpose for going, and that's one of the fun
things about vacation. And we did that. We're
at that stage in life. And about the only thing
they get kids is t -shirts. You know, they don't
want the toys and other things. Oh, I don't like
that. So a t -shirt is always welcome. We went
out to find some t -shirts and brought back some
gifts that way. It's a way of saying to the kids
and to others that you might want to buy for,
I was thinking about you. You're important to
me. I want to care for you. This is an expression
of my love. Our relationship means something
to me. When Jesus returned to heaven, when he
arrived back there, glorious and victorious as
the conqueror of sin and death, he sent us gifts.
Because he wants us to know that he loves us.
that we're important to him and that we have
a relationship that is precious to him as it
is to us. In Ephesians chapter 4 it says, but
to each one of us, each one of us, grace is given
according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore
it says, when he ascended on high, he led captive
a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.
Paul writes in Ephesians to say that when Jesus
returned to heaven, when he ascended on high,
he gave gifts to men. He talks about that in
Ephesians 4, but he also talks about it here
in our text today in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
I invite you to open your Bible there. The gifts
which Christ gave were delivered by the Holy
Spirit. Unlike UPS, the Holy Spirit never goes
on strike. The Holy Spirit brought the gifts
that Jesus gave on the day of Pentecost. Therefore,
the gifts that Jesus sent are referred to as
the gifts of the Spirit. I'm going to begin reading
in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 12. You follow along
in your copy of the Bible, if you will. Now concerning
spiritual gifts. Brethren, I do not want you
to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans,
you were led astray to dumb idols, however you
were led. Therefore I make known to you that
no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, Jesus
is accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord,
except by the Holy Spirit. Now, there are varieties
of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties
of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are
varieties of effects, but the same God, who works
all things in all persons. But to each one is
given the manifestation of the Spirit for the
common good. For to one is given the word of
wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the
word of knowledge. according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another
gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another
the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy,
and to another distinguishing of spirits, to
another various kinds of tongues, and to another
the interpretation of tongues. But one in the
same Spirit works all these things, distributing
to each one individually, just as he wills. Paul
says to the Corinthians he wants to talk to them
about the spiritual things. The word here is
pneumatica. It's the word for spirit and it means
the people of the spirit or the things of the
spirit. In this particular context it's pretty
clear that it's the things of the spirit that
he wants to talk about. He defines this more
closely in verse 4 where he refers to these things
of the Spirit as the charismatum, the gifts of
the Spirit. We get our word charismatic from
this word. The charisma, the charismata of the
Spirit. It is the grace gifts. That is the gifts
that are given freely. by God, the charismatic
gifts. Not in the narrow sense that the word
is used today, because all of the spiritual gifts
are charismatic gifts. These grace gifts are
not natural abilities. We are born with those.
And they come to us however they come, genetically
or whatever. And some people are able to play
the piano, and some people are able to write,
and some people are able to be athletic. There
are all kinds of natural abilities that we have
by our natural birth. But when we have our supernatural
birth, when we are born again into God's family,
we receive supernatural abilities, spiritual
gifts. The Corinthians were richly blessed by
God in spiritual gifts. Back in chapter 1, you
may remember these words. Paul says to them,
I thank my God always concerning you for the
grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus
that, and here's what he gives thanks for, that
in everything you were enriched in him in all
speech and knowledge so that you are not lacking
any Charisma top any gift any grace gift Paul
says to the Corinthians God has lavished his
grace gifts upon you as a church and God always
does But the generosity of the giver does not
guarantee the goodness of the recipients These
gifts that God gives that are intended for good
and to bless can be misused by God's people.
And thus the gifts become problems. And that
was the case with Corinth. And so Paul begins
a new section of this epistle, actually, to address
this troubling issue of the things of the Spirit.
For the Corinthians were abusing what God had
given to them to bless them. And what he says
here in this text that we've read is that the
Holy Spirit is God and he is a gift giver as
are the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is
God as the Father and the Son. And the Holy Spirit
is a gift giver just as the Father and the Son.
My appeal this morning to you. is that you join
me in seeking to discover and to enjoy your personal
significance in the gifts that God has given
you. Did you hear what I said? Your personal
significance is wrapped up in those gifts of
the Spirit that He has given you. My goal today
is that you grasp the crucial insights about
the gifts that are needed and that then you commit
yourself to discover those gifts and enjoy knowing
the place and the purpose that God has for you
in your life. God is a gracious benefactor, freely
giving to us in Christ what we do not deserve,
what we could not earn. While His gifts are free
to us, All of His gifts are very costly to God.
The gifts that we have received from the Holy
Spirit are gifts that were purchased by the death
of God's Son on the cross. That's how costly
these gifts are. So let's treasure them. Let's
seek to discover them. and to enjoy them as God
intends for us to do. Now there are two gifts
of the Spirit as I want to look at this text
this morning. The first gift of the Spirit is
the gift of salvation, which is suggested in
verses 2 and 3. The gift of salvation. He brings
this gift of salvation, that is the Spirit brings
this gift of salvation, by revealing Christ.
to our ignorant minds and our rebellious hearts.
Notice that he describes us first before conversion,
before conversion. Our state then was basically
that we were ignorant slaves. He says that we
were pagans. Some translations say Gentiles.
The Greek word is ethne. It means we were the
nations. The nations. That is a word to describe
the people groups of the world. We sometimes
use that term in missiology today to talk about
the unreached people groups. The unreached nations
or ethne of the world. What Paul reminds us here
is that we before our conversion were part of
an unleashed ethne. We were pagans. The Hebrew
idea here would be wrapped up in the Hebrew word
goyim, which means those who are foreigners to
Israel and its covenant relationship with God.
Basically the word means that we are separated
from God in our natural state. And so before
we were converted, we were separated from God.
We were pagans. We were the ethne. We were the
nations and we had no relationship with God.
In addition to that, he says, we were led. We
were led along. Now this is not necessarily a
bad thing. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4 .14,
for example, If we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so God will lead along those
who have fallen in sleep. He will bring with
Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. That's
a wonderful thing. It is that God will bring
back those who have departed this world and are
with Christ. Jesus is going to lead them along
back to the earth. For this wonderful event that
we call the rapture and their bodies will be
raised gloriously from the grave and they will
be reunited soul and body forever But here the
word lead along is in a bad sense He goes on
to define it a little more by by saying that
we were led It looks like the same word, but
it's a little different here. It means we were
led away. We were carried away It is a word that
was used of Jesus when he was carried away to
be crucified. What he is saying here is that
we were once separated from God. We were being
led along. We were being carried away from God.
Now if you are an English student, which all
of us ought to be since we live in America, you
will notice that both of those verbs are passive.
You were led. You were led. And the question
is, by whom? And although Paul doesn't answer
that directly in this text, the New Testament
answers it clearly. We were being led along and
carried away by Satan. Satan is the originator
of all religions except biblical. revelation.
Satan is the originator of all religions except
biblical revelation, biblically revealed religion,
biblical Christianity. He doesn't care what the
religion entails necessarily as long as it leads
people along and carries them away from God and
they remain ignorant in their slavery. They remain
ethne. They remain the nations and don't come
to Jesus Christ for salvation. That's what it
was like before. But the Holy Spirit brought
a gift. He enlightened us. And now with conversion,
instead of being ignorant slaves, we have become
enlightened servants. This is the gracious working
of God's Spirit to enlighten our darkened minds
that we might see who Jesus Christ is. It is
the work of the Holy Spirit that leads us to
repent so that our stubborn rebellious will is
broken and we bow the knee. and yield ourselves
to Jesus Christ and receive him as Lord and Savior
into our lives. That's the work of the Spirit,
the gift of the Spirit. And now that we have
become enlightened servants, we call on Jesus
as Lord. No one who is enlightened by the Spirit
of God is going to say the words Jesus is accursed
with any meaning. Likewise, no one is able to
call Jesus his Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
So today, if you call upon Jesus Christ as Lord
with meaning in your heart, it is because of
the gift of God, the work of the Holy Spirit,
bringing you to that point. Have you come to
that place in your own spiritual journey where
you have received Jesus Christ? Have you allowed
your stubborn will to be broken and yielded yourself
to Christ? Are you enjoying the gift of the Holy
Spirit which is salvation? So that you today
can truly call Jesus My God. I hope you have.
If not, you can do it today. You don't have to
wait for some mystical moment. You don't have
to wait until you get into some particular position
or place. You can do it seated right where you
are simply by saying in your own heart, Lord
Jesus, come in. I receive you. I know who you
are. I yield my life to you. I know you died
for me and rose again. Oh God, thank you for
showing that to me. And the gift is yours. The
Holy Spirit constantly works then to complete
the lordship of Jesus Christ in the believer's
life. He is faithful to keep bringing to the
surface those issues. which we have not yet faced,
in which Jesus is not yet Lord of our lives.
You know, we come to points of deep commitment
and surrender as some of you men have done at
Promise Keepers just a week ago. And we give
ourselves to God in a new way and we think, wow,
I've just given everything to the Lord. And we
have, as much as we can at that point, as much
as we realize, and yet the Lord knows that there
are whole rooms, whole wings of our hearts that
have yet to be confronted with Christ's Lordship.
And He's faithful just to keep bringing us into
new rooms, new areas where we need to surrender.
It's a wonderful work of the Spirit, bringing
us under the Lordship. of Jesus Christ. The Holy
Spirit never leads anyone to depreciate the person
and the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, He,
the Spirit, shall glorify me, for he shall take
of mine and disclose it to you. In other words,
Jesus said the work of the Spirit is to reveal
me continually to you, my disciples. The Holy
Spirit never puts the spotlight on Himself. The
Holy Spirit never seeks to put Himself into the
center of things. The Holy Spirit always defers
to the Lord Jesus, leading us to Him, bringing
us to Him, that we might know Him in new and
deeper ways and yield to His Lordship in fresh
areas of our lives. That's the work of the Spirit.
That's the gift. of salvation. But in verses
4 through 11, there is another way in which we
think of the gifts, and that is the gifts for
service. We are called into the body of Jesus
Christ to become givers, not merely takers. The
opportunity that we have to serve God and man
through Christ's community in the world, the
Church, is a privilege. God calls all of us to
be ministers or servants and so he gives gifts
for service. Now there's a wonderful plan of
the Trinity for your service. Paul talks about
it in verses four through six. Each member of
the triune Godhead has a part in giving you the
privilege of service. He says in verse 4 that
the Holy Spirit endows us with gifts. Now these
are these enablements, these abilities that God
gives us at our new birth. These are Spirit created
abilities to function within the body according
to Christ's will. Then he says that Christ provides
the ministries, verse 5. That is Christ provides
the opportunities. The Holy Spirit gives us the
abilities to use. Christ then brings us the ministries,
the ways in which we can use the gifts. And He
says that God, meaning here in this context the
Father, works out the effects. Verse 6. That
is, the Father is the one who determines the
results. the outworkings of what we do in the
ministry by the gifts which the Holy Spirit has
given us. Do you see how they connect? The Spirit
gives us the gifts. The Lord Jesus gives us the
opportunities to use the gifts. And the Father
determines the effects, the results of what we
do. The gifts for service. It takes all the pressure
off when we realize that our service for the
Lord really is only the use of gifts He's given
us in places where He opens the doors and then
He determines the results. All we have to do
is use the gifts in the power of the Spirit.
And we leave the rest with God. I want you to
notice too the varieties. that are mentioned
here three times. Varieties, varieties, varieties.
Notice here the creativity of God. The variety
which God provides for within his body. God's
plan is that we not be alike. And yet how often
do you see Christians who are trying to get other
Christians to be just like them? I have a friend
who has a gift of evangelism. The way that God
uses him in evangelism is just, it blows my mind.
But I have a little bit of a problem with him
and the problem is that he thinks everybody ought
to be able to do exactly what he does the way
he does it. He thinks everybody should be able
to witness as freely as he does and with the
same results. That is not what this text says.
There is variety in the body of Christ. Now,
all of us have the responsibility to witness,
but some of us are gifted in this special way
as He is, and the Lord determines the results.
Allow for variety in the body, folks. We don't
all have to look and smell alike. We don't all
have to think alike. We don't all have to see
things the same way. To me, that's one of the
exciting things about what we're doing on September
14th in creating this new contemporary service.
There are those of us who think differently about
worship and who see it differently and who respond
differently. We're providing for that variety
in the body of Christ. There are varieties, he
says. So let's rejoice in the varieties that
God gives. And if you see someone who's different
than you are, rejoice in that, that they are,
that they're not like you. You're you. And there's
nobody like you, and nobody can be. So rejoice
in the varieties of God. Now, in verses 7 through
11, he gives us some insights about the gifts
of the Spirit that we need to look at quickly.
First of all, I want you to notice that these
gifts of the Spirit are given to every believer.
There's not an exception to that. Every single
believer has the abilities that the Spirit gives
him. Secondly, they are given for the common
good. Verse 7 talks about that. The gifts of
the Spirit are given for the good of the body.
They are not primarily given for self -edification.
But that is very important, especially as we
get into chapter 14 and talk about the abuse
of the gift of tongues. Tongues is not given
for me to be edified in a prayer closet. That
was not the purpose of tongues. Never has been.
All of the gifts are given for the good of the
body as a whole, the common good. And the third
insight is this, that they are given as the Spirit
chooses. Verse 11 talks about that. To each one
individually, just as He wills. You can skip
ahead into the sermon for next week in verse
18. It says, just as He desired. And so it is
the Lord Himself who determines what gifts you
have. You don't choose them. Now that goes contrary
to some teaching today that says that there are
gifts that we ought to ask for, that we ought
to strive for, and pray for. Friend, if you don't
have a certain gift, be satisfied with that,
because God has given you what He wants you to
have. Now, let me say this. There may be gifts
inside of you you've not discovered yet. And
we're going to close talking about discovering
gifts. So don't think that you're sitting here
today at 16 years of age or 26 years of age and
you know all your spiritual gifts. There are
even older people that perhaps haven't yet discovered
all of the gifts that God's given. But we're
not to pray for gifts. Oh, but somebody says,
doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible, covet
earnestly the best gifts? Yep. In fact, it says
that in Corinthians. at the end of this chapter.
But what it's saying there is to the body, to
the church, you as a church, instead of emphasizing
these lesser gifts, He says, desire and seek
after the greater gifts. He is not talking to
individuals to pray for certain spiritual gifts.
Okay? Because the Holy Spirit gives those just
as He pleases. Okay. Well then how do I discover
my gift package? By the way, notice my phrase
there, the gift package. Let me back up and say
that there are three encouragements about the
gifts of the Spirit that I want to give you before
I talk about that. First of all, the first encouragement
is this. The fact that you have gifts is evidence
that you are important to God. It's evidence
that Jesus loves you while he's away. That's
why He's given you the gifts. That's why you
bring gifts. That's why you send gifts to people.
Jesus loves you and you are important to Him
and that's why He has given you your gifts. Secondly,
your gifts are intended to make you a blessing
to others. God wants to use you to bless others.
That's wonderful, isn't it? And third, Your gifts
are within, waiting to be discovered and developed.
Your gifts are personalized in what I call a
gift package. I think that we can rightly speak
of our gift that God has given us. But within
that gift are blendings of various gifts that
God gives us. so that we each have a gift package.
And when we open that package, we begin to discover
how God has blended within us and shaped within
us the gifts that He wants us to use. All of
these are molded to the unique person that God
has made us to be. God knows your personality,
He knows everything about you, and so He has
given you spiritual gifts that align with who
you are. You say, how do I discover my spiritual
package? You don't have to scratch your head
or ponder about that very long because there
are some easy suggestions to use to how to discover
your gift package. First of all, receive the
gift, capital G. Receive the gift. The gift of
salvation. Because that gift, when you receive
that gift, it brings this gift package to you.
Until you receive that gift, you're without this
gift package. But with the gift of salvation
comes this gift package of spiritual enablements.
So receive the gift. Secondly, follow your heart.
Look at your interests. What are the inclinations
that you have? That helps you determine how God
has gifted you. Third, begin serving somewhere.
Don't wait until you think you've discovered
your gifts before you serve. The greatest way
in the world to discover your gifts is to begin
serving somewhere. It doesn't matter where. Wherever
there's an opportunity. And if you look in your
bulletin today, you see scads of opportunities.
We have those not only in children's ministry,
but in other ways, and especially as we add another
service period on Sunday morning. There are lots
of ways for you to begin serving. And if you
want to discover your spiritual gifts, just plug
in and begin serving. Now you may find within
a few weeks, hey, this isn't for me. And you
see, that's part of the process. We learn by
doing. And so as you perform some function, you
will see your gift either rising to the surface,
or you're going to be turned away from it. Number
four, look for fruit and fulfillment. As you
are serving the Lord according to your giftedness,
there are two things that should happen. Number
one, you should see eventually some kind of fruit
coming from that, some kind of results that the
Father will work in your life, the effects that
he brings. And secondly, you should find some
satisfaction and fulfillment in your own heart.
You should begin to say to yourself, you know,
this is what I'm made for. This fits me. This
is who I am. And it's a wonderful discovery.
And number five, seek godly counsel. Those who
know you and understand you, who are believers,
seek their counsel and say, what do you think
about this? Or do I have that ability? Or do
you see me functioning in this way? and see what
they say. But as I close, I want to bring to
you a warning. You need to be very careful because
God's gifts are meant to be used, not wasted.
Do you hear what I said? God has given you gifts
to be used, not wasted. They are yours to bless
others and to gain for yourself heavenly reward.
God has given you your gifts so that you can
bless others and in doing that you will gain
for yourself reward in heaven. God has given
you your gifts to be used, not played with, and
not wasted. Don't take the gift and then neglect
the gifts of the Spirit. Don't take the gift
of salvation and then ignore that gift package
that God has sovereignly placed in you. But rather
discover your spiritual gifts and enjoy learning
about your life's significance. The story is
told by Gary Enrig in his book, A Call to Excellence,
that illustrates that it's not only enough to
have ability, you have to have dedication as
well. He tells about a man who was a great artist
by the name of Bertoldo. Now you probably have
never heard of him, but Bertoldo was one of the
trainers of Michelangelo. Michelangelo, most
of you have heard of, because of his great works.
But when he was only 14 years old, Michelangelo
came to this great artist, who immediately saw
the enormous gifts of the young man, and he began
to work with him, and to train him, and to help
fashion and form his art, and to bring out what
was inside of him. One day, Bertoldo came into
his studio, and he saw Michelangelo working on
a piece of art that was far below his abilities.
far below what he could do. And so Bertoldo picked
up a hammer, walked across the studio and smashed
the piece that Michelangelo was working on, and
he said to him, Michelangelo, talk is cheap.
Dedication is costly. You know, that applies
to the Christian experience, too, and our service
for Christ. Talk is cheap. It is not enough to
say that we have gifts. We have to dedicate ourselves
to using them. And so my appeal this morning
to all of us is to use the gifts that God has
given us. And if we don't have a clue as to what
they are, to begin discovering them in the ways
that we've suggested. And to enjoy the significance
and the purpose in life that God intends for
us to experience. And if we do that, If we do
that, then one day when we get to heaven, we'll
hear his commendation. Well done. Let's pray.
Have you received the gift of salvation, friend?
Do you know Jesus Christ as Lord? Truly, as Lord,
have you received Him into your heart, believing
that His death and resurrection was sufficient
to pay the price for your sins? If not, will
you receive that gift this morning? Trust on
Him and invite Him to come into your life right
now by faith. And if you have received the gift,
recognize that there is within you a gift package
of spiritual gifts that God has given you to
be used. Will you say in your heart this morning,
God, I will serve you according to your spiritual
gifts. I choose. to open the package and discover
what you've given me to be used. And I dedicate
myself to serving you in this way, in the body
of Christ. Dear Christian friend, that's what
God wants of you this morning. And if that's
a fresh commitment in your life, if that's something
that God has laid in your heart this morning,
a new and a fresh, I just invite you to lift
your hand and say so. Say, that's where I'm at
and that's what I purpose to do by the grace
of God. Yes, God bless you. God bless you, half
a dozen of you. I know many of you are already
right now living in that commitment. I thank
God for that. Anyone else who would say, this
is a fresh commitment for me in my life. Yes,
thank you. Well, Lord, we do offer our thanks
to you for the gifts of the Spirit. We bless
you for them. Thank you for showing us how much
you love us, how precious our relationship is
to you by the giving of this gift. And this morning
as we respond to you from our hearts, we give
ourselves a fresh and dedication and commitment.
And we ask you to take all that we are and fill
us with your spirit and use us as you have purposed
us to be used. In Jesus' name, amen.