WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.600 Okay, you might want to turn back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. This is the introduction 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:13.560 of a new series that we're beginning. Before this summer, in the earlier part of the year, 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:21.240 we looked at the fruit of the Spirit. So we're now going to look at the gifts of the Spirit. 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:31.359 So it's only 108 days till Christmas. That's good, and I can see all you're all going to go and check 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:37.079 now on February, March, see if I've got it right. And that's great, isn't it? We're really looking 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:44.759 forward to that already. Giving and receiving gifts is a great part of life. Wonderful. That's why 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:49.480 we all love Christmas so much. And we don't mind that already they've got Christmas stuff in the 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:54.359 shops, because we don't mind, do we? Because we love Christmas, and we love the thought of Christmas 00:00:54.359 --> 00:01:02.199 so much. But we're going to take 15 Sunday evenings to look at who we are as Christians in the light 00:01:02.199 --> 00:01:07.159 of the subject. And we're going to look at the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to us, 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:16.120 and how we are to use these gifts in our Christian lives. So the aim really is through the Word, 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:23.719 through the Bible, through the subject to… that each of us will appreciate our own value, 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:33.880 our own purpose, and that you will be encouraged. I hope you're encouraged as we study this subject 00:01:33.880 --> 00:01:39.880 and recognize who you are and what you've been given. And above all, I hope that it will point 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:47.799 us all to the great gift giver himself, the great God, the living God, and Jesus Christ 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:54.920 and the Holy Spirit, that we will see and understand more about who he is, because we love gift givers 00:01:54.920 --> 00:02:06.439 in our lives. So in introducing it, we recognize that this whole area of study, the gifts of the 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:12.680 Spirit, will be areas where there are a lot of differences theologically between different parts 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:18.520 of the church. Sometimes there's confusion, sometimes there's a degree of ignorance, 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:26.840 sometimes there's pride, and there's always deeply held views on this area. Sadly, it's often led 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:35.079 to mistrust and division within the church and within the churches. And I would… and I don't 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:40.920 intend to avoid speaking into some of these controversies, but I hope that I will do so with 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:47.000 respect and with grace, because we need to acknowledge God's sovereignty in all of this, 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:54.760 and also particularly our own failings and our own misunderstandings. Yet clearly, I hope, 00:02:54.760 --> 00:03:02.920 explain what the Bible teaches in this area. So let's… by way of introduction, set the scene, 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:10.359 which I hope will be… the scene will speak into the gifts of the Spirit throughout these 15 weeks 00:03:10.359 --> 00:03:17.079 that we look at them in more detail. And we're reminded in the first place that God… 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:24.039 this is a very obvious point, that God is the giver of these gifts. This chapter that we read, 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:29.319 1 Corinthians 12 verse 4, now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit, 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:33.400 there are a variety of service, but the same Lord, and there are a variety of activities, 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:38.680 but it's the same God who empowers them all in everyone. So God is the great gift giver. 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:44.439 God is the one who gives the gifts. Now that's very important for us, because it reminds us 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:51.959 that He is sovereign, and it's His will, and He chooses to give these gifts. And these gifts are 00:03:51.959 --> 00:03:57.560 gifts that He gives because they reflect who He is, and they reflect His character and His creativity. 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:04.360 And the disposal of these gifts are for Him to decide. He gives the gifts, the timing of the gifts, 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:10.199 and the use of the gifts, just as it is with any gift giver there at the disposal of the person 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:16.279 who gives them. And He loves to give gifts to His people and to His church. So it's always dangerous 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:23.480 for us to tell God what to do, to hem Him in with sometimes our own definitions and our own labels 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:29.720 about who we are theologically, and to define ourselves in the way that the Bible doesn't 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:37.960 define us or define Him. These are His gifts to us, and they're the manifestation, as we have in 00:04:37.960 --> 00:04:46.600 verse 7, of the Spirit working in us. So the Spirit of God works in us, and He does so by giving us 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:53.800 gifts. God gives gifts, that's very important for us. Now we know that the period before the Bible 00:04:53.800 --> 00:05:01.480 was completed, in many ways, is a unique period in the history of the world in some ways. And we 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:07.080 know that one or two of His gifts may specifically have been given for that period, especially 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:15.240 the gift of apostleship. That was given only to those who saw the Resurrect to Jesus, and who 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:20.439 met with Him and knew Him. They were the founders of the church. Ephesians 2.20 speaks about the 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:27.480 foundational people in the church, the prophets and the apostles. And so we recognize that these 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:33.000 gifts are no longer gifts that He gives to the church today, because they were founded. Once the 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.800 foundation has been laid, you don't keep laying it. If you're building a building, once the foundation 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:45.160 is laid, it's done, and they have done their work. But we recognize and know that all the other gifts 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:52.200 the Bible doesn't make clear when and where and who should have them, and at what point they should 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:59.800 be revealed. Our confession also recognizes that God is sovereign and will do what He will with His 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:05.160 gifts. God and His ordinary providence makes use of ordinary means, yet is free to work without, 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:10.680 above and against Him. It is pleasure. He can work in any way and can give all the gifts that He 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:21.160 seeks to give. Some gifts might no longer be given by God, others clearly are. Some may be seen more 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:27.720 in different traditions, in different historical settings or in cultural settings. But we should 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:35.800 be discerning biblical and wise in all our thinking. Whatever we believe and whatever we experience, 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:42.120 we don't deserve them. We don't deserve them. We can't earn them and can't demand them. There's no 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:48.280 place for pride or for a dismissal of other people who experience and who practice gifts 00:06:48.280 --> 00:06:53.720 that we don't have and that we don't share and that we don't experience. Let's take it all back 00:06:54.280 --> 00:07:00.840 to the truth and to God, the great gift giver and recognize that. So God is the great gift giver 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:07.399 and we recognize biblically that there are lots of gifts that He's given to the church. There's 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:12.839 lots of them. Now when we looked at the fruit of the Spirit, we saw that fruit of the Spirit 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:17.479 in Galatians. It's a fairly exhaustive list that's given to us. Love, joy, peace, patience, 00:07:17.479 --> 00:07:22.759 meekness, kindness, goodness, self-control. And it seems to be quite a tight and complete list. 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:30.039 Whereas there's no exhaustive list of the gifts of the Spirit. There's different lists that are 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:35.000 given and there's different overlaps that are made and sometimes it's not that clear what the 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:40.360 different gifts are. But there are four main passages, the one we read in 1 Corinthians 12, 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:47.240 Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. So what we're going to do is we're going to take that list 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:52.120 and we're going to look at them over the next 15 weeks and look at each of the different gifts that 00:07:52.120 --> 00:08:00.519 are mentioned and spoken of and we'll hope to see why they're important, each of them in their own 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:05.079 way. So there's apostles, there's pastors and teachers, there's evangelists, there's prophets, 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:09.639 there's leadership, there's encouragement, there's giving, there's helping, there's evangel, there's 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:16.439 administrating various kinds of tongues, miracles, healings, faith and wisdom. Lots of different 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:22.360 gifts. We know there's foundational gifts, we know there's gifts that are more significant and more 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:30.439 important and we know that they're there to reveal Jesus. Now these gifts are gifts that you can have 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:38.200 when you come to Christ. You're gifted them when you come to Christ. Or they may be gifts that you 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:46.120 already have before you're a Christian, which are heightened and transformed and used under the 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:52.759 power of the Holy Spirit, re-channeled for the glory of God. But God is generous in His gifts, 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:59.799 He knows what He's doing and He knows why He gives His gifts. So, God is the giver, that's the first 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:06.759 thing I want to see. Second thing I want to say is we all have, okay, this evening, you all have as 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:15.720 Christians the gifts that you need. You don't lack anything as a Christian. You don't need to sit here 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:20.519 and think, well, I wish I had different gifts. I wish there was something about me that I don't have. 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:26.840 We all have the gifts that we need. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, which we didn't read, 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:32.440 but is nonetheless very significant, Paul says at the beginning of this great letter, says, 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:38.840 so even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:45.160 as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian this evening, as a Christian 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:51.240 in your life, you don't lack anything you need to go from here and to live out your Christian life, 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:59.959 to glorify God and enjoy Him. You don't lack anything in order to do that. The gifts that you have 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:07.799 as Christians, they may lie unused, you may abuse them, and they may be neglected. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:17.959 But the lack is not with God. God is not unwilling, and He's not stingy, and He's not mean. Every 00:10:17.959 --> 00:10:26.359 believer has the gifts that they need. Some they share with other Christians as we share 00:10:26.359 --> 00:10:32.919 different gifts. Some are uniquely yours that nobody else has. But I want to say that there are two 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:41.240 gifts in particular that every Christian has, and that reminds us that we have everything we need 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:48.919 to live our Christian lives. The first is, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit. You have the gift 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:54.199 of the Holy Spirit. Verse 12 reminds us of that, for just as one body, their body is one in many 00:10:54.199 --> 00:10:58.839 members, and all the members of the body though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:05.080 spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jews and Greek slaves are free, and all were made to 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:13.800 drink of one spirit. So the greatest gift of all is the gift that God gives you, that Jesus Christ, 00:11:13.800 --> 00:11:19.800 when He ascended, rose from the dead and ascended, died, rose from the dead and ascended, He promised 00:11:19.800 --> 00:11:26.200 to send His Holy Spirit into the heart of every single believer who comes to faith, so that we 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:33.080 wouldn't be alone, so that it wouldn't be orphans, so that we would have with us, as it were, Jesus, 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:38.600 although we can't have Him in the flesh, we have Him in the form of His Holy Spirit in our hearts, 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:46.440 God in us, Emmanuel with us in our lives, who illuminates Christ to us, who leads us in all 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:55.640 truth, who makes this dead dry word breathe with life. There's no such thing as a Christian 00:11:55.639 --> 00:12:03.879 who doesn't have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Every single believer has this remarkable gift, 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:10.279 every single one of us. It's impossible not to have. Jesus is Lord, we're told in verse 3, 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:17.080 no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are all charismatic. 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:23.639 That's the great truth. We all have the charisma. We all have the gift of the Holy Spirit in our 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:30.039 lives. No Christian can't be charismatic, nor do we believe that there's two stages and two 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:35.559 different kinds of Christians, ones that are not baptized in the Spirit and ones that are 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:40.600 baptized in the Spirit. We're told clearly here that all are baptized in the Spirit. 00:12:42.199 --> 00:12:47.960 There's not non-spiritual Christians and spiritual Christians. We all have gods, 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:55.000 remarkably God's Spirit in us. All of us are baptized in the Spirit. Yes, I know that we can 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:01.639 abuse that relationship, we can ignore it, we can quench and resist and deny the Spirit in many ways. 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:06.440 I know there can be renewal and there can be an intensifying and a refilling of the Spirit, 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:15.080 because we leak. We need refilled again and again. But there's never two phases of Christian 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:21.320 living. There's never Christ Jesus as our Savior, and then some a later time Christ Jesus becomes our 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:30.040 Lord. There's this lifetime progression of growing in the knowledge of the gift that God has given us. 00:13:30.040 --> 00:13:35.320 There are a variety of gifts, the same Spirit. There are varieties of service, the same Lord, 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:41.400 varieties of activities, the same God. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the gift-giver 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:49.159 in our lives. It's the indescribable gift that we're given. So we all have the gifts we need. 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:56.439 You don't lack anything. You have the Holy Spirit. And the other gift that every single believer has 00:13:56.439 --> 00:14:02.679 that's hugely significant to remember and recognize and put into practice in our lives, 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:09.879 is the love of God. We all have in our hearts the love of God, which chapter 13 goes on 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:15.320 to speak about as the most excellent way, when it's speaking about the gifts of the Spirit and 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:22.039 the work of God, it says, the most excellent way is living the way of the love of God in our lives. 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:31.240 Gift, the word gift in terms of the New Testament is the word karris. That's where we get word karris, 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:40.600 charismatic from. And it means a gift of love, a free gift. And the grace of God in our lives is 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:49.480 kind of like, it's like the cement that fuses all the other gifts of the Spirit together as it were 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:57.720 in the church. But without it, we're nothing. We can't be Christians without God's Holy Spirit, 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:04.120 and you can't be a Christian without God's love. And these are the two gifts that primarily He's 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:14.120 given you and given me as Christians. And I'm saying, you know, what are you lacking? What are 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:23.960 you lacking if you have His redeeming love and His presence in your heart? Paul says, you don't 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:30.600 lack anything. And we can spend our lives grumbling and complaining that we're not like someone else, 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:36.759 or we don't have this and we don't have that. And yet as ordinary Christians, Joe blogs Christians, 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:45.000 we've got the God's presence in us, and we've got God's love that comes from us because that is His 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:52.680 great gifts. These are the two fundamental great gifts that He's given every believer. Now, beyond 00:15:52.679 --> 00:16:01.079 these gifts, God has given you and He's given me other gifts. You have your own gifts, your own gift, 00:16:01.079 --> 00:16:08.279 your own gifts as Christians. They may not be spectacular. They may not be upfront. They may 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:17.959 not be recognized. But in your life, your skill set, your heart, your aptitudes, what you do, 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:28.200 what you can do, what you're good at, that is God's gift that He takes. And He infuses with the Holy 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:37.480 Spirit so you can live it and use it for God's glory. You have what God wants you to have for a 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:45.960 reason. You are, and I am, amazingly God's masterpiece. And we are created in Him for good works. We 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:54.280 don't need to be different. We have all that we need in order to glorify God and serve Him. Now, 00:16:54.280 --> 00:17:01.000 there's no denying, there's no denying that we have our responsibility. We know we can bury His 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:08.279 gifts. We can fail to recognize the gifts He's given us. We can be thankless for the gifts. We 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:14.600 can grumble and wish we had other gifts and be covetous of what other people have. But our 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:22.039 responsibility is to fan into flame and keep on desiring these greatest of all gifts, the Holy 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:29.240 Spirit and the love of God, to be more and more evident in our lives and something that we recognize 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:35.399 we have a responsibility to use in His service. So that's the second thing I want to say. We all 00:17:35.399 --> 00:17:41.079 have to say the gifts we need. The third thing I want to say is that I'll ask the question, what are 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.799 these gifts for? What are His gifts for? All the gifts that I listed at the beginning that we're 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:50.519 going to look into over these next few weeks and what we looked at tonight. What are they for? 00:17:51.879 --> 00:17:56.759 The first thing is that they're to connect us to the living God. That's what they're there for. 00:17:57.879 --> 00:18:06.679 The Holy Spirit in us is to enable us to know God and the grace of God is there to enable us to 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:14.279 experience God's love in our lives. The whole direction of travel in the Word and the Bible 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:23.480 is our redemption, is atonement, is the cross and Christ crucified and risen and ascended. 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:30.840 And these gifts enable us to know Him. They enable us to connect with the living God. 00:18:30.840 --> 00:18:34.840 That's hugely significant and I think often forgotten when we speak about the gifts of the 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:41.240 Spirit. They're there primarily to enable us to live in relationship with God. 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:51.639 But secondly, they're there to build up the church. Chapter 14 and verse 12 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:58.679 reminds us that, so with yourself, since you're so eager in manifestation of the Spirit, 00:18:58.679 --> 00:19:04.519 strive to excel in building up the church. There's lots of different references to 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:11.240 building up the church. And we read in chapter 12, verse 7, that these gifts are given for the common good. 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:18.759 Now, this passage was written to a church in Corinth who were abusing their gifts. 00:19:19.639 --> 00:19:26.839 They were using them selfishly in a prideful way and it was causing division. And the foundation was 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:32.680 a lack of love between rich and poor, between those who had and those who didn't have, 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:38.920 those who had one gift and some who didn't have another. And it was doing completely the opposite 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:44.759 of what it was supposed to be, which was to recognize it was for the common good. It was for 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:49.400 the building up of the body of Christ. It was Romans 1 says, for mutual encouragement, 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:56.759 one Peter 4, it's for serving one another. So each of the references to the different or the lists of 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:04.519 the gifts of the Spirit also has the reason for these gifts being given for the good of the church, 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:12.039 for the good of other people. The church is his body, the church as the expression of Jesus Christ 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:20.359 in the world. Now, that can go from Paul's time to when Jesus comes back. The church can be that whole 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:26.679 period of time. So there's all kinds of gifts in that period of time. So it can be universal, 00:20:26.679 --> 00:20:31.639 it can be the church in Malaysia and the church in America, the church in Canada, whatever, 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:38.679 the whole church. But probably more primarily and significantly, it's out working as the local church. 00:20:39.399 --> 00:20:45.879 That's the only New Testament model for where these gifts are to be outworked. So your life, 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:52.200 your infilling of the Holy Spirit, your grace that you've been given, the love of God, the unique 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:57.560 special gifts that you have as an individual that maybe nobody else has. Whatever that ability might 00:20:57.560 --> 00:21:05.480 be, it's to be used primarily for the good of our fellow Christian in the church. And you know, 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:11.560 there's lots of imagery about that in the Bible. The imagery here is of one body with lots of 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:17.720 different parts. And they all therefore work together, you know, and I can't see or the whole 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:24.279 body was an eye. It's kind of funny picture. It's a bit silly, enormous cyclops. It would be a useless 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:32.119 kind of body. And you know, the whole body can be an armament. And they're all different parts, 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:36.359 and they all have something different to do, but they all work together under the head. 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:44.119 At Christ is the head of the body. And also, in the same context, it speaks a lot about buildings. 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:49.479 The church is a building with the prophets and apostles as a foundation. Now, you know, when 00:21:49.479 --> 00:21:53.959 we were renovating this building, or when you're building any building, you need all kinds of people 00:21:53.959 --> 00:21:58.839 and all kinds of gifts, laborers and architects, surveyors, craftsmen, joiners, electricians, 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:04.839 carpet fitters, engineers, painters, decorators, all kinds of gifts are used to build a building. 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:12.599 And the church is absolutely no different. It's powerful to see God working with all the different 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:19.720 gifts. And I think one thing we miss in all of this often, maybe in our own context especially, 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:25.799 because the New Testament idea of the church is a community, usually a community that live together. 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:31.079 Now, I'm wondering if that's why in many ways, Haddington has exploded so quickly, because it's 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:38.839 quite a tight community. It's quite a distinctive, clear community of people. And we had a gathered 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:45.079 congregation from all over the place. And I think one thing that we miss when we're a gathered 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:54.519 community that was intended from the use of gifts is evangelism, is that the body working together 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:59.159 with all the different parts, all the love and all the forgiveness and all the different things that 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:06.120 were cut, the unity of Jew and Gentile, of rich and poor coming together, that that was a unique 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:12.279 community. And it was powerfully evangelistic in a world of division and hatred and separation 00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:21.160 and distinctions. The church was united and won this community, which is why evangelism is so good 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:28.040 in community. We've individualized it so much, go out and evangelize, go and speak to different 00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:36.440 individuals. What is so often, it's inviting people to meet our community, not necessarily in 00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:45.319 worship, but just meet the people that we share the love of Christ with. So there's that tremendous 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:51.559 aspect of building up the church, and that speaks of unity, and it also speaks of diversity. 00:23:51.559 --> 00:24:00.519 So all the gifts we have, the gift that we all have of the Spirit and of love and whatever else 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:06.679 we have been given are there to unite us to Jesus Christ. That's why Paul goes on to say, 00:24:06.679 --> 00:24:10.759 you can have the greatest gifts in the world. You can have faith that can move mountains, 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:15.480 but we don't have love, which is the cement which binds it all together. It's nothing. 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:24.039 So we recognize that as we show mercy, as we share the message, as we have structures and as 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:31.160 we have people who can administer everything, and all these different things, there is great unity. 00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:39.079 We're using our gifts for the common good, for the glory of God, unselfishly. And isn't that 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:46.439 where it's so sad that this whole area of gifts has often brought the church to be divided, to be 00:24:46.439 --> 00:24:56.679 envious, to be resentful, isolated, individualistic? We are the most unique community in the world as 00:24:56.679 --> 00:25:06.279 we live out and share our gifts with Christ as our head. Great verses there, which speak of that, 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:11.480 verse 25 and 26, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:17.240 care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, or 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:26.279 rejoices, all rejoice together. Isn't that great? That as we give and as we serve, we are also receiving 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:32.920 and enjoying. There are times when we grieve and we are surrounded by those who comfort us. 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:38.200 And there are times when we rejoice and we are surrounded by those who rejoice with us, because 00:25:38.840 --> 00:25:47.880 we are united in the use of our life and of our gifts for Christ's glory. But we're also diverse. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:57.400 And that's where we really struggle, isn't it? We all desperately want others to be the same as us. 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:05.320 We lack trust in others. We forget that some people have completely different temperaments, 00:26:05.320 --> 00:26:11.480 different characteristics, different characters, different gifts, that He has made the church full 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:19.320 of variety. One of the negative things about confessionalism and denominations in the world is 00:26:19.320 --> 00:26:25.880 that it makes us, it separates us out. Maybe there has to be that, of course. It wouldn't be in heaven, 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:34.360 of course. But the danger is that we define ourselves by what makes us different from everybody else. 00:26:34.360 --> 00:26:40.520 And we look down on others who don't have or don't express things in the same way as us. 00:26:40.520 --> 00:26:49.000 There is unity, but there is great diversity as well, under Christ and in Christ and for Christ. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:56.279 And we should be humble and thankful and gracious in all our dealings with Christians 00:26:56.279 --> 00:27:02.119 from throughout the world. So can I encourage you just to focus on what you have? 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:09.960 The Holy Spirit and the love of God, these are the greatest gifts. You have all that you need to go 00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:17.160 out tomorrow and serve Him, because you also have the individual character and the individual gifts 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:23.480 and gifts that He has given you. Use your life, as I need to use mine, for the glory of God and 00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:29.560 for the good, the common good, the good of other believers. And we will find that that is a powerful 00:27:29.560 --> 00:27:37.880 attraction to a world that is divided and separated. Sadly, we so often reflect that world of division 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:46.040 and separation rather than seek to live out the Holy Spirit and in grace. So that's really the 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:52.359 foundation to our study on the gifts of the Spirit and we'll look through some of these different 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:59.159 gifts and see why they're important and what place they have in our lives. Let's bow our heads and pray. 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:07.480 Father God, help us to know and to understand and to appreciate who you are and what we have from you. 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:15.640 Remind us that you're the generous, great gift giver and that you haven't withheld anything 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:20.039 from us that we need. You've given us everything that we need to live our Christian lives today, 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:27.319 that you've given us the Holy Spirit and your great grace. And we thank you that that is the 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:33.319 cement that binds all of the other gifts together. We thank you for the diversity of the church 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:39.720 and we pray that we wouldn't squeeze people into a mold that you haven't made for them, 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:46.439 which is our intentions often in our lives. And forgive us when we do that. And help us to take 00:28:46.439 --> 00:28:52.439 all our individuality and bring it to the good of the gospel and the good of the church 00:28:53.159 --> 00:29:01.319 and the good of his kingdom so that we share unity and diversity for Jesus' sake. Go before us we pray 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:09.799 and remember us in all that we strive to do. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.