OUR GRACIOUS GOD GIVES GENEROUS GIFTS (Outline)
August 28, 2011 -
Pentecost 11 -
1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11
INTRO: Gifts and presents often provide happiness and joy for many people. Broad smiles and kind words reflect the thankfulness of receiving a gift. God’s spiritual gifts bring greater happiness and joy than any earthly present can ever offer. Our heavenly Father knows exactly what we truly need. What we need is far more important than the many things that we think we want. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (JAMES 1:16). God’s gifts are good because God’s gifts are perfect.
OUR GRACIOUS GOD GIVES GENEROUS GIFTS. I. Gifts of faith for the common good. II. Gifts of faith for God’s glory.
I. GOD GIVES US GIFTS OF FAITH FOR THE COMMON GOOD
A. Verse 7. God’s gifts from the Holy Spirit to the believers are always meant for the church’s good.
B. Verse 8. Believers are given the knowledge of God. Believers grow in faith and God’s wisdom.
1. Verse 9. Without faith no one possesses any of God’s generous gifts.
2. Verses 9b, 10a. Spirit given, faith working gifts, brings power from the Lord God Almighty.
a. Spiritual healing comes by forgiveness. b. Believing God’s forgiveness is a miracle.
C. Verse 10b. Prophecy means proclaiming God’s gospel. To proclaim God’s word one must know it.
1. Believers who know God’s word will recognize the Spirit of God as opposed to other spirits.
2. Verse 10c. Speaking in tongues refers to other languages that people understand.
a. Gifts are for the common good. b. Unknown tongues do not build up God’s church.
D. Look at the generous gifts of God. Every gift God gives is truly amazing for us, for our lives, and for the common good of God’s church. The most important gift of the Holy Spirit is faith. Without faith we do not believe and possess nothing good. A sometimes person become so wrapped up in all God’s other gifts that we might overlook faith as God’s most miraculous gift. None of us deserves eternal life. By grace through faith we are saved. This is God’s gift. "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart" (JEREMIAH 24:7). Faith makes us know, believe, and confess the Lord God Almighty is our Lord. Think of the many millions who dwell in darkness and do not know the Lord. We are God’s people.
E. All gifts given to believers are gifts that are above and beyond God’s free gift of faith. Any gift that any believer has is given by God for the common good of the community of believers. Those gifts that do not build up or edify other believers are to be used in private (read Chapter 14). The gift of tongues is best understood as different languages. There are many different languages in this world. Consider what took place at Pentecost. The apostles spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them to speak. These were ordinary men who were given an extraordinary gift. "Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?" (ACTS 2:7, 8). Knowing another language to use to proclaim God’s word to other nations is God’s gift of tongues.
F. Key in this section of gifts from the Holy Spirit is the term “given for the common good”. God gives to each and every believer a gift or gifts to use for the common good of God’s kingdom. These gifts are to be used for the building up of the Christian church. Each person is important as a member in the very body of Christ, the church (read the rest of Chapter 12). "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (EPHESIANS 4:16). Too many today would promote themselves and their gifts for their own personal glory. This does not build up the body of Christ. Such self-promotion is not for the common good at all. We become less so that God may increase. Humble service is also a precious gift from God.
OUR GRACIOUS GOD GIVES GENEROUS GIFTS. The Spirit gives gifts for the common good.
II. GOD GIVES GIFTS OF FAITH FOR THE LORD’S GLORY
A. Verse 1. These believers came out of a life of pagan worship. They were not wise in all God’s ways.
1. Verse 2. These believers previously followed idols of wood and stone – who did not speak.
2. In unbelief these believers had once lived in ignorance. The Spirit changed all of that for them.
3. Verse 3. By faith one could confess Christ. Rejecting faith some would curse Christ.
B. Verse 4. Different gifts one Spirit. Once as pagans they worshiped many spirits -- all different kinds.
1. Verse 5. Paul tells of different service but the same Lord. There were not many lords.
2. Verse 6. God gives the energy (working) to every believer. They believed in the same God
3. One Spirit, one Lord, one God changed the faith for these once pagan, but now new Christians.
C. Verse 11. God gives the gifts as he sees fit to each individual. The Lord God always knows best.
D. God gives us many, many spiritual gifts as his divine blessings to his followers. We are humbled by the grace and the mercy and the love that the Lord God Almighty shows us day after day during our entire lifetime. God’s gifts to us are meant to be used for the common good of his church. This happens whenever we glorify God for what he has graciously done to and for us. All of us like a little “pat on the back” once in a while. We might even like to see our name in lights. God’s gifts of blessings to us are not really meant for our own, personal glory. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (JOHN 15:8). Others are to see God’s glory through us.
E. Truly the world in which we live is wicked and evil. It grows more wicked and evil every day. It becomes all the more important for the Light to overcome the darkness. Using our gifts to glorify the creator of the heavens and the earth will chase away the evil around us. How can or do we glorify God? As believers we will always, easily glorify God with thankful living. Thankful living reflects God’s glory which the Lord has shown to everyone. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (COLOSSIANS 3:17).
F. The Apostle Paul wrote many letters to the many believers scattered throughout the world. Paul was often separated from the fellowship of the body of believers. Paul missed the fellowship of worshipping together with other Christians. At times, Paul was even in prison. Paul was not discouraged. Rather, he was encouraged as he looked forward to the time when he would be reunited with the other believers to glorify God. "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith" (ROMANS 1:11,12). We meet together to worship. We meet together to study God’s word. We meet together to encourage one another. We meet together in order to glorify the One who has miraculously brought us out of darkness into His light.
CONC: Gifts and presents bring a certain joy into everyone’s lives. God’s gifts give us even more reason to rejoice and be happy. God’s gifts are always good and perfect. God’s gifts are for the common good of every believer to benefit God’s kingdom. Believers use God’s gracious and generous gifts to glorify the Lord God Almighty. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (LUKE 11:13). Ask God for the wisdom to see His gifts in your lives. Ask God for the courage to use his gifts. OUR GRACIOUS GOD GIVES GENEROUS GIFTS. May we always use God’s gift for the common good of the church. May we always use God’s gift to glorify the Lord. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
(Please read the rest of Chapter 12, 13, and 14 to add to your understanding of God’s generous gifts!)
PENTECOST 11 rdgs: ISAIAH 55:1-5; ROMANS 8:35-39; MATTHEW 14:13-21; (PSALMS 42-43)
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