Every believer in Christ has been given a gift by the Holy Spirit to be used to glorify God and to edify the body of Christ. It does not matter if you are young or old, male or female, black or white, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, Baptist or Pentecostal, Methodist or Catholic; if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has given you a gift to be used to glorify God and to edify the body of Christ.
In Ephesians 4:7-8 it says, "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."
In Ephesians 4:11-12, it says, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelist; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
In Romans 12:6-8, it says, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mecry, with cheerfulness."
In I Corinthians 12:4-11, it says, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differneces of administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestations of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
In I Corinthians 12:28-30, it says, "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
Obviously, the answer to the questions that are set forth in I Corinthians 12:30-31 is "NO" because all of us do not have the same gifts. And because all of us have been given different types of gifts by the Holy Spirit to be used to glorify God and to edify the body of Christ, we should not be competing against each other, trying to out do one another because all of us recieved our gifts from the same source, which is God himself, and we are all on the same team.
In I Peter 4:10-11. it says, "As every man hath recieved the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Yes, if you are a believer in Christ, you have been given a gift the Holy Spirit to be used to glorify God, and to edify the body of Christ. And if you are a believer in Christ but yet you do not know what gift God has given you, you need to go to God in prayer and ask the Lord to reveal what gift he has given you.
In Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
What gift God has given you , you ought to use it faithfully to the glory of God.
Colossians 3:17 says,"And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
Don’t use your gifts so you can be popular with man, so you can get a pat on the back, but rather use your gifts to glorify the Father in heaven. And when I say use your gift to glorify the Father in heaven, I’m not just talking about just using your gifts inside the four walls of the church, but God wants you to use your gifts at home, in your neighborhoods, in your communities, in your schools, or wherever you go. In other words, wherever you go, let God use you to be a witness of his glory.
Also, we must understand that just because you don’t see certain people in the choir stands, in the pulpit, on the deacon board, or teaching a Sunday school class that does not mean that the individual is not gifted by God. You may never see the person sing in the choir, preach a sermon, or teach a bible class, but that same person can cook up a storm in a kitchen, fix broken things with no problems at all, draw up some beautiful pictures for you to see, open and operate a business, build houses, work with young people, coach or play sports, do secretarial work, etc. We should never look down on other people who may not have the same gift that you may have. Whatever gift God has given you , it is for you , and whatever gift that God has given to somebody else, it is for them. Instead of fighting one another and being jealous of one another, we should work together with our God-given gifts for a common goal, and that common goal is to gloriy Jesus Christ with whatever gift God has given us. There are blessings in store for us if we use our gifts faithfully to glorify God. Proverbs 18:16 says,"A man’s gift maketh room for him and bring him before great men." If you use your gift faithfully to the glory God, God will bless you and take you places that you never dreamed of.
Now a question is being asked:"What happens if I do not use the gift that God has given me?
Well, there is an old saying that says, "If you don’t use it, you will lose it." That is, if you don’t use the gift that God has given you; if you don’t use the gift faithfully to the glory of God, or if you misuse or abuse the gift that God has given you, God can and will take the gift from you. Don’t be like the man in Matthew 25:14-30 who buried his one and only talen and didn’t use it, for God is not pleased with us when don’t use our talents or gifts for his glory. Nor is God pleased when we misuse or abise our God-given talents.
Another way that can get our gifts taken away from us is when we get conceited or big-headed, going around thinking that we are better that other people because of the gifts that we have. There are some people in the body of Christ who think they are better than other people just because they speak in tongues, have the gifts of healings, or can preach pretty good, or sing like a melodious angel. God will not bless you if you get stuck up on yourself because of the gifts that He has given you. If ther is anything that you should be if you are gifted by God, you ought to be humble and thankful to God for the gifts that He has given you to use.
Last, but not least, we should never worship or gifts, but worship the giver of our gifts, and the giver of our gifts is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the one who died on the cross for our sins. He is the one who rose from the dead with all power in his hands. He is the one who can save us, for He is the Savior of the world. It is Jesus that saves us, not our gifts. Therefore, we should look to Jesus Christ for our salvation, for He is our hope of glory.
I pray that this sermon was a help and a blessing to you .
