1. There continues to be a lot of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding the wonderful spiritual gifts of God.
a. Yes… there’s been serious abuse and misuse
b. And yes… that’s made people ignore and avoid them…
c. There’s are tons misinterpretations & misrepresentations.
BUT NONE of that should scare us or steer us away from the wonderful truth that as a Christian God has given us spiritual gifts…
· NOTHING should cause us to skip over their importance.
NOTE: We ALL have been given spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit.
· Let’s turn to Ephesians 2:8-10
· 1st gift is salvation… a glorious relationship with Jesus.
· But with salvation came spiritual gifts of SERVICE.
· We weren’t saved to stagnate but to serve.
KNOWING THAT, changes our whole attitude in relation to church.
· When you begin to serve… you bless God.
· You were called with a purpose in mind… a cause to fulfill.
· You weren’t saved for SELF’S sake but for SERVICE sake!
· Church becomes one SMALL WAY to serve the Lord…
· The beginning of something that continues through the week.
NOW… of course you can come and just sit… just receive…
· But if that’s you… then you’re missing out on one of the most joyous, most rewarding, most satisfying places in Jesus.
· But not only are you missing out but so are we as a church.
· Because you’ve been placed here to fill a specific need…
NOTE: The church isn’t like the movie theaters… where we can come in and watch a movie be surrounded by hundreds but then leave without connecting… without interacting… without sharing.
SO… you’re thinking… I don’t have a gift & I don’t want to serve.
· By the end of our time together, it’s my prayer that you will both see that you are gifted and that serving is worth it.
· Keep this verse in mind as we go through… mark it, know it.
Mark 10.45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Jesus Christ came to GIVE not TAKE, SERVE not BE SERVED…
· He’s our model, our Teacher, He’s the Head of this church.
· If His goal was to serve… what must ours be?
SO… IN OUR LAST STUDY a few weeks ago: Paul exhorted us to have a ‘walk’ that is worthy of our calling.
· Believe the right things… -- Behave the right ways…
· Our Conduct should match our creeds…
· Our Practice should match our Biblical Principles.
· Let’s look back at 4:1-6…
· Now he moves into the realm of service & ministry.
I. (4:7-11) Gifts Are Given
1. (7) Each one of us has received grace.
a. Yes, there is a unity & oneness in the Body of Jesus Christ.
b. 1 Body, 1 Spirit, 1 Hope, 1 Lord, 1 Faith…
c. Yet along with that unity is great diversity.
NOTE: Those differences come in the different gifts Jesus has given to His children…
· Different gifts because we are different people.
· Different roles, different functions, different giftings…
· BUT know this… every one of us have spiritual gifts.
HOW MUCH? Well they’ve been given according to the measure of Christ’s gift… Abundantly, Full measure…
2. (8-10) The gifts were given to us by Jesus Christ.
a. This section is a quotation from Psalm 68.18
Psalm 68.18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there.
NOTE: The Psalm describes a king’s conquering return…
· He descends into the battle and ascends on high up Mt. Zion into the streets of the Holy City…
· He brings behind him prisoners and marches them through the streets showing all who watch that he has won on their behalf.
· But in the Psalm… it describes the king receiving gifts…
· But Paul turns it around in reference to Jesus ‘giving’ gifts.
· In the OT the conquering king demanded and received gifts.
· In the NT the Conqueror Jesus offers and gives gifts to men.
SO when did this happen? Paul says before He ascended Jesus descended…
· Jesus crucified on the cross, before he entered into heaven he first descended to the lower parts of the earth.
· He descended into hell, or Hades… the place of the dead.
BE careful here… Jesus didn’t go into hell to pay a penalty, or because of sin, or because he needed to be punished…
· He descended into hell because He said he would…
Matthew 12.40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
· AND because he needed to lead believers into heaven.
Before Jesus arrived, hell was divided into 2 sections…
· Jesus tells us in Luke 16 of a rich man and Lazarus.
· They both died and both went to Hades BUT were on different sides of Hades separated by a large gulf.
· The rich man was in the place of TORMENT and Lazarus was on the side of comfort called Abraham’s BOSOM.
NOTE: All of the believers who died before Jesus Christ looked forward to the coming Messiah and died before He came.
· They could not go directly to heaven. WHY?
· Because Jesus had not yet died for their sins.
· The blood of Jesus was not yet shed.
· So when they died, they went to the good side of Hell.
· The Bible tells us that Jesus went and preached to them and led them from that captivity into heaven for eternity…
· WHAT ABOUT those on the other side? They’re still there.
· Hades is sort of a temporary holding place of the dead who rejected Jesus Christ until the end of the Millenial Kingdom.
· Then all unbelievers will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment and give account for their life.
· The books will be opened… the question asked.
· What did you do with my Son Jesus Christ?
· Then those not found in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire…
· Gehenna where there will be weeping & gnashing of teeth.
APP: I know this is NOT a comforting thought… but it’s a warning.
· Oh how we plead and beg and hope and pray for our friends, our family, our loved ones to believe on Jesus Christ.
· Hell, is a reality… but friends… It can be AVOIDED!
John 3.14-18 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
3. (11) Paul lists a few gifts here…
a. These are not the only spiritual gifts listed…
b. We have others listed in Romans and 1 Corinthians.
c. Apostles & Prophets: Sent Ones & Spokesmen
d. Evangelists & Pastor/Teachers: Sharers & Shepherds
e. Important gifts, but not the most important.
That brings up a good question: What are the best gifts?
1 Cor. 12.31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
You might be surprised by my answer…
· “The best gifts are the ones God has given to YOU.”
· YES… the gifting that God has given you is the best for you and for the church!
One of the most MISERABLE and DEFEATING places to be is serving in an area, in a position, in a setting that you don’t belong.
· One in which doesn’t fit your personality or character.
· Paul uses the analogy of the Body over and over again to describe the church…
· Serving in the wrong place would be like trying to make the elbow do what the finger was designed to do…
· Impossible you say? Well, you see it in the church all the time.
· People drawn to positions and titles rather than just doing what the Lord has called you to do naturally.
We’re coming back to the purpose of God in your life.
Eph. 2.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
SO you sit here this morning wondering… what is that purpose?
I don’t know what my gift is. What did God prepare?
There are a few simple guidelines that I believe will help you..
#1 – What comes naturally? In other words, what happens in your life automatically when there is a need placed before you?
· Do you like to administrate? Do you like to help? Do you like showing mercy? Those are all God given gifts…
#2 – What moves you spiritually? Are you the type that can’t hold back when you meet someone new? You just have to share with them the love of Jesus? Evangelist.
· You may try to shy away from the call but it just pushes you spiritually and you can’t shake it.
#3 – What is blessed by God? Having been there myself, many people think the only important calling is the pastor.
· He’s the man, big cheese, the head hauncho.
· So I want to teach and be up front and lead others.
· It doesn’t come naturally but I just think I’m supposed be in charge for God.
· You have your first Bible study and people walk out, fall asleep, give you dirty looks. WAIT…
· If it’s not blessed of God you may want to continue in prayer and step into other areas of ministry…
NOTE: You can really tell what a person’s gift is by watching them respond to a given situation.
For example: During the winter time the steps out in front of the school get real icy even if we pour salt and sand all over them.
· Now let’s say we’re all walking out together and I slip and fall…
· Immediately someone runs up and says, OH Pastor Ed, are you OK. Oh I know how you feel. Oh poor Ed. MERCY
· But someone else comes up and says come on Ed get up, don’t let that hold you back, why are sitting there!! EXHORTATION.
· Still someone else comes and begins look, and examine, and he walks up and down the stairs holding the guard rail…
· ED, look at me… hey look at me closely! This is the proper way of using the stairs, hold on tightly! GIFT OF TEACHING.
· Someone else begins to pray, someone else laughs (encouragement), and on and on…
CAN YOU SEE now the differing gifts? This is truly exciting!
· You see as we understand this… it will help us in not being offended or put off by someone who is gifted differently
· We don’t’ have to be threatened or intimidated by someone else serving in their uniqueness in the church.
· That’s the way they see it, they way God made them.
· Not only that, when we grasp our uniqueness, it helps us to avoid telling others it’s MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.
· Hey… there is room for everybody in the family of God!
Now as we close… why are gifts given to the church?
I see at least 5 Reasons Paul lists here…
II. (4:12-16) Gifts Lead to Growth
1. (12) PROVIDING: They are given to EQUIP.
a. Gifts exist in the church to equip believers in Jesus.
b. They prepare you and me to do all that He’s called us to do.
c. We’re enlisted, trained, prepared, and then sent out.
Luke 6.40 "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
APP: We all come to Jesus ill-equipped. We’ve been trained by the world, to live in the world, to live like the world.
· BUT the moment we are born again, we are changed and thus begins the life of change as we are EQUIPPED to serve.
2. (12) EDIFYING: They are given to EDIFY.
a. Edify literally means to ‘build up’, ‘to help’, ‘to support’
b. Understanding this revolutionizes your mind toward church.
c. We come in to church to be equipped, but at the same time we come into the fellowship to edify one another.
d. You walk in with your spiritual antenna up spying out someone who needs your gifting…
e. You’re not looking for the latest hunting story, or what happened in last night’s hockey game, or what new pattern your wall is painted…
f. NO… your spiritual gifts, my spiritual gifts are to build up.
IMAGINE how you would feel if on a Sunday morning, if I told you to put your Bibles away and take out the Rocky Mountain News.
· We’re going to study the NBA and dissect the stats and apply them to your life?! – How about those Lakers!?
· You’d walk out, shaking your head, thinking “that guy’s a lousy pastor!” EXACTLY – YOU GOT IT.
· My gifting is in pastoring, teaching, exhorting… and that’s what you expect from me as does Jesus.
· NOW WHAT ABOUT YOU? Encourager? Greeter? Set-Up?
3. (13) PERFECTING: They are given to Mature.
a. The perfect man… more accurately, ‘mature’ man.
b. The gifting of God leads to the maturing of His saints.
c. For every stage of ministry there is a step of maturity.
d. As you and I venture out using His gifts, we grow up!
NOTE: I don’t expect things out of my daughter Caitlin at 4 that I will expect of her when she’s 16…
e. She’s maturing and growing and as she does so does her responsibilities.
f. In the same way, God is expecting more and more from you as you grow and mature in Him.
g. Turn to Romans 12:1-2…
In light of your salvation, it’s now time to serve, to grow.
· Every time you tackle a task in the ministry, it becomes a great opportunity to be challenged and strengthened in Him.
Providing, Edifying, Perfecting…
4. (14-15) PROTECTING: They are given to Protect.
a. There are 1000’s of winds of doctrine floating thru churches.
b. Flowing in the Spirit, as you know the Word, as you exercise the gift of wisdom, discernment… you’re protected.
5. (16) PROMOTING: They are given to Promote Love.
a. Finally gifts are to promote love among the believers.
b. As we serve together, as we grow together, as we are built up in Him… a fertile ground is prepared for love to grow!
