Diversity & Unity of Spiritual Gifts

Transcript

GR 1343
02-04-07
Diversity and Unity of Spiritual Gifts
I Corinthians 12:4-6
Gil Rugh

As you turn to I Corinthians 12 in your Bibles, I want to share a little bit of my mail with you. As many churches, we receive a variety of mailings inviting us to come to conferences and so on. And these give us an idea of what is really taking place in the “evangelical” world. I received a mailing this week from a church putting on a conference that will enable us to become a church of irresistible influence. That's a pretty good title. Who doesn't want to be a church of irresistible influence? It's a church that has Bible in its name, in another state, and the pastor there has been the teaching pastor for a number of years, but now for the last couple of years they've changed his title from teaching pastor to the pastor of directional influence, or something like that. I say, what is the change going on in a church that he is no longer the teaching pastor, but it has to do with directional influence kinds of things? And you're invited to this conference, but you're told that this pastor is leading this church in a complete and radical change, greater than anything they've done. And you get to hear several speakers, and perhaps the keynote speaker is a man well-known for the books he's written on culture and relating effectively to culture. Now I wanted to bring that brochure, it was a nice big square brochure that folded out, glossy. But I gave it to Greg and told him, look over this and throw it away when you're done. The next morning when I realized, I want to read that, it was already gone in the trash, so I couldn't show it to you.

But then I received another letter the same day, some information, nice, had a DVD with it, always appreciate free DVDs. It's on a movie that's coming, Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce. And some of you have read the biography of William Wilberforce and I appreciate his life and so on, used of God to do away with slavery in England and so on. And this movie may be a good movie, I don't know, I haven't seen it, but the way that it is presented I think tells us something. This is a letter that comes from a pastor of a large church on his church stationery, accompanying the material. God's amazing grace has sustained my life and ministry every moment during my being senior pastor of such-and-such a church for almost the last 30 years. Now there is a major motion picture, Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce that will be shown in a theater near you at the end of February. And he wants every pastor and their entire congregation to see this movie. He goes on, the one line John Newton, a former slave trader who was transformed by Christ and wrote the famous hymn Amazing Grace, still rings in my ear. Here's what John Newton said. I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. And that is a great line. Some of you know the life of John Newton and the slave trader saved by God's grace and wrote some of the hymns and Amazing Grace.

And the pastor goes on to say, I am confident that the church is being readied to change the world to pursue justice and mercy and to see the glory of God realized in the arts, in politics, in education as well as the rest of today's culture. Somewhere there is a disconnect. John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind but now I see. His statement, I am a great sinner but Christ is a great Savior. And we move from that to I am confident the church is being readied to change the world to pursue justice and mercy, to see the glory of God realized in the arts and politics and education as well as the rest of today's culture.

And the people who put this movie together want to become partners with us in this amazing change movement, which continues to fight to abolish modern day slavery. This is done acceptable and as a church body we need to come together and to stand against it. Somewhere along the line we are not connecting with John Newton and Amazing Grace. Nothing here about I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. Now we are ready for the Lord to manifest His glory in politics and education and the arts and the rest of culture. I don't think John Newton would relate to that.

Then you get a card and it gives you five amazing ways to join the movement of grace. 1) Sing Amazing Grace on February 18. That's a great hymn, I have it here before me. Short, four stanzas, but great truth in each of those stanzas. 2) Second, he said sing Amazing Grace, then we're going to preach about God's amazing grace in salvation. That's not their second step. Second step, sign the petition to end modern day slavery. Lend your voice to end slavery once for all, e-mail this to friends, print out a copy, pass it around your church, school, work, neighborhood. Get a copy online. 3) Ask your friends and family to pray for a movement of grace. If you just had that you'd say, I would like the Spirit of God to move in grace, convicting hearts and drawing people to salvation. That's not what they meant. Send an e-mail to your personal contact and prayer list asking them to join you in praying for the end of modern day slavery. Use Amazing Grace for outreach. It may be a good movie, but it's a sign the church doesn't know what it's here for, it doesn't know what it's all about. It's grappling and groping and of course if your theology is confused in one area it gets confused in the others.

This letter tells us that we are part of a movement to move the kingdom of God forward. We are not in the kingdom and so you're back trying to renew society, deal with poverty, deal with slavery, deal with the injustices in the world. Sad thing is, we have the marvelous truth of God entrusted to us. And the church is running here and there and everywhere. This is just a sampling, this is just two mailings I've gotten this past week that come in abundance, all going to help the church to become effective. But they say precious little about the scripture, about the instruction manual God gave us. If we want to know what God intends for the church, what the church is to be, how the church is to function, what God's purposes for His church are, we should come to the Word of God. We find out that God has given the church everything necessary to accomplish everything He intends it to accomplish.

And I Corinthians 12-14 are key in this whole understanding of what the church is and how it is to conduct itself. These chapters are about spiritual gifts and we're going to look at the details. Now I realize it sometimes seems tedious when we walk through piece by piece. Don't get lost. Sometimes we walk through a longer study, we'll get done and someone will come up and ask, well, that’s just what we covered. You have to pay attention to the details. You know it's like your children. They have to learn step by step. You don't go to first grade and start with algebra or calculus or something else more advanced. You go there and start adding and subtracting and doing those things. Sometimes your kids don't understand why it's necessary. One of our grandkids on one of the holidays was being given dollar bills. One of the grandkids gave it back, I don't need this, I already have one. At that stage he was still too young to know about addition. One dollar bill plus one dollar is two dollar bills. That's better than one dollar bill. He just thought they were the same thing. I have one, I don't need another one. He has since learned differently, he'll take all the dollar bills you would like him to.

But we want to build, and if you don't get the basics down, you don't know how to add and subtract and multiply, then we'll learn to divide. Then we're going to move on to the next step. And no matter what you're learning, you have to always be sure that you learn the pieces, right? It's step by step and there is no other way to do the Word of God. The devil does his opposition to God and His truth masterfully. He just brings a general disinterest in the details of God's Word, I just want a general knowledge. But a general knowledge doesn't get it done. And if you don't know the details, you don't understand the truth, because the truth is made up of the details. So as we walk through this piece by piece, don't get weary of the details. But when you get done you will have a complete picture.

Now we want to have our understanding of spiritual gifts founded on the Word of God. I want to be sure that my life and ministry is conducted in light of what God has provided. I don't want to miss anything. A number of years ago I had some dear people in a charismatic movement in the city tell me they were praying for me, because when I really received the Spirit in His fullness, my ministry would be radically changed. Well you know I appreciate their heart. And I had to say, keep praying for me, because I do want everything that God has for me. But you understand, I don't want anything that God hasn't prepared for me. And the only way we'll know is we come to the Word of God, and that's where we are.

We've been looking into the first three verses where Paul began, I want to talk to you about spiritual gifts, spiritual things, the things of the Spirit. We noted that word translated spiritual gifts in our Bible comes from the basic word spirit. And so these are matters related to the Spirit of God. And that's why we talk about the gifts of the Spirit, they will be provided by the Spirit as we'll see. We looked into the matter that the Holy Spirit's ministry took on a radically different character as a result of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ to glory. We looked into John 7:38-39 where Jesus told His followers that "Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. And this He spoke of the Spirit who was to be given to those who believed on Him, because the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified". So the Spirit's ministry would take on a new dimension. He told His disciples, and this still amazes me, that it was better for them, John 14:7, that He left them and went to heaven so that He could send the Spirit from heaven to them.

Now how often have you thought as a believer, wouldn't it have been wonderful and awesome to have been able to walk with Christ during His earthly ministry, go from town to town with Him, sit and hear Him talk. And yet Jesus tells those most intimate circle of followers, it's better for you that I go and send the Spirit to minister in you to be your helper. Really drives home the point that you and I live in the time of greatest privilege, the time when we are able to walk in the greatest intimacy with the living God and serve Him with the power and enablement that was not possible before the glorification of Christ as a result of His finished work on the cross.

That's what the ministry of the Spirit is about in I Corinthians 12-14. The basic introduction is the Spirit will give the gifts, but you understand the Spirit's ministry will be evidenced by those who understand who Jesus Christ is and submit to Him. So those who would see Jesus, Christ is accursed, just a man, just a man who failed. Or as the Jews would have seen Him, a man who came under the judgment of God. They are not being led by the Spirit. But the Spirit enables a person to see that Jesus is Lord. And so verse 3, no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit. Now we're not just saying, mouthing that expression. We noted that sometimes people have gone around thinking well, that's the evidence and that if a person is demon possessed they won't be able to say Jesus is Lord. But we noted that during Jesus' earthly ministry the demons said, we know who you are, you are the holy one of God and you've come to torment us before the time and so on. They could make these statements. But to say Jesus is Lord and understand that and being committed to Him as the only Savior, only the Spirit of God gives that understanding. A person who has that insight and has committed their lives to Jesus Christ and are trusting Him alone, that's the key evidence of the working of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit will flow out of that. Anyone who has not come to recognize who Jesus Christ is and submit their lives in faith to Him is not being led or empowered by the Spirit of God. One person said this, Jesus is Lord is not a mere floating fragment of description, a descriptive statement or abstract proposition. It is a spoken act of personal devotion and commitment which is part and parcel of Christ centered worship and lifestyle.

Turn back to John 14. We spent some time in John 14, I want to draw your attention to just a few verses on this subject. And we're in the context of Jesus Christ giving the Holy Spirit. Verse 16, "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth". So we're in the context of talking about the sending of the Spirit and the Spirit's ministry. And note what Jesus says in verse 21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him". You see the connection. We're not talking about the Mosaic commandments here, we're talking about the commandments that Christ has given now, what we have as our New Testament, unfolding particularly then and the letters like we're studying Corinthians. The one who loves Christ is the one who obeys Christ.

Look down in verse 24, "He who does not love Me does not keep My words". That's in the negative. Verse 23, "lf anyone loves Me he will keep My word, My Father will love him, we will come to him and make our abode with him". We want to be careful, there are people running around who can now mouth all kind of doctrine, who can give a testimony, but the evidence of a living relationship with the living Christ is a transformed life and a life that is lived in obedience to Him. We say, do you love Jesus? Oh yes. How do you know? Oh, I just feel Him so close to me. That's not the answer. You obey Him, you acknowledge Him as Lord in the way you live your life. As Jesus asked people when He was on earth, why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things which I say? I mean, that's an empty, meaningless title to call Me Lord and not obey Me. And those who really love Me obey Me and those are the ones that the Father loves, and those are the ones that will be indwelt with Jesus' promises.

Verse 23, "If anyone loves Me he will keep My word, My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him". That's the promise of verse 17, "The Spirit abides with you and He will be in you". So loving Christ, obeying Christ, so when you say nobody can say except by the Spirit that Jesus is Lord, there is more involved with that than just mouthing words. You believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, Romans 10, so the acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord comes from a heart that is committed to Him.

Come back to I Corinthians 12. Verses 4-6, Paul is going to draw a contrast between the great diversity of the gifts, but the great unity there is in the exercising of the gifts. Important here. The Corinthian church is a fractured church. Chapter 1 started out with Paul saying, I know there are many divisions among you, I've heard about them. And we've seen divisions in different areas, and conflicts. Then we come to the doctrine of spiritual gifts, there is conflict in the church at Corinth over spiritual gifts. Paul writes to show there is no room for conflict because the Spirit of God, the Son of God and God the Father work together with the gifts to bring about a unity that honors Him.

Verse 4, "Now there are varieties of gifts". And the word translated gifts here is the one we are usually familiar with. We bring it over into English in words like charismatic, charisma. The Greek word charis is the word grace. Now the word translated spiritual gifts in verse 1, spiritual gifts, remember, was based on the word pneuma, which is the Greek word for Spirit. It was emphasizing the fact that the source of these gifts is the Holy Spirit of God. Now in verse 4, there are a variety of gifts, and these gifts are charisma, they are gifts of grace, they are given by God's grace, they are given graciously. They are not earned, they are not merited. It's not a matter where if I work harder, if I am faithful God will give me a better gift, a more important gift, other gifts. These are not things you can work or earn, they are gifts of grace, bestowed by His grace. Not as a result of our accomplishment, not as a result of anything we do.

The word varieties, and I have two words underlined in each of these three verses—varieties and the same, varieties and the same, varieties and the same. That word varieties and the same, those two words, varieties emphasizes the diversity is there and same will emphasize the unity that is there. This word variety is used once in each of these verses 4-6. It emphasizes the diversity that God has given to the church. In Romans 4:6 Paul wrote, "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us". We have gifts, and there we're talking about again the same gifts that are grace gifts, that differ according to the grace given to us. In other words, God's grace is not the same in every life. It's the same in that it's God's grace, but the grace that is given to gift you won't give you the same gift that I've gotten or someone else has gotten. And what determines what gift you got? Well some people are better Christians, some people are ........... No. God's grace determines, He sovereignly determined within Himself what He would do with His grace in your life as far as enabling you to serve in the local church. So that's the point. There are varieties of grace gifts, various gifts that have been given by God's grace.

But the same Spirit. The variety of gifts does not mean that the church is fragmented, nor does it mean these gifts are given in isolation. Oh here is a gift, we'll throw it out here, a gift we'll give here, a gift we'll give here. So you have all these pieces, all these independent gifts that are just there. But they are given by the same Spirit. Remember verse 1? They are spiritual gifts and the things that come from the Spirit. And there is only one Spirit of God, and He's the source of all the gifts. So that guarantees that there will be a purpose, there will be a unity, there will be a harmony in the distribution of the gifts. We'll have more to say about this as we move along, but the gifts are always seen in the context of being used in the local church. One writer has written a very fine work on the gifts of the Spirit. Note that usually a deficiency in the definition of gifts that he has seen, is they fail to recognize that the gifts are given in the context of a local church.

Let's go back to I Corinthians 1. Paul talks about the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed among them. Verse 7, "So that you are not lacking in any gift". Writing to the church at Corinth, the fact that they have all the gifts necessary, every gift, provided by the Spirit. You think the Spirit just throws these out and now all you have is a collection of individual abilities, but they're always in conflict, they're always in disagreement. No, there is only one Spirit, that's the point. There is diversity and the gifts are a display of God's diversity in grace. But you understand there is unity and harmony, there is only the one Spirit who is the source of the gifts. So He has bestowed them according to intention and purpose.

All right, look at I Corinthians 12:5, and there are varieties of ministry. So these are not only grace gifts, they are ministry, varieties of ministries. Same word varieties, but now we have the word ministries. And we're familiar with this word. Shouldn't think of the ministries like some people would say, I am a pastor of a church and I am in the ministry. This is the word we're familiar with from the word deacon. We get the English word deacon from this word, we've just basically carried the Greek word over into English and it comes over as deacon or a form of that. And it means to serve. So there are a variety of ways of serving, we might say. If you were going to give an expanded translation here. Variety of ways of serving. That gives you an idea of what these gifts are for. They are for serving, deaconing, if you will. Not like the office of deacon alone, but the ways we can serve. They are not given for my personal benefit, my gift is not given for my personal benefit, it's not given to build me up, it's not given to make me more prominent or influential, it's not given so I can be proud and confident about myself. It's given to enable me to be a servant, which means I'm doing something for someone else. They are ways of serving.

Turn over to I Peter 4, and Peter has two verses here where he specifically mentions spiritual gifts. I Peter 4:10, "As each one has received a special gift", and there you have the word special in italics. They've added it, it's the word charisma, a gift of grace. As each one has received a gift of grace, how do you use it? Employ it in serving one another. What is the proper use of God's grace in giving you a gift, that enablement by His grace to function as part of a local church? It's so you can employ it in serving. That's the same form of the word we have as deacon. One another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. So you see what's happened here. These are gifts of grace, God has given His grace in a special way to enable you to function as part of His church. That means you are now His steward. The word steward, we have a stewardship. The word translated steward here is a compound word, it's the word house and the word law put together and it's house-law. A steward was one entrusted with an area of responsibility in a household. Remember Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 3:15, "So you can know how to conduct yourself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God". So this local church is God's household and He has given us areas of responsibility in His family here. That is a steward or a stewardship.

So we have been entrusted with a portion of His grace and we will give an account for that. Remember it is the #1 requirement of a steward that a person be found faithful. So we have been entrusted with God's grace and the manifestation of His grace in this particular area, whatever area you're gifted in. Now we must exercise that in serving others in the body. And that's what's involved in being a good steward of God's grace. You use your gift to serve others. That makes you a good steward of the manifold grace, the multifaceted grace, that diversity again. There are varieties of gifts, it is a manifold grace, a multifaceted grace, but you take that portion of grace that God has bestowed upon you. And if you're going to be a good steward, you will use it in serving others. This is a serious responsibility that every single believer has. You cannot avoid it. You can be faithful in it or unfaithful, but you cannot avoid it, because God has done it. And we will give an account for our stewardship.

Come back to I Corinthians 12. One person has written it this way, the entire New Testament describes spiritual gifts as being used to minister to others. In no instance does it state that gifts were to be used for personal benefit. The nature of the gifts themselves indicates they are given to enable the recipient to minister to others. So there are varieties of ways of serving in verse 5, and the same Lord. Now the unity here again. Well if there are a variety of ways of serving, then we'll have chaos, we're going to have conflict. No, because there is only one Lord. There is one source of the gifts, the Holy Spirit. There is one who is sovereign over the exercising of the gifts, and that is the Lord. The one He is talking about here is Jesus Christ. Back up in verse 3, "No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit". He is the Lord, He has authority, He is sovereign. So even though there are different ways of serving, there is only one Lord directing in the areas of service. So that guarantees. If you have the church in conflict with its gifts, does that mean Jesus Christ is confused? The Holy Spirit has thrown all these different gifts out here, now there are all these ways of serving and nobody knows what to do. How are we going to sort this mess out? That's not the way it is, because there is one Lord, the same Lord. So there are various ways of serving, but there is only one Lord in charge. So any conflict indicates there is a breakdown in submission to the authority of Jesus Christ and the exercising of the gifts.

Back up to I Corinthians 6:19, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price". You don't belong to yourself anymore, you belong to someone else, the one who purchased you. Therefore glorify God in your body. We're just narrowing this down specifically to the area of spiritual gifts. This is true of the whole area of the church, right? Because Ephesians 1:22-23 says that God has given Christ to be head over all things to the church, which is His body. So He is the one in charge. The gifts are to function under His authority.

Look at I Corinthians 12:6, "There are varieties of effects". There's that same word, varieties again. Now we have the word effects, varieties of effects. The word that means effects, operations, workings. We get the word energy or energizing from this. Remember the commercials with the Energizer rabbit, just doesn't stop, keeps going? Well the Greek word here is literal, we just carry it over into English. Foundation word, energa. We just make the “g” a soft “g” like a “j” in English and we have energy, different forms. There are a varieties of energizings. In other words this is the energy with which the gift operates, its power source which enables it to get the job done. So the enablement for the exercising and the using of the gifts effectively is what we're talking about. And there are varieties of these effects that are a result of God's working in the life as we'll make clear in a moment. It's just the way God does it. In other words, even people who have the same gifts don't exercise them the same way. We have people teaching children in classes, I'm up here teaching you. We have classes where adults are taught, we have home Bible studies where teaching goes on. That's true of all the gifts. Just because your gift is the same as someone else's, doesn't mean it's always exercised in the same way, because the enabling power of God is what gives effectiveness to the gifts and determines how it will be used.

So we're told there are varieties of effects, workings, energizings, but the same God who works all things in all persons. It would have been helpful in our translation, I'm using the New American Standard as most of you are. It says there are varieties of effects but the same God who works. That word translated works is the same basic word translated effects. They could have said there are varieties of works, but the same God who works all things. There are varieties of operations but the same God who is operating. There are varieties of energies but the same God who is energizing. So you have the same basic word and a play on that word. And here you have the same God, it is God the Father that we are talking about here. Back in I Corinthians 8:6, "There is but one God the Father from whom are all things, one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things". So here when he says we're talking about God the Father. So you have a variety of energizings and the impact and effects and out-workings of the gifts, and the enablement there, that varies.

A number of years ago I was at a conference in another state with other pastors. And a pastor of a very large church in another city said to me, Gil, why do you stay in Lincoln? We were sitting in a nice, sunny spot and I have to say, for a minute I wondered, that's a good question. You know it's 4 here and 84 there, why do I? But you know I said, well, it's where the Lord put me and it's where He enables me for the ministry he has given me. He hasn't enabled me for someone else's ministry. And that's true of each of us with our gifts. I can't compare myself to someone else. I want to learn from others, from others who have the same gift as I, and could I do better with the gift and abilities God has given me. But I can't be someone else. And God is not going to be enabling and energizing me in the same way He is someone else. And that's why each of us will be responsible as stewards of the grace that He has given to us. I will not give an account for your stewardship, you will not for mine. I will not give an account for someone else's pastorship and teaching. I can't compare myself, well, I'm doing better than they are. May not be doing as good as he. No, I'm responsible for the stewardship of God's grace that He has given to me.

And it's the same God who is working all things, so there are varieties of effects and out-workings and operations, it's the same God who is energizing and working. That gives the unity and harmony. And He is doing this, all things in all persons, in all the gifts, in all the people who are gifted, it's the same. There is no room for pride here. Who enables me to exercise my gift in a way that is effective in the body? Who enables you to exercise your gift in a way that is effective in the body? The living God, because He is the One who works all things in all people. And what is he talking about in the context? What are the all things? It has to do with the gifts that are given and the ways of serving, using His grace, the impact and effects that are accomplished, and the outworking of that as a result of His working. And that's true in every individual. That gives great confidence, doesn't it? I mean, I don't have to be sitting and stewing over why do they have a greater ministry than I? Why are they better well known? Why do they get honor for what they do? Why ............... And we go through and say, Lord, you've done a great and mighty work in my life. Whatever is accomplished ............... What did Paul say? I am what I am by my discipline, I am what I am ................ I am what I am by the grace of God, right? Why do you have a ministry? Sometimes we visit, different ones of us or staff and we say, it's amazing how God uses so many in the body in so many ways. And most don't get the recognition. I get the most recognition. That's just a piece of what God is doing and marvelous the variety of ways, and yet it's God working. And that's why something happens of eternal significance.

You'll note something has happened here. You have the varieties and you have the same and you have Father, Son and Holy Spirit all mentioned together in this immediate context. It's an awesome thought. If you see how greatly privileged we are, privileged in a way that Old Testament saints weren't and couldn't be, privileged in a way that even during the times of the gospels when Jesus walked the earth, men and women weren't privileged. But now as a result of the glorification of Christ and the coming of the Spirit, we have the triune God at work within us and through us, gifting, using us as His servants and providing the power.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You know the doctrine of the trinity is a broad subject that we consider in various ways. But there are just a few passages where the trinity is mentioned in a confined context. Not the only passages that address the trinity, you could talk about the deity of Christ throughout the Bible, the deity of the Holy Spirit and of course the deity of the Father. But like this passage, here in three verses, you have all three persons, the triune God, one God in three persons.

I want to look at the other places with you and you can have them in your mind and mark them. Back in Matthew 3. In each of these you realize you could not put a created being in this, you couldn't say there are a variety of gifts, but the same (and fill it in with a human being, fill it in with an angel). No, it's the Spirit of God. That's true then with the Lord. There is only one Lord, there is only one Father, God the Father. So in Matthew 3 at the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. Look at verse 16, "After being baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water. Behold the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him". And here the Spirit of God comes in a visible form because normally you would not see the Spirit of God, He's spirit. But He comes in a visible way that John would recognize. This is the Messiah of Israel. So here you see the Spirit of God anointing Christ for His role as Messiah of Israel, His Messianic ministry. "And behold a voice out of heaven said, this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". The Father speaks audibly from heaven. So you have the Son with the Spirit of God descending on Him and the Father speaking from heaven. And you have Father, Son and Holy Spirit mentioned together in this close context.

Turn over to II Corinthians 13, the last verse of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. And he gives this three-fold benediction. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all". See all three persons of the triune God mentioned together. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Could you put in there a human being's name as well? Could you add an angel? No, you're just on a totally different level. The grace that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. You know the Apostle Paul . . . I mentioned the word Lord used some 700 times in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul himself refers to Christ as Lord some 220 times in the New Testament. Amazing. Reminded of it here when he says the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. By far overwhelmingly his favorite, most often used name for Christ. He is the Lord.

One other passage, Ephesians 4, where again the three persons are mentioned together in close proximity. Verse 4, and this is in the context of the spiritual gifts, similar context as we have in I Corinthians 12, where he'll talk about unity in the first six verses, then he'll talk about the diversity of the gifts in verses 7 and following. Look at verse 4, "There is one body", he's talking about the church here, "One Spirit". Verse 5, "One Lord"; verse 6, "One God and Father". One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father. That one is just like we've seen in I Corinthians 12:4-6. Then he'll talk about the diversity of the gifts beginning in verse 7 and following. So we have the triune God at work in our hearts and lives as His people, gifted.

All right, let me just summarize certain facts here, three facts about spiritual gifts we've picked up here. 1) They are freely and graciously given, they are charismatic gifts. Verse 4, they are called charismatic, gifts of grace. We've had that term become an expression limited. Now if I said I'm a charismatic, you'd think, that must mean he speaks in tongues. But every believer in Jesus Christ is charismatic because he's been gifted by God's grace. We'll see more fully that as we move along. But they are freely and graciously given, they are given out of God's grace. Thus they are not earned, they are not merited, they're not as a result of becoming more spiritual. They are freely and graciously given. 2) Secondly, they are means of serving. Verse 5, there are varieties of ministries. The word translated ministries, serving, there are various ways of serving. The gifts are given to serve others. You are entrusted with the stewardship of God's grace, that is your gift. To be a good steward you must use it in serving others. We saw that in I Peter 10. So the gifts are means of serving. My gift is not primarily for my benefit, it's for your benefit. When you don't exercise your gift as God intends, then you're not being a good steward and I am suffering for that, others in the body are suffering, because they are losing out on the benefit of your serving them, my serving them. So they are a means of serving. 3) And thirdly, they involve the activity of the possessor, they are workings, operations. They are ways of manifesting God's power in us. So they involve your activity, they are workings, operations. To have the impact of the gift, you have to be doing. You weren't made to just sit and soak and sour, as we talk about, but you were made to function, to do, to serve. There are energizings and the enabling power comes from God.

And with that, then, you have each of the persons of the triune God involved. The Spirit gives the gifts, He's the source of the gift. He's the only true source for spiritual gifts. Verse 1 called them gifts of the Spirit, using spirit. And we are told in verse 4, they come from the same Spirit. There is only one source for true spiritual gifts, and that's from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Secondly, there is only one Lord who is sovereign over the exercise of the gifts, Jesus Christ. Verse 5, the same Lord. The gifts must be exercised under His authority according to His will. He is sovereign in the exercising of the gifts in this local church. And so as we exercise the gift that the Spirit has given us under the authority of the head of the church, the Lord, then there will be harmony and unity. And thirdly, it's the Father who energizes or enables the work to be done. The gifts are an evidence of the outworking of His power. He is the energizing one. Think about that. The Spirit is the source and the Lord Jesus Christ is the one in charge directing the use of the church, and God the Father is the one empowering, giving the energy, so that the gifts will accomplish what He intends them to accomplish. The results won't always be the same, but it will always be God's power accomplishing His work.

Back up to I Corinthians 3. Paul here is not talking about the gifts but it's in that framework as we'll see the details unfolded. Verse 6, "I planted, Apollos watered, even as the Lord gave to each one". I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth, the effects the operating, the outworking. God caused the result. I used the ability, I did what God equipped me to do, what the Lord of the church directed me to do, but it was the energizing work of God that brought results. That's true of each and every believer sitting in this auditorium. The reason this church functions effectively in accomplishing the work of God is because we have been graciously gifted by the Spirit of God and the Lord of the church is directing each. And the work of serving, sacrificial as it may be, unrecognized as it may be in many cases, and as we do that serving God the Father is empowering and energizing to guarantee that His purposes are accomplished. That's God's plan for the church, that's what we are about. Paul will go on to give examples of the gifts and to emphasize more the details of how we accomplish the work of God. What a privilege to be part of that work, to be a steward in the family of God, to be used to do the work of God.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the ministry of the gifts. Thank you that it is your work, your Spirit, your Son and you. It goes beyond what we can comprehend with any fullness, that we should be instruments, the hands of the living God, energized, empowered, enabled to serve effectively under the direction of our Lord and using the abilities given us by your Spirit. Lord, the desire and passion of each one of us must be to be good stewards of the manifold, multifaceted grace of our God. We praise you in Christ's name, amen.