Less of Me and More of Thee, Lord
Got Gifts? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome
We’re continuing a series on the Holy Spirit and specifically looking at the Gifts of the Spirit. We looked last week at an overview of the gifts and how they work in our Christian lives and how they help us to accomplish the work that God has for us to do in ourselves, in this body of believers, and in the world.
I told you last week that you don’t get to pick your gifts. The Holy Spirit empowers you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, with a spiritual gift. However, it is up to you to use the gift that you have been given.
This morning we’ll be studying Romans 12...
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
[pray]
We are granted spiritual gifts as we grow more deeply connected with Christ and begin to do the work that he has set out before us. We don’t get all of these right at the point of salvation, though I do believe that we all are granted some seed of a gift that grows within us as we mature in Christ. I also believe that our gifts change as our faith changes and especially as we begin to do the ministries that God puts before us.
If I had to sum that verse up succinctly in one sentence, it would be this...
Principle: understand your gifts and practice them diligently.
That’s the whole point of the verse above. Period. There, I’ve just spilled the beans. I’ve given you my whole sermon in one sentence. We can go home now. [Okay, not really. I do have some more to say.]
I. Humbly and Honestly Evaluate Yourself
I. Humbly and Honestly Evaluate Yourself
When you’re trying to figure out what your spiritual gifts are, it can be a little bit intimidating.
It’s not really that hard to get off track when trying to assess yourself and your spiritual gifting. One only has to look to the first verse in our text to see why...
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.
It is our human nature, when we are in a healthy emotional state, to think highly of ourselves. Of course, we can be prone to let this get out of hand.
The narcissist has the tendency to think so highly of himself that he ignores anybody else.
The weak-minded person puffs himself up by putting others down.
And the beaten-down person has been so emotionally wounded that it can be difficult to give himself any positive thought at all.
In our most healthy state, it is our natural inclination to try to build ourselves up a bit. But it is not hard to let this get out of hand.
This verse reminds me of the words of John the Baptist when some of his students told him about Jesus’ ministry across the Jordan river. He told them...
27 John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Such a humble response. John was not in competition with Jesus, but preparing the way for Christ, the Messiah.
He says two things here that are applicable to our lesson today...
“No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.” — we can apply this to our gifts, just as John applied it to his ministry. It was not his ministry to jealously guard or to protect. It was a gift from heaven, just like our gifts are a gift from the hand of God.
He also said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” He knew that his job was to prepare the way for the Messiah, but he would never grow to be something more than was intended.
Paul gives his readers the advice that they should not think too highly of themselves. This is practicing the humility of Christ.
We get our spiritual gifts according to God’s wisdom and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
II. Practice Your Gifts for the Right Reasons
II. Practice Your Gifts for the Right Reasons
However, there are times that we think we know better than God. We tell God, “I want to be a preacher, or I don’t want to be a preacher, I want to be an administrator.” Or as the Corinthians said, “I want to have the gift of tongues or prophecy. Why do I have to be stuck with the gift of service?”
The Corinthian church was bewildered and had their focus on the wrong things, just like we do sometimes. Paul told the Corinthians to practice their gifts with love and to shift their focus. We’ll look at practicing your spiritual gifts with love next week, but 1 Corinthians 14 follows chapter 13, the love chapter. I love chapter 14 because it tells us where we need to focus our attention...
1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.
We tend to get caught up on the gift itself rather than focus on the reason for the gift—which is the building up of the body of Christ...
12 So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.
All the gifts in the world mean nothing if they are not practiced for the right reason. So use your gift for the right reason.
The spiritual gifts are given for the building up of the believer in the context of the local church and for the benefit of the local church. Paul calls this “for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7).
7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
When we put our own wishes and desires before the common good, we are actually hurting the church rather than helping it in the way God intended. I have seen this far too often in the church. I see people take up volunteer service in the church for the wrong reason and later let people down. I have had people come to me trying to convince me to let them preach or teach for the wrong reasons and had to disappoint them by refusing their request. As leaders we have to be able to discern the gifting that people have. But too often we put people where we need a warm body rather than putting them where they are gifted. This burns people out and hurts the ministry in the long run.
III. Be Transformed and Renewed
III. Be Transformed and Renewed
One of our spiritual tasks that we must take on at some point in our Christian life is to practice what verse 2 says...
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
We must take our worldly human minds with all our bad habits and sinful rabbit trails built in—sometimes so much so that we live these bad habits out through our physical fleshly selves—it is our job as Christians to take this fleshly mind and begin to train it in a new way, a spiritual and Christ-like way.
Titus tells us that salvation allows the Holy spirit to regenerate and renew and put the way of righteousness within us...
5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
We get all that along with salvation through belief and faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit does a work with in us that makes us a new creation in Christ. That is what verse 5 is talking about when it says we are regenerated and renewed. But Titus goes on to say that we have a role to play in this process as well. I’ll continue reading in Titus 3...
8 This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. 9 But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. 11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.
This renewal work is something that the Holy Spirit works within us, but we also have some work to do.
Verse 8 says that we have to “be careful”—this means that we have to make a concerted effort—we have to CHOOSE to “devote [ourselves] to good works.” If we fail to pay attention to this then we will be immature spiritually and ineffective in our efforts. Paul writes to Titus that his care, his efforts, should be focused on—devoted to, he say—”good works.”
Paul makes it clear in this passage that the Christian believer must...
insist on living the abundant Christian life in the Spirit.
be devoted to good works that produce results.
refuse to waste time on things that are unprofitable and worthless.
does not put up with sinful behavior in the fellowship of believers.
All this is really saying that we have to keep our focus on the things that are important. It’s easy for us to get caught up in these things that distract us from the job that we are called to accomplish.
IV. Remember That We’re In This Together
IV. Remember That We’re In This Together
We also have to continue to remember that we are in this together. We each have our strengths and our weaknesses. We should seek to balance each other out and work towards being stronger together.
4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.
We’re all on the same team. When people in the church begin thinking too highly of themselves, they begin operating in a spirit of competition or a spirit of self-promotion. This can happen to leaders and even pastors. And sometimes when people don’t get what they want, they get frustrated and leave, looking for what they want in another church. When people don’t leave, but try to force their will upon the fellowship of believers, there’s trouble in the camp.
However, there is a sweet place of cooperation and unity that will produce fruitful and productive results.
Paul goes on to say that we must stay in our own lane and focus on the gifts that we have been given...
6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
There is nothing sweeter to a pastor than seeing a body of believers that knows and practices their gifts.
There is nothing more bitter than seeing people who are jealous and trying to work outside of their gifting to accomplish something that is not God’s plan, but man’s desire. It creates an unhealthy and stunted church that will never be effective for accomplishing the work of the kingdom of God.
V. How We Do Life Together Matters
V. How We Do Life Together Matters
We’re going to talk in more length about using the gifts with love for each other next week, but Paul doesn’t overlook this in his letter to the Romans. If we could truly practice this with each other, then we would find a sweet spot of ministry together...
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
The truth, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that we can only live this way with each other when we seek to live our lives as John the Baptist did, when we pray and practice “Less of Me and More of Thee, Lord.”
The Lord’s Table
The Lord’s Table
We now move to the Lord’s Table as we remember the sacrifice and the salvific work that Christ completed on the cross.
We’ve made a decision to remember this sacrifice more often than has been our practice previously. We’ll take communion at the beginning of the month so that it can become a more regular part of our worship together.
We come to the table reflecting upon the sacrifice that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ made on the cross and we remember the reason that He made that sacrifice. I ask you to take a moment to reflect on your readiness and upon your personal condition before God.
[pause]
Scripture teaches us that if there is any sin or conflict with your brother or sister that might keep you from participating in this meal, then do not participate. If this is the case with you or if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please allow the bread and the cup to pass and do not participate.
Jesus came to this world to open the doors of Heaven to us by taking our say sin upon Himself and provide a way that we might enter into the presence of Almighty God.
[distribute the elements]
You’ll notice that you have two cups, one inside the other. The bread is in the bottom cup. You can gently separate the two cups.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
This is the body of our Lord, Jesus Christ, take it and eat in remembrance of His body broken for for us.
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
This is the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Take it and drink in remembrance of His blood poured out for us.
For by eating this bread and drinking this cup, we join together in proclaiming the Lord’s life, death, and resurrection until His return to us.
Doxology
Doxology
Praise God from Whom
All blessings flow
Praise Him all
Creatures here below
Praise Him above
Ye heavenly host
Praise Father Son
and Holy Ghost,
Amen