Gifts of the Spirit: Intro & Apostle and Prophets
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Big Idea:
Big Idea:
Spiritually mature churches use spiritual gifts to build the church and glorify God. Apostles and prophets are needed to develop spiritually mature churches.
Intro:
Intro:
I’ve always been a Marvel Comics fan. It all started in Lemon Grove, CA when I’d get out of middle school and walk down to the local comic book shop. I was obsessed with the X-Men. Fast forward a couple of decades to the release of the Marvel movies and I was hooked.
My younger brother loved Marvel too, but also liked the DC Universe. He liked Superman and Batman. I gotta admit, even though I’m a Marvel fan, I like Batman too. Now, let me be clear, I don’t like every Batman (You know how they keep changing the actor who plays Batman?). My favorite Batman was Michael Keaton!
My brother and I had to have watched that Batman 150 times. You know the one with Jack Nicholson as the Joker? I just think Michael Keaton had that perfect personality for Batman.
This past June, Janelle and I spent a few week of my Sabbatical in San Diego. That was an awesome time of rest. It’s crazy how just a couple weeks of “no work obligations” can refresh your spirit. Anyways, since I really had nothing to do, one night I decided to go to the movies. So, I took George and Kade to see the midnight showing of the new Flash movie.
And my favorite part (as you might be already guessing) was when Michael Keaton appeared as Batman (because of the multiverse)!
The thing about Batman is he’s really just a normal dude. I mean he’s super rich, so that helps, but he has no superpowers. He just has a lot of toys. In fact, in the first Michael Keaton Batman movie, Jack Nicholson is famous for saying, “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” It’s all of those “toys” that allow him to turn from a normal guy into a superhero.
The church is a lot like Batman. In and of ourselves, we’re just normal men and women. But when we put of faith in Jesus, we become born-again (we get new life) and are filled with the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, He gives us spiritual “crime-fighting’ toys. The Bible calls them spiritual gifts.
Today, we start a new sermon series on “The Gifts of the Spirit.” You might be asking, “What are those?” Let’s take a moment to briefly talk about that.
One way to define spiritual gifts is: Any ability (and this is the key part) EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT used in any ministry of the church (that is - any time your life connects with God’s kingdom mission). In the Bible, there are a few spiritual gifts list presented (like in Romans 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4), but I personally agree with theologian Wayne Grudem, who states that these lists are not exhaustive, but what came to mind when the apostle Paul was writing for his present context.
And these spiritual gifts are given for a specific purpose - and one purpose is NOT to make us appear MORE SPECIAL than other people. The Scriptures seem to give us three main purposes for spiritual gifts:
To help us fulfill God’s gospel mission/calling on our life.
Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. To build up the church.
And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
3. To help us experience God’s love.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Now, the topic of spiritual gifts can be very complex. And honestly, even though we are gonna spend about 7 weeks in this series, there’s absolutely no way I can be comprehensive on this in just 30 mins on a Sunday morning… this subject is too rich. But I do want to take some time to at least mention some “issues” that come up when discussing spiritual gifts.
For example, there appears to be overlap in gifts. In the same way that the spiritual gifts lists don’t appear to be exhaustive, neither do the gifts listed seem to categorize nice and neatly. Prophecy connects with exhortation and teaching. Administration and leadership are related. Gifts of generosity can be tied to gifts of faith. Pastor and teaching play well together. Furthermore, people can have the same spiritual gift, but manifest them differently depending on the uniqueness of their personality, experience, skill, and level of giftedness. That’s the sense Paul teaches with when he writes...
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
Additionally, I’ve observed that spiritual gifts can supercharge your natural abilities; or, they give you the ability to do something you could never do. God may have created you with a natural gift for learning, but the Holy Spirit will take that and supercharge it with the gift of teaching. Or, you could be failing Spanish right now in school [all the parents with PowerSchool on your phone look at your child], but the Holy Spirit could give you the gift of tongues, and all of a sudden you can speak a foreign language (or even an angelic tongue - crazy!!! - I’ll let Pastor Jon handle that one next week).
For the most part, spiritual gifts seem to be permanent. Meaning, once the Holy Spirit gifts them to you, they are with you for the rest of your life. Again, that seems implied when Paul told Timothy...
Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.
However, there does seem to be the possibility for one to weaken, lose, or gain new ones (even temporarily). Paul wrote to Timothy...
for which reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Timothy may have been neglecting his gift and it had weakened.
Moreover, it is possible to take what Jesus wrote in...
For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
…meaning, if you neglect or abuse the gift, God’s discipline may take it away.
On the other hand, there may be times when the Holy Spirit gives us additional gifts, either for a specific season or purpose; or even, by request! Paul said, “You should earnestly desire the most helpful [spiritual] gifts.” (1 Cor 12:31)
In prayer, we may ask God for a gift we desire, especially if there is a need in the church for it.
He may give us a new (temporary) spiritual gift needed for a work He is calling us to. For example, God called me to plant a church. To do that well requires an apostolic gifting (which I will discuss in a moment). I don’t have that gifting… my spiritual gift is pastoral. But, I believe God did give me an apostolic gift to plant The River Church. And that gift may or may not stay with me. It depends on the Holy Spirit.
And here’s the main point when it comes to spiritual gifts: The Holy Spirit is the gift-giver and He does whatever He wants.
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
I also want to mention there is much biblical debate about whether spiritual gifts (especially the miraculous ones) are active today. Obviously, I believe spiritual gifts are active today. But, I have local pastor friends, and know of highly respected theologians, who disagree. Some times we label this group “cessationists,” meaning they believe the gifts have “ceased.”
In summary, they believe (based on biblical studies), that certain gifts were only for the apostles (and their contemporaries) to establish the church. And they arrive at this conclusion from...
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
...the key part being, “when the perfect comes...” Many solid Christians believe this refers to the establishing of God’s perfect word. Once the biblical cannon was closed (that is, once the Bible was complete: Genesis-Revelation), some of the spiritual gifts “passed away.” They ceased and were no longer needed.
I don’t have time to discuss this at length, nor do I think you want to hear about it, but I’ll just say I believe a better interpretation of “when the perfect comes” is to interpret it as when the Lord Jesus returns. And that hasn’t happened yet! Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to believe the gifts are still active.
On the flipside, there are parts of the church who believe the gifts are active today and, honestly, go wild. That’s not right either. That’s what the Corinthians did. And 1 Corinthians is a verbal spanking from Paul for it. Even though the gifts are active today, they need to be used are orderly in accordance with Scripture. Paul wrote regarding spiritual gifts...
But all things should be done decently and in order.
To add to that, regardless of your current stance, two things are necessary:
Whatever you believe, it must be biblical. You can’t just say, “This is what I feel. Or this is what I’ve always believed.” That’s not biblical. As Christians, we build our lives on God’s word, not on feelings or tradition.
If other Christians believe something differently, and they can back it up biblical, we don’t divide but love. Remember, spiritual gifts are designed to build us up in love!
You guys bored yet? Sorry, that was a long intro and a lot of information. But I believe it is necessary if we’re going to properly discuss spiritual gifts and spiritually mature.
One more thing (then I promise we’ll start talking about actual spiritual gifts)… it is important that we know about spiritual gifts and how to use them, because that is how the church thrives and the Kingdom of God spreads.
You guys remember Krang from Ninja Turtles. He was the walking, talking brain. He was super gross. When we think about a “body,” it’s supposed to have multiple parts working together. And the church is called the “body of Christ.” It too is supposed to have many different parts (many different spiritually gifted people) working together...
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
Too often in the church, we don’t have all gifts present or working together. And you know what that is? Paul says that’s a giant eyeball. It’s a Christian Krang. It’s gross. We don’t want to be a gross church.
We want to be a healthy, spiritually mature, diverse, gifted, beautiful church. Because we’re trying to bring people into the church, not run them off in disgust. So, it’s important that we embrace the gifts of the Spirit. With that, let’s finally get started...
Body:
Body:
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
The two gifts we are going to discuss today are the apostles and prophets. Let’s start with the apostles...
There has been much confusion over this gift (it’s actually one the gifts some believe is no longer active today), but I think that’s because we’ve done a bad job clearly defining things… and automatically assuming a blanket use of the word.
Context matters in language. Context can impact how a word is defined. The other day, I was at Diamond Bar with some of the football coaches (stop judging me… I was just having water). When the young waiter brought the check, he said, “Your boy blessed up.” The youngest guy at the table was 42. And we were all very confused.
Some, knowing I’m a pastor, thought the waiter knew me and was making a religious reference. I didn’t know him. I was just as confused. What we discovered was it was his way of saying, “One of the coaches paid the bill for the table.” He used “blessed” in a different way.
In the Bible, the word apostle has two significant uses.
One refers to the office of apostles (Capital A - apostles)
The other refers to the spiritual gift (lowercase A - apostles)
The twelve disciples held the office of apostle. Paul held the office. James (the brother of Jesus) was an apostle. In context, what it meant was the authoritative leaders of the early church, many who God used to write Scripture. To hold the office of apostle, there were two requirements:
You had to have seen the resurrected Jesus.
You received your commission as an apostle directly from Jesus.
And considering that, I believe it’s biblical to say the “office” of apostle is no longer active. However, that wasn’t the only use of apostle in Scripture. The word simply means “sent out ones.” And many times it is used to describe those gifted by the Holy Spirit to be “sent out to preach the gospel.”
And the equivalent for today is missionary or church planter. Many times, these are the men and women who God has given an apostolic gift. In the words of pastor, church planter, and author, Peyton Jones, these are people who have the gifts of guts! They smile at faith-based risk. They have Holy Spirit courage and charge spiritual darkness to take ground for the Kingdom of God.
Many times they exhibit abilities that mirror a swiss army knife. They can temporarily and strategically do all things (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher) in order to get the new work of God up and running. They have an innate sense for the movement of God, even when no one else can see it. In the words of Paul, they have the faith to believe God “creates new things out of nothing.” (Rom 4:17)
And God has given them the ability to supernaturally endure (have Holy Spirit grit) until the work of God is established.
William Carey, missionary to India (or, if you will, apostle to India) labored 12 years without a single person giving their life to Jesus. Finally, one person did. And instead of being discouraged, he said the divine grace that changed “one” is going to change “100,000.” He was right. That was his apostolic gift shining through.
Apostles are also gifted in infiltrating the community. They can walk into open (and closed doors) and make relationships leading to gospel conversations. However, apostles are often not given the permanent gift of pastor. They are those with that entrepreneurial spirit. God uses them to come in and start something, but once it’s established, they are ready to move onto the next work of God. This is exactly what we saw the apostle Paul do. Move to one area, plant a church, then move to the next. He had the office of apostles, but also had an apostolic gift.
And I wonder… who here has God given this gift to?
Is God calling you to start something by faith, for His glory? [Do you want to go help Dennis and Katie? If I told you we want to start a church in Portland, CT by 2025, would you go?]
Are you a dedicated, hard worker, but also looking for the next new thing?
Do you have a supernatural courage?
Do you have a heart for unbelievers to fall in love with Jesus?
Maybe God has gifted you to be an apostle (lowercase)?
Now, let’s talk about prophets. Again, another controversial subject… due to a lack of clear definitions. Some hear prophets and automatically assume OT prophets like Elijah or Daniel. The ones who could predict the future and do miraculous signs and wonders. And like Apostles (capital A), many OT Prophets spoke the “very words of God.” They wrote Scripture. And to disobey them would be to disobey God.
But that isn’t the way the word prophet is used in the NT when it comes to spiritual gifts. Theologian Wayne Grudem is helpful when he says prophecy is “telling something that God has spontaneous brought to mind.”
There can be a predictive element to this, when someone gets a sense God is showing them a future event.
There is a revelation element to it. God many reveal secrets or sins in a person or group’s life.
Prophecy may be instructive. Guiding a person or church in a certain direction based on what God reveals.
However, it is not authoritative in the way it was in the OT; yet, it is still powerful and needed in the church. That being said, AND I MUST BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS, it is ALWAYS conforming to, and not contradicting of, Scripture.
And the main purpose of prophecy is to build up, encourage, and strengthen the church.
But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.
The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
But it has an additional purpose...
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
Prophecy doesn’t just build up the church from the inside, it also adds to the church from the outside. Prophecy has a gospel-purpose. Unbelievers needing hope experience prophecy, then experience God, and find salvation in Jesus name!
Worship leader Matt Redman (Heart of worship) tells a story of leading worship at a youth conference in Norway. Everything was going terribly. Nothing seemed impactful. Suddenly (spontaneously/prophetically?), a song entered his mind: You are not alone by Michael Jackson. The Holy Spirit whispered to his heart, “Play this song.” Like a good Christian he replied, “I’m NOT doing that!” Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling and surrendered.
After finishing, he looked for the quickest exit, but to his surprise, teenagers finally started talking to him and changed their attitude about the gospel too.
Once they left, a lady came up in tears. She shared how her life was broken. And she had traveled 6 hours to this conference as a last resort, crying out the whole way, “God, You’ve left me alone! I need to hear from You and know I’m not alone.”
When Matt prophetically played that song, it was an answered prayer. It declared “God is really among you!”
Prophecy transforms people’s perspective from “Church is gross” to “God is real!” We need that here in New England - in Glastonbury!
So, the question is, do you have the gift of prophecy?
Does God spontaneously bring things to your mind?
When you have shared them, have they been a blessing? Is the church built up when you humbly share?
Do you desire to make others aware of God’s presence?
Are you willing to boldly speak up so people can be pointed to the heart of God?
Then, maybe you have the gift of prophecy. And if you do, let me give you permission to use it. However, like I mentioned earlier, it must be according to biblical order...
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
Response:
Response:
We’ve talked about a lot today. And there’s a lot more that can be said. But I want to finish with three things...
First, I want our church family to feel the freedom to learn about, encourage, and practice spiritual gifts, even controversial ones like apostles and prophets. God gave them to us for a reason. And without them, we’re just a giant gross eyeball.
Secondly, I want to take this opportunity to point to Jesus, our great God and Savior. He’s the reason we have spiritual gifts. And these gifts are not just special abilities, but reflections (and extensions) of Him.
The New Testament calls Jesus both an Apostle and Prophet. And when we properly use these gifts, our community experiences Jesus. So, let’s do that well. Because that’s when heaven truly invades earth. Heaven (or eternal life) is experiencing the presence of God.
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
[Church Online: Let’s pray…]
Thirdly, and to close, let’s take communion to remember all that Jesus has done for us… however, before we come forward, I want to read a passage connected to communion...
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
I want to encourage you to examine yourself. Do you need to get right with God? If you take communion this morning, would it be in an unworthy manner? If so, don’t skip it. Repent [turn from your sin], and put your faith in Jesus as Lord! Jesus, our great Savior (the greatest apostle - the One sent from heaven to save us - and the greatest prophet who revealed God’s heart to us) will not turn any away who come to Him. Surrender to Jesus. And join our church family in taking communion together.
Communion:
Communion:
1 Cor 11:23-29
Let’s pray...
Father, thank You for saving us. Thank you for loving us. And we ask You to help us use the gifts that You’ve given our church family. May they be used to preach the gospel to our community. May they build up Your church. And may they help us love You, and love one another. In Jesus name, amen.