Gifted on Purpose (Lesson 2)
Notes
Transcript
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-7, 11 KJV
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Paul opens by saying — I don’t want you to be ignorant about this!
That tells us that the enemy would love nothing more than to keep the Church in the dark about the gifts God has placed within her.
Notice that the gifts come from one Spirit, but they are diverse — many expressions of the same God working through His people.
And verse 7 is the key that unlocks everything — the gifts are given to every man to PROFIT withal. Not for show. Not for status. For profit — for the benefit of the whole Body!
This series is about understanding what God has placed in you, why He placed it there, and how He intends to use it for His glory.
I. Review
The Gifts Are God’s Provision for God’s Mission
God has a mission for His Church — and that mission is bigger than any one of us can carry alone.
So He distributes gifts throughout the Body so that together, we can do what none of us could do alone.
He GAVE — these gifts are not earned, they are given!
And they are given with a clear purpose: to perfect the saints, to do the work of the ministry, to edify — to BUILD UP — the Body.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
11 And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
God is building something. And He has chosen to build it through gifted, Spirit-filled people just like you.
What He placed in you before you were born — He still intends to use!
The Gifts Validate the Calling — God Never Sends Anyone Empty
Look throughout Scripture and you will find the same pattern every time — when God calls, He equips.
He never asks you to go where He hasn’t already prepared provision for you.
Moses had every excuse in the book — and God answered every one of them with the same promise: I will be with you.
God knew Jeremiah before he was even formed in the womb.
He was ordained BEFORE he was born — and friend, so were you!
Our sufficiency — our ability, our adequacy — is of GOD.
He made us able. That’s not our doing, that’s His grace!
You are not operating on your own strength. You are operating on the strength of the One who called you.
Just because God moves on you to be used, doesn’t mean you will just all of a sudden uncontrollably burst out. You have to decide whether you will proceed.
29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
29 But if there are prophets, let two or three speak and let the rest judge.
30 And if anything is revealed to some one else who is seated there, let the first be silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged:
32 and the spirits of prophets yield submission to prophets.
33 For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace, as He is in all the churches of His people.
III. The Gifts Are Intentional — You Were Placed on Purpose
Nothing about how God gifted you is an accident.
He didn’t randomly distribute gifts and hope for the best — He sovereignly and strategically placed each gift in each member of the Body.
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
God SET you in the Body — as it pleased HIM.
You are not in the Body of Christ by accident. You were PLACED there by the hand of God.
Your gift, your personality, your background — all of it is part of His design for where He has put you.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; And in thy book all my members were written, Which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Before you drew your first breath, God already had a plan for your life written in His book!
He fashioned you with intention. You are not an afterthought — you are a masterpiece in progress.
Fearfully and wonderfully made — that includes the gifts He wove into the fabric of who you are!
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are His WORKMANSHIP — the Greek word is poiema, from which we get the word poem.
You are God’s poem — His masterpiece, crafted with purpose and precision.
And those good works He prepared for you? They were ordained BEFORE you got here. Your lane was already marked out!
IV. Don’t Neglect What God Has Placed In You
Here is where it gets personal.
God has gifted every one of us — but a gift unused is a gift that profits no one.
Paul had to remind Timothy of this very thing.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Neglect not — don’t be careless with what God has entrusted to you!
The gift was given through prophecy and confirmed by the laying on of hands. It was recognized, it was real — and Timothy still needed to be reminded not to neglect it.
How many gifts are sitting dormant in the Body today because God’s people don’t know what they have?
2 Timothy 1:6 KJV
6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
Stir it up! Like a fire that needs tending, your gift requires attention.
A fire left alone will eventually go out. But a fire that is stirred, fed, and given air — it grows!
God is calling you to stir up what He put in you. Don’t let fear, discouragement, or the business of life smother what He lit inside you.
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Every servant received something — to every man according to his ability.
The master didn’t come back asking for a report on what someone else had done. He came asking about what THEY had done with what THEY were given.
The goal is to hear those words — Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Not well done thou GREAT servant. Not well done thou MULTI-TALENTED servant. Well done thou FAITHFUL servant.
God is not looking for perfect — He is looking for faithful!
Closing
Today we are just opening the door on this series.
Over the coming weeks we are going to look at the specific gifts God has given to His Church, how to discover what He has placed in you, and how to step into being used by God in ways you may have never imagined.
But it all starts here — with the understanding that God gifted you on PURPOSE.
You were not an accident. Your gifts are not random. And the God who placed them in you is the same God who will bring them to full flame if you will surrender and make yourself available.
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
He started it. He will finish it.
Your only job is to be faithful with what He has given you.
Will you say yes to Him today?
