Gifted for Good
Notes
Transcript
You may have noticed on your way in this morning that some of our health policies have changed.
In light of the new CDC recommendations and the State of New York’s updated health guidelines.
The elders have decided that masks will now be optional for all fully vaccinated individuals.
If you are not vaccinated we only ask that you wear a mask as you move about the building. Once seated you may remove your mask for the duration of the service.
Armenoosh Shahbazian went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday morning last week.
Service will be at Straub, Catalano, & Halvey in Wappingers Falls this Saturday the 29th at 11am. Followed by a grave side comital service at Fishkill Rural Cemetery.
There will be an outdoor reception afterwards back at Ed Shahbazian’s home.
Next week our missionaries with JAARS, Kerry and Pat Oppel, will be here. I’d like to invite you to join them during the SS hour to learn more about their ministry and have an opportunity to ask questions and pray for them and their ministry.
They will also be sharing briefly in the service next week
Read Letter from Pastor Gary
Review:
Kingdom Building
Our desire is to seek God advance His Kingdom in our community in us and through us.
Be watchful to guard against gospel drift
Fight the flesh by walking in the Spirit and bearing spiritual fruit
Persevere under pressure in:
Faith
Hope
Love
Because Jesus is worth it!
Last Week: We looked at Jesus’ prayer for Unity for his followers.
Our ability to reach our community will always be directly tied to the measure of our unity.
Intro
This morning we’re going to be looking at Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth.
One thing you need to always keep in mind when reading a New Testament letter like this is that when we read it, we are reading someone else’s mail.
Often NT letters are referred to as Occasional Documents — meaning that the letter was written in response to a particular Occasion. Many times this occasion is a problem that needs to be addressed.
This is certainly the case in Paul’s Corinthian letters.
For example, in this letter, 6x Paul begins to make a point by saying “Now Concerning”.
Each time this phrase is used, it is a clue that Paul is responding to something that the Corinthians have either written to Paul about or that Paul has learned about them through other means...
We see a clear example of this in 1 Cor. 7:1 — Where Paul writes...
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
Our text for this morning begins with these same words. And Paul will proceed to address a matter of disfunction in the Corinthian church over the abuse of Spiritual Gifts.
Were going to look at 3 things in our text this morning
The Problem
The Correction
The Purpose
And we will land on the answer to this question: How is it that God shows Himself to the World today?
Let’s read 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 now...
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
PRAY
The Problem
The Problem
The problem is not stated explicitly. Remember we are reading someone else’s mail. So, the problem Paul addresses can be reconstructed backwards by identifying the reverse side of the arguments that Paul makes.
When considering the context of the broader letter we can see that in light of their various Spirit empowered abilities some of these Christians were becoming prideful and overvaluing themselves.
This overvaluing led to the marginalization of those believed to have less valuable abilities.
These undervalued believers were tempted to sit things out because they were made to think that they didn’t have as much as others to offer.
This church was divided along these lines: the overvalued & the undervalued based on the kinds of spiritual abilities they had.
Here’s the thing. Our fallen human nature, searches for anything about ourselves that is unique — something that sets us apart...
I’m smarter
I’m more athletic
I’m prettier
I’m a more moral person
And when our human nature discovers what is unique about us. It becomes a source of pride and we think less of others so that we look better in our own eyes.
Or we may not think that there is anything particularly unique about ourselves and conclude that we don’t have much to offer.
And this is how the Corinthian believers viewed their spiritual abilities. For some it was like discovering a new Marvel super power.
The more spectacular the ability the more unique and valuable they were.
The ability that seemed to be elevated above others in the Corinthian church was the ability to speak in tongues —
We won’t get into exactly what this gift means because it would really be a distraction from the main idea this morning.
So, for now all I want you to see is that their fallen nature was latching on to these spiritual abilities and turning them in on themselves and driving them apart from one another.
So, for us today it’s probably not speaking in tongues but it’s something else. An ability, a talent, a ministry role.
Your flesh will latch on to something unique about you and tempt you to be prideful
Or it will neutralize you because you...
Can’t play the guitar like Brett Valentine
Or pray as eloquently as others
Or you can’t cook like Kenny Jernigan
Or sing like Josie
Or fill in the blank with whatever else you can think of.
The heart of the problem is that their flesh was latching onto these spiritual abilities and dividing the church by means of pride or despair.
The Correction
The Correction
Look at verse 1 to see how how Paul addresses this right out of the gate.
Paul’s words were a slap in the face to those puffed up with pride regarding to their spiritual abilities.
Paul says, “I do not want you to be uninformed brothers.
Uninformed? They may have thought…who does this Paul guy think he is. Doesn’t he know what I can do?
Paul’s tactic is to educate them — to correct their thinking. School is now in session!
He lays the foundation for this corrective teaching in verse 2 by reminding them of who they once were...
They were Pagans and led astray to mute idols with no power at all —
These believers, who thought so highly of their knowledge and wisdom were at one time duped.
Notice how Paul says this though...They WERE pagans [past tense] as if to say, “You are not what you once were so don’t think and act like you did before you knew Christ.”
And in verse 3 Paul then corrects their thinking by pointing out that they have no grounds for boasting even in the basics of the faith — their very confession of Christ as LORD.
He’s saying that you didn’t come to Christ because you were so clever or wise.
NO! You needed the Holy Spirit to even get you to the door — to come to Christ in the first place!
Now Pauls going to build on this foundation by adding 3 more reasons to check their pride at the door.
For the first time in this argument Paul introduces the word GIFTS in verse 4.
This is not clear in our english translation but in verse 1 when Paul begins with “Now concerning spiritual gifts”. The word for gifts is not there like it is later in his argument.
In the most strict sense this should be translated as spiritual things or persons.
I think this is reflecting the fact that Paul first addresses their disfunction in these matters by using their own verbiage.
In other words, I don’t think that the Corinthians first wrote to Paul with the understanding that their Holy Spirit empowered abilities were gifts at all.
So, beginning in verse 4 Paul is correcting their thinking about their so called spiritual abilities.
They are GIFTS! And their value lies not in any particular kind of gift but in the source or giver of that gift!
If the Queen of England gave you a paper clip and gave your friend a bicycle — while the bike may have a more flashy function, the paper clip is not to be made light of — Why? Because the Queen gave it to you. You’re probably going to hang onto it.
Because is the giver that makes the gifts valuable not the gift itself.
And because the Spirit is the common giver...All the gifts should be valued equally.
Not only should these abilities be seen as GIFTS...
But Paul says they are also EMPOWERED by the same source!
It’s the same Spirit that enables ALL these abilities!
Paul applies this more broadly than to just their spiritual abilities. He also mentions:
SERVICE — or another way to think of this is your ministry.
Lastly, he includes ACTIVITIES — which can be understood to mean the effects or outcomes of the Spirit’s work in your life.
So it is God who empowers ALL of these things in EVERYONE.
ALL...
ALL your spiritual abilities,
ALL Your ministries
And ALL the results
Are ALL empowered by the same Spirit!
And EVERYONE...
This is all inclusive — there is NO Christian that is exempt!
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit and should be respected for their abilities, ministry, and outcomes.
So these are GIFTS from a common giver and they are EMPOWERED by the same source.
Paul gives one more reason not to boast. He summarizes all three in verse 11 (1 Cor. 12:11 )
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Do you see it at the end there. God EMPOWERS and APPORTIONS (or gives) As HE WILLS!
NOT because we are more worthy
Or better looking
More successful in business
More athletic.
Or anything having to do with ourselves...
But according to HIS WILL!
So all grounds for pride or despair are removed on the grounds that it is God the Spirit who GIVES, EMPOWERS, and WILLS our abilities to be used for His service!
The Purpose
The Purpose
Look now at verse 7 (1 Cor. 12:7)
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
First the purpose of our gifts is to manifest or to SHOW the Spirit.
This was Jesus’ mission to show or manifest God to people that they may belong to Him. We see this in Jesus’ prayer that we looked at last week (John 17:6).
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
In this way the giving of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers is His means for empowering them to join him in His mission to make God known to others.
Listen to Jesus’ words in John 14:12.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
These works are not greater in substance but greater in scope.
Think of it this way. Instead of God making himself known exclusively through His Son, Jesus’ work and mission continues now through his people the church spread all over the globe doing his works.
How are we able to do this? Jesus explains just a few verses later in John 14:16-17.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
So here Jesus promises the indwelling of the Spirit in his followers to empower them for his mission.
Now notice something about the list of abilities in verses 8-10.
This list is one of several lists that we can find in the NT. And no NT scholar believes these to be exhaustive.
Some of these gifts are more spectacular others are more ordinary sounding. And it can be difficult to define exactly what some of these mean.
For some of these there are as many commentaries as there are opinions as to what they mean.
So, I don’t want us to get hung up on this this morning.
What I want to point out is that these abilities reflect God’s attributes and they reflect the kinds of works that Jesus did.
And it is in using our Spirit GIVEN, Spirit EMPOWERED abilities that we make Him visible to the world.
Later in Paul’s letter he presents a hypothetical scenario where an outsider enters their worship gathering and experiences them using their spiritual gifts in an orderly way...
And that unbeliever falls to his face and worships God declaring that God is among them!
So this is the first purpose for spiritual gifts — to manifest/show/reveal God to others by enabling us to do the kinds of works that Jesus did.
The next purpose in verse 7 is that these gifts are to be used for the common good.
The Corinthian Christians saw their gifts in a self serving way as a means to draw attention to themselves.
These gifts should not lead to rivalry or jealousy but for the common good.
The ultimate good is that others would come to put their trust in Jesus as he is revealed through his people using their spiritual gifts!
This was Paul’s hypothetical that he gives in chapter 14.
The other good is the building up of the body — the church.
In verses 12-13 Paul introduces his classic body analogy to describe the local church.
We are one body with many members and so it is with the church he argues.
But get this — this is a profound reality here in verse 13. Paul says that in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body!
The baptism Paul has in mind here is not the outward ordinance we practice here when we immerse someone in the tub behind me.
NO. Paul is pointing to the inner unseen baptism that water baptism points to.
He’s talking about our conversion to Christ.
But please see this…your conversion to Christ does more than unite you to Christ.
It does more than give you the Holy Spirit.
It also makes you a part of Christ’s body — the church universal but especially the local church.
Paul’s point here is that as diverse parts of one body we are not independent we are interdependent.
No one has all of the gifts of the Spirit.
Each individual has something to contribute to the church for its good.
Look how Paul articulates this in Ephesians 4:15-16.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Church as we desire and pray for revitalization, I hope the coin is dropping into the slot now for you.
To fail to understand that...
God has given you a unique gift of his choosing...
And put you in this church...
To use those gifts to magnify God...
For His glory and your joy.
To not get this and to stay on the sidelines robs and stifles the church.
God LOVES you...
He sent Jesus to die for you to pay for your sin.
To make you part of His body the church.
And he’s gifted you and has decided how He wants to use you in this particular time and place in history for His glory and the building up of His body the church.
If you are in Christ — you have the Spirit and God wants to use you no matter how insignificant you think your gift is.
Fishkill Baptist Church - as we seek to build up the church and see the Kingdom of God advance through us in our community it’s going to take all of us using our gifts together.
Conclusion
God will build His church through the diverse ministry of ALL his people, united in ONE Spirit for ONE mission!
Benediction
English Standard Version Chapter 13
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.