To Equip!

Alright, well, we are going to be wrapping up / / Everybody Loves a Gift!, in this 7th week of this series.

The goal of this series wasn’t to necessarily train you in the gifts, but to enlighten you and hopefully intrigue you enough to want to follow what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:1, / / you should desire the special abilities the Spirit gives...

And that’s my hope, is that we see these things, and as we focus on love, which is the first part of that verse, / / Let love be your HIGHEST goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives...

So, we make love our primary focus - both receiving love from God and learning how to give love to God in return, but also to the people around us, and as we do that we desire to have these gifts for the benefit of those people.

We had a little planning session yesterday with Kaylee. it’s her birthday at the beginning of next month, and she confirmed for me what we all know at least every child believes. She said, “Everybody’s favorite part of their birthday is getting presents...” Everybody loves a gift!

But, when we make that connection of loving others and the true purpose and intention of these gifts, that’s when we see that truly makes this thing work, because without love it’s just selfish ambition and the bible warns us quite a bit about that.

James 3:16 says, / / For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

And it continues to say, and when you listen to this you should hear the foundation of love that God is continually laying, vs 17 continues to say, / / But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favortism and is always sincere.

The distinction is clear, selfish ambition leads to disorder and evil, but God’s desire for us is to bear fruit of good deeds, to be full of mercy, to yield to one another - we see in the bible it also says that we should outdo one another in showing honor. And I’ve been saying this since day one, / / the Gifts of the Spirit are outwardly focused!

So, we’re going to wrap things up today by looking at the remaining gifts that we’ve listed. Again, understanding that the Spirit of God is not limited in his ability to give gifts, but the Apostle Paul definitely talks about specific gifts having specific purpose within the church.

/ / 1. Tongues & Interpretation

These gifts can be a pretty big topic actually. And one of the main focuses we’ve had in this series is the outward focus of the gifts of the spirit, and yet, with this one, there seems to be a bit of a reversal, and I’ll touch on that in a minute.

These gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10, / / Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

This part is pretty straight forward because the word here for languages, or how the ESV interprets it, / / …various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. The greek word is / / glossa, which literally means tongue, the physical thing in your mouth that helps you talk, and also means the language or dialect by a particular people distinct from that of other nations.

This gift was expressed in grand fashion at the birth of the church in Acts 2. If you remember the story, Acts 2 is the day of Pentecost, that we just celebrated back on May 23rd. Jesus had been crucified, raised from the dead, spent time with his disciples, and when he left to go to heaven he told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit and power. And in Acts 2:4 they are all gathered together and the Holy Spirit does come, and it says, / / And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

I mean, imagine that. Suddenly you’re spouting out German and you’ve never spoken German before. Now, one could say, “Maybe they weren’t actually speaking in other languages, they were just speaking gibberish...”

BUT, Acts clears that one up for us right away. vs 5 says, / / At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” They stood amazed and perplexed...

In Acts 19:6 Paul the Apostle prays for some people to receive the Holy Spirit and it says, / / Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.

OK, same word, glossa, tongue, or dialects and languages. And we’ve talked about prophecy, so here it seems they were not only receiving something from God to share as a word of prophecy, but they spoke it in a different language that they don’t normally speak.

Now, this is why I said this one seems a bit different, because where all of these gifts are outwardly focused, this seems to be a bit more directed to God, while at the same time, bringing glory to God, which is evidence for those around that God is there. So it’s got a bit of an upward and outward focus.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:2, / / For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious… A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally… I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophesy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.

So, the gift of interpretation and the gift of tongues are meant to work together, and one without the other doesn’t really work, does it? If I start speaking German and you don’t speak German, and God hasn’t given you the ability to understand German in the moment, then my speaking in German isn’t really much of a great thing, is it? Even if I’m saying wonderful things about God, and really praising him and loving Him and giving him worship.... it doesn’t mean much to you.

Because it’s in the interpretation of the language, understanding that person doesn’t speak that language, that shows God’s power. Without someone who speaks the language, confirming, yes, this person is definitely doing something by the power of God, then it can’t even be qualified as an actual God given moment.

I met a person who was convinced they could speak Hebrew by the gift of the Spirit. I was there, they did it, but a person in the room who actually speaks Hebrew said, “No, they didn’t say anything...” I don’t say that to point out someone’s flaw, but to remind us, like I did last week, that with power comes responsibility. Paul says multiple times, take these things seriously. The gift of tongues is specific and purposeful, but Paul says, if it’s not going to be purposeful, don’t bother. If someone can’t prove this is God, don’t bother. Instead, encourage someone, love on them, comfort them. At least that way people leave having experienced God’s love.

Because when it is real, it’s amazing. In Acts 2, when the disciples all started talking in new languages, it WAS a wonderful moment because all of these people from around other parts of the world heard AND understood what they were saying, and it says they were speaking of the wonderful things God had done. The result is that Peter gets up, explains this is the gift of the Holy Spirit that was promised to all of Israel, and more than 3000 people join the church that very day, choosing to believe in and follow Jesus Christ! Why? Because they heard their language from someone they knew couldn’t speak their language.

What an amazing Gift and an amazing Moment.

So, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:9-14, / / If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 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. So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.

Kelley and I have a friend that was speaking in a South American country, does not speak the language and had an interpreter working with him. It was a very large meeting, and as he was speaking, he suddenly became suspicious that the interpreter was not actually saying what He was saying. He wasn’t translating correctly. The man was not a follower of Jesus and indeed was not translating what he had been speaking. And in that moment he began to understand what the interpreter was saying, the Holy Spirit gave him the gift of interpretation in that moment and he turned to the man and said, “Nope, that’s not what I said. You need to start actually saying what I’m saying...” the man was completely shocked because he knew this guy didn’t speak the language.

So, there’s a couple different things at play here. The gift of languages that doesn’t require interpretation because someone hears it and naturally understands. The gift of interpretation that is given in the moment to understand the natural language being spoken. And then what Paul talks about, the ability to speak a language that you don’t know, but also the gift to interpret what you’re saying, which seems to be a more God directed moment.

Now, there’s been some confusion in the church on what the bible calls mysterious languages. Are there languages of heaven that we don’t know here on earth? Are we so naive to think angels speak English? I have a Puerto Rican friend that’s convinced Spanish is the language of heaven…maybe he’s right. 1 Corinthians 14:2 in the ESV says, / / For one who speaks in tongues speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

And in 1 Corinthians 13, which is of course the chapter on Love in the midst of talking about the gifts of the Spirit, Paul starts by saying, / / If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels...

So, if I can speak a language but no one can interpret I am praising God, and building myself up because God is present with me when I worship, but if I speak in a language and someone is able to interpret it that could be a sign that leads someone to Christ, and that’s a pretty awesome thing.

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OK, the last gifts we’re looking at are what are often called the ministry gifts. Or if you’ve been a part of the church for a long time you may have heard the term, “Five-Fold Ministry Gifts”. They are in Ephesians 4:11-12, / / Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

So, these are the gifts, the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor & Teacher. And their purpose is clear, to train and equip people WITHIN THE CHURCH to find their purpose and their talents in order to build up the church and be about God’s business.

So, we looked at the gift of Prophecy in the beginning of this series, and it’s come up quite a few times throughout the series, which makes sense, as Paul tells us to earnestly pursue the gifts of the Spirit, ESPECIALLY that you can prophecy, because prophecy at its core is about strengthening, encouraging and comforting others. But let’s look at these others as well.

/ / 2. Pastor

Now, let’s clear something up. We’ve got a term, or title, Pastor, that is often seen as the leader of a particular church. But just because someone is called “Pastor” doesn’t mean they necessarily embody that gift. In fact, I’ve met many church leaders that are very gifted in certain areas, but not necessarily the gift of being a pastor. But, over the course of 2000 years of church history the church as a whole has settled on a few terms to identify those whom have taken the responsibility of church leadership and, the title of Pastor is one of those.

But the gift of the Spirit here is the greek word / / poimen and it simply means shepherd or overseer. If you look at the biblical context here of what a shepherd was responsible for, they ultimately looked after the sheep, took care of them, fed them, led them, protected them from predators and thieves. The result of that was a trust and relationship that sheep were willing to continue following the shepherd. And ultimately this is the heart of someone who is a Pastor. And I say the heart of the Pastor, not the job of the pastor.

Acts 20:28 says, / / So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock - his church, purchased with his own blood - over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.

So, I said this is the heart, and not the job of the Pastor, because, The first thing those with the Pastoral gift need to recognize is that they will never, should never and it is not their responsibility to ever try to shepherd someone in a way that Jesus is responsible for. Jesus said of himself, I am the good shepherd, my sheep here my voice, they know it and they follow me. So, if you’ve been given this gift, remember that being a pastor doesn’t mean taking a burden that Jesus already fulfilled. Remember, Jesus also said, take MY yolk upon you, for my yolk is easy and my burden is light.

SO, we are all sheep, and there is zero substitution for Jesus as our shepherd... and we are all being ultimately led by Jesus Christ himself, and we must personally be attuned to HIS voice. But He has also given some people the gift and desire to care for others in this way, just like he’s given other gifts for other areas of care and teaching. And I think the primary function of the Pastor, or shepherd, is to point people to the Good Shepherd. It’s one of the things I love the most, when I see that lightbulb go on in someone’s heart and mind that they see Jesus for who he is, they realize His truth and His love and they make that personal connection with Him.

Now, these ministry gifts come with some direction as well as gifting. Paul says we need to focus on love, because love keeps us focused on using our gifts for the benefit of others. But when it comes to some of these gifts, like these ministry gifts, they are about church leadership and actually come with some warnings or qualifications.

in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 it outlines what one should be to become a leader in the church. / / This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

The term there, “Church Leader” is also translated as Office of Overseer, it’s also where we get the term bishop.

And to clear things up… Let’s just retrace our steps a few weeks like we’re at Mother’s Day again… in this house we believe in the leadership ability, endorsement and recognition of women as well as men, not because we as men choose to give women the right or ability to do so, but because from the very beginning of creation God set a mandate before both men and women to be his representation on this earth. This is a quality and qualification given by God, not by people.

The gift of Pastor is often linked closely to the gift of Teacher because the pastor’s primary role is to point people to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and we do that by teaching about Jesus, about what the Bible teaches. This is the way a pastor helps people be protected, safe and secure, by teaching them what Jesus teaches, how to follow after him, not trying to do it themselves.

The best place any of us can be is to be following Jesus, and so the best way someone can lead others is to lead them to a life of following Jesus.

/ / 3. Teacher

As I said, Teacher is closely linked to Pastor, but of course teacher is really its own gift. The greek word is / / didaskalos, it comes from didasko, which means to teach, instruct, instill doctrine, explain and expound.

The teacher is an instructor, the term is also used for master, or doctor.

If you’ve ever met someone that can just explain things in a way that make sense. They probably have a gift of teaching.

The person who when you ask them something, doesn’t just give you an answer off the top of their head, although they probably have it, but you’ll see them silently get on their phone, do a little research and then come back with the actual answer. If you have a conversation and a question hasn’t been answered, this person won’t be able to settle until they answer is found.

They are often well thought out, not answering too quickly, but will wait to give an answer they truly believe and are willing to stand behind. And this is a good thing, because those with the gift of teaching have been given the awesome responsibility to be stewards of the word of God for the people of God.

Now, someone else having a talent or gift for something does NOT give the rest of us the right or reason to not focus on it. Just because someone else loves studying the word of God, and maybe it’s difficult for you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, it just means they’ll most likely dig deeper, longer and enjoy it more. It also means they’ve been given this gift to HELP you.

Some people look at it and say, “that’s your gift, I don’t need to do that”… or, “I’m just no good at that...” There’s lots of things I’m not good at, but still need to do… Which means we get to see this as an opportunity and say say, “Wow! You have a gift for this, can you explain this to me? Help me see what you see...” This is again where our gifts are meant to encourage and uplift each other. If you have the gift of teaching it’s important to recognize that you have been gifted with the desire and ability to research something SO THAT others don’t have to, or you can help them to do so.

That’s why it’s the gift of TEACHING, and not STUDYING. I’ve said this before, these gifts are not for self-ambition, gaining knowledge just for you, but to help the body of Christ grow.

I believe we should all be reading the Bible, it’s just good for you. But I also believe some are given the gift to explain what others may not be able to, to shine light where it’s needed, to give insight and direction from something that may seem complicated and obscure.

This is also a good point to see. Don’t take your information from just anyone. Some people like to pick and pull from the bible to fit their own narrative. That can cause issues, because it’s a big book, and you could make it say whatever you want by picking apart the pieces you want. We’ve all seen a news interview where the video is so chopped up and half of what the person said is missing, which results in what they did say being taken so far out of context that you’re left hearing something the person didn’t really say.

Someone with the gift of teaching is going to get pretty upset when the Bible is abused and used out of context or with the intent to mislead people. They LOVE the truth and endeavor to speak it in love. They do their best to not hide the truth, or to withhold it. If they know the answer, they’ll give it to you.

Now, like we read with Pastor, teacher comes with a warning! James 3:1 says, / / …not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.

And in Titus 2, Paul is writing to Titus and says, / / …promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching… And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized.

Teaching is an incredibly wonderful, powerful gift with a great purpose. But it’s also to be taken very seriously. Remember last week I said the best thing you can do is invest in a really good study bible, because many people with the gift of teaching have come together and studied and given context and insight for the word of God.

And if you recognize in your life that you exhibit some of these things. You like to research, you like to explain things, you like to teach people… begin to use that gift by studying the word of God. God may be leading you to be a teacher of His word! To point people to Jesus through teaching them.

/ / 4. Apostle

The gift of apostle is a little different than those we see in the bible we call Apostle. Paul even says in Galatians 1:1, / / I was not appointed by any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.

The Apostles of the early church wrote scripture, were the eye witnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were there for the birth of the church and to establish the church. They had a unique role that the rest of history won’t ever get to share in simply because of their proximity to Jesus and the time they lived.

The word for apostle in Ephesians 4 is / / apostolos, and it means a messenger, one who is sent with orders. In this way Paul was a model for the gift of those who are called to be apostles. He would go to one place, work with people, raise up leaders, identify their gifts and establish a new church, spend 2-3 years there really building them up and then he would go on to the next place. There’s almost an entrepreneurial aspect to Apostles, they desire to see new things of God come up. New ministry, new churches, new people leading them. Their gift is to raise people up into positions of leadership. To establish them and the churches regardless of whether the environment is challenging or not. And they are able to raise up and develop leaders, call out and lead pastors and shepherds.

Many who carry this gift are ministers to those who minister. I have people in my life that I turn to to minister to me. To teach me, to lead me.

Our church is part of what we would call an Apostolic Network of Churches, called / / Harvest Alliance. And there are three couples who lead that network, of those people all three are very apostolic in nature in that they not only lead an effective church locally, but are able to give insight and direction for those of us far away from them. My direct connection here in the US is a man by the name of Cameron Wright, who lives up in Michigan. We’ll have him down here at some point. But he’s a great guy. He’s got a heart for people leading other people.

/ / Often times people with the apostolic gift will find themselves being missionaries, church planters, scholars and leaders who have the desire to help those who lead.

/ / 5. Evangelist

This is the last gift we’re looking at in this series. The gift of the evangelist.

The greek word is / / euaggelistes, and it means a preacher of the gospel, or a bringer of good news. Gospel simply means Good News, so the evangelist is one who brings someone the good news of the gospel. They have a story, a testimony of something God did in their lives, and they can’t wait to tell you about it.

Alright, first things first, this is like most of the gifts, we’re all called to live a life that invites people to the gospel. We are all called to be disciples, and one of the things a disciple is meant to do is to help other people become disciples.

Now, disciple isn’t a scary word. Disciple simply means one who learns, a student, someone who is invested in learning. So, as we become disciples of Jesus Christ, following His ways, our lives become an example and an opportunity to help others do the same.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, after he’s been raised from the dead, before he leaves the earth, he says to his disciples, / / I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

So, there’s a clear directive, help others see and follow Jesus. But some are given a greater measure, passion and effectiveness for doing this. Some help those who already believe, others help those who do not yet believe.

Someone with the gift of evangelism is going to always be talking about Jesus in any moment they can. Tammy can’t help but mention Jesus to people....the invitation to follow who she follows!

Remember one of the things we’ve talked about with these gifts is that they take training and practice. I believe some people are given the gift of evangelism, but don’t learn how to use it, and as a result are constantly frustrated that they don’t see results. If you have a desire to help people see Jesus, learn how to communicate that effectively. You probably have the ability to overcome fear unlike others. Or you don’t even have a fear to overcome because you just don’t fear rejection like some do. You just start talking about Jesus to people without thinking whether they will reject you or not. And the confidence helps in their response because you are confident of your message, which helps people be confident in what you’re saying.

You may find you want to be around people who aren’t already followers of Jesus, not because you want to be around what they are doing, but because you want to show them Jesus.

You may hear God, by the leading of the Holy Spirit to talk to certain people, to reach out to someone, to go places you weren’t planning on and encounter situations you don’t feel ready for, but in the moment recognize you have all you need by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is Good News! And those who have the give of evangelism embody 2 Corinthians 4:5-6, / / You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

I have a light, I’ve found something worth sharing. Let me tell you about it!

You probably have a burden for people who don’t know Jesus, and don’t understand why others don’t share that burden. Remember, not everyone will have this gift, or at least not in the same measure. You would go out of the way to share that story where others won’t. You will say things others might not. You will express your heart in situations others would be silent in.

Don’t let the lack of someone else’s gift hinder yours, let it encourage you that you were given this gift for a purpose.

And I want to say that to all of us, regardless of your gift.

I’ve been in situations where people have told me, the bible says we can do all things through Christ, so don’t think about the gift you don’t have, just do what I’m telling you to do. And to be honest, I don’t think that works.

In the same way we can’t let the lack of someone else’s gift deter us, we can’t let the gift that others DO have to stop us as well. Unity, love and community are the very center of these gifts given by God. Which means you finding your gift, your voice, your talent and learning how to use it to the best of your ability is PART of me doing the same. Where you may bring someone to Christ, Someone else may be able to teach them the deep things of God, while someone else can prophecy over them and share God’s heart for them, while someone else can pray for healing, and another will sit with them to comfort them in times of need, while yet another will be able to give a gift that covers a need, and others come to protect, lead, and help train and equip them to become someone who isn’t just added to the community, but becomes a true member, recognizing their own gifts and potential.

See, / / we are all necessary, we are all needed. There is not one of us that aren’t needed. And God has given each of us gifts that are NEEDED for the body of Christ to fulfill it’s great destiny in this earth!

1 Peter 4:10 says, / / God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.