Good morning, CHURCH!

(Opening joke)

Mothers are so caring and nurturing, aren’t they? You gotta love them, right?

A particular mother saw her young son laying in the floor holding his side and making a painful face.

She asked, “What’s wrong son?” He said, “Mom I have a pain in my side.”

A few Sundays later during a Sunday school lesson, the child learned about how God created human beings.

He became especially focused when the teacher explained how Eve was created from Adam’s rib.

Later in the week, the boy’s mother saw him lying down on the floor again with a painful face and holding his side, so she asked him what was wrong.

His reply was priceless:

“Mom, you know I’ve been having this pain in my side. Well, I think I know what it is.

I think I’m getting a wife.”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of Colossians 3:12-14,17 for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these, put-on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Apostle Paul starts with what is most likely a reference to putting on military armor.

In the same way you have to armor up do these things.

Or maybe you can think about the way you get dressed daily and put on clothes.

And then love is like the conductor of the orchestra.

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This was Paul’s way of saying that the ways of God should guide us in every arena of life.

Not just in church gatherings.

And when we operate in the name of Jesus we glorify God the Father.

Today’s message title is:

Spiritual Gifts - What are they for?

Some things we mentioned last week either during the message or during Family Talk

Spiritual Gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for Ministry, both for the edification of the Church and for God’s mission to save the world.

*Spiritual Gifts are not wiring's.

*Spiritual Gifts don’t have to be based on your personality.

*Just because God uses you in a certain gift once doesn’t mean that you will always operate in that gift.

*Let me add this. Spiritual gifts don’t only have to be used during the weekend service.

*The gifts that Jesus gave were ministry offices. (Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers)

The gifts are the people.

All, in their particular ministries, are God’s gift to the church.

Calvin said, ‘To Christ, we owe it that we have ministers of the gospel.’

The church may appoint people to different work and functions, but unless they have the gifts of the Spirit, and therefore are themselves the gifts of Christ to his church, their appointment is valueless.

Allan said, the expression also ‘serves well to remind ministers that the gifts of the Spirit are not for the enrichment of oneself but for the enrichment of the Church’.

Some have called this the 5-fold ministry gifts but the way the language is written it’s probably the 4-fold ministry gifts because pastors and teachers are together.

Ephesians 4:11 KJV

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

These gifts share a common focus and basis of authority as bearers of Christ’s message.

The authority is resides in their message and spiritual gifting.

They are all equippers.

What are they for?

Point #1

It’s not about you, it’s about him

In no way are the spiritual gifts to be used to draw attention to oneself or put on a showy display.

The church at Corinth had this bad.

They were chaotic in their use of the gifts.

This is one of the reasons Apostle Paul had to bring order to the use of spiritual gifts in the church.

1 Corinthians 14:22-25 ESV

Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 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.

In this particular instance, since 14:25 describes conversion, the content of prophecy must include the gospel.

Paul is not saying that the one prophesying knows the secrets of the unbeliever, but rather that the unbeliever becomes keenly aware of his alienation from God

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 NIV

But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 KJV

But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:

25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 ESV

If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.

28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

Order was very important in lecture settings and public assemblies in antiquity, as is clear from the frequent practice of seating according to rank.

In Essene assemblies, one had to have permission to speak, and one spoke in order according to rank.

It’s not that Paul is trying to be super strict here, but he wants us to balance spontaneity with order.

Not everything that was inherently good was necessarily good for the gathered assembly. (Family talk vs teaching)

We should love people enough to care about how we can reach them for Christ and not care so much about how we can be impressive with the gifts.

Love plays a big role in reaching people for Christ.

1 Corinthians 13 says the Spirit produces faith, hope and love the greatest of the three is love.

What do you think is going to happen if people come into your church and see the gifts of God in operation and then encounter the same people that exercised the gifts later being unloving?

It works against everything God was trying to do to win them over to Christ.

That’s why you hear the people in the church being referred to as hypocrites.

Point #2

They’re from him, but it’s up to you

One of the worst things for me as a parent is if we provide something substantial as a gift for one of our kids and they don’t take care of it.

You try and be a blessing to your child and buy them a car.

6 months later the car looks like they live in it and have never cleaned it since it was given to them.

Or maybe the bedroom you provide for them looks a mess.

Shouldn’t we take care of the things that our parents have provided for us?

We should also take care of and develop the gifts God has given us.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Paul was talking about the faith that Timothy has and that was officially recognized through the laying on of hands.

It was also in his grandmother and his mother, and now he was encouraging Timothy to build it into a blazing fire.

e.g. As you’re building a fire, you start to blow on it and fan it to get it ablaze.

We should also be looking to fan into flame the gift/gifts God has given us.

You have to believe that the gifts are available from God.

You have to mature yourself in the understanding of what they are for.

You have to know when you are hearing Holy Spirit.

You have to have faith to speak or do what he tells you to do.

Point #3

From kids to adults

It’s like going from boys to men or from girls to women.

No matter what the gift, its purpose is to edify and mature the church and to glorify God in serving others.

Kids first words usually include the word mines.

You have to grow up a little before you learn to look out for the good of others.

Scripture contains several passages about spiritual gifts and they all mention what the purpose of the gifts are.

1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Corinthians 14:26 ESV

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

Ephesians 4:11-14 ESV

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 frow by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

(Closing illustration)

Talk about how I fanned into flame the gift of teaching that is in me.

I changed who I listened to and who I followed.

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?