Sermon Tone Analysis

I was addicted to the hokey pokey…but I turned myself around.

I don't trust stairs.

They are always up to something.

Dad: Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?

Son: No. What happened?

Dad: The teacher woke him up.

One that my Dad just told me… had me really good...

I too was once a man trapped in a woman’s body...... but then I was born.

I. Unity Within the Spiritual Gifts

I(A).

We Confess the Same Lord (v.1-3)

I(B).

We Depend on the Same God (v.4-6)

I(C).

We Minister to the Same Body (v.7-11)

Before we get too far into the text, let’s review first what we have learned so far about the purposes of the Spiritual gifts ....

Purposes of Spiritual Gifts

Bring us Together

verses 4-6 show that the spiritual gifts bring us together.

How?

By realizing that everything good that we do is not of our own power or goodness, but it is of God.

It is a reminder similiar to that of the marriage triangle that you’ve perhaps seen.

As we grow closer to God, we grow closer to each other, recognizing that the real source of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control,… etc… all the things that draw us to each other all come from God.

So when we admire someone’s ability to teach, or appreciate someone’s encouragement, or thank some one’s service in helping them in a need… we aren’t recognizing the person so much as we are being drawn to the image of God that is being reflected in their life.

Recognzing it all comes from God, ceases rivalries and jealousies.... for where and what would you be without God.

Verses 1-2 tell us.... pagans, led astray… lost, bound, blind, and without hope.

It brings us together to worship the SAME SPIRIT, SAME LORD, and SAME GOD, who empowers them all as we read in verses 4-6.

He is the central figure of our lives and it keeps us focus on Him.

But there is another purpose of the Spiritual gifts as we read in the next verse.

Manifests the Spirit

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit!!!! What does it mean that we have been given the manifestation of the Spirit!!!! Two words we will look at...

Strong’s defines the word manifestation or phanérōsis: as exhibition, expression, a bestowment.

Paul used this word again in 2 Corinthians 4:2

Which the translators translated it to open statement.

That gives us an idea of what we have been given.

By using our gifts, we are an open statement that God is in our life.

Meaning that the Spiritual gifts act as vindication that God is in us.

1. Vindication

We know that it was difficult for the disciples to identify true followers of Christ from false ones.

What was Jesus’ criteria for recognizing true believers.

Not written specifically about spiritual gifts, but spiritual gifts along with the maturity of walking in the spirit which produces fruit, spiritual fruit.

Both of these are actions that show a change in life and vindicate a true follower.

Jesus’ was vindicated by his miracles.

That is why in the Gospel of John, the writer John, calls these miracles signs because they vindicated that Jesus truly was who He said He was.

The sign gifts were given to the church also for vindication.

Acts 2, the disciples spoke in many tongues so that all could hear, they thought the men drunk but they were not but in the power of God addressed all and many many believed.

In Acts 8, Philip did many signs and wonders for the Samaritans so they might know his message truly came from God.

Again, when Peter was sent to Cornelius, a Gentile, God gave a miraculous sign to confirm His work.

“And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (Acts 10:45-46).

When Peter was questioned by the other apostles, he gave this as evidence of God’s leading, and the others “glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18).

It wasn’t just evidence to Cornelius and the Gentiles that Peter’s message was true but the Gentiles also spoke in tongues confirming to the believers in Jerusalem that God had truly changed their hearts and they were truly a child of God.

It vindicated their belief.

This is what Paul even says the purpose of these sign gifts was… 1 Corinthians 14:22

In every instance, the sign gifts were a confirmation of God’s message and messenger, in order that people might hear and believe.

Will get to the sign gifts more in detail in coming weeks and why we at this church believe that the sign gifts have ceased.

Chapter 14 will have much to say on that so stayed tuned for that good time of learning.

But know that the sign gifts vindicated the message of the believer as do the spiritual gifts vindicate a true heart of repentance and belief.

Not only do the gifts vindicate but they also represent.

Vindication and Representation

2. Representation

Going back to our definition of Spiritual gifts from John MacArthur:

Spiritual gifts are divine enablements for ministry, characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body corporate just as they were manifested through the body incarnate

Characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body corporate

-Called to be little Christs… we are called to represent Him, show others through our actions what Christ looks like.

- Like Ambassadors- who represent a different land and different king

God supernaturally gifted individuals to look like Him.

If you are gifted the Spiritual Gift of Giving… then giving is going to come to you naturally and in great amounts.

A person gifted with the gift of giving will give large sums of money because it is what God has empowered them to do naturally.

And why would God do so, is it truly because the church needs their money… yes… and no… God does use the physical means to accomplish His goals… He’s just not inhibited by them.

But I belief God supernaturally gifts people so as to give a human representation of what that looks like.

Throughout all of human history and as you explore the Bible.

People have had a hard time understanding what things God is teaching them unless they see it with their eyes.

I don’t have time to go through all of the examples, but do your research and see how often they needed to see.

Jesus’ own disciples are quite the study on that.

So God is His goodness gave us examples right within our own church body of what His characteristics look like and that brings conviction and change in others lives.

For instance, I see a man give readily $10,000 to a person in need or to the church.

He doesn’t do it flashy or to get others attention but does it to be a blessing.

This isn’t a one time case, but has been characteristically been said of him often.

When I see him do so, Im either thinking, boy that guy is loaded, hahah,,,, or I’ll be saying why I am not giving like that.

You could put that same thought of any of the Spiritual gifts.... faith, hospitality, teaching, mercy, discernment, etc.... God supernaturally gifts those in the to give us a human representation of what that Christ like characteristic truly looks like in order that those who have don’t have that gift may work on it in their life so that they too can look like Christ in every way.

But we also see another purpose of Spiritual gifts right in the same verse....

For the Common Good

In another passage, written by Paul, Paul shares some of the spiritual gifts and what their use is for.... describing what this common good is...

It’s important again to note who gave the gifts.

It says, “He gave...” God gave.

As the walk discipleship book points out, Spiritual gifts are not yours to use; they are on loan from God!

Specifically the spiritual gifts of apostles, prophecy, evangelism, preaching, and teaching were used primarily for 1) equipping saints for the work of the ministry and 2) building up body of Christ.

… but you could well say that all spiritual gifts do such as well.

The exercise of spiritual gifts is a primary way God equips believers to do the work of the ministry, and as we see in verses 13… what are the results of people using their spiritual gifts… Unity of the faith, maturity and to what level of maturity… to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

And we’ve already talked about how they plays out.

If everyone uses their gifts in the church properly, and God gives the gifts out as He wills for the growth of the body, you can believe that everyone of Christ’s characteristics can be displayed in the body through each member giving us through different people but collectively a perfect picture of Christ.

So when I need to know what it looks like to model discernment like Christ… I look to Brad who God has given the gift of discernment, when I need to know what it looks like to give like Christ, I look to someone like Jason who has the gift of giving, when I need to know what it looks like to have knowledge like Christ I look to Lanny who possesses the gift of knowledge.

Furthermore, in the passage in Ephesians Paul gives us another look at a benefit of spiritual gift and how it is for the common good.

Verse 14 in Ephesians 4 says so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and from by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.

Exercising our spiritual gift actually helps protect other believers in the church.

Whether you are teaching a Sunday school class, comforting a saint who is hurting, giving to support the ministry, or cleaning and maintaining the church building, this passage says using your gift helps less mature believers grow in their walk with Christ and protects them from deception.

How?

We understand how teaching and exhortation could but how could gifts like hospitality be used to protect believers from deception.

Let me ask you a question, where did the first century believers meet to pray for one another, share intense struggles and pain, find encouragement, share laughs, and be part of the body of Christ daily like we see in the book of Acts.