Spiritual Gifts

Well, good morning to everyone. Happy Sabbath to all. I guess I'm one of those transplanted piamres that Mr. Myers was talking about, and good afternoon, good afternoon, good morning to any of you who are here. As Dr. Foust said, it certainly is nice to be here with you today. And again, before I go much further, I want to say thank you for that special music. Very nice song. It's nice to have talent and share it. It really adds to services. I appreciate it. Well, brethren, last year in the PM, Mr.

Antion gave a sermon. The title of the sermon was In One Accord, and he wasn't talking about an automobile. Just checking to see if you're awake here. Now, obviously, he was not talking about an automobile. He was talking about unity in the church, about the church being one body. Mr. Holiday also, before the Feast of Tabernacles last year, gave a similar sermon, where he was talking about unity in the church, how all the parts work together.

Everybody has a part, and we all work together. They both referred to a similar passage, or the same passage, actually, in 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul talks about the analogy of the body and the church, of all parts working together, all having a part, not being all the same, but still all working together, having unity and not uniformity. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 12, and we'll take a look at this analogy that Paul had, because actually, while that passage does apply, very much so, we're talking about the way a body works and the way the church should work, about all the parts working together.

The analogy applies very well, but that's not actually the main subject that Paul is talking about at that point. We'll pick up the context by turning to 1 Corinthians 12, and we'll see what Paul is talking about. As I mentioned, the analogy is a good one, but there's another main point that Paul is talking about at this particular time. Start in 1 Corinthians 12 and reading in verse 1, and it actually gives the context right there.

It says, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. So Paul is talking about spiritual gifts, and that's what it's going to be. 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 is all about spiritual gifts. Now notice here the word gifts is in italics, which means it was not in the original. However, it does fit. We could say talk about spiritual things, but then dropping down to verse 4, it says, There are diversities of gifts.

And here the word very definitely is in the original. In fact, this word here is a, I don't know if I'll say it's a unique word, but it's a word applying specifically to spiritual gifts or gifts from God. Or I'll say God's grace, although the word is not grace. But I think it's associated with grace. The word is charisma. According to Thayer's, it's related to grace. It's grace or gifts denoting extraordinary powers, gifts from God. So these are gifts from God. These aren't regular gifts that are mentioned in the New Testament. You know, if someone gives another person a gift, it's not necessarily that gift.

These are special gifts, powers from God. So continuing reading on, it says, There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And I'm going to stop at this point looking at this word, ministries. Now we hear the word minister today, and it means something to us. It has a certain connotation of an ordained person.

Again, that's not what this word is. It basically means service. Service to others. I'm not going to go into a lot of Greek definitions right now, but I will look at a couple other translations. The Bible in basic English says, There are different sorts of servants, but the same Lord. The English Standard Version said, And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. The word is basically service. Again, we hear the term minister, and we tend to think, you know, a certain picture in our mind. Again, that's not this word. There are differences of service, but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but is the same God who works all in all.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. It's given to each one for the prophet of all. Normally, when we think about this or when we hear about the subject of spiritual gifts, people tend to think, Oh, what is my spiritual gift? You know, what special thing has God given to me? How can I use this?

You know, what can I do? It tends to be focusing on the self. Notice here, it said, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. It's given for others. It's given for other people. Again, when we hear about this subject, we tend to focus inward, but really, we should have an outward focus.

There are books about spiritual gifts. You know, you can go into bookstores. It's all kind of gifts, excuse me, all kind of books on spiritual gifts. There is much on the internet about spiritual gifts, and for that matter, there are tests that you can take to discover your spiritual gifts.

There are tests that you can take, but spiritual gifts are not given to help us out. They're not given for our spiritual self-esteem. They're given to be able to help others, to be a profitable part of the Church of God. They're to help the first, excuse me, to help the Church. The focus is outward and not inward. Continuing on, in verse 8, it says, for one, it's given the word of wisdom through the Spirit to another the word of knowledge, through the same Spirit to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues. And this is really the subject that Paul is working towards getting to, is getting to tongues, which he addresses in chapter 14, to another the interpretation of tongues. And then in verse 11 it says, but one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He will. So this is a gift from God. It's something that He chooses and He gives gifts according to His choosing. Continuing on in verse 12, it says, for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we're all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into that one Spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. Again, this is what Mr. Antion and Mr. Holiday were talking about, about the body working together. The analogy does fit, but again the context is spiritual gifts, as we all bring something different to the organization, bringing something different to the table, so to speak.

The context, overall, the main subject, is spiritual gifts. How different gifts help the body work together. Again, not having envy, you know, not saying, well I have this gift, but I really rather have that gift. You know, it's not envy, it's not competition, it's working together.

It turns out spiritual gifts have been a part of the United Church of God, AIA, from the beginning, from 1995 when it was first formed. They are included in our Constitution, you know. How many of us know that we have a Constitution? Ah, good, good. I won't ask how many know what's in it.

It's a heavy document to read through, as, and I'm going to be quoting some, and you get to see some of that, but it is technical. It's a technical document. It's a legal document. It is our Constitution. So quoting from our Constitution under Article 3.0, which is the church, and then under 3.0, I'll read Article 3.2. It says, there is one body, the church, which is a spiritual organism. Let's see. I was looking for a light switch here. I don't see it directly, so maybe I do. I don't know what I turned off. In any case, the light didn't come on, so I'll forge ahead. There is one body, the church, which is a spiritual organism. The church has many members, to each of whom God has bestowed a measure of faith through the Spirit. Through the Spirit, our Father has made us one body, excuse me, one in the body of Christ and individually members of one another. He has given us gifts that differ according to His will. Again, we read that. And as entrusted Spirit to each of us so that we might exercise these gifts with humility, gentleness, patience, in submission first to Jesus Christ and then to one another. By establishment of this Constitution, we acknowledge the truth of Scripture that members serve in different functions within the church and that it is God the Father and Jesus Christ who determine each member's function within the church. And then dropping down a little further, Article 3.2.1, it's God's purpose for diverse functions, excuse me, within the church. The purpose of various functions established within God's church is to equip each member to perform the work of service, known as each member, the work of service, first to the church and when the church has the opportunity to all humanity.

The proper working of each individual member in accordance with his or her function causes the church to grow. So, brethren, as you can gather today, I'm going to talk about the subject of spiritual gifts, about what spiritual gifts are and about their use. Now, there's a lot of information on spiritual gifts, and it really is a very large subject. Much could be said about it. Today, I'm only going to talk about the basics. I'm not going to talk about talents. I'm not going to talk about skills. I'm not going to talk about disciplines. I'm only going to talk about the basics. The title of my message is Spiritual Gifts Basics 101. So, again, we're going to be very basic to see what we can learn and how we can profit from the subject of spiritual gifts. So, my first point is, point number one, what are spiritual gifts? What are they? So, we'll start with the definition. Again, as I mentioned a while ago, there are many books that talk about spiritual gifts and give definitions. Some of the definitions are quite long. Some are not. I'm going to start with the definition that's given in my Bible. I've got a new King James Version Personal Study Bible by Thomas Nelson, the publishers. And it says, it gives this definition, spiritual gifts are special enablings given by the Holy Spirit to Christians for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. It's a short, simple, concise definition. It says, spiritual gifts are given by God. And again, remember I talked about the word gift. It's a gift from God. Spiritual gifts are given to Christians. Again, basic. And they're given for the purpose of building up the church, to strengthen the church, to have the church function. I found a similar definition on the Internet. This was on Christianity.about.com. It says in 1 Corinthians 12, we learned that spiritual gifts are given to God's people by the Holy Spirit for, quote-unquote, the common good, together, collectively. Verse 11 says, the gifts are given according to God's sovereign will, as He determines. And we read that. Ephesians 4 tells us these gifts are given to prepare God's people for service and for the building up of the body of Christ. And we will read that later.

Another article on the Internet, this is from ucg.org, says, what spiritual gifts does God...

I'll try it again. This article, what spiritual gifts does God give?

And this was posted on November 30, 2010. So the Bible indicates that God gives Christians special help through His Spirit to serve His church and accomplish His work. The New Testament mentions numerous gifts, some that help the ministry in their tasks and some that help lay members of the church in their Christian service. One of the many helpful scriptures on this subject is 1 Corinthians 12, 1 to 11, which again we've already read. So in summing up, brethren, God gives spiritual gifts to whoever He will. It's His choice. It can be an ordained person or a non-ordained person. It can be a man. It can be a woman. Whatever God chooses, whoever God chooses, God gives gifts according to His choosing. The spiritual gifts list are found basically in three chapters of the Bible. And I say basically because as scholars will debate, you know, how many how many spiritual gifts there are and where they're located, etc., basically they're found, the lists are found in three chapters of the Bible, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4.

Looking at the list, which we will a little bit today, not necessarily compare them side by side in detail, but looking at the list, it's interesting. It's all of the lists are different.

Well, I shouldn't say that's quite the list. They are not identical. And well, they are different.

The order of the gifts is different. Some of the gifts are contained in one list, are not contained in another list. Romans 12, for instance, has seven spiritual gifts listed. 1 Corinthians 12 has 15 gifts listed. And Ephesians 4 has five spiritual gifts listed. As I mentioned, some are the same, some appear on more than one list, and some are only on one list. The point is that Paul, in writing these, is not giving the list of spiritual gifts, not saying, boom, boom, boom, you know, like, this is it. Say like you're taking a test in ABC and you have to get all the right answers. It's not that. These are examples of what spiritual lists are. None of them are comprehensive. They're examples. As I mentioned, spiritual gifts can be debated among the scholars. Well, how many are there? Basically, I'm going to talk about 20 spiritual gifts today, but that number is debated. But the number of spiritual gifts is not the important thing. What they are and how they are used is more important. So, on my first point, I'm just defining spiritual gifts, saying what they are and, again, their use and purpose. Point number two. Point number two, I'm going to take a broader look at the context of 1 Corinthians 12. I talked about it a little bit, but I'll talk about it more in context. Paul is writing the church, excuse me, to the church at Corinth.

So, again, point number two is the context, the church at Corinth, which I'm going to call an immature church or congregation.

Looking at 1 Corinthians 12, and by the way, I don't think I mentioned this, if you put a marker in 1 Corinthians 12, because we will leave it and we'll come back to here more than once. So, if you'd like to put a marker there fine or hold your thumb, just letting you know in advance that we'll be coming back here. But looking at verse 1, Paul says, you know, I don't want you to be ignorant. It's kind of a funny way to start. I shouldn't say a funny way, but an odd way, like what if someone says that to you? You know, what do you mean? No, rather than I'd like to tell you about. In any case, the letter is somewhat corrective, maybe even more than somewhat corrective. He's giving instructions, as I mentioned before, that 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 are part of a letter and part of a sequence on spiritual gifts. And again, this was written as a letter. There were no chapter breaks. There were no divisions. It was a letter. And the subject that Paul is addressing now is spiritual gifts. Apparently, the church's Corinth was misusing spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of tongues, because that had a whole chapter written as far as the proper use of tongues. But they were misusing spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts can be misused, and they can be a problem. Now, you might wonder, well, how can spiritual gifts be a problem? You know, how could that be? Well, again, in my study Bible, it says the Corinthians were divisive and proud about spiritual gifts. Divisive and proud. That can be a problem, because when you think about it, spiritual gifts are a power, a power from God. This power can be used as it's intended. Or, like other gifts, or like other powers, I should say, it can be abused. And here in Corinth, it was being abused. Just think, as we read about spiritual gifts in various parts of the Bible, or talk to others about spiritual gifts, you don't often see the subject of spiritual gifts and humility going together. They just don't. They just don't. There tend to be pride, maybe. Maybe some other wrong attitudes, but it's a problem, because spiritual gifts and humility quite often do not go together. Paul is writing to help them to understand the correct use of spiritual gifts. And I'll just start off with a couple of examples. You know, the first one that Paul mentioned here is the spiritual gift of wisdom. Of wisdom, well, you might ask the question, well, how can wisdom be a problem? Wisdom is a good thing. You know, how can wisdom be a problem?

Well, do you have any examples in the Bible of, I'll say, Bible characters where wisdom was a problem. I see a head shaking, and perhaps you've thought of some. What about Solomon?

You know, here he was, given great wisdom. And yet, as I've heard someone else say, he was involved with a thousand women. You know, how wise can that be?

He got in trouble with his wisdom, and not just there, in other ways as well. Well, what about Satan the devil? He was created, given much wisdom by God. And yet, it says in Ezekiel that he was corrupted by his wisdom, or he corrupted his wisdom.

Again, look where he is, what he did, where he ends up. Wisdom can be a problem.

What about knowledge? And I'll just go through a couple examples here. I won't go through the whole list. How can knowledge be a problem? You know, isn't it nice to know things? You know, know things about the Bible, about God, about God's way? Isn't that nice? Well, yes, it is. It's very nice if it's used properly. You're going to hold your finger here and turn back to 1st Corinthians, the eighth chapter. We're not that far away. I'll start reading in verse one.

1st Corinthians, the eighth chapter. And in verse one where Paul says, Now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge.

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. In other words, knowledge tends to inflate the individual.

Love tends to build up someone else. And it's interesting, again, my study Bible for the word puff up, that's a nice term to use during the days of unleavened bread. In fact, it's a good term to use during the days of unleavened bread. I'm not making light of that at all. But again, my marginal reference is we don't use the term puffs up so much today. You know, we don't go around and say, well, he's really puffed up or she's puffed up. We don't use that. My marginal note here in the Bible says, arrogant, makes arrogant instead of puff up. There's a word we identify with, and it's not a very pleasant sounding word. Not a pleasant sounding word. It's not something we want to have said about us or others. So we can see how spiritual gifts, you know, things, seemingly good things, and they are good things. I don't want to say that they're not, or even leave an impression they're not. But they can be abused. They certainly can be abused. As far as knowledge is concerned, I can remember, you know, in fellowships after services with somebody, and actually a couple of somebodies in a small group, and they were debating. They not only were debating, they were arguing. And you know what they were arguing about? Hebrews 6, you know, verses 1 and 2. Are there six basic doctrines, or are there seven? And I'm not kidding. This was, I'll say, more than a vigorous debate. Each one went, I'm right, you know, there's six, I'm right, there's seven. No. I was going to say, who cares? But we do care. I mean, the basic doctrines are important. But you know, whether you get the right number or not, whether you interpret one one way, one another, I don't want to go there. But knowledge, you know, like, I know this, you know, there's six or seven. That's not the point. That's not the point at all. The point is to use your knowledge to serve and to help, not to show how much you know, or you know, again, it's been said in the past, knowledge is of no use if it's not used. It has to be used, has to be valuable, has to provide some benefit. Otherwise, you know, knowledge is knowledge, you know, you can pass a test. So what? You know, it's got to be used.

So Paul is warning here in 1 Corinthians 12 about the misuse of spiritual gifts, or said positively, talking about the proper use of spiritual gifts. As I mentioned, this is overall talking about the context of the Corinthian church.

I have two friends. Both of them are former elders in the Church of God.

Each of them has since left and gone a separate direction. And they've gone independently, you know, not both in the same place, but they've gone somewhere else.

It was kind of interesting that discussing with them about, you know, what they're doing now, or at the time I was, you know, discussing, you know, where they went, you know, what they're doing, they said, well, you know, we now have a more mature form of worship. Our worship is more mature. It's more spiritual. It's more like the church at Corinth. And you think about that in a minute. Really? When you think about the church at Corinth, do you think about a spiritual congregation? I don't. I don't at all. I don't see how that applies to Corinth. You know, there were divisions. There was gross misconduct. Paul calls them carnal. He calls them children. He calls them babes. He says that they're puffed up, not only in 1 Corinthians 8 through the book. There's a few times. He talks about them being puffed up. Arrogant. This, to me, is not a spiritual congregation. Well, it's not a very spiritual congregation. Certainly not one that I would like to emulate. Somehow they thought they were mature, but they weren't. Paul was trying to get them to go on the road to maturity. So Corinth was an immature church, and Paul is writing to them specifically about the use of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts, again, are used to benefit others.

You've probably heard me say this a little already, and you'll hear me say it again.

Spiritual gifts have to do with what we do, you know, how we interact. And I'm going to contrast that to fruits of the Spirit. Fruits of the Spirit are what we are. Has to do with character.

There are things we do because of what we are in our character, but it's what we are.

Spiritual gifts have to do with what we do. Again, spiritual gifts have been abused in the past.

Corinth had a problem with spiritual gifts, and I'm sure that they weren't the only ones. I'm sure it's been abused down through time. But as I mentioned, spiritual gifts are good gifts.

They're not bad, and I don't want to leave that impression with anybody. In the book of James, the apostle says God gives good gifts, and He does. Again, the purpose of spiritual gifts is to serve the church, to serve others. Paul is giving warnings about misusing spiritual gifts.

But again, they're not bad. And that brings me to my next point. Point number three.

Spiritual gifts are given to serve others. Spiritual gifts are given to serve others.

Again, we've already read this, but I will read it again in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 7, where it says, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all, for the profit of all, of helping the body function, of doing whatever you can. And each one of us has something that we can do. For the profit of all. Dropping down to verse 18, it says, But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body, as he pleased.

Again, God calls, God chooses, God sets members in the body. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, indeed, there are many members but one body. So again, having unity together, but not uniformity, we are not all the same. Each one has different talents and abilities. Again, some play an instrument, some sing, and it's very nice. Most of us don't.

As he's speaking for myself, not able to do that. Some have different abilities, and that's a talent in that sense. But it's used to serve others. It's used to serve the body. Dropping down to verse 27, it says, Now you are the body of Christ, again collectively the church, and members individually. And again, it says, And God has appointed these in the church. And I'll stop reading at that point, so I'll pick this up later. God sets members in the body, and He sets them in the body to serve, to serve others. Turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4.

And this also is one of the chapters I mentioned that contains lists of spiritual gifts.

We'll work our way through two there, and we'll see similarities with what we read in 1 Corinthians 12. But Ephesians 4, now I'll start reading in verse 1, and there will be a fair amount of reading here where it says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which you are called. So again, Paul is working into the subject of spiritual gifts again. He's talking about humility. It says, Well, all lowliness and gentleness with long suffering, bearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And he says, There is one body. So again, as with 1 Corinthians, we're talking about the analogy of a body. One body, many parts working together. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called, in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But then in verse 7 it says, To each one, that's everybody. That's all of us who are here. To each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to men. I'm going to drop down to verse 11 where it says, And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, and then the reason to serve others for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. And again, that word minister, again, ministry, is best rendered service. It would flow better. And just again, looking at other translations, the common English Bible, his purpose was equip God's people for the work of serving. The new American standard, for equipping the saints for the work of service. It's a better rendering of the word. So it's for the edifying of the body of Christ, the building up of the body of Christ. And it says, Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

So God has given gifts in order for us to serve one another, to help one another. Well, that brings me to the point of what spiritual gifts are listed in the Bible.

What gifts are listed in the Bible? We've read part of, well, we've read 1 Corinthians 12, and we've seen part of the gifts that are listed there. We just read the gifts in Ephesians, the fourth chapter, where it talks about, you know, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors.

We just read that particular list. As I mentioned, there are three chapters in the Bible that contain these lists. 1 Corinthians 12, which we'll go back to, Ephesians 4, which we just read, and Romans 12, that we will get to. Now, as I mentioned, there's some debate about the number of spiritual gifts. For an example, back in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, there were two men given special gifts of, I'll say, metallurgy or, you know, forging statues in order to decorate tabernacle, in order, you know, to work with the gold and the bronze and the copper. They were given special gifts by God. There are other gifts, I'll say, throughout the Bible. I'm going to concentrate upon these mostly in these three chapters.

Again, we just read Ephesians 4, turn back to 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and I'm just going to review a little bit. We read verses 4 to 11. We saw the list that was there, so I'm not going to go through and reread that list again. If you have a particular interest, you have the rest of the Sabbath day after services to do that. But we can see again in verse 11, they're given by God as He willed to anybody that He chooses, again, ordained or not, male or female or not. It can be a man, can be a woman. And then following verse 11, it says, all the body parts have a function, you know, talking about the various parts of the body.

All the parts are different, but they work together. And that shows that they must be attached to a body. It shows the importance of being a part of a body, not being a lone wolf Christian, so to speak. I'll start reading in verse 15, where it says, if the foot should say, because I'm not of the hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?

If the whole body were an eye, you know, where would be the hearing? If the whole were a hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, again, God has set the members, each one in the body, as He pleased. And they're all in the body. They're all part of the body. They're not separate. They can't be taken out of the body. In verses 20, it says, but now indeed there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say of the hand, I have no need for you.

Yet an eye by itself is not going to function. An ear by itself is not going to function.

A hand by itself, you know, it's not attached. It's not going to function. We can't separate ourselves from the body. We need to be part of the body and for all to work together.

Then dropping down into verse 25, it says there should be no schism in the body, no division, no cutting off certain parts, no schism in the body, but that the member should have the same care, one for another. And then dropping down into verse 27, more spiritual gifts are listed.

It says now you are the body of Christ and members individually. And it says, and God has appointed these in the church. More spiritual gifts now. And notice they are appointed in the church.

First apostles. Now, this isn't necessarily an individual gift. This is a collective gift for the church. First apostles, second prophets, and third teachers. And even though it says one, two, and three, it's not necessarily a hierarchy at this point. It's not a hierarchy. The word first is an adverb. It modifies appointed. So he appointed first. It's not an adjective applying to apostles. It's not saying the apostle is first. I'm not going to say the apostle is not first. Don't get me wrong. But I'm saying right here, this is not a listing of gifts in order of rank or priority. It says those in the church, first apostles. And by the way, as far as first being an adverb, I use as a resource BibleStudyTools.com. It shows that that's an adverb, and again, adverbs modify verbs. So continuing on in the list, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. After that, miracles. Then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. And then rhetorical questions. You know, are all apostles?

Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings?

Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And then he says, yet I show you a more excellent way. And of course, then 1 Corinthians 13 comes in the love chapter. You know, though I have as many wonderful gifts as God could give, without love means nothing.

Again, it's like people who have knowledge that can pass a test, but can't really function.

Without love, it's nothing. It's got to be used in service. It's got to be used in helping, I'll say, others, especially helping the church. So these are the gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12. It's listed in two different parts of 1 Corinthians 12. As I mentioned, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12 are the main lists. So let's turn back to Romans the 12th chapter, and we'll look at the gifts that are listed there. Romans 12, and I'll start reading in verse 1. Interestingly enough, Paul's focus here, or his attitude, is a little different than 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians, it's more instructive, more corrective. Use the gifts properly. In Romans 12, Paul is actually trying to encourage the church at Rome to use spiritual gifts, but he still does give a warning, does give a warning because they can be abused. Romans 12, verse 1, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So here we're getting to the subject of spiritual gifts, and Paul is starting out with a warning, where he says, for I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Again, humility. Humility. I heard someone, a good definition of humility. It's not that you think less of yourself. It's you think of yourself less. Think of yourself less. Not so much I, I, I, think of yourself less. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt each one a measure of faith. So he's giving a warning before he gets into the subject of spiritual gifts, and then in verse 4 he says, for we have many members in one body. There's that analogy of a body again. Paul is using the body, and he's talking about how different gifts work together. Different people have different gifts. A body has different parts that all work together. He says, we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function. We're all different. So being many, our one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.

So God gives gifts, different gifts, to different people. It says, let us use them. And again, that, that is in italics, however it does fit with the meaning of what Paul is talking about.

Let us use them. He's encouraging them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or a ministry. And again, there's that word. It's our service, or serving. Let us use it in serving.

He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality.

There's a gift that we may not think about very much. Giving. Giving is a spiritual gift. And when I say giving, we might automatically think of money. But it's not necessarily money. And we give time to others. We give energy to others. We give all sorts of things, or we can give all sorts of things to others. But there's a spiritual gift. Giving. It says, with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. There's another interesting thing, you know, showing mercy. You know, not begrudging. Not, oh, I've got to do this because God says I got to do it.

No, show mercy with cheerfulness.

So these are the spiritual gifts that are listed here in Romans 12.

Excuse me, I got to rearrange my notes here.

Now, I went through these lists in the three chapters, and I named, you know, this, this, this, this, this, this, without really giving any definitions. I figured that's probably not the most interesting thing to do to go through 20 definitions, although each one of them is important. And I'd encourage you, you know, if you are so inclined, and I know some are and some aren't, but to go through and look up, get a definition for each one of these spiritual gifts.

There are things we can learn, and I'll give a hint to those who are so inclined. If you look in a commentary, quite often it'll have a list of spiritual gifts, and it'll have the definition right next to them. So you don't have to go through a concordance, you know, and look up all of the words individually. They're there. Again, I'd recommend doing that. However, I will look at a couple of definitions, mainly because the word usage today is different than the word usage when the apostle Paul wrote, or when this was copied. The definitions I'm going to use come from mintools.com slash gifts, or biblestudytools.com. The first gift I'm going to talk about, and I'm only going to define three of them, is prophecy. Prophecy. You know, we tend to think of, you know, telling the future. And that is prophecy if the message comes from God. But it's not necessarily the way that is used mostly in the New Testament. It talks about inspired speaking. It talks about a message from God. Inspired speaking, not necessarily foretelling the future, as opposed to just forthtelling the Word of God. Prophecy. So when we look at that, it's not necessarily, you know, telling the future. Although there are prophets in the New Testament, I don't want to say they're not, but that's not the main use. Again, I've already talked about serving. I've referred to this a few times, quoted other translations. We'll take a look at the Word.

It says, to identify definitions, to identify undone tasks in God's work, however menial, and use available resources to get the job done, and to serve. And that's exactly what it means.

The root word is for deacon, you know, a servant, someone who serves. Not necessarily the ministry of, you know, I'm the minister of music, or I'm the minister of, you know, something else.

We tend to think ministry, and we think of ordination. We think of office, instead of thinking of, I'll say, a verb, a serving. Another interesting word, at least it was interesting to me, was exhortation. Exhortation. Sometimes we think of exhortation, and we think, well, that means getting in someone's face, saying, you know, repent! You're going to end up in a lake on fire if you don't straighten out and fly right. That's not really what exhortation is. In fact, it's not even close to what exhortation is. Again, the definition says to come alongside someone with words of encouragement, comfort, or consolation. To encourage somebody, to help somebody, you know, not get in their face and, you know, be stern with them. It says to counsel, to help them to be good and to be all that God wants for them to be. It's not a stern warning. It comes from, I say, one of the root words is paraclesis, which is, you know, coming alongside. Another word that is used, you know, in association with the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the exhorter. Now, basically, the spiritual gifts are broken down, and I say generally they're broken down into three categories. Three categories, and I think this is interesting. It helps you maybe think about them and remember them or to think about their usage. Three general categories, and I've got these categories, by the way, from a message by Scott Ashley given during the 2013 General Conference of Elders. The subject, the theme of that conference was spiritual gifts. He gave this presentation, and he talked about spiritual gifts, and he talked about three general categories.

The first category is signs. Signs. These are the showy gifts, if you will, you know, speaking in tongues, working of miracles. There were many of these in the early church. You know, think about the book of Acts. Think about all the miracles that were there. They're not only in Acts, they're throughout the New Testament. Signs outwardly visible. There's not so much of that today.

In fact, there's hardly any of that today. Does that mean there won't be in the future?

Again, God does things according to the way He chooses. His timing, His personalities, you know, who He chooses, and when and where He does. Now, for sure in the future, when the two witnesses are on the scene, there will be signs. Will there be before then? I guess we have to stay tuned and wait and see. The second category of spiritual gifts is perfecting.

Perfecting. This is to edify the church as a whole and for individual members.

We read in Ephesians 4, and I'm sure you've heard this stated before, where it says, you know, the purpose of the ministry of the gifts is for the perfecting of the saints. Perfecting. This is the same second category. The third category is service. Not that the others were not serving, but service. To serve the body and to serve one another. Generally, these are more personally done.

It's not before the congregation, you know, it's not a big showy gift. It's done behind the scenes, helping one another, maybe on a one-on-one basis. You know, what if someone in the congregation, you know, wants to move? Few people get together and they need help, you know, they're not going to move by themselves. Few people get together and help them. Is it important that we know who is on the moving crew? No, it's not. No, it's not. They were helping. They were serving. There's all kind of ways to serve like that. One-on-one service gifts. And again, looking at the specific gifts in each of the categories, as far as signs are concerned, the gifts are discernment.

Now, I'll try not to read these too fast or too slow. Discernment, healings, tongues, you know, there's a sign. What if I got up here and started speaking, you know, French, German or something, you know, that's a sign. But it ain't going to happen either, unless God makes it happen and I'm not holding my breath. Tongues, the interpretation of tongues. And again, what good is if I do speak French, if you don't understand French, German or whatever, interpretation of tongues. And then working of miracles. Those are the gifts of signs, discernment, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and working miracles. Under perfecting, under that category, apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets, teachers. Do we have any teachers here?

I think we do. Knowledge and wisdom.

Apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets, teachers, knowledge and wisdom.

Again, for the perfecting of the saints. Service, administration.

Again, when something needs to be done, getting it done. As far as this dance is concerned, there's organization. As far as the Chile social last week, there was organization, administration, exhortation, which again, encouragement, faith, giving. A wonderful spiritual gift of giving. Again, time, energy, dollars. Helps. We all help. At least I hope we do. Something that I hope we do. I mean, this is something as far as I'm concerned that, you know, children can do. Helps. Leadership. You know, someone's got to set the course. Mercy.

Mercy, again, showing compassion for others, being kind to others, and then service in general.

It's called ministry in the Bible, but service. Helping out wherever you can. Three general categories. And again, I've got 20 listed here. There were five signs, seven perfecting, and eight for serving or for service. The number is debatable. That's not my point today.

So we talked about the spiritual gifts. And again, as I mentioned, they're all good gifts. There wasn't one bad gift on that list. They're all good gifts. They come from God. As the apostle James says, God gives good gifts. Point number five. Point number five. Spiritual gifts are good gifts, as I've mentioned, but desire spiritual gifts. Desire spiritual gifts. Turn back to 1 Corinthians the 12th chapter. 1 Corinthians the 12th chapter. And I'll read verses 30 and 31, which we've read once, but I'll read again with this thought in mind. 1 Corinthians 12, 30. Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Again, rhetorical questions. Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And then he goes on to show a more excellent way as far as love, but it says, earnestly desire the best gifts. Desiring spiritual gifts is not a long thing.

It's something to be desired. But understand it's not something that we earn. It's a gift.

Maybe saying it differently, it's a present. You don't deserve a present. You don't have to say, well, I don't want that present. I want the present over there. I guess you can ask, because, you know, his children ask, but God gives according as he chooses. Earnestly desire the best gifts. In my Bible, just on page across chapter 14 in verse 1, it says, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. So pursue love, desire gifts. It's not wrong to desire gifts. In fact, it's right. It's correct. It's in the Bible. And then dropping down into verse 12, it says, even so, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. If you want a gift, again, it's not for yourself. You can desire it, but it's not for yourself. It's to serve. It's to serve others. So spiritual gifts are good. We can desire them. We should desire them. Point number six. Point number six. God expects us to use spiritual gifts. You know, why would he give us something if we're not going to use it? God expects us to use spiritual gifts. Turn to 1 Peter, the fourth chapter. I've read a lot of what the apostle Paul had to say. Turn to 1 Peter, the fourth chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 10. Peter also talked about spiritual gifts. Verse Peter 4, starting in verse 10, where it says, as each one has received a gift, and I'm going to stop there, each one, each one, that means we all have. We all have, and I'm going to say, I think, and I'll preface this with, and I think, because you really, when I'm up here, I don't think you really care what I think. It's what God thinks. But at least it's my opinion that we have more than one spiritual gift.

Now, we all have one because it says each one. We all have at least one, but I think we have more than one. And again, that's my opinion. That's, you know, you can agree, disagree, whatever.

Continuing on, it says, as each one has received a gift, minister, again, there's that word, serve one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Verse 11, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, there's that word again, serves, let him do it with the ability which God supplies. Then in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever.

Again, just looking at another translation there, not to belabor the issue, reading these verses, it says, each one has received a special gift. Employ it in serving one another, not ministering, serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him do as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do as one who is serving by the strength God supplies, so that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. So here, the Apostle Peter is talking about two categories of gifts. Two categories of gifts. He's talking about speaking and serving. Not that they are exclusive, not that they're exclusive at all, but he is addressing two different categories, and he's basing on it that we all have at least one gift.

Turn back to Romans. Well, I won't turn there right now, but Romans 12.6, if you want to put that in your notes, save for completeness, we've already read it, where it says, if you have this gift, use it. In fact, I will read it. I think that's good to read. Romans 12 verse 6.

It's repeated several times. It says, having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them in proportion to our faith. If service, you know, let us serve. He who teaches, he who exhorts, let him exhort. We need to use the gifts that God gives. Think about, you know, the talents. It's a parable of the talents, and not really talking about talents here, but it does apply. God gives a gift, and He expects us to use the gift, you know, not take the talent and hide it, you know, put it on the whole ground or someplace. He expects us to use the gifts. So gifts are to be desired to help the body and to be used. Interestingly enough, I'm not going to turn to these scriptures. In Romans 15, Paul had spiritual gifts. Now, you don't hear him talking a lot about them, but he had spiritual gifts, and he used them.

In 1 Corinthians 14, 18, this is one that he does use, where he says that he spoke in tongues, and he spoke in tongues more than the Corinthians. And he said that to illustrate a point, saying, you think you have tongues? God has given me more tongues. He's illustrating a point, not necessarily bragging about what he has or what God has given to him. So God expects us to use the spiritual gifts that he gives. And then point number seven, point number seven, this has been stated through here already, I'll repeat it just for completeness.

God gives gifts as he chooses. As he chooses. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12, verse 7, where it says, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each for the profit of all. God gives it to each for the profit of all. Dropping down to verse 11, but one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually, as he wills. As he wills. And then dropping down into verse 27, verse 27, it says, Now you are the body of Christ and members individually, and God has appointed these in the church. God does the choosing. God does the appointing. God is the one who is giving gifts.

As I mentioned, he gives it to different people at different times. It doesn't have to be ordained, doesn't have to be male, doesn't have to be female. God chooses who he gives when. I'll say where, and I'll say even when, as obviously there were a lot of gifts in the early church in the first century. Not so much today, and there will be gifts in the future. So, brethren, as I mentioned, all of us have at least one spiritual gift.

Maybe we have more. And you know what I think. Maybe we have more. Some of our gifts are stronger than others, and some are more dominant. Some are more, you know, a dominant characteristic, some are less. Some need to be developed, and we can do that. But we all have spiritual gifts.

I'll ask the question, do you want to know what your spiritual gift or gifts are?

Do you want to know what your spiritual gifts are? I've got a one-question test, but before I give that test, and again you can look up on the internet or bookstores, you can get a 20-30, you know, 100-question test if you want. I'm going to change the focus on, you know, not what is my spiritual gift, but what spiritual gift has God given to me to be able to serve others or to serve the church? What gift has God given to me to serve?

So now my one-question test. Ask yourself, you know, what is my gift? How are you serving?

How are you serving today? Something to think about. There's a lot in that answer.

Something to think about. Turn to Ephesians the fourth chapter.

Ephesians the fourth chapter. And again, we've already read part of this chapter. We will read some more. Ephesians 4. We've already read the first few verses, one to seven, where Paul talked about humility, and he also talked about one body, you know, unity, one body. And then starting to read in verse 11. Well, I'll skip over that. No, I will reverse 11. He himself gave some to be apostles.

And again, listening spiritual gifts we've already read. Some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man. Again, being perfected. To the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine. And think about that. I won't comment much on that, but in some cases people are tossed about by winds of doctrine. You know, we hear some, you know, there's a new way to calculate the calendar. Or, or, or, and I'm not going to name a bunch of issues, but sometimes we are tossed about. Paul and Christ, they want us to be more mature, not to be carried about by every wind of doctrine. By trickery of men and cunning of craftiness or deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, again talking about the body, joined and knit together by whatever joins supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share. I'm going to repeat that, the effective working by which every part, all of the parts of the body are important.

All have a function. You know, think about your own body. What if something was cut off?

Would you miss it? Yes, you'd miss it. You'd miss it a lot. All have a part. All have its share. It says it causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So God gives spiritual gifts to each of us to function within the body, and he gives them as he chooses, as he will. All the parts have a purpose. So in summary, and this is a quick summary. I say this is really basics about spiritual gifts. There really are a lot more, and there is a lot more. But in summary, things that we can learn from spiritual gifts. This is going to be repetitious, but repetition is not bad. It's a good way of learning. Spiritual gifts, number one, what we can learn. Spiritual gifts are given by God as he chooses. He chooses the people. He chooses the time. He chooses the location. Number two, spiritual gifts are given to serve others. They're not given for ourselves. They're not given for our own spiritual self-esteem. They're used to serve others. Point number three, or summary point number three, spiritual gifts show that we are part of a body.

We can't be independent and not part of a body. I've mentioned before, you've probably heard me say this before, and depending, you'll likely hear me say it again, we're called to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Something much bigger than ourselves. The importance of being part of a body, different parts, but all working together in unity. And then point number four, spiritual gifts are given to honor God as it says in 1 Peter. Ultimately, all is to honor God.

Spiritual gifts are given to honor and glorify God. So, brethren, looking again at Ephesians 4, verses 15 and 16, it says, Speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, all of us, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share. Again, every part has a share. Every part does its share, causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So again, brethren, we all have a part. We all have a function. God has put us into a body for a reason, for a purpose. God has given us spiritual gifts to help each of us help the body to grow in love.