Spiritual Gifts, Part 1

Feel free to leave that one any time. It's just such a beautiful, beautiful hymn and such lovely sentiments in there. My shepherd will supply my need because truly God does supply all of our needs. We'll talk about some of that in the sermon today. I would like to welcome all our visitors and guests.

Nice to have you with us here today, as well as some new arrivals. If you haven't met them yet, we have at least three new people who have moved here from Texas recently. So be sure to get around and meet them. Give you a hand. They're over on this side of the room. They attend up in Loveland, but very nice to have them with us, as well. I do have a late prayer request that was turned in.

I would like to read this. Natalie Engelbart had a significant setback of added infections and abscesses. She's weak and emotionally drained from this. She and Randy request the Brethren's prayers for a complete recovery. That's for Natalie Engelbart. Please remember her in our prayers here. I'm going to throw a curve to our ushers.

I said I would do this about 10 or 15 minutes into the sermon. But I prefer to go ahead and get it out of the way. We do have some handouts to pass out today. Please do not look at them. I don't want you reading that. You should be paying attention to me. It is one per couple or per family. I only printed off 50, but I think we have considerably more adults here than 50 today. If we have some extras, we'll make those available later on. You can send me an email and I'll be glad to send you a copy of it.

Today I would like to talk about a subject that's been seldom discussed in the Church of God over recent decades. It's a subject that's rarely mentioned and seldom written about and not talked about very much. But it is important. It's a subject that is found repeatedly in the Scriptures. As a matter of fact, three chapters of the Bible largely discuss this particular subject. It is a subject that the Council of Elders has talked about quite a bit recently. We thought it was important enough to make it the theme of this year's Conference of Elders, as Mr. Wilkie was mentioning there. You'll notice a number of these topics that were discussed revolved around this particular subject.

That subject is spiritual gifts. It's something that's mentioned many times in Scripture. As a matter of fact, when the United Church of God formed 18 years ago as a legal entity back in 1995, the Constitution that the ministry overwhelmingly ratified and agreed to in terms of what would govern the way that we operate as a church specifically acknowledged that members of the church did have spiritual gifts that were given by God. I'd like to draw your attention to it here in our Constitution, which you can find on the website.

Note the following here, which appears in the section of the Constitution that talks about the purpose of the church, the functions of the church here. It says, 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 Holy Spirit. Through that Spirit, our Father has made us one in the body of Christ and individually members one of another.

I'd like to draw our attention to this last part here. He has given us gifts that differ according to His will and has entrusted His Spirit to each of us so that we might exercise those gifts with humility, gentleness, and patience in submission first to Jesus Christ and then to one another. This was something I was quite surprised several months ago, going back through our Constitution to find this reference here to spiritual gifts and the fact that it is given to the general membership of the church there. This is something we've known and acknowledged going back for 18 years, and yet it's never really gone much.

We haven't really talked about it, explained, elaborated that on there since then. Last year, the Council of Elders of the United Church of God spent a great deal of time writing a vision statement for the church, which was also overwhelmingly approved by the ministry. What is a vision statement? If you're in the business world, perhaps you've heard of it. A vision statement is a description of what the organization, or in our case, the United Church of God, would look like and be like if all of the plans and the programs that we spend so much time explaining and writing about and developing were put into place.

In other words, it is the outcome that we look for, that we hope for. It's essentially a picture of what we want the church to be. Notice here the vision statement of the United Church of God. The vision of the United Church of God is, quote, a church led by God's Holy Spirit, joined and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity to bring many children to glory.

These phrases are paraphrased from Ephesians 4 and verse 16 and Hebrews 2 and verse 10. I'd like to draw your attention to one part of this in the middle here that I've highlighted. That is, that joined and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love.

Why is that phrase in there? Again, the Council of Elders spent a great deal of time crafting this particular phrase, trying to get it just right, to convey what we envision the church to be. Because the church's efforts are not just the home office, they're not just the ministry, they're not just the media department or the Council of Elders or the administration or anything like that.

No, the efforts of the church here involve what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love. It's not explicitly stated there, but this is talking about spiritual gifts, as we'll see through the Scriptures later on in this sermon. Again, this topic is huge. It's an important subject. It's one that's far too big to cover in just one sermon. I plan to cover it in several messages, three, perhaps four, over the coming speaking opportunities that I have. There are many facets to this subject.

It seems to me that the best way to approach it is simply to ask and answer a series of questions. That will be the format for the sermon today. I'll ask a series of questions and then show the answers from Scripture. That way we can cover this pretty complex topic in a way that is more easily understandable. We'll have smaller pieces, chunks, if you will, that we can digest and tie together to get a more full picture.

Let's start off with a first question to more or less set the stage for the subject. That question isn't directly about spiritual gifts, but it ties in. That question is, what can the power of God's Holy Spirit do through and for us? As we understand, God's Holy Spirit is the power of God. What can that power do through and for us? There are a number of different things we find in Scripture. One is that it comforts and helps us. God's Spirit comforts and helps us.

We see this reflected in Jesus Christ's final words to the apostles there on the night that he was arrested and betrayed the evening before he would be crucified. He talks about the Holy Spirit that he is going to sin after he returns to the Father.

He says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper or the comforter, as it appears in some translations, will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send it to you. It is called the comforter, the helper. That is why I put up here that God's Spirit comforts and helps us. That is what the meaning of the Greek word is.

The helper, the comforter, the encourager, the exhorter. This is one thing that God's Holy Spirit does for us. Another thing we see from Scripture is that it teaches us. God's Spirit teaches us. Again, we find this reflected in some of the final words of Jesus Christ on that evening, where He says, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, it will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

So this is another purpose, another promise of God's Spirit that it would teach us. It is through the Holy Spirit as one of the vehicles that God uses to give us spiritual understanding and insight of His Word and His Scriptures there. A very valuable role of God's Spirit in our lives. Another thing that the power of God's Holy Spirit does through and for us is it produces fruit in us and through us. A passage may come to mind, Galatians 5, 22 and 23, which talks about the fruit of the Spirit. It is defined as, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Long-suffering meaning patience. These are some of the fruit that God's Spirit should be producing in our lives. If we aren't producing that kind of fruit, maybe we need to ask ourselves, Why are we using God's Spirit enough? Are we stirring up God's Spirit, as Paul instructed Timothy to do? Another point that is brought out by Jesus Christ, again, in his last discourse with the disciples, He says, I am the vine, and you are the branches.

The vine is like a thick grapevine, if you're familiar with it. The Greek word means the thick, almost like a tree branch or something, quite woody. And you are the branches. These are the little green tendrils that grow off of that vine. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides or lives in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. So we have to be connected to Jesus Christ, to God the Father, and the way we are connected through them is through God's Holy Spirit working in our lives.

Another point there, there are many others we could talk about, this will be the final one I'll mention here, is that God's Spirit empowers us to use the spiritual gifts God has given us. It empowers us to use the spiritual gifts that God has given us. I'll give you one reference for this, 1 Corinthians 12, verses 7 through 11.

Paul writes here, but the manifestation, or the evidence, the appearance, probably evidence would be the best word in English, the evidence of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. For to one is 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 the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, or languages is what this means.

Not speaking in tongues, as is traditionally misunderstood or misinterpreted, but different languages is what it's talking about in the Greek. To another, the interpretation of these different languages, two separate gifts there. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as it will.

God's Spirit, we see here, does empower us to use these spiritual gifts that are listed here in this phrase. This is one of the chapters that talks quite a bit about spiritual gifts. Let's move on to another question here. That is another important one. All of these are important. But that is, why do we need to know about spiritual gifts? Why do we need to know about spiritual gifts? Again, several different points. First one, we are told to be knowledgeable of spiritual gifts.

We're told to be knowledgeable of them. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1, Paul tells the members there in Corinth, the Greek city of Corinth, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. This chapter probably tells more about spiritual gifts than any other chapter in the Bible.

The reason he writes all of that is because he doesn't want the members to be ignorant of spiritual gifts. He wants them to know and understand what they are, why God gives them to us, how we are to use them. Another point, well, the reason he does that is so that understanding spiritual gifts would help them understand the nature of the church because this is an important concept we'll tie in.

Because it has to do with why God gave us the church and our individual roles within the church. Another reason why we need to know about spiritual gifts is that we are expected to use them. We are expected to use them. We find this in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 14 where Paul writes to Timothy, and he says, Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. So Paul tells Timothy he's been given a gift by God and don't neglect it. What were some of the gifts that were given to Timothy?

Actually, there were several of them. Some of them were given to people here. First of all, he had God's Spirit. You can write down 2 Timothy 1, verses 6 and 7. God's Spirit is a gift that he gives to all of those whom he places within the body of Christ. Secondarily, he was ordained into the ministry. First Timothy 4 and verse 14.

Third, and Second Timothy 4 and verse 5, we find that he had the gift of evangelism, which is a gift. We'll go into that in much more detail in the next sermon here as well. These are three different gifts that are mentioned in the Epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy that were given to Timothy. Again, we are expected to use these gifts. This ties in with the next point here. We need to know about spiritual gifts because, as stewards over what God gives, we will be held accountable for the use of our gifts. As stewards over what God gives, we will be held accountable for the use of our gifts.

Peter, I'll give you a couple of scriptures to tie into this. First Peter 4 and verse 10. Peter writes, this isn't Paul, but this is Peter, quoting from the New Revised Standard Version, Like good stewards of the manifold, the abundant, the wide-ranging gift, the grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.

He comments that we are stewards over the gifts that God has given. What is a steward? A steward is somebody who manages something for somebody else, somebody who uses what somebody has entrusted to him to use that, to increase it, to be profitable, a profitable servant as a result of using that. Jesus Christ, in his parable of the talents, and we'll talk about this more later, but Matthew 25 verses 14 through 30 is the parable of the talents here.

And what is the great lesson that we are to learn from that? The lesson we're to learn, the whole point of that parable, is don't bury your talents, but multiply them. We can't multiply them if we're not using them. So we need to know and understand about spiritual gifts to be able to do that. Okay, next question we'll talk about, we'll touch on it, and that is, what are spiritual gifts? I'm not going to get into definitions of all of them because that's a whole sermon in itself that we'll talk about later, but what are spiritual gifts in general?

What does that term mean when we talk about it? I'll give you a couple of definitions out of different respected sources, Bible resources. The Anchor Bible Dictionary defines spiritual gifts as, Again, special gifts bestowed by God on individual members of the Christian community for the edification. The building up of the whole community. Another resource, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, explains spiritual gifts as, Essentially, these two definitions are telling us the same thing.

And a third one, I realize I'm covering a lot of material today because there's a lot to cover. If you need to fill in any of this later, feel free to ask me about it. A third source, this is Charles Swindle in the book He Gave Gifts. It says, A spiritual gift is a skill or an ability that enables each Christian to perform a function in the body of Christ with ease and effectiveness.

A spiritual gift is a skill or an ability that enables each Christian to perform a function in the body of Christ with ease and effectiveness. Notice something about these different definitions. And they all bring out that spiritual gifts are given for the edification of the entire church and not for the individuals to whom the gifts are given. Given for the edification of the entire church, not for the individuals to whom they are given. In other words, the bottom line is spiritual gifts are not about us. They're about the benefit of the entire church, the entire body of Christ.

It's interesting, the Greek word that is most often translated gifts, and talking about spiritual gifts, is the Greek word charisma. When we use that word in English, it's not translated. It is a Greek word that's made its way into English vocabulary. And it means a gift of grace or an undeserved favor. A gift of grace or an undeserved favor. We think of individuals with charisma. Yes, they are graceful people. They're fun to be around. They're interesting. They're engaging people. And it goes back to the meaning of this word. Now, closely related to this is another Greek word called charis. You can see the same root there, charis and charisma. Closely related, and this word charis is typically the word that is translated grace in the New Testament. And it means a gracious favor or benefit bestowed. So just as salvation is God's free gift to us, and it is a free gift, we cannot earn it, because there are certainly conditions attached to that gift, like obedience and faith and being baptized, being led by God's Spirit and other things like that. But these spiritual gifts are given to individuals by Jesus Christ, and they're not given because of anything that we have done to deserve them. So as salvation is God's free gift, so is charisma. So are the gifts that God gives. They're not given because of anything we have done to deserve them or earn them. A simple working definition of spiritual gifts is that a gift is a God-given ability, skill, or talent used for serving others. It's quite a simplified definition, but it's a good working definition for us to use and to keep in mind. Something given by God for the purpose of serving others. And all of those are key elements of this. Let's address another question. Why are they called spiritual gifts? Why are they called spiritual gifts? Well, I'm going to get really technical here. They are called spiritual because they are not physical.

And by that I mean spiritual gifts aren't something you can touch. They aren't something you can taste. They aren't something you can handle. They're not physical. It's not like somebody gives you a gift of cash or a gift card, a nice bouquet of flowers, something like that. It's not something physical you can hold in your hands. It's something that belongs to a different realm, an unseen realm, a spiritual realm, you might say. And again, very technical, they are gifts because we don't receive them by our own efforts or because we deserve them. And that's what any gift is. A gift is a gift. It's something that somebody gives you. It doesn't mean you deserve it. It doesn't mean you received it by your own efforts. Otherwise it wouldn't be a gift. This also helps us understand what these are. It's not physical things. It is spiritual things that God gives. And they are gifts because we don't do anything to deserve them or to receive them in that way. And again, why does God give them then? We'll talk about this, but basically God gives them because He loves us. Because He loves His people and He wants us to work together as a unified body so we can all fulfill God's purpose for His Church. That's the bottom line. So let's address this question now of why does God give spiritual gifts? Several bullet points again. First one is that God gives spiritual gifts, quote, to prepare God's people for works of service. And we read about that in Ephesians 4, verses 7 and 8 and 12 from the NIV. Ephesians 4, incidentally, is another chapter that has a great deal to say about spiritual gifts. And I use the NIV here because the King James and the New King James says for works of ministry, I believe it is. And that's more confusing because you're talking about preparing the members for a work of ministry. Does that mean all the membership are ordained as ministers? No. It gives wrong connotations. The Greek word simply means service. It's to prepare God's people for works of service. That is why God gives gifts, to prepare His people for works of service. And we'll talk about more than that. So I use this translation because it's more accurate. A number of other versions also translate this as service instead of ministry as well. Another verse that confirms this is 1 Peter 4 and verse 10. I'll take a look at this from the Revised English Bible. As good stewards of the very gifts given to you by God, let each use the gift He has received in service to others. So again, very plainly pointed out by both Peter and Paul that the purpose of these spiritual gifts is to serve others. In service to others. That's the whole point. If you're not doing it to serve others, if you're doing it for your own aggrandizement, that's the problem we see over and over again in the Corinthian church. And why Paul had to correct them a lot is because they weren't using it to serve. They were using it to build up themselves and aggrandize themselves. And gifts, if they're not used in humility, that is a key. If they're not used in humility, it doesn't do any good. That's why in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks a great deal about spiritual gifts. And then how does he end the chapter? He ends it with the last verse and he says, And yet I show you a better way. And then he follows with 1 Corinthians 13, which is the love chapter. I show you a better way, which is love. And his point is, if you're not using spiritual gifts out of humility and out of love, you're no better than a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. It's all part of the same discussion about spiritual gifts. So we have to do that, exercise those in humility.

Next point here about why God gives spiritual gifts, Ephesians 4, again, one of the chapters on spiritual gifts. We won't read the whole thing, but just one excerpt from verses 1-16. God gives spiritual gifts to build the body of Christ so that we, "...grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies..." Sounds like the vision statement we read earlier. That's because it's taken directly from here. "...by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." That's verses 15 and 16 of Ephesians 4.

Note also, let me bring out an interesting point about this word, edifying. I won't project the word and confuse you about that. But this word, edifying, in Ephesians 4 and verse 12, means the...it has several meanings, but it means the act of building. In other words, if you are constructing a building, that's what the Greek word means. It's translated edifying here. You might just as well say, "...causes growth of the body for the building of itself in love." It means to build there, in other words. Let's see, was there something else I wanted to cover here? Yeah, I got ahead of my notes for just a little bit here. So yes, this word, edifying, means to build something. What is a metaphor we see quite regularly in Paul's writing? He talks about the spiritual house that Jesus Christ is building, or the spiritual temple. God is building a temple. He is building a house...for what? To dwell in. And how's He doing it? How's He building that building? He's building it through God's Spirit, working in the lives of every one of the membership of the Church, to build the Church for the edifying of itself. How? In love. It all ties together. God is building the spiritual house for Him to live in, which is the Church, the body of Christ. So it all ties together. This is what is being discussed here. Different metaphors of a spiritual building, of a body. Another metaphor that is used many times there in Scripture that ties in as well. So again, a number of metaphors that help us understand how the body builds and edifies itself. It's not all a bunch of separate members. It is one body that is building and growing spiritually, together, to become like what? To become like Jesus Christ. As we'll talk about a bit later here. Third point here about why God gives spiritual gifts is He gives them because He loves us. He gives them because He loves us. Consider the nature of our Heavenly Father and His attitude toward us. And it's reflected in something that Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7, verses 9-11. Where Christ says, What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you, then, being evil, being carnally minded, physical human beings, if you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?

He's using the analogy of physical parents. We're carnal, we're selfishly minded. But if we can give good things to our children, how much more will God the Father give good things, give good gifts? To those who ask Him for that. And indeed, that is very true. Okay, let's talk about another aspect here now. What is the difference between talents, skills and spiritual gifts? What is the difference between talent, skills and spiritual gifts? Well, basically, we all know, hopefully, some talented people. People with great skills, great abilities. But this doesn't necessarily equate with spiritual gifts. Now, it might be some overlap. Often there is some overlap. But it's not necessarily the same thing.

In other words, to use one contrast, is that natural talents are basically those that an individual is born with. Each of us is born with certain abilities, certain aptitudes, certain things that we're good at. And in a way, those are gifts too, because what do we do to deserve what we were born with? Nothing. So you might say those are gifts in a form. And again, they are spiritual. They're not physical, but God has given us certain aptitudes that we're born with there. And spiritual gifts, however, are given later when God works with individuals. Natural abilities may be transformed and enhanced by God's Spirit to glorify God and to edify the Church. We can think of different people whose talents and abilities do that. Some of our beautiful people with beautiful singing voices who give so much to our Sabbath services and so on. Some people are very artistic. Some people are very gifted, frankly, in technical areas and keep everything running smoothly here for us. Some people are good organizers. And again, I don't want to get into an exhaustive list. We'll talk about that in a future sermon. But there are many types of abilities that God gives us that we have an innate ability for that God can utilize and expand on and grow in that way. So both natural abilities that we are given and spiritual gifts are God-given. They vary in degree or extent, as well as in the nature of those different gifts. Now I give you permission to look at your handout sheet there. Look at the side that has two charts on it. We'll look at the first of those charts and talk about that very briefly. I've given an introduction to this. But this shows, in contrast, some of the differences between natural talents, between learned skills, and between spiritual gifts.

Just to elaborate briefly on what I was just saying here, natural talents are those which are given by God through parents. They are our genetic inheritance. In other words, learned skills... I didn't talk much about that, but skills are something that we learn.

We go to school, we take specialized training in, or classes, music classes, art classes, language classes, any number of things like that, leadership classes. And then spiritual gifts are given by God's Spirit independent of parents, independent of our genetic makeup, independent of classes and learning on our own. Natural talents are given at birth. Learned skills are learned throughout life. Spiritual gifts are given at a time of God's choosing.

Usually at baptism, but not always, because there are a few exceptions in the Bible. One of the more notable ones is when they were building the tabernacle back in the wilderness. There was one individual, I've forgotten his name, but it states very clearly that God gave him a special gift and ability to prepare the furnishings for the tabernacle.

He was a craftsman. So some craftsmen have a gift there that is given by God for the glorification of God and the building of the body, too. Another example that comes to mind is the apostles, when Christ sent out not just the twelve, but the seventy. He sent them out sometime in his ministry.

I don't recall exactly when, but what he told them to do. He told them to go out and heal the sick. Gave them the gift of healing, spiritual gift of healing, before any of them were converted and received God's Spirit. So God can, at times, can and does, at times, give people particular gifts before they are baptized and receive his Spirit. However, that is the exception of the rule. Usually it is after we've been called and baptized and received God's Spirit that he starts giving us his gifts and allowing us to utilize those. Another is the reason or who benefits from the gifts.

Our natural talents are used to benefit people in general. Everybody, in other words. Same thing with learned skills, to benefit everybody. Spiritual gifts, however, are given expressly, as we've talked about, to benefit the spiritual body that is the church. That is the whole point and purpose of them. Natural talents, final point here, can be enhanced and developed by the individual and often are. Hopefully they are. Also, same thing with learned skills. They can be enhanced. We can build upon the skills we already have, the abilities, and develop those. Spiritual gifts can be natural and learned.

Abilities can be enhanced, not necessarily by the individual, but by God's Spirit, by surrendering to the leading of God's Spirit and allowing God to be at work within our lives. These are some of the differences, some of the contrasts, some of the subtle, in some cases, distinctions between natural talents, learned skills, and spiritual gifts.

Let's look at another area that is similar to this, but a little different. That is, what is the difference between spiritual gifts and fruit of the Spirit? We read Galatians 2, 22, 23 earlier, listing the fruit of the Spirit. What is the difference between that and spiritual gifts?

Again, this is the next chart on your hand out there, where it shows fruit of the Spirit and spiritual gifts. Both of them are necessary, absolutely necessary, for us to be productive and effective members of the Church, the Body of Christ. Every Christian is expected to display the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, but every Christian is not expected to display every spiritual gift. That's one distinction between the two. To differentiate, we might say that the fruit of the Spirit is shown in what we are, how God's Spirit has converted us to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and so on.

Where spiritual gifts are what we do to serve the body, to help the body grow, to edify, to build the body, as we've been talking about. Another slight difference in this is that the fruit of the Spirit are more or less inward characteristics of a converted person's heart and mind.

They indicate what we should be against, whereas spiritual gifts are more task oriented or action oriented. Again, what we do. So you might say that the fruit of the Spirit is essentially reflected in our attitudes, and spiritual gifts are aptitudes. What we do. In other words, we see this reflected here. Attitudes are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Again, the fruit of the Spirit.

Whereas aptitudes are ways of serving, of helping, exercising leadership, and so on. All of these are some different gifts. Another difference here, the fruit of the Spirit is the byproduct of a healthy relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. It's what should flow naturally as a result of that, and of having God's Spirit at work in our lives. Whereas spiritual gifts are a supernatural endowment of, or by God, through the Holy Spirit there. One is a byproduct, the other is a direct gift. Again, something that God has directly given us. Spiritual gifts are given when we become disciples of Jesus Christ, and when we grow as His disciples.

That obedience and submission to Jesus Christ will, over time, transform us. From our selfish, carnal, and sinful nature to a yielded nature that is yielded to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Again, it shows forth the attitudes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

Final point here. The fruit of the Spirit is necessary for effective service as a member of the body and for spiritual growth and development. Spiritual gifts are necessary for the most effective service as a member of the body. Again, both spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts are very necessary. Part of our lives for us to effectively function as members of the body. They both need to be developed, frankly, within our lives. God is not as concerned with what we do as I referred to earlier as how we do it. Again, 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. For example, if we use our spiritual gift, whatever it may be, to the fullest, but if we don't do it out of love, if we don't have love for one another, what good is it? We're not pleasing God. Let's look at another related question that kind of ties into this as well. What is the difference between spiritual gifts and spiritual disciplines? What is the difference between spiritual gifts and spiritual disciplines? You can flip your page over. This will be on the other side of that. Another table for us to look at here. Sometimes it's easier to define these things by contrasting and comparing them rather than trying to get out and explain what, again, are not physical concepts. So it's somewhat hard to define at times. We can understand it better if we contrast and compare at times. Spiritual disciplines is one category and spiritual gifts is the other. Again, we need to have both. We have to have both if we are going to grow and be effective members of the body of Christ. What are spiritual disciplines? Those are the actions and activities that should be found in every one of us as Christ's disciples that help us to grow and develop spiritually. Spiritual disciplines strengthen the individual while spiritual gifts strengthen others. Spiritual disciplines allow us to discern the will of God and to receive the power and the love of God and in return to reflect God's Spirit at work in our lives. They are habits for individual personal spiritual growth. Spiritual gifts are important contributions that enable the growth of others. One is oriented toward growing the self. One is oriented toward growth in others. Spiritual disciplines allow us to develop our devotion toward God. Spiritual gifts are a way of expressing that devotion. Spiritual disciplines strengthen our personal growth and devotion toward God. Spiritual gifts strengthen the entire church. One develops devotion toward God. The other expresses that devotion toward God. Spiritual disciplines are the things we do such as prayer, study of God's Word, fasting, tithing. Spiritual gifts are teaching, knowledge of God's Word, giving, serving, exhortation, encouraging others. Hopefully this helps us understand the difference a little better between spiritual disciplines and gifts. Let's look at another key question. This was a major part of my presentation last Sunday to the entirety of the ministry of the church. This is key. This is something we have not grasped and understood to the level we should have before. That is, to whom are spiritual gifts given? I'll give you the answer straight from Scripture here. If you want to argue about it, argue with Scripture. Argue with Paul and Peter, not with me. Notice some of these passages here. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 1. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. What does he say? He says, "...pursue love and desire spiritual gifts." Desire spiritual gifts is what he tells the church there in Corinth. It's not a bad thing, not something to be avoided. It is a good thing that people should be desiring the spiritual gifts that God can give.

He says, "...but especially that you may prophesy." Let me clarify. In the Greek, the word prophesy, the word that is translated prophesy, it's not as we tend to define prophesy as foretelling the future. Yes, it can mean that, but more importantly, it means to reveal or teach God's will. And if you think about it, what was the main message of even the biblical prophets? Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, people like that. Most of their message isn't necessarily foretelling the future. It's encouraging people to get their relationship with God right. Because if you don't have your relationship with God right, this future that I'm foretelling is what's going to happen. It's not going to be pretty. So prophesy, you're prophesying, and this wording is more explaining and revealing God's will, and how important it is to have a right relationship with God. Let's look at another passage here, again from Paul, same chapter, verse 12. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that do what? That build up the church. So he's not condemning them for wanting spiritual gifts. He's commending them for being eager to have spiritual gifts. He tells them, because of this, try to excel in those gifts that build up the church. That build and edify the body. It's a theme we see again and again whenever spiritual gifts are described or mentioned in Scripture. Another one from Paul, this is to the church in Rome. This is from the English Standard Version, which I think puts it particularly well. Paul is writing to the Romans about how much he wants to come and visit them. And why does he want to come and visit them? He says, For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.

Paul wanted to impart spiritual gifts to them to help them better understand their spiritual gifts and abilities that God had given. And why? To strengthen them. To build the body again. To ask a question, what do we see here? What do we see in these three verses we've just read? We see that the Apostle Paul encourages the members in Rome and Corinth to desire spiritual gifts. And he desires to see spiritual gifts imparted to them.

Clearly not a subject to be avoided. Yes, as a church, as an organization, we've avoided the subject for a long time. We've done that because people have misused spiritual gifts. Because there's so much misuse among it out there in the Protestant world. There of speaking in tongues and weird things and people standing up and doing odd things in services and so on. We don't want any part of that. That is a misuse of it. But it's very clear that members should desire spiritual gifts and utilize those for the building of the body. There are a few more passages here. Again, under this topic of To Whom are Spiritual Gifts Given. Romans 12, again, later on, Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.

So again, he's writing to the membership of the church in Rome. Not writing just to the ministry, not writing just to the ordained people, not writing to just one specific gender, male or female. He's writing to the whole church. He says, let us use the gifts that we have been given.

Another verse from 1 Corinthians 12, another chapter on spiritual gifts. And he lists various gifts. Do all have gifts of healing? Do all interpret the languages there? But earnestly desire the best gifts. It clearly tells people here to earnestly desire the best gifts, the ways that you can build and edify the body that is the church. And again, another verse we've covered earlier from the apostle Peter, 1 Peter 4 and verse 10 from the Revised English Bible. As good stewards, again, somebody who's entrusted with this gift that God has given us, as good stewards of the varied gifts given to you by God, let each use the gift He has received in service to others. Very clear. We are stewards of the gift that God has given, and a steward is expected to produce a profit, growth, benefit from what God has given us. And we do that by using the gift we have received to serve others within the body. So, again, to ask the question, what do we see here? What do we see in these three verses? We see that both Peter and Paul take it for granted that spiritual gifts are spread widely throughout the general membership of the church. Again, not limited just to the ministry, not limited just to ordained people, not limited to one gender or the other, but distributed widely throughout the church. That's what Scripture says very plainly here.

Let's look at another question here. How are spiritual gifts distributed? How are they distributed? Another verse from 1 Corinthians 12. But one in the same Spirit, God's Spirit, works all these things, distributing to each one individually, to each one, everyone, no exceptions, just as it wills.

Spiritual gifts are distributed by God the Father through Jesus Christ, the head of the church, through the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, to each member of the church, as they will. Let's note also several facts about spiritual gifts. These are just different points that seem to fit in better here than anywhere else. Spiritual gifts are limited by the will of God. What does that mean? Basically, it means that people can and do have a part in developing the gifts that God has given us.

But again, the ultimate source of those gifts is God. He knows what is needed in the body of Christ and in which gifts are best for each individual, to enable them to serve in the body in the best way. He knows what is the best fit for each person and gives it accordingly. In understanding this, understanding that God has given us gifts should do what? It should motivate us to use those gifts. As we've talked about again and again to serve the body. It should motivate us to use those gifts to the fullest extent and also should keep us from complaining that maybe we don't have the gifts that somebody else has that we would like to have.

Which is a problem. It was a big problem in Corinth there. Big problem in Corinth. Hopefully that would never be a problem with us. Another point here is that spiritual gifts are limited as to extent. Spiritual gifts are limited as to extent. Although Scripture, we talked about this, 1 Peter 4 and verse 10 we saw just a minute ago, which tells us that each member of the body has at least one spiritual gift, maybe more than one, maybe several. No individual has all spiritual gifts. Nobody has all of them.

There are many of them. We'll cover that next time here. Because no single individual has all of the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture, we need the different types of service that each member can provide there, can give to others. Another corollary to that is that's what I mean when I say they're limited as to extent.

Not everyone has all gifts. In the same way, not every church congregation has all gifts. Because God knows what each individual needs, what each individual congregation needs, and He gives the gifts that are needed for that individual and for that congregation, and distributes those spiritual gifts accordingly. Again, so that that body, the collective body of the church or the collective body of the individual congregation, can be built and build it up and edified. Another factor is that spiritual gifts are limited as to time. They're limited as to time.

What does that mean? Well, think back that just as every member does not have all gifts, or every congregation does not have all gifts, not every generation in time has all the gifts that are listed in Scripture. This ought to be pretty evident. Think back how many times you've read through the book of Acts or Paul's epistles and you read about these dramatic miracles that are taking place, where just the shadow of Peter and John, I believe it was, walking by on the street, just touching the shadow, would heal people.

And they would rise up. Very powerful, very dramatic miracles were taking place in the early days of the church to draw attention to the church and to show that this is where God is working and through whom He is working. Other dramatic gifts, like on Acts 2, the day of Pentecost, they're coming up here next Sunday. Here, what happens? It's nine o'clock in the morning and the membership is gathered there. There are people there from fourteen or fifteen different areas and speaking all these different languages. Latin, Greek, Babylonian, Egyptian, Phrygian, all of these different dialects even.

They're all gathered there and what happens? A very dramatic miracle takes place. And that is the speaking in tongues or speaking in languages. And all the people there, no matter what language they spoke, they heard Peter speaking in their native tongue, their native language there. Very powerful, dramatic miracle. We don't see that today.

We don't see that in the church today. God hasn't chosen to use that gift. Today, in the same way, He hasn't used people walking by and letting their shadow fall on people and heal them. Doesn't mean God isn't going to use them. I actually believe God probably will in the end time use some of these powerful and dramatic miracles. As He did in the early days of the church, He will use those in the latter days of the church before Jesus Christ returns. To again, make it evident where He is working.

That's what I mean when I say that spiritual gifts are limited as to time. God grants certain spiritual gifts where and when and to whom He alone sees His best for His body and for His purpose there. He knows exactly what each member, each generation, each congregation needs and gives gifts accordingly.

A final point to discuss under this very briefly is that spiritual gifts are limited as to capacity. By that I mean essentially just because someone has a gift at one time, factors may come along that will limit that individual's ability to utilize those gifts. Some obvious examples of that are aging, health issues, things like that, overall health, injuries there that may... similar factors like that can limit a person's use of being able to utilize the gifts that God has given them.

Something we see in an aging, somewhat aging church here that some people aren't able to do the things that they were able to do in earlier years. Let's look at another key question to address here and that is, can spiritual gifts be developed? Can spiritual gifts be developed? I'd like to discuss this in the context of one of Jesus Christ's parables, the parables of the Talents. We read about it in Matthew 25, verses 14-30. I alluded to this earlier, but we'll read through this parable now. Christ says, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

In the end, he gave five talents to another two and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey. A couple of things to bring out to help us understand the lesson of this parable. First of all, who is the man traveling to a far country? It's Jesus Christ. He's left. He's gone away. He's returned to his Father in heaven and he's going to return at some point, and he's going to require an accounting of his servants and his property, his possessions.

What is a talent? A talent is actually a unit of weight, not a monetary value. It varies depending on the substance being weighed. It could range generally between 50 and 100 pounds, depending on whether you're talking about bronze or copper or silver or gold.

A talent of gold was a different weight than a talent of silver there. Bottom line is, though, when you're talking about metals, from 50 to 100 pounds of metal, easily made up several thousand dollars to several hundred thousands of dollars. Christ doesn't tell us what metal he's talking about, just a unit of weight. He's talking generically, like a considerable amount of money, a considerable amount of wealth, thousands of dollars. Probably at least a year's income for these individuals is what has been entrusted to his servants here.

So on his departure, the man divides his goods among his servants. How? How does he divide it? According to his or their own ability. Some are given more, some are given less, depending on their ability, and he goes away on a journey. Just as in this parable, the man distributes his wealth to his servants and expects them to generate a return, a profit, on what he's given them, then Christ distributes gifts in that same way.

He gives us gifts and he expects a return on his investment, on what he has given us, considering our innate genetic make-up, our aptitudes, our abilities, our skills. Both the Father and the Son are certainly aware of our genetic make-up, the skills, the talents, the abilities that we have, as well as the weaknesses that we may have, and the proclivities, the aptitudes that we have. He has given us gifts according to those different factors at work in our lives. Continuing with this parable here, this man, again picturing Jesus Christ, has gone away on a journey. Verse 16, continuing the story here, he returns. Well, actually, he hasn't returned yet.

I'm getting ahead of myself in this story. Then he, the servant who had received five talents, went and traded with those talents and made another five talents. He doubled his master's investment. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. So both these men, individuals, doubled what their master had given them. And then there's servant number three. But he who had received one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his Lord's money.

Verse 19, after a long time, the Lord, the master of those servants, came and settled accounts with them. So the master has returned from his journey. And here's the application. The lesson begins for us. So he demands an accounting how these servants had used what God had given them. So he, verse 20, who had received five talents, came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them. And his Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You are faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And verse 22, he also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them. And his Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Verse 24, then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. I was afraid. I was fearful. I went and I hid your talent in the ground. And look, here's your talent back. Here's your talent back. What was the response? But his Lord answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I reaped where I have not sown and gathered where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers and in my coming I would have at least received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. This might sound kind of cruel, but if any of you have investments, who are you going to give your money to? Who are you going to trust your money with? The guy who doubles your money or the guy who gives you what you gave him? Give it back. Obviously you're going to give your trust and your money and your resources to the one who generated a profit who doubled your investment. This is one of the lessons here. Continuing on, For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not do anything with what he has been given, even what he has will be taken away. He will be taken away. And then notice what happens to that servant who did nothing with what his master had given him. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A few points from this. We see that two of the servants are rewarded for doubling their master's investment, doubling their talents. And one is condemned for burying his talent, doing nothing with what he had been given.

So discovering what our spiritual gifts that God has given is one thing, but there's another aspect. It's not good enough just to learn what they are. We have to use them. We have to multiply them. As we see from this parable here, that's the lesson. That's a crucial aspect of our responsibilities as Christians, as servants of God. So the point of this parable is that God expects us to use the talents and the gifts that he has given us, and that to neglect them will bring this kind of fate.

It's pretty sobering there. And a lesson to draw from this, another lesson, is that although God is the source of spiritual gifts, each member should have a part in the development of his or her gifts. Again, that's the question we're addressing here. Can spiritual gifts be developed? Well, obviously so, from this parable. Otherwise, why would God condemn those who do not develop the gifts?

Obviously, he's given us the ability to do that through his Holy Spirit. So we can be responsible, we can develop, we can build and utilize the gifts that God has given, and serve the body, or we can neglect those gifts, and figuratively bury them, dig a hole in the ground and bury them so that they're never utilized, so that they never do anyone any good.

And we see what's going to happen if we do that. As we read earlier, Paul tells the members there in Corinth to earnestly desire the best gifts. That's what we should be desirous of. But then he also says, I show you a more excellent way, or a more perfect way, I think it is in the New King James, and that being the utilization of one's gifts on the basis of love, of outgoing concern, of serving others.

That's really the whole point. And if we don't use our gifts out of that motivation to love and to serve others, it's not doing any good. We have to reflect the love of God toward others, as well as exercise and build the spiritual disciplines, the fruit of the Spirit that we talked about earlier, the godly character that God wants to see in us as well. God does work with human beings, with our limitations, with our desires, with our aptitudes, with our ambitions, in giving us spiritual gifts.

Let's notice something else here, a key verse that ties in with this as well, and that is Hebrews 5, verses 12 through 14. Notice here what is said to the members of the body of Christ, to people who are supposedly well versed in the Scriptures. It's Jews, in other words, that this is written to. And it says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.

In other words, you need to go back to kindergarten. You've come to need milk and not solid food, for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness. For he's a babe or a baby. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. This is not meant as a compliment. Not by any means. How long have we remained at the level of students?

Kindergarteners. In this life, in this physical life, we're always going to be students. Don't get me wrong. That's the point of this physical life. This isn't graduation. This is school. This is our education. In this life, we're always going to be students, disciples, learners in this physical life, so long as we are here. But the point here is that it is time for us to become teachers as well. Not just students forever. Not just kindergartners. How well have we used and applied the gifts of spiritual knowledge that we have received? Are we capable of teaching others? Are we ready to teach others? Today, after services, we're going to have two activities here.

We're going to have the women's discussion group over here. We're going to have the men's sermonette class and speech class downstairs. Why do we have these activities?

It's right there.

It's right there.

To train us to be teachers.

What are we going to be doing for the first thousand years of the kingdom of God on Earth?

It's right there.

We're going to be teaching people. We're going to be teaching people God's way.

It's a crucial part of our calling.

That's why I'm giving this sermon series on spiritual gifts so that we can understand what spiritual gifts are, which is today's subject. Next time, we'll talk about spiritual gifts, what they are. We'll go through the lists of them in Scripture. At some point, we're going to have a test, an aptitude test, to find out what our spiritual gifts are.

But that's why I'm giving this series of sermons so that we can put those gifts that God has given us to use in the way that he wants us to, in the way that he expects us to. That's why I'm giving these very detailed series of sermons, looking at ten years or so to finish them on the Gospels. Why study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ? Because if you don't know what you're aiming at, how will you ever get there? If we don't know what God wants us to become, how are we ever going to get there? And we're studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, so we'll know what we're supposed to be like. What God wants us to be like, in every way, every facet of our lives. So there is a purpose and a reason behind everything we're doing here in this congregation. Very sound reasons. Very positive reasons. Very hopeful. Very encouraging reasons.

I'd like to close now with a passage that I've alluded to a little bit before. Ephesians 4, one of the chapters on spiritual gifts. I'll read it from the New American Standard Bible here.

Paul here talks about the purpose for the ministry. He says, and he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. Why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of service. To the building up of the body of Christ.

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To a mature man. This is what I was talking about, why I'm giving this series of sermons on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. So that we can come to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Jesus Christ.

That's the point. That's the purpose. Continuing on here.

Skipping over a verse or two. Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies. Again, here's the vision statement. According to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

So God has given spiritual gifts to unify the body, to summarize what we've just read, He's given spiritual gifts to unify the body in the knowledge of the Son of God. To help members of the body grow and mature spiritually to become like Jesus Christ. And to help the entire body grow causes the growth of the body, to help the entire body to grow as it builds itself up in love. In love. And what is the goal? The goal is to become perfect, to perfect the Church as Jesus Christ is perfect. To become like Him in every way by allowing God's Spirit and His gifts to work within the members of the body of Christ. And again, this is the vision statement of the United Church of God. The vision, what we want to be as a church, what we want to look like, what we want others to see when they see us as a body. The vision of the United Church of God is a church led by God's Holy Spirit, joined and knit together by what every member supplies. And we've seen many verses today that prove that it's every member with all doing their share, all doing their share, every member doing their share. And growing in love to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity, to bring many children to glory. And we do this by learning to edify, to build the spiritual body, the spiritual temple, the spiritual house for God to dwell in through the gifts that He gives to the membership of His Church. And we'll pick it up next time and explain more in future sermons.