A Unique Gift

Hello, everyone! I want to tell you a little bit about one of our family traditions. When our children were young, we had the tradition of giving them just a little bit of a gift on each of the Holy Days. It was something that Mom and Dad just kind of liked to do to show our love to them. And then, as they grew older, that sort of began to change a little bit. And it wasn't every Holy Day. It was mainly during the Fall Holy Day Festival, during the Feast of Tabernacles that we buy something for them. And they weren't expensive gifts, really. They were just something that they just kind of knew that we were thinking about them. One of our kids has, if you know love languages, has the love language of gifts, that they really feel love and appreciate love when you give them a gift. And so, that was one of the things I think it was particularly meaningful to that particular child. But now that we have a grandchild, things have changed a little bit. And our traditions are changing. And now, all of a sudden, we're beginning to give some small little gifts on each of the Holy Days again. And we just sent one to our new granddaughter here. I guess she's a little, not quite so new, she's a little, a year and a half old. And so, we sent her something here for the Feast of Pentecost. But today, what I'd like to do is to talk with you on this day of Pentecost about a unique gift. A unique gift that you have been given. And so, the theme that I'd like to talk with you about in the sermon today is that. There is a unique gift, or gifts, that has been given to you. Please turn with me to Acts 2. You know, this probably seemed like any other Pentecost back in 31 A.D. You know, because they've been celebrating Pentecost, or as is often known, the Gentile, or rather the Greek word for Feast of Weeks is Pentecost. So, they had done due diligence. They counted 50 days from the day after the Sabbath that fell during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that year. And it was probably a warm day in Jerusalem. Things were warming up as they gathered together in 31 A.D. from many areas that had come to Jerusalem. And there were many different people that were there. They were gathered from all known areas of the world. They'd come. There were Jewish descent. There were those that were Gentile converts to Judaism. And they had come to celebrate the Feast. They'd come to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem. And this was an exciting time. It was something that they looked forward to. In fact, we often hear about Paul would try to get to Jerusalem to keep a particular Holy Day, to keep a feast. Not that they had to keep it there, but that was a special place to be able to observe the festivals.

So they had come together from all over the place. It was considered the ultimate experience to keep the feast in Jerusalem. Well, so they'd come to celebrate. And these people who arrived in Jerusalem probably had absolutely no idea of what was about to happen in 31 A.D. Jesus Christ had tried to give a couple of clues to his disciples, which we'll read about in a moment.

But they just had no idea of what was going to take place here in 31 A.D. Now, there were 120 of them that gathered together in a house. Probably a little bit secretly, probably a little fearful of the Jews. And so they were kind of off to themselves. They weren't celebrating probably with the way they had in the past. They were gathered together because Jesus Christ had told them to gather together and be there in Jerusalem in 31 A.D. And so they were there, probably keeping them off a little bit to themselves. And then it says in Acts 2, verse 1, it says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, so it was daylight, the new day had dawned, the evening had passed, it was now the light of day, the day had dawned had come and it says that they were all in accord in one place. So they were in that house that I already referred to. Before we read on, I'd like to talk a little bit about the fact that God the Father and Jesus Christ were very excited about the fulfillment of this day, about the Feast of Pentecost and about giving of the Holy Spirit.

They were very excited and anticipating the giving of this gift of the Spirit of God to human beings. Let's leave here. We'll come back to Acts 2, but let's notice John 4, verse 7. Let's notice John 4, verse 7. You know, this day and the fulfillment of it were very much on the mind of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Let's take a look at what it says here in John 4, verse 7. We'll see that there's a woman that is at a well that Jesus Christ has come to. He's sitting in a well. Let's notice what it says in John 4, verse 7. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. And Jesus said to her, give me some of this to drink. So Jesus is sitting here at the well and a Samaritan woman comes. We know that a Samaritan is someone who is not of a descendant of Israel. They were not of the race in the sense of Israel. They had been brought in from other areas, from Assyria, a Gentile, if you will, a Samaritan. But they knew a little bit about the God of this land when they were moved into this part of the world. And so Jesus said something to her because he wants to enter into an intimate conversation with her. There's something, interestingly, he's going to share with the Samaritan woman. And so let's read the story. Verse 8, Jesus said to her, as he speaks to this message to a Samaritan woman in verse number 10, Jesus said to her, if you knew the gift of God. And so he's referring, of course, to the Holy Spirit, as we'll see in a moment. And so it is here referred to as a gift. He said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked of Him and He would have given you living water. Now the woman doesn't really understand. She's still thinking about the water that's inside this well. And so she goes on, the woman says to him, well, sir, you don't have anything to draw with. And the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself? Are you greater than his children or his cattle? So Jesus replies to her, referring to this well here in verse number 13. Well, Jesus answered and said, well, whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be to him in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Wow! Whatever this gift is, it has the ability, this living water has the ability for someone to live forever. You know, you've heard probably the old adage that you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. So there is a part that we play in this whole process when it comes to this gift. But Jesus says in verse 14, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. Because the water that I shall give him shall be in him or her a well of water that springs up into everlasting life. Let's jump to verse 37 of John's, chapter 7. Verse 37, it says, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and he cried. He was inspired, brethren. He stood up before them all. And this is what he said. He said, If any man thirst, let him come to Me. Again, a part that we play. Let him come to Me and drink. And he that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly, or heart, as other translations say, shall flow rivers of living water. So now the heart is introduced in connection with the Holy Spirit. For out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water. But what's Jesus talking about? Is He talking about water? What is He really referring to? Notice verse 39.

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit. So now we understand that He's talking about the Spirit, this gift. This living water is referring to God's Holy Spirit. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, which those that believe on Him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So notice verse 39 shows we have some responsibility in receiving this gift. Those that believe on Him would receive. It's also interesting, I think, and noteworthy in verse 39, that the Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified.

Why was that? Why was it that the Holy Spirit was not yet given until Jesus Christ was glorified? Why did Jesus have to ascend to the Father first and be glorified before the gift of the Holy Spirit could be given? Well, as we proceed further, I think we'll shed some light on this. So Jesus Christ says in verse 39 that the Holy Spirit has not yet come. Let's notice also in John chapter 20 and verse 20.

John chapter 20 and verse 20. We're going to see the anticipation, the excitement that both God and Jesus Christ had when it came to this gift. It must have been something that they understood that we don't understand. It's so vital, it's so important. In fact, they could hardly wait to be able to shed what they had, to be able to pour out what they had with us. John chapter 20 and verse 20. We'll see the anticipation here. And Jesus Christ in this context had already been crucified.

And He'd already been resurrected from the dead. And He was appearing to the disciples alive after His death. It says here in verse 20 of John 20, And when He had said, so said, He showed them His hands and His side. And then the disciples were glad when they saw Him. And you can imagine their joy, they were glad to see Him. They'd had a relationship with Him for three and a half years and He was gone. And now He's back. You can imagine. Verse 21.

Then said Jesus to them, Peace be to you. As My Father has sent Me, now He says, I am going to send you. And that includes all the disciples that have come forth since then. Were sent, sent with a responsibility. And notice verse 22. And when He had said this, He breathed on them. Isn't that interesting? They were probably close to His face and He blew air into their faces. This is before that mighty rushing wind came. So it's like Jesus Christ is probably, they didn't get it until later on when the mighty rushing wind came.

But He gives them a clue that something is going to happen that has to do with air. He breathed into their faces and then He said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Fascinating, isn't it?

How God kind of works and introduces things a little bit subtly and then later on they say, Well, that's why He blew in our faces. It had to do with air. So the disciples probably didn't realize it until later on.

It was going to come as a mighty rushing wind. But Jesus Christ gives them the clue. Now God the Father and Jesus Christ were really excited and anticipated this fulfillment of this gift coming. Let's also notice in Acts 1 and verse 1. Let's go back to Acts 1 and we'll pick it up in the very first verse there. We'll see that God had longed for giving this Holy Spirit for a very, very long time.

It says in Acts 1 and verse 1, It says, The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Until the day which He was taken up after that, He through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen. So we see that even the Holy Spirit inspired Jesus Christ to give certain commandments to the apostles whom He'd chosen. Verse 3, to whom also He presented Himself alive after His suffering.

So again, in this context, He'd already been dead and crucified and was now found alive again. And He was found alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs. Many, of course, the main one, is of course He was alive. Being seen of them for 40 days. So Jesus, whom had been dead, was now, they saw Him alive for 40 days. And notice what's on Jesus' mind. Speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So the kingdom of God is still His focus.

It hasn't changed. In fact, it won't change right up to the end of the age when that message will go forth just before the return of the King of that kingdom. It's still something He wanted them to know. But notice what He says in verse 4, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. I don't want you to leave. And there's a very important reason. I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave Jerusalem. I want you to stay here. But to wait for the promise.

What promise? Wait for the promise of the Father. So this promise proceeds from God the Father. Which says, He, you have heard of Me. Verse number 5, For John truly baptized with water, and many of the disciples have been baptized with water. John's baptism. But He said, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

So He's anticipating. He said, I don't want you to leave. There's something that's going to happen on this feast of Pentecost. There's going to be a baptism. It's going to be baptism of the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. And you know, sometimes, just like they, we don't always understand what God is trying to tell us. No, we hear, but we don't seem to perceive. Jesus is here trying to tell them something about what's going to happen.

About a baptism that's going to happen not many days from now. I don't want you to leave. But they've got something else that's out in their minds, like they're hearing it in one ear. But now I want to talk to you about something else. So the disciples changed the subject in verse number 6. When they were there for come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? So that's what their concern was, is the kingdom of Israel be restored. We're under Roman occupation. We're here, in a sense, in our own country under a foreign occupation. We're not free to come and go as we'd like.

And Jesus responds to that question, verse 7, He says, Well, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. But then He comes back to what He really wants to talk about. What's on His mind, what He's anticipating. He says, in verse number 8, But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, And you shall be witnesses to Me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea, and in Samaria, Jesus had already talked to that Samaritan woman, hadn't He, in the well.

And He said, and how far is this going to go? He said, and on to the uttermost part of the earth. He got back to what He wanted to talk about. This is the focus that He had, is that you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And then He said, I want you to go, and I want you to be witnesses to Me, even to the uttermost part of the earth.

So this is something that Jesus and the Father were anticipating greatly. Well, let's go back to Acts 2. Acts 2. We covered some of these Scriptures yesterday, so I'm going to maybe emphasize a few different things, and then maybe scan and summarize some other things here. So Acts 2, and we'll pick it up here in verse number 1, it says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all accord, and they were in one place. And suddenly, so it happened suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind.

Now those of you that have been close to tornadoes, you probably have heard, you know, it sounds like a train. You know, there's this roar, and it gets your attention. And so, you know, it's something that, like a train is just standing next to you, and I imagine this could be very much like what this was. Of course, they didn't have trains back then.

But you know, when you hear a freight train or a passenger train close by, it gets your attention. And it says, And it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and then appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak with other tongues or languages. As the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, I'll just read from the New Century version. It says this, verse 3 and 4, it says, And they saw something like flames of fire that were separated, and stood over each person there, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages by the power the Holy Spirit was giving to them. Well, brethren, this was a fulfillment of the promise that Jesus Christ was talking about in Acts 1.

I was going to proceed from the Father and come through the Son to them. And this is the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus told His disciples about. He told His disciples, and He promised them that I will never leave you. I won't leave you spiritual orphans. He said, I'll send you a comforter. I'll send you a gift so that you can continue your discipleship, so you can continue to be witnesses to Me, that you'll have the tools that you need to fulfill the plan of the family of God.

This was all done here in 31 A.D. Let's drop down to verse number 5. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together. You know, if you're standing nearby, and you hear this sound, you're going to start to gather around. What's going on? Won't you? There's the sound of this mighty rushing wind near this house. And so, a multitude began to come together, as it says in verse 6.

So the crowd developed, and it came near the house. They wanted to see what was going on. And they were confused, it says. And everyone heard them speak in his own language. You know, as we look at some of the descriptions here, of the things that were going on in some of the verses here in Acts 2, it uses words like confused in verse 6.

In verse 7, it says they were amazed. It says they marveled. And if you've ever been in a situation like that, that you've been struck by something, where you have been confused, what's happening? Or you've been amazed by what you're observing? Or you're marveling? You know, it makes a big impression on you at the time, doesn't it? And so, these are some of the descriptive things that are said here. And they said to one another, verse 7, these Galileans. We talked about that yesterday. These are simple folk.

They're not edgity-educated. They're from the north. We talked about all that. And then we went on in verses 10 and 11, to talk about how they were speaking different languages, and they were all hearing them in their own language. Speaking as it says in verse 11, hearing in our own language is the wonderful works of God. And we see this was all done through the Holy Spirit. In verse 12, again, talking about some of those words, the descriptive words, it uses the word amazed again.

That they were all amazed and perplexed, trying to figure out what's going on, really, and saying to one another, whatever could this mean? So, God certainly had their attention, didn't He? And all the things that were happening. And then it goes on to verses 14, 15, 16.

We covered those yesterday about how this was a fulfillment of something that God had promised that His Holy Spirit would be poured out on flesh, a partial fulfillment on men and women, men servants and maid servants, and they would prophesy. And this was going to happen.

And this was a partial fulfillment of all that. Verses 19 through 21 talk about the end of the age, when all these heavenly signs would come, and then in verse 21, it would come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then He comes to the conclusion here in verse 36, therefore it's something you need to know. As you are here listening to what God has inspired, know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And then He goes on to say in verse 37, we heard how people were pricked in their heart, or how they were stirred in their heart.

And their hearts were stirred at this time with what they heard. And when they heard this, it says, they were cut to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? It wasn't just a question. It was something they really meant with all their hearts. I understand that I'm responsible for the death of the Messiah that I've been waiting for for a long time. What do I need to do?

And so God inspired Peter to tell them what to do, to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the removal of your and my sins, so that they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off as many as God shall call. And you know, you and I are mentioned in this verse. You and I are mentioned in this verse. When it comes to all that are called from afar off, it's been almost 2,000 years since this happened.

It happened a long time ago. And God is still calling people to repentance, and He's still giving His gift of the Holy Spirit. You know, this event was one of the most exciting days in human history. And we're here today because Jesus Christ and God the Father kept their promise.

He kept their promise. He poured out the Spirit then, and He said the promise is to you and to your children, and to many that are far off that God shall call. But did you know that something else began also on this day that directly relates to you and to me as an individual? What began here on this day, the Pentecost, what was demonstrated on this day, was an example of something that we haven't really talked very much about over the years, but we're beginning to stress a little bit now.

It was demonstrated that God's spiritual gifts came through the Holy Spirit, to you and to me. Spiritual gifts, the gift of the Holy Spirit, also pertains to us as receiving spiritual gifts. I like to probe and go a little bit deeper into spiritual gifts again today, to go a little deeper into the Scriptures. Even some of the Scriptures, we covered some new ones as well, that goes a little bit deeper into spiritual gifts and the promises that God has given to each of us as individuals.

In the church of God, we haven't talked much about it. And I think personally, over the years, one of the reasons was, back in the 1930s and back in the 1940s, there were issues with people speaking in tongues.

I'm not talking about a known language, I'm talking about gibberish. And so, I think that we shied away a little bit from that. And because of that concern, I don't think the church has talked much about spiritual gifts over the years. But God talks about them. And He talks about how they should be used. He talks about what they are, and the reason that He gives them to us. And so, we'll focus a little bit more as we go into that, about spiritual gifts in you and me. And those gifts that He gives are supernatural, rather than some natural gifts that we have, natural endowments that we are born with.

Because we all do have those, they are different from spiritual gifts. We were all born with certain abilities, all born with certain capabilities, but they are natural endowments. They were part of the DNA mixture that we received from our Father and Mother in the womb when we were formed. Natural endowments, natural skills. And you'll see that sometimes among families. You'll see certain families maybe are gifted with singers, that they just have a gift to sing.

And it will pass from generation to generation. You may know families like that. Wow, they are really good singers. When their children grow up and they become great singers, then the grandchildren are good singers. It's a gift, a natural endowment, a talent that goes from one generation to another. You'll see that sometimes in the trades and in craftsmen.

You'll see that sometimes that passes from generation to generation. They are good craftsmen or good tradesmen in certain areas. But that's just something that we are born with, a natural endowment. And we all have those. But the Holy Spirit provides each Christian with at least one spiritual gift, something that we were not born with. And it is done and it is given as God wills, as we discussed yesterday. He's the one that gives it, as He wills. And this spiritual gift is different from the natural endowments that we were born with, the natural talents that we were born with. And sometimes it's even contrary to some of the natural endowments that we were born with.

It's something very, very different than the way we were normally wired. And yet, it is there. It has been given. And it brings out the glory to God. And the purposes of the gift, as we touched on yesterday, is to serve the common good, is to build up the body of Christ, to serve the church of God. You know, Paul mentions 20 different spiritual gifts in the Scriptures, 20 different ones in his writings.

And I want to emphasize, again, that these are God-empowered gifts. They came from Him. And they were given only to believers who have received the Holy Spirit. We don't have them of our own. There's nothing that we did to earn them. We don't deserve them. They didn't come naturally. And that's why they're gifts. That's why they're spiritual gifts, and they've come from God. Now, no one receives all of them. We just don't. That's not the way God designed it. Sometimes we think, boy, I wish we had them all. You know. But we don't. And there's a classic example here of someone we just read about is Peter. We read about yesterday of having spiritual gifts.

We know that God gave him the spiritual gift of healing. But you know there was even more than that. Because there was other spiritual gifts that God gave to Peter on the day of Pentecost when he gave Peter that gift. And it was something that wasn't natural for Peter. You know, Peter at that time had been rash. He'd been impulsive. He made some rash decisions, some impulsive decisions. He often, his head was ahead of his reason. He was a hothead, in other words.

And here he cut off the high priest's ear when they were trying to seize Jesus Christ in the garden. He was trying to save the situation. Later on, he had this brashness about how brave he would be. He'd be willing to go to the death. But then he really shows a little bit of cowardice when he denies Jesus Christ three times when it came to the rubber hitting the road. So here we saw somebody who denied Jesus Christ. And prior to this day of Pentecost had been rash, had been impulsive, had been cowardly, and had been hotheaded.

And he was transformed into a stable, reasoned, and confident man and preacher for the Word of God. Transformed, speaking boldly to the audience that was there at that time. Well, let's read some more about these spiritual gifts. Let's probe a little deeper into the Scriptures as we go. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1. Let's review what God has to say.

Paul wrote to the church here in Corinth, and they had received a lot of spiritual gifts. And that's why probably Paul is discussing the subject here for them and for us as we read. It says now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren.

And let's look at the phrase, spiritual gifts. It comes from a Greek word, pneumaticos. I'll spell that for you. It's P-N-E-U-M-A-T-I-K-O-S. Of which the English word, pneumatic, comes from. And some of you may be familiar with that, but if you're not, it means driven by air. Pneumatic means driven by air. Well, these spiritual gifts are a result of what occurred back in 31 AD when there was a mighty rushing wind, and the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out.

And that is why the Greek word is used, pneumaticos. It means a gift. It's not a carnal gift. It's not a fleshly gift. It's a divinely supernatural gift. So he says here concerning these spiritual gifts, he says, brethren, I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to misunderstand.

He says in verse 2, You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed.

And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. So here they were completely in a pagan culture. And Paul knew that no one would accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah unless they were moved by God's Holy Spirit. Because here they were in a pagan culture. They had to be led by God's Spirit to even acknowledge this. Verse number 4, There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. Let's look at the word gifts here.

Dig a little deeper here. It says there are diversities of gifts. The Greek word gifts is something that we would be familiar with. I think if we take a look at it, it is the Greek word charisma. The word gifts here is the Greek word charisma. I think a lot of us here have probably heard that word before.

Today we define charisma as a rare personal quality that is attributed to leaders. Usually we view it as someone that has a magnetic or charm. We think of maybe politicians having charisma. Or that maybe some business leaders that are said to have charisma. Or a personal person that you may know that has charisma. I say a personal magnetism.

But what Paul means when he talks about this, is that he's talking about an extraordinary power or ability. A divine gift. A divine ability that is given by God through his Spirit. In Greek the word charisma means a divine gratuity or a spiritual endowment. You know, if you go to a restaurant and you get good service, usually we give a tip, don't we?

We say, thank you for this service, we're going to give you a tip. Kind of a bonus for providing good service. Well, in a spiritual way, what Paul is saying here is that we are given something very special from God. A favor. The word charisma comes from the root word, carous, which means favor. So we are given these gifts as a favor from God. It's something he's giving to us as individuals. Let's take a look at another word in verse number 5. It says, there are differences of ministries but the same Lord. When I talk about ministries, I don't want you to necessarily think about ministerial offices, because that's where we often go with this word.

But this word comes from the Greek, and actually, the English comes from this word, it means deacon. The word translated ministries is where we get our English word deacon, because the Greek word for ministries is diaconia. Diaconia, and it means a serving assistant. Someone who assists you. Someone who serves you. Someone who ministers to you. Sometimes we'll see here that this is a gift, a spiritual gift that God gives to his people. Now, part of what I'd like to do today, in the time we've got left, is to address these gifts that Paul discusses, not from our perspective, or actually, not from their perspective back in 60 AD when this was written, but from our perspective in the 21st century.

So, let's go to verse number 5 again and read it. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And this can be translated, or from the New Century version, it's translated this way. There are different ways to serve, but the same Lord to serve. Different ministries are different ways to serve, but the same Lord to serve.

So, brethren, again, as we touched on, spiritual gifts include different ways to serve others. And it can be a lot of different ways. It can be as a caregiver, it can be as an encourager, it can be as a listener, it can be as a spiritual mentor, it can be as a teacher, it may be the gift of music, it may be the gift of hospitality. It can be all, it can be the gift of organization. There are so many different gifts. I think of an example of the gift of hospitality. You may have known someone like this, and a few people come to mind. A gift of hospitality, that they had a way, particularly of brand new people, to make them feel comfortable when they came in to the church service. And they just had a way of not saying anything awkward, and a way of encouraging and inspiring, inviting them over to the home, feeding them good food. You know, something that's really good, that they enjoy, that they all enjoy, and good company and conversation, making them feel comfortable about being in services and wanting them to come back. There are some people that just have that gift. It's an amazing thing. Now, not all of us have that gift. But if God has given you that gift, think of the good that you can do for the body of Jesus Christ. And the beauty of a spiritual gift is that you may never have even been trained in those areas. You've never had any formal education in those areas, but God has given you that gift. And you're able to serve in those ways, even though you wouldn't necessarily have that or had it before. Verse number 6, and there are diversities of activities, but it's the same God who works all in all. And I'd like to read this from the New Century version, verse 6. And there are different ways that God works through people, but it's the same God. God works in all of us in everything that we do. So we all have different gifts. We don't have the same gifts. We don't have the same abilities. The spiritual gifts that God has given to you hasn't necessarily given to somebody else.

But He's given you at least one, and it's unique, just for you. Verse number 7, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one. We talked about that yesterday, for the prophet of all. Verse 8, for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. So Paul says wisdom and knowledge can be spiritual gifts, whereas knowledge is the understanding of the word and understanding of the truth, and understanding of right principles. Wisdom, another gift, is the insight and godly sense to know how to apply the knowledge, and how to make right, mature, and reasonable decisions, the kind of decisions that conform to God's will. Knowledge usually comes quicker than wisdom, it seems.

Wisdom seems to come later on with maturing, with time, and with experience. Verse number 9, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healings by the same Spirit. Some of us have the ability, or have been given the ability, to have the spiritual gift of faith. And that's the absolute assurance that something is true or will occur, even with the absence of evidence.

You are convinced. There's no physical evidence. And faith doesn't rely on the five senses to conform or confirm to what it knows to be true. Some people have that kind of faith. They've been given an extra measure of faith. And some individuals, they have such great faith that when they get on their knees and go to the prayer closet and they pray for people that are suffering or having illnesses, those are real needs among the body of Jesus Christ. They go into their prayer closets and they pray for people, and people are healed. They have that gift, that kind of faith.

I heard a story the other day of somebody down in the church, down in the southern part of the country, and they had a couple of kids that, oh, I suppose they're in their early 20s, young adults, and you know as parents, they're kind of in the transition stage and you're afraid to let go completely, but you know you should be letting go. And they were going to be going to the feast. My brother and sister were going to be going to the feast without their parents. So the parents were a little concerned. They were going to go kind of into an exotic feast site that's outside of the country, and they could go into hiking and areas, you know, a little more remote areas that could be potentially in that country a little more dangerous.

And so the mother in this case was worrying about their children. But she said, I knew somebody else in the congregation that was someone that would, they were a prayer. They were praying often for the brethren. You may know someone that's like that. And so they went to that person and they said, you know, I know that you'll pray for them if I ask you to pray for them. And so she explained the whole situation just as I explained to you.

Sure enough, this particular person prayed. And this mother knew that this person would pray. Isn't that neat? Isn't that inspiring? You know, when our kids were younger, our son was kind of in his early high school years, and we were having some trouble. You remember Lillian Johnson? I've mentioned her name several times over the years that she would pray for everyone. She'd go down the list and pray for everyone in the congregation. That amazing thing. So we asked her, could you pray for our son? He's kind of in a really awkward stage of his life right now, and he's kind of at a crossroads where he could be making some choices that's going to get him into trouble.

And she did. In fact, you know, several weeks or months later, she asked us, how's Jamie doing? I've been praying for him every day. Can you imagine that? Well, you know what? I don't take that for granted. But I think he sidestepped some real dangerous ground. And he got through some minefields in his life. These things happen, brethren. Verse 10, and to another, the working of miracles. You know, a miracle is an event that you know, this is superhuman. It's a divine of divine origin. There's just no human explanation for what could happen.

We don't see many miracles in the church today, and it's usually something that occurs, that defies physical laws, that govern our world. It defies any law that we know, you know, that physically governs our world or our universe. It's often rare, and it's unexpected, because it transcends what we think of as natural. But Paul said the working of miracles is a spiritual gift. It could be given to somebody. Verse 10, to another prophecy. And of course, we touched on that.

We tend to think in the 21st century, that's only talking about what can happen in the future, when we talk about prophesying. And that was part of what a prophet's duty was. But also, they were messengers who inspired believers to honor God and encourage righteous living. And that's what they did most of the time. They motivated others by proclaiming God's ways, His goodness, His grace, His promises, and He encouraged people to live righteously. That's what they did most of the time.

But yes, they did warn the disobedient of the consequences that could come from disobedience. And then as part of the role, they would occasionally reveal things that were to happen in the future. Paul said that prophecy is a spiritual gift. Then again, back to verse 10.

To another, discerning of spirits. Now, some people have that gift, and they can quickly discern the genuineness or the true intent of other people. It's amazing. I've known people that have had this gift. They are quick to sense that someone has selfish motives as they're being led by a wrong spirit. They can discern, based on what the person had said, based on the attitudes that they perceived, based on their motives, because they saw and perceived a wrong kind of spirit.

Paul says that, too, is a spiritual gift. Back to verse 10. To another, different kinds of tongues or languages, in other words. And to another, the interpretation of those languages. Now, some people are gifted to learn a language, a foreign language that they did not know before, and to speak them.

They have that as a gift that's been given. And, you know, a lot of us struggle with English, primary language. You know, I'm one of those. But, you know, they're a brethren that I have known over the years that know a multitude of languages. They pick them up just like that, and then they can translate it to another language. Not only can they speak it, but they can interpret it. You know, speaking is one skill set, but then they can interpret it, or they can read it, and understand it, and translate it.

And Paul said that all of those things are spiritual gifts. So, again, some are gifted, spiritually gifted, to learn and to speak foreign languages. You know how many languages there are in the face of the planet? There's over 6,000 of them. You know, this gift may be pretty important when it comes to being able to preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God before the end of the age. Verse 11, But one and the same Spirit works all of these things. It's amazing. They're all gifts. It's the same Spirit that gives these different and unique gifts to each one of us, distributing, as it says, to each one individually, as God wills.

So, you might be saying to yourself, well, I've been baptized, I've come into the church, and I'm not sure I have a spiritual gift. I don't think I have one. I don't see one. But God says, through Scripture, He says through Paul, that He is distributed to each one. That's what He says. Each one individually, as He wills.

So, on that very day, it pictures the Father giving His Holy Spirit to the church in 31 A.D. but also giving it to you and I. How far off. The promise was to us as well. Now, let me ask you and myself a question. Have you or I opened our spiritual gift? Have we opened our spiritual gift? I think most of us know that an unopened gift doesn't really serve any purpose. And a gift that sits unopened or on the shelf or at the bottom of the closet doesn't benefit anyone.

1 Corinthians 12. For as the body is one, and has many members, we covered this yesterday, but all members of that one body, being many, are the one body of Jesus Christ. By one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, and we've been made to drink into one Spirit. So it doesn't matter. We've got different backgrounds. We have different nationalities, different races, different levels of education, different backgrounds, different careers, different interests, different abilities and skills, and different gifts, spiritual gifts, that God has given to us.

But we are all part of the one spiritual body. We all share the same Spirit that came from God and dwells in us. Let's go to Romans 12. That's one area of Scripture we did not cover yesterday. Romans 12, and we'll pick it up here in verse 3. Another place that Paul discussed the spiritual gifts. Romans 12, verse 3, verse 3, For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, and this is inspiration from God, not to think of Himself more highly than He ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members don't have the same function. Verse 5, So we, being many, are one body in Christ, He keeps helping us to understand, and individually members of one another all have their role. Verse 6, is what I want to focus here now. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. So you see the difference we see in Romans here, we're going to contrast a little bit from what we've just read in Paul's letter to Corinth, is that Paul not only acknowledges spiritual gifts here, he expects them here in the book of Romans, but he emphasizes that they must be used.

Let's use them to be helpful to the church. And in prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. So again, the same gift of prophecy that he mentions, but he adds something here. He says, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith that the person who has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in agreement with the faith. What's he trying to get to us here? So we see, or you see, any prophecy should be rooted in Scripture.

It shouldn't be distorted. It shouldn't be twisted by someone's personal agenda or someone's desire to promote themselves. Paul says it's a wonderful gift here, but it needs to be in agreement with the faith. It needs to be in agreement with the Scripture. It needs to be in agreement with what we know to be true from the Scripture. Verse 7, or ministry, again, better translated service. Let's use it in our ministry, or serving, and he who teaches in teaching.

This is the gift of educating others. And it's a spiritual gift. You know, not all of us have that gift to be able to educate others. It's something that God can give. It may include educating our youth. It may include educating our teens. It may be in a camp setting. It may be in Bible studies. It may be in a women's club. It may be in a sermonette. There's a number of ways to teach. By example, by mentoring. So many different ways. And it's a gift. A spiritual gift.

And you know, we may never have even been trained as a teacher. But you know, God can give that gift, the ability to teach others. That's a good thing. That is a good thing. So to verse number 8. He who exhorts in exhortation. Not really a good translation. I'll read it here again from the New Century version.

It says, whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage. Should use it. If you've got it, if God's given it to you, that's a gift. To be able to encourage other people. We may not think of it that way. It's a tremendous gift to be able to lift someone who's going through a very difficult time in their life. To be able to encourage someone that's going through a trial. You may have seen it in others, or maybe God's given it to you. To encourage someone who's confused. Someone who's distracted by the cares of this life. A person who has this gift tends to be like a person that almost has a heat-seeking missile.

They see someone that needs to be encouraged, and they go there, and nothing's going to stop them. They are going to go there and encourage someone to lift them up. That's their mission. That's what God has given to them. They can hardly contain themselves. You can't stop me. I'm on a mission. But that's a gift, and we don't all have that spiritual gift. But that's a gift. Going around and encouraging, making them feel good. About the fact they are part of the body of Jesus Christ. Part of the work of the church today.

You may even know someone like that. Someone may come to mind. There's a few that come to mind in my personal thoughts. Paul says again, this kind of attitude, this kind of approach is a gift. Let's go on. He who gives with liberality, or as some translations say, he who gives, give liberally. It says in the New Century version, whoever has the gift of giving to others should give freely.

Maybe you haven't thought about the fact that you can have the gift of giving. You know, it's a spiritual gift. Now, oftentimes we make the mistake of thinking that this gift is just talking about money. We're just giving some monetary gift to somebody. But that's not necessarily the case. There are many ways that we can give. And it's a spiritual gift. You can give of your time. That's not necessarily talking about money. And sometimes that's more valuable and precious than money. You know, money can be made again and given again.

But sometimes our time, once it's used, it's gone. You know, once that hour is up, it's gone. So when we give of our time, that's a gift. And it could be a wonderful gift to others. You can give your wisdom that God has given to you. You can give knowledge to another human being. You can, of course, give money. But you can also give by being patient and merciful. And maybe that person doesn't even deserve it. Maybe they're coming across as arrogant and selfish. You and I can give them the gift, if we have it, of being patient and merciful, despite the way that they are acting.

You can give by being for giving to others. And I can do that. Even if we've been offended, they've said something that bothered us. We can forgive them. That's another way we can give. Let's go on in verse 8. He who leads with diligence. I like the way it's translated in God's work for today. It says this. If it is in leadership, lead enthusiastically. Now, that's what God says. That's a gift. If you've got the gift of leadership, then use it with enthusiasm.

You know, there's a lot of joys and there's a lot of great fulfillment that comes in leadership and being a leader, whether it be business or an organization or a leader among God's people. But brethren, I think we all realize, or should realize and appreciate, too, that leadership is a gift. And it's a gift that comes with great responsibilities and consequences. I'll just refer to Luke 12 in verse 48 for the sake of time. But it says, For everyone to whom much is given, much more will be required. And to him who much has been committed, they're going to ask for even more.

So it can be a tough job sometimes. Sometimes leadership is lonely. Sometimes you grieve and you pain over things because things don't exactly work out the way that you've been praying about for those that you have the responsibility to lead. Things don't work out the way that you hoped. God says through Paul that being a leader is one who's been called to lead. Others should do it with enthusiasm, with passion, and it's a gift.

Back to verse number 8. He who shows mercy with cheerfulness says in the New Century version, whoever has the gift of showing mercy to others should do so with joy. So that's sometimes something we don't think about, maybe, is doing it with joy. But that's another spiritual gift, is mercy. It means that you give mercy, not out of obligation, not out of regret, not because God says, I have to do it, I'm commanded to do it, but you do it with joy.

You do it because it's been a gift that's been given to you. You do it with joy. So when you have that gift, you kindly show compassion to others with cheerfulness, in spite of maybe flaws and in spite of their weaknesses. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. Let's go over there. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7.

Peter has something to add here. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins, be hospitable to one another without grumbling. And then Peter says this in verse number 10. As each one has received a gift, minister or serve, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

So we see here again that Peter emphasizes that we have received a spiritual gift, at least one, and the reason to serve. God's trying to get that through to us, loud and clear. Notice verse 11, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. Peter states that if we've been blessed with a spiritual teaching as a gift, and we're speakers, that we should use it with dignity.

Let's use it with wisdom according to the Scripture, because it comes directly from God. Not via a personal interpretation or an agenda to manipulate others or to use people. That's an important concept that God reveals through Peter.

If anyone ministers or serves, let him do it with the ability that God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. So Peter helps us to understand that, of course, these gifts are of divine origin. They did not come from anything that we are. God supplies them. We don't have a right to them. He gives us the responsibility to use them, and He's the one that gives them to us. And that's why they're called gifts. And they're supplied for His glory. Now, you and I may be saying to ourselves, I don't see some of these gifts in the church today.

I don't see some of these gifts. And if they're present, they don't seem to have very much of an impact today on the church of God. And my reply to you and to myself, if we've had that thought, is this. Paul and Peter have just told us, God has inspired them to tell us that we all have at least one spiritual gift. They said that in Scripture. He said that they've also told us that we have different spiritual gifts. They're not the same. But brethren, again, a gift unopened is useless. Our spiritual gifts were not given for our benefit.

They were given for the benefit of others. And likewise, your brothers and your sisters in Christ were given spiritual gifts to benefit all of us as a body. So we share these gifts to strengthen the church. You know, if you or I don't make our unique contribution, with the spiritual gift that's been given to us, then our contribution won't be made.

Our contribution won't be made, and it won't benefit the body of Christ. I'm going to ask you a question here. I ask myself as well. Have you taken the time to discover your spiritual gift or gifts? Have you and I taken the time to discover our spiritual gifts? Because when we do, and when we open them and use them, we're all going to benefit. The church will become stronger. And when we leave our gift unopened, we're all denied the blessing that was intended to come from that. Brother, we're a small group of believers, and our natural gifts are actually very limited.

The ones that we were endowed with when we were born in the womb, they're not that significant. And trust me, they're being freely stretched pretty thin right now, when it comes to our own natural endowments. More than ever, brethren, just like in the first century, we need God's spiritual gifts in order to be able to accomplish the things that God wants to do through us. It's funny how He wants us to be engaged.

He could do a lot of things himself. He really could. He could make children of Abraham from stones, but that's not His preferred method. He wants to use you and me. He wants us to use our spiritual gifts to help the church grow, and to be a witness of a coming King, the Kingdom of God, and to prepare people for the return of Jesus Christ.

So on this day of Pentecost, I've got a simple message and I've got a simple statement, since it all began, the giving of spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost. This very day, back in 31 AD, almost 2,000 years ago, I want to ask if you and I have taken the time to discover our spiritual gifts and to open our unique spiritual gifts.

Before we conclude, I've got to mention something that's very, very important when it comes to spiritual gifts.

It's a very important component, because as we open them, as we discover them and we open them and we begin to use them to bless the entire church, there's a certain something that needs to be added to our spiritual gifts. There's a quality that makes these gifts effective, and if it's missing, they will not be effective.

As a matter of fact, without this quality that I'm going to talk about, these gifts tend to be selfish, and they tend to be abused, and they tend to be used for the wrong reasons. They tend to be ego builders, rather than benefiting other people. And it's a very essential and important quality. Without it, these spiritual gifts will lose their meaning. They'll lose their power. They'll lose their effectiveness.

And the reason I bring this up is I believe in almost the 41 years now that I've had and associated with the church of God, that I saw people with spiritual gifts. Some of the same spiritual gifts that we've talked about already and that we've discussed, and because they lacked this essential quality, it did not benefit the church of God.

Because those gifts became shallow. Let's find out what that ingredient is. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 27. Paul's been talking about spiritual gifts. We saw many of them earlier. He talks about a few more of them here. But I want to emphasize the essential ingredient that needs to be added to these spiritual gifts, or they will be shallow, because we'll just become distorted and selfish with these gifts.

1 Corinthians 12 and verse 27, it talks about you are the body of Christ. We've talked about that already, and members individually. And God has appointed some of these in the church. He's appointed certain offices, which are spiritual gifts. Apostles, prophets, teachers, we've talked about some of this. And we're not all... all of us don't have these same offices or gifts as he talks about in verse 29.

Because we all have unique spiritual gifts, is why? Verse 30, we all have the gift of healings or speak with languages or all interpret. No, we don't all have those gifts. God gives them uniquely and spreads them out as he sees fit. Verse 31, but I want you to earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way.

So in utilizing the spiritual gifts that God has given to us, he says there's something I want you to know. A more excellent way. Something that you can add to these spiritual gifts that will truly make them profound and powerful and effective within the body of Christ. That will allow those gifts to be opened and used to the benefit of the brethren, to the church of God. He says I'm going to tell you what it is. Verse 31 in the New century translation says, but you should truly want to have the greater gifts, and now I show you the best way of all. And let's notice chapter 13 in verse 1. He says, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, that's a spiritual gift, but I don't have love, then I become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. He says, you know, if I could speak 50 languages of the 6,000 that are out there, and I could interpret 60 to 70 to 100 different languages. He said, if I don't have love, then all I'm going to eventually be doing is just being an irritating noise with the things that I say or the things that I interpret. A sounding brass or a banging, clanging cymbal, and just an irritating noise without this component of love. Verse number 2, and though I've got the gift of prophecy, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, these are all some of the things that he's talked about, gifts that were mentioned earlier, that I have all faith that I could remove mountains, but if I don't have love, which is the Greek agape, I am nothing. And verse 3, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, I can become a martyr, I can give up my life, my flesh can be burned to a crisp, I give up my physical body for the sake of Jesus Christ, but if I don't have love, it doesn't profit me anything. So here, we see that God through him is recapping some of the spiritual gifts that he mentioned earlier, and as wonderful as they are, there's one essential quality that makes them better, that makes them effective, that makes them powerful, and makes them profound, and that quality is love.

And looking back in the history, my history of the church, there were many individuals that I knew that had spiritual gifts, and you know, far too few of them opened them and used them.

Maybe they saw them, just put them on the shelf. And you know, sadly, there were many that did discover their gifts, and they opened them, and they began to use them, but then they abused them, because they didn't have the quality of agape, the quality of love, the essential ingredient in order that it could be used to help others. They were used for the wrong reasons, selfish reasons, reasons to manipulate, and you've probably seen some of that if you've been around for a while.

You know, at the conference, even one of the workshops was devoted just to that one topic of the abuse of spiritual gifts, and going through some of the scriptural examples. You know, there were some of those problems in Corinth, and Paul had to address some of those issues.

And you know, brethren, our gift can be abused, potentially.

So God wants us to know ahead of time how it works, so we can be focused in utilizing them for the right reasons, and having that component, that ingredient of love.

Let's jump to verse number 11.

And when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child.

I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

You know, he's saying, when I was a child, I thought about me. I was pretty much self-centered. You know, what was fun at the moment, what was cool at the moment.

I was just self-centered, self-motivated. The focus was on me.

But he says, you know what? The day came when I grew up, and I became a man, and I began to mature spiritually.

Verse number 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly.

You know, we look into the future, we understand some of the basics, we understand the framework of the coming Kingdom of God.

But it's still kind of dim.

But then, face to face, with Jesus Christ, when the Kingdom comes, we'll have direct communication, face to face, it will all be made known to us.

And he says, now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I am also known.

But now we come to verse 13, and now abides faith, hope, love, and these three. But the greatest of these, God says through Paul, is love.

So that's the essential ingredient that he's been talking about, that will make those spiritual gifts productive and beneficial to the entire church.

That will help to complete the end time commission in witnessing that God has given to us as a people.

We need spiritual gifts, brethren, don't we? They really do. In order to accomplish the work, God knew that we needed it.

And that's why he was so greatly anticipating sharing that gift with us. It means so much.

And it's love that guarantees that those gifts will be used unselfishly.

Brethren, every gift has to be used with love. Whether it be the gift of serving, the gift of teaching.

You know, we talk about love is patient, love is kind, love is gentle, love is long suffering. That we use all of those gifts with that ingredient of love. And God, through Paul, warns us.

We must all have that ingredient because without it, our spiritual gifts are like sounding brass, clanging cymbals that will have no benefit at all, ultimately.

And maybe even damage.

We need spiritual gifts, brethren, don't we?

And for those of us that have been baptized and received that promise, they've already been given to us.

They just need to be opened. They need to be discovered. And they need to be used.

And if we're willing to do that, we're going to see miraculous change in the church of God.

We're going to see things change. We're going to see our own growth and our ability to help and to serve other people.

And to complete the great commission that God's given to us.

So, brethren, I'm going to ask you and myself to ponder a few questions here.

Think about, meditate on, what are your spiritual gifts that God has given to you? Have a wonderful, meaningful Pentecost.

Brethren, let's take time to discover our gifts.

Let's take time to open these spiritual gifts that God has given to us.

Now, whether they're large or small, they're all necessary. But let's take time to open these spiritual gifts to discover what they are.

Even a small gift, sometimes the greatest gifts come in the smallest packages, don't they?

It's not always the big ones that seem to be there.

But let's open the box. Let's discover our spiritual gift.

And let's use it to serve the people of God.

Let's open the box.