Gifts of the Holy Spirit

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.439 If you're able to remain standing with me, please do and let's turn in 2 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:12.349 God's Word to First Corinthians chapter twelve. First Corinthians Chapter Twelve, last week 3 00:00:12.349 --> 00:00:16.910 we focused on verses one through four. I'll read the whole chapter this time, 4 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:23.219 but will be focusing on all the other verses. So last week one 5 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:28.980 through four, this week four through thirty one. Let's give our attention to 6 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:35.810 God's word. Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want 7 00:00:35.850 --> 00:00:39.929 you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were 8 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:43.729 led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. Therefore, I 9 00:00:43.810 --> 00:00:48.329 want you to understand that no one speaking in the spirit of God ever says 10 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:54.000 Jesus is accursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except the 11 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:00.320 Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, 12 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.069 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, and there are 13 00:01:06.109 --> 00:01:10.870 varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in 14 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:17.469 everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good, 15 00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:22.540 for to one is given through the spirit the utterance of wisdom and to 16 00:01:22.659 --> 00:01:26.140 another the utterance of knowledge. According to the same spirit to another, faith 17 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:32.019 by the same spirit to another, gifts of healing by the one spirit to 18 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:34.930 another, the working of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability 19 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:40.569 to distinguish between spirits to another, various kinds of tongues to another, the 20 00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:47.280 interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same spirit, 21 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:53.799 who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body 22 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.159 is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, 23 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.670 though many, are one body, so it is with Christ, for in 24 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:06.230 one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, 25 00:02:06.549 --> 00:02:09.509 slaves, are free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. 26 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:15.979 For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If 27 00:02:15.060 --> 00:02:19.659 the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong 28 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:23.259 to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the 29 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:27.180 body. And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, 30 00:02:27.219 --> 00:02:30.129 I don't belong to the body, that would not make it any less part 31 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:35.449 of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where the sense? 32 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.250 Where with the sense? Where would be the sense of hearing? If 33 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:42.610 the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell. 34 00:02:43.689 --> 00:02:46.759 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one 35 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:52.159 of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would 36 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.800 the body be as it is? There are many parts, yet one body. 37 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.830 The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, 38 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:02.110 nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 39 00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:07.710 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker 40 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:12.550 are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable 41 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:19.099 we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 42 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:23.699 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed 43 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:28.370 the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there 44 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:31.569 may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the 45 00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:36.889 same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. 46 00:03:37.009 --> 00:03:42.960 If one member is honored, all rejoiced together. Now you are the body 47 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:49.039 of Christ and individually members of it, and God has appointed in the Church 48 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:53.719 First Apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles and gifts of healing, 49 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:00.629 helping, Ad Ministry, administrating and various kinds of tongues. Are All 50 00:04:00.669 --> 00:04:04.430 apostles? Are All prophets? Are All teachers? Do All Work Miracles? 51 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:09.789 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all 52 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:15.460 interpret, but earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you still 53 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:33.569 a more excellent way. You may be seated. was passage is so rich 54 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:39.000 that I can guarantee you that if you were listening today, even if you 55 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.040 have heard and read through this passage hundreds of times, there was probably something 56 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.519 you noticed new, something that came out, something that perhaps was a little 57 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:54.149 bit different, and that's that's really good and a common experience with God's word. 58 00:04:55.230 --> 00:04:58.509 It's good because it reminds us that as we come to God's word, 59 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:03.269 we often come maybe I'm I'll just speak for myself. Sometimes I come thinking 60 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:09.540 that I know what it's already about and I have all the right questions to 61 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:14.980 ask of it, but that is pretty much never true. Usually there's lots 62 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:19.220 of things to still think and consider on, there's opinions that need revising and 63 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:26.569 sometimes even the questions that we come to a passage are not the right questions. 64 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:31.649 So, with that in mind and coming to this passage, I want 65 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:36.720 to be a little excited with you because today we get to hear and on 66 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:45.480 the next chapters, good and clear teaching about the Holy Spirit, the Holy 67 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.629 Spirit God, the Holy Spirit third person of the Trinity, and the Holy 68 00:05:49.949 --> 00:05:57.550 Spirit as he records and inspires these words, as they are spoken in Christ 69 00:05:57.709 --> 00:06:01.389 by the father. They are here for us and for our benefit, and 70 00:06:01.829 --> 00:06:08.019 that is such a good thing and really, in a lot of ways, 71 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:14.139 one of the main things this passage is about is the Holy Spirit, and 72 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:17.850 I don't want you to forget that, because a lot of times this passage 73 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:23.970 and others like it get approached in a very man centered way. Not that 74 00:06:24.490 --> 00:06:28.730 there isn't a lot of discussion about who we are. It's a lot about 75 00:06:28.730 --> 00:06:30.970 what the passage is, but what is it grounded in, or who is 76 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:36.920 it grounded in? The Holy Spirit and in Christ, whom the spirit unites 77 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:44.600 us with? When we are only thinking about the gifts and what ones I 78 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:48.709 have or what one someone else has or arguments that we might have about them, 79 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:55.149 we're thinking in a very man centered way. It's not that those questions 80 00:06:55.189 --> 00:06:59.750 are bad, but I thought's all we're asking. We're missing quite a lot 81 00:07:00.029 --> 00:07:03.420 and that's important. To note up front. This would be kind of like 82 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:10.300 inheriting some beautiful jewelry from, let's say, your grandmother, and then you 83 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:14.779 never think about your grandmother when you wear the jewelry. She gave it to 84 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:19.810 you as an expression of her love and her her yeah, her love for 85 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:25.009 you. And if you all you ever do is think about how many carrots 86 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:29.490 are in this piece and how shiny that piece is. Kind of missed the 87 00:07:29.610 --> 00:07:33.279 point. Similarly, if we think about the gifts of the Holy Spirit without 88 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:39.079 a connection with the Holy Spirit, we've missed the point. We don't want 89 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.920 to do that. So, as we come to this, what we want 90 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.709 to start with is the bigger point that Jesus wants us to see, and 91 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:54.790 it's this. He wants us to see ourselves as individual members, as part 92 00:07:54.790 --> 00:08:01.139 of a body, and it is his body. We are, the body 93 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:07.180 of Christ that comes up several times in this passage, and as members of 94 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:13.089 that body, united to him our life, I are everything. He wants 95 00:08:13.129 --> 00:08:18.329 us to understand that through the Holy Spirit, each of us has been apportioned 96 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:26.399 various things, which makes us distinct and separate, which makes us different from 97 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:33.120 one another and yet all working together. What does he say for the common 98 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:37.519 good. That's the reason these things are given for the common good, so 99 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:46.070 that we are not and I and ear, but a body. And I 100 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:50.190 always find Paul's arguments here kind of funny in a way. Right you. 101 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:54.470 I like picturing a giant eye because, like, is that a body? 102 00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:58.299 The answers no, it's not. Why? Because a body is, by 103 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:03.980 definition, made of many parts. It's also not a very useful thing, 104 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:11.129 justin I it's also it's also it is very dependent on the other parts. 105 00:09:11.210 --> 00:09:13.009 The head, as he says. Can't say to the feet I don't need 106 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.570 you. Right, it's just there's like a silliness to it, a ridiculousness 107 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:20.850 about it, and in a similar way, we should let that hit our 108 00:09:20.929 --> 00:09:26.639 hearts a little bit, hit our consciences and recognize that it's kind of ridiculous 109 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:31.000 in this in almost the same way, but except in in a very egregious 110 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.559 way, when we say to this member or that member, I don't need 111 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.960 you, or, the flip side of that coin, you don't need me. 112 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:43.230 We all need each other. Sitting around us in this room are people 113 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:48.909 who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, who have been given exactly what 114 00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:54.820 God wants to give them. For your benefit, and likewise he is given 115 00:09:54.940 --> 00:10:00.220 you exactly what you need so that you can benefit others for the common good. 116 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:05.419 This is the body that he has designed. The Holy Spirit is the 117 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:09.129 one who is equipped you, and so we've got to begin there, and 118 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:13.370 let's do that by looking at some of these specific things, things in this 119 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:20.529 text as we start here. So the first thing I want to draw your 120 00:10:20.529 --> 00:10:24.200 attention to is in verse seven, as I've mentioned here, and we'll see 121 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:30.840 it to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. 122 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.029 That's why we have whatever we have from the Holy Spirit. We have it 123 00:10:35.230 --> 00:10:39.149 for the common good. If you have your bibles open and want to flip 124 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:43.909 over to chapter fourteen, you'll see in a similar to way he says in 125 00:10:43.950 --> 00:10:50.379 verse twelve. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the 126 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:56.220 spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. That's the point, 127 00:10:56.419 --> 00:11:01.659 that's what it's for. He's given us these things. Let's dive in a 128 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:05.690 little bit more to what he says as the church, he says we are 129 00:11:05.889 --> 00:11:09.370 those. This is how we want to understand ourselves. We are those who 130 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:15.809 have been baptized in the spirit. The same spirit. Though we have different 131 00:11:15.850 --> 00:11:20.440 gifts from the spirit, different activities, different services, we are well baptized 132 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:24.320 in the same spirit. Without that baptism, in other words, there is 133 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:30.759 no church. That is what defines us. We are defined by the washing 134 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.870 and the cleansing into which this life, into this life that we have entered, 135 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:43.350 and we do this through the Holy Spirit. And this is no small 136 00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:48.019 thing when you consider what Paul says about the Holy Spirit, our Lord and 137 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:52.899 the giver of Life. In Verse Twelve, he is identified, the Holy 138 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:58.620 Spirit is identified as one who empowers you see, for just as the one 139 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:03.649 for just as the body is one and has many members, and all the 140 00:12:03.769 --> 00:12:07.129 members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is 141 00:12:07.610 --> 00:12:13.370 with Christ. And now look at verse six and there are varieties of activities, 142 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:18.200 their varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them 143 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.120 all. In everyone. Who is this one? Who is the God that 144 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:30.669 is empowering us? It is the Holy Spirit. These references then, to 145 00:12:31.230 --> 00:12:35.269 spirit, Lord and God. All read that in verses for and following. 146 00:12:35.350 --> 00:12:37.909 Now there are a variety of gifts, with the same spirit. There are 147 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:41.750 varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activities, 148 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:46.659 but the same God. This may be a reference to all three persons of 149 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:52.820 the Trinity, but more likely all three references are specifically to the Holy Spirit, 150 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:58.330 who is Lord, who is God. One reason to think that is 151 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:03.970 because that's what this whole passage is about. All of these references unto the 152 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:09.210 spirit and the activities that we see him acting in, in powering in I 153 00:13:09.289 --> 00:13:15.039 said twelve, in verse eleven, apportioning also in verse eleven, according to 154 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:20.960 His will, verse eleven. On these things, these things a teach us 155 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.159 that the Holy Spirit is not some abstract force, he's not a state of 156 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:31.389 mind, he's not a desire or a wish. He is the third person 157 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:39.389 of the Trinity who deserves our worship, our prayer are praises. We put 158 00:13:39.429 --> 00:13:43.940 our faith in him, we trust him, we love him, we worship 159 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:50.019 him, even as we do so to Christ and to God the father. 160 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:54.769 When we are baptized into the same spirit. It doesn't mean that we share 161 00:13:54.929 --> 00:14:01.250 the same interests, like sports or music or whatever, or if even theological 162 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:07.129 interests. It means that the God who hovered over the waters at the beginning 163 00:14:07.129 --> 00:14:13.240 of creation and the God who hovered over Mary's womb to bring forth the incarnation 164 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:20.000 is the same God who is establishing and powering enabling us according to his will. 165 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:26.309 That's a big deal. We are not just a random collection of people. 166 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:37.389 We are the creation of the Lord, the giver of Life. The 167 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:41.500 second thing to notice as we go through this passage is that he says, 168 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:45.820 especially here at the beginning, we are baptized into the same body. Our 169 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:50.500 baptism mocks not only our individual cleansing in our relationship to Christ, but it 170 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:56.970 marks our entrance into a people, into a temple, a body. That 171 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:01.610 means that, through the Holy Spirit, we are united to Christ and to 172 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:09.879 one another. If you even if you've gotten a little bit far in school, 173 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:16.919 you've probably learned pretty quickly about systems. Right Ecosystems, maybe, how 174 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:22.190 the rain, the clouds right drop rain down on the ground, which feeds 175 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:28.029 the plants, which the animals eat, and and so on and so forth, 176 00:15:28.190 --> 00:15:31.149 and the whole cycle right. There's a system that God made, all 177 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:39.899 the parts working together for the common good. What God does in the church 178 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:46.179 is he creates a spiritual system. That's what we are. We Are we're 179 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:50.289 like a body, where, like an ecosystem, we are all of these 180 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:58.769 individual parts knit together. How what's the mechanism? What's the function, the 181 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:07.440 power that holds us together, the Holy Spirit. That is amazing. We 182 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.000 when I look at you and you look at me and we look at each 183 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:15.320 other, we're not just looking at someone who is similar to us or another 184 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:22.149 human that shares similar characteristics. When we are interacting with, and praying with 185 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:27.149 and and being and fellishing, being with and worshiping with brothers and sisters in 186 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:33.940 Christ, we are a part of this spiritual ecosystem in which the Holy Spirit 187 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:45.779 is working in amazing ways. It's truly astounding. And as the spirit does 188 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:51.330 this work, we read in the scripture that one of the things he's doing 189 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:56.210 is he's manifesting himself in that work. So in the same way that God 190 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:00.929 says we can look on the things that he has created, the mountains and 191 00:17:00.049 --> 00:17:04.759 the trees and all of that world, and say there's evidence of God, 192 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.200 there's reason to worship God. You can look at the Church and see the 193 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.589 evidence of God in the work of the spirit. You can see, he 194 00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:23.069 says, the manifestations of the spirit. He is making himself known, he 195 00:17:23.269 --> 00:17:30.259 is making Christ known, he's making the father known. God makes himself known 196 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:37.339 as he apportions US these different gifts and activities and services and then knits us 197 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:45.410 together into a body. Now one of the things, the next thing we 198 00:17:45.529 --> 00:17:49.609 want to note is that these manifestations of the spirit are different from each other, 199 00:17:51.009 --> 00:17:53.970 and that means we ought to expect diversity within the body. He says 200 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:59.200 there are varieties of gifts, varieties of service and varieties of activities, but 201 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.480 they have the same source and strength. A lot of times people boil down 202 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.720 this passage to just the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But what about the 203 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.150 other two? What about service or activity? What do these things mean? 204 00:18:14.589 --> 00:18:18.589 Well, gifts could properly describe all of these things, as both the service 205 00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:22.789 and the activities are given to us. But the other two words are important 206 00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:27.539 too, in that they describe the kinds of things that we are given. 207 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:33.500 We are given gifts of service, we are given gifts of activities to benefit 208 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:40.980 the whole church and to manifest the work of God. So to some of 209 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:45.130 what we've talked about so far, we know two things. We know that 210 00:18:45.289 --> 00:18:52.289 God the Holy Spirit Unites Us together in Christ through himself, and we know 211 00:18:52.410 --> 00:18:56.720 that God the Holy Spirit reveals himself and US one by giving each member a 212 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:03.079 different manifestation of the spirit and too, using that for the common good. 213 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:07.720 And as that do happens, as he does that, as he does that 214 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.789 in his body, despite our sinfulness, despite our all the ways in which 215 00:19:12.069 --> 00:19:18.309 we wage war against that, even in ourselves, he wins that battle and 216 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:25.220 he makes himself manifest in the world. So now, this point we ought 217 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:27.140 to be wondering, well, what kinds of things does Paul have in mind? 218 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:33.180 What do gifts and activities and spirits or I'm services, have to do 219 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:37.339 with one another? So let's go through the list briefly. Here are the 220 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:44.369 things that he mentions. The examples he gives are the utterance of wisdom, 221 00:19:44.490 --> 00:19:49.250 the utterance of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, 222 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:56.359 prophecy, ability to distinguish spirits, various kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues. 223 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:00.839 That's the list that he first gives. Later, at the end of 224 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.000 the passage, he adds a few more, and will come to that in 225 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:11.029 a little bit. Healing, or rather helping and administrating. Now notice something 226 00:20:11.190 --> 00:20:15.509 here. Notice how the little language of gifts and activities and service kind of 227 00:20:15.750 --> 00:20:19.710 weave in and out in this list. Right, you don't have like part 228 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:22.779 one, the gifts, part two, the service, part three, the 229 00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:30.420 activity. Right, you have we don't have these clear groups, a defined 230 00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:36.130 we have gifts that are mentioned. I'm sorry, the only time gifts are 231 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:40.170 mentioned in this list are with gifts of healing, and I'm inclined to think 232 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:44.210 that he what he means. There is not the gift of healing, but 233 00:20:44.329 --> 00:20:48.809 rather the gifts of healing that we give to others. We also have these 234 00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:55.440 words like working, working of miracles or the exercising of power, also the 235 00:20:55.559 --> 00:21:02.640 ability to distinguish between spirits. These words indicate that the gifts that we are 236 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.390 given, well, they are for the common good. Right, these are 237 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:10.829 gifts that to sit with us. They are activities and meant to be so. 238 00:21:10.990 --> 00:21:15.829 They are services. Then at the end of the chapter, as I 239 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:21.180 mentioned, Paul says this and God appointed in the church. First Apostles, 240 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:25.980 second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, 241 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:30.259 administering in various kinds of tongues. So here we have reminders of things 242 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:34.490 that are in the first list he gives, plus the addition of some official 243 00:21:34.650 --> 00:21:44.130 offices, plus two new items, helping and administrating, administering that these two 244 00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:48.799 things are added later on, I'm not mentioned earlier on, is helpful of 245 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:52.200 notice. For this reason it points to the fact that when Paul gives this 246 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:56.680 list here, he's not trying to be exhaustive. He's not trying to tell 247 00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:03.029 us every single thing that the spirit does and catalog it and categorize it in 248 00:22:03.109 --> 00:22:07.710 every way. That's not his point. His goal is not to mention every 249 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:15.900 gift that the Lord gives or might gives or to make tight and come tight 250 00:22:15.019 --> 00:22:21.259 separations from one another. So, for example, you wouldn't want to conclude, 251 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:25.980 this would be bad application, that love is not a gift of the 252 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:30.769 Holy Spirit because it's not in this list right. Nor would you want to 253 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:36.609 conclude that gifts of healing are not really an aspect of helping, because Paul 254 00:22:36.650 --> 00:22:41.009 separates those two things. So here, what is Paul trying to do? 255 00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:47.279 If he's not merely are if he's not cataloging and categorizing things, how are 256 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.440 we supposed to read it? Well, I think one of the ways we 257 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:56.359 can read this is like somebody who takes you up to a high point and 258 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:00.869 then, as you look out at a landscape. I'm if you've ever been 259 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:06.109 to the Desert Museum. There's a place you can go and you look out 260 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:10.549 across the valley. Or if you've ever been up on the MOGIAN RIM right, 261 00:23:10.670 --> 00:23:12.460 you go up and you you go up to one of those edges and 262 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:15.980 you hike out and you just look down and you see and you just wow. 263 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:19.660 Right, and maybe, if you're worth it there with somebody who knows 264 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:23.299 the terrain really well, they might point me out some things. Look at 265 00:23:23.339 --> 00:23:26.650 that tree, look at that flower, that's we're so and so traveled when 266 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:30.609 such and such a thing happened, and then list things that are trying to 267 00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:33.529 be exhaustive. They're just experiencing with you and giving you a sense of awe 268 00:23:33.769 --> 00:23:41.839 and wonder at what it is you're seeing. I think something like that's going 269 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:45.000 on here. God takes us to this high point and he has US look 270 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:48.640 at the church from his perspective. Will here, look here, look here, 271 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.519 look at all these things that I'm doing. Isn't an amazing now, 272 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:56.549 there are, of course, good questions to ask about. Well, how 273 00:23:56.670 --> 00:24:00.470 do I serve and how do I fit into the part of the whole? 274 00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:04.069 But it's important to, just as I mentioned the beginning, stand back and 275 00:24:04.269 --> 00:24:11.059 wonder at it for a little while feel the awe of it. This is 276 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:15.980 not a grocery list of things to sort of pick and choose from. It's 277 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:18.420 not a scavenger hunt for us to find this or that thing. If anything, 278 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:23.289 IT'S A it's a resume or a catalog or a list of the things 279 00:24:23.650 --> 00:24:29.009 of the work of God, just for us to marvel at and praise God 280 00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:32.890 that we're a part of and maybe stop fighting each other and being really arrogant 281 00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:37.089 to to see this work that he's doing, to see that and understand here 282 00:24:37.130 --> 00:24:42.839 a part of a whole in what it means that Jesus died to make this 283 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:48.359 happen. It helps us to look around at the people around us, as 284 00:24:48.400 --> 00:25:00.269 I mentioned earlier, and just be thankful to God. I think what I'm 285 00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:06.150 going to do is stop there. I tend to try to pack it all 286 00:25:06.190 --> 00:25:10.339 in. I don't think I'm going to do that this time and we'll talk 287 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:15.140 more next time about some of these specific gifts and the Christ that I want 288 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:21.140 to make when we get there. Is this that sometimes, when we look 289 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:23.849 at this list, another problem we enter into is we want to divide the 290 00:25:23.930 --> 00:25:30.769 list into things that are extraordinary and ordinary things that once were and things that 291 00:25:32.049 --> 00:25:36.279 continue to be, and we have to bitterment debates about that and there's there 292 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.839 are some good things to think about there. But the case I'm going to 293 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:47.240 make next time is that all of these lists are, all of these gifts 294 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:52.509 and others that are mentioned in scripture have both extraordinary and ordinary elements to them. 295 00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:57.829 I'd encourage you to think about that and will will reflect on that more 296 00:25:57.950 --> 00:26:04.539 next time. For now, brothers and sisters, let's just marvel, stand 297 00:26:04.700 --> 00:26:08.980 in aught the grace of God, be filled with gratitude for all that Christ 298 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:14.779 is done for us and smile at our brothers and sisters for who they are 299 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:17.940 and what God is doing in them. Let's pray