Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Part 2

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:04.839 mainstanding. If you're able, let's turn to First Corinthians, chapter twelve. 2 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:22.120 First Corinthians Chapter Twelve, I'm going to read the whole chapter, but I'll 3 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:29.320 focus on versus eight through ten. Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, 4 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.799 I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were 5 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.479 pagans, you were led, astrayed, immute idols, however, you were 6 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:40.079 led. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the 7 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.960 spirit ever says curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, 8 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:51.759 except in the Holy Spirit. Now, there are varieties of gifts, but 9 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:57.479 the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, 10 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:00.799 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who 11 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:07.719 empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit 12 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:11.480 for the common good. Four to one is given, through the spirit, 13 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:15.359 the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge, according to 14 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:21.239 the same spirit, to another, faith, by the same spirit to another, 15 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:25.599 gifts of healing by the one spirit to another, the working of miracles 16 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:30.519 to another, prophecy to another, the ability to distinguish between spirits to another, 17 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:36.239 various kinds of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues, all these 18 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.879 are empowered by the one and the same spirit, who apportions to each one 19 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:46.040 individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many 20 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.560 members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one 21 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.000 body, so it is with Christ, for in one spirit we were all 22 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:57.120 baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves, are free, and 23 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:01.519 all were made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist 24 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:06.760 of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because 25 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.000 I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would 26 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.000 not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear 27 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.960 should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the 28 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:19.680 body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 29 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.520 If the whole body were an eye, where with the sense of where would 30 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:27.520 be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where 31 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.639 would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arrange the 32 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:36.120 members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all 33 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:38.120 were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, 34 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.400 there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the 35 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.120 hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head, to 36 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.080 the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the 37 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.199 parts of the body that seemed to be weaker are indispensable, and on those 38 00:02:54.199 --> 00:03:00.000 parts of the body which we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, 39 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:05.680 and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty. which are more presentable parts 40 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:10.240 do not require but God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to 41 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:15.360 the part that lacked it, that there may be no division, but that 42 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:21.400 the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, 43 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:24.360 all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoiced together. 44 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:34.240 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it, and God 45 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:38.680 has appointed in the church, First Apostles, second prophets, third teachers, 46 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:44.919 then miracles, than gifts of healing, helping, administrating, various kinds of 47 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:50.680 tongues. Are All apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers? Do 48 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.039 All Work Miracles? Do All possessed gifts of healing? Do all speak with 49 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:59.719 tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire higher gifts, and I will 50 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:06.039 show you still a more excellent way. May God be praised and may we 51 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:25.680 be blessed by his word. You may be seated. So, as we 52 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:30.600 began to consider last time, this passage is so much about out the work 53 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:35.319 of the spirit, as we are the body of Christ, and he helps 54 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:40.160 us to really understand this. Paul comes at it from a lot of different 55 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:46.920 angles to really impress upon us this truth. Some of these images are are 56 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:53.720 silly, right, an I being a whole body, right, just blinking, 57 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:58.319 of course, not a body, right? Or various parts saying I 58 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.439 have no need of you or I have no idea of you. And of 59 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:04.040 course we all need each other, even though there's some pretty big differences. 60 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:11.519 Sometimes finger is not an ear, a head is not a foot. Pretty 61 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:18.399 big differences, and yet all held together by the Lord. We also noticed 62 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:28.040 how this is not undone simply by our having trouble with this fact. Right, 63 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:31.680 just because the I says I do not belong to the body, or 64 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:36.199 because or because a member says Verse Sixteen, because I'm not an eye, 65 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:39.879 I do not belong to the body, that doesn't make it any less a 66 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:43.360 part of the body. So just because the fact that you or I are 67 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:47.639 sometimes or even frequently confused about our place and who we are and what we 68 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:57.279 ought to be doing, or even theologically prideful or a discounting of others. 69 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:01.399 The work of the Lord still stands when he unites us together into one body. 70 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.839 We are one body in Christ. It's a work he has done. 71 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:12.199 It's not a work we manufacture. It's not a lego character, right, 72 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:15.560 that we all just sort of work together and create. It's something that God 73 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:21.680 himself has done. He's telling us how things are. I use the analogy 74 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.680 last time of an ecosystem. Right. This is just the world that God 75 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.120 has made. It's how it works and this is how the body of Christ 76 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:35.759 works. This is our place in it. We are individual members of that 77 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:43.279 one body through the same spirit who empowers us all. And so I said 78 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.240 what I would do this time is focus in particular on the gifts that are 79 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:53.680 listed in versus four through ten, and maybe even more specifically eight through ten. 80 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:00.160 The basic rule that we have and how the body of Christ operates is 81 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.959 that each of us are given gifts by God and those gifts are to be 82 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:12.120 used in service to the rest of the body. That's the basic point. 83 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:16.240 Each of us are given various gift, varieties of activities, varieties of service, 84 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:18.920 these kinds of things that he mentions in four, five and six, 85 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:25.839 each one, he says in verse eleven, to apportioned to each according to 86 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:30.639 his will, as he chooses. But what is the purpose of these things? 87 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.680 One of those purposes or the one of the the things we should keep 88 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.920 in our mind as we moved, as we exercise these gifts, is what 89 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.439 he says in verse seven, to eat, just given the manifestation of the 90 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:48.879 spirit for the common good. Now there are other implications of this right, 91 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:55.160 as he says, if one member suffers, we all suffer. My mom 92 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:59.399 tells a story that the first date that she and my dad went on was 93 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:03.399 a hike to the Grand Canyon. This like super big date and they go 94 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:09.279 on this high could she twists her her ankle on the way down and then 95 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:11.959 favoring her, you know, trying to give favor to her ankle, that 96 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.480 she messed up her hip, but then fair trying to deal with her hip, 97 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:18.399 she messes up the other de and it's just she was a mess by 98 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:22.079 the time it was done. She thought it was all over. Fortunately for 99 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:28.480 me that didn't happen, but there's this. You know what that's like, 100 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.240 right. You know you might have a tiny, tiny little hangnail right and 101 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:35.600 you're not going to go to sleep until you get that taken care of. 102 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:41.360 When one member suffers, it affects everything else. It affects the whole body. 103 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:48.519 Likewise, when one of thember rejoices, when something's going well, when 104 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:54.679 we find healing and refreshment, maybe you're sick and your stomach stops hurting. 105 00:08:54.399 --> 00:09:00.159 Oh you just feel so much better. It's like that in the body of 106 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.720 Christ as well. Now, true, we're not always as sensitive as we 107 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.720 need to be to one another's needs and one another's celebrations and we don't always 108 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:13.879 know what's going on, and this body is a little different in some ways 109 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:22.240 than a physical body, but there's a lot of similarities there too, and 110 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.600 those similar to their similarities are there again, because that's how the Lord made 111 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.519 us. It's just that's the way it works. It's the way it works. 112 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:33.240 It's not something we need to try to make it work or try to 113 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:37.279 manufacture. It's just how it works. Now, of course, in our 114 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.000 sinfulness and in our fleshliness, we could do things that go against this, 115 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.080 and we do sometimes and Paul seems to have some of that in mind. 116 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.919 It seems as though some members in the church were being prideful perhaps about having 117 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.919 this or having that and not using their gifts to serve the common good, 118 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:03.720 but maybe tear each other apart. Ultimately he's going to get to some of 119 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:11.080 these higher gifts, one of them being love. Love. There's different ways 120 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.279 in which love is perhaps a higher gift. It's also lower, I think, 121 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.960 in a way to higher and lower in the sense that it's a foundational 122 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.799 gift. In another place. Paul talks about the Holy Spirit knitting us all 123 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.559 together and love. I love that analogy. It makes me think of the 124 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:33.919 body, to the way our our veins and the systems within our body right. 125 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.799 It's it's not like the lego analogy really doesn't work right, because it's 126 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.879 not like plug the arm into the chest, you know, and plug the 127 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:48.440 other arm and stick on the legs. Right. It's knit together right. 128 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:54.120 There's all of these systems working within us that are totally intertwined, i. 129 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.919 totally perfectly working all together and which you take one out, you take one 130 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:03.799 part and it really does affect the whole. And one of those systems we 131 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:09.639 might say, or I might be mixing metaphors now, but he says that 132 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:13.639 love is this thing that holds us together, the spirit holds us together, 133 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:18.080 and these are things we experience and we see. These are with things that 134 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:24.559 this the spirit manifests when he works in us. So how do we think 135 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:30.120 about all of that and big picture stuff in relation to versus for through ten 136 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:39.600 and these specific gifts? Some people like to think about these gifts like like 137 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:46.200 a few crayons. Let's imagine a waitress comes to the table. You take, 138 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:52.840 let's say an elementary school kids out to a celebrate something and the Racheress 139 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:56.360 put some crayons on the table and then everybody's fighting over which Crayon and who 140 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:01.639 gets which Crayon right. It's not really the point right this, at the 141 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:07.519 point of this list is not to sort of limit what's available or for us 142 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:09.960 to sit and look and say, well, which one do I have and 143 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:15.799 which ones don't I have, and those kinds of things. To stay with 144 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.519 the crayons for a moment. This list is more like going into a Crayon 145 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.879 factory, which the tour guide then says, look at all of these colors 146 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:30.000 available. We've got blue and yellow, Brown, aquamarine, fire engine red. 147 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.799 Right, this is not the point in which you say I want fire 148 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.480 engine red. Or how come there's not? I don't know what didn't I 149 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:41.960 not list pink? Right, how come there's not pink? But no, 150 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:45.639 he's not saying that, he's not dlimiting, he's not saying these are the 151 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:50.480 only gifts and now we need to fight over them or figure out everything specifically. 152 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:54.240 He's just trying to help us to see that there's a lot of colors 153 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:00.279 and that the Lord in the variety unites us all together. The list is 154 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:05.799 not exhaustive, it's representative. Not all the gifts are listed here, in 155 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:11.480 other words, nor are all the shades of color, and those are two 156 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:16.000 points that I want you to hold this morning and take with you. Not 157 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:24.240 all are here and not all shades of those colors are here. There's lots 158 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.080 more indeed. You might even say that they could be considered an analyzed from 159 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.320 difference perspective, as you could, like colors, mix them. Right, 160 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.919 you could take this gift of faith and this gift of encouragement and mix them. 161 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.639 And what does that look like in a person's life? Certainly good. 162 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:48.679 What about faith and an act of service? Or what about gifts of healing 163 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:52.679 and love? Right, these things are not, you know, sort of 164 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:58.120 tight sealed categories that can't be seen one from another. They they're a whole 165 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:05.840 mix, a whole rainbow of beautiful things that God gives to us. Now 166 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:09.960 I'd like to offer some proof for that, so you don't have to just 167 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:13.320 take my word for it. If you would turn with me to another list 168 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:22.320 of spiritual gifts in Romans, chapter twelve. I'll read from Romans twelve versus 169 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:41.600 six through eight. So here, Paul says, I'll read start starting verse 170 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.399 four. This will sound very familiar. He says, for as in one 171 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.399 body, we have many members and the members do not all have the same 172 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.799 function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually 173 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:58.000 members of one another. Right, almost exactly the same. Then, he 174 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:01.759 says, having gifts that differ a to the grace given to us, let 175 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:07.799 us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in 176 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.720 our serving, the one who teaches and is teaching, the one who exhorts 177 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:16.480 in his exhortation, the one who contributes and generosity, the one who leads 178 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:20.879 with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. And then, 179 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.399 unsurprisingly, he goes on to talk about love. He says in Verse 180 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.360 Nine, Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to 181 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.559 what is good, love one another with brotherly affection, out do one another 182 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:35.759 and showing honor. Do not be slothful and zeal, be fervent in spirit, 183 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.759 serve the Lord, rejoice and hope, be patient and tribulation, be 184 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:46.320 constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show 185 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:52.159 hospitality. So one reason I read these next few verses, in nine through 186 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.639 thirteen, is to see the connection with love. The other thing to see 187 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.600 is that so it seems as though maybe he's stopped talking about gifts right in 188 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:06.639 verse eight and transitions and talks about love more in general. But notice how 189 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:11.440 he ends contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 190 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:18.159 These are things that are mentioned as gifts just before when he talks about those 191 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:25.480 who give, giving generously, those who serve to serve. If that's connected 192 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:30.200 with hospitality, perhaps, and I think it is the point, then to 193 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.799 see that in verse thirteen, even though we're not in a list of spiritual 194 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:40.600 gifts, he's still talking about spiritual gifts, which means we can find gifts 195 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:45.440 even outside of the lists that he gives. The Holy Spirit pours out love 196 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.600 on a church. He knits us together in love and it's manifest in all 197 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:56.240 kinds of ways. Sometimes they're specifically identified as gifts and sometimes not. Sometimes 198 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.120 it's just a command. Seek to show hospitality, be generous. Where does 199 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:04.359 that come from? From God? Do we deserve it? No, so 200 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.920 what do we call it a gift? Right? So we have this gift. 201 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.839 The second thing to notice in this, that I want you to notice 202 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:15.079 in Romans twelve here, is that some of these things are not listed in 203 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:21.279 First Corinthians twelve. Where we are now, there might be some overlap. 204 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:25.720 Right. So he talks about gifts of teaching. Does that perhaps relate to 205 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:30.240 gifts of utterance, of wisdom or gifts of uttering knowledge? Probably sounds a 206 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:36.359 lot like teaching to me, but are are those very distinct and separate gifts? 207 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.359 Probably not. What Paul has in mind is again he's just expressing, 208 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.440 from different angles and different perspectives, with different words, the kinds of things 209 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.440 that we see in the life of the church. Let's look at one more 210 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:57.440 passage, first Peter Chapter Four, and this does not cover all the passages 211 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:03.319 in scripture, but let's look at one more. First Peter Four, versus 212 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:22.920 nine through eleven. How about eight? Above all, keep loving one another 213 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.720 earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another 214 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:32.759 without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one 215 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:37.559 another as good stewards of God's vary grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks 216 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:41.400 oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God 217 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:47.160 supplies, in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 218 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:52.279 To him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So 219 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:59.200 here right we see similar things mentioned, but things that we don't want to 220 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:03.160 divide against the things that we saw in Romans twelve or in First Corinthians twelve. 221 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:08.160 The one who speaks oracles of God is not someone who is totally different 222 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:12.039 than the one who speaks prophecy or the one who teaches or the one who 223 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:18.039 utters knowledge and wisdom. They're just different perspectives and different angles on expressing a 224 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:23.799 similar things. All this to say that when we compare these lists, what 225 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:29.279 we see is that there's a lot of overlap. Gifts of healing are a 226 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:33.079 kind of of us, which is a kind of generosity. Right. We 227 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:38.039 have teaching and other kinds of things mentioned as well. So with so in 228 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.279 this we can see that Paul's intention is not to list out of everything but 229 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:47.960 help us, help us to see the variety of these things. Now a 230 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.920 second thing to notice here, as we go back to how we see this 231 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:57.400 list in First Corinthians twelve, is that there are some distinctions between these things. 232 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:03.319 Some of them, he mentions, are quite extraordinary and some seem more 233 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:10.359 ordinary. Some people want to categorize this list especially and sometimes the others, 234 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:15.799 in terms of those gifts that are continuing and those that are not continuing. 235 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:22.559 And what I want to try and argue here is that while there are forms, 236 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.160 or shades, to use the word I used earlier, shades of these 237 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:32.119 gifts, are forms of these gifts that are extraordinary and we don't expect to 238 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:37.480 see in a regular basis continuing, it doesn't mean that the gifts themselves have 239 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:44.000 stopped. So the gifts, and other words, have ordinary forms and extraordinary 240 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:49.000 forms. The extraordinary forms, by definition, are extraordinary and perhaps, and 241 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:52.799 there are reasons why, we can expect them to see them in certain times 242 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:59.400 and places and not in certain times in places. But just because we don't 243 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:04.119 expect to see certain extraordinary things now doesn't mean that the gift all together is 244 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:10.920 gone. Let me see if I can show that to you. The first 245 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:19.720 thing to recognize and affirm is that God can give different gifts at different times. 246 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:25.240 That's just something that we should believe. One reason is it kind of 247 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:29.519 says it right here in First Corinthians twelve. He gives different gifts two different 248 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:33.599 people. Another reason, as we see it, all throughout history, Adam 249 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:38.839 and Eve God to live in the Garden of Eden. No one else has 250 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:45.240 ever lived in the garden of Eden, just them. Israel had the opportunity 251 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:48.920 to live in the land of Canaan, a landflowing with milk and honey. 252 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:55.839 We do not. We have greater access and freedom in worship. Israel does 253 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:02.279 not. The people of God throughout time and history have experienced God's gifts in 254 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:07.799 different ways, different times and places, often suited for that particular work in 255 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.119 the things that he's doing. It should, and God is, of course, 256 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:15.000 a god of great diversity. A God of variety. You just look 257 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.440 at creation right, look at the world around us, look at our own 258 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:22.480 bodies, look at the body of Christ, and you'll see this everywhere. 259 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:27.720 And so it should not be a difficult thing for us to affirm that God 260 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:33.839 may choose to give certain gifts at a certain time and not choose to give 261 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:37.680 them an another time, that he might choose to give to one person one 262 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:41.279 set of gifts and a portion to them as he chooses, and not choose 263 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:45.519 to give it to another person or choose to give to them something different. 264 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:52.039 That's exactly right what Paul is saying. So given that fact, we shouldn't 265 00:22:52.200 --> 00:23:00.480 come at the question demanding that everything that happens at one in one era and 266 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:06.119 one time happens in another. Doesn't mean it can't just means we can't demand 267 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:10.799 it of God. So then it comes to the question, well, are 268 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:15.960 we in another time? Are we in an era in which certain extraordinary forms 269 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:21.079 of the gifts have ceased? And I think there's reasons to believe that. 270 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:29.039 One reason is that we don't see some of the things that we read about 271 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.960 in the very early days, in the Apostolic Era of the Church, in 272 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:38.079 acts nine Peter Raises Tabitha from the dead. In Acts Twenty, Paul Raises 273 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:44.960 Utechus from the dead. I've never seen anybody raised from the dead. I've 274 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.920 never met anybody who saw somebody raised from the dead. It doesn't mean it's 275 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:55.920 not impossible for God, it just means it's extraordinary. It's very rare now 276 00:23:56.200 --> 00:23:59.720 in a time in which, even in the early days of the New Testament, 277 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.519 it's seem to be a more common we have this with other things as 278 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:10.279 well. Speaking of languages, for example, or tongues, is described being 279 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:15.400 able to speak a language which is not known to preach the Gospel, being 280 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:19.720 able to interpret a language just not known, to see the Gospel go out 281 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:25.480 in this miraculous way. I'm certain kinds of healings and these kind of things, 282 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:30.200 these were quite extraordinary. One reason to think that they are extraordinaries because 283 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.240 we simply see less of less of them. Then that gets us to this 284 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.480 question. Well, why do we see less of them? What's the reason 285 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:44.000 for that? Some people say it's because we just don't have enough faith, 286 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:48.960 we don't pray enough, we don't believe enough, we don't desire them enough. 287 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:56.000 I don't buy this one. Reason I don't buy this is I don't 288 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.319 think that there was any time of the history in the Christian Church whhere there 289 00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:06.200 was a golden age in which, just across the board, people were way 290 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:11.279 more faithful. Look at the current church and Corinth where these, perhaps some 291 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:18.200 of these extraordinary gifts are present. Are they this sort of amazing example of 292 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:23.400 a church right that we should all just aspire to be? No, all 293 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:30.680 over this letter we see people who are struggling in major and basic phays to 294 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:37.160 affirm basic Christian doctrine and live according to basic Christian piety. This is not 295 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:42.720 the top, the tip tops zenith of spirituality, and we all go wow 296 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:48.160 and because of that we can see all these extraordinary gifts the Corinthians had and 297 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:51.839 if only we could get up that high, we could be like them. 298 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:56.480 It's just not the picture and I don't think we can point to any church 299 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.480 or any place in the aid, especially in a big Broadway, where we 300 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:03.599 can say, well, obviously they had these extra gifts because they were so 301 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:10.559 much extra faithful, they believed so much more. It's also true that we 302 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:15.599 teamed to struggle with the same things generation after generation. The things that the 303 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:21.839 Corinthian struggled with their things. We struggle with to affirming basic Christian doctrine, 304 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:30.799 living according to basic Christian pious hard stuff, right. Another thing that bothers 305 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:33.279 me about saying if you just had enough faith, and I grew up in 306 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.759 churches like this, if you just had enough faith, if you just believe 307 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:47.160 hard enough, is that it accuses, without proof, mature, godly people 308 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:55.599 of purposely trying to stay out of step of the spirit, and this just 309 00:26:55.640 --> 00:27:02.440 doesn't make sense to me. You can bring call to your mind now people 310 00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:07.799 that you admire, people you say that is a godly man, that is 311 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:12.880 a godly woman, that is someone I want to be like. They love 312 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:18.920 the Lord, they're constant in prayer, they give generously, they they show 313 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:22.200 hospitality, they take care of the needs of the saints, they study God's 314 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.279 word, they live for him, they love for him, they've zood him. 315 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:34.440 You see his glory in their lives, except for this one thing in 316 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:41.079 which they do not want the gifts of the spirit. People that are mature, 317 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:45.519 godly. He's Christian role models and saints. These are people who love 318 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.279 the spirit, who seek the spirit, who desire the spirit. They're not 319 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:59.119 rebellious, obstinate, and people. On what basis do I have a like 320 00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:04.880 what what possible accusations could I level against these people, people who have done 321 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:10.799 amazing things in the history of the church, translating the scripture, dying as 322 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:14.759 martyrs, right, all kinds of things to say. Well, if they 323 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.480 just had a little more faith. Sure, burned at the stake, sure, 324 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:22.680 you know, devoted their entire lives to giving to the poor. Sure, 325 00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:27.480 institute a great forms at every level. Sure, gave us great documents 326 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:33.519 of doctrine and knowledge and wisdom, all focused and pointed on the Lord. 327 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:37.720 But really, if they had tried a little harder, maybe then they could 328 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:47.079 have received the gifts of the spirit. That just doesn't feel fair. What 329 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:51.359 proof do we have? What accusation can we level against these saints and say 330 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:56.599 that they were denying the spirit, that they were sinful in some way in 331 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:03.400 which God was not would, was not willing to reward them? So I 332 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.240 hope that with me, you could take that option off the table. The 333 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:11.759 reason, in other words, that that we don't see extraordinary gifts today is 334 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:19.240 not because people just don't care or don't have faith or don't love the Lord. 335 00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:25.079 So back to our question. What is the reason, and I think 336 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:30.000 scripture gives us a pretty coherent reason. If you turn to Efhesians, and 337 00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:33.920 this is only one of many places that it's expressed, but it's expressed clearly 338 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:48.440 here. In effesians chapter two, Paul gives testimony to this doctrine, that 339 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:53.279 there was a particular era of the apostles and prophets that served a particular role 340 00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:59.640 and function at that time, and he puts that teaching, that doctrine, 341 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:04.079 into the form of a metaphor. So in verse nineteen he says to the 342 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.960 Ephesians, so then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow 343 00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:14.559 citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. By that he's 344 00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:18.519 referring to their status as gentiles, but now belonging to the Church and to 345 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:22.960 the Covenant Community, to the household of God. All right. Then he 346 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:30.200 goes on and he says that you are built on the foundation of the Apostles 347 00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:36.000 and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure 348 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.920 being joined together, grows into a holy temple in whom you also are being 349 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.039 built together, into a dwelling place for God by the Holy Spirit. So, 350 00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:48.960 in a way, similar to First Corinthians, twelve and Peter, First 351 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:53.079 Peter and these other passages we've seen, we see that there is a body, 352 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:59.279 in this case a building, that is all one. The Holy Spirit 353 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.799 dwells in the whole thing. It's all empowered by God. And yet there 354 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:10.519 are distinctions. First and most importantly, Jesus, Christ. Jesus in the 355 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.319 body is the head of the body, right in the then, in the 356 00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:19.000 metaphor of the building, he is the cornerstone. No one else is the 357 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:25.920 cornerstone. He's the cornerstone. That's a distinction that's made. And the cornerstone 358 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:33.119 is this important built brick stone in the foundation that sets the angle, sets 359 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:37.880 the position of the building. Right, he's the foundation of the foundation in 360 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:41.359 a way, but since we don't have two foundations, very cleverly and helpfully, 361 00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:47.680 the Apostle Paul uses this metaphor of the cornerstone, the chief and most 362 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:52.799 important part of the foundation. So there's a distinction. Right, Jesus is 363 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.000 a part of the body. We are in his body, we are defined 364 00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:00.720 by him, but he's distinct within it. Another distinction he makes is of 365 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:05.279 the apostles and prophets what does he talk about them? As he says, 366 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:08.240 they are the foundation of the building. They are distinct from Jesus, and 367 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:14.319 yet they belong to that foundation. And who are we? We are those 368 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:17.599 who are being built on that foundation. We are not like the apostles and 369 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:22.039 prophets, and yet we are like the apostles and prophets. They are distinct 370 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:25.680 from us in some ways and yet they are part of us in some ways. 371 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:32.599 In this building metaphor instead of the body metaphor, and that's exactly what 372 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:37.440 we see in the acts of the apostles. In that book and in other 373 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:44.400 books. We see the apostles doing this foundational work in which the new covenant 374 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:49.519 is established, in which a new household is being built up. And without 375 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:54.599 getting too much into all of how apostolicity works and that era, I just 376 00:32:54.680 --> 00:33:00.559 want you to note some things, like the correspondence between the twelve of tribes 377 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:05.359 of Israel and the twelve apostles. God was laying a foundation, he was 378 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:09.200 doing something on which the rest would be built. Think about the way in 379 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:15.480 the Great Commission that Jesus commissioned the apostles and sent them out in the world 380 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:21.200 in some ways to complete his mission to do what he had not failed to 381 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:25.000 do, but had begun to do. Jesus ministered in a tiny little portion 382 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:29.440 of the world and now it was time to send it out to the whole 383 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:32.160 world. Go, therefore, he says to them. And they went, 384 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:38.920 and as they went they showed the signs that that Jesus was with him. 385 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:45.039 They showed the signs, they brought the proof that they were ambassadors. And 386 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:49.640 having done that, once the foundation was laid, you don't need to lay 387 00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:54.079 third, fourth fifth foundations. The building is then built. We don't keep 388 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:00.839 the Lord doesn't keep providing US new foundational scriptures, because he built the foundation. 389 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:05.480 And now what do we do? We live on it, we build 390 00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:08.639 on it, we we keep going back to the word over and over again, 391 00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:15.079 as one example of that. All this to say that the scriptures point 392 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:19.840 us to a specific era. After Christ came an era of the apostles and 393 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:23.559 prophets, in which they did work that testified and was a part of that 394 00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:30.320 found it, testified to their place as foundation builders, that brought signs and 395 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:35.280 sealed that work, gave testimony to it and also did it. was did 396 00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:45.679 that work of founding it itself. And so that's my my brief case for 397 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:51.440 for saying that. This is why, though God can work at any time 398 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:55.800 in any way he wants, we have reasons to expect him to work at 399 00:34:55.800 --> 00:35:00.199 a certain time and in a certain way with the apostles and prophets, and 400 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.519 reasons to expect that he will not continue working in those same ways, that 401 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:12.000 we live in a different era, in some ways better. We have more 402 00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:17.880 scriptures than some of the early Christians. Have a bigger church, more experience, 403 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:22.360 more testimony to the work of God in the new covenant, more things 404 00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:28.440 that we can point to, more clarity and doctrine those early years, those 405 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:34.519 first first centuries, and which so much was handered hammered out, doctrines, 406 00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:37.920 which was Christians struggled for and died for, that we now just sort of 407 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:43.320 take for granted a lot of times. The apostles creed in the nicene creed. 408 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.000 What a blessing it is. Not We shouldn't take him for granted, 409 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:50.320 but you know what I mean. What a blessing it is to come and 410 00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:53.280 say this is the truth and we know it because we put a lot of 411 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:59.840 hard work into it collectively. Is the Church of Christ by God's grace, 412 00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:02.760 to not have to reinvent the wheel and figure it out over and over and 413 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:08.800 over again. These are blessings that we have now. They didn't have them 414 00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:15.719 all that to say, God works at different times and in different ways. 415 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:19.119 Well, I want to finish with one more thing, and right now I'm 416 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:22.320 really happy I didn't try to say all this last time, so thank you 417 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:28.400 for ticking with me here. So the last point I want to make is 418 00:36:28.440 --> 00:36:30.000 that now, as we look at these different gifts, what I want to 419 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:36.760 encourage you to do, as while we will recognize that there are extraordinary forms 420 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:42.320 of the gifts, to not simply take away some of the things that are 421 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:49.159 mentioned here and say, well, that gift itself no longer exists. An 422 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:52.880 easy way to start at that and explain is and give an example of that, 423 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:57.599 is with the gift of healing. Okay, but the gift of healing 424 00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:04.360 in First Corinthians, in First Corinthians twelve, when he lists this, I'm 425 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:10.960 he says in verse nine to another gifts of healing by the one spirit. 426 00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:17.719 Now these are likely, we could say not the gift of healing, because 427 00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:21.679 he doesn't say that in the other part. He doesn't say, for example, 428 00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:24.119 the gift of utterance, the Gift of knowledge. Right, it's just 429 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:28.639 this one, but I think he's saying there is he's talking about. We 430 00:37:28.679 --> 00:37:31.280 could put it another way. We say healing gifts to another. He gives 431 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:37.800 healing gifts or the ability to heal. I want you to think about this 432 00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:44.400 healing and think about how you have both extraordinary forms, like Tabitha being raised 433 00:37:44.440 --> 00:37:46.480 from the dead, uticus being raised from the dead. That's healing right. 434 00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:55.760 Resurrection extraordinary. But though we admit that raising some from from the dead is 435 00:37:55.800 --> 00:38:01.079 a healing gift or a gift of healing, do we want to then deny 436 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:12.599 that getting some medicine is not a gift of healing, or maybe even getting 437 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:17.920 some flowers is not a gift of healing? Who here hasn't been encouraged by 438 00:38:17.960 --> 00:38:24.199 a BANDAID? Who here hasn't been encouraged by a some flowers by your bedside, 439 00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:30.000 a card in the mail? Who hasn't literally felt better because a brother 440 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:38.880 or a sister brought healing to you through a play to lasagna or a or 441 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:47.039 a or a or a or a vase of flowers or maybe medicine? These 442 00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:52.800 are gifts that we give the Anglican Church. One wrote once wrote all true 443 00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:59.360 wholeness, health and healing come from God. That sounds like something we'd want 444 00:38:59.400 --> 00:39:05.199 to affirm. Right. All true wholeness, health and healing come from God. 445 00:39:05.800 --> 00:39:09.679 We do not therefore regard divine healing as always being miraculous, because then 446 00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:15.239 it would say all this other non miraculous healing is not of God. Right. 447 00:39:15.239 --> 00:39:19.639 We don't want to say that. So, while we look forward to 448 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:22.800 the resurrection of the dead, knowing that only then shall we be finally and 449 00:39:22.840 --> 00:39:28.719 fully freed from sickness, weakness, pain and more mortality, at the same 450 00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:32.440 time we welcome the recovery by the church. Are we welcome the recovery by 451 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:37.599 the Church of a concern for healing, but also which to express caution against 452 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:44.440 giving the wrong impressions and causing unnecessary distress through making it appear that it is 453 00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:49.159 sinful for a Christian to be ill, linking a stress and responsibility upon the 454 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:52.559 faith of the individual who is seeking healing. All that to say, they're 455 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:57.679 trying to say something there about about illness and sin and these sorts of things. 456 00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.639 But in the first part of that they're saying what gifts of healing are 457 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:06.480 from God and when Christians Minister Them, even in ordinary forms. That's a 458 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:10.800 blessing, that's a gift and we shouldn't say man doesn't matter, not important, 459 00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:15.559 just because it's not of an extreme, because it's not resurrection. Of 460 00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:21.400 course it's important, of course it's huge. It's a gift of the Holy 461 00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:29.119 Spirit to apply medicine, to study medicine, to apply that with love for 462 00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:35.320 the body of rice. Our deacons are officers that are devoted to that task 463 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:38.920 of caring for the temporal needs of the church. Is that not the gift 464 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:43.679 of the Holy Spirit? So you see the point here? In this one 465 00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:47.400 example of healing, or, I'm sorry, of gifts of healing, there 466 00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:52.360 are shades right, a spectrum of from ordinary to extraordinary, with all kinds 467 00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:55.519 of expressions of it. What we don't want to do is say, well, 468 00:40:55.519 --> 00:41:00.239 it's only talking about the miraculous. Therefore we can't do that and this 469 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:04.199 doesn't apply to us. It does apply to us. There are gifts of 470 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:07.760 healing, they still continue and we ought to be thankful for them when we 471 00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:12.719 receive them and when we have healing gifts to give, we ought to use 472 00:41:12.760 --> 00:41:19.599 them in love for the common good. Now we're getting laid on time so 473 00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:25.880 I won't go through deeds of power and prophecy and discerning the gifts, discerning 474 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:30.880 the spirits and all of these others, but I want to encourage you to 475 00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:36.159 begin looking at these other gifts this way. I'll give you a few quick 476 00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:42.840 examples. Have you ever met somebody who was very skilled in languages? They're 477 00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:46.840 just fast. I remember this in seminary. I was not fast. It 478 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:51.320 was really hard. I worked and then I forgotten and I worked and then 479 00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:53.559 I forgotten that. I worked and I forgot and there would be these other 480 00:41:53.599 --> 00:42:00.320 people. They just got it. It was so fast. They would learn 481 00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:04.639 these languages and they would ply them and they would use them for what? 482 00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:13.559 Translation, exposition, writing commentaries, giving US articles. What an enormous blessing 483 00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:19.679 to the church. The gift of languages, which is what the Scripture says, 484 00:42:19.719 --> 00:42:24.440 tongues, is another translation for it absolutely does. The gift of tongue 485 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:30.639 still apply today. Absolutely, and the ordinary hard work of studying and learning 486 00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:36.760 foreign languages so that people can come into our church and we can translate for 487 00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:39.440 them, so that we can receive the Gospel in our own tongue, so 488 00:42:39.480 --> 00:42:44.800 that the people can go out into the world and reach those who are lost. 489 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:46.719 That's a gift of the Holy Spirit. We ought to thank God for 490 00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:52.159 it. Discerning spirits all, finish with this first John for says, beloved, 491 00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:57.480 do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they 492 00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:00.599 are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 493 00:43:00.599 --> 00:43:04.800 By this, you know, the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses 494 00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:07.760 that Jesus, Christ has come in the flesh, is from God, and 495 00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:10.920 every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the 496 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:15.360 spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming in is now in the 497 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:25.960 world already. This is not some like supernatural inside into the demonic spiritual world. 498 00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:31.800 Could it be an extraordinary form of that? Perhaps Jesus seemed to exercise 499 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:37.320 gifts like that. The Apostles and prophets seemed to exercise gifts like that. 500 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:42.000 But according to John and other places in scripture, is there not an expectation 501 00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:46.119 within the body of Christ that we be discerning of spirits? Absolutely, it's 502 00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:52.760 exactly what it says should. Are there people among us who are really good 503 00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:57.400 at seeing things for what they are, who are clear headed, can kind 504 00:43:57.440 --> 00:44:00.800 of pick it out fast, who can get to the point of a problem 505 00:44:00.920 --> 00:44:07.519 quickly. Yes, and thank you for being you. We need you. 506 00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:13.199 You're so helpful to us, having clarity about what is and what isn't, 507 00:44:13.280 --> 00:44:16.840 about the things in this world. That's a good thing and a blessing thing, 508 00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:24.519 even if it doesn't carry an extraordinary form. Well, I've made my 509 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:31.960 case, and that is and I hope that this gives ultimately glory to God 510 00:44:32.039 --> 00:44:38.760 and encouragement to all of you. The Lord Jesus, our Savior, came 511 00:44:38.840 --> 00:44:44.840 into this world to die on a cross to bring us into one body, 512 00:44:45.239 --> 00:44:49.639 a body that's not fighting and angry at one another, a body that is 513 00:44:49.679 --> 00:44:53.119 blessed, a body that he has poured his gifts out on, and when 514 00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:59.239 we read what's like this, we ought to be really encouraged. What I'm 515 00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:02.480 trying to tell you today is there's not a single thing that's mentioned here that 516 00:45:02.519 --> 00:45:08.159 you can just that you should just ignore or throw out. Every single thing 517 00:45:08.199 --> 00:45:13.199 here has an expression some way in the body of Christ, and for that 518 00:45:13.239 --> 00:45:16.519 we can be thankful and we can embrace it. And when we don't have 519 00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:22.360 it ourselves, it's okay, because God's given you exactly what you need and 520 00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:27.679 he's given someone else exactly what they need. And at this very moment, 521 00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:32.119 at this very time and place, God has given covenant exactly what we need. 522 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.280 Praise God and will blet, will grow and we'll change and there's things 523 00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:42.320 we want to do, and all of that. He calls us to grow 524 00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:46.800 and grow in our sanctification. But God will always be there with us this 525 00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:52.199 change is happen, as needs change, he'll always provide for us. We 526 00:45:52.239 --> 00:45:55.079 can look at a passage like this and we ought to see the spirit of 527 00:45:55.079 --> 00:46:01.519 God graciously at work, the one who has forgiven our sins now sanctifying us 528 00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:09.280 and making us more and more useful to him. So let's conclude with prayer 529 00:46:09.320 --> 00:46:14.280 and ask that God would do this work in us, even as he's already 530 00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:15.239 begun it. Our have