The Part You Play In The Body Of Christ (Romans 12:3-8)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:03.960 If you're able to remain standing, please do so, and let's give our 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.869 attention to Romans A, chapter twelve, Romans chapter twelve. Let's continue to 3 00:00:12.949 --> 00:00:22.899 hear God's word from this wonderful book. Going to read verses three through eight 4 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:31.420 Romans twelve, three through eight. For by the grace given to me, 5 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:36.609 I say to every one among you not to think of himself more highly than 6 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:41.649 he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to 7 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:46.770 the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, 8 00:00:46.969 --> 00:00:50.840 we have many members and the members do not all have the same function. 9 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:57.320 So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually, members 10 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.399 of one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. 11 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:07.189 Let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if 12 00:01:07.349 --> 00:01:11.829 service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one 13 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:19.739 who's the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, 14 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:23.739 the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy 15 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:32.299 with cheer fulness. And I'll adverse nine, let love be genuine. You 16 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:42.930 may be seated. So this morning I want to think with you by way 17 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:47.560 of God's word here in Romans twelve, three through eight, about the gifts 18 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:53.079 that God gives to us, his children. I'm spiritual gifts, there's sometimes 19 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.959 called. A lot of people find this as an exciting topic, and I 20 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:02.670 think that's a great thing. It's exciting to be to hear about gifts. 21 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:08.430 Right when you're a little and it's Christmas time. You are excited in large 22 00:02:08.509 --> 00:02:14.750 part because you know what's coming gifts. Gifts are a wonderful thing. There 23 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:20.979 and expression of love. They're an expression of care and of tenderness, whether 24 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:25.099 it's a gift from a husband to a wife, or one neighbor to another, 25 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:34.770 or from God himself to you. To receive gifts from God is a 26 00:02:35.050 --> 00:02:38.569 wonderful thing. It's something to be excited about, to think about, to 27 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:46.159 meditate on, and indeed God speaks to us about this and talks to us 28 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.599 about how each one of us are given gifts in the body and what that 29 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:55.400 means how we are to use them. Paul makes this wonderful and very simple 30 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:01.710 point in verse six. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to 31 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:06.750 us. Let us use them. I think I can read that better. 32 00:03:06.830 --> 00:03:10.189 Let me try again having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. 33 00:03:10.229 --> 00:03:15.219 Let us use them. If it was Christmas, you'd say play with 34 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:19.740 your toys. You've unwrapped them, you have them, they belong to you. 35 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:24.060 If you are and maybe, maybe for Christmas, you didn't get toys, 36 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:29.169 but power tools. Right, are they supposed to sit in the box, 37 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:31.729 or are you supposed to take them out to your shop and use them, 38 00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:37.849 put them to good use, make something wonderful? That's what we're called 39 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:42.479 to do with the gifts that were given us. They're not toys, they're 40 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:46.400 not things that we can just sort of pass away or let go for a 41 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:52.680 time. They have this very wonderful purpose for us as individuals and for the 42 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:58.229 body all together. Now, in order to use these gifts, in order 43 00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:01.830 to glorify God in our use of them and to receive them properly, there's 44 00:04:02.069 --> 00:04:06.270 certain things we need to think about this morning. I want to think about 45 00:04:06.270 --> 00:04:12.180 our proper perception of them, are right attitude of them and our right use 46 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:17.459 of them. So first our proper perception of them. Paul begins this way 47 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:24.290 by talking about sober judgment. That doesn't sound quite so fun, but it 48 00:04:24.410 --> 00:04:28.290 is a listen, listen to what he has in mind. He says, 49 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:30.490 for the by the grace that was given to me. I say to everyone 50 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:35.610 among you now, let's pause right there, notice what he's emphasizing already. 51 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:40.959 Before he starts talking about how we use our graces, how we use the 52 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.959 gifts God has given us, Paul says, I speak to you in the 53 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.040 same way I'm about to tell you to work and live your lives. Paul's 54 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:53.709 working according to his gifts, he's speaking according to the graces he's been given. 55 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:59.149 And so, as an apostle, graced and gifted by God to serve 56 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:02.389 us and reveal these things to us, he speaks to us as God's mouth 57 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:05.189 peace. He speaks to US and gives us the word of the Lord. 58 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:12.660 And here it is. Do not think highly or more highly of yourself than 59 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:18.740 you ought to think, but to think instead with sober judgment, each according 60 00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:25.089 to the measure of faith that God has assigned him. Well, so, 61 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:30.730 the point here is really pretty simple. When God grants US salvation, he 62 00:05:30.889 --> 00:05:35.959 gives to each of us different things, and the differences that point that they're 63 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.319 different is made several times in this passage. Each according to the measure of 64 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.600 gifts or in verse six having gifts that differ according to the grace that was 65 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.639 given to us. You might think of maybe this is a bit crass, 66 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:53.790 but he uses the word measure and I think of God simply measuring out faith. 67 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:56.230 Some for you, some for you, some for you, some for 68 00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:02.670 you. But in God's wisdom that is not always an equal measurement. That 69 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:10.139 doesn't make him unfair because in God's perfect wisdom he always gives to us the 70 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:15.019 proportions that we need. For example, as a father, you know a 71 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:18.610 lot of times my wife will prepare the meal and I'll come in and help 72 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:24.370 her at the end and dish up the food on the plates. I suppose 73 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:27.930 it would be fair in one sense if I gave everyone the same amount, 74 00:06:28.689 --> 00:06:31.689 but it wouldn't be very nice for Little Ruby if she had this enormous plate 75 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:38.480 of food or if I was left with a little two year old size plate. 76 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:43.160 Well, that I suppose that would be fair, but fair's not always 77 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.709 best. I suppose are equal anyway. God is not concerned with equality. 78 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:53.389 That's not the measure of all things. God gives to us exactly what we 79 00:06:53.509 --> 00:06:57.350 need. He gives us a measure according to His grace. According to his 80 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:02.259 goodness, he measures out for every single one of us the faith and the 81 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:09.300 grace that we need. And as we examine that in our lives, were 82 00:07:09.339 --> 00:07:13.339 called to be honest about it, to of a sober judgment about it. 83 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.329 That means that God doesn't allow us to, as he says, think more 84 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:21.769 highly of ourselves than we ought. We're not to presume that we have things 85 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:26.490 that we don't, we have skills that we don't, we have skifts that 86 00:07:26.610 --> 00:07:30.160 we don't, to pretend as though we were something other than what we are. 87 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.800 And you could think of that in spiritual terms, whether it in for 88 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:41.000 example, and the measure of our faith and how strongly we believe, or 89 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:45.790 you can think of it in natural things, whether it's our our gender or 90 00:07:45.829 --> 00:07:49.870 our wealth or our position in life. Every single one of us has a 91 00:07:50.110 --> 00:07:56.629 particular condition. God has post put us in. He's given us these gifts 92 00:07:56.670 --> 00:08:03.259 and each of us are unique and individual. That diversity is a beautiful and 93 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:07.740 wonderful thing. In making us one body, God doesn't make us all the 94 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:13.449 same. It's a sort of strange and beautiful irony that, in making us 95 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:20.129 all different, he unifies us together. Now that can be hard to understand, 96 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:24.209 and that's why the metaphor of the body is so helpful and that that 97 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:31.079 helps control how we think about these gifts. We think about our life and 98 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:35.200 our gifts like life in a body. A hand is not the same as 99 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:39.519 an eye, and that's really okay, because I don't want to just look 100 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:43.830 at my food, I want to eat it too, and I don't just 101 00:08:43.950 --> 00:08:46.950 want to pick it up with my hands. I also enjoy seeing what's on 102 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:52.269 my plate. The each part of our body is designed differently and in different 103 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:58.220 ways, and even the ones that look pretty similar, one, at least 104 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.299 on me, is stronger than the other. My right hand is stronger than 105 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:05.259 my left, and that has certain advantages both for my left and my right 106 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:09.490 hand. Our bodies are designed, with all of these differences and all of 107 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:15.289 this unique ways, to work together as a unity, and Paul says, 108 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:18.649 the church is like that. So that means when we think about our gifts, 109 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:22.370 when we take sober judgment, a sober account as to what we have, 110 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:26.840 we don't need to look, you know, sort of across the body 111 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.519 with jealousy at what somebody else has. We don't need to think of ourselves 112 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:37.159 more highly because we wish we were something else, because God has made us 113 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.429 who we are, and that's a good thing. It also means we're not 114 00:09:41.509 --> 00:09:46.269 allowed to think of ourselves any less than what we are. If God has 115 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:50.590 given us gifts and we say no, you haven't, that's a bad thing. 116 00:09:50.549 --> 00:09:54.019 You know, if you're if your boss goes to you and says, 117 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.179 here's a program I want you to use, here's the tool that I want 118 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:01.659 you to use to use your job, and you don't do your job and 119 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:05.259 he says why aren't you doing your job and you say the I didn't want 120 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:07.409 to, and I give you a gift and I give you the tool to 121 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:15.090 do this job, well, you're going to end up fired. God gives 122 00:10:15.129 --> 00:10:18.370 us gives. He gives us these graces not so that we might ignore them, 123 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:24.360 neglect them or to think less of ourselves than we ought. We're to 124 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:28.759 take sober judgment on ourselves, we're to be realists, we're to so, 125 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:33.919 we're to look at ourselves and say, what has God given me, and 126 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:39.149 how can I serve in genuine love? That's what proper perception is right. 127 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:46.309 It's seeing these things rightly. Of course, that's not always easy. Jealousy 128 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:54.059 discontentment, lack of experience. These things can make recognizing our gifts or knowing 129 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:58.980 how to use them a difficult but nevertheless, this is what we should be 130 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:03.100 aiming for. We should think about ourselves and our gifts as those that are 131 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:11.250 given to us from God. Grace is given to us through Christ and belonging 132 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:16.450 to as as belonging to his body. Together, we use them according to 133 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:22.600 life in the body. so that's proper perception. Next we want to think 134 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.080 about right attitude. We've touched on this already. If you're given a gift, 135 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:33.230 what kind of attitude should you have? Should you be angry about it? 136 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:39.190 Should you be frustrated about it? Should you be discontent? Kids, 137 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:43.470 when you get a present, what do you do? You say thank you. 138 00:11:43.750 --> 00:11:48.139 There's a joyfulness there. There's also a humility there, especially when it 139 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:54.539 comes from God. The gifts that we get from God are always undeserved. 140 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:58.379 There's nothing that any of us have ever done that we can go before God 141 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:03.889 and say, what you owe me for this one right. There's not a 142 00:12:03.009 --> 00:12:07.090 single thing that any of us can point to in our lives that isn't tainted 143 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:13.649 in some measure by sin. All of it, all of it. Even 144 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:20.039 our best works, the prophet says, are like filthy rags. So it 145 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:24.159 doesn't mean we don't stop trying to do well or we aren't thankful for the 146 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:28.759 graces that God has given us or the sanctification or all of that, but 147 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.549 it does mean that we have to be humble. When God says, here 148 00:12:33.470 --> 00:12:37.549 you're now a servant, or here I'm giving you the ability to lead, 149 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:43.299 or here I'm giving you the ability to be merciful, we should be thankful 150 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:50.419 for that. It's different. These gifts are especially gifts that are used for 151 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:54.980 the glory of the Lord and love for brothers and sisters in Christ. These 152 00:12:56.019 --> 00:13:00.929 things are contrary to the sinful nature all of us are born into. When 153 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:05.009 we exercise these gifts, were exercising a different kind of life, a higher 154 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:09.929 life, a spiritual life, and that's a spiritual with a capital s, 155 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:16.559 named after Holy Spirit. We live a holy, spiritual life because the Holy 156 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:20.799 Spirit is working in us, gifting us with these things. So the point 157 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:28.110 is is this perception of reality should create a right attitude, we should be 158 00:13:28.149 --> 00:13:35.389 humble and we should use these gifts in service. Paul warrens leaders, for 159 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:39.350 example, in other places, not to use their power as a way to 160 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:45.019 oppress people. The spirit doesn't give you the gift of leadership, for example, 161 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:48.659 so that you can boss people around or make a lot of money. 162 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:54.059 Know, your gift of leadership is given to serve or God. It says, 163 00:13:54.259 --> 00:13:56.929 I'm here, I'll give you lots of wealth so that you can be 164 00:13:56.129 --> 00:14:01.730 generous to other people, not so that you can hoard it and store up 165 00:14:01.809 --> 00:14:07.210 treasures in this world. God calls us to be merciful to others, not 166 00:14:07.330 --> 00:14:09.080 so that we can lord it over them and say, look what I did 167 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.799 for you, but so that we can bless them in the name of Jesus, 168 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.879 in the same way that he was blessed and was merciful to us. 169 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:24.870 So our right attitude in using our consists of things like humility, love, 170 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:35.429 service, honor contentment. Isn't it a wonderful thing when somebody uses their gifts 171 00:14:35.710 --> 00:14:39.620 in that way to serve you? Have you ever been in a position where 172 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:46.019 you needed the help of someone else? You needed the service or the leadership 173 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:52.539 or the the wealth or the prayers or any number of things. You needed 174 00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:56.169 the blessing of another person, and I know that each one of you experience, 175 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:01.850 have experienced both of these things, both coming from a right attitude and 176 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:09.679 from a wrong attitude. When somebody blesses you, in quotation marks, with 177 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:13.799 a wrong attitude, it's awful. You'd rather not have it, you'd say, 178 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:18.799 I'd rather not have the help and do it myself. But when someone 179 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:24.509 blesses you with the right attitude, without Lording it over you, desiring to 180 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:28.230 serve you, doing it in the name of Jesus, isn't it just sweet? 181 00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:31.950 And know when they're doing it, they're doing it for you, for 182 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:37.659 those reasons, for the glory of God and the name of Jesus, because 183 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:45.779 they love you as a brother or a sister. It's nice. It's really 184 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:50.090 nice. And when all of that has happened together in the context of church 185 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:54.570 life, day in, day out, month to month, year to year, 186 00:15:54.490 --> 00:16:00.570 you have a healthy congregation, a wonderful place to live and serve and 187 00:16:00.769 --> 00:16:07.279 be. Never perfect, of course, always forgiving, always struggling, always 188 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:12.919 trying to overcome our own sins through Jesus's strength. But when it happens, 189 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:21.110 to whatever degree it happens, isn't it so wonderful? It's what we should 190 00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:23.230 aim for. It's what God says. This is what I want you to 191 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:26.789 be, and indeed, in heaven, this is what life will always be 192 00:16:26.990 --> 00:16:33.980 like, without any sin. So proper perception, right attitude and, finally, 193 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:41.379 right use. With the right perception of these things and the right attitude, 194 00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:45.659 how do we go about using them? Well, the first thing to 195 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:49.690 say is that we are to use them. As I said, you can't 196 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:56.009 use them if you're neglecting it. It's just a simple point. We are 197 00:16:56.169 --> 00:17:00.049 called to use these gifts, and pull makes that point or adds to that 198 00:17:00.169 --> 00:17:06.240 point when he says this in verse seven. If service in our serving, 199 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.200 if the one who teaches and is teaching, the one who exhorts, in 200 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:18.750 his exhortation, go use your gifts, go use your gifts. But we're 201 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:25.710 not just to use them, we're to use them well, as I've suggested 202 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:29.589 already, we're to be avoiding the sins that accompany them, and in the 203 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:33.220 last three he emphasizes that point. So, for example, he says the 204 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:40.940 one who contributes do it in generosity, the one who leads do it with 205 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:47.930 zeal, the one who at does acts of mercy, do it with cheerfulness. 206 00:17:48.049 --> 00:17:51.890 With each one of these and the other gifts as well, you can 207 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:56.289 see how the opposite might work. How an act of mercy can be done 208 00:17:56.490 --> 00:18:03.680 without cheerfulness. Why do I have to give this ride this morning? Get 209 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:07.079 up early, it's hard day. Was a long week. I got to 210 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.440 drive across town pick up this person. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Right, 211 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:18.990 that's not being merciful with cheerfulness. But how do we have that kind 212 00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:22.269 of cheer? How do we get over our grumbling and discontentment and all the 213 00:18:22.390 --> 00:18:26.470 rest? Well, comes through the faith that we talked about at the beginning. 214 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:32.140 It comes from finding our place in Christ, knowing how far he went 215 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:36.059 out of the way to serve us, to help us, to be merciful 216 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:41.220 to us. Did Jesus Grumble all the time? Was He disappointed that he 217 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:45.609 had to come to Earth to save US Lousy Sinners? Know, he came 218 00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:52.049 with the utmost and highest love in his heart. He came to Earth to 219 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:57.240 serve us with all gentleness, with the greatest love that mankind has ever known. 220 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:03.000 He came to give mercy with cheerfulness. He led in zeal, he 221 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:11.549 contributed his own life. Talk about generosity again. As I've been saying, 222 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:17.309 we serve in his name. That's what it means to see ourselves in him, 223 00:19:17.549 --> 00:19:22.950 serving for him to others who belong to him. That's what it means 224 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:30.740 to use our our gifts swell. So this is how we properly perceive them. 225 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:34.019 This is the right attitude we have in the way that we use them. 226 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:38.210 But I think it's probably fair to touch on one question before we end, 227 00:19:38.250 --> 00:19:44.970 which is how do I know what gifts I have? I'm ready to 228 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.650 use them, I want to use them, but what do I do? 229 00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:55.119 How do I know? I'll tell you that in Sunday school I'm going to 230 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:59.960 be spending some more time on this particular question. In regards to this particular 231 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.759 church, what are the needs of this church? Where are areas that you 232 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:11.069 can that you can join? What are some specific things where you that you 233 00:20:11.109 --> 00:20:14.950 can sign up for and help in? So I encourage you to be there 234 00:20:14.990 --> 00:20:19.430 for that. But we can speak more generally and I think, still helpfully. 235 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:26.059 How do you know when you have a gift? will go back to 236 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:30.900 my Christmas analogy. When your parent hands you a gift, you know you 237 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:37.769 have it because there it is. It's really not any more complicated than that. 238 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:41.130 You open it up in a fire trucks inside. How do you know 239 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:42.849 it's a firetruck. Well, because you look at it and it's a fire 240 00:20:42.970 --> 00:20:49.119 truck. It's not a sort of great theological exercise or a great philosophical exercise. 241 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:56.160 You just simply look at it and there it is. You see it, 242 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.960 you see yourself doing it, you recognize it in yourself. This is 243 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:06.190 an important reminder because it reminds us that these gifts that God gives to us 244 00:21:06.190 --> 00:21:10.190 are the ones that he gives to us. We don't make them up in 245 00:21:10.309 --> 00:21:17.190 our mind. We don't declare by sort of selfdetermination or Fiat. Well now 246 00:21:17.269 --> 00:21:21.099 I'm going to be one who has the gift of service. Well now I'm 247 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:22.539 going to be one who has the gift of leadership. That where you do. 248 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:26.900 Don't declare these things and give them to ourselves. They're given to us. 249 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:32.819 And would God give you a gift that you were meant to use in 250 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:37.450 service to his body and then never tell you what it was? Never revealed 251 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:41.009 to it, always keep it hidden and secret from you. What kind of 252 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:45.809 parent would give their child a gift and then keep it from them? God 253 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:51.039 doesn't do that either. Now, sometimes we are blind to it or we're 254 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:55.319 looking weirdly, or we won't open the present or various things, and that's 255 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:59.240 where it's helpful to have others. Remember we're in a body, and sometimes 256 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.789 others help us see it. Let me give you an example. In First 257 00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:11.190 Timothy and and Titus, Paul gives qualifications for elders and deacons. He gives 258 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:15.589 these qualifications both to those men who might want to serve, but to us 259 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:21.019 as a church, so that we might point to particular men and say you, 260 00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:26.460 my friend, are qualified to serve as an elder. In other words, 261 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:33.089 we see that gifting in someone else, and that's why the pastor myself, 262 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:37.329 the elders and deacons of our church, didn't become so because one day 263 00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:42.210 they stood up and said, good morning, I am the pastor of this 264 00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:48.200 church now. No, each and every one of us were called by you 265 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:57.000 to serve because you recognized something in us. You said God has gifted this 266 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:03.309 person with these gifts and they ought to use them again. It's a wonderful 267 00:23:03.349 --> 00:23:07.910 and a helpful thing and it's something you can be doing for other people, 268 00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:11.390 not just pastors and elders and deacons, but all of us in the body. 269 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:18.140 You can be encouraging your brothers and sisters in their gifts, in the 270 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:22.099 things that they have been given. Thank you for serving me and bringing that 271 00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:29.490 meal over to my house with such cheerfulness too. You have a real gift 272 00:23:29.650 --> 00:23:34.250 for that, especially if we see something happen over and over and over again, 273 00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:41.759 when in there is a pattern there. But what if you're, let's 274 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:47.680 say, a new Christian, or let's say you're a little Christian, one 275 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:52.079 of our young ones here, and you're still learning about the world and you're 276 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.109 learning about yourself and learning about your place? How can you learn to recognize 277 00:23:56.150 --> 00:24:00.990 these things? What if no one's saying anything? Do you? Well, 278 00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:04.869 the way to determine the gifts again, is not by feat but through the 279 00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:14.380 application of yourself to the needs of the church. Right when your body encounters 280 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:22.980 a problem, let's say sitting down and your desire to sit down, what 281 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:27.569 happens? Do you have to make a conscious choice? All right, I 282 00:24:27.809 --> 00:24:33.809 go to work, examine the proportions of that chair, find the distance between 283 00:24:33.849 --> 00:24:37.730 me and it. Legs, start lowering yourself, arms move out balance. 284 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:42.359 Now you just sit down. Let's of course you're going through physical training and 285 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:48.000 trying to relearn these things, but in general, the body works as it 286 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:49.759 works right. The eye does what it needs to do, the hand does, 287 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:53.910 it eats, it needs to do, but it works in the application 288 00:24:55.069 --> 00:24:57.990 of it. That's why physical training is so important, because it's sort of 289 00:24:59.069 --> 00:25:03.750 reapplying the body to these tasks. If you have to relearn to speak or 290 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:07.099 relearn to walk, what do you do? You start walking, you start 291 00:25:07.140 --> 00:25:11.460 talking, you go through these kinds of things. The same is true for 292 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:18.059 our gifting. So here's a way to determine your spiritual gifts. You look 293 00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:22.769 out and you say, what are the needs? And if you see in 294 00:25:22.970 --> 00:25:26.609 need, and you start moving toward it and you help it and you find 295 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:33.369 yourself doing those similar things over and over again and you probably have those gifts. 296 00:25:34.250 --> 00:25:37.359 Probably one of the best points to make here. is much more important 297 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:45.720 than naming or identifying a particular list, is just serving and loving. God 298 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:52.150 doesn't give one gift to each person. Sometimes he gives lots of gifts to 299 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:59.470 one person. The Apostle Paul's a really good example of that. Paul's goal 300 00:25:59.670 --> 00:26:03.549 in life was not to sit down at his kitchen table and come up with 301 00:26:03.630 --> 00:26:08.140 a chart and identify all his spiritual gifts. He simply look for needs and 302 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:15.460 started working. But he did so with this proper perception in this right attitude, 303 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:22.650 and that's what God calls all of us to do. You can't appreciate 304 00:26:22.930 --> 00:26:27.650 your presence unless you open them, and so that means that God calls each 305 00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:33.000 of us, with an open heart and eagerness to go and seek the benefit 306 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:38.279 of others work, to be open to encouragement, open to rebuke. We're 307 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.319 to look for our weaknesses and our strengths, be realistic about who we are 308 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.750 and who we are not to not US estimate ourselves more highly than we are 309 00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:52.990 or to underestimate ourselves either, but just simply be honest before the Lord. 310 00:26:53.029 --> 00:26:57.349 And where we are weak, we ask him to make us stronger and grow 311 00:26:57.390 --> 00:27:00.740 us in His grace, and where we're strong, we ask him to help 312 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:06.019 us apply those gifts that he has given to us. And all of this 313 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:12.420 we do relying on the Lord who unites us together. Remember Paul's words from 314 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:18.690 Philippians Thirteen. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, 315 00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:22.809 he strengthens Paul, he strengthens each one of you, he strengthens his body. 316 00:27:22.849 --> 00:27:29.089 At the end of the day, this is about Jesus, about his 317 00:27:29.410 --> 00:27:34.319 work and his his work among us and in the church. The vital connection 318 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.799 that we have with one another as part of our body does not come by 319 00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:44.470 the identification of a gift. It comes by the giving of the gift and 320 00:27:44.549 --> 00:27:48.789 the strengthening of those gifts and the using of them, all through the Holy 321 00:27:48.829 --> 00:27:53.190 Spirit. The gift that comes to US comes from the one who first loved 322 00:27:53.230 --> 00:27:59.700 US and first served us. The church works the way it does and ought 323 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:03.700 to work the way it does, because of what Jesus has already done for 324 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:08.460 us. And the wonderful thing is is even in the weakest and most struggling 325 00:28:08.500 --> 00:28:14.490 places, wherever the spirit is, you still see these things going on, 326 00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:22.970 God continuing to bless and grow and sanctify. So that's my encouragement and exhortation 327 00:28:22.170 --> 00:28:26.720 to you this morning. From God's word, consider who you are with sober 328 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:33.240 judgment, remember who you are in Jesus Christ, and then act accordingly with 329 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:37.640 life and his body, out of genuine love and service for him and for 330 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:42.589 others. Let's pray and ask that God would help us in these things.