Grow With Pastor Joe

In my last sermon, I attempted to cover these verses in one fell swoop. However, we only made it through the first few words. Go figure. Today, we will be covering the verses together but with a different focus. As we get into the section on the function of the spiritual gifts that are experienced within the life of the local church, we will see that God has called each of us into His Body, His Bride, His Team if you will. We are united to Christ and one another. Each of us are valued by Christ and add value to His church. God’s mission is a mission of redemption and reconciliation of sinners to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. How does God accomplish this mission? What is His strategy? The spiritual gifts of grace are God’s method to complete His mission. This only happens as we function by grace through faith in the gifts that He has given us. God has called us into a life of participation with Him and one another for the good of the church and the glory of Christ. God’s program is people. We are His mission and missionaries. He has given each saved soul something to add to the healthy functioning of the Body of Christ. Yes, on your own you may have a good walk with the Lord. You may be faithful in the word, prayer, and personal evangelism (by the way, this should be the normal). But, if you aren’t plugged in, engaged, and serving within the local body then you are not only in disobedience, but you are disregarding God’s program.

God wants you to not only be in tune with Himself, but with His church. In an orchestra there are four major families of instruments. There are string instruments which include things like the violin, viola, and cello among others. There are woodwind instruments, including the flute, oboe, or the clarinet as well-known pieces. Then, there is the brass section which is known as the “horn” section. These include the popular trumpet, tuba, or my wife’s favorite, the trombone. Lastly, there is the percussion section that includes drums, cymbals, and the often-forgotten triangle. Each of these instruments can and is played on its own. Each piece is also complimented by its fellow section of like instruments. Yet, the orchestra is not an orchestra without each piece playing their part, in their time, and in tune with everyone else around them. Solos are good, but the orchestra is a masterpiece. You may be a master player, but you aren’t truly a master of the instrument until you can take directions from a conductor and play with others whether like you it or not. There is something special about listening to a live orchestra. It is masterful and awe-inspiring. To me, it is one of the most beautiful illustrations of the local church. In case you are wondering, no, I am not the conductor. Christ is. It is His orchestra. Most days I’m lucky to be a stagehand, but thank God He has room for you, me, and every saved member to be a part of this masterpiece of an orchestra.

In order to use what God has given, we must understand what God has given us. Understand that God wants to use you so use what He gave you. He has given you what you need by His grace so that you through faith may be used as an instrument for His glory in the life of the church. You are a piece of His orchestra. Play your part and follow His lead. Watch the conductor and stick to the sheet music. Today, we will see these gifts and how we are to function in them for the good of the church and glory of Christ. Once again, all of the function of the gifts can’t happen without faithful application to Rom. 12:1-5. We are as well reminded that the Christian life, including the function of spiritual gifts is “of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom.11:36). In Rom. 12:6-8, we will see the function of spiritual gifts has a united goal, diverse gifts, and mutual good. The passage says, “⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; ⁷ Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; ⁸ Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” Let’s see now what it means to truly function within the spiritual gifts of grace in our life.

First, we must examine the united goal. Think about that orchestra again. Can you imagine if each section decided that they had their own goal in mind? Or worse, if every orchestral member decided to make their own and do what they want to stand out in the group? To understand the goal, we must look at the larger passage. Read Rom. 11:33-12:8. There in Rom. 11:36 we see the united goal of our spiritual gifts in the phrase, “to whom be glory forever. Amen.” Like an orchestra, the conductor gets the standing ovation. The only one in your life, my life, and the corporate life of the church that deserves an eternal standing ovation is the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He’ll get just that in eternity, however, I don’t know that it will be a standing ovation. I think it will be a kneeling ovation as we humble ourselves in gratitude for the indescribable greatness of His grace and glory. Everyone’s spiritual gifts and the function thereof has the eternal goal of Christ’s eternal glory being revealed and received. God reveals His glory to us, in us, and through us as we obediently live in faith by His constant grace. As His glory is revealed to us, in us, and through us, His glory is then received. All glory is due Him. He can’t get enough credit. His ovation couldn’t be long enough. As we by grace through faith function in our gifting, we are deployed to declare His grace and glory in the gospel. The exercise of our gifts is for the exaltation of His glory. If we begin to think too highly of ourselves or focus more on our gift than His grace, we begin to want to be the conductor who gets the standing ovation. Or perhaps, we begin to think we are more important or valuable than another instrument in His glorious orchestra. It is the glory of God that ought to move us inwardly and outwardly. It is His glory that is our motivation for all of life as seen in Rom. 12:1 where we are beseeched “by the mercies of God” (His mercies are His glorious attributes, character, nature, and actions). A.W. Tozer once wrote, “If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?” I believe that we honor God the most when we use what He has given to us to use for His glory, but we’ll never use what He gave us for His glory if we think that the function of spiritual gifts is to make us look good, feel good, or be admired by man. When you make the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ the united goal of your life, just watch how God will use you. Now, imagine if each of us stopped caring about how good we are as individuals, or our orchestral sections and instead kept our goal on Christ being glorified in us and through us. He is more glorified when we function in our gifts with the good of the church in mind. The united goal is the good of the church by His grace for His glory.

Second, we must examine the diverse gifts. There is one orchestra, but four sections, and many individual players. As Rom. 12:4-5 puts it, “⁴ For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: ⁵ So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Our spiritual gifts are different by design. God wants you to be who you are and do what He has graciously gifted you to do for the good of the church and glory of Christ. It is these diverse gifts that have a united goal and are for a mutual good. Each believer is valued and adds value to the church. None are insignificant or ignored. Read 1 Cor. 12 for a deeper study of the importance of this topic. As we examine the diverse gifts that are seen in the local church, we must be reminded that this list is not exhaustive, but representative of the broad ways in which God desires that we would live for His glory. These gifts are expressed and exercised through our lips, life, and love. These gifts impact and influence all parts of our life. Each of these gifts are not to be so individualized that we forget that they are a part of the larger orchestra. Each of these gifts make glorious music, but God is most glorified when we use these gifts together. Let’s examine each one.

One, there is the gift of “prophecy.” I can already feel you Baptists tensing up. Relax. We’re gonna get through this together. The word “propheteia” (from pro = before or forth + phemi = to say or tell) literally means speaking forth or telling before. Prophecy in this context is not necessarily “fore-telling” in a predictive sense but is more accurately described as “forth-telling.” In truth, this gift is the grace God gives for the preaching of the Word of God. It is to cry out and declare as a herald, “Thus saith the Lord!” All preaching must have teaching, but there is a great difference between the two. Teaching as we’ll see shortly deals with education or instruction, whereas preaching deals with the entirety of one’s life with a demand for a response of action. It has been described that preaching is a sledgehammer that either knocks something tight in place or breaks up something loose. Those with this gift and responsibility are gifted of grace by the Holy Spirit to a high calling and task. They are demanded to do so “according to the proportion of faith.” The idea is that you can’t preach gospel for the glory of God in your flesh. This also is a reminder that there is only one faith that we preach, meaning we must stick to the scriptures by the Holy Spirit. Stay in bounds. Stay in the Book. Let the Bible do the talking. Robert Murray McCheyne said, “In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” We don’t need preachers who are all hot air with no substance that preach as clanging symbols. We need scripture saturated and Spirit surrendered preachers who declare what God has spoken.

Two, there is the gift of “ministry.” The word “diakonia” which refers to menial & mundane activities, such as waiting on tables (related word “diakoneo” Acts 6:2) or caring for household needs. This is not referring to the office of deacon, but rather it is used as a broad term for any kind of mundane ministering to the needs of others. This sort of service is often unknown, unseen, or uncared for by man. However, God knows, sees, and cares. Each believer has this opportunity; however, some have such a true humility and are so driven by God’s glory that they are at home behind the scenes serving others quietly. If you don’t nail down the first part of this passage, then you’ll never be able to fulfill this function of spiritual gifting. These individuals are the ones who serve in the quiet or dark when often no one else can see. They are the ones who make the sausage so that others don’t know how it gets made. Pray that God may grant you and I this mentality and that we’d obediently, humbly, and faithfully serve.

Three, there is the gift of “teaching.” The word “didasko” means to provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting with aim of giving understanding. In the 97 NT uses of “didasko” the meaning is virtually always to teach or instruct, although the purpose and content of the teaching must be determined from the context. This range of meanings deals with teaching through both explanation and example. In order to teach you must be teachable. Sometimes there are bad students, but sometimes there are lousy teachers. We see examples of this being exercised in our Sunday School classes, small groups, and Bible studies. However, it is to be seen in the discipleship world. The same word is used for discipleship and disciple making, which all of us are called. However, there are some folks in our churches that are just plain gifted by God for this. Everyone needs to be taught. We are all students, but we are not all gifted teachers and that is ok too. Like those who are gifted with “prophecy,” those that teach must be filled with the scriptures and Holy Spirit. True teaching though will point you beyond learning to actually living. Kent Hughes writes, “Teaching differs from prophecy in that it instructs the mind, whereas prophecy is addressed more to the heart and will. Teaching is more concerned with knowledge, prophecy with revelation. The teacher is to apply his all to the task.” All learning is for our living. Praise God for those that are gifted teachers who are able to instruct us in our walks with Christ.

Four, there is the gift of “exhortation.” The word “parakaleo” (from para = side of, alongside, beside + kaleo = call) means literally to call one alongside, to call someone to oneself, to call for, to summon. “Parakaleo” can include the idea of giving help or aid but the primary sense in the NT is to urge someone to take some action, especially some ethical course of action. The idea is to encourage, stir up, or stimulate others. It has been said, “Those who are taught but not exhorted become “fat sheep” who only take in and never live out the Christian life. Those who are exhorted but not taught become excited and active, but have no depth or understanding as to what they are doing, and will burn out quickly or work in wrong ways.” Those who are encouragers do so through their lips and life. They walk the walk and talk the talk. Everyone can be an encourager and should be. We all love being encouraged, but we should love encouraging others to a life of holiness, faithfulness, and joyfulness in Christ. The folks who are gifted in this area constantly go out of their way to encourage those who are often preachers, teachers, leaders, or those who are struggling. They make phone calls, send cards, visit shut-ins, pray for and with others. Encouragers enable us to exercise our gifts. Look for every opportunity to encourage others through your attitude, attendance, and actions.

Five, there is the gift of “giving.” The word used is not the usual Greek verb for giving, “didomi”, but is the intensified verb “metadidomi” which conveys the added meaning of sharing & imparting that which is one’s own. Right now, you probably just sat on your wallet tighter saying, “God didn’t call me to this one. On to the next please.” When we look at our life, we must understand that there is not one part of it that is not a gift from God’s grace. Those with this gift exercise it with sincerity, genuineness, and attentiveness to the Spirit and needs around them. Giving is less about having an abundance, and more so about have an abundant attitude that wants to give away to others what God has entrusted temporarily to our hands. These members see everything in their life as the Lord’s, so they don’t become stingy or possessive of their possessions. While all of us are called to give to the Lord through tithes and offerings in the church with gladness, here the giver is to do so with simplicity and sincerity. They don’t make a show about it and seem to just know when someone has a need or just needs to be blessed. When you give yourself to the Lord, then you are free to give to others.

Six, there is the gift of “ruling” or leading. The word “proistemi” (from pro = before, over + hístemi = place, stand) literally means to put over or before and describes one who is “standing before or over.” The figurative sense means to exercise a position of leadership (Rom 12:8, 1Tim 3:4-5). You can’t lead others to follow Jesus until you are truly led of Him. Isn’t it amazing that in life everyone wants to be in charge until they are in charge? I get concerned when folks are looking for opportunities to be the chief and aren’t content to be the indian that God called them to be. You can’t biblically lead without first serving. Those with this gift and calling must do so with eagerness, efficiency, earnestness and effort. Furthermore, you can’t lead without being led solely by the scriptures and Holy Spirit. Those who are called by God to lead others spiritually have a great and terrible responsibility. Pray for them because there is such a weightiness to being entrusted by God for leading His sheep. Heb. 13:7, 17-18 says, “⁷ Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. ¹⁷ Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. ¹⁸ Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” If you are a leader, don’t abuse it. If you are not called to leadership, then follow in humility and gratitude that you don’t have that weight on you.

Seven, there is the gift of “showing mercy.” The word “eleeo” (from eleos) means to feel sympathy with the misery of another, especially such sympathy which manifests itself in action, less frequently in word. Describes the general sense of one who has compassion for someone in need. Those with this gift aren’t just compassionate, they are cheerfully compassionate. Imagine visiting the sick or shut-in with an Eeyore attitude! Everyone wants compassion when in need, but these folks are compassionate to those who are hurting and afflicted. They show mercy as they visit, encourage, call, make and take meals and a million other ways. They can say the right words and sometimes know when not to say anything at all. They are gifted counselors, listeners, and servants. They are burdened to see the needs of others met.

Each one of these gifts are gifts of grace and only function by grace through faith in surrender to the indwelling Holy Spirit. They are diverse gifts for a united goal of the good of others and the glory of Christ. These gifts are to be embraced, enjoyed, exercised, and encouraged. Don’t do what you are not called to do, but don’t say that you aren’t called or equipped to serve. That’s selfish unsober thinking. God has given you something of value, don’t waste it. Be content to be who and what you are for the glory of Christ. Don’t serve out of duty, but devotion. Be burdened to serve, don’t just do it because “Who else will do it?” Be who you are in, through, and for Christ.

Third, we must examine the mutual good. This is the last and fastest point because this wraps it all up for us. Your gift is your gift, but it isn’t for you. The gifts that others have are not for them but are for you. We experience God’s grace and exalt His glory as we exercise our gifts for the good of the church and glory of Christ. The mutual good of these gifts means that you have a responsibility and role to play within the relationships of the local church. Don’t say, “Well, someone else will do it. I’m retired; it’s not my time anymore.” If you have a pulse and belong to Jesus, then you add value to this church. This also means that everyone around you adds value to your life. They often don’t though, not because they are not valuable, but because we choose not to value them because of our flesh. Put that pride to death and understand that you need one another. It isn’t about you; it is about the good of one another and the glory of Jesus Christ. You will not glorify Him fully if you do not live for the mutual good of the local church. When we see the diverse gifts have a united goal and mutual good, then we truly begin to see God’s plan for our lives. This is His program. This is His design and desire. This is how He builds, grows, and protects His Church. This is how families grow strong, churches grow strong, and our communities get reached with the gospel of Christ. God isn’t calling you to be a one-man (or woman) orchestra. Play your instrument so that the whole orchestra will send forth the praises of our conductor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him get the glory and ovation. Take joy in the gifts of others and the grace and glory of Christ. This is God’s desire for us, but it will only be realized as we come to terms that all things are “of Him, and through Him, and to Him” for our good and His glory. Let God use you in His orchestra of grace. Ask yourself, “What has God called and equipped me to be? Am I fulfilling my ministry? Am I self-focused? Do I love the whole orchestra?” May God build His Church as we learn to love to live in the function of our spiritual gifts for the good of the Church and glory of Jesus Christ.