SPIRITUAL GIFTS: How Important Are They?

Memorial Drive 2/2/20 SPIRITUAL GIFTS: How Important Are They? Various Texts “… spiritual gifts are that without which the church cannot subsist in the world, nor can believers be useful to one another and the rest of mankind to the glory of Christ as they ought to be. They are the powers of the world to come, those effectual operations of the power of Christ whereby His kingdom was erected and is preserved.” (The Holy Spirit, John Owen) • Gifts are God’s primary means for church growth! (Eph. 4, I Cor. 12, Rom. 12) • Gift’s are a way for every believer to manifest the Spirit! (I Cor. 12:7) • Gifts are a means of showing God’s glory: “… that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ! (I Peter 4:11) • Gifts given demand that we be “good stewards” (I Peter 4:11) … TWO MORE REASONS WHY GIFTS ARE SO IMPORTANT, BOTH CORPORATELY AND INDIVIDUALLY “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, SO THAT YOU MAY PROVE WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS, THAT WHICH IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT.” (Rom. 12:1-2) • Understanding and Using Our Gifts Is a Significant Part of Fulfilling the “Good and Acceptable and Perfect Will of God” What IS God’s will for my life? “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Rom. 12:3) “FOR just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, (in the same way that a physical body has various members with differing functions) SO WE, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Rom. 12:4-5) “Since we have GIFTS that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly …” (Rom. 12:6a) Living out “lives of worship” and living out God’s will” takes part IN COMMUNITY with other believers AS WE UTILIZE OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS WITHIN THAT COMMUNITY! • Spiritual Gifts Are An Important Part of God’s “PLAN OF ORGANIZATION” For the Church That Bears Christ’s Name ◦ According To a Church Constitution In 35 years of pastoral ministry in four different churches, I have yet to see a church constitution that MEANINGFULLY connected the reality of SPIRITUAL GIFTING with the ministry of the church! ◦ According to Need “Need” was the basis for the first office of “deacon” (Acts 6) ◦ According to GIFTS As Well “GOD HAS PLACED THE MEMBERS, EACH ONE of them, in the body, JUST AS HE DESIRED. If they were all one member, where would the body be?” (I Cor. 12:18-20) “… there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (I Cor. 12:4-7) … TWO CLOSING THOUGHTS ON THE GIFTS • A Word of Caution Don’t allow differences of how we view some of the gifts keep you from learning about, developing, and using your gift/s! “Recognizing and exercising spiritual gifts is a confusing and difficult issue for many believers.  At one end of the spectrum are Christians who may attend a church for many years without ever recognizing any spiritual gift. That causes passivity in the church and can lead to a disabled body of believers—one with severed limbs and missing organs.” (Grace to You Ministry Blog) “Christians who may attend a church for many years without ever recognizing any spiritual gift. That causes passivity in the church and can lead to a disabled body of believers—one with severed limbs and missing organs.” “[Because] the church has been endowed by the Spirit of God with supernatural gifts for its ministry of edification and evangelism, they then become critical to its operation … The church is a living, breathing organism that functions as life and breath. And it is functioning on the basis of the ministry of each member within that church to minister to the other and that’s why it’s seen as a body. And every one of us is like a member of that body. We have a function in harmony and symphony with every other member.” (Macarthur) • A Word of Challenge: PRAY! “We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his Spirit to bear witness to his Son; without his witness ours is futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian growth are all his work. Further, the Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit; thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a Spirit-filled church. A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit. Worldwide evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love and power. WE THEREFORE CALL UPON ALL CHRISTIANS TO PRAY FOR SUCH A VISITATION OF THE SOVEREIGN SPIRIT OF GOD THAT ALL HIS FRUIT MAY APPEAR IN ALL HIS PEOPLE AND THAT ALL HIS GIFTS MAY ENRICH THE BODY OF CHRIST. ONLY THEN WILL THE WHOLE CHURCH BECOME A FIT INSTRUMENT IN HIS HANDS, THAT THE WHOLE EARTH MAY HEAR HIS VOICE.” (Lausanne Covenant, Lausanne Conference of 1974) “… most of the remarkable breakthroughs today, in the world, in world missions and church growth, are HAPPENING AMONG PEOPLE WHO PRAY LIKE THAT, who pray for all the gifts, and all the power, that God gave in the New Testament.” (A conversation with Peter Wagner at Lausanne II, from a video by Dr. John Piper on spiritual gifts) May we understand how significant the spiritual gifts are in the life of the church! May we “pray like that”! For “all the gifts, and all the power, that God gave in the N.T.”