Sunday,
September 22, 2013
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
AND LOVE IN THE BODY
I Cor. 13
In
conjunction with our seeking to maximize the work of the Holy Spirit in our
lives, we have been looking at the gifts of the Spirit. Many of us have to acknowledge our own ignorance
in this regard. The background most of
us came out of did not teach much about the gifts of the Spirit. I must confess that I have perpetuated that
trend by failing to give much direction in this area. Nevertheless, here we are. We have opened the Word and said, "Lord,
teach us for the building up of Your body and ultimately for Your glory."
We
have lots of questions. Perhaps there is
a fear that even if we come to some mental knowledge concerning gifts, it will
not make much difference in the way we function as a body. That concerns us, because we see clearly in
the scriptures that spiritual gifts are tied very closely to the concept that
the church is indeed the body of Christ. We can never demonstrate the body life of the
last part of I Corinthians 12 except as the Spirit empowers us to exercise the
gifts He sovereignly bestows upon us.
Without
further introduction, let's come back to the text we read last Sunday, I
Corinthians 13. Let's read it again this
morning -- I Cor. 12:31-14:1...
But
earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. 13:1
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have
become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be
burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love suffers long and is
kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does
not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.
But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues,
they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know
in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come,
then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a
man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then
face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am
known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of
these is love. 14:1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially
that you may prophesy.
I want to set before us three truths
that are rooted in this chapter and its context. We looked at the first of those last week...
I.
Love Is the Context -- How Shall We Exercise the Gifts of the
Spirit? In the Context of Love
Last Sunday we spent our time in I
Corinthians 13, where without a doubt the theme is love. I want to remind you that the position of
chapter 13 is pivotal in our understanding and exercise of spiritual gifts. There was something missing in the Corinthian
church, as they pursued the gifts of the Spirit, and the same is often the case
in our day. The church at Corinth was
blessed richly with spiritual gifts, but Paul had to remind them that those
gifts must always be
exercised
in the context of love. That was our
focus last week, as we looked at the priority of love, the nature of love, and
the duration of love. In verses 1-3 we
saw that love stands far above every gift and all the gifts combined. In verses 4-7 we marveled at the powerful
description of this unique God-given love.
Wednesday evening we encouraged one another with examples of how Jesus
demonstrated this kind of love. And then
in verses 8-13 we were reminded that while all the gifts will vanish away, love
will never fail.
This morning I
want to explore two other themes that are rooted in this chapter and its
context...
II.
Love Is the Catalyst -- What Will Prompt Us to Exercise the Gifts? Love
I want to give you a word to think
about. It is the word
"catalyst." What does the term
mean? No, it is not a list of cats. I didn't say "cat list," but
"catalyst." Here is a rather
simple definition: "A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a
chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change." For example, water boils at 212 degrees F at
sea level. But what happens if you
compare the time it takes to boil a gallon of water to the time it takes to
boil a gallon solution of 80% water and 20% salt? The salt water solution will boil sooner than
the pure water. Salt is the catalyst
that causes the change.
While
"catalyst" is a chemistry term, it also has a secondary use in
everyday life. It might be used in the
sports world. "Shortstop Joe
Fillmore became the catalyst to the success of the Baltimore
Orioles." In other words, he was
the spark plug that ignited the team's success.
Something about his presence and performance changed the quality of the
team's play. "The addition of
roasted green chilis was the catalyst for a delicious meal." The value of what a catalyst does seems to be
greater than the value of the catalyst itself.
Joe wasn't necessarily better than the previous shortstop, but he
somehow had the ability to inspire the team.
Please think seriously with me, as I
explore were we are headed. We believe
that the Holy Spirit is indeed God, the One whom God the Father and Christ the
Son have sent to dwell within every true believer, "for if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Rom. 8:9). We have been reminded in I Cor. 12 that the
Spirit distributes gifts to God's children, "as He wills" (I
Cor. 12:11). Let me remind you
of I
Pet. 4:10-11, "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one
another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks,
let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with
the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through
Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." So each one of us has received a gift (or
gifts), and we are told to use it in service to one another for God's
glory. We find a number of gifts listed
in I Cor. 12, Rom. 12, Eph. 4, and I Peter 4.
We know all these things, but how do we actually live them out? And how
will we know if we are demonstrating this body life effectively? Is there a hidden key?
Brothers and sisters, I believe
there is a key, but it isn't hidden. Let
me put it as simply as I can: "The
catalyst for the understanding and exercising of the gifts is love." It's certainly simple, but is it true? Is love the catalyst that we so desperately
need? I believe it is.
Go back again to chapter 12. By now I trust you are quite familiar with
this chapter and Paul's beautiful description of the church, using the analogy
of the human body. Let me start in verse
22 and read down through verse 27... (I Cor. 12:22-27)
No,
much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these
we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24
but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given
greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in
the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is
honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ,
and members individually.
Notice especially that part about
when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and when one member is
honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Isn't that beautiful? It
emphasizes the kind of love that should and can flow through the body of Christ.
I remind you this morning of the
question which came to Jesus:
"Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?" And what did Jesus say? "You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." But Jesus didn't stop there; He added,
"And the second is like it -- You shall love your neighbor as
yourself" (see Matt. 22:34-40). A
few months ago we contemplated the idea of loving your neighbor like
yourself. We have said it so many times
that the words tend to lose their power.
Do you realize that this is an absolutely shocking statement? Do you love your neighbor just as you love
yourself? That's what Jesus
commands. And He doesn't say this is
just one of many commands. This is
second on the list, and it is like the command to love God with everything we
are and have. When Paul summed up the
whole law, he didn't even mention loving God, but only said that if you love
your neighbor as yourself, then you have fulfilled all the law. Do you love your neighbor just as you love
yourself?
There is a sense in which this love that Paul talks about in I
Corinthians 13 and which characterizes the body of Christ goes even beyond that
love for our neighbor. How so? Let me put it simply. _________, you love that man that lives down
the road from you, but you don't love him quite like you love your daughter
________. Why? Because you are her mother. You have a unique and special relationship
with her. So it is in the body of
Christ. Yes, we are com-manded to love
our neighbor as self, but we have a special relationship within the
church. We share the life of Jesus
Christ and we will share that life for all eternity. We are blood brothers and sisters, purchased
with the precious blood of Christ. And
if we have to say, "I don't see that kind of love in this church,"
then let us repent. This is not just a
have to; this is a privilege. This is
not to be some vague possibility; it is reality in Jesus Christ. The key is in the concept "in Jesus Christ." We are in Him, and He enables us to love our
brothers and sisters as our own selves, even preferring others to ourselves.
Now please hear me. When we have that kind of love for one
another... Oh, but let me pause. That phrase "one another" reminds
me of what Jesus said: "A new
commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you,
that you also love one another" (John 13:34). That's the nature of Christ's church
-- to love one another even as He loved us.
How much did He love us? He gave
His life for us. When we have that kind
of love for one another, a strong desire to serve one another rises up within
us. Remember what we read in I
Pet. 4:10, "As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one
another" (ESV). But what will
motivate us to do that? Nothing but
love. I repeat, nothing but love. But praise God, His love will do it. When we love one another with the same love
Christ has for us, we will long to serve one another. And how do we serve one another? By using the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives
to us.
Let's take an example. Suppose one of our brothers loses his
job. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but
he has a family. He is not a lazy man,
but it isn't easy to find a job that will support his family. By the way, if you are thinking, any man who
wants to can find enough work to support his family and he doesn't need any
help from anyone else, ask the Lord to soften your heart. I know we live in a messed-up, welfare-crazed
society, but I also know we can use that as an excuse to become
hardhearted. So your brother suffers,
and you are suffering with him. You know
that he is agonizing over how he is going to feed and clothe his family, pay
the rent, the car insurance, the utilities, etc. As you hurt with your brother, you realize
that the Lord wants you to do something about it. So you find a way to slip him a hundred
dollar bill without him knowing where it came from. After about a month, you are absolutely
amazed. It seems that though you gave him
that money, you don't seem to miss it.
Yes, you had to do without a few things, but the joy you have in helping
him more than makes up for the physical things you lack. Your brother still doesn't have a job and
things are tight. So this time you give
him $125. You end up doing the same
every month until he gets a job. Through
this process, whether you realize it or not, you are exercising the gift of
giving. While we are all to give, you
seem to be able to do it in extra measure.
And you find great joy through it all.
It was out of great love for your brother that you were stirred to
exercise this particular gift of the Spirit.
Love is the catalyst for exercising
the gifts of the Spirit. Isn't that
beautiful. While the gifts are
important, we don't focus on the gifts.
We focus on Jesus, and when we do that, our eyes immediately turn to our
brothers and sisters for whom Jesus gave His life. The gifts become tools by which we can serve
the members of the body. And as you
can't help but notice, this creates one of those beautiful cycles. The more the love of Christ motivates us to
serve one another through the use of the Spirit's gifts, the more love is
kindled among us. And the cycle goes on.
Someone is bound to ask, "What
about people outside the body of Christ?
Shouldn't we serve them too."
Absolutely. Nevertheless, the
focus of the gifts of the Spirit is upon service within the body. Why is that so? I believe we find the answer in the rest of
that passage I read from John 13. John
13:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all
will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." And how do we love one another? By serving one another (see Gal. 5:13). As this love motivates us to serve one
another through the expression of the Spirit's gifts, then people notice that
love and are confronted with the truth that we are indeed the followers of
Jesus Christ Himself. When we
demonstrate this kind of love, it is bound to spill over even to those
unbelievers who are around us.
Brothers and sisters, understand that
love is the catalyst for exercising the gifts of the Spirit.
III.
Love Is the Test -- How Do We Know If It Is a Gift? Does It Demonstrate Love?
There is another question with which
we must deal. I imagine that most
everyone of us has asked it, and it is not an easy question to answer. Here's the question: Is there a difference between the gifts of
the Spirit and natural talents? If so,
what is the difference?
Let's attack this question by asking
two other questions. Where do the gifts
of the Spirit come from? The Holy
Spirit, of course. And where do natural talents
originate? Certainly, they come from
God. Since both natural talents and the
gifts of the Spirit have the same source, can we conclude that there is no
difference between them? No, we
cannot. The simplest way to verify the
difference is to recognize that unbelievers have natural talents, but they do
not have any spiritual gifts. Spiritual
gifts come from the indwelling Holy Spirit, as we learned from the first part
of I Cor. 12 and other passages.
Consider a woman who is an excellent teacher in an elementary
school. She is a very sweet lady, but
she is not a disciple of Jesus. So would
we define her teaching ability as a natural talent, or as a gift of the
Spirit? It is a natural talent. Does it come from God? Absolutely.
Every ability we have comes from God, for He is our Creator and
Sustainer. Her ability is not a gift
from the Spirit, because she doesn't have the Spirit.
We are doing okay so far, but then
comes a more difficult question: Is
there any connection between natural talents and spiritual gifts? Some would say there is no connection at all,
and they might point to specific examples.
Most all of us have heard of young believers who were absolutely scared
to death to stand in front of a crowd but who became wonderful Bible
teachers. How did that happen? It isn't a natural talent; it is a gift from
the Spirit. The Spirit enabled them to
do what they could have never done.
Their ability is clearly from the Spirit.
Is that conclusive proof that there
is no relation between natural talents and spiritual gifts? No, it isn't.
One writer puts it in simple terms...
Spiritual gifts are not to regarded as
dedicated natural talents. However,
natural talents and spiritual gifts may have a discernible relationship between
each other, because in many cases (not all, by any means) God may take an
unbeliever's natural talent and transform it into a spiritual gift when that
person is saved and becomes a member of the Body of Christ. But in such a case the spiritual gift is more
than just a souped-up natural talent.
Because it is given by God, a spiritual gift can never be cloned.
Consider, for example, the natural talent
of teaching. A significant segment of
the population are teachers by profession.
But... not every well-trained, competent public-school teacher turns out
to be a good Sunday School teacher.
Why? In those cases, God
evidently did not choose to transform the talent
of teaching into the gift of
teaching. But in many other cases He
does that very thing, and certain school teachers turn out to become excellent
Sunday School teachers.
While God frequently transforms a natural
talent into a spiritual gift, at the same time many spiritual gifts will have
nothing to do with a person's recognized natural talent. (Peter Wagner, Discovering Your Spiritual
Gifts, pp. 49-50).
Look at the apostle Paul. He was obviously an excellent Bible
teacher. We could certainly say that he
was a gifted teacher in the truest sense of the term. Did his teaching ability have anything to do
with natural talent? I believe it
did. Paul had been trained as a Jewish
rabbi for years. He was schooled in the
Old Testament scriptures, as he sat under the famous teacher Gamaliel. But it wasn't his pre-conversion training
that made him a great teacher among the churches; it was the gifting of the
Spirit. Nevertheless, I think it would
be foolish to say that such training had no bear-ing on his teaching
ministry.
So we don't want to totally divorce
natural talents from spiritual gifts, as God is more than capable of using
those natural talents in His spiritual gifting.
On the other hand, we must make a clear distinction. If we do not, then we will find ourselves
tending to believe that even non-believers have spiritual gifts, which is never
the case.
This issue is important because it
touches us right where we live. As I
have mentioned before, it doesn't seem that the list of spiritual gifts in the
New Testament is exhaustive. In other
words, there seems to be room for gifts of the Spirit which are not a part of
the lists in Romans 12, I Cor. 12, and Eph. 4, since the lists are very
different. So how does a Christian know
what he possesses is a natural talent or a spiritual gift? We might say, "What difference does it
make? Whether it is a natural talent or
a spiritual gift, just use it for the glory of God." That sounds nice, but such thinking can get
us into trouble.
The best way I know to get at this
dilemma is by using a couple of illustrations.
We all know that Alex is a musician.
Is his ability to sing, play the guitar, fiddle, and other instruments a
spiritual gift? Some of you are
immediately thinking, "Of course, it is a spiritual gift?" But be careful. Is it a spiritual gift, or is it a natural talent? There is no question that it comes from God,
for we have nothing that doesn't come from Him.
If you get to know Alex well, you will find out that his music ability
has not always been used to glorify God.
He will tell you that there was a time when he used it for his own
selfish purposes, which were very much contrary to God's glory. Now Alex is using this talent for God's
glory, but even that does not necessarily mean that it is a spiritual gift.
Please allow me to use a personal
illustration. When I was young, I wanted
to be a baseball player. As I began to
play baseball as a young boy, I found that I was able to throw a ball with good
velocity and accurate location. As I
grew older and practiced, I learned that I could throw it directly at the
batter's head and make it curve over the inside corner of the plate at the last
instant. And make no mistake about it, I
was addicted to baseball. I thoroughly
enjoyed the game. If I wasn't playing it,
I was thinking about it. There came a
time in my life when I had to make some decisions in my life. When I was 17, I chose to quit playing
baseball. Why? Primarily because it was taking a great deal
of my time and thoughts. By this time I
knew that the Lord wanted me to be a pastor or missionary, and baseball didn't
fit in with that. But hadn't God given
me a gift to play baseball? Two of my
teammates would later play college baseball.
I could have done that.
Now I have to be honest and admit that
I didn't have any realistic chance to play major league baseball, mainly
because I had problems with my arm.
Nevertheless, it was not an easy thing for me to let go of something
that had been such a big part of my life.
When I was a senior in high school,
I faced a different decision that had similar implications. We had two counselors in our high
school. I knew both of them very
well. Both of them sat me down and had a
long talk with me, when they heard that I was planning going into some kind of
Christian ministry. Their basic angle
went like this: "Ron, you need to
think about his. You can be a lawyer, or
doctor, or whatever you want to be. You
don't want to waste that opportunity."
I was an over-achiever in school.
I didn't make straight A's because I was brilliant. I was driven to study extremely hard so that
I could impress people. Basically, what
my counselors were saying was this:
"You have a sharp mind and you could do something really important. Don't you realize that this opportunity is a
gift from God. Surely you don't want to
waste it by being a pastor."
Now let me come back to I Cor. 13
and the concept of love. What does love
say about talents and gifts? A gift is
exercised in the context of love. Love
is the catalyst for exercising the gifts of the Spirit. Love had nothing to do with Alex using his
music in the world. Love was not my
motivation for playing baseball, nor would it have been my reason for following
my counselor's advice to be something in the world. Sometimes it is a matter of wasting talent;
it is a matter of forsaking the world that is trying to exploit those
talents. Neither my baseball ability nor
my academic achievements were gifts of the Spirit. They were natural talents.
Someone might say, "But what
about the athlete that makes a name for himself in the world and, as a result,
then has a platform to speak for Christ?"
Let me put it this way: Suppose a
man had a great season or two on the football field. A group of Christians in Albuquerque set up a
meeting and ask him to come speak to them.
Across town another Christian group invites a man who has faithfully
served as a missionary in Nigeria for 40 years.
Where will the larger crowd gather?
You know the answer, and it is a tragedy. Yes, there may be times when God uses an
athlete, but we have turned things upside down because we have little wisdom
when it comes to understanding talent in light of God's truth.
Consider the man who wrote I Cor.
13, the apostle Paul himself. Before he
met Christ and his name became Paul, he was Saul the Pharisee. Saul was filled with knowledge and zeal. Aren't knowledge and zeal good things? Could we say that they are spiritual
gifts? Not for Saul, because he was
using them in an attempt to destroy the church of God. Listen again to what Paul had to say about
his former talents. Read Phil. 3:4-6...
...
though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may
have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning
the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Surely Paul wasn't going to waste
all that he had. Listen to what he had
to say about it. Read 3:7-10...
But
what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed
I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them
as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death.
What about Jesus Himself? He was the greatest teacher on the
planet. No one could heal like He
could. He cared for people like no one
else. Would it throw all that away at
the age of 33? And for what? For the cross, that by which He purchased our
redemption.
Here's the bottom line. God will take some talents and transform them
into spiritual gifts to be used for His glory.
Other talents, which are not evil in themselves, can be used by Satan
and our own flesh to chain us to the world, and they must be forsaken. How do we know the difference? Apply the test of love. Gifts operate in the context of love and
build up the body of Christ. Although
talents can sometimes be used for the glory of God, they have a tendency to get
our eyes on ourselves and elevate us in the eyes of the world.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by asking one more
important question that most of you have been considering: "How do I know what my gift is or what
my gifts are? " That is a vital
question. Many Christians in our day
seek to discover their spiritual gifts by completing a "spiritual gifts
inventory" or survey. You answer perhaps 100 questions, you then score
the test based on your answers, and your gift or gifts rise to the top of the
score sheet. Perhaps some of you have
taken such inventories. There are dozens
of them in use.
I have long been aware of the
existence of such inventories. Because I
did not want to evaluate them without knowing something about them, I decided
to complete one of those surveys. I also
asked our other elders and their wives to do the same, along with a couple of
other individuals. They complied with me
request and gave me their feedback. So
what I am going to say reflects our basic agreement. I don't want to be overly critical, but I/we
view spiritual gift inventories as a man-centered activity whose weaknesses
make it very ineffective in helping us understand our spiritual gifts. The biggest weakness is that such surveys, of
necessity, rely upon self-evaluation. So
if what I am saying is true, then what is the alternative? Loving one another in the body of Christ. A person who is not loving his brothers and
sisters and not actively serving them can take a survey and it will tell him
what his spiritual gift is. We maintain
that spiritual gifts will come to the surface in the context of love within the
body. Any "discovery of spiritual
gifts" apart from such wholehearted love and service within the body is
misleading, to say the least. While gift
inventories must focus on self and the gifts themselves, the alternative
focuses upon Christ and His body.
Let me put it this way: If you want to know what your gift is, then
love and serve your brothers and sisters in the power of the Spirit, and mature
believers in the body will be able to steer you in the right direction. Their evaluation will always be more accurate
than your self-evaluation. They may or may not sit you down and say, "I believe
this is your spiritual gift," but the counsel they give you will help you
use your gifts to serve others and build up the body. That concept is in line with the teaching of
I Corinthians 12. The survey approach is
in line with the methods of the world and the world's logic.
"Beloved, let us love one
another." That is our theme right
now. Lord willing, next Sunday we will
look at hindrances to loving one another.
Why? Because this is where we
need the Lord to work powerfully in us. As
a church, we are not doing well at loving one another. Your assignment is to read I John, focusing
on chapters 3 and 4. And
I believe next Sunday the Lord will call us to repentance and prayer.
