Gifts to Serve the Church

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. It is a great blessing to have you worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with us. I'm going to invite you, brother and dear sister, to open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle Peter.

The first letter of the Apostle Peter. Today we are going to continue with our series of studies through biblical salvation. It's been now, I think, five or six weeks in which we as a church are trying to understand the characteristics of biblical salvation. That is, that a person is saved by grace through faith according to the scriptures. Not according to the imaginations or according to the thoughts of men or religion, but biblical salvation.

That which the Scriptures say about biblical salvation. And we have said a number of things in these last few weeks. We have said, statements such as that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation, that the message of the gospel is that which brings salvation to a person. We have also said that biblical salvation produces a new life. And last week we said and we spoke about biblical salvation producing biblical obedience.

This afternoon, my dear brother and sister, from the first letter of the Apostle Peter in chapter 4, from verse 10, I want us to consider this statement of this assertion, and that is that biblical salvation produces gifts to serve the church. Biblical salvation gives us or produces in us gifts, and those gifts are meant to be for the service of one another, or the service of those who are in the context of the church. And I'm taking there the title to my sermon from verse 10 of the fourth chapter of the first letter of the Apostle Peter, when he says, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. We're going to be addressing, I hope by God's grace, verse 10 and 11. But as we always do, we're going to be reading an extended portion so that we can get the context of what the puzzle is doing.

And not only we're going to be reading a longer portion, but we're also going to be coming before the Lord and ask the Lord that he will help us by his Holy Spirit as we read the scriptures, proclaim the word of the Lord. And as you receive the words of the Lord, let us come before the Lord and let us pray together, brothers and sisters. Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, and we give you thanks for your goodness that you have given to us in saving our souls by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross. We come before you, Lord, not only as forgiven people and people who are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and people who have been promised the eternal glory of being in your presence, but also as people who are united to you and are one with your body. We give you thanks, O Lord, for everything that you have done in our days and everything that you continue to do.

And as we gather here together as your people and as the church, Lord, we ask that you will bless us through the preaching of the word, that the things that we are going to proclaim will correspond to your heart, because we need the words of God into our souls and into our hearts. We want to be conformed to the image of Christ. And we know that our faith is strengthened, and we know that we are conformed to Christ, through the preaching and through your word. So we ask, O Lord, please, that you will grant us understanding of your will for us, and the center of the things that we do will be the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless us, Lord, as we approach the scriptures and speak to your people, to the brothers and sisters, everyone that is here present within the sound of my voice, that your word will be sufficient for everything that they need, and that you will point them to the completed and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that you will do this in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Peter chapter 4, and as I said, we're going to be addressing there verse 10 and verse 11. And the assertion that we're making this afternoon is this, and that is that biblical salvation produces in the Christian, in the person who has been biblically saved, gifts. And those gifts are for the purpose of service of one another.

service of the church. We are going to be reading there from verse seven all the way through verse 11. 7-11 that is going to be the portion of our reading this afternoon. This is the word of the Lord. The end of all things is at hand therefore Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep on loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God might be glorified through Jesus Christ, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This is the reading of God's words, and I suppose that I will start by asking you a question there, my dear brother and sister, and you can answer that in your heart and in your mind. What would you say as a Christian, as a brother and sister in Christ, what would you say that is the greatest blessing that God has given you as a Christian? What would you say that is the greatest gift, the greatest blessing that God has bestowed upon you as a Christian? Perhaps you may say very well that forgiveness, that you have been forgiven of your sins, and that being forgiven of your sins is the greatest blessing that you have received. Apart from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are dead in our sins, in our trespasses, and we are going to be found guilty before the Lord if we are not forgiven by the grace of the Savior.

So someone might say that the greatest blessing that they have received is indeed forgiveness. But someone might come and say, well, not only forgiveness, but also the fact that as I live my life as a Christian, I'm being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have not only been forgiven by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also, someone may say, I'm receiving this glorious blessing that I'm dying to self, and I'm becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. That even though I do not deserve to receive the likeness of the Son of God, whom the Father loves, the Spirit of God is imparting unto me. Jesus Christ, and I'm dying progressively to myself, and I'm becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Someone may say it is this sanctification or conformity to Christ that is the greater blessing. But someone may come and say, well, it is not only forgiveness and sanctification, being conformed to the image of the Lord, but it's also this future certainty that we have of glory. That there is going to be one day in which we are going to die, and we have this glorious promise that when we open our eyes after the second that we have died, that we are going to see the Lord Jesus Christ and that we are going to be with Him. Or that even when He comes, that we are going to be with Him in glory. And when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are going to be like Him, that this broken, that these broken vessels that we have with infirmities, with pain and with sin, they will pass away and we will be one with the Lord.

Someone may say it is not only the great blessing of being forgiven, the great blessing of being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's also the great blessing of this future glory that we are going to be with the Lord. Let me submit to you, my dear brother and sister and friend here, that even though those are indeed great blessings of the Christian life, all of those blessings, the blessing of forgiveness, the blessing of sanctification, and the blessing of future glory depend upon one and the most important truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is that the Christian, when they are generally saved, they are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Union with Christ is the fountain from which all of those blessings come. We are forgiven because we have been united to Jesus Christ. So the righteousness of Christ is given to us by faith, and that is why we are forgiven.

We are sanctified or we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ because the Spirit of God dwells in us and we are united to Jesus. And because we are united to Jesus is that we have the certainty that the work of God has started in us. He will bring it to completion and that we are sanctified. And if we have a future hope in which we are going to see the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because we have the certainty that on that day we're going to be finally and fully united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Union with Christ is the fountain from which all the blessings of the Christian life comes.

Someone might ask very well the question there and said, what is the meaning of being united to Jesus Christ? Certainly, I'm not one with his body. He's in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father. What do you mean by being united to Jesus Christ? What is it that it is to be in Christ Jesus?

And the simplest of the answers that we can give to that very profound question is that to be united with Jesus Christ is to be one with Him in spirit. It is that we become one with Him and one with His body. Union with Christ is this, that when the person has repented of their sins and placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, this person has now been incorporated spiritually into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We become one with Him. And when we come to the scriptures, we realize that the scriptures speak about the body of the Lord Jesus Christ being the church.

Those people who by grace through faith have come to the Lord Jesus Christ are those who are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head and the church is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the greatest blessing that a Christian receives is not only forgiveness, sanctification and future glory, but is that we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ and that we are united to his body. All of those brothers and sisters that throughout the ages, in the past, in the present, and in the future, those people that we have not seen, those people that we have not had a conversation with, those people that we have never seen perhaps, or that we are not going to see, those who are recipients of grace, participates of the same blessing that you and me, by God's grace, receive, and that is union with the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how are we united to that body, someone may ask?

What is the practical meaning of being united to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, first and foremost is that we share the same head. It doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter your background. It doesn't matter who it is.

The person who receives the grace, the Lord Jesus Christ become their head and we are the body. And as the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have one purpose, and that is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ together. But of course, you will Perhaps ask yourself the question, how do I worship the Lord Jesus Christ with those brothers and sisters that do not live with me? How do I participate in worship with those brothers and sisters who live in China or in Colombia or in America or on the other side of the world? How do I worship with them?

Well, we worship with them in spirit and in truth, united by the faith of the Holy Spirit, by the worship of the body of Christ. It is primarily seen and manifested in the context of the locality of the church. That is when the saints come together. Those who, by grace through faith, have been saved and not physically united, but spiritually united. It is in the gathering of the saints that we can obey the commandments of our Lord and Savior, the head of the body, and that we can love one another, that we can worship with one another and worship our Lord and Savior.

It is in the togetherness of the local church, in the family of the saints, that we can obey those commandments and enjoy that which is the greatest blessing of the Christian, to be united with the Lord Jesus Christ. broken vessels that we are, and filled with sin and unrighteousness that we still have. When the saints who, by grace through faith, have been incorporated into Christ come together, they participate of this glorious union with Christ. And the way that the Lord has called us to live the life of union with Christ is manifested in many different ways. As I said, worshiping the Lord together, praising the Lord together, living our lives together.

And as we have it in the passage that we have before us, serving one another. The life of the context of the church and the glorious blessing of being united with Christ is seen and experienced in all of those things that I have said, but also in the serving one another. And the statement that the Apostle Peter makes here is very clear. And that is that every person who is biblically saved, verse 10, each one of them has received a gift. And that gift, it is to use it to serve one another.

And in the serving of one another, we are experiencing the union that we have with Christ in his body. God has given us a gift. And that gift is to be used in the service of one another. And that is what I want us to consider this afternoon. And of course, I suppose that the questions that will follow from there are these.

Do you know what is the gift that God has given you and entrusted onto you so that you can serve your brothers and sisters? Do you know what is this grace that has been bestowed upon you, this gift that Christians receive in the experience of being united with and in Christ to serve one another? What is that gift that the Lord has given you? And more importantly, are you using that to serve one another? Because the life of the body is not one in which we come and we sit passively on a chair, but the life of the church is that we are going to experience Christ, we are to live in Christ, we are going to live in the power of His words, and the life of the church goes beyond the two hours that we experience on a Sunday, but it's the life of brothers and sisters, coming together as they worship the Lord in worth and in truth, as they live together as a community of Christ, and as they serve one another, not only on the Lord's day, but as the community of Christ.

So what is that gift that the Lord has entrusted you? And how do we even know what is that gift that the Lord has given us? I want us to consider that this afternoon from these two verses that we have, verse 10 and 11, And if I was going to formulate and put this in two different points or two different questions to make it easier for our brains to follow what we're going to say here, I would say that the first thing that we're going to do is to answer this. What are those gifts that God gives to his people in order to serve one another. What are those gifts or what do we mean by those gifts that are given to God's people to serve one another?

And if the Lord allows us and gives us efficiency as we speak and time, then we're going to consider also, how do I know? What is the gift that God has given me to serve my brothers and sisters? What is the standard? How can I know what is the gift that the Lord has given to serve the brothers and sisters? The first question can be easily answered there from verse 10 and 11.

And the first question is, what are those gifts that Christians receive to serve? one another. The first thing that I want to do is just to point you to the nature of those gifts. If you see there the word gift in verse 10, it says, as each has received a gift that were there. It's a word that basically means this spiritual gifting or this spiritual charisma that is given to a person.

A gift is spiritual in nature. is something that comes from above, from the Father of Light, with whom there's no variation, no shadow of turning, that is bestowed, that is given to one of his people, to one of his saints. It is a gift, comes from above, from the Father of Light, with whom there's no variation, no shadow of turning. And the nature of it is that it's spiritual. It is not an ability, it's not a capability, even though these gifts will be seen in abilities and capabilities.

What I'm saying here is that primarily a gift is not fleshly or natural in nature, but the gifts that God gives to his people are spiritual in nature. Yes, they are going to be manifested in deacons and pastors and teaching and brothers and sisters, contribution and help and service. This is going to be manifested in physical things, but we have to understand that the nature of the gifts that God gives to his people is spiritual in nature. It is an empowerment that God gives from above to his people so that when they come together they can serve one another. As we see there in verse 10, it's not only that the nature is spiritual from that word gift, but also the extent of it.

Pay attention to it. It does not say that he has given us gifts to the pastors and to the deacons, but rather in verse 10 it says, as each has received a gift. The Apostle says the same in Romans chapter 12, in verse 20 chapter 12, and also in Ephesians chapter 4. Every single Christian has received a spiritual gift that is bestowed and given for the purpose of serving the brothers and sisters. And if we have not seen it there, it's not only that the nature is spiritual and that the extent is for every single believer, but we have an obligation to use the gift in serving one another, because if you do not know, the verb that the Apostle uses, you said to serve, is an imperative.

An imperative means that it's a command. That is what we have there in verse 10. It is a command that is given to the Christians. Every single Christian has received spiritually a gift. Every one of them.

And this gift is meant to be used in the service of one another, in the community of the Christians. This is a commandment. And when a commandment is not followed, then that means that the commandment is broken. When the commandment in the Scriptures is not paid attention to, then that means that we're not paying attention to the words of the Lord. Of course, I don't want to put unnecessary burdens upon your shoulders.

I just simply want to bring what the Word of God means. And that is that the gifts that God has given to each one of His children, it is spiritual in nature, and it's for the purpose of obedience in serving one another. So we have that a gift is a spiritual endowment of God unto His people for the purpose and obligation, if you want, of serving one another. But if we leave it just in that definition, there is a danger. And there is a danger just to simply run and start to do things without actually considering the substance of what it is to serve the Lord.

And we live in times of pragmatism in which doing and pushing things, it is the easier thing before we answer actually, before we consider, terrible English there, before we consider how things are supposed to be done. Pragmatism is the enemy of the truth of the spirituality that we're supposed to have in the Bible. So let me give you three important characteristics that we see in the scriptures that are going to help us to serve the brothers and sisters, not only doing it, but with the right heart. Three important characteristics about these gifts. The first one, it is going to be God's grace.

Second one, God's power. And the third one, God's glory. God's grace, God's power, and God's glory. And I'm doing that for the sake of my mind so that I remember what I'm going to say here. The first one, God's grace.

Pay attention to what the apostle says there in verse 10. He says, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. A gift is not only a spiritual endowment that comes from above that is given to the Christian to serve one another, but we must understand our gifting as something that comes from the grace of God. That means that that which I'm able to do and the skills that the Lord has given me for whatever it is to serve the brothers and sisters is not mine, but comes from above. A gift comes from the varied grace of the Lord that is given to each one of his saints.

And what we ought to do is that we are supposed to be good stewards of the grace that comes from above. What is to be a good steward? For those of you that we don't use that word, to be a good steward, it is to manage, if you want, to use that which has been given to you in a proper way. If a person has a duty and a task and they are wasting the resources, then we say that that person is not efficiently using the resources. Why?

Because that person is wasting that resources, who is not using the resources that they are supposed to be. But if that person is a good steward, or if that person is a good manager, then that person is using those resources in an efficient way, so everything is accomplished based on what they have. Grace is what God gives us so that we can give others. And the characteristic of grace is that we don't deserve it. That means that gifts are something that comes solely from the will of the Lord to his people.

They are empowered and strengthened in the will of the Lord according to what God has decided for his people. This is to be good stewards of the grace of the Lord. Your gift My gift, your gifts, my dear brother and sister, come from the grace of the Lord. And you are supposed to be a good stewards of that grace. This is the way that the Apostle Paul saw his ministry.

If you come with me there to Ephesians chapter 3, I'm going to show you there very quickly. If you come with me to Ephesians chapter 3, in Ephesians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul sees his ministry, his apostleship, as to be a steward of grace. he's concerned with the fact that he's to use that grace in a proper way. It says in Ephesians chapter 3, if you open your Bibles there to Ephesians chapter 3, this is the argument that we have here and this flow of grace, it is beautiful brethren. Pay attention to this before we read.

This is what we're going to read here in these 13 verses of Ephesians chapter 3. The grace that comes from above, if you look at me as I try to picture this with my hands, the grace that comes from above is given to Paul. And Paul is a steward of this grace. What is that grace? It's his apostleship.

And in his apostleship, he is meant to reveal the mystery, the mystery that Jews and Gentiles are to be one person in Jesus Christ. This revelation, this truth, now it is given to the Church. This Church that receives the grace that comes from God through the Apostle, now is to bestow and to manage that grace that comes from God through the Apostle, through the revelation of the Gospel into the Church. That is what the Apostle says in Ephesians chapter 3. Let us read together the word of the Lord.

It says, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you." You see that? Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me by God for you. The gift, the apostolic gift of Paul was grace that was given from above, and he was meant to be a good steward of that grace in giving it to the church. And then he explains in verse 3, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in the other generations, as he has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus, through the gospel. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according, pay attention, to the gift of God's grace. The apostle says, I was made an apostle according to the gift of God's grace, which is the same concept of Peter in 1 Peter chapter 4, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace, the grace of His gift, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring the light to everyone what is the plan, or even stewardship, of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the Church, Right?

So that through the church, this grace was given to me, so that through the church, so that the purpose of the grace given to Paul is that the church, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. What is a gift? A gift is a grace that comes from above. and that we are supposed to be good stewards. The concern of Paul in the first century is that he was meant to be a good steward of the ministry that he was being given because that was the gift of grace.

The first thing that we need to understand is that this gift is a grace. Why? Because if we don't understand that our service is a grace that comes from above, we are going to be in the expectation of retribution. If we do not know that our service to one another find substance in grace, unmerited favor, something that comes from above and that I'm supposed to give to others in the same way that I receive, I'm going to find myself begging, requiring, Retribution for my service, for my doing to others. And my relationship to the brothers and sisters is not going to be one of grace, but it's going to be one of a transaction in which I give something and I'm going to be expecting anything in return, or at least something in return.

It could be money, it could be power, it could be reputation, or it could be just simply a pet on your back so that you feel comfortable from the things that you've done. The service that we do in the church, it is the result of the abundant grace that has been given to us and that we see that I'm a sinner, who should have died in the moment that I was born, but I did not because of the grace of the Lord. And when He saved me, He gave me something greater than my body. He gave me something greater than my days. He gave me something greater than my money.

He gave me something greater than my family, my wife, my kids, and what I have in this world. He gave me eternal life and union with Christ. And because of this glorious truth of the forgiveness that I have and the union that I have with Christ, now I can say with the Apostle Paul that I want to spend and to be spent for the sake of the brethren. This can only be accomplished, not by the mind of the server, but by the grace that comes from above. In order for us to understand the power of service, we need to understand first, God's grace.

Second, if we return to our text in 1 Peter chapter 4, the first thing was God's grace. The second thing is God's power. Pay attention there to verse 11, please. In verse 11, the apostle is going to speak about two types of gifts that we are going to speak perhaps, perhaps not because time is passing, but he says in verse 11, Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. One who serves as the one who serves by the strength that God supplies, or the power that God supplies.

In the service of one another, the grace of God is meant to be abounding in us as we give to each other and as we serve one another. And the service that we are to give to one another must be with the strength that God supplies. with the power that God supplies. If we serve one another in the flesh, it is only a matter of time that the things of God will become burdensome to our flesh and that we will not be able to carry and we break and we're feeble and we are very weak. But it's when the power of God is leading us to serve one another, to love one another, that the Lord builds up his church.

And in understanding that is the strength and the power of God, this is the lesson that we need to learn. Dependence. We are to depend upon the Lord. If the strength that we need to serve one another is the one that God gives, then my dependence should not be upon my strength, upon my skills, upon the things that I know that I have, but my strength, my dependence should be upon Him who provides the power to serve. So then that means that for us to be strong in service, we are not to take a program and a course on how to do certain things.

We are to take the course of prayer at the altar of the Lord. We are to be in the secret place of Christ, receiving the power that comes from above. being touched by the hand of Christ that is the one that leads us into his ways and that makes us count this life as rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To be touched by the presence of Christ. To be taught by the words of Christ.

To count it a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Savior. And that happens when we come to this Word. This happens in the simplicity of opening these pages. This happens in the simplicity of spending time with Christ in the secret place, knowing that He is our Lord. And that apart from Him, we can do, John chapter 15, nothing.

That apart from Christ, we can do nothing. Men are very good at building up their own empires. Women are very good at building up their own empires. But the Church of Christ is built only by the power that comes from above. by the grace that comes from above.

Salvation happens with the power of the gospel, because serving one another, it is not only by God's grace, but it's also by God's power. And as we see there in verse 11, it is for God's glory. Pay attention to verse 11. It says, whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. in order that in everything Jesus Christ may be glorified, God may be glorified.

The purpose of serving one another, it is not the empty praise that we receive from men, but the purpose of serving one another must be the glory of God, so that we can be united to the words of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians, that whether you eat or whether you drink, whatever you do, you do everything for the glory of God, and that happens in the service of the church. If we do not have perspective of the necessity of God's grace, if we do not have perspective of the necessity of God's power, if we do not have perspective of the necessity of God's glory in our service, we're going to be easily moved into pragmatism and just doing simply things for the sake of exalting ourselves. The purpose of our efforts should always be the glory of Christ as we serve one another. This is the power of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it actually happens in the context of the church. What are those gifts?

What are those gifts that then, just tell me please, perhaps practically, what is it? It's only apostles and prophets and teachers. What are the gifts that are available to the Christians? You're telling me, brother, that in verse 10, it says that each Christian has received a gift. I can clearly see the gift of Paul in Ephesians chapter 3 as an apostle.

I can clearly see the gifts of the prophets in the New Testament. What are those gifts? Here, Peter is going to give us two categories of gifts. And I want to, with the time that I have, perhaps 15 or 20 minutes, I want to now present to you these gifts that we have in the scriptures through those three things, God's grace, God's powers, and God's glory, these two main categories of gifts that we have in the scriptures. And then I hope that we have time to take you through the different passages in which we have the list of different gifts.

The gifts that the Lord gives were spiritual in nature, given to all to serve one another by God's grace, by God's power, to God's glory. These gifts fall into two main categories. Gifts of word and gifts of deeds. These are the gifts of speech or gifts of words and gifts of deeds. And we see those two categories there in verse 11.

If you pay attention there, it says, Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, and whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. This is, of course, not an extensive list of the gifts, but Peter is actually addressing the two main categories of gifts that we have in the Scriptures. Gifts of words and gifts of deeds. Those gifts that are related to the word of the Lord, to the proclamation of the word, or to the preaching of the word, if you want. And those gifts of deeds that are related to the practical things, or the things that happen within the context of the church.

I'm going to take you through a couple of passages, but before, let me say this. Both of them are necessary for the church, and both of them have to be within the context of the church. The gifts of word cannot happen if there's no gifts of deeds, and the gifts of deeds are only informed and nourished and empowered by the gifts of words or the gifts of the words. These are the two categories that we need to have in mind. If you come with me, to Romans chapter 12.

Let me just show you there some of the gifts of words and some of the gifts of deeds that we have in Romans chapter 12. We're still okay with time, so let us go there to Romans chapter 12. I want, as we go through these passages, we're going to read three or four passages, brethren. As we go through these passages, I want you to see the three elements that we saw in 1 Peter chapter 4. God's grace, God's power, unto God's glory.

You remember that. God's grace, God's power, unto God's glory. We see that in all of the list with these two categories, gifts of words and gifts of deeds. Pay attention to Romans chapter 12, verse 3. For by grace, Verse 3, 12, 3.

For by the grace given to me, Paul says, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them, if prophecy, in proportion to our faith, a gift of words. if service in our serving to one. In our serving, a gift of deeds.

The one who teaches in his teaching, a gift of words. The one who exhorts in his exhortation, a gift of words. And you understand what I mean, my point there. The one who contributes in generosity, that is deeds. The one who leads with zeal, that is deeds.

The one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. We have gifts of words. And we have gifts of deeds. If you come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, once again there's another list there. We have prophecy and leading and contribution, acts of mercy.

If we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, once again we have different lists of gifts. Gifts of words and gifts of deeds. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 4, Now here Paul is going to use three interchangeable words to speak of gifts, services and activities, but it's the same thing. He says in verse four, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4, Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.

And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. God's grace, God's power that empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestations of the Spirit for the common good, to serve one another. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, gifts of words, and to another the utterance of knowledge, gifts of words, according to the same Spirit. To another, faith by the same Spirit, this is a gift of word.

To another, gifts of healing by the same Spirit, gifts of deeds. To another, the working of miracles, works of deeds. To another, prophecy. To another, the ability to distinguish between spirits. To another, various kinds of tongues.

All of these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. We have gifts of words and we have gifts of deeds. These are the two main categories and as you progress and let me just simply show you this last one with this I finish if you come to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 There are two gifts that usually are passed over and people do not consider. And these are the gifts, the spiritual gifts of marriage and the spiritual gift of celibacy. Celibacy is the way they say it in English.

Celibacy. The gifts that God gives, either to be married or to remain unmarried. Now it says in verse 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 6, Now, he says, I say concession, not commend. I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

There the Apostle implicitly says that he has received the charisma or the gift of celibacy and speaking also of those who are married who have also have received the gift of being together. Why? Because the Apostle is going to make the case later in chapter 7 that the one who remains unmarried is to serve the Lord. And the one who marries a wife or marries a husband, that marriage is the picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. Both of them are going to be the reflection of the work of Christ, either in deeds or in the union that Christ has with his church.

These are the gifts that God has given to his people. The purpose of these gifts, all of them gifts of words and gifts of deeds, are for the edification of the brothers and sisters. The kingdom of Christ is not built with a big building. There are times in which we need to have a big building. There may be times in which we need to have a big building, but the kingdom of Christ is not built with bricks or with chairs or with physical things.

The kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is built up inside of you. And when you are victorious over sin, when you forgive one another, when you reconcile, when you pray, when you come before the Lord, when you love one another, when you keep your tongue to say deceitful things, when you love one another and we walk in the ways of the Lord, that is where the kingdom of Christ is being strengthened and empowered, is growing. And when, by God's grace, one of our children is saved and we give them unto the Lord, and the Lord is the one that takes that child unto Him, and then we have a Christian family in there, that is the building up of the kingdom of Christ. Not with the things that people see with their eyes, but with the things that people don't see, the things that happen inside of their heart. When a brother is walking through the streets and there's a woman that passes that is immodestly dressed, and then that brother looks to another way instead of looking to that woman, that is the victory.

of the kingdom of Christ, in that this brother is now being taken by the righteousness of Christ. When someone is alone with a computer or their phone, instead of doing unrighteous things, and when that person comes to the Lord and then gives the things unto the Lord, that is the victory of the kingdom of Christ. When instead of just speaking unto each other evil words, but rather speaking words of love and forgiving one another and caring for one another. That is the building up of the kingdom of Christ in the heart of those who are in Him. And that happens in the unity of the body.

That's why the church is not meant to be, let's come together and listen kumbaya, and let's just simply go and forget about each other. The body of Jesus Christ is meant to be spiritually united, whether there's 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 or 100 of us, it doesn't matter. The purpose is one, that Christ reigns in each one of our hearts, and that we worship together, that we live together, and that we serve one another as we proclaim the message of his glorious kingdom, the kingdom of Christ Jesus. Let me try, in the last six or seven minutes, to answer this question of, how do I know which one is my gift? Because that is a very important question.

How do I know which one is my gift? I'm going to give you five things that are going to advance and progress in authority, and this is the order that we should think when we're trying to consider what is our gift. If we think opposite, upside down from these five things that I'm going to tell you, then we're going to fall into the heresy of pragmatism, just simply to do things for the sake of practical need rather than the scriptures. The first thing that is going to tell me what my gift is, imagine which one it is, is the Scriptures. How do I know which one is my gift?

I know my gift through the Scriptures. Come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter, 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. the safest and the best way to know what our gift or gifting is, it is through the scriptures. You will be amazed to know how much the scripture speaks about the different gifts and the characteristics of the gifts that God gives to his people.

So first Timothy chapter three. First Timothy chapter three, as you will remember in first Timothy chapter three, we have from verse one, through verse 13, if you see there in your Bible the title, we have the qualifications for pastors and we have the qualifications for deacons. Here we have the outline requirements of the Word of God to determine What is the gift? The gift of a pastor and the gift of a deacon. When we come to the scriptures, we see who is the man that is meant to be a pastor and who is the man that is meant to be a deacon.

And the way that we identify that gifting in a person is by coming to the scriptures. I do not come with the necessity of a pastor and the necessity of a deacon to ordain a pastor and ordain a deacon. Rather, I come to the scriptures and see what the scriptures say about a pastor and about a deacon. And if there is a man whom the Lord has formed according to what is written, then that means that God has provided a pastor and that God has provided a deacon. If I start with the need and making my need that which governs my decision making, I need to start with the Scriptures, because the Scriptures are going to inform me about what it is that I'm looking for, and if the Lord has provided.

Pay attention to what the Scripture says. Let us just simply read it from verse 1 through verse 7. It says, the saying is trustworthy, speaking of pastors and of overseers, or bishops, as the three terms that the Scriptures use. The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. The husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-control, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent by gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into the snare of the devil." And we could continue reading. What is my point? My point is that the Scripture tells us very clearly not only the gift of a pastor and of a deacon, but brethren, you're thinking if your gift is the gift of hospitality, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10, or the previous one, 9, it tells you what hospitality is. Or Hebrews chapter 13, it tells you what hospitality is.

Or 3 John, it gives you an example of hospitality. Are you thinking that your gift is a gift of contribution? 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians tells you by example and by command what is meant to be the heart of the person who gives. Are you thinking that your gift is the gift of serving the congregation? Acts chapter 6 and also first here the role of a deacon, or even as you go through the letters, he will tell you what the heart of the servant is meant to be.

We do not start from the need and then try to fill the need, we start from the Lord and what he says. and what he fulfills in the context of the church, and that's how the church is built up. We are to run away from the heresy of pragmatism. We are to come to the feet of the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it's through his word that he builds up his church. Pragmatism is the way of men to accelerate things and to do things very quickly and fast.

And you know what happens? That many people fall, and many people end up in hell. when pragmatism is that which rules the way that we do things. It is the word of the Lord that is supposed to lead the way that we do things. The word of the Lord informs it all.

Second, the church. Come with me to Acts chapter 6. the testimony of the Church. It is the Word of God that testifies what are the gifts that a person has and identifies them, the Word of God, but it's also the Church. Why?

Because the Church is the means by which the wisdom of God is proclaimed and made known to us. Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6. You remember there the example of this man. It is the church, the one that identifies the gifts that we have.

It says in Acts chapter 6 verse 1. Now in these days, Acts chapter 6 verse 1. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the Twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, and, of course, sisters, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They said before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. The apostles gave to the congregation the duty to identify among the disciples those people who fulfilled the requirements of being a servant of the congregation.

How do I know my gifting? I know it primarily through the Scriptures. When I come to the Scriptures, I can testify what the Word of God says and what the Lord has been doing in me. Second, through the context of the Church. If the Church knows the Word of the Lord, then the Church is going to be able to identify, according to the Scriptures, the giftings that the Lord provides to the congregation.

The ruler of all of those, it is the Word of the Lord. Not pragmatism, not the need, but it's the Word of the Lord that governs the gifting that God gives to His people. Now I could say all the rest, but the time now is gone. But let me just simply say them by not taking them to the Scriptures. Third, my dear brother and sister, we have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

It is not only the Scriptures, and it's not only the Church, but the Holy Spirit will come miraculously and powerfully, sometimes upon people, to give unto them what is required to fulfill a specific gifting. We see that with Paul, and we see that with Barnabas, and there's going to be times in which a person who has experience of no experience at all in a particular matter, the Spirit of God will come upon that person to empower them and to give them something for the benefit of the church. The Lord makes that very manifest according to the scriptures and according to what happens in the life of that person. This is what we call the leading of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And finally, and with this I finish, it is the providence of the Lord.

Let me show you this one because we are in the book of Acts. So let me just show you this one in Acts chapter 9, and with this I finish. How do I know what is my gifting? First and foremost, by the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures will tell me about that.

Second, by the Church, the testimony of the Church. Third, by the work of the Spirit that empowers. and many times leads a person in a particular direction. And then finally, number four, I was going to give you five, but this is number four, by the providence of the Lord. By the providence of the Lord, there are certain things that you have learned in your life before Christ.

There are certain things that you have done in your life before you came to the Lord Jesus Christ that the Lord has used providentially to form you and to equip you and to teach you certain things so that once you are in the context of the church, these providential giftings that have been given to you before the Lord will be used for the service of one another. None of your days before Christ were wasted or lost. None of your days before your salvation were thrown into the rubbish. Everything the Lord was keeping in his hand and controlling, and the Lord knew what he was doing in your life, not only for his glory, but also for the service of the church. I finish with this.

Pay attention to Acts chapter 9, verse 1. You remember, this is the Apostle Paul, the conversion of the Apostle Paul, verse 1. But Saul is still breathing threats. This is a Pharisee. This is a man who had been trained in very good ways.

This is a man that had memorized the scriptures very He's very certain that he had memorized, very likely that he had memorized the scriptures. A man who had understood the ways of the old covenant. And the Lord is going to now come to open his eyes. There's going to be an empowerment of the Holy Spirit that opened the eyes of Paul. And even though the things that he had learned, he had learned them the wrong way because he was pursuing righteousness in the flesh.

Now, the clarity of the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit is going to take all of those things that he had learned, and they are going to now fit into the gospel of Jesus Christ and are going to make full sense in Christ Jesus. And the Lord is going to use all of those years of training now by the power of the Holy Spirit to lead them into the proclamation of the gospel. For that's what we have there in verse 20, it says, And after his conversion, we know that after his conversion, verse 20, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priest?

But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. In other words, He confused them. He made their minds to be confused. Why? Because He had all of this knowledge of the Old Testament that before it did not make sense.

But now that He has seen spiritually the Messiah, He now understands what is the purpose of the temple. He now understands what is the purpose of the law. He now understands what is the Sabbath. He now understands what is all these things in the Old Testament. And now he comes and says, and this is Christ.

And he was confounding these people at the preaching of the word. The gifting of the apostle was formed, not only when he was saved, but in all those days that the providence of the Lord was working. And it's through this apostle that the church is going to be established, and it's going to be formed, and the church is going to thrive in the truth of the gospel. The Lord has given to each one of his saints a gift from the most humble one, from even those slaves of the first century that were in chains, did not know how to read, did not know how to write, that were alone, and they spent their lives in chains, even to the humblest of the sinners that were saved by the grace of the Lord, a gift was given. And that gift that was entrusted by God's grace, by God's power, by God's glory, was for the purpose of the service of one another.

And the way that Christ has been building up his church for these 2,000 years is not through the power of men. It is not through the riches and wealth of men. But the way that Christ Jesus has been building up his church is through what he does in the heart of his people as they come close to him and as they serve one another. what a privilege it is to serve a king and a kingdom, that when this king and this kingdom are seen through the eyes of fleshly men, it is something to be mocked and is something to be rejected. But when the day comes and the glory of Christ is revealed, all the empires and all the kingdoms of men are going to pass away, and all the endeavors and all the service of men unto men are going to pass away, and the only thing that will remain will be the kingdom of God.

feeble sinners from all generations that have been saved by grace through faith and that by the power of the Spirit have learned to serve one another as they look to Christ Jesus and as they build the kingdom of Christ, not in bricks, not in walls, not in things, not in matter, but as they build the kingdom of Christ in their hearts by grace through faith and as they love one another and as they serve one another for the glory of the one who loved them and gave himself for them. Amen? Amen. Let us pray. Father, I pray and I give you thanks, Lord, for your word, and I pray, O Lord, that you will grant us by your grace an understanding of the glorious privilege of what it is to be the people of God, the glorious grace of what it is to be to have brothers and sisters and to be united in your church, I pray, O Lord, that as we read and we consider the scriptures that you will grant us, Lord, I desire not only to serve our Lord, but to serve one another.

I pray, O Lord, that you will grant us by the scriptures and by the power of your Holy Spirit, the testimony of the church, that you will guide us, and I desire, Lord, to give our lives for the service of the brothers and sisters, the heart of the gospel found in it. We give you thanks, Lord, for everything that you do for your people, everything that you do for your church, and I pray, Lord, that you will teach us, Lord, to love one another, that the service that we do would be out of grace, the grace that we have received, that we will be good stewards of this glorious grace, that we will do it in the power of God, Protect us, Lord, from seeking and trusting in our own strength, in our own skills, or in our own abilities. Help us, Lord, to depend upon you in the secret place, and teach us, Lord, to do things for the glory of God and not for the glory of men. As we have these brothers and sisters here before us, Lord, I do pray that your hand will be upon them, that you will strengthen, Lord, the gifting that you have given to each one of them for the glory of your name and for the service of one another. We praise you, and we give you thanks, Lord, for the way that you will build your church.

And in all of those things, we know and we are certain through the scriptures that Christ is King, and he will fulfill the work that he has started in his bride, because we are united to you. It is by grace that we have been united to you. And for that, we give you thanks. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.