God's Gifts to His Church 121118

Romans 12:3-8, For by the grace given to me 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 one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Some people seem to think they are God's gift to the world. That's one side of the coin. The other side is that some people, perhaps we could say many people, think that somehow they are God's curse on the world. In other words they think of themselves as being without worth. As we've studied Romans we've seen that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Further, we've seen that the wages of sin is death. Too often we stop short at this point and fail to recognize that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In today's passage Paul calls on the believer to think with sound judgment. We who are Christians need to confess, about ourselves, that we are children of God and are equally worthy in Christ Jesus. We're not to put ourselves above others instead we are to act as our Savior did. Jesus said that anyone who would be first among us must be the servant of all. He himself washed the feet of the disciples and said we are also to serve in that way.

I don't intend, today, to talk about the individual spiritual gifts given to believers. Instead, I want to talk about the grace behind the gift as it is given to the Apostle Paul, and to us, and then the gifts themselves. Perhaps at a later date I might take each gift and talk about how it applies to the church, but not today.

So let's begin with…

The grace given to Paul. Paul began this letter with a statement about himself found in… Romans 1:1, listen while I read, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,...

For a part of Paul's life he was known as a persecutor of the church. He arrested men and women and caused the death of some of them. He called himself a blasphemer and an insolent opponent of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, because of the mercy of God, and the grace that God poured out upon Paul, he became instead…

A servant of Jesus Christ. During the last recorded trial of Paul in the Book of Acts he told his own story. He said that he had left Jerusalem with arrest warrants to go to the city of Damascus. He planned to find the believers in this new faith in Jesus Christ and drag them back to Jerusalem for trial. On his way, he was struck down by light from heaven and heard a voice speak from that light. The voice asked, "Why are you persecuting me?" We find Paul's dialogue with this voice in, Acts 26:15-18, And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul could never say that he was not warned by God! From the very beginning he was told that he was appointed as a servant and a witness. He could understand from the statement, "delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles" that he would be in need of deliverance. He was blinded as a result of the brightness of the light. He spent three days in total darkness to help him understand that he had been in spiritual darkness. Part of what he was told was that he was being sent to open the eyes of his own people as well is those of the Gentiles. Not, of course, the physical eyes but instead he would open spiritual eyes. He would bring people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. He would do this as a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant who is…

Called to be an apostle. Listen while I read Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,…

Notice that in this list apostles are first followed by prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers. We can understand that the apostles were first in point of time because they were the ones who followed Jesus. Twelve apostles were chosen by Jesus to be with him and learn from him. Paul wasn't one of those twelve but Judas was! The eleven who remained immediately chose a successor, Matthias, and he was numbered among the twelve. From then on, in the Book of Acts, he is recognized as one of the apostles. Since Acts is inspired by the Holy Spirit, as is the rest of Scripture, his selection was okay with God. But God still had one more man to add to the group. That man was, by his own testimony, a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent opponent of the church. Later, Paul would say that he was not worthy to be named as an apostle because he was a persecutor of the church! But when he found others boasting of their "apostleship" Paul asserted that he was not inferior to the "super-apostles"! He humbled himself, supported himself, and preached the gospel without charge. Yet he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the apostle to the Gentiles and he was…

Set apart for the gospel. When Paul was struck down on the Damascus Road he was brought into the city of Damascus totally blind. God showed him in a vision that a man named Ananias would come to him. Then God told the man, Ananias, that he was to go to the street called "Straight" and seek out a man named Saul from Tarsus. God assured Ananias the Saul was praying. But Ananias knew that Saul had come there to arrest the believers and he protested in fear. Let's pick up the story in, Acts 9:15, But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.…"

Yes, Paul was set apart to the gospel! But it didn't happen on the Damascus Road, and didn't happen later in Damascus, it happened a good while before. Paul later came to understand, and stated to the Galatians, that God had set him apart before he was born.

God revealed his grace to Saul of Tarsus and changed him into Paul the Apostle who traveled across the Roman world planting churches and winning people to faith in Jesus Christ. He was God's chosen instrument! He was appointed to carry the name of Jesus to the Gentiles, people he had been taught all his life to hate! He would stand before kings and proclaim the gospel and he would stand before crowds of Israelites and do the same thing. Saul, the Pharisee, had persecuted the church. He found himself later being persecuted by the Pharisees. But that only happened when God allowed it as part of his greater plan to bring the gospel to Rome. So that Paul could later write to the Philippians sending greetings from all the saints and especially those of Caesar's household! You see, as a prisoner of the Emperor he would be guarded by the Praetorian Guard. In his years in chains in Rome he met many at the highest levels of the Roman government and some of them became Christians because of that contact. God ordained Paul's imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. God often ordains circumstances in our lives that seem at the time to be painful and frustrating but they result in God's best. Remember, we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Don't let difficult circumstances draw you away from our Lord and Savior. He has a purpose and a plan for everything that comes into our life! So let's look at…

The grace given to us. There are two kinds of grace, common grace that affects all people and special grace, or saving grace, that affects those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! First we will look at…

Common grace. Let's look at the words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:44-45, But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The goodness of God brings people to repentance. His common grace lets the sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

I am reminded of a story of two farmers whose farms lay side-by-side. The soil was pretty much the same and of course the weather would be the same. One farmer was an atheist who believed that he got everything by his hard work. The other farmer was a devout Christian who believed that he got everything by God's grace and goodness. Being as self-centered as we are we would usually think that, of course, the Christian farmer's crop would always equal or exceed that of the atheist. One year, when they brought their produce to market the unbeliever had a much larger crop than the Christian. Boastfully he said, "I suppose you know what this means don't you?" The Christian brother replied, "Yes, I do, this means that God doesn't settle his accounts in September!" God's common grace comes to all people, in all places, all the time.

Common grace influences saving grace in a number of ways. If it were not for the grace given to carpenters and other builders there would be no church buildings. If it were not for the grace given to farmers, fishermen and ranchers there would be no food on our table. Apart from common grace given to bookbinders and printers there would be no Bibles.

On the other hand, saving grace has brought people to the place where they can bring positive influence on society. In other words, people who have been influenced by special grace make a very positive change in the world they live in and affect the common grace of all those in society influenced by the church. The rewriters of history would write out of all the textbooks the tremendous influence Christians have had throughout history. Establishing democratic government, ending the slave trade, providing medical care for the poor, etc. etc. would not have happened without the Christian church. There is common grace for all. For the believer God has special grace or…

Saving grace. Listen while I read, 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,...

A lady by the name of Julia Johnson wrote a hymn that teaches us to be grateful for grace. It goes like this…

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, yonder on Calvary's mount out poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.

The second verse goes like this:

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, what can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; whiter than snow you may be today.

The third verse leads us to worship the marvelous grace of God!

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe; all who are longing to see his face. Will you this moment his grace receive?

We were not saved and called because of our good works! We were saved and called because of God's own purpose and grace! Look back at 2nd Timothy and see the remarkable statement. Grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began! The grace of God abolishes death and brings immortal life to light through the gospel! We should never cease to praise the God of heaven who wrote our names in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world! And when he bestowed that grace upon us he also bestowed…

Grace gifts. Paul gives a list of gifts in Romans 12 verses 6-8; but Peter cuts to the chase. Listen while I read 1 Peter 4:10-11, 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 may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Remember, "each" has received a gift. And I venture to think that each one has received more than one gift. Spiritual gifts are given, not for the thrill of the fill, or to benefit the recipient of the gift. Spiritual gifts are given to serve one another! Speaking and serving is the way Peter saw the gifts. When you speak, remember that the Spirit of God dwells in every believer and whatever we say or do is to be for the glory of God. And when we serve others remember, we do not have to serve in our own strength we serve by the strength that God supplies. In everything God should be glorified through Jesus Christ! Gifts are not given to individuals for the individual's use instead God gives…

Grace gifts to the church.

Gifts that are Powered by one Spirit. Turn to first Corinthians chapter 12 and listen while I read 1 Corinthians 12:11, All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

There is only one godly spirit. But there are many spirits. The spirit world is either of God or of Satan. We are to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. And then glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in the use of the spiritual gifts he gives to us. It doesn't matter what gift we have. It only matters that we have the giver of the gifts. And He gives the gifts…

For the common good. Look back at verse seven 1 Corinthians 12:7, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The same message that Peter gave — gifts are to be used to serve one another. We are to be good stewards of the gifts that God gave us using them always for the common good!

There seems, to often, to be an emphasis on the gifted person. It would appear sometimes, in some circles, that spiritual gifts are given to enhance the popularity of a person and to increase their importance in the church. Nothing could be further from the truth! Again I say, gifts are not given for the person, gifts are given…

To build up the church. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 14:26, and listen while I read, What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

This follows a lengthy presentation about spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 13. Some have taken the idea that Paul is criticizing the church here. I don't take it that way at all. He is simply making a statement, when they come together one has a hymn, another has a lesson for teaching, one has a revelation, another a tongue or an interpretation. He's not saying this is good or bad he's just saying, "it is what it is". In 1st Corinthians 12, Paul goes to great lengths to show how important it is for us to remember that we are part of the body. We are each individually members of the body and as such must do what is good for the body. In chapter 13 he goes beyond all the self-centeredness of spiritual excess and comes to the heart of the matter. There he tells us that if he, himself, had all the gifts and excelled in them all and had no love he would be an empty shell of no value to himself or anyone else.

There are many gifts of grace given to the church. Eight gifts are listed here in Romans chapter 12. In first Corinthians chapter 12, nine gifts are listed. Peter, on the other hand, refers to speaking and serving as gifts of the spirit. There are many different opinions about spiritual gifts. I don't enter into controversy about this because it is just foolish to waste our time arguing with each other about things that only God understands.

The most important gift of grace is salvation. We are saved by grace through faith and it is a gift of God. We are not saved by our works of righteousness. Instead, works follow after salvation — at least the works that count follow after salvation. Have you put your faith in him? Have you felt God's Spirit tug at your heart? If you have, you need to step out, come up front, and make a public confession of your faith. Jesus said that if we confess him before men on earth he would confess us before the Father in heaven. This could be your time of salvation.

All Scripture quotes are from The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.