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Spiritual Gifts
Part 4: Serving the Body of Christ
By Rev. Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON TIMELINE
1. Introduction
2. Perfected by the Holy Spirit
3. Gifts in Scripture
4. Serving the Body of Christ
INTRODUCTION
Today is Sunday. January 28th, 2024
Now that we have spent the last year examining what it is to be saved in Christ and a follower of Christ, what scripture calls a disciple, and having received the Holy Spirit, including the fruits of the spirit, or characteristics of God, which is produced in our lives as long as we do not quench the Holy Spirit from work, also receiving the Full Armor of God to enable us to fight the spiritual battles, and wrapping up with the Spiritual Gifts for the building, strengthening and lifting up of the Body of Christ, of which we are a part, we can move on to explore how we may serve the Body of Christ as individuals.
Today’s message will focus on our purpose within the Body of Christ because we have one. The Lord did not die on the cross so we could have the assurance of heaven and a blessed future and spend the rest of our days here on earth living however we want.
Though anyone may call themselves a Christian, the true follower reads His word, prays, and lives as a doer of that word he believes. The Lord may call, COME AS YOU ARE, but He does not intend for you to stay there.
We each are essential within the Body of Christ and have a part to play.
ILLUSTRATION
Here, I have a circuit board. Its purpose is to make the LED flash. Someone may say the power adapter or the main driver board is the most essential part. Or, perhaps someone may say the LED itself is the most important because it is the one that lights and flashes, fulfilling the purpose of the board.
The truth is, for this board to operate and fulfill its purpose, all the parts are necessary. If I remove even the smallest wire, the purpose will no longer be fulfilled.
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Corinthians 12:14-23 “So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.
21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor.”
Today’s Topic: Spiritual Gifts: Serving the Body of Christ
I. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE FOR BUILDING THE BODY OF CHRIST
a. Do not forsake the assembly
i. First and foremost, every part must be present.
1. Just like the circuit board, all parts are essential and needed
ii. Hebrews 10:23-25
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stimulate one another to
love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day
drawing near.”
iii. We
are commanded in scripture not to forsake the assembly of believers. Why? So we
may encourage one another.
iv. When
we assemble together, we keep from quenching the Holy Spirit in His work, not
just in others but ourselves.
b. You have gifts for other's benefit.
i. You
share those Spiritual Gifts in assembly, at church, and out of church with
others in the Body of Christ.
ii. If you forsake the assembly and do not go to church where the Body of Christ gathers to praise, pray, and worship the Lord, you rob others of the gifts God has given you for them.
c. They have gifts for your benefit.
i. You
are also robbing yourself of the gifts God has given others for your edifying,
strengthening, and building up!
II. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE FOR LIFTING AND STRENGTHENING
a. There are many ways to strengthen others
i. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 11
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are
varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 And there are varieties of
workings, but the same God who works everything in everyone. 7 But to each one
is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable. 11 But one and
the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually
just as He wills.”
ii. We
all have parts to play, and the Body of Christ needs us.
b. Lift others up
i. We
encourage each other, support each other, pray for each other, help each other
when we see a need, try to supply for each other, care for each other, and look
out for each other.
ii. As
we spoke about last week, someone may have the Spiritual Gift of Faith and see
someone who is weak in faith, and they can be encouraged and lifted up.
c. Edify means to improve or instruct morally or intellectually
i. Bring them back when they stray and are in danger of perishing
1. Matthew 18:12-14 “If any man has one hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 In this way, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
2. James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
ii. Warn them if they are in sin.
1. Matthew 18:15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault, between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.”
a. Some may cry, “you're not supposed to judge!”
2. We cannot judge a person's life and whether they are bound for heaven or hell.
a.
Proverbs 21:2
“Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But Yahweh weighs the hearts.”
b.
1 Samuel 16:7 “Yahweh
said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature,
because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the
outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
c. Psalm 44:21 “Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.”
3. We cannot be that judge, only the Lord, because only the Lord knows the heart of man. However, we are told to judge them by their fruits, and you cannot warn a brother in sin if you are not judging that he is truly in sin.
iii. So
we don’t judge their destination. Instead, if they call themselves a child of
God but live publicly in sin, we warn them.
iv. Can
you imagine the Lord telling us to call people to repent but not being allowed
to tell them what they are to repent from?
v. “What
about Do not judge” in Matthew 7?
1. Another
“cherry-picked” verse out of context. Let’s read it in context.
2. Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge, (MOST STOP HERE) so that you will not be
judged. (SOME STOP HERE) 2
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you
measure, it will be measured to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck that is
in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or
how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and
behold, the log is in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7 is
not telling us not to judge a brother in sin…rather, to get ourselves right
with the Lord first so
that we will be able to help
our brother escape his snare of sin.
Context is important. Cherry-picking verses creates
false doctrine. Those who teach false doctrine are in danger with the Lord. Colossians 2 warns about
teaching false doctrine and many other verses.
III. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE TO AID IN FULFILLING GOD’S WILL
a. What is God’s Will?
i. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
ii. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not
slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to
repentance.”
iii. Romans 10:13 (Joel 2:32) “Whoever calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.”
iv. John 3:16 “For God so loved
the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
v. Acts 2:21 “And it will be that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
vi. And
many others…
b. How is this to be accomplished?
i. By being Doers of the word
1. James 2:14-17 “What
use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can
that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need
of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be
filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what
use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is
dead by itself.”
c. What does this mean for the local church?
i. We
must not forsake the assembly in this local church, in the community with other
believers, and in our regular lives, looking for opportunities to use God's
gifts to build up, strengthen, and edify
the Body of Christ.
CONCLUSION
How do we build up?
Share the gospel with others.
Invite them to church
Invite them to be baptized
Encourage other believers
How do we strengthen?
Use our gifts, which are for the Body of Christ
Seek out the lost and those who stray
Be there for others when they are hurt or are in need
How do we edify?
Warn brothers who may be in sin
Share the word of God with them
Teach a Sunday school or Bible class
Host a bible study in your home
There are many things we can do for the Lord, and we are all called to do
something. Being doers of the word keeps the Body of Christ in operation, and
we are all essential.
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