← Divine Savior Church-North Collin County
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God's word for our consideration this morning comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12. We bow our heads to pray, O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. For you alone are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. In the name of Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. She always knows the right thing to say to somebody who's hurting. She sometimes struggles to find the right words, but is a great listener. He's a great leader, being out in front of people. He thrives in that kind of a role. He serves quietly and faithfully behind the scenes. She's able to walk into a room and connect with everybody immediately within just a few moments. Being able to make a connection with somebody. He has maybe fewer of those instances, but goes far deeper in that friendship or relationship. He is excellent with budgets and spreadsheets and is so good with technology, but maybe isn't the greatest at being able to take a truth and teach it in a simple way to a child. She's not all that great with spreadsheets or budgets or things like that, but she is able to beautifully teach a simple truth of God's Word in a simple way to children. Do you think any of that is by accident? Or is it just God keeping His Pentecost promise to his church? Today, the Corinthians were struggling with the gifts that the Spirit had given to them, spiritual gifts and what the gifts were, how they were to use their gifts that they had been given. So Paul takes up this whole conversation of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 through 14 of First Corinthians. And from the very beginning of this discussion, Paul wants to ground spiritual gifts in the conversation of what is the most important spiritual gift. So Paul says this. Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, Jesus be cursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Paul is talking about a heart confession. Anybody can say the words to sound them out to a point where somebody else can understand what was said. Jesus is Lord. But to say the words and to mean them, well, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. A miracle of the Holy Spirit's power. That happens really every single Sunday morning. Have you noticed that? That as we confess our Christian faith together using the words of the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed on a Sunday morning, to say those words and to actually mean them is a miracle of the Holy Spirit who has created saving Faith in your heart that latches onto what Christ has done. And to say that to produce that confession, Jesus is Lord in your heart. And. And just like we were reminded last week on Confirmation Sunday, I cannot by my own thinking or choosing, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit who has called me by the Gospel, you and I, when it comes to confessing Jesus as Lord, the only way that you and I are able to do that is if the Holy Spirit works that miracle in our heart to bring a heart that was once spiritually dead to be a heart that is now spiritually alive in Christ. And that happens as the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel to create the gift of saving faith that confesses Jesus is Lord. So when it comes to this whole conversation about spiritual gifts, Paul says, remember that the most important spiritual gift that you have been given is not your serving. It's not your skill set. It is the gift of saving faith, which latches onto Jesus Christ as Lord and confesses it in that way. And with that understanding, Paul then moves into this conversation about spiritual gifts. Because the same Spirit who brings you to faith is the same Spirit who then bestows beautiful gifts upon the believer. Paul says this. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work. Did you catch the two important words, different and the same? There is a diversity of the gifts that are given to God's people by the Spirit, yet it is unified in one common faith in the Spirit who gives that gift of faith. So when God pours out His Spirit, it creates that unity in Christ. And also a diversity of gifts. You may have different gifts than somebody else, but it's the same Spirit who gives them. You may exercise your gifts in a different way than somebody else, but it's the same Lord who is served through the exercising of your gifts. You may even use your gifts to a different result, but it's the same God who is working in all of it through you. And then Paul lists some examples. Some of them we still see today. Things like a message of wisdom, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, or even distinguishing spirits, meaning being able to hear something and understand whether or not it comes from God's Word. Because we have God's Word to compare it with. Some things, though some of the things that Paul lists, we don't really see today. Things like the gift of healing or Miraculous powers or prophecy or even speaking in tongues. Those gifts were necessary for the Corinthian Church to have to authenticate their work as Christ's church. Early on, you notice that a lot of those things are very similar to the miracles that Jesus performed today. We don't need those gifts because we have the New Testament Scriptures which authenticate the church and its work. Instead, maybe today we see God give the church some gifts that maybe the Corinthians didn't need, in the same way that he gave the Corinthians some gifts that maybe we don't need today because that's what the Spirit does. Maybe today he gives us gifts like musical abilities for worship, or maybe it's things like a member ministry coordination or administration or gifts of technology, all to empower the church to go and do the work of the church. But no matter how diverse the gifts may be, no matter how different they might be, they are given for the exact same purpose. Paul says now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. And Paul has already defined, determined for us what the greatest common good is. It's bringing others to faith as you use your gift in connection with sharing the Gospel so that more and more people can confess Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, which works, saving faith. And then the Spirit is so delighted to take even more gifts and bestow them upon those new believers so that they too can use their gift in connection with sharing the gospel, so that even more can confess Jesus is Lord. And that's exactly what happened on that first Pentecost day. Twelve men were confessing Jesus Christ as Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit equipped them with even more gifts so that even more people could not only hear the Gospel, but understand the Gospel. And later on in Acts chapter two, you sung about it, even though it wasn't included in our reading today you heard about what the common good that was accomplished was. 3000 were added to their number that day, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord. And in the same way, when you use your gifts that way, it brings about a beautiful result because people are still coming to faith today. You notice that, don't you, that even thousands of years later, the same thing is happening. People are still coming to faith as the Spirit works that miracle of faith in their heart to bring them from a person that was dead in sin to being alive now in Christ. And he continues to give the gifts that the church needs in order to carry out the very work of the church. For the common good. How do I know that? Because I see them in you. I see how richly and how beautifully God has blessed each and every one of you. To each one, the manifestation of the Spirit has been given for the common good. Things like, like leadership, humble serving, a merciful heart, a strategic mind, administration and technology, musical gifts, a heart that just beats for the gospel. Teaching little children the truths of God's word, all these different gifts and above all of them the best and the greatest gift that is given above the gift of saving faith which connects you to Jesus and his work. The gift of saving faith that latches onto Jesus and what Jesus has done, which has brought you from being dead to now, alive and willing to then take your gifts and use them, just as the Spirit has determined for the common good of sharing the gospel. And as that happens, it's a marvelous thing to see because people are seeing Jesus and confessing Jesus is Lord. The Corinthians needed this instruction from Paul because not everybody was seeing their gifts within this beautiful design. Some were receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit and thinking about them as we well, the be all and the end all of the Spirit's work. That they can use their gifts for their own good or for their own glory. That they have their gift and well, they get to determine what to do with it and what it's actually to be used for. It's easy for us to have that same mentality sometimes about our gifts. It's easy to see our gifts in a very self centered way that we well, maybe it's this way. My gifts are so much better than the gifts of somebody else. Or maybe it's well, I'm really good at this and because I'm really good at this, I'm not going to let anybody else have any part in it because they can't do it as well as I can, even though the Spirit may have gifted them in that way and therefore God's gifts, the Spirit's gifts are being suppressed and pushed down. Or maybe it's the idea that, well, if my gift isn't going to be used in the way that I want it to be used, if my gift isn't going to be used for the common good that I think it should be used for, if it's not going to bring me the recognition that I think I deserve, well, I'm just not going to use it at all. And we've totally then forgotten why the gifts were given in the first place. Not for our own good or our own glory, but rather for the common good of sharing the gospel, that we've forgotten why the Spirit has given the gifts at all, which is for the church to do the work of the church, which is sharing the gospel, to go and make disciples of all nations. Or maybe for you it's not pride, maybe it's jealousy. You look around you at people that God has blessed in amazing ways and it's true. And you may think, well, I'm just not that. I'm not that outgoing person. I just can't walk into a room and connect with everybody immediately. I just can't. I'm not a good teacher. I don't have endless energy like some others seem to have to go and volunteer for everything and do all the things and I just don't. I'm not them. And then we do nothing. Even though Paul has told us that the manifestation of the Spirit has been given to each of us with Spirit appointed gifts. Satan's lie is to get us to think all the time that it's all about us. Satan's lie is to get us to think in such a self centered way. Because when we think that way, what happens is the Spirit's gifts are no longer used for the common good, but they're used for my own selfish ends and your own selfish ends. If we treat our gifts that way, then many of the Spirit's gifts become pushed down and suppressed. But Paul sets it all straight. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit. And he distributes them to each one just as he determines. There is a God ordained variety of gifts, but yet a unity that comes in the midst of all of those gifts by the same Spirit who gives them. So there is no room for pride because the gift did not come from you, it came from God and it belongs to him and it will be returned to Him. There's also no room for envy or jealousy because it's the Spirit himself, God himself, who has determined what gift it is that you need, what gift that you have and is needed in this season of your life. And that is incredibly comforting because your place in God's church does not depend on how visible your gift is. It does not depend on how talented you are or how much recognition you receive from for your gifts. The same Spirit who brought you from death to life, the same Spirit who chose you, by God's grace is the same Spirit that now works through ordinary Christians in their ordinary callings to do extraordinary things. As you use your spirit given gifts in the gospel driven mission of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins, you don't have to be someone else. The Spirit knows you and he has equipped you just as he determines. And that is incredibly freeing because even as some of your gifts may go away over the course of life, over the course of time, the Spirit promises to continually give the gifts that the church needs, when the church needs them. That's incredibly freeing because you don't have to look at yourself as being well, I'm woo or I'm adaptability, I'm connectedness. You may realize what I'm talking about. Strength finders or disc assessments, they're wonderful, but they're not your identity. You're free to see yourself not as defined or identified by your gifts, which can come and go with different seasons of life. Rather, you get to see yourself as God sees you, as a blood bought child of God who is perfectly equipped, no matter what season of your life you're in, to participate in the Gospel movement ministry of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. Right now, that's what Pentecost is all about. Do you remember what happened on Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross? On Good Friday, something happened in the temple. The curtain that stood between the holy place and the most holy place. The most holy place is where God's presence dwelt among his people. When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain that separated God from people was torn in two from top to bottom, signifying that there was no longer anything that stood between God and his people anymore. Because Christ's sacrifice on the cross paid for sins all in full. And the resurrection proved it. Jesus is Lord and now God wants the whole world to know about it. So the God man, Jesus Christ, as he sits enthroned in heaven, keeps his promise to his people to send his Spirit at Pentecost to give gifts to his church. And yes, it was impressive. It was amazing. It was incredible. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word. And the Spirit continues to give the gifts that the church needs in order to do his. It's work. That's what Pentecost is all about. And your gifts that you have today are no less amazing than the gifts that you see on Pentecost day. Gifts like hospitality, musical leadership, administration, a strategic mind, financial prowess, the desire to teach children the Truths of God's word. Those things are no less amazing, they are no less powerful, they are no less impressive than those gifts that you see on Pentecost Day because they are gifts given by the Spirit to pass through you to be used in connection with sharing the gospel so that more people can confess Jesus is Lord. And when your gifts are used that way, it's an amazing thing to watch because more people are seeing Jesus. So don't underestimate what God is able to do, what the Spirit is able to do through the gifts that he has placed into your hands. Christians, a simple conversation, a meal shared with somebody who's hurting, somebody that needs encouragement in the middle of the struggle. Whatever it is, whatever gift that God has given you, or maybe teaching young children the truths of God's word. Pentecost reminds us that God changes eternities through Christians faithfully using their gifts in connection with sharing the Gospel right where they are. And when you fall into those ditches of despair, maybe pride or envy or jealousy, the Spirit doesn't leave you there. He brings you back again and again and again to the cross. Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins and shows you how each sin of pride, each sin of envy and jealousy has been paid for in full at the cross restores you in forgiveness to then say in forgiveness, what is it that the Spirit has given me? What is it that the Spirit has equipped me with today, just as he determines that I can use to help change a life today by sharing the Gospel. Because it's no wonder why you have the gifts that you do. It's no wonder why they have the gifts they do. It's no wonder why we are such a gifted church here at Divine Savior Church. It's because God has kept his promise and will continue to keep His Pentecost promise to send His Spirit to live in the hearts of his people and to bestow his church with with gifts not accidentally, not thoughtlessly or carelessly, but intentionally to each one. All so that more can confess Jesus is Lord. By the power of the Spirit that works through the Gospel and by God's grace, He has made you an incredibly important part of this Spirit given gospel driven mission of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. Because where you are, so is the Spirit who lives in you and empowers you to be the church with his gifts. Happy Pentecost Sunday. Amen.