{"id":18480,"date":"2018-04-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-021-spiritual-gifts-1\/"},"modified":"2018-04-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T05:00:00","slug":"ecclesiology-021-spiritual-gifts-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-021-spiritual-gifts-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 021: Spiritual Gifts 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[91],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18480","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-1-corinthians","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 021: Spiritual Gifts 1","sermon_date":"20180422","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5698,"sermon_slides":5703,"sermon_mp3":5712,"sermon_id":"42218102263","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":91,"chapter_and_verse":"12:7","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 21\n\n4-22-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 21\n\nLet me open us up in a word of prayer.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your church , grateful for this morning, and grateful for the work of the Holy Spirit that He seeks to guide us into all truth.\u00a0 I just pray, Father, that we\u2019d\u00a0 be open to His leading, open to His teaching today.\u00a0 We just invite the Holy Spirit to, if we\u2019re not saved, Father, convict us of our need to be saved, but also Father, as we as Your children move into the area of progressive sanctification and maturity and growth, we know there are many areas in our lives that You seek to conform to Your image in our daily lives and we just invite You, Father, also as we have open hearts today to do that gentle work in us where we might be conformed and transformed in our daily life into the moral image of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We know that\u2019s our ultimate calling and we know Father, based on the promises in\u00a0 Your Word that\u00a0 You use all things; You don\u2019t say all things are good but you say You use all things for good, for that purpose of conformity into the likeness of Christ.\u00a0 And so we know You also use Your Word to do that and so we ask that You\u2019ll do that work within us as Your children this morning; we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nIf\u00a0 you\u2019re lacking a handout just put your hand up and Ron will help you with that.\u00a0 Whoever ordered the cool weather, thank you for that, thank you for getting your order in and it\u2019s much appreciated.\n\nWe, in Sunday School, are continuing on with the doctrine of the church, ecclesiology, and we, for the last few weeks have been spending some time on the purposes of the church.\u00a0 We\u2019ve carefully gone through three purposes: the church exists, number one, to glorify God.\u00a0 Number two, to edify the saints.\u00a0 And then ultimately number three to fulfill the great commission.\u00a0 And the reason I think that of all of the teachings related to the doctrine of the church this may be some of the most important you can get nailed down in your mind, because if you don\u2019t have a clear understanding of why a local church exists\u00a0 you\u2019re going to be pulled into, churches will be pulled into what I call misdirected purposes.\n\nAnd almost everywhere I go today it seems like the church is being pulled into one or more of three assignments that God never gave to the church.\u00a0 Those are (we went through these last time) holistic redemption, social gospel, and bringing in the kingdom.\u00a0 I mean, those are very different things than the three things I gave earlier\u2014to glorify God, edify the saints, fulfill the great commission.\u00a0 Satan would like nothing better than for the church to become occupied with something that God never assigned to the church and as that happens the church loses its power because God is only author\u00adized to empower things that are in His job description for us.\u00a0 If we get outside our job description the power leaves.\n\nAnd I was going to just sort of move on to another kind of sub topic but before I did that I ran into this quote today, it wasn\u2019t today, it was this week, it was so poignant I had to share this with you.\u00a0 This is a book I\u2019ve been reading, I\u2019m about halfway or two-thirds through it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a book by John A. Stormer and the title of it is None Dare Call is Treason<\/em>.\u00a0 And the title of it is The Carefully Documented Story of<\/em> America\u2019s Retreat from Victory<\/em>, written in 1964.\n\nAnd as the story is sort of narrated to me John Stormer was a pastor, continues to be a pastor, and his book had such an effect on Ronald Reagan, who as you know became one of our Presidents, that Reagan actually would buy these books by the box load and just pass them out to people, and Reagan would quote Stormer\u2019s book, 1964 book.\u00a0\u00a0 Reagan and Stormer met in Barry Goldwater\u2019s 1964 campaign.\u00a0 They met there in 1964 and Reagan would typically quote from this book during cabinet meetings and things.\u00a0 And it\u2019s an interesting book because\u2026\u00a0 you say well, it\u2019s 1964, isn\u2019t it dated?\u00a0 I haven\u2019t found it dated at all.\u00a0 It\u2019s a blueprint, if you will, for how Marxists intend to topple the United States.\u00a0 And in this book it\u2019s very clear that they\u2019re not going to use an external attack, from without, they\u2019re going to use an internal attack from within.\u00a0 And one of their targets of the Marxists is the church; the Marxists target the church, the Marxists target the seminaries.\u00a0 And this all sort of came out in the House Committee on\u00a0 Un-American Activities.\n\nAnd I was reading what Stormer writes here and he quotes an individual named Ward, who at that time was a Marxist, and Stormer says of Ward this: \u201cWard recruited pupils, associates and disciples to his crusade to produce, in his words: \u2018\u2026a changed attitude on the part of many church members concerning the purpose and function both of the Church and Christianity.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 \u201c[America's Retreat from Victory The Story of George Catlett Marshall<\/em> Paperback \u2013 1965, by Senator Joe Joseph R. McCarthy<\/a>]\n\nSo what this book reveals is it\u2019s an actual Marxist strategy designed to get into the thinking of the church and use the church sort of as a mouth piece to start talking about all of these sorts of issues that relate to redistribution of wealth and things like that, that Marxists think are going to bring utopia.\u00a0 So to have a mindset where you want a redistribution of wealth you have to hear a lot in churches about social justice and structural racism and all of these kinds of things.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that as the Together For the Gospel Conference was going on this week, this BIG conference, 12,000 people, I believe it was this week, or last week, you hear a lot of talk in that conference about social justice, racial reconciliation, the environment, and it\u2019s almost as if history is repeating itself.\u00a0 I mean, what the Marxists were able to do in certain mainline denominations is happening right now as this Marxist ideology is seeking to penetrate the church.\n\nAnd so that\u2019s why I think understanding the purpose of the church is so critical because if you understand why God gave the church and what mission God gave to the church you\u2019re not going to be pulled one direction or the other into the siren song of socialism or Marxism or things like that.\u00a0\u00a0 The church exists, not to advance someone\u2019s political ideology.\u00a0 The church exists to glorify God, edify the saints, fulfill the great commission, NOT to do holistic redemption, social gospel and bringing in the kingdom. Those ideas were under attack in 1964 and they\u2019re under attack right now as I speak.\n\nSo anyway, that\u2019s a little something I read and I wanted to share with you that probably fit better in last week\u2019s lesson than this week\u2019s lesson but the quote was too good to pass up.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 Because one of the things I like to show is not just a bunch of theology; I want to show you why it matters.\u00a0 I mean, why does it really matter how we define the purpose of the church?\u00a0 Because the purpose of the church is under assault; it was under assault in 1964, it\u2019s under assault right now.\u00a0 In fact, there\u2019s a whole branch of theology called liberation theology, which basically mixes Christianity with the principles of Marxism, as if the two are compatible.\u00a0 And they turn Jesus from a Savior into more of a social justice warrior and a pastor moves away from being an equipper to more of a community organizer.\u00a0 And you can watch this happening in many, many places.\n\nBut having said all that I want to focus a little bit more on number two.\u00a0 One of the purposes of the church is to edify the saints.\u00a0 So you\u2019ll recall that we talked about the Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, \u201c\u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 17, so that we \u201cmay be adequate, equipped for\u201d how many good works, \u201cevery good work.\u00a0 [2 Timothy 3:16-17, \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [17] so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.\u201d]\n\nSo one of the functions of the church is to edify the saints in such a way, through the perpetual preaching and teaching of the Word of God so that they become equipped for their ministry.\u00a0 That raises a very interesting question, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 If we\u2019re here to be equipped for our ministry, individual ministries, whatever those may be, we need teaching on another subject which is the teaching of spiritual gifts.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 The spiritual gifts become the tools by which God wants to express Himself through you in your ministry that He has for you.\n\nSo what we\u2019re going to be doing for the next few weeks is, maybe two, three, four weeks at most, as part of our Ecclesiology study, I\u2019m going to be taking you through a little bit of information on what are called spiritual gifts.\u00a0 Now this is my third shot at spiritual gifts while I\u2019ve been at Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 My first time I taught on this was when we were teaching through the Book of Ephesians and we got to Ephesians 4, which talks about the gift of pastor-teacher and so we started to talk about various spiritual gifts at that point.\u00a0 And all of this information is archived for you, if you want to go back and listen to those prior lessons on our website, I think this was even before we were doing videos, I think these are just audio.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been told that I have the perfect fact for audio [laughter], and if that\u2019s true you can listen to it without having to look at me.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 And you can do that also in our current teachings because we have a video option and an audio option.\n\nMy second shot at spiritual gifts was when we going through the Book of Romans verse by verse, we got to Romans 12 which talks about spiritual gifts so I tried to hit the subject again.\u00a0 And what\u2019s happened is we\u2019ve had sort of a turnover at this church, a lot of people come and they move away and we get an influx of new people so they\u2019ve never really been under some of those teachings and so some of the elders have asked me to re-address the issue of spiritual gifts.\u00a0 And part of the reason they asked me to do that is because a lot of people want to be members here and there\u2019s a little thing on our membership signup sheet that basically says what are your spiritual gifts, and if it\u2019s not on the signup sheet I\u2019m kind of drawing a blank at this point, it\u2019s something\u00a0 you\u2019re asked in the meeting that the elders have with you, what are your spiritual gift\u2019s, what do you think they are, because we want people to understand that becoming a member of Sugar Land Bible Church, part of that calling is to contribute in some way.\u00a0 So we ask what are you spiritual gifts and a lot of people sit there and kind of give that \u201cdear in the headlights\u201d look during the interview\u2026 my spiritual gifts, what are you talking about?\u00a0\u00a0 So for that reason I\u2019ve been asked to go back a third time and deal with the subject of spiritual gifts.\n\nSpiritual gifts are typically handled under pneumatology.\u00a0 Pneumatology is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 But you can see how they would relate very much to ecclesiology because the life of a church is really dependent upon people stepping in and\u00a0 using their spiritual gifts.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have people using their spiritual gifts you really don\u2019t have a church.\u00a0 And even this whole thing that went on here yesterday, and this room was very different, there was no carpet in here, the tables were different, we had Kirsten who gave a great talk yesterday, we had servers, we had a banquet, that whole thing couldn\u2019t exist unless people were stepping forward in cooperation\u00a0 with each other and using their spiritual gifts.\u00a0 So yes, spiritual gifts is a subject related to pneumatology but it\u2019s also very related to ecclesiology.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I wanted to broach the subject here.\n\nSo this is why I want to start with 1 Corinthians 12:1, and Paul says, \u201cNow concerning spiritual gifts, brethren,\u201d so when he says \u201cbrethren\u201d he\u2019s talking to believers, so this is something he wants believers to understand, \u201cNow concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.\u201d\u00a0 Some of your translations say \u201cI do not want you to be ignorant of spiritual gifts.\u201d\u00a0 And it is interesting that every time Paul says we shouldn\u2019t be ignorant of a subject, I think he say that about three or four times, you can bet your bottom dollar that that\u2019s a subject we hardly know anything about.\u00a0 So people sort of have a vague understanding of what spiritual gifts are.\n\nSo to help us deal with the subject of spiritual gifts related to our doctrine of ecclesiology in the next two, three, max four weeks, we\u2019re going to ask and answer four questions:\u00a0 Number 1, what are some general observations about spiritual gifts?\u00a0 We\u2019re going to start that today.\u00a0 Number 2, we\u2019re going to get into a subject that I hate getting into because the moment\u00a0 you address it, it takes the body of Christ and divides it in two, which is always frustrating because I feel that what unites us is greater than what divides us.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>But what you\u2019ll discover out there is there\u2019s two radically two different ideas on question two, are all the spiritual gifts for today.\u00a0\u00a0 And then number three, I\u2019ll actually take you through the spiritual gifts that are mentioned in the Bible and I\u2019ll give you, I don\u2019t know, one sentence of definition of each gift.\n\nAnd then finally, number four I\u2019ll give you some very practical tips on how to discover\u00a0 your gifting because what you\u2019re going to learn today is you, on the authority of God\u2019s Word, you have a spiritual gift.\u00a0 Most people, I believe, probably have more than one because certain gifts seem to run in tandem, like the gift of knowledge and teaching, to me seem to be a natural fit.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to teach if\u00a0 you don\u2019t know anything.\u00a0 If you just have the gift of gab but no content\u2026 well, that\u2019s teaching but what are\u00a0 you teaching, you don\u2019t know anything so you need to learn so sometimes knowledge and teaching go together.\u00a0 And then leadership and administration go together, and so forth.\n\nBut the reality is you\u2019re gifted and the church, whether it\u2019s going to survive and thrive and prosper is largely dependent upon your willingness to use whatever gifting you have in the context of the local church.\u00a0 And if\u00a0 you\u2019re in a church where you don\u2019t necessarily feel you have freedom or room to use whatever gifting God has for you, that is sort of a clue that maybe God has another place for you.\u00a0 So there are many, many churches that I\u2019ve gone to (and not gone to) largely dependent upon understanding how God has wired me and is there room here to use how God has made me.\u00a0 So the knowledge of spiritual gifts is so fundamental it\u2019s going to help you pick a church, it\u2019s going to help you sort of order the direction of your life.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of, depending on what gifting you have it kind of asks and answers the question, do I need more training?\u00a0 Once I discover what my gift mix was I started getting interested in seminaries and things like that because those were generally designed to equip me for the gifting that I had.\n\nSo understanding who you are, how God has wired you, what giftings you have (or don\u2019t have) really answers a lot of fundamental questions in life related to what church should I go to, what kind of calling should I pursue, etc.\u00a0 So what we\u2019re starting off with here are what are some general observations about spiritual gifts.\u00a0 And I have 18 observations, so obviously I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll get to all of those today, amen!\u00a0 So here we go, these are just some general observations about spiritual gifts to sort of unpack this doctrine.\n\nObservation number one:\u00a0 Spiritual gifts are empowered abilities for service, that\u2019s what they are.\u00a0 The Christian life, after you get saved by faith alone in Christ alone God puts a calling on your life into service of some kind.\u00a0 And of course, Jesus role modeled that for us because in the\u00a0 Upper Room\u2026 here\u2019s the Son of God, it\u2019s amazing to me, got down on His hands and knees and He began to wash the feet of the disciples.\u00a0 John 13:15 Jesus began to wash the hands and the feet of the disciples and then He said this, John 13:15, \u201cFor I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that every single spiritual gift that we\u2019re going to talk about has as its object somebody else.\u00a0 When you use a gift somebody else is being blessed.\u00a0\u00a0 When you exercise mercy someone else is receiving mercy.\u00a0 When\u00a0 you exercise the gift of teaching someone else is being taught.\u00a0 When you exercise the gift of leadership someone else is being led.\u00a0 And so when God gave these gifts out He didn\u2019t give it for the purpose of popularity, He didn\u2019t give them for the purpose of becoming famous, He gave them for the purpose of you in service being a blessing to somebody else.\u00a0 That\u2019s His pattern.\u00a0 And so the particular way that you serve depends upon your gifting because spiritual gifts are Spirit empower abilities for service.\n\nNumber two, and this is very important to understand, God sovereignly bestows the spiritual gifts, so you don\u2019t receive a spiritual gift because you went to a school.\u00a0 I mean, the school exists to equip you in whatever gift you already have but the school or a diploma or a degree can\u2019t give you a gift.\u00a0\u00a0 As a kid I wanted to be Billy Graham and God had different plans.\u00a0 I\u2019m not Billy Graham, I would love to have the gift of evangelism that he has; God hasn\u2019t made me that way.\u00a0 Now why does Billy Graham get the gift of evangelism and I don\u2019t?\u00a0 Because God has made a sovereign decision, that\u2019s why.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 12:11 says, \u201cBut one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually\u201d speaking of gifts, \u201c just as He wills.\u201d\n\nSo a school doesn\u2019t give you a gift; a desire really doesn\u2019t give you a gift, it\u2019s a sovereign decision on God\u2019s part.\u00a0 Hebrews 2:4 says, \u201cGod also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.\u201d\u00a0 So who gets what gift is something that God sovereignly determines.\u00a0 A church cannot give somebody a spiritual gift.\u00a0 The best thing a church can do is to recognize what\u2019s already happening in a person in terms of their gifting, and give them an opportunity to under proper leadership to exercise that gift.\u00a0 But a church can\u2019t give a gift, a school can\u2019t give a gift, a degree can\u2019t give a gift, a diploma can\u2019t give a gift, a desire of one\u2019s heart can\u2019t give a gift.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sovereign decision of God.\u00a0 And those are determined at spiritual birth.\n\nNow I\u2019m six foot six, I was just standing next to someone four foot eleven so she stood up here and I stood down there just to make the conversation even.\u00a0 I mean, why is she four foot eleven and I\u2019m six foot six?\u00a0 I mean, sometimes I think that\u2019s unfair, I\u2019m the one that has to duck down everywhere I go, I\u2019m the one that has trouble fitting on airlines and things like that.\u00a0 Well, I didn\u2019t have any choice in the matter.\u00a0 My height is genetically determined.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So your spiritual gifting is genetically determined based on your spiritual DNA at the point of faith alone in Christ alone.\n\nObservation number three, every believer has at least one spiritual gift, because a lot of people say oh, I don\u2019t have a gift, God will never use me.\u00a0 But on the authority of the Word of God you have a spiritual gift, you probably have more than one.\u00a0 Where am I getting this from?\u00a0 I\u2019ve got three Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 12:7, it says, \u201cBut two each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Notice the word \u201ceach\u201d there.\u00a0 Ephesians 4:7, \u201cBut to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.\u201d\u00a0 1 Peter 4:10, \u201cAs each one has received a special gift employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.\u201d\u00a0 See the repetition of\u00a0 each, each, each?\u00a0 It\u2019s very different than the Old Testament where God worked in and through certain people.\u00a0 In the Church age as the Holy Spirit has been given to each of us to indwell us part of that grace package is the gifting.\u00a0 In other words, there\u2019s a particular way God desires to express Himself through you as an individual.\n\nThis takes us to observation number four, believers obtain their spiritual gifts at the point of salvation.\u00a0 Why would I say that?\u00a0 Because according to Hebrews 2:4 it\u2019s very clear, these are gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will.\u00a0 [Hebrews 2:4, \u201cGod also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.\u201d]\u00a0 Now if they\u2019re gifts given by the Holy Spirit when do you receive the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 The moment you place your personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.\u00a0 The moment that happens the Holy Spirit enters\u00a0 you.\u00a0 Romans 8:9 says, \u201cBut if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.\u201d\u00a0 So if they\u2019re called spiritual gifts and\u00a0 you receive the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation that\u2019s the moment in which your spiritual genetics or DNA is determined and you\u2019re given this spiritual gift.\n\nSo this takes us to number five, spiritual gifts are not the same thing as natural abilities or talents.\u00a0 Natural abilities and talents\u2026. I grew up with a guy named J. T. Snow, I don\u2019t know if you know that name, his dad, Jack Snow, was a member of the Rams football team, a Notre Dame All American, and so his son, J. T. was one grade behind me, going all the way through school, and no matter what that guy touched athletically he was better than everybody.\u00a0 You put him on the basketball court, he\u2019s better than everybody.\u00a0 You put him on the football field, he\u2019s better than everybody.\u00a0\u00a0 You put him on the track team, he\u2019s better than everybody.\u00a0 And this always created a little bit of resentment because I was supposed to be better because I was a year older, right?\u00a0 So there\u2019s some jealousy issues there, I\u2019m gradually getting over it as time has progressed [laughter].\u00a0 But you see, all of these abilities that he had, what do you call those?\u00a0 Those are things given to him by God but they\u2019re really not the same thing as a spiritual gift.\n\nSo this chart might be helpful to you, it\u2019s a distinction between a natural talent and a spiritual gift.\u00a0 A natural talent is something from God through parents regardless of whether someone is saved or not.\u00a0\u00a0 Natural talents are determined, I put here at birth, but probably better said at conception.\u00a0 The moment the conception happens the natural genetics is passed down through the bloodline in the DNA.\u00a0 And you see this in a lot of Hollywood actors and actresses, you look at a talented actor and actress and you start looking at their family line and oh my goodness, they had this famous actor in their family line and that famous actress in their family line.\u00a0 So it\u2019s no wonder they have abilities\u00a0 in this area.\u00a0 And natural talents, I would call them part of common grace.\u00a0 Common grace is something that God has extended to the whole human race, whether they know Him personally or not.\u00a0 So they largely are given to benefit mankind in general.\u00a0 So you look at someone like Bill Gates and you look at what he has created and how humanity has been blessed through his technological innovations.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have a health issue and you get\u00a0 under the skill of a skilled surgeon you can see how that talent that person has to do that is benefitting humanity as a whole.\n\nAnd spiritual gifts are somewhat different than that, what I\u2019m talking about here.\u00a0 Spiritual gifts are from God to an individual, sometimes independent of their parents because your parents physically pass things on to you; spiritual gifts are spiritually determined.\u00a0 Spiritual gifts don\u2019t come from physical birth, they come at the point of spiritual birth, spiritual conception.\u00a0 And spiritual gifts, as I\u2019ll show you in just a second, aren\u2019t really given for the purpose of blessing humanity as a whole through common grace; they\u2019re specifically given for the purpose of edifying the church.\u00a0 So the spiritual gifts primarily, with maybe a few exceptions, are designed to edify the church of Jesus Christ.\n\nSo I think there\u2019s a valid distinction between natural talents and spiritual gifts.\u00a0 However, I think sometimes that distinction can be overstated and this is why I appreciate this book by Stephen Waterhouse in his book, Not By Bread Alone<\/em>, and I\u2019ll put out some of those next week, we\u2019ve got a bunch of copies in the office, and he has a great discussion on spiritual gifts.\u00a0 Steven Waterhouse is pastor of a Bible church in Amarillo, Texas. He\u2019s written some amazing stuff, all for free, just go on his website and download all kinds of really helpful things, things about counselling, things about how to deal with the mentally ill, a lot of stuff, counseling type stuff that most churches are not really equipped to deal with.\u00a0 Waterhouse deals with all these and he is very solid theologically, he would agree with what we think at this church from top to bottom.\n\nBut he makes this very helpful comment; he says, \u201c\u201cThe natural abilities of the unsaved are not spiritual gifts. This much is certain. However, it is likely that sometimes the Holy Spirit transforms a purely natural ability by channeling it into God\u2019s work after conversion to Christ. In other cases, the Holy Spirit probably bestows brand new aptitudes, interests, and abilities.\u201d\u00a0 [Steven Waterhouse, Not By Bread Alone<\/em>, 291]\n\nSo if God is the giver of both talents at physical birth and spiritual gifts at spiritual birth God is the giver of that, don\u2019t put it past God to take a natural talent and sort of start redirecting it.\u00a0 I think that is a possibility and I think sometimes when we go through these differences between natural talents and spiritual gifs \u00a0while we need to recognize the distinction we can drive the wedge too far; there is a basic distinction but sometimes God can use one for purpose of His church, a natural talent kind of rechanneled into a spiritual gift.\u00a0\u00a0 I remember in 7th<\/sup> grade I had to stand up and do some kind of speech before a class, I didn\u2019t want to do it, and as I started to talk people were amazed at how good of a talker I was.\u00a0 That\u2019s not to brag, I\u2019m just telling you what happened, and I was as shocked by it as anybody else.\u00a0 Now this was in 7th<\/sup> grade and this was long before I was saved.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get saved until about age 16 and so it\u2019s sort of interesting how God, over the course of time has taken that talent and I believe sort of redirected it into the gift of pastor-teacher, which He can use in His church.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is the author of both and can redirect one into another.\u00a0\u00a0 But having said that I think we do still need to recognize the basic difference between talents and spiritual gifts.\n\nThis takes us to observation number six; spiritual gifts are given in order to edify the church; edify means to build.\u00a0 Build what?\u00a0 Build people, sometimes build even structures that the church meets in, but primarily people because the church is not a building; the church consists of the people of God.\u00a0 So spiritual gifts are given to edify the church.\u00a0 They are not given to draw attention to the user of the gift.\u00a0 They are not given for purposes of popularity.\u00a0 They are not given for purposes of making people rich.\u00a0 Although some people do get very popular through the use of their gifts, that does happen but that\u2019s not why God initially gave the gifts.\u00a0 The gifts are not there for self-aggrandizement type of thing, look how great I am.\u00a0 When you look at them in the Scripture they\u2019re specifically given to edify the church.\n\nEvery gift, as I mentioned before, has as its object somebody else.\u00a0 So when God gifted you He didn\u2019t just have in mind you; He had in mind the people that were going to be blessed through you.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve got several Scriptures there that demonstrate this.\n\n1 Corinthians\u00a0 12:7, \u201cBut\u00a0 to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Look at that?\u00a0\u00a0 1 Corinthians 14:12, \u201cSo also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.\u201d\u00a0 1 Corinthians 14:26, \u201cWhat is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.\u201d\n\nOf course you already know Ephesians 4:11-12, \u201cAnd He gave some as<\/em> apostles, and some as<\/em> prophets, and some as<\/em> evangelists, and some as<\/em> pastors and teachers, [12] for\u201d what purpose, \u201cfor the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;\u201d see how in all of these verses when the spiritual gifts are mentioned it also mentions the building up of the church.\u00a0 1 Peter 4:10 says, \u201cAs each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.\u201d\n\nNow this is why when you\u2019re in your area of gifting, whatever that is,\u00a0 you\u2019re probably going to\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 be happiest there or maybe happy is not the best word, the most joyful there or the most content.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to probably internally experience the most contentment there than you would anywhere else.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because your Bible says it is better to give than to what?\u00a0 To receive.\u00a0 [Acts 20:35, \u201cIn everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThink of these kids running around on Christmas, and where do you get your joy as a parent or a grandparent?\u00a0 Not in ripping open your own presents, you\u2019ve already don that ten million times, it\u2019s in giving something away and watching the joy on these kids, doesn\u2019t that give you an internal satisfaction that you can\u2019t find anywhere else?\u00a0 You\u2019re blessed when you\u2019re in the position of giver.\u00a0 And if the spiritual gift are designed to serve others and if it\u2019s better to give than to receive, as you consistently use your gifts you\u2019re going to find out wow, I really like doing this.\n\nProverbs 11:25 says, \u201cThe generous man will be prosperous,\u201d look at that, \u201cAnd he who waters [others] will himself be watered.\u201d\u00a0 See, man in his unregenerate, unsaved state thinks he\u2019s happiest by serving himself and the Bible says no, that\u2019s not how it works at all; you\u2019re most fulfilled when you\u2019re serving other people.\u00a0 I remember when I was teaching Sunday School at a Baptist church in California and the pastor had to go away on vacation and he asked me to fill in the pulpit and that caused me really to shake like a leaf, it scared the daylights out of me.\u00a0 I think I was about 22-23 years old at the time.\u00a0 So I got\u00a0 up there, I gave my sermon and I felt the blessing of the Lord go through me, I saw the reaction of the people and I thought to myself, man, I hope he gets sick a little more often.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 Because, you know, I kind of like doing this.\u00a0 I mean, this brings me a lot of satisfaction.\u00a0 Now that created a lot of confusion in my mind at the time because I was all set in another career and the other career was sort of boring compared to this,\u00a0 I mean, this is exciting, this is eternal, people can be changed through this.\u00a0 And so I went through a lot of confusion, what I should be doing with my life, but fortunately God rescued me from that confusion, put me sort of on the path that I\u2019m on now.\u00a0 But that\u2019s what you\u2019ll discover when you discover who you are and how God has wired you, you\u2019re going to really find a place of fulfillment in that position, in that role as\u00a0 you use your gift, because the gift is designed to be a blessing and the Bible says it\u2019s better to give than to receive.\n\nNumber seven, spiritual gifts are very diverse and this is the problem that we make, is we want to kind of shoehorn everybody into one way of doing things and the reality is that\u2019s not how the Holy Spirit works.\u00a0 The Spirit is very diverse in His distribution and use of the spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says, \u201cNow there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Now look at this, [6] \u201cThere are varieties of effects,\u201d so one person uses one gift, like evangelism, like Billy Graham, he has this massive effect, another person uses their gift of evangelism and it\u2019s not the same effect, and we say well, I want the same effect he has or she has.\u00a0 But we\u2019re not really paying attention to what God says.\u00a0 He says, not only are there different gifts, there are different effects, or different impacts, \u201cbut the same God who works all things in all persons<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 So we have one Spirit, one Lord,\u00a0 one God, but the gifts that He gives are very, very diverse.\n\nNow the spiritual gifts are analogized to the human body in 1 Corinthians 12.\u00a0 Folks, you don\u2019t need two right hands.\u00a0 Okay!\u00a0 If you have two right hands one of your hands is not necessary.\u00a0 If you are exactly like the person you\u2019re sitting next to then one of you is not necessary.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 So God is so diverse in the way He distributes the gifts and uses the gifts that people, when they use their gifts are not going to use them exactly the same way.\u00a0 And people say well, how come you go off on conferences and you turn the pulpit over to other people?\u00a0 I mean, don\u2019t you know that you\u2019re the pastor and you\u2019re supposed to guard the pulpit as if your life depended on it?\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s the reality of the situation.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t give other people a chance to do anything, in terms of preaching or teaching, like Alex Garcia who\u2019s sitting here, or Gabe or Jim, I mean, how are they supposed to develop.\u00a0 And beyond that, God is going to say different things to you through Alex or Jim or Gabe, God said different things through Kirsten, I would say yesterday, to the ladies that were assembled to listen to her teach, because God is a God of variety.\u00a0 God is a God of diversity.\n\nAnd the problem is we want it one particular way.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not how God works.\u00a0 God is a God of variety, He\u2019s a God of diversity.\u00a0 I mean, think of the diversity in God when you look at this universe.\u00a0 Look at the variety.\u00a0 I mean, look at the fact that we\u2019ve got what, six to seven billion people on this earth and you look at all of our fingerprints and they\u2019re all different.\u00a0 No one has the same fingerprints.\u00a0 Or when you examine snowflakes under a microscope, of all of the snowflakes that have ever fallen in human history no two snowflakes are exactly alike.\u00a0 And you look at all the different personalities of people; no two personalities are identical.\u00a0 So God, we know, just by looking at natural revelation, is a God of diversity and variety.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how He is with the distribution of spiritual gifts, same God, same Lord, same Spirit, but there\u2019s great diversity in the\u00a0 use of these gifts.\n\nWhich takes us to number eight, if you like the rainbow analogy, by the way, as\u00a0 you probably know, the same sex agenda did not come up with the rainbow, okay.\u00a0 That\u2019s our rainbow from our Bible and you can read about it in Genesis 8 and 9 regarding the Noahic Covenant and God\u2019s promise never to flood the earth again.\n\nSpiritual gifts represent different manifestations of His grace.\u00a0 1 Peter 4:10 says, \u201cAs each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another\u201d now watch this, \u201cas good stewards\u201d watch this \u201cof the manifold grace of God.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that the grace of God is described through the adjective \u201cmanifold.\u201d\u00a0 And when you do a word study on \u201cmanifold\u201d what you\u2019ll discover is it\u2019s sort of like the coat that Jacob gave to Joseph.\u00a0 Remember that?\u00a0 It was like a multicolored coat and that\u2019s one of the reasons that Joseph\u2019s brothers hated Joseph, because they thought he was receiving preferential treatment on account of the beauty of his coat.\u00a0 That\u2019s what manifold means.\n\nThe same idea you\u2019ll find in James 1:2-4, which talks about the manifold trials that we go through. [James 1:2-4, \u201cConsider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, [3] knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. [4] And let endurance have its<\/em> perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.\u201d]\u00a0 So the trial you\u2019re in today is not the same as the trial you were in last year, or the one you\u2019ll be in next year.\u00a0 You say are you saying I\u2019m going to be in a trial next year?\u00a0 Well, as we like to tell people, if you\u2019re not in a trial right now cheer\u00a0 up because yours is just around the corner, because God puts us in different manifold trials to kind of\u2026 you know, sandpaper some rough edges.\u00a0 You all know we can have some rough edges?\u00a0 You all agree with that?\u00a0 So God has to kind of sandpaper this edge over here, sandpaper that edge over there.\u00a0 How does He do that?\u00a0 He puts\u00a0 you through manifold trials to sandpaper different issues in our lives.\n\nSpiritual gifts are just like that, they are manifold, they are rainbowish, they are multi technicolor.\u00a0 So you look at a rainbow and you see all the different colors in the rainbow; that\u2019s how God has designed spiritual gifts.\u00a0 So if I exercise my spiritual gift or gifts one color comes out.\u00a0 And then you, alongside me exercise your spiritual gifts and we\u2019ve got a different color.\u00a0 Then the person next to you starts exercising their spiritual gifts and you\u2019ve got a different color.\u00a0 It\u2019s very bold and beautiful but slightly different.\u00a0 And you can see what happens when we all start exercising our gifts in harmony with one another is that at the end of the day you have this beautiful rainbow.\u00a0 That\u2019s the image that Peter is giving there in 1 Peter 4:10.\n\nThen you say to yourself, well, I don\u2019t like that church, I don\u2019t like that pastor, I don\u2019t like what side of his head he parts his hair on, I\u2019m going to take my toys and I\u2019m going to go home.\u00a0 Okay, well, a color just disappeared from the rainbow; that\u2019s what happened.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Satan is always trying to get us mad at each other, get us irritated at each other, because he wants the rainbow\u2026 he doesn\u2019t like the multicolored rainbow, first of all he likes no rainbow and he doesn\u2019t like the different shades and so spiritual gifts are simply different manifestations of God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 I use my gifting, one manifestation of God\u2019s grace comes forward; you\u00a0 use your gifting, a different manifestation of His grace comes forward, and suddenly you\u2019ve got the grace of God being displayed through all of these different giftings and it kind of looks like a rainbow.\n\nNumber nine, no single person possess all the spiritual gifts.\u00a0 There are no super hero Christians.\u00a0 And this unfortunately is how people look at pastors, oh, he is pastor, he must possess all the gifts, that means we\u2019ll let him do the ministry while I just sit, soak and sour.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 What you discover in the New Testament is no single person possesses all of the gifts.\u00a0 In fact, a typical pastor will probably have one gift; if you\u2019re fortunate a congregation a typical pastor may have two to three gifts.\u00a0 I know of some pastors that maybe have more than that, they\u2019re very, very gifted, but if they have two, three, four gifts, that\u2019s probably the most I\u2019ve ever seen in a single person.\u00a0 And yet there are far more spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible than just two, three or four.\n\nSo when you understand this you understand that a pastor or a spiritual leader or an elder or a deacon or a Sunday School teacher cannot in and of themselves fulfill the work of ministry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 Corinthians 12:29-30 says, \u201cAll are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?\u201d\u00a0 And the way this is set up in the Greek is it\u2019s asking for a negative answer to the question.\u00a0 [30] \u201cAll do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?\u201d\u00a0 So what God has done is He\u2019s created a body; every member of the church is part of that body, it was never designed by God to rest on the shoulders of one, two, three people supposedly having all of the gifts.\n\nThis takes us to number ten, this is important, if we\u2019re all gifted differently then God uses spiritual gifts to promote unity in His church, so Ephesians 1-3 tells us that we\u2019re positionally unified in Christ.\u00a0 Ephesians 4-6 says act like it, let your practice catch up with your position.\u00a0 And if there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s easy to do it\u2019s get Christians dis-unified.\u00a0 Amen?\u00a0 That is so easy to do, to get Christians to fight with each other.\u00a0 It just takes one Facebook post to do that.\u00a0 I\u2019m sort of the expert at that, unfortunately, the Facebook posting, which I don\u2019t do to provoke people, I do it to sort of get people to think.\u00a0 But what happens is people get mad at each other; it can happen just like that, it\u2019s so easy to set off a forest fire.\n\nSo given our propensity to go to war with each other because of our sin natures, which we still have, amen, you guys know you still have a sin nature?\u00a0 Okay, just want to make sure I\u2019m talking to the right crowd here, you guys look very spiritual with\u00a0 your Bibles open and so forth.\u00a0 We still have a sin nature, now it\u2019s been rendered inoperative, I don\u2019t have to obey it but it\u2019s still there to go back to.\u00a0 Because of our propensity to be at war with each other God used the gifts to promote unity in His church.\u00a0 So think about this; if you have a gift I don\u2019t have and I have a gift you don\u2019t have, you see how sneaky God is here?\u00a0 That means you need me and I need who?\u00a0 I need you!\u00a0 Well, wait a minute, what if I don\u2019t like you, and you don\u2019t like me?\u00a0 What do I do then? Well, you all are just going to have to work it out, because you need each other, just like the right and left hand need each other.\u00a0 See that? \u00a0\u00a0I mean, this is genius when you think about this, genius strategy of God to promote practical unity in His church, when we start figuring out that I don\u2019t have every single gift, you don\u2019t have every single gift, so I need you, you need me, you need the person sitting next to you, the person sitting next to you needs you, we all need each other.\u00a0\u00a0 And at the end of the day we\u2019re just going to have to, you know, whatever differences we have personality wise we\u2019re just going to have to get over it.\u00a0 Amen!\n\nAnd this is number eleven, and I\u2019m going to stop with number eleven, I\u2019ll do number eleven and then we\u2019ll stop.\u00a0 I want to mention this because this is big right here. Spiritual gifts are not to be confused with the fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 The fruit of the Spirit is character.\u00a0 What\u2019s that?\u00a0 It\u2019s Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, have I forgotten any there, goodness, and long suffering, and self-control.\u00a0\u00a0 [Galatians 5:22-23, \u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.\u201d]\u00a0 So when that cake came around yesterday, self-control, that was being tested, and I don\u2019t think I passed the test very well.\n\nBut \u201cfruit of the Spirit\u201d deals with who you are character wise.\u00a0 The gifts of the Spirit deals with what you do talent wise.\u00a0 Talent is very different than character.\u00a0 Now the ultimate example of this is the Corinthians, where Paul says, 1 Corinthians 1:7, \u201cso that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift,\u201d you want to talk about gifted people?\u00a0 That\u2019s who the church at Corinth was.\u00a0 You can\u2019t get more talent on display than the church at Corinth.\u00a0\u00a0 But there\u2019s a reason that the late Ray Stedman called 1 Corinthians 1 Californians, because these folks had become just like the spirit of the age in terms of their character.\n\nChapters 1-3 they\u2019re divided over their favorite speaking styles of their teachers, actually that\u2019s chapters 1-4.\u00a0 Chapter 5 there\u2019s incest going on; there\u2019s sin going on that\u2019s so bad Paul says the pagans don\u2019t even act like this.\u00a0 Chapter 6, they\u2019re suing each other and having sexual relationship with temple prostitutes.\u00a0 Chapter 7 there\u2019s rampant divorce and remarriage.\u00a0 Chapters 8-10 there are the stronger brethren flaunting their freedoms in the presence of the weaker brethren.\u00a0 Chapters 12-14 is where he says your use of the spiritual gifts are out of control.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why in that mix he puts in what we call the love chapter, chapter 13.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re not using the spiritual gifts the way God intended; you\u2019re not using them lovingly and you\u2019re ecstatic gifts are out of control because you\u2019ve got people talking in tongues with no interpenetration; you\u2019ve got prophets prophesying and they\u2019re interrupting each other as they\u2019re prophesying.\u00a0 And then in chapter 15 they\u2019re denying the resurrection.\u00a0 So how would you like to be the pastor of the church at Corinth?\u00a0 What do you have in Corinth?\u00a0 You have giftings\u2026 there isn\u2019t anything lacking in giftings.\u00a0 What is in short supply is not gifts of the Spirit but what?\u00a0 Fruit of the Spirit!\u00a0 So you can be very gifted and talented but not have fruit of the Spirit.\n\nA person in my background, in terms of watching him on TV as a very young person and a very young Christian what comes to my mind is Jimmy Swaggart.\u00a0 I used to watch Jimmy Swaggart at the height of his popularity preach, and his crusades and on television and I\u2019ll say to this day I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a more talented preacher I\u2019ve ever heard in terms of oratory and things of that nature.\u00a0 But obviously some of the things that came out in Jimmy Swaggart\u2019s life related to finances, sexual misconduct and all these sorts of things, obviously you\u2019re got this tragic combination of a gifted person that\u2019s lacking in fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And I remember when all of the Jimmy Swaggart scandals happened, I remember when his popularity deteriorated, I remember when he was removed from all of those television stations, and I remember him trying to make a comeback, and he\u2019s even on TV today.\u00a0 And whenever he comes on I always watch and I see in him the same talent, the exact same talent, the talent never went away, it\u2019s just his sphere of influence shrunk because of problems related to the fruit of the Spirit.\n\nSo a gift of the Holy Spirit should not be confused at all with fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 Now here at Sugar Land Bible Church we\u2019re in the process of selecting elders and deacons.\u00a0 How do you even select an elder or a deacon?\u00a0\u00a0 Your average Christian, when they look for leaders, are looking for talent. Did you know that when\u00a0 you look through the qualifications of elders and deacons, and you can read it through in one sitting, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, I can\u2019t find a single word about talent.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even find a single word about a spiritual gift.\n\n[1 Timothy 3:1-13, \u201cIt is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.<\/em> [2] An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, [3] not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. [4] He must be<\/em> one who manages his own house\u00ad\u00adhold well, keeping his children under control with all dignity [5] (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), [6] and<\/em> not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. [7] And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church,<\/em> so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.\u00a0 [8] Deacons likewise must be<\/em> men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, [9] but<\/em> holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. [10] These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. [11] Women must<\/em> likewise be<\/em> dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. [12] Deacons must be husbands of only<\/em> one wife, and<\/em> good managers of their<\/em> children and their own households. [13] For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.\u201d 2 Timothy 2:24, \u201cAnd the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men<\/em>, apt to teach, patient,\u201d]\n\nThere\u2019s just one little thing, he says they must be \u201capt to teach,\u201d or something to that effect.\u00a0\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even say spiritual gifts, it just says apt to do it.\u00a0 [2 Timothy 2:24, \u201cAnd the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men<\/em>, apt to teach, patient,\u201d]\u00a0 But other than that, you know, the husband of one wife, not pugnacious, having his family under control, all of those criteria, they don\u2019t even relate to the gift of the Spirit, they relate to fruit of the Spirit, not what you do but who you are.\u00a0 That\u2019s who you select to be elders and deacons.\u00a0 Now if they happen to be talented that\u2019s just sort of an extra bonus.\u00a0 But you see, we\u2019re very confused in the way we look at this. We don\u2019t look at this the way God does.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about talents and abilities and can they get the job done and God is saying no, beyond a gift of the Spirit you have to look at fruit of the Spirit.\n\nThat\u2019s why He says at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, you know the verse, \u201cBut now faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is\u201d what? \u201clove.\u201d [1 Corinthians 13:13]\u00a0 He even tells them in that chapter that the days when your speaking in tongues is going to disappear.\u00a0 [Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.\u201d 1 Corinthians 13:8] .\u00a0 So your gifting, whatever that is, the day will come when you see Jesus face to face, and we\u2019ll go through the different understand\u00adings of what that means. But in general the day is going to come when you\u2019re going to see Jesus to face and you\u2019re not going to have any of this teaching, or administration, or anything else.\u00a0 But here\u2019s something that will continue and that\u2019s what?\u00a0 Love.\n\nSo Paul is telling the Corinthians don\u2019t focus on talent, focus on character.\u00a0 You know, like we say character counts.\u00a0 So we think that because someone has a gift of the Spirit they automatically have the fruit of the Spirit and if someone doesn\u2019t have a gift of the Spirit we think they don\u2019t have the fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 And let me tell you, the story at Corinth demonstrates those are two totally different concepts.\u00a0 And I\u2019m two minutes over so let me close us in prayer.\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for the teaching You\u2019ve given us as we seek to grow in what You\u2019ve revealed to us about gifts of the Spirit.\u00a0 Make\u00a0 us good stewards of this and help us, Father, to look into these things more carefully and take time for Q & A the next time we\u2019re together to grow in this area.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t