5. Gifts of the Spirit, Part 4

The passage of scripture which Pastor Steve read from I Peter 4: "Above all, hold unfailing your love for one another since love covers a multitude of sins.  Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another, as each has received the gift, employ it for one another as good stewards of God's varied grace."

We are, as most of you know, somewhere in the middle - I'm not sure - of a series on spiritual gifts.  We've moved from the doctrine of the church and to the teachings of scripture concerning the Holy Spirit - who He is and what He does - and now we are talking about what He gives.  And you always run into some problems, or some potential difficulties when you preach a series of sermons, and that is that people will stop in occasionally and they do not catch the full thrust.  And so if you're only take one part, you might have a tendency to think, or to feel some lack of balance.  I would encourage you, then, to spend some time on your own with the word of God, and really study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, but rightly handle (or "handles responsibly") the word of truth.

We're looking at I Corinthians 12, as our basic text for the next few weeks, and I want to pick it up with the fourth verse.  "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.  And there are varieties of working, but it is the same God Who inspires them all in every one.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit.  To another, faith by the same Spirit.  To another, gifts of healing by the the One Spirit.  To another, the working of miracles.  To another, prophecy.  To another the ability to distinguish between spirits.  To another, various kinds of tongues.  To another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are inspired by one in the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills"

In the first eleven verses, basically from verse 4 through 11, I think that there are three major themes that I'd like to highlight for you this morning.  And those three themes are as follows.

The first is that gifts unify.  Now there's an enormous amount of interest in the whole matter of ecumenism - or in the merger together or bringing together different parts of the body of Christ.  And when Jesus prays in John 17, the "high priestly prayer" where He prays, "Father, I pray that they may be one, as We are One."  Many have used that as kind of the theological, or the biblical, foundation for their approach to the ecumenical movement.  And as I look at the ecumenical movement in the last 15 or 20 years, I see it taking place in two different directions, and on two different levels.  And that's kind of interesting to me to note.  On the one hand, you have that which is institutionally instituted, or organized, or initiated.  Such things as the Conference on Church Union, which would combine most of the major denominations of the United States into a massive, enormous, multi-multi-million member congregation or church.  Now this really has been done - and in order to do it in any brevity at all, I have to almost make it sound like a caricature - but in order for all of the various denominations that are a part of the Conference on Church Union to come to an agreement, it is necessary for them to drop those doctrines which give them the character of their particular denomination.  And a kind of peeling away until you get down to the very basics, and the most basic that they have gotten to, which seems to be the only foundation that they can find, is the confession that the scripture gives: "Jesus is Lord".  Now that's fine, but they also say in some of their documentation that Who Jesus was historically, as well as biblically, is really a matter of interpretation for the participating denominations.  And they also say that what it means to have Jesus as Lord, is also a matter of interpretation.  So what frequently has to happen, in order for a large organization to become one, it is necessary to reduce it to the lowest common denominator.  And the question is frequently asked, and justifiably so, if what you have at the end of that - "is it worth it?"

The other way in which ecumenism is taking place is on a grass-roots level.  Its not coming from above - not filtering down from some sort of ecclesiastical hierarchy - but is coming up from the grass-roots level.  And so you find that the Charismatic movement has been one of the foremost forces in this whole movement - the ecumenical.  And so you find at a national Charismatic conference, on the very same platform, Pentecostal preachers, four-square gospel preachers, Roman Catholic cardinals (like cardinal Siance [sic?] from France), episcopal bishops - an amazing array and variety of God's people.  You say "Isn't that wonderful!"  Well now, just as those who sought to find ecumenicism from coming from above, filtering down, superimposed, had to reduce it to the lowest common denominator.  And what they did is really give away much of the verities of their faith.  In order for this to take place on the Charismatic level, it is necessary for a lot of doctrine, and a lot of Biblical teaching to be set aside.  It is necessary, for instance, for me as a Pentecostal (if I were a Pentecostal), it would be necessary for me to set aside all of the history and theology of the Roman Catholic church in order that we might relate to cardinal Siance.  And it would be necessary for him to set aside all my lack of understanding and knowledge and appreciation of church tradition and ecclesiology, and all the rest, for him to accept me. And the thing that unites those who operate in the formal institutional ecumenism is really a kind of institutional boiling down to the least common denominator.  The Charismatic movement finds its basis for unity on a common experience.  On the one hand, there is a selling of the faith, and on the other hand there is a discounting of doctrine.  And I do not believe that either one will prove to be beneficial to the body of Christ at large in terms of the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit to build up the unity of the church.  That is not what is being talked about.

Now I praise God for a brother and sister in Christ by whatever shingle happens to hang on them.  It doesn't make the least bit of difference to me.  But what unites us is not a common experience-oriented thing.  What unites us is a common recognition that the authority in their life and in my life is this: it is not the doctrine of a church, it is not the preaching of any preacher or the teaching of any teacher, nor is it a common experience.  It is the sure and certain word of God.  And if, for instance, I am in fellowship with a Roman Catholic who places the authority and the traditions of the church alongside the scripture, I cannot have full fellowship with that person, because it is SOLELY scripture.  But by the same token, if I'm having fellowship with a Pentecostal, and it is the word of God and their experience, I cannot have fellowship with them either.  Or with a baptist - and it is the word of God and their doctrine of baptism.  Now we can all run into problems.  So when the scripture says in I Corinthians 12:4-11 here that the gifts are given for the unity of the body, it is not talking about some sort of external thing - it is saying that the gifts are given to demonstrate that which already exists.  I am one in Christ with my brothers, whether we are organizationally together or not.  Because, just as certainly as there are different personalities in this congregation today - and this congregation is different than the 8:30 congregation.  If you don't believe it, come to the 8:30 church sometime - its like a different church.  Same preacher, same youth pastor, same sermon.  Its a different church.  Just as certainly as we have different personalities, so it is that denominations arise, not out of great overpowering doctrinal differences necessarily (that's where most of them came from originally, but that which keeps them apart is different; there's sometimes a difference; some people say a church service in this sanctuary really distracts them - really bothers them - because they can see all kinds of people all over, and they're used to the rank on rank kind of seating with the focus on the cross hanging on a chancel wall, and its very distracting; there are other people that would find that to be very distracting and cold and indifferent) and if you're going to build a theology on that kind of a thing - that's nonsense.  We are part of this same family.  My brother, goodness knows, is different than I am, but he's still my brother.  But he's my brother, not because he's different or because we're alike; he's my brother because we have a common parentage.

All right, the gifts unify.  But if you take a look at the church scene, you say "that isn't what really happens".  Especially if you want to talk about the gifts.  "Gifts don't unify!"  "Talk about gifts, you're going to split the church!"  I remember when I first let you people know several months back that I was going to moving this direction.  Some of you cautioned me.  Some of you got worried.  Some of you got jumpy.  And some of you started to pray for me (I appreciate it).  I should have told you that a long time ago.  You were afraid that gifts would divide, because you've seen it.  You look on the church scene today and you see denominations and you see churches and pastors and families split every way over the issue of gifts.  And here it says in scripture the gifts are given for the building up of the unity of the body of Christ.  All right, hear me.  The church at Corinth demonstrated anything but unity.  They were split every which way, but it was not a split caused by the gifts - it was a split that was caused by sin and ignorance concerning their exercise and their role.  Paul illustrates it by saying, "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit" that is, the Holy Spirit who distributes the gifts.  All kinds of different gifts, but they come from the Holy Spirit.  He says, "there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord."  The Lord Jesus Christ administers the gifts, He sent the Holy Spirit in John to take "the things of Mine and show them until you".  "There are diversities of operation".  Well the word there translated "operations" really is a word that should (or could) be translated "energy". "But it is the same God."  And, so you see, Paul states right there that there is diversity, difference, diversity, but the same Spirit, Lord, Father.  That is interdependence, not independence.  This Lone Ranger syndrome in the body of Christ has got to stop.  We are part of a body.  We don't charge off into the sunset on our silver horse.

Now if you look at verse 7, it says "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal".  And there are three things in that little verse that I think are important.  First of all, there is a definition of a spiritual gift.  Its a simple one - its no big profound thing.  He just simply says that a gift is a manifestation of the Spirit.  The gift is the Holy Spirit doing something through the believer, using the believer to do it for the greater glory of God and the building up of His body - its a manifestation of the Spirit.  That which I do in the flesh is useless to God.  Only that which the Holy Spirit does through me is of real value.  I have a friend that... Not a friend - I can't say that.  I think of him as a friend because I've read everything he's written and I listen to his tapes all the time, and I've heard him speak at several conferences.  And I love to hear this man preach, because he has the ability - even in just natural average conversation - his words come out and you want to stitch them in an old sampler and hang them on a wall.  Word pictures just flow from this guy - that's the way he works - its the way he thinks.  Its a natural talent.  Its not a gift - its a natural talent.  He's worked on it and he's developed it and all the rest.  He preached a sermon on Palm Sunday - I heard his Palm Sunday service.  Now how do you describe the scene on Palm Sunday?  You know the shallow, silly crowd: "Hosanna!" and all the rest, and you know what his first sentence was?  "It was a peanut and popcorn crowd on the hill that day".  You see, the whole thing is just said in that sentence.  I'd listen and I think "that's terrific".  You know what he says?  The biggest struggle he has in his life, since he has this facility - this speaking ability - the biggest struggle in his life is to keep from just winging it.  He gets an invitation - and some of you guys have heard it - you have gone someplace that's been a big speaker and you go prepared, and you know the guy didn't prepare for five minutes.  He sat and read the Sports Illustrated all the way to the meeting, came cruising in after watching the news on television.  Never says a lousy thing worth the trip or the tuition or registration or anything else.  He just "wings it", because he's a hot dog and he's got some kind of talent and ability and he just traffics in it.  Oh that just bothers me like crazy - especially if I had to pay out a lot of money and get to the thing and pay for the seminar and I know he's getting some kind of heavy weight fee, and he doesn't do a blame thing.  He is leaning on his flesh.

Now, spiritually speaking, that which we lean on our natural talents to accomplish, are not eternally significant.  But the most hulking, stumbling message - whether it is given in song, or in spoken word, or in a cup of cold water - if it is Spirit empowered, profits.  Its a manifestation of the Spirit.  I have heard some of the greatest singers in the world - God was good to me and I have had a chance to hear Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas and some of the great lady singers of our world.  Beverly Sills, Risė Stevens...  But I had an experience a few years ago in a church that I served in Illinois that just kind of jolted me.  There's a lady by the name of Winifred Larson, that had a lot of records.  She was popular in the Midwest.  She was kind of a religious Kate Smith (I don't mean she was that size, I just mean that's the kind of voice that she had) - it was kind of a brassy, strong...  I didn't like it.  I didn't like her records.  I'd go to visit some of my people and all that put a Winifred Larson record on the record player, you know.  And I would sit there and struggle with my conscious - whether I should smile and be blessed for their sake, or whether I should just admit it.  I compromised several different places and I don't know.  One of the ladies of the congregation passed away and when she died, her two sisters made arrangements for Winifred Larson to come to that church and sing for the funeral.  Now, that's fine.  I mean, really.  It was excellent with me.  I didn't expect much out of it, but if it would really help comfort them, great!  Fine.  The funeral wasn't for my benefit.  And Winifred Larsen told me she was going to sing a song called "Burdens are lifted at Calvary".  Now I've got a thing about that song too.  Because it just gets so repetitious: "Burdens are lifted at Calvary (lifted at Calvary).  Burdens are lifted at Calvary (lifted at Calvary)."  And you sing that after every verse.  And I thought...  But I've got to tell you something.  I have been moved by Renata Tebaldi or Beverly Sills.  I've been moved to leap to my feet and scream, like at a ball game.  But this was a manifestation of the Spirit.  And Winifred Larson stood there and very simply sang to this congregation, and when she sang "burdens are lifted at Calvary", she ministered to us in the Spirit in a way that there's no way to describe - you'd really have to understand by having had a common experience with that.  The tears ran down my cheeks and I sensed the burden - not the burden of the death of this saint, because I knew this child of God was with Him in glory but - I realized that MY burdens were being lifted as she ministered through the manifestation of the Spirit.  She did not sing in tongues, she didn't even improve her voice.  She didn't pick a better song.  That is a manifestation of the Spirit, and it is not determined by goose-pimple power.  It is determined by effect and source. All right, there's a definition of the gift in verse 7: a manifestation of the Spirit.

Look at the second thing: that manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man.  The word "man" is "anthropos" which means man, woman, person.  Its not sexist - its a nonsexual term.  It means every believer - every person who has been born from above, who has entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and experienced the new birth.  Every such person has a gift.  "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man".  Every single one of you.  The question is: are you using that gift to the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ, or are you just kind of running around celebrating the fact you've got a gift?  Or don't you know what it is?  A lot of you don't, and that's why we're going in this series.

Thirdly, notice that there's a purpose to the gift given in that little verse.  The gift is a "manifestation of the Spirit given to every man to profit withal" or a better translation is "for the common good".  The purpose is to profit the whole body of Christ - it is not to give you some sort of a buzz.  It is to build up the body of Christ to profit the body of believers.  Gifts are not given for private profit.  The word "profit" - sympheron - means to "bear together".  You can't even understand the word translated "profit" in any singular way.  It is a corporate term, to "bear together".  Now Paul develops this point with the illustration of the body.  We're going to get into that in a few weeks, but what he is really saying is "my eye has no business running off and operating on its own."  The purpose of the eye is to benefit the body.  My big toe is benefited by my eye.  It keeps the toe from being stubbed by signaling what I see.  And yet there are a lot of people who think there is so much value to the eye that they all want to be the eye, and the scripture says the purpose of the gift is to profit the whole body - withal.  The common good.

Now, not only are gifts given for unity, I move back to the main point, in second place: the major theme of these verses is given in verses 8-10 - the second one.  Notice: "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another by the same Spirit, faith.  To another the gifts of healing.  To another the working of miracles and prophecies and discerning of spirits and diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues..." and so forth.  Alright, the main message here is not only are the gifts given to unify, but the gifts vary.  They vary.  There's a tremendous contrast here.  The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and faith: that's sort of ordinary.  Miracles, prophesy, tongues: boy that's exciting - that's spectacular.  And there's a sort of contrast that Paul makes here between the more pedestrian gifts and the more exciting gifts, and his point is: it doesn't matter what gift you have.  It matters that they are all used for the building up of the body of Christ.

By the way, the word translated "gifts" is "charisma" and that word has been so beat out of shape, its lost a lot of its meaning.  A lot of people who are political pundits maintain that Nixon lost the original election to president Kennedy on the basis of the televised debates - and it was not because of the content of the debates - it was because of the appearance of the candidates.  And Nixon stood there with his kind of beady little eyes and that clenched jaw of his and 5:00 shadow, beady little eyes and he just didn't project.  The sweat on his upper lip cost him a million votes.  Kennedy comes on with his shock of hair, and you know what they said?  "He has charisma".  Now the word "charisma" means "gifts".  He didn't have gifts - he had a big inheritance.  He had good looks.  He had a facile ability and a quick mind and some real gifts and abilities.  But, now we know people have to have charisma to win.  Just like "born again".  Sports pages.  

Do you know I saw a recipe in the Seattle Times this last week called "Born again goulash".  And all it is is recycled hash.  But that term is so descriptive - the people say "hey, I'm going to use that".  And that's what's happened to the whole business of charisma.  And so "charismatic" has been appropriated by the general population and it has lost much of its appeal.  If somebody says, "are you charismatic?"  That doesn't mean "are you're going to get elected to something?"  It doesn't mean "do you project some kind of special aura".  On the other hand, it does not mean what it has been appropriated to mean, in the theological or the church world.  There in the church world, if somebody comes up and says, "are you charismatic?"  Now, be honest, what's the very first thing that comes to your mind?  "He's asking me 'do you speak in tongues?'"  And if you don't speak in tongues, you're answer is "no, I'm not charismatic".  If you do, your answer is "yes, I am charismatic".  And I'm here to tell you the Bible says you're all charismatic if you are in Christ.  You have been gifted.  And I have a lot of fun with that, because when somebody who I know is a tongues speaker comes up to me and says, "Pastor Palmberg, are you the pastor of a charismatic church?"  "Oh yes!"  And they say, "when did you receive the gift?"  And I say, "when I made a commitment to Jesus Christ, I was baptized by His Spirit into His body of the church and I was gifted."  And he said, "Oh, isn't tongues marvelous?"  I say "I don't know."  And do they get shook.  I had a chance to do a little bit of teaching.  And then I'll encounter somebody who is anti charismatic and they come up and ask you, like almost "do you have leprosy?" they come up and say, "Ah, is your church charismatic?"  And I say, "Oh yes it is!" and they get panicked. And they think how are they going to get their boys or girls to stop coming over from Seattle Pacific University and going to that far out church and all the rest.  But I have a chance to share with them that the body of Christ is made up of charismatics.  Gifted.  That's what it means.  It doesn't mean somehow projecting an aura.  It simply means matter of fact that we have been given gifts.  The problem is, however, that these gifts vary, and since we are so fleshly, we always want to gravitate to the "best".  Or for the most spectacular (not necessarily the best).

And so the third major theme that is taught here, and that is that the Holy Spirit's gifts are given.  They are not chosen.  The Holy Spirit's gifts are not some sort of a spiritual smorgasbord layed out where we come with our plate and say, "oh I don't want that one.  Boy I want that one, and I don't want that one."  Those are not the Spirit's gifts according to the teaching of scripture - the gifts are given, they are not selected.  They are not chosen.  Now some of you are going to say, "earnestly desire the higher gifts" it says at the end of the 12th chapter.  We'll get to that.  But it does not mean that we somehow are supposed to hunger or lust or search after - and, by the way, that passage of scripture, that verse of scripture is a corporate verse.  It does not refer to an individual seeking a particular gift.  It refers to the body of Christ seeking the best, for the body's sake, as He wills.  Notice verse 11: "all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will"  And that personal pronoun "He", I don't care if you look in the Greek or the English, there's no way in which that applies to me.  It doesn't say "all these worketh that one in the self same Spirit, dividing to Bud and others as they will".  That's not what it says.  It says "dividing to every man severally as He" (the Spirit) "wills".  The sovereignty is the Holy Spirit's - not mine.  And the personal pronoun "He" is thus directed.  Paul reinforces this in verse 18 when he says, "But now hath God set the members, every one of them in the Body as it hath pleased Him."  So, don't holler and bellyache about your position in the body either, because that's due to the sovereignty of God.  Just make sure you're filling the place that He's put you.  The Holy Spirit is sovereign, and the reason for that is because the gifts are for the unity of the church.  And if we had a smorgasbord shopping list, like God was a Santa Claus that we could climb up on his lap and hand Him our list.  "Now I want tongues, I want healings..."  Somebody asked me, "if you could have any gift the Holy Spirit wanted to give you, what would you ask for?"  I'll tell you right now - I might as well make it public - I would ask for the gift of healing.  And within 30 seconds of receiving the assurance I had that gift, I'd be up at Mary's.  And I would lay my hands and pray on Rosemary and she and I would go dancing down the hill.  Because I long to see that dear sister in Christ free of the pain she's lived with for 30 years.  So, if its a smorgasbord, and you're offering things, don't offer me tongues - I have enough trouble with the one I got.  Just give me something that will help somebody else.  And, thank God, we don't have to lean on our own understanding, because we see through a mirror darkly the scripture says.  And we are the kind of fleshly creatures that would all go for the spectacular.  And that's why this scripture says that "He worketh the one and self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He wills".  The Holy Spirit is sovereign because, since the gifts are for the unity of the church, and since most of us would go for the spectacular "wow" gifts, we'd run into the same problem Corinth had.  The matter of Spiritual gifts is not a matter of "I want that, and I don't want that."  Because, we would probably go for the same gifts.

You heard about the two ladies shopping: standing there next to the towels, trying to decide.  You know, counting the number of sheets on a roll and the absorbency and trying to figure out how much it was worth and if they're getting a...  And one of the ladies says, "You know, it just drives me crazy - there are so many different options".

And the other lady says, "You know, its probably because we all have different tastes."  And then she smiled and she said, "Really, its a good thing everybody's not alike, because if everybody was like me, they'd all want my husband."

And the second lady said, "Yes, you're right.  I agree.  Its a good thing everybody is not like me, because nobody would want your husband."

Now that's part of what takes place within the body of Christ.  Everybody has their own choice and if we lined up all the gifts, you tell me how many of you would go down that line of gifts and pick the gift of helps?  Oh, you might, if that was all that was left on the table.  But the body of Christ has been moved miles by those who have the gift of helps.  I can't say that about some of the more spectacular gifts.  Fortunately, they're not our choice, because His reason for giving gifts is to build up the body and, since its His body, He knows what choice to make.  Now listen carefully.  The emphasis on the spectacular gift results in the misdirected energy that comes when you begin to want a particular gift so bad you are willing to allow yourself to be manipulated to gain the manifestation.  You begin to seek so much after the experience, you do not seek after Him - you seek the experience - and the experience somehow validates it.  That is a lot of nonsense.  The pagan religions - all the way back to Ephesus - and all the way into the Old Testament with Baal worship, including some of the new pagan religions and non-Christian religions such as Mormonism, practice - as a cardinal tenant - tongues.  And the interpretation of tongues.  And miracles, and prophecies.  They can be proven through the history - both secular and religious.  That is not to say that these are invalid today, and I don't happen to believe they are, although there are great Bible scholars far beyond my ability who say they are.  Its interesting to see that just about every one of them comes out of Dallas seminary.  I didn't mean to say that.  Because that's a good seminary and some of the really "biggies" in the world today came out of that source.  I just happen to think that they're a little bit narrow.  I guess what I want to say is: don't get tricked into thinking there is such an emphasis on a particular gift that you've got to have that gift - "that's a sign gift" - if you don't have that gift, you don't get any of the rest.  That is not Bible teaching!  And if you accept it as Bible teaching, you're going to manipulate yourself or allow others to manipulate you until what you experience is a psychological overload rather than a gift of the Spirit.

Now there are gifts that carry a certain kind of "charisma" about them, and that's one of the reasons why, for instance speaking in tongues, is so vert popular.  There's a certain kind of excitement about it, I understand.  So all sorts of bad theology becomes developed to promote and prop up an experience.  And all sorts of psychological and emotional manipulation can be used to produce an effect.  And people point to Acts 2, and say "Look, there they spent all that time in the upper room and they tarried and they waited and they prayed, and then the Holy Spirit came upon them and the gift of tongues.  So if you want it, you've got to tarry and wait and pray and somebody lay hands on you and..."  Oh no, be consistent - read through the rest of the book of Acts.  Every time that particular gift is manifested in the three or four places that it is, its a different kind of a formula.  Don't reduce God and His Spirit to a formula.  Don't say, "if I kneel on my left knee, I get this - and my right knee, I get that"  The book of Acts is a book of historical transition - it is not a book of Biblical principles and guidelines whereby to get what they had.  Paul had an experience, my goodness gracious, he going down the road on the way to Damascus, a bright light, a voice from heaven, he's knocked off his horse, he's blinded - what an experience!  But does Paul base his certainty of salvation upon that the knowledge that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit?  Does he say, "boy, unless you've been knocked off your horse and blinded for three days, you just haven't arrived"?  No way!  Its a description of what God did to him, but it is not a principle of what God must do to all.  The Holy Spirit gives His gifts as He will for the benefit of the whole body.  And that's why the sovereignty is reserved by the Holy Spirit.  It protects us from ourselves, people.  If its not in the word of God, I don't care what your experience is.  I just don't care.  If it is not in the word of God - that's my sole authority.  If I slide into experiential authority, then my experience will determine my theology, and that is dangerous, heretical ground.  And that's the ground of modern theological liberalism and, frankly, that's the ground of much of the Charismatic writing today - your experience determines theology.

I had an acquaintance say to me, not too long ago (he's been involved in leadership positions in the Puget Sound area, and the north Pacific, in the Charismatic movement), "I don't care what the Bible said, I have had the experience.  And until you've had the experience, you can't judge me."  I said, "Brother, I don't want to judge you if I had the experience.  All I can say is: 'do you hear what you are saying?'  You are saying that the scripture is under your experience.  The authority in your life becomes your buzz.  And if you're looking for some sort of 'blessed buzz', instead of an obedience to the word - well, the scripture says 'Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh'.  There's no shortcut to holiness.  Obedient discipleship is the answer."  And that's why the sovereignty is reserved by the Holy Spirit.  Praise God for that.  He gives gifts as He wills to protect us from ourselves.  But one of these days, I'm going to have the incredible joy of having somebody shout "Glory!  Hallelujah!  I've been given the gift of giving" and then empty their pockets.  I've never had that happen yet, and I'm praying for it.  Oh, our church needs that gift.  Or somebody say, "Oh, bless my soul, Pastor, I know what my gift is - its the gift of helps - what do you want me to do?"  Why is it always the exciting, more spectacular, that causes us to say, "Glory!  Hallelujah!"?  That's not Biblical.  Whatever He chooses, He chooses to give.  Its Glory!  Hallelujah!  For it comes from Him - not for your blessedness, or for your Spiritual strokes - but to build the body of Christ and glorify the Father.

I'm going to have to preach shorter next week, partly because we have communion in the morning service so that needs to have more than just a kind of backhanded approach.  But next week, I want to touch on just the fourth aspect that I find here: gifts are given to unify the body of Christ, they are greatly varied, the gifts are not chosen - they are given, and then the idea that gifts can be terribly abused.  And I wish you would pray for me this week, as I continue to finish up some of the preparation on this message, because giving just that little bit about the possible abuse of gifts, can have a negative flavor.  And please, I don't want to be negative.  I think this is the most positive series I've ever worked on, but I don't want it to come off negative.  So, please pray that God will be glorified and we'll be built up.

So go into a world that needs everything you have, knowing that you are empowered by His Spirit to fulfill your ministry that He has given with the gifts He, too, has given.  With the result that He will be glorified.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think - the only wise God, our Savior - be power and majesty, dominion, and glory, both now until He comes again - or, by His good mercies, we gather together.