If you turn, brethren, back in your Bibles to 1 Peter, our text this morning is chapter 4, verses 10 and 11. 1 Peter 4, verses 10 and 11. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Our Father, we do ask that you would help us through your word to behold the glory of our Savior. And in light of that glory, Father, give us a fresh sight of our duty. And give us grace to walk therein, we pray. Amen. Well, I think most of us are aware that we've been engaged in a topical study on church life. I've suggested this life takes fundamentally three directions. It looks up in worship, it looks within in edification, and it looks without in evangelism. For the past few weeks, we've been discussing the second of these, namely, church life consists of looking within to edify the body. Thus far, we've seen confrontation and forgiveness, and then last time, Christian forbearance. This brings us, this morning, to the broad topic of spiritual gifts. Now the primary theme of 1 Peter is a triune salvation that enables us to obey God even in the midst of suffering. Chapter 4 fundamentally contains three sections, each of which is an incentive to Christian obedience. Christ suffered for sin, thus let us no longer live in it, verses 1 to 6. Christ's return is imminent, thus let us be found diligent, verses 7 to 11. And Christ is using our present trials as a means to purge us, thus let us be patient throughout them, verses 12 to the end of the chapter. Our text, chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, is found in the second of these three sections, where in Christian duty is encouraged in light of Christ's imminent return. Verse 7, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. And then in verses 8 to 11, Peter provides three one another passages, verse 8, Have fervent love for one another, verse nine. Be hospitable to one another. And our text, verse 10, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another. Love one another, be hospitable to one another, and minister to one another through various gifts entrusted to you. So our theme then this morning, brethren, is very simple, spiritual gifts. And I have three things I want to say about spiritual gifts as found in our text. There's first the source of spiritual gifts, secondly, the nature of spiritual gifts, and then thirdly, the purpose for spiritual gifts. The source, verse 10, the nature, verse 11a, and the purpose, verse 11b, of spiritual gifts. Notice first the source. of spiritual gifts. Verse 10, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Peter says each Christian has received a gift. Now this Greek word, translated gift, is charisma, from which we get the word charismatic. The word simply refers to a free and or gracious gift. It refers to them, or we refer to them as spiritual gifts for at least two reasons. First, they're given to us by the Holy Spirit, and secondly, they are spiritually exercised and thus bring spiritual good to others. 1 Corinthians 12, 11. But one in the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. Thus here I want to suggest three things with regards to the source of spiritual gifts. First, they are universally given. Secondly, they are purposely given. And thirdly, graciously given. Notice first, they are universally given, as each one has received a gift. Here we find that every Christian, without exception, has received a gift or a set of gifts. When a Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion, the Spirit, as it were, brings with him a specific set of gifts. And thus the Holy Spirit never enters the heart of a believing sinner empty-handed. Every Christian receives a unique set of spiritual gifts. Listen to the testimony of Wayne Mack. He says, All true believers have received spiritual gifts from the Lord. There is not one Christian in this world who doesn't have some ability to serve others in the body. If you are a Christian, whether you are old or young, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, strong or weak, mature or immature, you have spiritual gifts, all right? So we find, first of all, that they are universally given. Secondly, they are purposely given. Minister it. the gift to one another. Gifts are intended to minister for the good of others. Gifts are not given for our own good, but for the good of others. This is the purpose of which I refer. The word minister means to serve. Thus, at their very core, spiritual gifts are specific abilities given to us by God the Holy Spirit for the service and or edification of others. Now this can be illustrated in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, who sought gifts for their own benefit and not for the benefit of others. He says in 1 Corinthians 14, 12, Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. Simply put, spiritual gifts are not given for our good or honor, but for the good and edification of others. They are given for the specific purpose of building the church, of edifying each member within that church. OK, so spiritual gifts are given universally. All Christians have them. Secondly, they're given purposely, that is, to the end, that they would be a means to edify or build up the church. And then thirdly, they are graciously given. Notice how he puts at the end of verse 10, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Here, Peter refers to the gifts as manifold, as the manifold grace of God. Now by manifold is meant many or diverse. There are many or a diversity of these gracious gifts given. God has a very vast storehouse, we could put it perhaps like this, in which he keeps these gifts. There's a vast variety of gifts. There's a large assortment of gifts. Peter refers to them as the manifold grace or gifts, we could paraphrase it that way, of God, the manifold grace of God. Peter describes us as good stewards of the manifold grace of God or good stewards of the gifts entrusted to our care. We ought to be good stewards of these spiritual gifts. Now a steward is someone entrusted with something important. Paul referred to himself, for example, in 1 Corinthians 4.1 as a steward of the mysteries of the gospel. Paul is responsible with respect to how he handled the gospel. And so too we find that every Christian is entrusted with specific gifts that they're responsible to use as good stewards. Using our spiritual gifts for the good of others isn't optional. It's at the very heart and purpose for which they've been given. Thus, the possession of gifts, even the most prominent gifts, are never intended to bring attention to ourselves. No Christian can take credit for spiritual gifts. We have no reason to be proud or puffed up because of them, regardless how prominent the gifts are. Because they're given to us, they're entrusted to us as the manifold grace of God. Paul put it like this in 1 Corinthians 4, 7. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you haven't received it? Now this doesn't mean, brethren, as we'll see in a few minutes, that Christians have no responsibility to strengthen and to perfect these gifts, but it is to say no Christian can take credit for these gifts, nor despise those who have less prominent gifts. Thomas Schreiner put it this way, spiritual gifts are not fundamentally a privilege, but a responsibility. a call to be faithful to what God has bestowed. Thus, we can define a spiritual gift as a gracious ability, that is, an ability given to us by grace, a gracious ability entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit for the good and edification of others. A spiritual gift is a gracious ability entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit for the good and edification of others. Now, before I come to my second main heading, I want to pause here briefly and suggest three things about spiritual gifts. Observation one. Gifts are to be discerned. If we've been entrusted with these gifts, then it seems likely, brethren, that we ought to know what gifts we've been entrusted with. Now, there are many things that could and should be said about discerning your gifts, but let me just briefly suggest three. First, gifts are numerous and many-sided. Now, if we were to go through the New Testament, you might know there's four key passages that provide lists of spiritual gifts. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. But these lists are never intended to be exhaustive, but merely suggestive. I know that for several reasons, brethren, because if you compare these four passages, you find that none of them are identical. This would seem to indicate that these passages are suggestive and not exhaustive. I think a problem many Christians have is they comb through these four lists and they think these are all the gifts there are. For example, when I shop for clothing, I have to find a 34 in length or else a 32 in length. Because they don't make 33s. And so sometimes I have to wear pants that are a little bit long or a little short. I just have to choose which one I want to wear. But, brethren, this isn't like gifts. You don't have to find the closest one, even if it doesn't match or fit. Perhaps I can say God makes a size 34, 33, and 32 in spiritual gifts. Furthermore, as you go through these lifts of spiritual gifts, many of them are very generic in the terminology. For example, Paul describes one gift as showing mercy. Well, how many ways can a person show mercy? Showing mercy is one of the spiritual gifts. Elsewhere in Romans 12, he speaks about the gift of encouragement. Well, brother, surely there's a variety of ways that this particular gift will find expression, or else in another list, he speaks of a gift as helpers, the gift of helping. Surely that gift, too, is exceedingly diverse. As Peter puts it, this grace or these gifts is manifold. There's a broad variety or assortment of gifts that God gives to his people. Secondly, gifts are given in harmony with natural abilities and personal preference. In other words, what are you good at doing slash what do you enjoy doing? Brethren, these aren't wrong questions to ask in seeking to discern our spiritual gifts. I think ordinarily the Lord gives a sense of satisfaction and joy when we exercise the gifts entrusted to us. When God gives us the gifts, he gives us the ability to execute those gifts and a sense of satisfaction in doing so. Thus, we have to ask ourselves, what natural abilities do I possess that have in the past brought good to others? For example, the ability to fix a car. to build a wall, to bake a cake. These are all natural abilities, though not, strictly speaking, spiritual gifts. Thus, while fixing a car, building a wall, baking a cake are not, strictly speaking, spiritual gifts, they work alongside spiritual gifts. For example, if a person has the gift of helping, Well, they can enlist their natural abilities in fixing a car, in building a wall, or baking a cake as a way to help and or encourage a brother. So when I speak of natural abilities, I'm talking about those things that we can do, that we enjoy doing. We all have unique things that we're gifted to do. We all have unique things that we enjoy doing, brethren, and it's not wrong. In fact, it's in every way right for us to enlist those along with our spiritual gifts for the service and the edification of God's people. Let me be specific. Let me use as an example Justin Detwiler. He's a car mechanic. If you go through those lists, you're not going to find mechanic as a spiritual gift. And yet, he can use this natural ability to serve others, and this selfless service is a spiritual gift, which would, in fact, bring encouragement and edification to the people of God. Or else, let's say there's a lady in the church who loves to cook and or bake cakes. Cooking and baking aren't, strictly speaking, spiritual gifts. But if she has the gift of service, She can enlist these abilities to serve others. So we're using natural gifts that we're good at and that we enjoy doing as a means through which to use our spiritual gifts. Thus in discerning our gifts, it's not wrong to ask ourselves, what are we good at and what do we enjoy doing? It's common after I teach a sermon or a lesson on spiritual gifts that somebody will approach me afterwards and say, I just don't know what my gifts are. And I usually say something like this to them, well, what do you enjoy doing? And in what ways have you been a blessing to people in the past? Brethren, it's not wrong because remember, Natural abilities, while we distinguish them from spiritual gifts, usually coincide together. Natural abilities are the channels through which our spiritual gifts find expression. Thirdly, gifts are discerned while exercising them. A person who never gets in the game will hardly know what they're good at. For example, if somebody wanted to join a football team or a volleyball team, how are they to know what position they're best at? Well, the only way they're gonna know which position they're best at is getting in the game or getting into the practices to find out. Brother, they're never gonna find out what they're good at, what position they're best at, if they sit on the bench. You have to get into the practice, and you have to rub your shoulders with other players, and you will likely discern your gifts in the actual act of service. Here's the problem. Christians come to church, they sit in the pews, in the chairs, and they watch the game from the sidelines, wondering, what gifts do I have? Well, get in the game, man. Start rubbing shoulders with other people and looking for needs and start meeting them. And as you get in the game and start meeting the needs of others and start ministering to the needs of others, then your gifts will become more clear. Spiritual gifts are discerned while exercising them. You see, the problem is, I think, a lot of Christians place either too much or not enough emphasis on spiritual gifts. They're all concerned. They're tied up in a knot over what kind of gifts they have and whether or not they're exercising them. And that's good to be concerned about. It's not good to be tied up in a knot. The other extreme is that they don't even think about it. Brother, remember this text says that we are stewards with these gifts and God has entrusted them to us that we might enlist them in the service of others. And that warrants, I think, at least a prudent acquiring or looking into the nature of those gifts. All right. That's my first observation. Gifts are to be discerned. Secondly, gifts are to be sought after. It's not wrong, brethren, to seek gifts, and here's the important part, providing your motives are pure. Think of these texts, 1 Corinthians 12, 31, but earnestly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 14, 1, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 14, 12, even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. Brethren, it's not wrong It's not wrong to desire gifts, providing you understand that you're going to be accountable for how you use those gifts, and as long as you seek to enlist those gifts, not for your own honor, but for the good and edification of the church. We all surely want to be a means of building up the church. Christian, don't you want to be a means of building up the church? Don't you want to be a means of serving the brethren within the congregation? Then it's not wrong to seek these gifts, providing you seek them for the right reasons. And then thirdly, gifts are to be strengthened. That is, Christians are to labor to perfect the gifts given to them. This goes back to the idea of stewardship. If Christians are stewards of their gifts, then they're responsible for the right use of those gifts. Think of what Peter or what Paul told Timothy in chapter four, verse 13. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership. And then he says this, meditate on these things, that is all the things I've just told you, a part of which was don't neglect the gift. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy not to neglect the gift, to do something to that gift that it might be perfected, that his progress with regards to the use of that gift would become evident to all. And we find in the second letter, chapter one, verse six, what he was to do with regards to that gift. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift which is in you through the laying on of my hands. This term stir up refers to the stirring up of hot coals that once were strong and robust, but now have grown cold. And Paul is telling him through various ways and different means to stir up the gift. That's another way of saying to strengthen the gifts. Brethren, though it's a gift, nevertheless, as stewards of these gifts, we have a responsibility to strengthen them. So gifts ought to be discerned. Gifts ought to be sought. insofar as they're sought for the good of the church and gifts ought and should be strengthened. Now that brings me to verse 11. And secondly, to the nature of spiritual gifts. If anyone speaks, let them speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let them do it as with the ability which God supplies. Now here you notice that Peter summarizes all spiritual gifts into two broad categories. Those that entail speaking and those that entail serving. But before I come to consider these separately, I need to first of all answer the question whether or not Peter only refers to officers in verse 11. Now if you think about it, verse 11 again categorizes all gifts into two, speaking and serving. And it is true that those categories neatly correlate with the two officers in the church, right? Elders have to have speaking gifts. Deacons, in fact, this word minister or serve is the same word that we translate deacon. Deacons obviously have to have serving gifts. But what I think Peter is doing is he's saying while these gifts have to have a predominant manifestation in officers, they ought to also have lesser degrees of manifestation in the rank-and-file membership. And I suggest that simply because of verse 10. As each one of you has received a gift, he's talking not restrictively to the officers in verse 10, He's talking to the church, isn't he's talking to all of the brethren as each one in the church has received the gift. And then he says, if anyone speaks or if anyone serves, in other words, all of these gifts will find one of two dominant expressions, either in speaking gifts and all that the gifts, all of those kind of gifts that relate to that and serving gifts and all the other gifts that relate to that. Edmund Clowney put it like this, Peter does not list the gifts of the Spirit. He mentions only two broad categories of ministry, speaking and serving. MacArthur said two broad categories of spiritual gifts are speaking gifts and serving gifts. Whoever speaks will minister through categories of preaching and teaching, wisdom, knowledge, counseling, discernment. Whoever serves will minister through areas such as administration, prayer, mercy, helps, et cetera. Okay, so these are two broad categories within which are a variety of related gifts, but we can put them down into these two simple categories, and that's kind of why I chose this text, to be honest, for its simplicity's sake, because it just loosely categorizes all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as either speaking, or else serving. All right, notice first speaking gifts. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God or let him speak the word as the utterances of God. The idea here is the source of the word spoken. Speak the word that comes from God. One translation puts it like this. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one who speaks the very word of God. Now, brethren, again, it's evident that this applies in the fullest sense to those who are gifted to teach and preach the word. A preacher is to speak the word that comes from God and he's to speak it in a in a manner that honors that word. So I think it addresses both the matter and the manner of preaching. He's preaching that word that comes from God, the oracles of God, the utterances of God. But what's true of preachers and teachers in the fullest sense is also true of all Christians in a lesser sense. All Christians are expected to speak the Word of God one to another, and some are, and here's my point, especially gifted at it. Now this doesn't mean, brethren, that such people have to stand behind a pulpit or a lectern, but they are to come alongside the brethren and speak the Word of God into their lives. They are to write them notes and send emails and encourage them with the oracles of God. They are to speak the very utterances of God one to another. And all of us, by the way, and I want to prove that from a few texts, have the obligation to do that. All of us have the obligation to speak the Word of God one to another, but some of us are especially gifted at it. That's the point, brethren. Some of us are especially gifted with our speech in speaking the Word of God, others with our words and actions in serving the brethren. But let me give you a few texts that speak about the responsibility for all Christians to speak the Word of God one to another. Ephesians 4, 15. But speak the truth in love. Speak the truth in love. Now, hereby truth is not so much meant the opposite of lies. It means the truth of the Holy Word of God. Brethren, who is here directed, who here is exhorted to speak the truth and love? Every Christian. Every Christian here is obligated to speak the word, the truth in love, but there's some of us uniquely gifted to do that. And notice the result of it, that we may grow up in all things. Brethren, what can cause us as a church and as individuals to grow up in all things into Him who's the head, Christ, but the oracles of God? You, Christian, have an obligation. You, Christian, have the privilege and the responsibility to speak the oracles of God. But there's some of us, there's some of you, who are uniquely packaged to do so unto the edification of God's people. A little later in the same chapter, verse 29, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers. In other words, you're to speak the word of God in a way that with the Spirit's blessing communicates grace and thus edifies the brethren. And so all Christians have the obligation, have the privilege, the responsibility of speaking the oracles of God in this sense, in this qualified sense, but some are uniquely packaged to do it. And then secondly, they're serving gifts. If anyone ministers, let them do it as with the ability which God supplies. That is, God gives the ability. He gives the gift and the grace to enable you to minister to others. Whereas the previous gift primarily was speaking, this is primarily doing. The first uses words, the second deeds. Brethren, we're all packaged to be, generally speaking, one or two of these kinds of people. Either we're packaged in such a way that our gifts lie more in the speaking category or in the doing category. Now I'm gonna clarify this here in a few minutes to say that oftentimes these blend together and bleed together and offset and temper one another. But we're all packaged usually or ordinarily to be those who speak or those who do. And brethren, both are equally important. Peter says, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, which correlates back with the phrase, the oracles of God. Remember I said the oracles of God fundamentally has to do with source, the utterances that come from God. Let him speak the words that come from God, and then those who serve, let them do so in the power that God supplies. So God gives the word that you're to speak, if your gifts lie in that category, and he also gives the power or the ability to act if your gifts lie in that category. Those who speak must speak the word from God. Those who serve must serve with the strength that comes from God. Brethren, again, it underscores the fact that all of this comes from God. Gifts are the manifold grace of God. Lenski said, for both the tongue and the hand, Christians are to use what God furnishes them and are thus to be good stewards of God. The serving gifts include showing mercy, hospitality, giving, loving, helping. These are all a variety of this category that Peter calls serving. There's speaking gifts, there's serving gifts, and a variety or an assortment of related gifts in each of the two categories. Now here, again, let me pause and suggest some summary observations. Observation one. Gifts find expression in speaking and doing. And here I want to begin with a clarification. While all Christians are commanded to speak, right, I've already said that, and we know that all Christians are commanded to serve, we're all gifted in some measure in both of those areas. Some are especially gifted in one or both of those areas. Thus, no Christian can say, I refuse to speak to somebody, I refuse to serve somebody, because these aren't my gifts. No, all Christians are commanded to exhort each other and all Christians are commanded to serve each other. But by spiritual gifts are meant unique and heightened ability to serve others, either in speech or in deeds. That's brotherness, again, important to clarify. Christians can receive gifts from one or both of these two broad categories. I don't believe that Christians are necessarily given a single gift, but they're given a number of gifts, plural, a cocktail, an assortment of gifts given to each and every believer. Again, listen to MacArthur. Each believer's spiritual giftedness is unique, as if each were a spiritual snowflake or fingerprint. It's as if God dips his paintbrush into different colors or categories of gifts, here there's two categories given, on his spiritual palette and paints each Christian a unique blend of colors. That was where he said two believers may have the gift of teaching, but each were demonstrated with a unique blend of grace and gift. that provides for edifying and useful spiritual diversity within the church. So he's saying that while two men may have the gift of teaching, for example, it doesn't mean that their gifts are going to find identical expression. And furthermore, as I've said, it's also true that God often dips his paintbrush in both of these containers, speaking gifts and serving gifts, when he gives us our assortment of individual gifts. All right, a second observation. Gifts are to be exercised within the body. That is, all the members together make up a single body. The Spirit equips each person and places them providentially and sovereignly in a local church so that together they form a single body. Brethren, just think of God's sovereignty here and His infinite wisdom. He gives each and every individual member specific abilities, a specific set of gifts that complement the other members. This allows us not to despise the lowliness of another person's gifts as every member of the body is equally needed. He sovereignly bestows to each person, and He sovereignly and wisely bestows to each person in various degrees. And so He makes one a mouth, He makes one an eye, He makes one an ear, He makes one a foot, He makes one a leg, and He puts them all together, brethren, and He forms a specific body. Matthew 25, 15, our Savior told the parable. of the talents. He said to one he gives five talents, to another two talents, to another one, to each according to his own ability. In other words, God knows who should get what set of gifts and he knows what church to put that individual so as to complement that local body. Thirdly, gifts derive their power from God. We are to speak words that come from God and we're to serve others with ability that God supplies. And I think this is an evident and obvious point that unfortunately can be overlooked. Spiritual gifts are means to communicate spiritual good to the hearts of the brethren. And this is what distinguishes spiritual gifts from natural abilities. This is what distinguishes spiritual gifts from fixing a car, building a wall, or baking a cake. Like I've said, those can be used along with spiritual gifts to be a means of blessing, but brethren, this is supernatural. And that's why those with speaking gifts have to speak the oracles of God. Brother, what is it that's going to bring encouragement to you? You don't have to have a theological degree. You don't have to go to seminary. You just have to know your Bible and say, hey, sister, hey, brother, I was reading in first Peter, chapter three yesterday, and I thought of you. Have you ever considered this verse? Or maybe you just send them an email saying, thinking about you today and this verse comes to mind. Or else it might be that you take, especially the older, taking the younger ones under your wing and educating them and teaching them the oracles of God. Brethren, that's a tremendous thing. It's a necessary thing for every healthy church. And you're showing servitude and you're ministering to the needs of others. by the strength and the power that comes from God, the Holy Spirit. And when you do that, it will result in the spiritual edification of God's people. Thus, we mustn't misunderstand how spiritual gifts work. Spiritual gifts work because God blesses them. Spiritual gifts edify because God the Holy Spirit blesses them to the hearts of His people. He blesses His Word as it's spoken and He supplies us with the ability to serve others in a variety of ways. And again, this is in part why they're called spiritual gifts, because they're given by the Holy Spirit, they're blessed by the Holy Spirit, and they result in the spiritual edification of God's people. Now that brings me then thirdly, finally, to the purpose of spiritual gifts. Verse 11b, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Perhaps we can say this is the ultimate purpose for spiritual gifts. They're given that God may be glorified in, through, or by Jesus Christ. Thus in closing, my question is this. How does the use of spiritual gifts bring glory to God in Christ? Or perhaps I can recast the question like this. How are spiritual gifts related to Christ and his redemptive work? Well, let me answer this question with three final observations. Observation number one. All spiritual gifts are perfectly found, that is illustrated, in Christ. This includes speaking and serving gifts. Now go back to what I said earlier. There are some, especially the older commentators, to be honest and fair, who focus in this text, in 1 Peter 4, 10-11, upon the offices of elder and deacons. And in fact, some of the older commentators actually don't go any further than that. They see that Peter is largely here, if not exclusively speaking, about the offices of elder and deacon. I've already suggested I don't agree with that. For no other reason, verse 10 seems to suggest that he's speaking to a broader audience than elders and deacons. But it doesn't negate the fact, brethren, as I've already said, that these gifts find their most prominent expression. They have to find their most prominent expression in elders and deacons. You can't be an elder or deacon without them. And thus, brethren, who is the greatest bishop and deacon of the church but the Lord Jesus? Brother, nobody, nobody was given the Holy Spirit without measure but Jesus Christ. Remember, I said that the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts in conversion bearing gifts. Right, he never comes into our hearts empty handed. Yeah, we have to discern what these gifts are. Yeah, it's not wrong to pray for them. Yes, we must strengthen them and perfect them and be good stewards of them. But brother, nevertheless, when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart of a penitent believing sinner, he comes bearing gifts. I think back to our Lord Jesus when he was baptized and he was, as it were, anointed for his ministry in the waters. And when the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove, the Holy Spirit filled his human soul fully with all the grace that a sinless human soul can bear. And he came, the Holy Spirit, not with just some gifts like he does with us, but he came bearing all the gifts that a sinless human soul can bear. Brethren, simply put, our Savior was had bestowed upon Him all of the gifts of the Spirit. And there you see Him, don't you, in His earthly ministry, speaking what? The Word of God as the oracles of God and serving others. How? With the grace and the strength that's given from God. In other words, we behold in our beloved Savior the perfect example of how and why to use our spiritual gifts. This is the first way in which spiritual gifts are related to Christ. They're all perfectly found in Him. Secondly, all spiritual gifts are given for the sake of Christ. That is, they're all purchased by His blood. Do you remember after he suffered and then was buried and then on the third day he rose from the dead and then eventually he ascended back to the right hand of God the Father? What did he do when he went back to the right hand of the Father and sat on the throne? He poured out what? The Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And so in giving the Holy Spirit to his church, remember the Holy Spirit never comes empty handed. But the Holy Spirit was given as the gift who bears gifts in virtue of Jesus Christ's ascension. Now that's exactly what we read, don't we, in Ephesians 4 and verse 7 and following. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore he says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men. And then Paul, in the next verse, identifies these gifts as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. Some of these were foundational and thus temporal, apostles and prophets, and others are continual and are still given to the church. He gives gifts in the form of officers. But furthermore, to each of these offices, specific gifts were given to enable these men to fulfill their callings. So he gives this church pastors, and he gives to those pastors gifts that qualify them for their office. Christ gives gifts to the church, and then he equips those gifts with spiritual gifts to fit them for service. But here's my point. All of these gifts, both the officers and the spiritual gifts that qualify these men as officers, come from the exalted and glorified Christ to equip his beloved church. Brethren, all spiritual gifts come from Christ and are given by virtue of his redemptive work. And that's why he bestows the Holy Spirit upon us when he goes back to heaven in his ascension. And it's because of the Holy Spirit's coming into the world that we now have the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us to enable us to be means to edify the brethren and to build up the church. And so all spiritual gifts are found fully and perfectly in Jesus Christ. All spiritual gifts are given by virtue of Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, all spiritual gifts are given for the glory of Jesus Christ. The glory of Christ in his church. Brethren, this is why Christ bestows upon us gifts. Yes, for the edification and the building up of the saints, but the ultimate purpose is the glorification of God in Christ, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. We find a similar statement in Colossians 3.17. And whatever you do in word or deed, there's the two same categories, word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. When Paul says that we're to do all things, he includes both categories, speaking and serving. And we're to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, brethren, which at least in part means we do it for the glory and the honor of Jesus Christ. The spiritual gifts are given for the good of others. They're given as means whereby God, the Holy Spirit, edifies the people of God. But ultimately and predominantly, they're given that glory would be bestowed upon Jesus Christ, who secured these blessed gifts at the cost of his own life's blood. And so, brethren, church life of necessity looks up in worship. It also looks within. And one way in which we're to look in to the edification of our brethren is that we prove, by God's grace, to be faithful stewards of the manifold grace of God entrusted to our care. Well, may God give us help to do so. Let's pray. Our Father, we do indeed ask that you would help us, that you would first of all help us to discern properly what are the nature of these gifts entrusted us. And then help us, O Father, to be faithful in exercising these gifts, in ministering one to another, that ultimately speaking, Jesus Christ would be glorified. Help us, Father, to stay clear of either extreme, to be tied up on one hand in knots over what gifts we have. But then also, Father, keep us from the opposite error of being indifferent and unconcerned with gifts. Help us to have a balanced biblical approach to this admittedly difficult and at times controversial topic. But, oh Father, rinse our minds from all errors and help us to have a clear understanding that all spiritual gifts come from one or two categories, speaking or serving. They all come from heaven, they're all entrusted to your people, and they're to be enlisted for the good and the edification of the church. Granted, we ask you, our beloved Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. you