Let him do it cheerfully. Humbly use your gift. In verse 1 and 2, we've heard the Apostle Paul write, be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may be able to prove what is that good and perfect will of God. Be transformed. He's going to go on in this chapter. We're going to find a lot of admonitions. Be humble. Be kind to one another. Be gracious. On and on. Later in the next chapter, you have submit to authority. You have accept one another in chapter 15. There's all these different admonitions. Well, these are now in this portion He is telling us how we can become these kinds of people. That is, all right, we're going to have these kinds of admonitions. These are things that we're supposed to do. Well, how do we get to the point where we do them? How do we end up becoming people who do those things regularly, just instinctively? Where are we going to get the power to do it? How are we going to do it? Well, we don't do it alone. We do it in a group. This is the beauty and the wonder of the church. He calls us to the church so that we can, in the church, have help through each other to do the things he wants us to do and live the way he wants us to live. Now I think about a family, little kiddos, you know, they're born into the family. They know nothing. They're clueless. They have to be completely trained over a long period of time through the interaction with other people in the family, and especially the parents, you know, admonitions over and over and over again. But finally they get to a place where they're mature and they have a sense of, okay, I can live in this world and I can function and I can accomplish whatever God has put me here to do, but it takes a while to get there. And the family, if you will, is sort of like what the church is. You get saved, you put your trust in Christ, you join a church, you're a part of a church, and in this group you are, like a family, getting prepared to become all that God intends you to be. And you're there to help each other and so on. It's like an interaction, a constant movement of growth through each other. So there's five points I want to make here, well actually only Four, you'd be happy to know. First of all, we are parts of one body. Now this is something that is emphasized here, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians 4, but look at 12.4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 1 Corinthians 12.14, now the body is not made of one part, but of many. There are many parts, but one body. Ephesians 4.16, from him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up. This body analogy is something that Makes sense to everybody. In the day of Paul, they didn't know as much as we know about the body. But they certainly knew that it was made up of many parts. I mean, everybody had eyes, ears, nose, mouth, all the different functions of the body, too. They knew about reproductive systems and digestive systems. They knew about the heart. I mean, it's a common analogy. Everybody's got a body. Everybody can figure this out. And that's the point, he tries to keep it simple. But today we know that there are 78 main organs within the human body, 78. There's some that are vital, they're the ones we really concentrate on, heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and so on. If any of those stop, you die. But all the others are necessary, all of them are necessary to some extent to help you stay healthy. There are actually 200 different kinds of cells in the body. Now in Paul's day, he didn't even know about cells, but now we do. 200 different kinds. I mean, you know, you got brain cells, you got all these different cells, blood cells, bone cells, everything, all the different parts of our body are made up of different kinds of cells. And then there are these systems, all these different systems in the body. So here, he's using this body analogy and the Point is pretty simple. If we are Christians, we are not alone in this whole thing. We are not independently supposed to get everything we need from God without anybody else. We are not meant to be lone ranger Christians. We are meant to be a part of a body. We are in a group. The word church is ecclesia, called out group, a group of people, an assembly of people. So to be in the church means that you are now a part of an organization, a team. Christianity is a team sport. It's not like golf. It's all up to you to hit that ball. Nobody's going to hit it for you. Nobody else is going to help you. You're all alone. It's not like pool. You know, you got to make the shot. No, no, no. It's a team sport. It's like basketball, football, baseball. You're working together with other people in conjunction with other people. It's a system of connectedness. It's like an orchestra. Each of us has an instrument. We don't all play the same instrument, but we all are reading the same music, and we're listening to the same conductor, the Lord Jesus, and we're supposed to make beautiful music together as long as everybody's playing their instrument and participating in the process. It's not a solo thing. You've got a peer player. One instrument. No, no, no. Christianity is a collectivized enterprise. Nobody is independent. We are interdependent. Interdependent. So there's somebody here today who's got the ability and the inclination and the way of helping somebody else in this church today who has a need. And those things are met as you interact with each other and know each other and get into each other's heart and life. That's the whole point of Christianity. It is meant to be a collectivized thing. We are part of a body, the body of Christ. sense of independence, you know, John Wayne, you know, I don't need anybody, it's just me against the West. Or the superhero. You know, the superhero comes in, I don't need anybody else, I got powers. That is just not Christianity. You are needed, you're weak, you've got the need for other people, but you have something to give to other people as well. I mean, it's a team thing. You know, the kicker doesn't do the tackling, usually. He just kicks the ball. I mean, basically, you have something to do on this team. But the idea is you're on a team. We are parts of body. That's the first point. Second thing, the goal of this team, or this body, is maturity, individual maturity, growing in Christ, and collective mission, doing something collectively for Christ and God in this world, getting this gospel out enabling people to see God and know God and walk with God and live for Him. This is like an incredible, wonderful cause. But this idea of maturity is found in Ephesians 4.12, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. The point of a church or a family is to raise that kid up so he's mature, so he's able to leave the house and accomplish something with his life. That is the goal of a family, attaining to the full measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants. What is our mission? Our mission is getting the gospel to the world. Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. This was a great commission of Christ. It has to do with bringing people to know God through Jesus, getting people to think in terms of living their lives for the glory of God. All of these things are our great and glorious mission. It is what we do. Now, my dad worked for Martin Marietta. He was an electrical engineer. If I would have asked him, what do you do? He might have said, well, I make airplanes. You know, I go off to work every day and I make airplanes. You know, there they are. They're flying through the sky. Lockheed Martin, you go to their website, they got like 30 different airplanes they make. But my dad didn't make airplanes. He was a part of the process of making an airplane. All he worked on was the electronics. That was it. He knew nothing about the rest of the stuff. He might have known something about it, but he didn't do anything there. So he had a part in accomplishing something greater. And what's the point of these planes? Well, they're for national defense. So the great cause is defending the United States by these planes. So that's the way it is in the church. You have this tiny little part to play in this grand, incredible mission. And it's not just this little church, it's the grand, great, glorious church that's all around the world. You're a part of it. And so your love for God, your growing in Christ, your personal maturity, all of these different things can minister to other people and help the great cause. So, you know, my dad went off to work. I'm all in off to make an airplane. We are coming, we're living our life. Why are you reading that Bible? Why are you listening to that radio broadcast? Why are you helping that person on the phone? Well, it's not just to help them, it's for the grand cause of bringing God to the world through Christ. We're part of something greater than making airplanes. We're here to bring glory to God through the gospel. Number three, all people have been given some gifts to get to this place, to help other people get to this place. Look at this. We have different gifts, verse six, according to the grace given us. Ephesians 4.16, from him the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament. 12. 1 Corinthians 12. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Now he's talking here about gifts, and when you say spiritual gifts everybody goes, excuse me, what are we talking about here? Well, there's about 30 different spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible. Some of them are repeated in these different places, but they're not, I think, exhaustive. There's many other gifts. There's combinations of gifts. The gifts that are mentioned in the Bible, I think many of them are like primary colors, and you can mix them and make all these other things. Sometimes they're clusters of gifts, but these are special gifts. That is, they are abilities, they're passions, they're things that God puts in you, and qualities to assist somebody else that are in you, that maybe not in the person sitting next to you. But to the same extent, let's just say to the same extent. But those are what we call spiritual gifts. And that's what he's talking about here. It's the difference between. Let's just say, when you join the army, you go to boot camp. And when you go to boot camp, you learn things that everybody else is going to learn, no matter what their specialty may be later. Well, those things, if you will, have to do with first aid, using a weapon, obeying orders, all these basic stuff, physical training. That's for every Christian, all the time. You know, there's like all the basics everybody has to have. You have to learn how to, you know, fruit of the spirit. All those qualities are in every Christian. Those are, you know, the basics that everybody has. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, so on. These things are meant to be in everybody. And some of these gifts, are things that everybody has as well to a small extent, not the same as other people who are given kind of more of the ability that you may have a little part of that ability. Like, you know, I preach the Bible, I study the Bible, I bring it out to you and so on. You can do that too. You people do that too. You don't always stand up here and preach, but some of you can and some of you have. But that's not the point. The point is you have to do the same sort of thing that a pastor does. Study the Bible, know the Bible, and be able to administer the Bible to somebody in your life. Could be a neighbor, could be a relative, friend, person at work, whatever. So you're a teacher. You are, but not formally gifted as a teacher to actually fulfill that role in the church. in a public way. Okay, so you can see these gifts and there's a few of them mentioned here that you know we prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, showing mercy. These are a few but there's many many more. Spiritual gifts, one writer puts it this way, denote extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the Church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit. Now, there are some gifts that are continuing and some that have ceased. There are certain gifts that are mentioned in the Bible that were in operation at the time when the Bible was being written. And before the Bible was complete, these were gifts that authenticated the apostolic ministry, the authority of the apostles, miracles, healings, those kinds of things, speaking in languages that you never learned, those kinds of things. They were a part of the foundational period of the church. But then there's these continuing gifts that have to do with more serving and leadership for the ongoing church that are still continuing and still around today. So you have to make that distinction when you look at this list of gifts. The other thing about gifts is they are sometimes common clusters. People can have multiple gifts and you can find out, okay, what is the thing that I'm good at and the best at? Those are the ways that you figure out your gifts. I mean you can go online by the way and I put a place that I recommend. I went to three different places online to find out my gifts and you know I shouldn't be a pastor. No. They all said pretty much the same thing, you know, prophecy, teaching, whatever. But you can go online and do this. Now, the problem with that is I had to answer like 100 questions and it was my self-evaluation. Oh, I got some water. It was my self-evaluation. And the thing is, my self-evaluation isn't always perfect. I mean, it isn't exactly accurate all the time. And so all of these quizzes to try to figure out your gifts, they're limited because of that. But they are helpful. And if you're saying, well, I don't know what my gift is, I would suggest that you go online and take one of these tests. They're free. They don't cost anything. And then at least you'll get some idea. It looks like I'm sort of moving this way, this is the kind of thing I should be doing, and where I should concentrate what I'm supposed to be doing. So spiritual gifts are special endowments that every Christian gets to some extent, some kind, some way, and you find them in a certain sense by doing things. You enter through a door that's open, a door of need, and you go in and you serve and in the process you get feedback from other people or you have this internal sense that you know when I run I feel God's pleasure. When I do this I really feel that I'm being used. That's how you find your gift. But you know I would suggest you take one of these tests as well. But nevertheless there is a gift that you've got. There's something you have and you need to be using that to contribute to the overall advancement of the church. It may be administration. It may be just helps. It may be just serving in some, what seems to be some menial way. But no, it's not menial. So like it was mentioned today, Romans, there's this guy named Gaius, I guess, who actually wrote Romans out. Maybe Paul had bad handwriting, I don't know. So he just spoke this to this Emanuensis, and he wrote this down. That was his little job. I mean, you know, he didn't, it wasn't inspired. He didn't teach it. He just wrote it down. That was important though, because that was necessary for the advancement of the gospel. So you have something that you can do. That's the point. And you want to try to figure that out. Sometimes it has to do with, let me drink this. Sometimes it has to do with your natural giftedness. Now, there's a person in the Bible, the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned as filling anybody is in reference to craftsmanship. building things. It's a guy named Bezalel. It's in Exodus 31, where he had all these gifts given by the Spirit of God that would enable him to make the Ark of the Covenant and do all these things and so on. We have people that can play music. Music is not even mentioned in this list of gifts, but certainly these are things that advance the cause of worship and so on in the cause of Christ. You may have a natural gift. I think the Apostle Paul had a natural gift of scholarship, of study. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel. This is before he was saved, of course. He was probably 30 years old when he got saved. Anyway, he had all this knowledge, he had all this background, and God took that, enhanced it, and used it, and then uses him in the church. So you may have some natural gifts that you've figured out by virtue of experimentation and so on throughout your life. You've got to think in terms of, well, can God enhance those things and use them in the cause of the church? The main point here is to say, You are not coming to a game to watch. You are on the field. You're not going to a concert to listen. You're in the orchestra. We all have a part to play. Somebody said, you can't be reconciled to God without being recruited by God. Do you think of the church simply as a consumer thing? You know, I come in and I want to, you know, I like the music or I don't like the music or I like the preaching or I don't like the preaching or I like the, whatever. I'm here to consume. You better make this thing good for me, because that's what I'm here for. Or do you come in as a servant, saying, I'm here to serve. I don't know what this church needs, but I'm here and I'm going to help it. I don't know exactly why I'm here, but here I am. And I'm going to look at this as my place of service, at least for now. I mean, this is where I am in God's good providence. See, that's the approach you have to take. Now, all must humbly use their gifts. For by the grace given me, verse 3, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. In other words, sober judgment, humbly Think about yourself. If you have a gift, it's because God has given it to you. Remember, it's called a gift. It's a grace. It's something that is bestowed. So, you know, you have nothing to boast about. You must humbly use your gifts. All these are the work of the same Spirit. He gives them to each one just as He determines. God determines the gifts and who's gifted and who's not gifted in certain ways. Now remember the parable of the talents, how the master gave one talent to one guy, two to another, five to another, and he did this according to their abilities. He did it based on his judgment. God gives the gifts based on his judgment. I think about the NFL draft and how all these football-minded people are working on how to assemble the best team and they'll make their decisions. The players don't make the decision. It's up to this master magisterium of the NFL to make the decision as to who they're going to select and who they're going to pay money for to come on the team. It's their decision. God made a decision in reference to what gifts you have. And you've got to acknowledge that and honor that and not boast about your gift. Don't exaggerate its importance. Sober judgment. The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. In other words, you've always got to think in terms of everybody is valuable. Everybody, every little part of the body is valuable. And what you bring to the body, it seems small to you, but it's big in God's eyes. Because God put you there and gave you that particular gift. Don't denigrate others' gifts or yourself. Some people, think I am so humble I can't do anything. Well gee I look at myself I don't have all these gifts or you can't do things you know like somebody on TV and so you figure all I can't do anything. You know this is the mentality some people get and it's not right. Of course you're not going to be the most excellent preacher. I mean, I'm a preacher, but where am I on the scale? I mean, come on, if I start going into that, please, look, the point is, use what you got as best you can by the spirit of God's help, whatever that thing is. And don't denigrate your own gifts. Somebody has said this, it is almost as presumptuous to think you can't do anything as to think you can do everything. You know, people, hey, I'm going to run this, I'm going to run this, step aside, step aside, I'm the most wise, let me do this. You know, no, that's bad. But so is like, I can't do anything, I'm just nothing. I mean, I just have to sit here. I don't have the gifts, I just can't do it. No. Our humility serves us falsely when it leads us to shrink from any duty. The plea of unfitness or inability is utterly insufficient to excuse us. That was the great Spiro Zodiades, who has led these great ministries over the years. But his point is like a lot of people in false humility, because they're really lazy, or if you will, maybe they're just timid about putting themselves out there because, oh, I might get criticized. They don't do anything. They don't participate. This is what is dangerous here. Look at yourself soberly. I might not be this much, but I am at least this, and God can't use me. That's the way we have to think, soberly. Another thing is concentrate on your own gift. You see that in this passage. Paul is making this case. He says, look, if you serve, let them serve. If somebody has the gift of service, do it. Do it, don't just sit around and say, oh, I have to get to service and not serve. If it's teaching, let him teach, verse eight. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. What he's trying to say is, get in there and play the game. Do it, just do it. Don't worry about what anybody thinks. You're here to serve the master. Just serve the master best you can. You will get criticized, especially if you're a pastor. But I mean, it doesn't matter what your role is, you'll find some criticism. I mean, people are just that way, and you have to learn how to deal with that. And all that is a part of your maturity and helping them and everything else. I mean, this is the church that God has given to us. It's full of flawed people. but you serve anyway, you're here to serve him, but concentrate on your gift. I think that's what he's trying to say. Look, if you've got the gift of leadership, lead. If you've got the gift of generosity and you can make money, well, make the money and give it away and get on with it. I think that's what he's trying to say, get on with it. He's putting that down here for this church in Rome so that this church could become mature and become a great church for Jesus Christ. Play your instrument. You know, if you remember in the orchestra, perhaps in the band when you were a kid, you know, let me try your instrument. You know, it's sort of like yours. I played the trumpet. And well, you know, let me try the baritone. And well, you know, it's the same fingering, same mouth thing, doing that. Well, hey, but my basic instrument is the one I should play, the one I'm really good at. And you may be able to do a lot of things, but the one you're really good at, play your instrument. Play your position. I've seen kickers, you know, they do the kickoff in a football game, and the guy's running back, he's running back. Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm the only guy left. He tackles him. I mean, you know, kickers can tackle. But that's not his main role. I mean, there's plenty of things you can do. You know, you get by, but the thing you're really good at, keep doing it. Do it, do it, do it well. Do it as best you possibly can. I think that's what he's driving at here. I mean, I'm a pastor, I preach, I teach and all that. But I also set up tables. I'm telling you, lifting those tables and moving it around, setting them up. I've done hundreds and hundreds of tables over my year. But that's not my major function. You got to do things when you need to have them done. Use your gift to build people up. Your gift is not for your self edification. Look at me, look how well I just played the piano, or how well I did this, or that, or whatever. No, you're not doing it for feedback, positive feedback. I mean, I can see this in myself. I'll put something on the internet, and I'll check and see, did anybody comment? You know, ooh, nicely done, Pestertug, or whatever. It's a prideful thing. It's so weird. But we tend to be that way. And we want to get positive feedback. And it's OK. It encourages us sometimes to keep at it. But sometimes it becomes a pride thing, doesn't it? So we're not here for our own self-edification, trying to do these things. We're here to glorify our God. So use your gift to build others up. The body. One part malfunctions, and the whole thing goes to pot. I mean, most of these situations that we're talking about here, we got one foot, you know, you got the other foot, Mike, what's the big deal? Well, You need that foot. You need this thing. You need every part to be functioning in order for it to be healthy. And so every one of us need to be doing what we're called to do in order for this to be a healthy body. And you may say, well, I don't even know what my gift is. Well, every single Christian is called to care for each other. And you've got the gift to do that. The one and others in the Bible are amazing. Here in this passage in 12.10, be devoted to one another, honor one another. In 15.7, accept one another, admonish one another. And then you have encourage one another three times. You have greet one another four times. You have love one another eight times. I mean, these are all things you can do. You can do this after the service when we go downstairs. You need to think in terms of these one and others. How can I help this person? We are to be springs, not sponges. There are people around you who have needs right now. They have obviously the needs of being accepted, being loved, being encouraged, being instructed, everybody around you. I don't care who it is. They need some kind of encouragement because something isn't exactly what they want it to be in life. And your conversation with them and what you come with when you have your cup filled up with the Spirit of God, that little cup of cold water is a blessing. You know, a large part of the body has to do with healing itself. You got this immune system. And things will get in there, and these cells will come and attack it, and there's various parts of our body that are part of the immune system. Well, we, as a body, need to be helping each other, healing each other, as we go through life. Now, that can only happen when you know each other. I mean, we all have phones now, we have texts, there's ways to contact and get connected with each other. So often now, even though we're scattered, I mean, in the other days, people all live together and worship together, whereas now we're all spread apart. But there is a need that somebody has right now in this church that you can fill by the grace of God. So you got to think that way. So humbly use your gift. Number one, you have a place of service in his body. If you are in Christ, you are in his body. And as a part of the body, you have something to give to other people. John MacArthur, in his commentary on this passage, he cites this story. After World War II, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English cathedral that had been severely damaged by the German Blitz. You know, they bombed London and everything. As work progressed, they became concerned about a large statue of Jesus whose arms were outstretched and beneath which was the inscription, come unto me. They had particular difficulty trying to restore the hands, which had been completely destroyed. After a lot of discussion, they decided to let the hands remain missing and change the inscription to Christ has no hands but ours. That's pretty cool. I mean, okay, that is true. He doesn't have a voice, but ours. He doesn't have a word to speak, but through us. I mean, it could be through somebody you read, but it's Christ through someone else. So this needs to be kept in mind. You are his voice, you are his ear to listen to people, to sympathize with them, to understand them. You are his voice to encourage them. Remember, Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst. So God is in you, working through you. Who's in you? The Spirit of God. The Spirit of who? The Spirit of Christ. I will never leave you or forsake you. So Christ is here to minister to souls through us. You say you can't preach, but you can still talk. You can still share. You can share, and that's just as important as preaching a sermon, teaching a Sunday school class. You are an accountable steward. You will be held accountable. Remember Matthew 25, that parable of the talents. The person who hid his talents, buried it. You slothful and wicked servant. Whereas the other guys, ah, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Which are you? I mean, you know, when the time comes, you're going to stand before God. I mean, are you using your gifts? You're a steward of these gifts. And then, finally, our health and fruitfulness as a church is related to every part functioning well. You know, we're doing these spots on the radio, and at the end of every spot, one-minute spots, we say, where Christ is preached, yes, we worship Christ, we focus on Christ, we lift up Christ. Christ is our all in all. and the focus of our church. Where the Bible is believed. We believe what the Bible says about Christ, about God, about reconciliation, about salvation. We believe these things. And where the fellowship is sweet. The fellowship is sweet. Now this is the part that really has to do with you. Because you have to have fellowship. You have to make connections. You have to go out of your comfort zone to minister to other people. that's what you're called to do. You're part of the body of Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you've given us this portion and this basic principle of body parts and giftedness to minister to one another and help each other. Oh God, please now even as we have heard these things and have been admonished to About them, we just ask, Lord, that you might give us the grace to be faithful in using what you've given to us. Give us discernment as to what we have to give and what we have to share, what is that particular thing that you've given us to do. But show us, Father, how to minister to one another. Give us the grace. Give us the Spirit. Fill us and enable us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.