back to index2019-11-17 Build Up The Church With My Gifts
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Some other announcements I'd like to highlight is that the First John memorization study 00:00:07.720 |
and practice that we've been taking signups for, today is the last day for that. 00:00:12.980 |
If you would like to participate in this, there is a link there. 00:00:15.560 |
If you have questions about it, you can reach out to Pastor Peter Chung directly. 00:00:18.840 |
But what a really fruitful thing to try to retain the scriptures into your heart, into 00:00:24.440 |
your mind, and have it readily available, especially a book like First John, where as 00:00:29.720 |
it talks about just the core of what genuine Christianity is, it'll be a great study. 00:00:36.820 |
For all the men in the room, again, whether you're in high school or college, young adult, 00:00:42.120 |
married, we're having a men's prayer on Saturday, November 23rd at 8.30. 00:00:48.380 |
So please mark your calendar and come for that. 00:00:50.500 |
We would like to have a headcount, just so we know in terms of facility and preparations 00:00:56.080 |
So there is a link on the app for you to click and just go directly to sign up for that. 00:01:00.680 |
We're also going to be making the link available on our Facebook site and other means as well. 00:01:05.600 |
Lastly, communion service is going to be on Sunday. 00:01:08.880 |
So please make sure, again, we are asking that people take time to prepare their heart, 00:01:13.640 |
to think about the Lord's sacrifice, examine your heart, and again, really being in prayer 00:01:21.680 |
So please take time, come prepared as we participate in the communion table together on Sunday. 00:01:27.040 |
This morning, we are continuing our special series through the topic of church covenant 00:01:36.160 |
and the membership commitments that you make. 00:01:38.960 |
And we've communicated that these are things that we hope every church practices, these 00:01:43.800 |
are things that we hope every single member practices and commits to. 00:01:49.040 |
And I would like to give just a quick review of the various commitments that we've already 00:01:55.040 |
covered, communicating again that these are things where it builds on each other, they're 00:02:00.320 |
all interlinked, and these are what we believe to be from Scripture, God's expectation of 00:02:08.440 |
The very first thing as foundational to us was the commitment that I confess Jesus Christ 00:02:13.040 |
as my Lord and Savior, that your relationship with Christ is the foundation, it is the resource, 00:02:19.800 |
it is the context by which you do everything in church. 00:02:23.840 |
Number two, Pastor Peter Chung covered for us that I confess that the Bible is the inerrant 00:02:29.920 |
word of God, which has ultimate authority over my life. 00:02:34.380 |
What God has said stands the test of time, and it is His word that we submit to and practice. 00:02:41.840 |
And so, you know, he said, "You know, a bare minimum, let's commit to coming together and 00:02:49.600 |
Number three, Pastor Nathan covered for us that I commit to a life of devotion, to prayer 00:02:55.600 |
regularly, interceding for the leadership and the members of BCC, that a natural reaction 00:03:00.880 |
to knowing God, to seeing His sovereignty, to seeing His love, every aspect of seeing 00:03:06.320 |
God, you're going to respond with prayer, that you're going to engage your God. 00:03:12.560 |
So, with that said, today, we're going to do a skip and jump to number seven on the 00:03:18.840 |
sheet of our membership covenant, but it flows. 00:03:24.120 |
And the commitment is, "I commit to building up and strengthening the body of Christ at 00:03:27.160 |
BCC by developing and using my spiritual gifts." 00:03:32.560 |
And this commitment, again, interlinks with the others and has its foundation in the realities 00:03:41.320 |
And it is a vastly important one to understand what generally in a broad perspective God 00:03:50.960 |
And so, as I say that, I want to introduce this commitment with a little bit of a personal 00:03:57.600 |
Not necessarily of my salvation, but after salvation, I wrestled through some of the 00:04:02.240 |
core, I guess you could say, top-level questions that a lot of people wrestle through, which 00:04:17.160 |
And then at the end of that, if you're wrestling with those questions, and let's say you hit 00:04:20.840 |
some major hurdles in life where what you thought you were going to do didn't happen, 00:04:25.560 |
maybe you weren't as valuable to some people as you thought you were, now all of a sudden 00:04:33.400 |
Now, I had these kind of questions in my life at various seasons, and of course, they're 00:04:39.440 |
difficult, and it's our God-given responsibility to wrestle through these things. 00:04:44.400 |
Now on a spiritual level, all those questions have an answer in Christ, right? 00:04:49.560 |
Our purpose is found in knowing and living and walking with Christ. 00:04:56.160 |
In terms of our value, our value is not found in myself. 00:04:59.620 |
Our value is found in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:05:03.040 |
And it requires an incredible amount of faith, trust, and submission to accept that, right? 00:05:09.880 |
We are by nature so prone to establish, secure ourselves, and it requires an incredible amount 00:05:16.680 |
of just personal surrender to say, "Lord, I will find myself in you." 00:05:22.680 |
And to the question of value, to the question of worth, I'm not going to find it in the 00:05:25.960 |
world, but I'll find it in you, and that's our relationship with the Lord. 00:05:32.000 |
I remember when I was young, recently saved, and then I was all confused, and then I wrestled 00:05:37.200 |
with what am I going to do because I got saved right at the end of high school thinking about 00:05:42.320 |
Got those little letters that reject you, you know, "We don't want you at our school." 00:05:48.840 |
Going through those, that kind of like certain walls. 00:05:50.840 |
They're small walls, but at the time when you're young, they seem huge and insurmountable. 00:05:57.720 |
And I remember having moments when I said, "God, I surrender. 00:06:02.800 |
And I remember praying like, "Lord, all those certain things I want, I surrender all that 00:06:11.880 |
That's all I knew at the time, you know, that if you're going to really surrender, you say, 00:06:15.280 |
"I will be even a missionary or a pastor," right? 00:06:19.440 |
That's all I knew at the time when I said it. 00:06:21.680 |
But the thing is, just being honest to you, I meant it. 00:06:25.280 |
But what's weird is, although I meant it, I felt weird that I didn't feel clear as to 00:06:34.120 |
Now someone might say, "Well, you're on Collegian, so at the time, you're not supposed to know 00:06:38.720 |
Maybe, ideally, you should, and for some people, you do. 00:06:45.320 |
You're just trying to establish yourself on what you want to do. 00:06:48.320 |
So then I started asking myself, "Well, what do I want to do?" 00:06:55.600 |
I tell people I'm competitive, I'm ambitious, and they're like, "Really?" 00:07:02.240 |
If I were to confess, I want to do everything. 00:07:05.120 |
When I was in high school, I had dreams of being a real estate mogul. 00:07:09.640 |
I actually got a real estate license when I was super young. 00:07:13.840 |
I got involved with commercial property, and I was like, "I'm going to own this block," 00:07:20.760 |
And then I realized, "Oh my gosh, that's so greedy." 00:07:24.100 |
And then so I was thinking, "Oh, serving people, I want to be a chef. 00:07:29.880 |
So I looked into like San Francisco Culinary Arts School and realized like, "That's expensive." 00:07:34.560 |
I wanted to be a mechanic because I love cars. 00:07:40.080 |
Because I want to prep for you this dilemma, the problem. 00:07:43.640 |
The problem is these major questions are very confusing. 00:07:48.400 |
What am I supposed to do even when I'm surrendered to Christ? 00:07:56.120 |
And it doesn't help because my flesh takes that opportunity about what should I do, and 00:08:01.680 |
it jumps in there and it's like, "I want to do this, and I want to do that." 00:08:04.960 |
So although my heart was surrendered and I wanted to do ministry or at least serve the 00:08:08.800 |
Lord in some capacity, my flesh also said, "Well, I want to do all this other stuff." 00:08:16.320 |
Now fast forward, I started to trek along just learning scripture, and I was so convinced. 00:08:22.040 |
I said, "The Word of God is the living and active Word of God. 00:08:25.960 |
And I want to be a part of giving people this precious treasure, the sweet honeycombs, the 00:08:30.720 |
light, the direction, and the guide to our feet. 00:08:34.960 |
So I told everybody, "I think I really want to be a pastor." 00:08:38.040 |
I signed up for seminary, and my first year in, I wrestled like crazy. 00:08:44.520 |
I got in there, and then I went, "Oh my goodness, what did I sign up for?" 00:08:48.960 |
Legitimately, and again, I'm just trying to be open with you, I sat there a couple of 00:08:53.240 |
days, just staring off into space, but knowing myself right now, I'm a young man at age 24. 00:09:00.480 |
I took a break after college and then went in, and I was like, "I myself, I don't think 00:09:11.840 |
What if in reality, I don't have the character to even qualify for this position?" 00:09:20.560 |
And then seminary, you get late nights, you're in the library, just looking off into space, 00:09:24.880 |
and the motivation to keep studying almost died. 00:09:29.440 |
The next day you go to class, you look around, it's like, "That guy's here? 00:09:34.920 |
Every church would want me, all of a sudden my pride just took the best of me, and all 00:09:43.160 |
And that's just stupidity and pride, and comparison with other people. 00:09:48.820 |
And then later on as I was graduating seminary, I saw certain other men in seminary where 00:09:52.720 |
I looked across the room, and these older gentlemen, like 50 years old, they had just 00:10:00.880 |
They just had like four or five kids, they were in class with me, again, I'm half their 00:10:06.640 |
And I was looking at them not like, "Oh," you know, I was just like so inspired because 00:10:14.080 |
it wasn't so much that, "Oh, they're older and they're here," it was because the way 00:10:17.280 |
that they received the teaching from the professor, they were like bright-eyed, they were like 00:10:21.720 |
taking notes, and sometimes they were moved to tears in class. 00:10:24.560 |
And I'm sitting there thinking, "This is pretty dry stuff, I'm not sure why you're crying." 00:10:29.720 |
But the reason why is because when I talked to them, they've got 20 years of ministry 00:10:34.000 |
under their belt, but they're like, "The weight of the church is so great. 00:10:42.560 |
That's when I was just broken and I realized, "Who am I to think I'm going to get out of 00:10:55.000 |
I hope I am sharing with you appropriately the kind of confusion that I had coming out 00:11:03.880 |
And I don't know if you are also struggling with that, "What do I do?" 00:11:08.080 |
And let me ask you a question to pose it to you. 00:11:10.080 |
If you were counseling me and young little Mark came up to you and was like, "Well, I 00:11:14.320 |
wanted to do this, I wanted to do that, I wanted to do this, I wanted to serve the Lord, 00:11:20.120 |
Maybe you would say, "I know what you should do. 00:11:25.560 |
You're going to do a million things and not do it really well." 00:11:28.560 |
And sometimes you know these questions are big questions that don't get answered in a 00:11:35.560 |
They're not easy questions where it's like if I flip a switch, "I get it. 00:11:44.480 |
Many of these questions don't come in terms of the answer in that kind of easy fashion. 00:11:51.360 |
God is going to lead you through these things. 00:11:53.360 |
Okay, now, here's the reason why I set up for you that problem and dilemma of what do 00:11:58.100 |
I do is because through just going to Scripture and then learning what is God doing in this 00:12:11.200 |
And more specifically, what is God doing in the church? 00:12:15.800 |
Because yes, I can intuitively understand the church is very important to the life of 00:12:20.680 |
But what is the Lord doing in the church answered for me so many of those questions, not exhaustively, 00:12:27.080 |
of course, not in a way that perhaps I was thinking, and definitely I still have the 00:12:30.860 |
responsibility and you have the responsibility to keep asking the question of the Lord, "What 00:12:38.120 |
But I realized that question gets indirectly answered when you look to Him and you ask, 00:12:56.640 |
And so, with that said, that's how I want to introduce to you the commitment that we 00:13:01.760 |
are to commit to building up and strengthening the body of Christ at BCC by developing using 00:13:15.440 |
For the first segment of this sermon, we're going to be here in 1 Peter 2, verses 4-9. 00:13:23.760 |
It says this, "And coming to Him as a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but 00:13:32.160 |
You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood 00:13:37.840 |
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:13:42.840 |
For this is contained in Scripture, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, 00:13:48.280 |
and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.' 00:13:51.080 |
This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which 00:13:55.880 |
the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a 00:14:01.560 |
For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, and to this doom they were also 00:14:07.040 |
But you, you are a chosen race, a real priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 00:14:15.600 |
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness 00:14:24.400 |
God, as we hear your Word pertaining to the building up of your church, I pray, God, that 00:14:32.880 |
you would grant to us a perspective that is not natural to us, but Lord, is of a revelation 00:14:42.920 |
And what's more, we recognize, God, that your plans, Lord, far exceed anything that human 00:14:48.960 |
ingenuity can design and anything that we ourselves can build with our hands. 00:14:54.480 |
And we recognize, Father God, that we have the unique privilege to be a part of this 00:14:58.500 |
mighty work, the mystery of, Lord, so many people being brought together and being made 00:15:07.240 |
And so we pray that today we would both receive an appreciation for your work, but also, God, 00:15:13.120 |
we would develop a conviction and a commitment to build your church. 00:15:17.760 |
We thank you, it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 00:15:20.920 |
So as we think about and tackle this idea of, "I commit to building the church and strengthening 00:15:28.000 |
the body," clearly, one of the things that we have to discuss is the motivation to do 00:15:34.560 |
Because I think, honestly speaking, when I look at our congregation, I'm so encouraged. 00:15:40.000 |
Many of you are here already with the sentiment, "I want to serve. 00:15:46.400 |
What we want to do now is to really rehearse and to focus our attention on the rationale, 00:15:54.640 |
And what I'd like to say is, as I look at the passage of 1 Peter 2, it is teaching us 00:16:00.520 |
that building the church is directly derived from who you are. 00:16:05.320 |
So the rationale and motivation comes from who you are. 00:16:09.160 |
Let's take a second look at that passage in 1 Peter, and we're going to draw those observations. 00:16:14.600 |
I've underlined them for you, but take a look at verse 5. 00:16:19.720 |
It says, "As," so you also, "as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for 00:16:28.560 |
a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 00:16:35.640 |
There is so much being said there, but what's absolutely clear is that you are living stones. 00:16:42.560 |
Jesus Christ being the primary first one that is set, that sets the pattern, that sets the 00:16:48.840 |
line, that sets the foundation for everything else that is being built. 00:16:57.320 |
What's more, what's being built then is a spiritual house, a spiritual house of holy 00:17:06.160 |
In the next slide, I have for you various other things that you are. 00:17:10.760 |
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people of God's own precious 00:17:17.520 |
I want you to think about that, just delineate. 00:17:21.120 |
The perspective here is that you, in essence, are living stone, spiritual house, royal priesthood, 00:17:32.640 |
Now, immediately then, that application then has its meaning for a lot of things we are 00:17:41.320 |
Well, for one, we are not general inspectors when we come to church, but rather we are, 00:17:47.840 |
brothers and sisters, in construction of which you are a piece of it. 00:17:53.440 |
You are not an outsider who is a general inspector coming into the church and saying, "Well, 00:18:10.560 |
But if someone comes into the church and says, "You don't have a missions program? 00:18:17.320 |
That, to me, communicates a very weird and interesting perspective. 00:18:22.540 |
You are a living stone that's going to be a part of this build. 00:18:27.440 |
Why do you come in like a general inspector checking off like, "Do you have this? 00:18:37.000 |
What's more, it's wise for you to look at those things. 00:18:41.400 |
But I'm asking you to think about a perspective. 00:18:45.240 |
I'm just going to come and go and come and go as you please," do you see these pillars 00:18:52.800 |
Because I want you to actually have the metaphorical perspective. 00:18:58.760 |
You are the living stone that's building this spiritual house. 00:19:02.240 |
You should see yourself like, "You know what? 00:19:16.960 |
You're the piece that's supposed to go and support that part rather than thinking that 00:19:26.560 |
You do this, this, and this, and this, and it's going to stand. 00:19:32.720 |
As a matter of fact, don't you think that could be very arrogant in the eyes of God? 00:19:37.880 |
The master architect of the church who is the one who's designed every piece, who's 00:19:44.200 |
designed its foundation, its furnishing, its purpose and use, and he's designed all of 00:19:51.600 |
People now in this generation, I've seen articles like, "Let's redo church. 00:19:59.800 |
Let's make church fit those individuals," or whatever it may be. 00:20:04.200 |
And you think about that, and it's like, "Yes, that might sound well-intending, but when 00:20:08.280 |
you consider the architect, don't you think that's arrogant?" 00:20:21.260 |
We're the living stones that are a part of the build. 00:20:24.440 |
And when you think about your involvement in the church, you have to think in that fashion. 00:20:29.000 |
I do not have the prerogative of the architect to come in here and just dilly-dally, and 00:20:34.600 |
I want to do this, I want to do that, but if you're asking me to do other stuff, I'm 00:20:38.800 |
But rather to have this fully invested, involved mentality, because I am a piece of the construction, 00:20:52.880 |
Now, what's more then, I'm not going to spend extended time on this because this is for 00:20:57.240 |
a future commitment of attending and being present, but I want you to think about that. 00:21:02.560 |
If we are a spiritual house, then building doesn't mean like, "Oh, you know what? 00:21:07.840 |
I helped make sure that everyone is here on time. 00:21:11.360 |
I'm the guy and the enforcer who makes sure people don't have their coffees, and everyone's 00:21:15.800 |
here," and then you skip out on worship service. 00:21:19.200 |
You come ready to worship, eager to give God praise, and in your own personal heart 00:21:25.520 |
attitude of like, "I'm so excited to be here. 00:21:30.480 |
I love hearing you sing to God because praise, glory to Him," that attitude in and of itself 00:21:39.600 |
Because what God desired is the unified voice of His congregation coming together and singing 00:21:56.520 |
The other part I want to now talk about is that I have this cross-reference for you in 00:22:00.000 |
Ephesians chapter 4, that not only are you supposed to show up, again, we're going to 00:22:03.800 |
talk about that more in the future, but you're supposed to be as a living stone engaged in 00:22:13.560 |
We in this generation, I believe, not, again, I'm not trying to accuse you or something 00:22:19.760 |
like that, but there is this common feel within this generation where the mentality is we're 00:22:24.120 |
going to first build this church and we're going to establish an awesome service and 00:22:31.080 |
You're going to come experience it, and that's how the church grows. 00:22:34.600 |
That's not how the church is actually described in this passage. 00:22:38.560 |
Here in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 16, this is what it says, "And he gave some 00:22:44.640 |
as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers." 00:22:49.880 |
So God, in his wisdom, established certain functions and roles within the church, but 00:22:55.240 |
then look what he says, "For the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the 00:23:03.000 |
Question, who is doing the building and work? 00:23:11.440 |
All the individuals of the church are to join in. 00:23:14.480 |
The saints are to do the work of service and the building up of the body until we all attain 00:23:19.000 |
to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure 00:23:23.280 |
of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 00:23:26.120 |
As a result, we're no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried 00:23:30.440 |
about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming." 00:23:36.360 |
Meaning, this build is going to be spiritual in maturity, growing in the likeness of Christ, 00:23:43.920 |
growing in the strength that the Lord provides. 00:23:48.160 |
And what he says is, verse 15, "That you all, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow 00:23:54.200 |
up in all aspects into him who is head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted 00:23:59.120 |
and held together by whatever joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual 00:24:03.600 |
part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." 00:24:10.360 |
Brothers and sisters, this is not something new to you, but we are rehearsing this. 00:24:16.120 |
God has this masterful plan that every single one of you be an integral part, that we are 00:24:22.760 |
contributing to the growth of the church, and it is not, it is not for professional 00:24:28.920 |
It is not for the guy who has 35 years of experience planting and building churches. 00:24:39.120 |
Now, we all might not have the same capacity. 00:24:43.160 |
We all might not have the same set of skills, but nevertheless, the responsibility of the 00:24:47.840 |
building up of the church is squarely on ourselves, the church. 00:24:52.140 |
And that's why when I thought about it, when I was sad, I gained clarity. 00:24:57.720 |
I asked our elders for help, thinking through all that stuff. 00:25:02.440 |
But as I started to realize, "Oh my goodness, our church has a vision to worship God, to 00:25:07.600 |
proclaim His truth, build His community, and evangelize the lost," I was like, "Hey, men, 00:25:15.180 |
And then realizing that me signing that covenant as a member, I am fulfilling the purposes 00:25:25.120 |
I don't sign the covenant as a pastor, you guys. 00:25:27.080 |
I sign that covenant as a member because the building up of the church is currently God's 00:25:34.400 |
The community of faith, you might think it's just a human institution. 00:25:39.560 |
God has said the mystery by which so many different people here and now are joined together, 00:25:44.680 |
it points to the power of Jesus because it's only in His name by which we're gathered. 00:25:51.680 |
And when therefore this church is built, it will point the finger, not at one man, not 00:25:56.160 |
at one individual, not at a program, it's going to point the finger at the power of 00:26:05.400 |
Letter B, moving forward, the next rationale as to why we must commit to building up the 00:26:11.760 |
church and strengthening the body is because of what God gave you. 00:26:17.160 |
First was because of who you are, and now what I'd like to talk about is what God has 00:26:24.240 |
For this, we're going to take a long journey from in the book of 1 Corinthians 12 and go 00:26:34.440 |
The rationale and motive to continue to build and strengthen the church comes from what 00:26:38.000 |
God has given you, specifically concerning spiritual gifts. 00:26:44.880 |
So we're going to walk through 1 Corinthians 12, and I just want to highlight that the 00:26:49.280 |
church of Corinth, very interesting church, it is a church kind of like a lot of people 00:26:56.640 |
describe it as a problematic church because they do have a lot of problems. 00:26:59.780 |
It straight up begins with like, "I thank God for you, but man, why are you so divided? 00:27:04.400 |
How come so many of you guys are jockeying for position, so arrogantly putting yourselves 00:27:09.400 |
You literally try to fight for the front seats, you fight for the first foods. 00:27:14.880 |
Like, that's what some of the tone of the book is. 00:27:17.440 |
But interestingly, in the midst of all that, Apostle Paul commends them because this is 00:27:22.320 |
a church that was fervently trying to use their spiritual gifts. 00:27:27.720 |
In the fervent try to use their spiritual gifts, there was disorder in the church, right? 00:27:33.040 |
There's all kinds of chaos, and a little bit of that flesh also introduced itself in the 00:27:39.800 |
So first, we take a look at a section in chapter 12, verses 1 through 3. 00:27:45.680 |
It says this, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 00:27:51.320 |
You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you 00:27:57.320 |
Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus 00:28:01.120 |
is a curse,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." 00:28:13.680 |
And I'm sitting there saying, "That's me," right? 00:28:20.360 |
The gift to the church is that you have the light of truth, and your spiritual gifts that 00:28:25.360 |
you have in the church is in accordance with the truth. 00:28:31.640 |
Some brother said recently, I was talking to him, he said, "Man, you know what's really 00:28:35.360 |
interesting is in such a relativistic generation and world, we see people are actually hungering 00:28:47.520 |
The church is given that privilege, to have the spirit of truth in us. 00:28:52.320 |
So I'm talking about the commitment to build. 00:28:57.080 |
I'm using this as a means to say the spiritual gifts that we have abides with us with the 00:29:08.360 |
In verses 4 through 11, he says, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, 00:29:14.280 |
and there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 00:29:17.680 |
There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons." 00:29:22.920 |
Take a moment there to pause and realize not only has God given spiritual gifts and the 00:29:29.080 |
Holy Spirit as a common good for the church, He has given a variety of them. 00:29:35.000 |
What we're supposed to appreciate here is both the harmony and the union that we have, 00:29:49.220 |
Moving forward, verse 7, he says, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the 00:29:56.000 |
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to other the word of knowledge 00:30:01.880 |
To another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit. 00:30:06.480 |
And to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy. 00:30:10.180 |
To another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to 00:30:17.400 |
But one and the same Spirit works all things, distributing to each one individually just 00:30:25.680 |
I would like to summarize that by saying that God has given you, meaning us, the collective 00:30:31.400 |
one body, a variety of spiritual gifts, and that is actually good. 00:30:39.680 |
He is saying this was the will of God to vary the gifts in the church. 00:30:47.840 |
Okay, that seems fine by me, but if you actually look at church history, if you even look at 00:30:54.280 |
common church practice in our day, there is a weird phenomenon. 00:30:57.720 |
There is this weird instinctual desire in some people to conform everybody to one singular 00:31:08.040 |
I got saved at a Methodist church down in San Diego, and it was great, and I got saved 00:31:13.280 |
there, but they practiced a lot of these things. 00:31:16.680 |
Today we're all going to learn how to speak tongues." 00:31:19.720 |
Now at the time, I didn't know any better, but now that I look at certain things, it's 00:31:23.320 |
kind of like, "Hmm, but not everybody has the exact same gifts. 00:31:28.680 |
Why are we so trying to bring everybody into one mold? 00:31:39.040 |
Now I want you to think about it another way. 00:31:41.920 |
Sometimes when I go to school in Kentucky, some of the brothers talk about their churches, 00:31:47.480 |
and over there, a lot of churches have choirs. 00:31:49.920 |
And some of you guys who have grown up in the church, maybe you guys have heard of the 00:31:53.760 |
horror stories of choirs and how much problems they cause. 00:31:59.360 |
And sure enough, I talk to some of these friends, and they're like, "Oh man, the choir director 00:32:02.720 |
and the pastor, they're at odds, and they fight over budget," and stuff like that. 00:32:07.360 |
Now let's imagine for some odd reason, I'm like, "I'm going to start a choir." 00:32:12.640 |
And let's imagine, just imagine with me that I was inspired, I was singing, and I was like, 00:32:19.040 |
And then I did one of those things, you know, I do the announcements, I'm like, "Everybody 00:32:22.840 |
And in order to get you to sign up, I did the whole shebang. 00:32:25.600 |
I rhymed, I was like, "Join the choir, we are in, you know, dire, whatever it needs," 00:32:31.680 |
And I like did a song and dance up here, and then I impressed you all, right? 00:32:35.680 |
And then at the end of the day, I was like, "Yeah, let's look at the sign up," and only 00:32:40.400 |
And I look, and I'm like, "Oh my goodness, it's the rest of the leaders. 00:32:43.040 |
They didn't want me to feel bad, so they signed up," right? 00:32:46.760 |
Now imagine if all of a sudden I came angry, "Why aren't you guys signing up? 00:32:58.480 |
I could pound the pulpit and be like, "We need to have this choir." 00:33:03.480 |
And then I start getting at you like, "Wait, you, why aren't you part of this choir?" 00:33:08.800 |
Now part of it is, again, what I'm saying is there is this weird phenomenon where sometimes 00:33:12.600 |
we expect what I'm convicted by, you must do, right? 00:33:21.840 |
He's a godly man, but in his enthusiasm, he's like, "All of you are missionaries, and you 00:33:31.120 |
And I'm sitting there like, "That's encouraging, but at the same time, I'm not sure if that's 00:33:36.800 |
the right way to do it because some of the people aren't ready to go. 00:33:40.840 |
Some of the people have desires and convictions to reach out to different types of people. 00:33:51.160 |
Now I'm sharing with you this stuff because why? 00:33:56.900 |
As I walk through this passage, you're going to notice Apostle Paul is making a repetitive, 00:34:04.160 |
God has varied the gifts, and this is to your good. 00:34:08.300 |
And therefore, if you look at Romans, the next cross-reference, Romans 12, verse 4-8, 00:34:14.820 |
this is what he says, "For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members 00:34:19.280 |
do not have the same function," he says it right there, "they don't have the same function. 00:34:23.420 |
So we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 00:34:28.380 |
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to 00:34:35.620 |
If prophecy according to the proportion of his faith, if service in his serving, he who 00:34:40.860 |
teaches in his teaching," and it goes forth on and on about the various gifts. 00:34:45.620 |
But I want you to not miss the point because I am, yes, giving this emphatic point, not 00:34:50.420 |
just simply, "Hey, let's appreciate the fact that you're all different. 00:34:55.020 |
I love you and I thank God for every single one of you. 00:35:07.100 |
Yes, on thank you cards, I write to our church people, "Thank you so much. 00:35:13.820 |
God has made you each individually different and I love you." 00:35:19.180 |
But the point is, because he's made you different, you need to exercise. 00:35:26.740 |
Because he's given the church variety, you need to exercise. 00:35:32.260 |
I said, because of what God has given the church, we must commit to build. 00:35:37.260 |
No individual can sit there and say, "You know what? 00:35:41.900 |
You as an individual, if it's Alex, if it's Connie, you as an individual, you are the 00:35:46.300 |
individual God is using in your unique place. 00:35:55.740 |
But God has made you to be the workmanship, the carrier of his grace, and how you speak 00:36:03.460 |
into other people's lives, and how you manifest the light that God has given you, that's God's 00:36:11.580 |
Some of you guys are Lakers fans, super excited this year. 00:36:14.260 |
"Oh my gosh, we've got this amazing center, small forward. 00:36:29.780 |
People spend millions to build the team with perfect pieces, the variety of this. 00:36:36.940 |
But then all of a sudden, to your dismay, the center who's like seven foot tall, 300 00:36:41.100 |
pounds is like, "No, I want to shoot threes like Steph." 00:36:51.460 |
And imagine if the whole team said that, it's like, "Nope, not setting a rule. 00:36:56.860 |
So the coach gets upset, it's like, "No, you guys are varied. 00:37:01.580 |
It's like, "Nope, I'm sitting on the bench unless you let me shoot threes." 00:37:06.140 |
Now that part of it, I get convicted because I'm not so much rebuking you, I began the 00:37:12.180 |
sermon by saying, "Oh man, one fleshly way that I responded to my confusion in asking 00:37:20.660 |
the question, 'What should I do?' was to put my foot down and say, 'Well, I'm going to 00:37:30.000 |
Some guy walks in here and is like, "I've been a consultant, man. 00:37:34.420 |
Let me in and I'll show you how everything runs and we're probably going to sit here 00:37:40.740 |
But then think again, always the consideration of the master architect. 00:37:45.740 |
One of the things I was so convinced, convicted by, just like pierced me deep is like, "Yes, 00:37:50.420 |
you may be learned, you may have a seminary degree, but if you demand in the household 00:37:55.940 |
of God to be this one singular role you've set your heart to, now you're useless because 00:38:11.420 |
Okay, there are multiple arenas where I need to surrender. 00:38:15.180 |
Not only whole scale God, I started with God, I want to do whatever you want me to do, but 00:38:20.340 |
one of the things I recognize again in clarity is, man, God desires us to build the church 00:38:30.140 |
Now again, it is our responsibility to keep asking the question, "What would the Lord 00:38:38.180 |
And all those questions, it's not always instantaneous, but you need to keep doing that. 00:38:43.940 |
We need to be a part of this build because God has varied everything and we have it in 00:38:50.180 |
And so, the next portion of the passage, chapter 12, verse 12 through 26 says this, "For even 00:38:55.780 |
as the body is one and yet has many members and all the members of the body, though there 00:39:02.540 |
For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether 00:39:07.700 |
slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of the one spirit. 00:39:15.900 |
Here he goes again, "Appreciate the individuality that God has designed into this collective 00:39:25.700 |
And then what's more, verse 15, "If the foot should say, 'Because I'm not a hand, I'm not 00:39:30.340 |
part of the body,' it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. 00:39:34.660 |
And if the ear says, 'Because I'm not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for 00:39:41.860 |
And we should hear that and hear the exhortation. 00:39:44.900 |
Another way that my flesh comes out sometimes is the boohoo flesh. 00:40:02.220 |
Brothers and sisters, no pity parties for us. 00:40:05.780 |
If we are ever said in our minds, "No one needs me. 00:40:17.660 |
God has designed it so that there are members of the body where with our human eyes, they 00:40:27.140 |
But Scripture says we are all a part of a body, indispensable, and therefore we cannot 00:40:34.940 |
Continuing on, verse 17, he says, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing 00:40:40.020 |
If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 00:40:52.340 |
"Each one of them in the body just as He desired. 00:40:55.860 |
If they were all one member, where would the body be? 00:40:59.420 |
But now there are many members but one body and the eye cannot say to the hand," in this 00:41:06.100 |
Or again, to head to the feet, "I have no need of you. 00:41:08.420 |
On the contrary, it is much sure that the members of the body which seem to be weaker 00:41:13.740 |
And those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant 00:41:20.580 |
And our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable 00:41:28.020 |
Brothers and sisters, we can never have the prideful, "I can do solos" mentality. 00:41:34.960 |
The fact of the matter is we are absolutely interdependent on one another. 00:41:42.740 |
There are times, again, I hope I'm not like overly giving attention to my weakness or 00:41:48.620 |
even my overcoming weaknesses, but I have to share, you know, in personal testimony. 00:41:53.740 |
There are times when I get super self-conscious and I start comparing myself in every fashion. 00:42:05.060 |
I don't have the wit of a previously pastor Aaron was here. 00:42:07.780 |
I always thought like, "Wow, he's so witty and so sharp. 00:42:17.860 |
Because regularly I wish, like I study but I can't retain it, so I sometimes am envious. 00:42:22.020 |
Like, "Oh, I want to be like Pastor Peter Chang." 00:42:23.940 |
I feel like Pastor Nate has a work ethic like just far beyond me. 00:42:28.820 |
And our elders are so steady and calm and patient. 00:42:31.420 |
I mean, we could always do that all day long, right? 00:42:37.100 |
But this passage is speaking very clearly to us. 00:42:39.700 |
God has so designed us so that we are not one man who has every single character trait 00:42:46.900 |
and therefore can stand and literally sit there and be like, "I don't need you." 00:42:56.540 |
Because as we collectively do that, again, we're going to give glory to the Lord. 00:43:01.060 |
And so, the next portion of the passage in verse 24 says, "But God has so composed the 00:43:04.860 |
body giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that," and here it is, "the 00:43:10.140 |
purpose of God, so that there may be no division in the body, but that members have the same 00:43:16.700 |
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. 00:43:19.620 |
If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." 00:43:26.980 |
Prior to building the church, that there be no division in the body. 00:43:31.540 |
When I think about the church, what am I caring for? 00:43:36.420 |
That people are actually growing, that I will carry their burdens with them, that there 00:43:40.340 |
be no conflict in the church, that what burdens me is almost like a parent's heart. 00:43:45.540 |
God forbid that my children would be at each other's throat, but what gives me joy is when 00:43:54.060 |
That is the kind of mentality we should have. 00:43:57.620 |
Now I want to quickly move to this next portion. 00:44:03.580 |
The commitment that we talked about said, "I commit to building and strengthening the 00:44:07.340 |
body," but it also adds, "by developing and using my spiritual gifts." 00:44:12.920 |
And this passage, the reason why I'm going through such large swaths of it is because 00:44:17.380 |
it speaks to that element of our commitment, the spiritual gifts. 00:44:22.140 |
So I'd like to turn your eyes to verse 27 through 31. 00:44:30.460 |
And what I'm saying is, in terms of spiritual gifts, the scripture is actually emphatic. 00:44:42.620 |
You should be seeking to grow in your spiritual gifts. 00:44:48.340 |
Verse 27, "Now you are Christ's body and individually members of it." 00:44:53.180 |
And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, and third teachers, 00:44:58.140 |
the miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 00:45:03.380 |
And look at this interesting list of rhetorical questions. 00:45:22.820 |
And all of those are answered with the answer no. 00:45:28.300 |
And then he says this, "But earnestly desire the greater gifts. 00:45:38.260 |
The way I hear that is, to the man who feels like, "I have no skills." 00:45:44.460 |
And he asks this question like, "Do you have the gift of teaching?" 00:45:53.220 |
And then you're sitting there wanting, "I wish I did." 00:45:56.060 |
What's really interesting, he says, "But seek this greater gift." 00:46:01.900 |
And what I'd like to highlight to you is you know what chapter is next. 00:46:04.620 |
It's 1 Corinthians 13, which is famously known as the wedding chapter of love. 00:46:12.820 |
But in context, before we read it, I want to remind you that this chapter is in the 00:46:18.100 |
context of chapter 12 and 14, which is talking about spiritual gifts in the church that you 00:46:27.580 |
So as a matter of fact, 1 Corinthians 13 isn't even about your marriage. 00:46:33.740 |
People have used it like, "How do you light a fire in marriage so that you're strong in 00:46:42.580 |
As a matter of fact, in context, it is about the gift you should exercise and give to the 00:46:47.900 |
church for its building, for its strengthening. 00:46:52.460 |
This kind of love is the love that you should have for the church. 00:46:57.120 |
And this is where, again, for me, I was challenged. 00:47:00.740 |
There is such a priority for me to love the body of Christ. 00:47:08.860 |
If I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy 00:47:16.380 |
If I have the gift of prophecy, I know all mysteries and all knowledge. 00:47:20.780 |
If I have all faith as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 00:47:27.740 |
If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but 00:47:38.540 |
It is not jealous, love does not brag, and it is not arrogant. 00:47:43.300 |
Brothers and sisters, I want to share with you something. 00:47:45.740 |
Our church leaders, yes, we have people sign off on a membership covenant that says, "I 00:47:53.640 |
And we want you to serve, and so when you become a member, we give you this sheet. 00:47:56.900 |
It's a new members packet, and it has all like 32 different teams that you can join. 00:48:02.660 |
But we definitely don't want you to have this mentality where it's like, "Sure, I'll do 00:48:15.880 |
We don't even want you to do it because, "Well, you said so, so I'll just do it. 00:48:20.140 |
Like, that's not even the mentality we want you to have. 00:48:23.060 |
You understand what we are saying, that the building up and strengthening of the church, 00:48:39.060 |
And so no, we don't have 15 ways that you can just check this off. 00:48:43.220 |
We don't have five top priorities of where you have to serve. 00:48:46.860 |
And yes, although it might feel like some people said, "Oh, every time I ask, how can 00:48:50.860 |
And then the first thing comes up, it's like cleaning ministry, right? 00:48:57.400 |
We want you to have this heart of Apostle Paul. 00:49:00.120 |
He is thinking love for the people of Christ. 00:49:06.700 |
So that you don't become, the back part of that is, if you do that, where you just do 00:49:11.980 |
stuff without love for the church, what do you become according to this passage? 00:49:17.060 |
The annoying person who just, "Bang, bang, bang," right? 00:49:22.740 |
You're just like busy, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." 00:49:24.700 |
And then you realize you look up, you haven't helped a soul. 00:49:31.200 |
Now, for the sake of time, we're going to move forward to chapter 14, verse 1 through 00:49:39.380 |
And you understand what I'm saying is yes, you should be seeking spiritual gifts. 00:49:43.780 |
And for those of you who have already recognized, like, "Wow, I have the gift of administration. 00:49:48.900 |
Wow, I could ask questions and people feel comfortable around me." 00:49:53.700 |
But every single one of us should grow in the avenue of love. 00:50:00.300 |
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly this spiritual gift, but especially that you may prophesy. 00:50:08.620 |
For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. 00:50:11.900 |
For no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 00:50:16.340 |
But one who's prophesied speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. 00:50:22.180 |
One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies the church. 00:50:30.560 |
So what I'd like to say is you see the dual action. 00:50:35.800 |
Remember in Ephesians, Apostle Paul said, "Speaking the truth in love we are to build." 00:50:39.640 |
And this passage likewise reiterates the same truth. 00:50:43.540 |
It tells you seek to grow in your gift of loving. 00:50:47.200 |
And he says, "Seek to grow in communicating actual truth that people can understand." 00:50:52.660 |
For the benefit of the hearer, for their sanctification and their edification. 00:50:57.260 |
And within this there is a, again, piercing conviction. 00:51:00.420 |
Verse 4 says, "The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies 00:51:08.860 |
I want to start wrapping things up by going through with you chapter 14 because he is 00:51:14.780 |
Use one case example about tongues to talk about your heart attitude that will edify 00:51:24.220 |
And what I'd like to do is highlight for you every time Apostle Paul mentions this concept 00:51:33.260 |
"Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 00:51:38.140 |
For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. 00:51:43.220 |
And in his spirit he speaks mysteries, but one who prophesies speaks to men for edification 00:51:50.300 |
One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies the church. 00:51:55.260 |
Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy, and 00:52:00.780 |
greater is one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets 00:52:10.700 |
But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I prophet you, unless 00:52:15.300 |
I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? 00:52:20.700 |
Yet even lifeless things, either fruit or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not 00:52:26.140 |
produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or 00:52:31.940 |
For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? 00:52:36.860 |
So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known 00:52:46.560 |
There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without 00:52:52.500 |
If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, 00:52:57.540 |
and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me." 00:53:01.940 |
"So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification 00:53:14.540 |
Whatever you are doing, seek the building up and the strengthening of the church body. 00:53:20.940 |
Have you moved beyond, moved beyond the childish ways of what does this church have for me? 00:53:28.500 |
Have you moved beyond the childish thinking of I don't feel comfortable? 00:53:31.860 |
Have you moved beyond, well, no one's reaching out to me yet, to rather have the initiative 00:53:40.180 |
Verse 13, "Therefore, let no one who speaks in a tongue pray." 00:53:47.860 |
"Therefore, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 00:53:51.740 |
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 00:53:56.860 |
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also. 00:53:59.980 |
I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also. 00:54:02.740 |
Otherwise, if you're blessed in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place 00:54:08.060 |
of ungifted men say the amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you 00:54:16.300 |
How are they going to participate with you in the thanksgiving, in the worship? 00:54:20.740 |
And the answer is, if you're more concerned about your role, if you're more concerned 00:54:29.220 |
For you are giving thanks well enough, but the person is not what? 00:54:34.220 |
I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all. 00:54:37.060 |
However, in the church, I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct 00:54:41.940 |
others also, rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. 00:54:50.920 |
When I thought about myself, before I used to think, "Oh, there's a balance of really 00:54:55.860 |
seeking my role and position versus making sure to prioritize." 00:54:59.980 |
But actually, Apostle Paul says, "No, there is a clear order." 00:55:09.140 |
This modern thought that you have to reach self-actualization is completely overrated. 00:55:17.140 |
The kind of thought you were taught in grade school, and yes, our parents being well-intending, 00:55:21.340 |
constantly saying, "You have to be self-fulfilled. 00:55:24.300 |
You have to reach your grand potential," overrated. 00:55:30.540 |
It's not the worthless, crazy things of the world. 00:55:36.220 |
But there is such a higher priority that Apostle Paul is thinking. 00:55:40.620 |
He is looking at the body of Christ saying, "The edification of the church comes first." 00:55:47.100 |
And when I heard that, when I was thinking through this, again, for me, I was so humbled. 00:55:52.420 |
I don't need to be what I always thought I would be. 00:55:57.820 |
If I'm used by the Lord for the edification of the church, I say, "Amen." 00:56:03.780 |
Let me wrap this up by reading the last section. 00:56:07.180 |
He says in verse 20 to 26 of chapter 14, "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking. 00:56:13.340 |
Yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. 00:56:16.260 |
In the law it is written, 'By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will 00:56:20.820 |
speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me,' says the Lord. 00:56:25.660 |
So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. 00:56:30.660 |
But prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe. 00:56:34.340 |
Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men 00:56:39.860 |
or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? 00:56:44.160 |
But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is 00:56:51.740 |
The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, 00:57:03.100 |
When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, 00:57:14.360 |
Brothers and sisters, I do want to remind us, we are not just different, but worlds 00:57:24.460 |
You may belong to a ping pong club, you may belong to a bike club, you may belong to some 00:57:34.800 |
That kind of community has a sense of community based on function, based on practice. 00:57:40.800 |
We have in God a certain identity where our essence is united by the Spirit of God. 00:57:47.600 |
And when scripture says that by that power and by that identity, you are to continue 00:57:56.240 |
And what I want to say is, every single individual has a part in it. 00:58:02.880 |
No matter what we see with our human eyes, every single one of you, and this is not the 00:58:06.720 |
kind of mantra and cliche speaking of some politician. 00:58:13.680 |
God has by his own design composed the body that though we are one, we are very, all contributing 00:58:27.760 |
Lord, we take time to recognize that what you are doing has, it reaches far, far back 00:58:39.080 |
And we realize God, the means by which we accomplish what you are doing, Lord, the depths 00:58:44.320 |
of which we will not even understand fully in this time. 00:58:49.160 |
The sacrifice of your Son, the working power of your Spirit to unite us to your Son. 00:58:58.880 |
And then to think now, Lord, that the privilege of all of this, the spiritual truth you have 00:59:04.120 |
expressed in your church, which you have designed to be the revelation of the magnifical wisdom 00:59:12.160 |
I ask, Father, Lord, that you grant to us both understanding and appreciation, but most 00:59:18.880 |
more the heart of excitement and commitment, Lord, that we want to be a part of building