Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/david-petterson/the-presidency-the-assembly-allows/
I will take a moment to pray and ask for the Lord's further help. Father, we continue in the name of the Lord Jesus. We thank you for what we have heard just now. And we would pray, Lord, that even in the remainder of this weekend together, that what we do and what we say will honor the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you for his work individually in our lives. He called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We thank you for Salvation's Day and how great our privilege is to be able to sing our great Redeemer's praise.
Help us, Lord, as we look further into thy word, that we might have help from God to speak on this great subject and that this might prove to be food for thy people. We ask, Lord, for help and blessing in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus.
Amen. Now I'd like to turn first of all to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. And the subject is, The Presidency the Assembly Allows. The assembly ought to be a place that allows Christ to have his place.
Now there's someone that makes that possible. And it's the Holy Spirit. And so we're going to look at the role of the Holy Spirit in God's assembly, giving Christ his place. John chapter 14, verse 26.
Jesus said, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.
Chapter 16. John 16, verse 13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, that's again the Holy Spirit, he will guide you into all truth. Now that's significant for a number of reasons. Within the lifetime of these men, all truth would be given.
All truth. Within the lifetime of these apostles, all truth would be spoken. There's no new revelation. He will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.
And he will show you things to come. Somebody like John who's writing this. He would show John things to come that would allow him to be able to write the book of the revelation. He shall glorify me. The Holy Spirit will glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.
Now we've read this already once, but we'll read it again. Acts chapter 20, Acts 20 and 28. Paul says to these elders at Ephesus, the assembly at Ephesus. Acts 20 and 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Now 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians 2, and we're breaking into the reading. Verse 13. 1 Corinthians 2 and 13. Which things also we speak not in the words, which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And then to chapter 5. For one verse, chapter 5.
Or maybe two verses. Chapter 5 and verse 4. 5 and 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Finally, chapter 12. 1 Corinthians 12. And we'll just grab verse 1. It's all we need. 12 and 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts. Brethren, I would not have you ignorant. So I want to think about the role of the Holy Spirit in God's assembly.
I think maybe you could say it this way. That the Father planned it. And that the Son purchased it. With His own blood. And the Holy Spirit is preserving the assembly. As we will see in a number of ways.
Now there are 5 primary works of the Holy Spirit in relation to the assembly. There may be more. And some that I've missed. And you can feel free to point them out to me after. But it seems that there are at least then these 5 primary works of the Spirit of God in relation to the assembly.
And we're going to go through the first 4. We're going to cover very quickly. Because I want to emphasize the last one and take most of the time for that. I want you to think first of the gathering work of the Holy Spirit.
His work in gathering believers together. Now often we would refer to Matthew chapter 18 and verse 20. Which Brother Lindsey has set out so well. To make this point that for where 2 or 3 are gathered together.
They've been gathered together in my name. I will have to say this about it. We will often point out that the verb there, gathered. The verb gathered is in the passive voice. Implying that they were gathered together by someone else.
Now I do think that the context there would suggest that the gathering together by other people. Is probably a reference back to verse 16. Where it says, if he will not hear thee. The offense that has taken place.
The brothers that have had an offense between them. He says, if he will not hear thee. Then take with thee 2 or 3 more. That in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses. Every word may be established. So it appears contextually.
That the reason why gathered is in the passive voice. Somebody else is doing it. Is because the individuals are being gathered by the offended brother. Now we don't lose anything. If that's what that means.
Don't panic. There are plenty of other verses. Using this same verb. We read 1 or 2. This same verb. Sunago. Gathered together. That are also in the passive voice. Passive as opposed to the active. Usually if a verb is in the active voice.
It means that you're the one doing the action. But if it's in the passive voice. Someone else is doing the action towards you. So we read in 1 Corinthians 5 and 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When you are gathered together. Same verb. Sunago. Passive voice. Why wouldn't it be active? Why isn't it they're gathering themselves together? This is a reference to their regular meetings. Which is even a more powerful argument than Matthew 18 to use.
In their regular gatherings together. He says that you're gathered by someone else. Who's gathering them together? We could have read it when we were in Acts 20. We could have backed up to verse 7. It says there that when the disciples came together.
They were in Troas. When the disciples came together to break bread. Well if their purpose was coming together to break bread. You know what's significant? Again it's that same verb. Sunago. And it's passive.
Someone was gathering the disciples together to break bread. Who was that? Why wouldn't it be active? Why wasn't the action seen as their action? But someone else that's drawing them together. As a company of believers to carry out the Lord's Supper.
Back to the very next verse. Acts 20 and verse 8. The upper. It speaks about the upper chamber. Where they were gathered together. Passive. Someone else gathered. You say well why wouldn't it say they went up there with their own legs.
And walked into the upper room. And they sat down however they sat down. But again it's passive. Someone else was gathering the believers together. In Acts chapter 11. We read in verse 26. It came to pass that a whole year they.
Paul and Barnabas. They assembled themselves with the church. Passive. Someone was assembling Paul and Barnabas with the church. Who's gathering the believers together? And I think that we can support.
That the gathering work of believers together. In New Testament assemblies. Is the work of the Holy Spirit. I don't think it's the work of the Father primarily. I don't think it's the work of the Son.
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit. In John 16. That He will guide you. Into all truth. That He will lead you to what is true. And so the implication is. If we follow God's truth. We are being led of the Spirit of God.
That God's Spirit will gather His people together. To the name of God's Son. Because part of His work is. To glorify Christ. He shall glorify me. There's the gathering work of the Holy Spirit. I think right along with that.
You could say there's the guiding work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14. That He would send the comforter. He would send the Holy Spirit. He says the comforter which is the Holy Spirit. And He shall teach you all things.
He will guide you into all truth. Now reinforcing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2. We read it together. He says which things we also speak. Not in the words which man's wisdom teaches.
But which the Holy Spirit teaches. He's guiding into truth. If we are willing to obey. If we're willing to listen. If we're willing to hear. And we're willing to obey. We will find ourselves being guided by.
Guided by the Holy Spirit. His guiding work leads us into truth. Teaches us truth. And it is a precious work of the Holy Spirit. Are you not glad for it? You ever stop and wonder where you'd be today.
If it weren't for the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. We'd be in darkness. And we'd be empty. And we'd be in our sins. But He guided us to the truth of the word of God. Convicted us of our sins.
Brought us to see our need. And pointed us to the Lord Jesus Christ. That we might accept Him. And trust Him. Why would He want us to do that? Because there's another work. There's another work of the Holy Spirit.
It's the glorifying work of the Holy Spirit. He shall, Jesus said, He shall glorify me. That's what He wants to do. He shall not speak of Himself. He shall glorify me. Now in what ways would He do that?
I suppose that there are many things that could be mentioned. But when our lives glorify Christ. When we glorify the Lord Jesus. It is because we're allowing the Holy Spirit to control us. We're allowing Him to lead us.
And to guide us. And when we do. We will be living lives that will be glorifying to the Savior. Who wants us to glorify the Savior? The Holy Spirit. He shall glorify me. How will He do that? He will do that through His people.
Through believers. That have received the Spirit of God. That's what happens when you're saved. You receive the Spirit of God. Who now leads you. And convicts you. And guides you. And in a Spirit-led life of obedience.
You'll glorify Christ. Because you have the Holy Spirit within you. Now that ought to be evident in the local assembly. That can be evident in any believer's life. But it certainly ought to be evident in the local assembly.
This local church ought to be a place where Christ is glorified. Yes, we glorify God the Father. Listen. So could the Jews in the Old Testament. But theirs was not the high privilege to glorify the Son.
And now that the Son has been sent. And He has died. And He has shed His blood. And He purchased us to Himself. And now we're His bride. And we can gather in His name. Now ours is the privilege to not only glorify the Father.
But we glorify the Son. He shall glorify me. And we do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. So His glorifying work. His gathering work. His guiding work. I'll just say something quickly about His governing work.
The governing work of the Holy Spirit. I said earlier the Father planned it. That the Son purchased it. And the Spirit of God is preserving the assembly. He is certainly preserving it. And continually guiding us into truth.
But one major way that He preserves a local testimony. Is by raising up men that will protect the testimony. By governing effectively. So that when Paul speaks to those Ephesian elders. He says that the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
He doesn't just say God made you overseers. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. To raise up men. And these men will have to have again the qualifications. That are spoken of in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. He says it's the Holy Spirit that raises up these men.
He talks about wolves that will come in. And wreak havoc on the flock. And it's why it's so critical that men. That are taking governing authority in the assembly. Have those qualifications. And if the Holy Spirit raises up these men.
And if we recognize these men. And if these men do the work that an elder is to do. Then the assembly will be preserved. And behind it all. Is the governing work of the Holy Spirit. Raising up men. To protect what's precious to God.
The assembly. Now finally. I'm not almost done. But this is the last one we're going to look at. We're going to spend a lot of time on this. I want to think now finally of the gifting work. The gifting work.
Of the Holy Spirit. When you were saved. You received the Spirit of God. That's what the New Testament teaches. Receive His Spirit. When you received the Spirit of God. You received gift or gifts. Given by the Spirit of God.
That you did not have before. They are now unique. And they're yours. And they're only yours. And God has now fitted you. To use those gifts. Spiritual gifts. For the blessing of the body. The local body.
The subject of spiritual gifts is found in 1 Corinthians 12. And it is found within the context of a local body. We've already argued that that body was the Corinthian church. And so how are you supposed to use your gift.
For the blessing of those in the body. Primarily. I would ask every one of us here today. What is your spiritual gift? What would you say? Maybe you're puzzled. If you're puzzled you're not the only one.
I get this often. Young believers say I don't know what my spiritual gift is. There were times. There were two letters that Paul wrote to Timothy. And in the first one he told him. Neglect not the gift that is in you.
Don't neglect it. The second time he wrote to him he said. Stir up the gift that is in you. And some may need one exhortation or the other. Here today. But I want. It's a large subject. It's a subject we hope to give adequate treatment.
But it is a very important. I'm not contradicting what Brother Lindsay has said about. Selfishness and self focus. But listen. You're in the assembly. You're a part of it. And we each need to know what we're supposed to do.
You're a part of the body. It's a good idea to figure out what part of the body you are. You might not be the hand. You might not be the foot. You might not be the nose. But you really need to know what you are.
So that you can function for the body's maximum benefit. So I want to think of four things with spiritual gifts. First thing to emphasize. I think we need to take stock of what we have. Just like you would do with anything else.
You need to take stock of what you have. Second, take notice. Of where you can use your spiritual gifts. Take notice. Third thing. Take responsibility. It's one thing to know what you have. And see how it can be used.
But use it. Take responsibility. And then finally, take care. How you use your spiritual gift. Use it with great care. It's a great blessing that the Spirit of God has given you. Abilities that only you have in your assembly.
Now in order to take stock of what we have. If you were to write down on a piece of paper. What spiritual gifts there are in the New Testament Church. Right now. You wonder how many things you'd have on your paper.
Right? We tend to think of maybe one or two of them. And then, is that it? There's a lot. There are quite a few. If you look at Romans 12. There's a list there. If you look at 1 Corinthians 12. There's a list there.
You look at Ephesians 4. There's a little cluster there. And you put them all together. You come up with maybe about 18, 19, 20 gifts. Wow. Now, I have to make a disclaimer. Some of them were gifts foundational to the church's beginnings.
Before there was the Word of God completed. There were men that had to speak for God. They had to say what would ultimately become the New Testament. They couldn't say, hey, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
No, they couldn't. When they spoke as poets, it would become 1 Corinthians 12. There was the gift of prophecy. Before the Word of God was completed. And there were a lot of sign gifts connected with that foundational period of the church.
Gifts like tongues. Gifts like the interpretation of tongues. Gifts like miracles. The gift of the apostles that we read about. And so, if you boil it down to the functioning gifts in the New Testament churches today.
I think you might come up with. There might be disagreement. You might have about seven or eight. Something like that. And that's what we're going to look at. You can maybe take those seven or eight and group them into two categories.
You've got speaking gifts. And by that I don't necessarily mean public speaking. But you have to actually use speech to perform the gift that you've been given. To use the gift that you've been given.
So there's the speaking gifts. And then there's serving gifts. And in some sense, they're all serving gifts. Let's look at the speaking gift. The gift of teaching. Now we can't go into great detail on all these.
Or the time will be gone right away. But maybe something will ring true to you as you hear it. And you say, I wonder. Is that what the Lord's gifted me to do in my assembly? There's a gift of teaching.
Romans 12 and 7 speaks about it. First Corinthians 12 and 28 speaks about it. So what is the gift of teaching? Maybe a good way of describing it would be. It's not just the ability to hold people's attention while you're talking to them.
There are a lot of people that can do that. And there are entertainers that can do that too. But that's not the gift. But it's the ability to communicate divine truth effectively. That's it. The ability to communicate divine truth effectively.
I remember Mr. Crawford being asked a question that was similar to that. Norman Crawford. And they said, Mr. Crawford, what makes good teaching? What makes good preaching? He said, I don't know. But I know it when I hear it.
You know what he means by that. You know it when you hear it. Because you're hearing it and saying, this is effective. I am learning divine truth as this person is speaking. I am learning what God's word has to say.
And God is a very God. He's the God of variety. So that he might have a particular gift of teaching. And he might have the gift of teaching too. But his style will be different than his. And when I listen to him, I'm benefiting.
And when I listen to him, I'm benefiting. The body is benefiting from the gifts that are given. The gift of teaching. To an extent, I wonder if even the gift of teaching can be private. Because there are those, listen, there are brothers that come along.
Even sisters that would sit down and guide and explain the truth of scripture. In such a powerful and effective way. That maybe you could even say that in a private setting. It's a capability given by the Lord, by the spirit of God.
But publicly, it certainly is, there's the gift of teaching. There's the gift of the evangelist. In Ephesians 4 and 11, one of the gifts that are spoken of as given to the church. Rather than given to individuals, but gifts that were given to the church to benefit the church.
Is the gift of the evangelist. He has, you would have to say, he's got a strong love for souls. Not just a strong love to preach. Maybe not a strong love to preach at all. But he loves souls so much that he can't help but preach.
He must be able to preach. Just as the teacher must be able to communicate divine truth effectively to a believer. So the evangelist must be able to do the same with an unbeliever. He may even have the ability to lead people to the Lord Jesus.
Point them to Christ in the word of God. I know sometimes we will condemn that. You don't want to mess with the dealings of God with an individual. Absolutely not. But how many people in Acts were saved without anybody else around?
I think I found one. That's because the Lord met Saul on the road to Damascus. But everybody else, someone came along and helped them. It would be just like God said, I want you to enter into the joy of this whole thing.
I'm going to let you enter into the joy of pointing people to my son. And those of you that have been in a situation where God used you. And the joy that floods your soul. Think, this person has just received Christ.
God says, I want you to experience my joy. So he uses us to point people to the Savior. We have to be very careful in what we do. And how we point them to Christ. But if we point them to the scriptures.
Isn't that what Philip did? He's the only person called an evangelist in the New Testament. Timothy is told to do the work of an evangelist. Philip, the evangelist. What does he do? He meets a man in the desert.
And what does he do? He takes him to the text. He didn't even have to find his own. He had his own text. He was reading from the scroll of Isaiah. And he's right at that point in what we call now Isaiah 53.
And he's right there. And he preaches unto him Jesus. Pointing clearly to him as the one that he needs. So there's the gift of the evangelist. Someone that has the ability to proclaim to people. The glorious message of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There's the gift of, you have to use speech for teaching. You have to use speech for the evangelist. You have to use speech for exhortation. The gift of exhortation in Romans 12 and 8. It's an interesting word.
It's the same word that's used about the Holy Spirit. He's called the paraclete. The comforter. And we're told in Romans 12, there are those that have the gift of the paracletus. Or paraclete. Same thing.
Same word. It's the same word translated consolation. It's used about Barnabas. In Acts chapter 4. In fact, he's called the son of consolation. This is how he was known. As the encourager. The one that exhorted other people.
Literally, the word means para. Well, we've already, Lindsay's told us about ekklesia. Ekklesia. Out. Called. Out. Here's paraclesia. Paraclete. Not called out, but called to one side. And that's what the exhorter does.
They call someone to their side. And they just have a word of encouragement for them. You know somebody like that in your assembly? It's great to have people like that. They pull you aside and say, well, they might say, brother.
What you said was good. We needed to hear it. And here's why it was helpful. Sister, what you did was good. And we need sisters just like you doing the work. You hear that? And it fuels your fire. You know what I mean?
I'm going to go back and study some more. I'm going to keep trying to help other believers. Them using their gift in the whole body benefits the body. And then those other members of the body are motivated to do what they're called to do.
So that the whole body is benefited. The gift of exhortation. So we have at least these three speaking gifts. And then there's the other gifts that are more serving gifts. You have the gift of giving.
I don't know if you ever thought about that as a gift. But in Romans 12 and 8, we read about those that are the ones that are giving. And the word indicates a strong desire to give to others without any ulterior motive or any desire for attention.
It's a particularly private activity. It may especially have to do with financial assistance. So there may be brothers and sisters in your assembly who seem to thrive financially. And it's not that they're at work all the time.
God has blessed them with substance. I wonder why he would do that. Maybe because they also have the gift of giving. And he's giving them an opportunity to use the gift that they have by blessing them financially.
And now they can use what they've received to be a blessing to other people. Now that doesn't mean that nobody else has to give. We'll talk about that in a minute. But there are those that have the gift of giving.
There are those that have the gift of ministry. Romans 12 and 8. It's the same word for deacon, diakoneia. And it may be the same idea that Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 12 when he talks about those that are helps.
Those that serve. Those that minister. And the scope is very, very wide. You might know someone like that. Maybe that describes you. Someone that's always wanting to help in whatever way possible. The list is so long.
Listen, the assembly always needs help. Everyone can be a help. But there are those that are particularly gifted to help in many ways. Help the needs of God's people. Ministry. Then there's the gift of mercy showing.
Romans 12 and 8. Toward the sick. Toward the suffering. It will mean then hospital visits. There are people that are better at that than others. Right? Have you ever been in the hospital before? You know what I'm talking about.
Good to see you too, brother. Okay. There are hospital visits. Listen, it's good to see everybody, right? There are hospital visits. And there are phone calls. And it means maybe messages that you send.
Messages when people are down and they're low. And they need someone to show them mercy. And to show them kindness. Romans 12 says that the mercy shower should do what he or she does cheerfully. Cheerfully.
You can see how practical that really is, isn't it? Somebody shows up and you're in the hospital or you're in crisis. And someone shows up. Hi, I'm here. Thought I would come by and cheer you up. Well, thanks.
It's really helping. He says it ought to be done cheerfully. Not just going through this painful, unpleasant task. But to do it with cheer. And maybe when you leave, you'll probably be more cheered by the brother that was there.
Brother or sister that was there. But there's the gift of mercy showing. The last one, there's the gift of ruling. And maybe you could... I'm just going to lump this together with shepherding and ruling.
The gift of those that are raised up as elders. Romans 12 speaks about those that have that gift of ruling. He is a man that can rule effectively. He's shown that he can guide his house. He shows that he can guide the assembly in the right path.
And make good decisions for the company. He's a man that has a love for the Lord's people. Because he's not only in rulership. He is a pastor. He's a shepherd. He's guiding the flock. He loves the flock.
And he is leading the flock in the right way. And Romans 12 says that his ruling ought to be done with... One translation is diligence. Another is it ought to be done with carefulness. With the utmost of care in how the elder would treat those that are under his care.
Now that's just a brief description of at least a majority of functioning gifts in the New Testament. What do you think? What do you think then? What gift do you have? So I'd really like to know. I think every believer.
Every believer in the Lord Jesus. Men and women have spiritual gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 7 he says,. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every... King James is unfortunate. To every man.
It's not Anna, man. It's Hekostos, everyone. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone. Every believer in the Lord Jesus has a spiritual gift. Say, I'd like to know what it is. Well, there's a number of things you could do.
You could experiment a little bit. You could. Maybe you could give to somebody. Maybe you could visit somebody. See, a lot of these things we're supposed to be doing anyway. So it's okay to try them. Well, it's not my spiritual gift to give to anyone.
So I'm not giving to anyone. What? That doesn't make any sense now. You could experiment a little bit. And you could evaluate whenever you do experiment. And you say, Did I get a sense of God helping me?
And of God guiding me? And God using me? And did I receive joy from this? That I feel led of God in what I was doing? And then you might try it again. And you get that sense of God guiding and directing and leading and using.
And you begin to see the benefit that that brings to the whole body. And you might say, I think maybe God has gifted me to do this. Another thing you can do is you can ask somebody what they think your gift is.
This is even a springboard to have this happen. You could talk to some older... Ask an older believer in your assembly. Now, I just said older. Someone older in the faith. Could you help me out with this subject?
We were hearing about this this afternoon. I really would like to know what my gifts are. I think you'd find... I think they'd find they would really be interested in talking to you. And waiting for the opportunity to speak to you.
And you know what? If somebody did approach you and you say, Well, what am I going to tell them now? One thing you can do is you can say, You know what? Let me pray about that. And we'll have another discussion.
Because we want you to be used in this assembly. We need every person in the assembly to play their part for the benefit of the whole body. Now, take stock of what you have. Second thing. Six minutes.
Take notice of where you can use your gift. There are plenty of ways a brother can use his gift. Let's just go to the teaching gift. You say, well, maybe I have the gift of teaching. What does the teacher do?
How does he take notice? He takes notice of things that are going on in the assembly. The needs of God's people in the assembly. Will this benefit the whole? If what I'm speaking on will not benefit most of the believers, why would I even speak on it?
Well, I want to tell brother so-and-so something. You know, he needs to learn this. Okay? Please don't get up and do that. Please don't get up and use the platform of public teaching to try to fix brother so-and-so.
You know, there are other gifts that will accomplish that. Exhortation. Elders. Leave it there. But when you get up to speak, to teach, to use the gift of teaching, think about the overall needs of God's people.
Will this benefit the whole body and not just one or two? Because the example I gave probably won't benefit anyone. The evangelist will take notice that there's visitors in the gospel meeting. And I've got to find it.
Listen, I've had meetings with a lot of other evangelists. And there's a lot of similarities. You're having meetings. Who's that back there? I've never seen them before. And notice there's just two people that just came into the meeting.
And I wonder what they're thinking about the meeting. And then how many... Listen, you get talked about a lot. Sorry, it's true. And, listen, you get prayed for a lot too. Young people. Children of God's people.
And we're so thankful when we have gospel meetings. He's there. She's there. Thank God. The evangelist takes notice of those that are there. We'll speak to them. We'll get to know them. We'll come to love them.
Spend time with them. And pray for them. And then be able to preach to them with power and effectiveness because they know that you care about them. The one that's got the gift of exhortation, he might notice that someone does something or says something that's helpful, that's uplifting.
Let them know. Encourage them. Be the exhorter. Be the Barnabas, the son of encouragement for their blessing. Maybe you see a brother that's going down a wrong path. Sometimes it's the gift of exhortation that needs to be used to correct it.
And to call him along to your side and say, Brother, I think the decisions you're making are going to be devastating if you keep going down this road. And they may listen. But you'll take notice of these kind of needs amongst God's people.
The one that has the gift of giving will take notice. Maybe somebody's lost their job in the assembly, and bills are coming in. Maybe someone's sick. The hospital bills are coming in. Maybe they don't have insurance.
And you say, I wonder if there's a need there. You can take notice of that need. And those that have the gift of helps take every opportunity to be a help when you can. The examples are too numerous to even mention.
Those that have the gift of mercy showing, you take notice when believers can't get out to the meeting because of sickness. Or you take notice when believers can't cook for themselves. They're getting older.
And you say, maybe there's a need there. Maybe I can help them there. And maybe there's a sister that just had another child, and there's already three or four more in the house, and things are pretty crazy.
And you say, no, she just got out of the hospital. Maybe I can help out. What can I do? Listen, the great thing is, I can think of so many people that have done this in God's assembly. What a place. What a group of people that God has saved and brought together in assembly capacity.
The elder. The shepherd. He knows the sheep. He takes notice of the Lord's people. He takes notice of what they're going through. He spends time with them. That's why one of the qualifications of an elder is that he's given to hospitality.
You can only learn so much about people here. A handshake, a 30-second conversation. But outside of this place, hospitality is where you can sit and talk and get to know one another. And the elder, especially, is given to that.
That he might know the needs of each of the sheep in the flock and be able to give them the help and the food that they need. Take notice how you can use them. Take responsibility. It's one thing to know your gifts.
It's another thing to even see how they can be used. Brother, sister, use them. If the Holy Spirit places something on your heart to do for another person, listen, what other spirit would be telling you to do it?
There aren't any other options. I can tell you that the devil doesn't want you to do it. Where did it come from? God's Spirit puts these things upon our hearts. He guides us to know what the needs of one another are.
And then we can act upon it. Take responsibility to use our gifts. Some of you might need the exhortation. Maybe I do too. Stir up the gift that is in you. Just like the coals of the fire have kind of died down a little bit.
Maybe that's you. And things have just cooled down in your life in relation to helping out in your local assembly. Stir it up. Stir the fire up. Get that gift stirred that it might be used for maximum blessing in your assembly.
Use your gift. You can improve your gift. That makes sense. I mean, if the Spirit of God gives gifts at conversion, you're not going to be able to use your gift as effectively as someone that's had that gift for 30 years and has been using it.
What's the best way to improve it? Use it. And use it much. And use it with the Word of God, spending time daily with Him in His Word, and allow Him to guide you and speak to you, and to show you the needs of God's people, that you might be a help to them.
Take responsibility. Finally, take care. Take care how you use your gift. We need to use our gifts in harmony with the fruit of the Spirit. Corinth's problem was not that they didn't have gift. Corinth's problem was not that they needed to exercise their gift.
They had plenty of that going on. Corinth's problem was that they were not exercising their gifts in love. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Paul says, I'm going to take a whole chapter on that.
I'll explain spiritual gifts here, what they are. They're like members in a body. And then I'll explain the functioning of those gifts over here in chapter 14. And right in between, I'm going to take a whole...
He didn't know about chapters yet. I'm going to take a whole chapter, chapter 13, and I'm going to talk about love, the Spirit in which gifts ought to be functioning. So we need to use our gifts in harmony with the fruit of the Spirit.
We need to use them in light of stronger Christian duties. There may be something else that's needed before your gift is needed with that brother or with that sister. Maybe there's a saint that's suffering.
They're going through a great time of trial, and you're the teacher, and you're going to teach them that they need to trust the Lord. Well, they need to trust the Lord. I think maybe what would be more valuable to them right now is for the mercy shower to come along and just be with them, and to sit with them, and to weep with them, and say nothing.
We need to use them in fellowship with the leadership of the assembly, and not just say, I'm going to do what I'm going to do, and I'm going to do... Listen, the elders, they would know that the sheep know the shepherds, and the shepherds know the state of the flock.
And so if you have something on your heart to do, go to one of the elders, go to one of the shepherds and say, you know, I noticed that sister so-and-so has been in the hospital for a few days now. Do you know if she has insurance?
Do you know if there's a financial need? You know what you might be surprised to find out? That they already know. They've known this believer for years. They've spent time in their home for years. They know all about them.
And now they can say, yes, there is. Thank you. If you're willing to help in this way, here's how you can do it. Please use your gift in fellowship with the leadership of the local assembly. As I sit down, I'll just say two things.
As regarding spiritual gifts, the responsibility is yours. God gave his people gifts. And for it to sit on the shelf for your whole life would be an absolute tragedy. One of the most popular questions, Lindsay probably gets this too, older believers here probably get this all the time too, young people will ask, what is God's will for my life?
And we tend to think of God's will for our life as this big job that we're going to do someday out in Africa or in Mexico. Listen, you know what God's will for every believer's life is? It at least involves this.
It at least includes this. Find out how God has gifted you in the local body and use your spiritual gifts to benefit your local assembly. That's something all of us know, all of us can do. The responsibility is yours.
Finally, the glory is God's. They're called spiritual gifts. We preach it in the gospel. Salvation is a gift. Didn't do a thing. And it's the same with spiritual gifts in the local body. God gave them.
The Holy Spirit gives them. So anything that's done in your life with his help is for God's glory and for God's honor. Take stock of what you have. Take notice how you can use them. Take responsibility and actually use them and take care how you use your gift, that the assembly may be built up, the body functioning as it ought to, and God will receive the glory that he deserves.