Stewardship with our spiritual gifts — Bruce Rodgers

Christ as the Faithful Steward in John 17

I want to look, first of all, with you in John chapter 17, just a little glimpse of the Lord Jesus as the faithful steward, before we get into the direct subject of spiritual gifts tonight. Now, I'm sure most of us are familiar with John chapter 17 as being the high priestly prayer of Christ.

And it certainly is that. It's a wonderful glimpse of what the Lord Jesus is doing today in his intercession for us, his care and ministry to us as his people. But at the same time, it's also a very insightful glimpse of his personal stewardship.

In coming into this world, he came as God's servant. And what we have here presented is his words to the Father just as he is about to leave earth and go back to heaven. And it's a challenge to each one of us as to what we will be able to say when our stewardship comes to an end.

Just notice verse 4. He says, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Verse 6, he says, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.

Verse 8 says, I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. Down in verse 12, he says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept or guarded, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled.

When you look at these words, you can see that the Lord Jesus Christ is expressing his completeness, the fulfillment of the work that God gave him to do on earth. And I wonder if we have any idea that God has a work for us to do on earth.

Now obviously, much more depends upon him and his work. And we can be grateful for that. Because if he had failed, there would be no hope for any of us. But I want you to think about this. A life lived on earth in which God was perfectly glorified.

I have glorified thee on the earth. So this expresses really the fundamental responsibilities that each one of us has in our stewardship. So it's a pattern. I like to think of the Lord Jesus in his stewardship as being our pattern, a pattern for us to follow.

So first of all, you have responsibility fulfilled Godward. I have glorified thee. And I'll go right back to what we said yesterday concerning our most fundamental stewardship is that we are to represent the living God here on earth.

Everything that I am, everything that I do reflects on God. It expresses something about what God is. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as the perfect man, he could say to the Father, I have glorified thee on the earth.

And then he says, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. And the verse 6 really furthers that thought. I have manifested thy name. Now, what's in a name? Well, some of our names don't have any particular significance.

It's just the handle that our parents gave us. And it doesn't particularly express even our character. But when we talk about God and manifesting the name of God, it's really revealing God's character.

It's making him known in his essence, in what he is. And this is a tremendous stewardship to manifest the name of God to those around us. So he fulfilled his responsibility to God. He fulfilled his responsibility to the word of God.

I have given them thy words, the words thou gavest me. So you have what we'll be looking at actually tomorrow night in the stewardship of the truth of God. It was committed into his hands and he gave to us the word of God, the revelation of God.

And then you have his responsibility to the people of God, the men which thou gavest me. And then he says, I have kept them. Now, let's go over to 1 Peter 4 and see how this now relates to us. 1 Peter 4.

Spiritual Gifts as Stewardship of God's Grace

I should mention, in case anyone has missed, there are outlines at the back of the message tonight. If you didn't happen to pick one up, you can get it at the end of the meeting if you don't have it now.

1 Peter 4 and reading at verse 10. As, or according as, every man or each one has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.

And if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now, I guess that when we talk about spiritual gifts, the first thing we need to do is understand what we're talking about.

A spiritual gift is not an ornament. It's not something for you to wear. It's not something to look pretty. It's a tool. And if a husband gets a gift and he opens it up and it's a tool, he probably figures out pretty quickly that there's a home renovation project.

That's wanted. It's not just meant to hang up in the garage. There's work to be done. And if we could realize that we are expected to use the ability which God gives us, what is a spiritual gift? It's simply a divinely bestowed ability conferred upon a believer, a member of the body of Christ.

And so the scriptures are really quite clear upon this. This passage really just gives us an overview or a summary of the subject of spiritual gifts. The main passages on spiritual gifts are found in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians chapter 4.

And in each one of those passages, it is assumed that every one of us has at least one gift. And so the question that I'm going to present to you in this passage is, do you have a ministry? Because you notice what it says, According as each one has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards.

Now remembering again what a steward is. A steward is someone who is a manager. Someone that the owner has left with some responsibility. He has entrusted his property or his business, something that is his, but given to someone else to take care of and to manage.

And so as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, this is actually a very thrilling thing to think about. The fact that God in all his greatness, in all his manifold beauty, has bestowed particular abilities upon each individual believer, so that we might be part of his glory, that we might reflect something of his goodness, something of his greatness.

And so then it becomes quite specific. And I remember back quite a number of years ago, I was actually visiting a dear sister who was dying of cancer. And her husband was a little bit of a crusty gentleman.

He had a way of making people feel uncomfortable. And we were only visiting there for a little while, and he looked straight at me and he says, Do you have a ministry? Well, I'm not the kind of person that's going to start proclaiming what my abilities are or whatever.

And so I just didn't really say anything. And he kind of looked at me for a while, and then he referred to a sister up in the assembly in Kapuskasing. And he says, Now that woman has a ministry. Now he was right.

That lady, Flo Cancier, I don't know if you've ever heard her name, but we called her the spark plug of the work in Kapuskasing. She was the first one saved. And about half of the assembly were her contacts.

She just never stopped talking. And she still doesn't stop talking. She is spending about six months of each year over in the Ukraine, spreading the gospel, speaking to people. She's not Ukrainian, but her husband was.

He died three weeks before we met her. He died tragically. He committed suicide. And that was part of what opened her to contemplate spiritual things. She was a devout Catholic at the time, but her world was shaken.

But from the moment that she got saved, she devoted herself to speaking to people, reaching people. And so it would be very easy to look at a person like that, an individual like that, and say, Yes, she has a ministry.

But this passage is challenging each one of us to recognize, I should have a ministry. Why? Because I've been given a gift. According as each one has received the gift, even so minister the same. And when we think of the word steward, remember this reality.

Each one of us will stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus, and we will actually have to give in an account of our stewardship. And so don't you think it's important that we should understand what God expects of us, what he has in mind for us in serving him?

It's according to the gift that he has bestowed upon us. Now verse 11 is really giving to us two classifications of gift. I'm not going to say these are specific gifts here, but just giving to us the two broad classifications of gifts, the speaking gifts or the serving gifts.

Notice what it does. It says, If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives or which God supplies. So he immediately connects us to God and his resources.

One thing that is encouraging to me is that whatever God expects me to do, he's going to supply the ability to do it. What does it mean to speak as the oracles of God? Well, that term oracles is more familiar in the Old Testament, but it's interesting when you start looking at a subject how often it pops up even in the New Testament.

It was related to the divine utterances. The word oracle actually has the term word in it. It's what's called the diminutive of the word word or logos, as you may have heard that expression in the New Testament.

And so it is really an utterance, a divine utterance, a message from God. So what this is saying is whenever we speak as serving God, just as I'm doing tonight as what takes place in the meetings of the assembly, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.

That's pretty awesome, isn't it? We're not here just to express our opinions. We're not here just to convey our ideas. We are here to teach God's truth. We are here to exhort, to encourage as coming from the presence of God.

Speaking and Serving as God's Representatives

Now there's a man that was known in the Old Testament. His name was Ahithophel. He was one of the counselors of David. And you remember when Absalom turned against his father, Ahithophel turned and followed Absalom.

And I often wondered why did Ahithophel turn away from David in a time of crisis in the kingdom? And I used to think that, well, maybe it was a problem that Ahithophel got too lifted up in pride of his own counsel.

If you remember the story, Ahithophel counseled Absalom to go immediately after David who had fled out into the wilderness, to go out and pursue him and get him when he was worn out and tired. The other counselor, Hushai, the archite, he was true to David and he countered that counsel and they listened to him instead of Ahithophel.

And Ahithophel went out and hanged himself. So you might gather from that that here's a man who somehow has gotten too much occupied with himself. And when his advice isn't followed, then he runs off and sulks.

That was kind of an extreme way to sulk. But, you know, somebody pointed out an interesting fact that probably is more accurate to what really was going on. Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba.

And that event in David's life, that failure in David's life, triggered a whole series of catastrophes in his kingdom. And it could well be, it was a number of years later, that this man who had seen his daughter's life devastated, her marriage destroyed, her husband murdered by the king on the throne, when the opportunity came, that anger and resentment came up and he acted on it.

Now, I'm just drawing attention to that. And I'm going to give you what it says about Ahithophel. It says this, The counsel of Ahithophel was as if a man had inquired at the oracles of God. Here is a man who had been in touch with God, in touch with the mind of God, so that God's people could go and get help.

And when they had gotten his counsel, they would have the confidence that they were getting the mind of God. Now, that is a very high honor, isn't it? And that is what should be true of men among us today, that we know God.

We know the principles of God. We know the truth of God. And those who would come to us for counsel would be able to sense that they are getting God's counsel, and not just human wisdom. But the tragic example of Ahithophel is that personal resentment and bitterness could cause us to actually work against the purposes of God.

And so, this is a tremendous responsibility that any of us who take part in the meetings, any of us who preach the gospel, who communicate the truth of God, let's remember we're representing God when we speak.

So it matters what we say, and it even matters how we say it, what kind of attitude we convey, because we're representing his presence and his mind. And notice the other expression, if any, men minister.

Now, the word minister, if you look through your New Testament, you will find that it is used in a variety of ways. It really just means to serve. And sometimes it's applied to preaching, ministry of the word of God, just like we call these ministry meetings.

Well, this is ministering the word of God. But in the context here, by the contrast with the previous expression, I would suggest that this is acts of service. If any men minister, or if anyone minister, let them do it as of the ability which God gives or supplies.

Now, the word to give here is an interesting word. It actually is used in the sense of supplying all of the need of. Now, we would use a word today, we talk about sponsors. And anybody that's been in business has probably been plagued by people wanting you to sponsor them.

They want you to support them, to supply their needs so that they can just go and do their thing, whatever it happens to be, whether it's a sports team or whether it's some kind of arts group or whatever it may be.

And so this is the sense that God will support us. He will supply all our need so that we can go and serve him freely and capably. The outcome of it all is that God, in all things, may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

And that's why I connected this with what we saw in John chapter 17. When the Lord Jesus was here upon the earth, it could be accurately said of him that he spoke the words of God and he did the works of God.

That is now our responsibility. That mandate, that stewardship, has now been entrusted to us. And so if we can just accept this as the basic framework of our Christian life, we're doing God's work. We're speaking God's words to this generation.

Let's go then to Romans chapter 12 where we'll take up the question of are you ready to serve? Romans chapter 12, again, this is a very familiar passage. And we'll start reading at verse 1. Maybe we should read the last verse of chapter 11 just to see the connection again.

Consecrating Ourselves for Service

It says, For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. So just as in 1 Peter 4, so here glory to God is the ultimate outcome of spiritual gift. So Romans 12 and 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world or this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body and all members of not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

Now, personally, I believe that this passage is very, very key to the question of how we can know, how we can discover and develop our spiritual gifts. I think it really gives to us a pattern of understanding and discovery and development of gift.

And it starts out with presenting ourselves to God. Now, this is a response. It is a response to the God who has moved in mercy toward us. The God who has rescued our lives from futility, from ultimate condemnation and judgment, from corruption.

He has rescued our lives. And the greatest and wisest response that we can give to God is simply to present ourselves, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Now, that is sacrificial language, going back to the Old Testament, to what were called the dedicated offerings.

And dedicated offerings could be either people or things. And the concept of something being dedicated to God is that something was surrendered to God permanently, not to be taken back. Does that sound reasonable for you?

I'll have to ask you another question. Have you ever done this? Have you ever, in the Lord's presence, consciously, deliberately, yielded yourself to serve Him? You know, this should have happened when we got saved.

But sometimes we don't quite understand everything that's involved in coming into salvation. But it really at least should have happened when we were baptized. If we understand what baptism means, because baptism is the end of a life, the termination of one kind of a life, and the beginning of a new life lived unto a new Lord, a new Master, alive unto God.

It's significant that the same term that we have in the first verse, present, is found in chapter 6 in a different context. But there it's translated, yield. And in the context of our deliverance from sin, we are called upon to stop yielding to sin.

To stop yielding our members as instruments of unrighteousness. There's enough people in the world doing that. There's enough people in the world manifesting the effects of evil. Living out the lusts of sin and experiencing the consequences.

Let's be different. Let's manifest the blessing of salvation. The blessing of a Redeemer who has delivered us from Satan's mastery. From the power of evil. And what we learn in chapter 6 is that my safety is in being surrendered to Christ.

Because He is the one who has died for me and now has risen and in relationship to God brings me in under His protective custody. And He is my Lord. So in this passage then, we're now thinking in terms of worship, service, Godward.

And the very first thing that He wants is us. There wouldn't be much point in trying to serve God with some ability that He has given to you if He doesn't have your heart. If He doesn't have your will surrendered to Him.

And really, one of the things that impresses me about the value of this truth is that Romans 12 and 1 actually resolves many of the issues of life. If I have yielded my life into God's hands, what He does with it is His business, isn't it?

What He chooses to use me for is His prerogative. I've already given to Him the authority. I have surrendered my right to live life on my terms. And so it solves or settles the issue of what happens in life.

And I think I left it down on the outline that you have a plaque that I saw in an older believer's house in London, Ontario. And this man was a dear brother who really lived a godly life, Jim Porter. And this plaque simply said, God is willing to take full responsibility for the life that is wholly committed to Him.

God is willing to take full responsibility for the life that is wholly committed to Him. So could I just encourage you, if you still wrestle with in your mind, in your heart, the issues of control of your life, do the wise thing.

Relinquish it into God's hands. Because the God who is all wise and who is good, who is merciful, who is rich in goodness, He will make the very best use of your life that could possibly be given. So verse 1 emphasizes the dedication of our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice to live for His glory.

Resisting Worldly Conformity Through Renewed Minds

And then verse 2 raises the challenge. And this is certainly one of the problems which confront every one of us. Verse 1 is given to us as a once-for-all presentation. That is, relinquishing our rights to our life, giving to Him authority and control to use us as He wills.

But in verse 2, both of the terms that are used here, be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, both of those terms are in what is called the present continuous and the passive. And what that means is that this is an ongoing issue.

As long as we are in this world, we are going to be pressured by the world that we are in. We are going to be pressured by its aims, its ambitions, its values. You see, the world is not content to let you live a life that honors God.

There is a characteristic of evil that it must drag good down to its level. So whether it's at school, whether it's at work, whatever the relationship may be, no one is comfortable having someone around who is a more righteous person.

You know, I have found, and this is true even among Christians, and you can take this for what it's worth, I have found that many believers can handle dealing with other Christians who have less convictions of life more easily than dealing with a Christian who has higher convictions than they do.

And it's a very simple reason. It's because our conscience is pricked being around such a person. If I'm around someone who is very, very godly, very conscientious, that puts more pressure on me and my life.

And there is a tendency to react against that. And we can handle people who are, you might call more loose, who take God less seriously. And that is multiplied when you come to the world and its impact.

It wants to drag you down to its level. Because if you live for God, if you live righteously, you are a rebuke to their life. And so we have this influence then of the world. I don't think any of us are immune.

And it might be a challenge for any one of us to really analyze, am I being influenced more by the presence of God or by the pressure of the world? That's something that does affect every one of our lives.

Why does it matter? Very simply, because if my heart is in the world, in the first place, I'm not going to be available for God. And I'm not going to be in a condition in which God can really use me. And so the sanctification of our minds is an issue that every one of us have to battle with day by day as we live in this world.

And so, be not conformed is a call to us to resist the pressure of the world that is around us in its immorality, in its focus on pleasure, in its focus upon materialism, in its focus upon life lived in alienation from God.

We are to continually resist that pressure. But we are to respond to the influence. When it says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that's talking about an inner power, the power of the Spirit of God within us.

And to be transformed by the renewing of your mind the word renewing is here used in the sense of what changes us into what is new and different. It's not so much talking about waking up in the morning and feeling renewed, refreshed, that sense of renewal.

But it is the sense of being changed from what we wear in ourselves into what God wants us to be. Now the Scriptures make it clear what that transformation is intended to bring us to. Romans chapter 8 tells us that the goal of God is to bring us to conformity to the image of His Son.

In Ephesians chapter 4 and Colossians chapter 3 both of those passages speak about putting on the new man. And it mentions, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him. So what we have taught to us in those passages is that we are being renewed to the image that was lost, that was marred through the fall of sin.

And we have a far better resource than even if we had been left under Adam and just simply given another try. Because we have the Lord Jesus Christ who is the perfect image of God. You know, if you think about photocopying, the photocopiers we have today do a pretty decent job.

But if you remember a few years ago, if you photocopied something and then took that photocopy and then used that for the copy, the same thing happens when you go and get your keys copied and you make copies of copies, pretty soon it has deteriorated significantly.

Through the fall in the Garden of Eden, the image of God, the God's character and ways have been corrupted within us. What has been accomplished through redemption in Christ is that we have now a perfect image of God in Christ.

Christ indwells us. The life that has been created in us through the new birth is the life of His Son. So there is this tremendous potential within us that we can change. We can become like Christ. And so this is the challenge that we have here.

Don't be conformed, shaped and molded by the pressure of the character and attitude and ambitions of the world, but be transformed into His image through the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

This is really telling us that if we will submit ourselves to God and His workings within us, we will experience the blessing of the will of God being fulfilled in our lives. And we will discover, when it says here that you may prove it's really saying to prove by experience that God's will is good.

God's will is acceptable. God's will is perfect. So the verses that follow are really going to open up the particular aspect of the will of God that is in view in Romans chapter 12. And that is the avenue of spiritual gifts.

Spiritual Gifts Within the Body of Christ

So from verse 3 to verse 8, we are really looking at what is commonly called consecration. And again, that's drawn from Old Testament sacrificial language of the consecration of the priests. Really, the word literally means, the word consecration literally means the filling of the hands.

And the idea is this, is that something is put into our hands that enables us to worship God or serve God with. Something to present to God. And so what we have here is the idea that God has conferred upon us.

He has filled our hands with spiritual gifts. And now He wants us to glorify Him and to serve Him in using them. So the first thing that is mentioned in verse 3 is that we are to think soberly, realistically.

We're to evaluate, what has God given me? To recognize what He has bestowed and to think realistically about it. And just to point out that the word grace and the word faith that is used in this verse is not relating to grace bringing us into salvation, but rather the grace, which is, you might say, the God-given enablement, ability to serve Him.

And so it is the grace to serve Him, the ability to serve Him. And the faith, the measure of faith that is mentioned, we could say is the God-given confidence to use the gift that He has given. Now something that you'll notice if you make a study of the subject of spiritual gifts is that each one of the main passages that deal with the subject always put it in the context of the body of Christ.

And to me that is very, very significant. Now, to me it's very helpful because you can think of your own body, the illustration is used here, as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, all members have not the same function.

It's pretty obvious, isn't it? That God designed ears for hearing. He designed eyes for seeing. He designed hands for holding things, for making things. He designed feet for walking. And if you want to try walking on your hands, I suppose you could do it, if you're athletic enough.

But just try walking two miles. It's all part of our body and yet it's very obvious if you start using the parts of our body for other purposes than what they're intended, it doesn't work very well. And so he is teaching us, first of all, that we are part of something bigger than just ourselves.

If you think of your spiritual life and your spiritual service in isolation from other Christians, you're making a significant mistake. Because God has given to you an ability that is related to the benefit of other Christians.

You are part of a body and there is a oneness, there is a unity. And I hope we are able to acknowledge one another and think of one another. Just like my body instinctively works together, it's always sad to see someone whose body has become damaged for some reason and it doesn't coordinate, it doesn't work together.

It stands out immediately. God's workmanship is beautiful. It's harmonious. It ennobles. It gives dignity. It blesses. It benefits mutually. And so our spiritual lives are meant to do that. And so we need to recognize this.

My gift is not for my glory. It is not for my exaltation. It is for your benefit. It is for your well-being, for your strengthening and your help. And so we are to recognize this oneness. One body. And then we are to recognize the interdependence in a body.

There is no one member that is it. That is everything. And it doesn't need anyone else. And if we ever get that idea in our heads that we're it and that we really don't need our brothers and sisters, again, we are causing a distortion.

And we're just really causing a lot of havoc and problem. And so we recognize, first of all, that in God bestowing upon us individually, in particular, special abilities, we are to remember that it is connected to one another in this very important way.

And again, if you can just think of it in these terms, I am to care for you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. I am obligated to look after you, to be interested in your needs because you belong to the Lord that I belong to and that I serve.

And so he says, so we, being many, are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. And then from verse 6 down, we have the list of gifts that are here. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whatever it is, be occupied in it.

Now, I really don't have time to go into the gifts individually. It is certainly a worthwhile study to identify each of the spiritual gifts, to think about them, to ask yourself, who is using this gift in the assembly?

You can think of them in terms of examples in the New Testament. Barnabas, the very name Barnabas means son of consolation or son of encouragement. He was given that name and that marks his ministry. He was an encourager, an exhorter.

Discovering and Developing Spiritual Gifts

Now, I want to just spend the last few minutes just going through how can we discover and develop our gifts. As I already mentioned, the passage itself really, I believe, gives us the best framework for understanding this.

If we want to know what God has given to us to serve him with, the first thing is to present yourself to him and then to be concerned about your holiness, to be concerned about the sanctification of your mind because if we're defiled, if we're filled with what is of the world, we're going to make ourselves unusable for his glory.

And that's a very sobering issue. And then his will is mentioned and if you accept the fact, and I didn't draw attention to this before, but in this passage, the emphasis is upon God. In 1 Corinthians 12, the emphasis is upon the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians 4, the emphasis is upon the Lord Jesus as the risen head of the church. God in all his triune being is concerned, involved in the distribution and the supply of spiritual gift. So if God is that keen on our spiritual gifts, surely he must be willing to let us understand and know what he wants us to do.

And so pray to God for discernment, for understanding of his will. And then exposure to the gift. You are exposed to spiritual gifts just by being among fellow Christians. But make it a definite study yourself to seek out and discern the differences between the gifts.

And recognize those who are using them. And then expect God to open up to you the area of service that he has fitted you for. Now in many assemblies, we have a system, unofficially, where everybody takes their turn.