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Pastor David Mitchell
Verses four through six follow along with me.
It says now there are divisions.
I'm sorry there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit and there are
differences of administrations, but the same Lord and there are diversities of
operations.
It is the same God which worketh all in all.
And I think if you study that carefully, you'll see that verse four ends with the word spirit same
spirit.
Which is the Holy Spirit?
Verse five ends with the same Lord, which is the Lord Jesus Christ and verse six ends with
the same God Which is the Father and we see that God plays a part in these
gifts.
And that's kind of unknown nowadays in the modern church because in the modern church
Man is the one who determines who has what gifts and man Always seeks after
gifts and signs and wonders and man wants to decide what he can do and what he can't do and
sometimes men want everybody to be able to do the Same thing and it creates all manner of
problems in the church.
It can in fact create divisions in the church.
And so I think this is a very very powerful passage of Scripture to understand and I'm going to come to this
I want to read it as we begin because in the middle of the message this morning I'll come back to this and review it a little bit.
But if you weren't here for the first message, you wouldn't understand where we were coming from.
But that's where it is.
That's the passage that we come from now last Sunday.
Let me review that a little bit.
We were in Romans chapter 11 starting with verse 28 and following and we found out these
things.
We found out number one that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
That's Romans 11 29.
Repentance means that God's not going to change his mind about it.
That they aren't going to change when God gives gifts and callings.
They are without repentance.
We talked a little bit about what the gifts were they come from the same Greek word the word grace comes from really
caris and it goes down to a root word Cairo, which means
to be cheerful and.
And The Jews always believed that the greatest evidence of the presence of the Holy
Spirit was joy joy and cheerfulness and.
So we see we talk about these gifts that God gives.
Specifically when Jesus ascended into the heavenlies after his resurrection.
When he ascended it says he gave gifts to men.
These gifts are without repentance.
God won't change his mind about them.
We learned also that it is God who sovereignly disperses these gifts to men.
We find this as we read on down in the passage in Romans 11 down about verse 33.
It says that God disperses gifts to men according to his unsearchable wisdom.
Oh.
The depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and his
ways past finding out.
Sometimes when we look at one another and we have criticism of one another.
We ought to stop and realize that we're criticizing the very hand of God and the wisdom of God.
Because he is the one who sovereignly dispenses the strengths to each of us.
Which implies that we will also have weaknesses because we don't have the whole package.
Jesus is the only one who did.
Now it's not that it speaks about the weaknesses, but they're implied and.
So a study along these lines would cause us to look at one another and see our strengths
and see God's hand in each life and see what God placed each person here to do and to focus on that and to
speak about that.
And not to speak about the weaknesses.
Anytime we get to the place where we feel like that.
We've got to get together and pray over some other brother.
Who's not there?
We're in trouble.
Because nine times out of ten, we're not praying about the strengths and the gifts God gave that person and thanking God and praising him
for it.
We're asking God to help the person to be more like us.
God didn't make him to be like us.
He made him to be who he is.
And so we see in this passage that not only is it God who disperses these gifts and strengths to one another.
To each of the people in the body, but he does it according to his unsearchable wisdom.
And he does it exactly as he chooses to do it.
And as we saw in the passage we started out with this morning that the entire Godhead is involved in it we
see that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives the diversity of the
gifts and Make sure that they are given out according to God's will exactly in the place
in the body where they're needed.
We see that Jesus Christ is the one who is the administrator of these gifts and he makes
sure that the services They come out of us because of what's given to us on the inside is
right where he wants it to be in the exact Place he wants it to be at the exact time He wants it to be and then we
see that as the father becomes involved and there are diversities of operations.
But at the same but the same God which worketh all in all this word operation comes from the Greek word ergo.
Which our word work comes from which has to do with energy.
So it is the father who supplies the energy and the appropriate amount of it at the exact right time now.
I'm sorry If you missed some of the messages we dealt with that particular subject.
But it really goes a long way to do away with the problem people have today with the gifts which ones
of them are operative which ones are not operative if they are all operative and all these arguments that go on and I
Myself as as I who was it this talked about debating with me.
Oh, that was brother Russ this morning talking about we debate in the office.
We debate in Sunday school.
I mean seems like everywhere I go there's a debate, but we have joy in those debates.
Because we're all talking about the Bible and I remember what we used to talk about before we got saved.
We sure weren't debating the Bible so This could be something
that people debate about and I've been involved in my own number of them.
I've had some very strong felt beliefs about these things and God has taught me much.
Just in this year about the gifts I believe what's happening here is verse 6 is
key where it says and there are diversities of power.
This word operations is energy power and that the father is sovereignly
responsible for that.
So as you look at the gifts We tend to look and say whether are they here or not and what we should be looking at is
What amount of power is God putting into that gift on this given day because it's all up to him.
So that's enough review about that.
I think but it talks about the fact that God sovereignly Disperses the gifts to men that he does it
according to his unsearchable wisdom.
No one can know God's mind or give him counsel as to how to do a thing.
All of that is in that passage in Romans.
It also teaches us that there's no merit in the strengths that we have.
There's no merit.
If you can sing today, it's not because you did anything.
It's because God gave you a gift.
I know that because I can't sing and Anything that you can do for God.
We can never take pride in it because it's a gift and a calling that God has given us and dispersed
According to his sovereign will for his own purposes, but you know what neither can is there demerit in
weaknesses and That's where we're wrong.
We tend to focus on each other's weaknesses.
Anytime we can find a weakness in a brother.
It makes us feel stronger.
Anytime I can find a an unspirituality in a brother or sister makes me feel more spiritual.
And we go back to the fact that God is sovereign.
Don't you think he knows when it's time for a person to learn a certain truth?
Do you think he can learn it without the Holy Spirit and without the Word of God?
Do you think you can teach anything to any man?
Do you think you can change any woman or any man you can't?
Only God can and he does it by his spirit and his Word.
God will call us from time to time to disciple to teach to encourage
to admonish.
But it all must be done according to his spirit.
And it all must be done in good faith.
And more often than not when we get into that realm of criticism and a critical spirit and looking at our
brothers.
We are actually questioning God's wisdom as to why he didn't give that brother more strength in that area.
We have to really really be careful with those things I believe but we see all that in this passage.
The last thing we see in that Romans 12 passages that the gifts differ in Romans 12 verse 6.
It says having been gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.
Do we not see that the reason we're different is because God has made it to be so He
has given each of us a different amount of grace in different areas.
According to different gifts that he's given us and he gives us different power to operate those
graces all according to his sovereign will.
Man thinks he has all to do with it but the more man grows in his knowledge and understanding of the
father and Of the word the more he understands that the father's in control.
I Don't know why we would want it any other way.
I mean, I know me.
And I know some of you and some of you know me.
Why would we want us in control?
We've been we'd be.
You know, that ship may not make it back to port.
So isn't it wonderful that God is sovereign?
Now we Looked at this little area in
1st Corinthians chapter 12.
To sum it up.
It basically teaches us that the Holy Spirit creates differences and distinctions of
gifts within the body within the church.
Where he wills According to his unsearchable knowledge and wisdom for only he
knows the mind of God.
Secondly, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ the Curios, which is the supreme authority
on this earth.
Whose special affinity is with mankind as he has always been this way.
Remember the verse in Proverbs chapter 8 verse 31.
You might want to take a look at it sometime.
That whole passage is beautiful but it speaks of the Son of God as wisdom
personified and it says Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth and his
delights were with the sons of men.
So you can go back into eternity past.
You can go back as far as the human mind will allow us to go and we find Jesus there Rejoicing
in the habitable parts of the earth and his joy was with the sons of men.
Jesus Christ has always his focus has been on this planet and on people of God.
He is the Curios to see supreme authority.
Having to do with this realm.
As a matter of fact with all realms, but specifically with this realm and he is the one who administers
the dio konia which is the actual Outworking and ministries
that come from the gifts that God has given us as we go to do genuine good works.
Which can only be done by faith.
Only be done as the Holy Spirit leads us to do them if we do them for any other motive.
They're no good.
They burn up burn off on the way up as they say.
But it is actually Jesus Christ who administers the services the ministries
that we each do.
And then we see that is God the father that supplies exactly the correct amount of energy to empower the work
that must be done.
During each time in God's timetable and as he deals with his own.
It is the father who supplies the correct amount of energy.
What's interesting is we see this word in the English version the operation of God.
Everywhere where you see this word operation.
It comes from the Greek word inner gain of which our English word energy comes from but
the root word that it comes from in Greek is Ergon and Have you ever taken physics before there are a few
few folks in here that I think everybody's taking it.
None of us remember it because it's been ages ago back in another dispensation when we were in school.
But you remember the little word erg erg.
Yes, I used to love words like that in physics where we had to learn all these things.
But remember what an erg was.
An erg was a unit of work.
It was a measure of work in the exact definition of an erg.
It is the unit of work done by the force of one dine.
Moving over the distance of one centimeter.
So it is force over distance.
Do you see how that comes to play in the physical universe that God has created in time and space and.
So what the father does is he reaches down and he supplies the proper energy for the
proper moment as.
These gifts are exercised in his church.
It's not of man.
It's of God.
We think it's of man, but God is the one who supplies the ergos.
The energy in the appropriate exactly correct right amount.
When man sometimes tries to counterfeit gifts or fake things he adds too much energy more energy than he
needs for the given moment.
God always does it exactly right?
Let me give you some verses to run through Colossians 2 12.
I'll try to give you enough time to look them up if you'd like to do do that and see them as we go.
You'll remember a lot better if you see a man here.
I'm Colossians 2 12 says this.
I want you to watch for the word Operation because and remember that everywhere you see it is this word energy.
It's the energy behind the work and it comes from God.
Buried with him in baptism where and also you are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God.
Who had raised him from the dead?
You see what this is saying that we are in Christ if we're born again today.
We are in Christ.
Not only are we in Christ, but since God is not bound by time He has seen us as in Christ when
Jesus died on the cross and he saw us in Christ when Jesus came out of the grave
in fact.
The same power the resurrection power that brought him forth from that grave is the very power the
energy that's in your life to perform God's will through good works by faith.
But he says we were buried with him in baptism.
We're in also we are risen.
The resurrection power is in the life of the believer we are risen with him through the faith of
the energy of God this Supplying of energy the same power that he supplied that brought Jesus
out of the grave is in your life today.
Some of you don't look like it this morning and I understand why it's much easier to stand up here than to sit out there.
But I'm telling you when it comes this week.
To walking in the path that God has for you.
Satan is going to bring all manner of evil circumstances and people but
guess who is sovereign over Satan the father.
So it all comes from his desk as a favorite teacher of mine said once sitting on the second row.
It comes from God's desk and when it leaves his desk, it's good.
I love that.
That's good stuff.
When it leaves his desk, it's good.
By the time Satan brings it to us.
We see it as bad.
But there really is no bad thing when you analyze it in that way because you only grow.
Usually under adverse circumstances.
That's when we grow that's when we learn the deepest things about God that we ever learn.
That's when we get into the word and we find things.
We've read a thousand times and never seen is when we need the thing.
And he gives us the energy at the right time.
We're buried with Jesus in baptism.
We were in him when he died.
We were in him when he rose.
We are also risen with him through the faith of the energy of God who hath raised him from the dead.
I want you to notice one little interesting thing the translators when they Translated this
from the Greek they put we are risen through the faith of The operation of God not
faith in the operation of God.
And I like that.
I like that way to render it because the fact is the faith that we have is
of it comes from this very energy as we see as we go on this very energy that the
Father is placed in us as The Holy Spirit gave us these gifts and as Jesus
administrates them and as the Father Tweaks up the energy when it's needed or brings it down a little when
it's needed.
That very energy is what gives us the faith that we have.
Let none of us ever think we were worked up belief from the flesh.
None of us ever believed in Jesus in and of ourselves.
He had been pursuing us for a time.
Before we ever looked in his direction we just like the Apostle Paul as he walked down that
road.
He was looking to destroy the things of God to kill and to imprison Christians.
He was not Looking for Jesus.
But guess who was looking for him?
Jesus was.
Jesus had to supply the love first.
He had to supply the energy first.
He had to supply the faith first.
He did all of it first.
Now, I understand when we first get saved.
We don't see it that way when I got saved I thought my my this is the happiest day of my life.
I just accepted Jesus.
I finally accepted him and It was all in my power to do and I made the decision
and I just got saved because I made that decision.
That's what I thought that's fine for a baby to believe that.
Don't get mad at babies when they believe that way.
But as you get into the word and you study the mighty power of God and you go into Deuteronomy chapter 7 and other
places you find that the fact is that the day you got saved it's because he loved you before the
foundation of the world and he knew you and you were his in his heart and mind and
There came a day when just like with Paul The light came on and you looked up and you said Lord
What would you have me to do?
That's not what he was saying three seconds earlier.
So, how did that change take place did Paul do it?
Because he's so good or so faithful.
No God's energy brought faith to Paul's life for the first time in his eyes were
open faith.
Repentance and the ear that hears they're all the same thing and they all happen
Instantaneously according to the will of God at the right time in the right place.
And that's how you got saved even though you thought you did it.
You know, we really analyze that we know we never would have done it don't we that's right.
Praise be to God.
First Corinthians 12 6.
I want you to look for the word operation and there are diversities of operations.
You understand what is saying?
There are differences of energy.
The energy of God the power of God's what we're talking about.
There are differences of Energy, but it is the same God which worketh all in
all when we look at a brother who seems to be on fire.
For God, we shouldn't criticize him for being too charismatic or whatever.
There are diversities of energies.
I mean even we individually are that way one day we feel like crying when we hear songs
Sung in church another day.
We feel like laughing some days.
We're just blah because we're probably not right with God on that day.
We're quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit.
We brought sin in that's unconfessed.
But then other days we don't and you feel like jumping on the pew and running around but you don't because you're in a Baptist
Church, and that's okay probably ask you to sit down if you did anyway, but
That depends.
I probably I might be dancing with you.
You never know.
But only like the Jews dance men with men women with women.
That's how it's supposed to be but
There are diversities of energies, but the same God and he does it according to his wisdom and knowledge
but all these worketh that one and self same spirit dividing to every man severally as
who wills as He wills who's in control of the energy.
Who's in control of the gifts?
We don't ever have to fake it folks.
Don't ever even go there.
Please not in this local church.
But at the same time you don't have to hold back if God's giving you some energy and you know, it's from him.
You won't be embarrassed by anyone in this church.
You may think you would but I think there are saints all over this church that can sense the real thing when they
see it and We're not afraid of the real thing.
Ephesians 3 20 take a look at that one.
Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to
what according to the power the energy of God that worketh in us.
We think we do a lot don't we but it all comes back to God.
Every one of these verses we can find in the whole Bible.
It says the things that we are doing if they truly are accounting for anything for God if they're true if they're
genuine.
Then they are according to the power that worketh in us.
The power from God the same word similar word is the word dunamis.
Which literally means miraculous power.
That's kind of an interesting thing to think about folks and it bears on our topic because I want you to think about this for A moment.
This verse says now to him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask.
We wouldn't even pray for some of the things that God can do in our lives.
And he does it according to this power this dunamis that worketh in us now.
The word worketh is the energy word the word power is dunamis.
Which is the power word which literally means miraculous power?
There's an interesting place if you go into 1st Corinthians chapter 12 where you study the gifts.
There's one gifts that's called the gift of miracles.
Do you remember that one?
The Greek word for miracles is dunamis.
Now, well, you know some of us have grown up believing that the you know.
The miracles were first century gifts that no longer exist.
I've taught that a million times.
What I've learned as God has taught me the truth is it better exist because it's the very power
that worketh in us.
The difference is that it has to work according to God's will.
God hasn't caused one of us in this room lately to touch someone and have them raised from the dead.
But I'll tell you what you have that power in you.
It's just that you can't turn it on and off.
You have in this verse where it says in Ephesians 3 20 that he works according to the
dunamis.
That is energized in us.
That word is the gift of miracles.
Isn't that amazing?
So you have the same gift that some of the things that you read about that are amazing in the book of Acts.
And we say well that can't happen now well.
It won't happen until God turns the energy up.
But the Bible teaches through Joel that in the last days.
You're gonna see some of the same things happening again that happened at the first Advent and you know what?
We're in the last days.
We're getting close.
Anyway, we believe we are anyway.
And don't be surprised if you see God turn the energy up.
You say well, we don't need tongues speaking.
Well, you know.
The fact is that some of the greatest missionaries we've ever had William Carey himself who we know is
the father of missions.
He he said my gift of tongues is the fact that I God's given me the ability to translate the Bible and over.
You know 15 or 20 different languages in my lifetime.
He said that's my gift of tongues.
He never spoke in tongues.
You know why God didn't turn the energy on what God did was he gave him wisdom to translate languages?
And that was God's will for his life.
And so folks that think all of this has to be happening and manifested in a certain way.
Or I guess I would call them Arminians.
They believe man does it all.
God is the one who's in control.
Isn't it amazing that this power to accomplish whatever God wants to accomplish is already in you right now if you're saved
today that power that Dunamis is
there and it is energized within us by God according to his sovereign
will.
At the right time in the right place for his purpose.
Philippians 2 13 for it is God which worketh in you it is God which
Energizes you both to will and to do his good pleasure.
Do you know that any good work that you do that really counts for God?
It is because of this energy God turned it up just a little bit and he brought the faith in your heart and
a an understanding that you needed to do a certain thing perhaps for a certain person or whatever and That
came from God and you knew it came from God and it says the fact is it was God working in
you.
It was God Energizing you both to will in other words to want to do the thing
and then to do the thing.
That's where good works come from.
Do you think that it's the light bulb?
That does all the work or is it the little place you plug it in?
It's down there where brother Jesse works.
At the power plant.
And yet man has gotten the place in this day and time in our churches.
We have a modern humanistic church today where a man does everything.
Man supplies the energy and that's why it burns out here.
I heard a burnout.
That's where it comes from.
It's like a little light bulb trying to burn from static electricity rather than being plugged in
and that's what so much of the church does today, but Colossians 129 says this wherein to I
also labor.
Striving.
Now look how Paul worked.
Look how he's.
Do you strobe.
Deborah is it he strobe.
He did strive he has driven.
Look at Paul's workings.
I like the word work better.
I can conjugate it in Colossians 129.
Paul said it he strives.
According to God's workings, which is the word ergo, which is the word energy?
Paul only did good works as God energized him to do them and let him know through the Holy
Spirit.
It's time to do them and gave him the power.
God will never ask you to do something.
He doesn't give you the power to do it with first Thessalonians
chapter 2 and
I didn't get the verse unfortunately in my notes, but.
But as it is in truth the Word of God.
Which effectually worketh also in you that believe?
That verse says that God uses the Word of God to bring energy from time to time you ever experience that in
your life.
Of course you have the Word of God effectively energizes
us.
Who believe which verse is it?
Which chapter in verse?
Thank you.
Very good.
First Thessalonians 2 13 and then Galatians chapter 3 in
verse 5 in Galatians 5 and verse 6.
Show how faith is tied in with this energy.
It says he therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit.
And worketh miracles now, that's the word dunamis.
This person had the energy turned way up by God.
But it's asking the question this Person who ministers to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you.
Do it he it by the works of the law.
In other words, can he do this by the law?
Could he do this by the flesh?
Could he do this by himself?
Or does he do it by the hearing of?
Faith.
Now what's amazing is that it's telling us that the energy comes from faith.
But Galatians 5 6 says for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
But faith which worketh by love.
The word worketh is the energy it is energized by the love of God in our hearts.
And so everything we do Comes from this resurrection power it is
sovereignly dispersed by God.
When and where he wants it and with the exact power that he wants it to be.
Now we see that this is resurrection power.
Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1 in Verse 19
the same power with which Jesus was raised from the dead is in you.
It is this very word We've been studying but there's more to it than the
resurrection power.
There's also this thing that happened with the Ascension now.
Look at Ephesians 1 19 and 20 carefully and you'll see two aspects.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power?
His power to us word who believe.
According to the working of his mighty power.
Do you see our two little words coming into play here at the end of verse 19?
The word working is the word ergos.
It's the energy that comes from God and the word power is dunamis power
specifically is what's created by the energy and it's what moves us, which is what the
Physicists call work in an erg is a measure of work.
It is it is work over a distance.
So it brings it into space and time where we are.
But the energy comes from a place outside of space and time where we ain't.
Except for the fact that we actually are seated there in Christ right now.
That's how we get our power that part of you.
The real you if you're born again today, the new man is actually seated where the power is.
Did you hear what I said.
The flesh is not it's down here in space and time and it's that flesh.
Unfortunately that we have to move around to get any work done for God if we're going to encourage
someone it's a tongue of ours that has to do it and I'm gonna tell you if that tongue
Gets out of being connected to the real you that seated in the heavenlies is going to create a problem.
Any part of your body can create a problem.
Your flesh Paul said in my flesh there dwelleth.
No good thing.
And the Holy Spirit of God does not dwell in that part of you.
He dwells in the new man.
But if you let that part of you the old man get in control, you never know what might dwell there.
It might be more than just you.
You won't like it.
Others around you won't like it.
And that's why the Bible tells us as Christians to resist the devil and he will flee from you.
That means you he's there with you as a saved person now
this power.
Being seated in Christ in the heavenly places.
It is the working of his mighty power to us word in Verse 20 says
this power was wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.
That's resurrection power and then this little phrase and set him at his own right hand
in heavenly places.
That's ascension power or some call it session power.
That's the power of Jesus right now.
We spend our lifetime studying the birth of Jesus in the manger.
We study the death of Jesus on the cross.
We study the burial of Jesus in the tomb.
We study the resurrection of Jesus and the rock being the great rock being moved away.
And the people going in and seeing the grave clothes there as if a body had come out of them.
And left them exactly like they were.
We study all those things we talk about.
I was saved, you know, when was when did you get saved?
We talked about the past tense of salvation all the time because it's one it's probably it's absolutely the most
beautiful time in our life.
But we don't talk about the work that he's doing right now on our behalf today.
He's seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God is our intercessor as our advocate before the father.
He is doing a work on our behalf.
He is actually saving us right now.
You see we're not just saved.
We are being saved and we shall be saved.
There are three tenses to salvation taught in the Bible.
This focuses in on the present tense when we start looking at the ascension power the session power.
What is he doing right now on behalf of his brothers and sisters?
Well It says the first thing he did on the way up there was he bestowed gifts
to men.
I Want you to turn to Ephesians
chapter 4 and we're gonna start with verse 1, but let's
back up to verses.
Because it all flows with the same Topic so look at Ephesians 3 20.
Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think
according to the power that works.
With his energy in us.
Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages world without
end.
Amen.
In the very next verse going into chapter 4 begins to talk about this.
These gifts that were given to men at the Ascension.
It's all in the context of the very verse that we read on resurrection Sunday about the fact that as he
Ascended into heaven.
He gave gifts to men.
He gave gifts to men and this is the context.
We find it in first of all, we see in verse 1.
I Therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherein you are called.
These gifts were given to us in God's mind as Jesus ascended into heaven because he's not bound by
time.
They come to us in time by the Holy Spirit at exactly the right time from our vantage point on earth.
And the Bible teaches us and instructs us that we are to walk worthy of the
vocation wherein we are called.
The vocation means the calling the gifts and Callings of God that came to
He's not going to change his mind and take them away.
He's given those to us and we are called to walk worthy.
The Greek word means suitably.
We should walk in a suitable appropriate fashion in the church together based on the gifts and the
calling that God has given us.
Secondly in verse 2 it says if we do that it will create humility.
Because it says with all lowliness and meekness with long -suffering.
We'll have patience with our other brothers and sisters.
Because we don't assume for a moment that God's given them the gift.
He's given me.
He's given them different gifts so when we see that the very things that we do the only way that we
can do them suitably is because of the Energy that God gives us in the gifts.
He's given us it creates humility.
We have lowliness and meekness because we know we didn't do these things.
We remember how we were in the flesh.
We remember how we can be today and tomorrow in the flesh if we dwell in that realm.
We're not supposed to.
The old man is crucified, but sometimes we don't believe God.
We believe the devil Who tells us it's alive again and so we
believe God will walk right.
We walk in the spirit and it brings humility and lowliness and Meekness because we know where these things come
from.
They come from the hand of God.
It also brings long -suffering patience with our fellow man.
And then we see in the second part of verse 2 that it says forbearing one another in love.
When we get our proper understanding of the gifts and the callings and the differences.
Diversities that the Holy Spirit the Son of God and the Father bring into our lives.
It causes us to forbear one another in love.
This is an interesting Greek word.
It literally comes from two little words one means up and the other means to hold so it means to hold up.
So as we understand God's hand in our lives and God's hands in each other's lives.
It creates an attitude of lifting one another up rather than tearing one another down.
We can see the areas of strength sometimes.
Where God brings us gifts and strengths, but we're very well aware of the weaknesses in our own lives.
And yet we like to point those out in our brothers and sisters.
But we don't want them to point ours out because it doesn't feel good and it's not edifying.
So we must remember That this entire teaching should cause us to forbear
one another.
One of the Greek definitions Literally means to put up with that funny.
Put up with one another.
But it literally means to lift up one another.
I Kind of like to put up with definition myself.
That's what you all do with me.
Verse 3 says endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
You see a proper understanding of the gifts and callings of God throughout the body and the diversities of such.
Creates a unity in the church.
It allows each of us to know that there's information and knowledge that some of us have that others don't have yet.
There's information and knowledge that We may have that the others don't have yet.
God teaches you personally as an individual when he chooses to you know that you've read passages of
scripture a hundred times and all of a sudden last week the light came on and you learn something from it and you Feel like nobody else
ever knew what you just learned.
But probably some people already know it.
Sometimes they don't though.
But where'd it come from is the point who turned the energy on that gave you the faith to understand that verse at that moment.
So can we take pride in it?
Can we be worried if the others don't understand it and they just don't get it yet.
They'll get it when God turns theirs on.
And so what does it do?
It creates a tremendous unity in the body.
Endeavoring.
Endeavoring means to use speed in the Greek to use great
speed to do it in a hurry.
Hurry up to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
and.
So we see this word bond is the word ligament.
It ties everything together in the church.
And it closes with this idea in verse 4.
There is one body one spirit even as you're called and one hope of your calling you see the unity.
He's teaching on unity here.
One Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all who is above all through all and in you all he's teaching on
Unity and yet he just got through teaching about diversity.
But he says the thing that brings the unity is Understanding that it's the Holy Spirit in his wisdom and the wisdom of the father
and the wisdom of the son.
Who bring the gifts and the diversities?
Who farm them out at the right time and who energize them?
It's all God and we fight against God when we don't accept these things.
So we need to have unity understanding that it's all by God's grace that any of us are saved that any others are here.
That any of us are walking with the Lord.
But until every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift
of Christ.
No pride in that.
You see that every person has a different measure.
You can only do according to the measure that you've been given today.
You can seek to grow and we ought to seek to grow and we will grow because that's another part of the Holy Spirit's
job is to grow us and.
And so I think that closes our study very well and I think to sum it up I would say what I
wish more pastors understood is that Sometimes we
try to overtake His job in each other's lives and we try too hard.
Usually it's because we care for each other.
Usually it's because when we see a brother at the edge of a cliff it frightens us.
We're afraid for the brother.
But we fall in weakness of faith at the point when we think that God can't keep him from going over the cliff.
So we ought to pray for that brother.
And sometimes it requires fasting.
But always realizing that the Holy Spirit is the one who does the work and it's his children anyway and his servants
anyway and it's really up to him ultimately to do the correcting and the Growing and
the moving and the changing and the gift -giving and the calling.
As he chooses to use us to speak a word to a brother or sister.
That's fine.
As long as according to the scriptures and according to the moving of the Holy Spirit in your life.
But never overtake his ministry in the lives of each other.
Let him work.
Realize the priesthood of the believer.
Realize that if God changed you and got you where you are.
He's doing that with everybody else.
It's his too.
Let's stand and have prayer together.
Father we thank you for your word.
We thank you for the way that you instruct us clearly.
You teach us to accept your gifts.
And to realize they're from your hand and that there can be no pride in that.
And we thank you for the power of the resurrection that you've placed within our lives
to keep us from sin.
To eliminate certain sins from our lives so that we don't continue in them.
And also as you ascended you gave us gifts on the positive side to work
works for you according to your will.
Thank you for each brother and sister in this place today.
Thank you for molding together this local body with the specific members and giving them the specific
gifts that each is supposed to have.
Help us to put up with one another.
Because it's the right thing to do.
Help us to understand that each person is exactly where they're supposed to be today according to God's sovereign will because you are
in control.
We're not what we're supposed to be in the future, but we're what we're supposed to be today.
And help us to seek your face.
Seek your knowledge and wisdom from the Word of God.
Seek that special walk of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we have by the Holy Spirit's work in our life.
That we might truly be different tomorrow than we are today and be more like him.
Father we ask you to go with us into our time of fellowship and bless the meal.
We're about to have and we ask it in Jesus name.