The Question for Today's Church, Part 6

Thank you, James. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this great and glorious day, the opportunity we have to to worship the King of Glory. Today, Lord, open our eyes that we might truly behold wonderful things out of your law, that we might be the kind of people that truly give glory to your name. We pray in the name of our coming King, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We are looking at the question and quest for today's church and the question simply is this, are you the kind of church, are we the kind of church where God is well pleased?

Are we the kind of church that God would commend or God would condemn? Are we the kind of church that God would tell to repent as he did five of the seven churches in Asia Minor? Are we the kind of church that God would truly treasure because we live lives obedient to his name? We've been looking at the characteristics of that church. It's a place where the word of God is absolutely paramount, where the worship of God is passionate, where the will of God is preeminent, and where the ways of God are prominent.

It's the kind of church that yields to God's decrees and yearns for God's desire. And that's the kind of church that God commends. And we want to be that kind of church. We want to pursue Christ and be all that God wants us to be. But there's another element in the whole scenario that helps us understand how we are to be the kind of church that God commends. For that to happen, we need to be the kind of church where the work of God is prevalent, where the work of God is prevalent. It is so common.

It is so obvious. It is such an emphasis that it's easily grasped and easily seen, where the working of God in the life of the believer is so prevalent, everybody knows, where the work of God is prevalent in two areas, in sanctification and in service, in godliness and in giftedness. In other words, the work of God is seen in each individual's life, so much so that that individual is growing in their walk with the Lord. And not only are they growing in their walk with the Lord, but they are giving out of that walk to those around them because there's that outflow of love being poured out.

That's where the work of God is absolutely prevalent. And that's the kind of church we need to be. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2. Paul says these words in verses 12 and 13. He says, so then my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out or work according to your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Paul says, I want you to work not for your salvation, because you can't do that, but you work according to your salvation. You work out your salvation. You live your salvation experience with fear and trembling, with humility and with admiration, honoring your God.

That is, you're involved in a process of great growth because it's God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Listen, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have this ironclad assurance that God is at work in your life. God doesn't leave you alone. God doesn't let you become stagnant. God is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. God is at work in his children. God wants his children who have been called by him to have the characteristics of him, to look like him, to act like him.

So God is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And so in a church where the work of God is absolutely prevalent, the people of God are growing in sanctification and growing in their service. They're growing in godliness and they're growing in their giftedness. That is, they are living their lives for the glory of the king. And so I want to talk to you about that this morning to help you understand how we are to grow in such a way that the work of God is absolutely prevalent in the church of God.

It's where the people of God come together and you're growing. Are you growing in your walk with the Lord? Are you closer to Christ today than you've ever been before? Are you cultivating that relationship with him? Are you sanctifying Christ as Lord in your hearts? Have you set him apart as the preeminent one? Are you growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you becoming more and more like Christ? Are you disciplining yourself under godliness, as Paul says in first Timothy four verses seven and eight?

We know that bodily exercise profit a little, but godliness is profitable for all things. And so as believers, we want to look like Christ. And so a church where the work of God is prevalent, you had the people of God who are growing in their walk with God. That is, they're involved in developing a relationship with the living God because it's God who has a work in them, both the will and to do of his good pleasure. The firm foundation of the Lord is this, Paul says in second Timothy chapter two, the Lord knows those that are his.

Let every one of them who name his name depart from wickedness. And we as the people of God need to be growing in our walk with God. And so the work of God is prevalent in the lives of those who are growing in sanctification. They are becoming more and more like the Christ. In other words, you've been favored by God, right? You've been favored by God. You've been graced by God. As Noah was favored or graced by God, when the whole world was filled with wickedness, Noah was graced by God, favored by God.

Because you've been called by God into his kingdom. You've been favored by God, not because of anything that you have done, simply because God bestowed grace upon you. For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. So you've been favored by God. All those favored by God are forgiven by God. Okay? So if you are one of those where the work of God is prevalent, you've been favored by God. You have been forgiven by God of all your sins. If you've been forgiven by God, you are one who follows God.

Okay? If any man come unto me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. That's the call of salvation in scripture. The call that Christ gave was the call to follow him. Those favored by God, because they've been graced by God, are those forgiven by God. Those forgiven by God are those who follow God. Those who follow God are what the Bible calls the friend of God. Christ told his men in John chapter 15, I no longer call you slaves, but friends. For greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

And so a place where the work of God is prevalent, you have a church filled with people who have been favored by God. They have been forgiven by God. They truly want to follow God because they are the friend of God. And those who are the friend of God are fed by God because they know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby, they are fed by God. If they're fed by God, then they are fueled by God.

They are moved by God. They walk in the spirit, not in the flesh, that they might glorify the name of Christ. If they are fueled by God, listen, they are faithful to God. They are faithful to God. What does the Bible say in second Corinthians chapter four is required of a steward to be found faithful.

And those who are faithful to God are fruitful for God. This is my father glorified John 15 for that you bear much fruit. Those who are faithful to God are fruitful for God so that finally they will be forever with God.

That's a place where the work of God is prevalent in the people of God. They are growing in Christ likeness because of what God has done in their lives. It's God who was at work in them, both the will and the do of his good pleasure, because God is working in you for his pleasure. God is working in you to make you like him for his glory. What God is doing, listen, is not about you. It's all about him. And so God's at work in his church, in the people of God, number one in sanctification, number two in service, number one in godliness, number two in giftedness, a place where in the church, the work of God is prevalent.

You have the people of God because God's at work in them, both the will and the do of his good pleasure. You had the people of God who truly use the gifts that God's given them for his glory and honor. You know, over the years I've been here, what, 23 years as your pastor, we've spoken a lot about the gifts of God, how God has gifted every one of us. And yet I'm astonished about how many people know nothing about spiritual gifts. It's like this. It's like you're married and you take home to your wife, the ideal gift.

You know exactly what she wants. You love her and you know exactly what she wants. You know exactly what she needs. So you painstakingly step out on this journey to get the right gift. You get it and you wrap it perfectly. The right bow, the right color, the corners are sharp. It's all put together perfectly. You take it home to her and you present it to her because you love her so much. And she, much to your chagrin, never acknowledges the gift you give her. Nor does she say thank you for the gift you give her.

She just lets it sit right on the countertop and never opens it. And hours go by and days go by and weeks go by and you are absolutely dumbfounded that she won't open the ideal gift specifically designed for her. And you go to her and you say, honey, I gave you this gift, but you never open it. She goes, yeah, I know. I'll get to it. I've been really busy. Really? Yeah, I've been busy, but I will get to it. But when? When will you get to it? Soon. Soon I'll get to it. Well, how soon? Soon. How about right now?

No, no, not right now. Now's not a good time. How would you respond to that? And yet here is the King of Kings who has truly gifted every single one of you who was born again. And yet that's exactly the way most Christians in the church act. They've never opened the gift. They don't understand the gift. Therefore they can't use the gift for the glory of the King. And God specifically designed you in such a way that you would be specifically gifted by him. Now let's think about that for a second.

The Bible talks about spiritual gifts and the place where the work of God is prevalent. The people of God exercise their giftedness because they're growing in godliness. In other words, if you are growing in your godliness, you will exercise your giftedness. It's a byproduct of godliness. It's a byproduct of following after Christ. You will want to exercise the gift that God has given to you. You see, there are three things you need to understand about gifts, okay? One is your identity is wrapped up in your giftedness.

Did you know that? Your identity is wrapped up in your giftedness. Most of us have an identity crisis in America, in the church. There's no need to have an identity crisis because the Bible tells us whose we are. The Bible tells us that we are a very special people. Did you know that? The verse is on the screen this morning. First Peter chapter 2 verse number 9.

We are a chosen generation. We are a royal priesthood. We are a people of God's own possession. So our identity is wrapped up in the fact that we are very special people because we are owned by God. Titus says it this way in Titus 2 verse number 14 that God that God chose us as his special possession so that we would be a people zealous for good works. So when you understand your identity that you are a specially chosen person by the living God, you become absolutely zealous for good works. You want to do what God has asked you to do.

We are a very special people, those of us who are children of the living God, those of us who are born again because we've been chosen specifically by God. You know what it's like to be chosen, right? I mean you're sitting in the audience and some guy says, I choose you. Or your husband says, I choose to marry you. Or you're being chosen to play for a specific athletic team. Well when God chooses you to be a part of his great and glorious kingdom, it goes way beyond anything in the temporal level.

And God has chosen us to be a part of his kingdom. We've become a very special people. Not only special people, listen, our identity is wrapped up in that we're servant people. We're servant people. And that is manifested, listen, by Christ in the incarnation, okay, in his instruction and how he imparts that identity to us. Our identity is wrapped up in that we are not just a special people, but we are a servant people. That's why Paul kept calling himself a bond slave of Christ. That's why Christ in Philippians 2, he took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross in the incarnation.

And then when the men always argued about who was the greatest in the kingdom, he would take them back to saying, look, you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must learn to be a servant of all. But that servanthood is wrapped up in the fact, as Peter says in 2 Peter 1.4, that we are partakers of his divine nature. When you become a child of God, you become a partaker of the divine nature of God. And the nature of the living God is one who is the ultimate servant. So servanthood is a part of our identity.

We are a special people. We are a servant people. Listen, number three, we are a supernatural people.

We are a supernatural people. Why are we supernatural? That means, that's because Christ lives in us. Christ says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you shall be my witnesses, not just here in Jerusalem, but in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the entire world, not just Samaria and Judea, because I'm going to empower you. And Christ says to his men, you will do greater works than I have done, not in kinds of, but in extent of, because I will be in you.

I am local right now in this fleshly body, Christ says, but when I die and rise again, I'm going to send a helper, a comforter, one just like me.

He's going to indwell you and I will be in you. And my father will be in you. We are a supernatural people. We're not natural people. We are a supernatural people because the maker, the creator of the universe lives in us, Christ in you, the hope of glory, Paul says. And so we understand that Christ lives in us. We're just not normal anymore. That's why we're aliens or strangers in a foreign land. We live our lives in the realm of the supernatural, not in the realm of the That's part of our identity.

So we are a special people. We are a servant people. We are a supernatural people, and we are a spiritually gifted people. We are a spiritually gifted people. Those four aspects make up the identity of the believer. I have been gifted by God. And when you talk to people about spiritual gifts, most people have no idea what you're about. In fact, if we were to have a quiz and have you say, okay, which part of scripture are spiritual gifts mentioned, most people would fail. They might get a few of them, but most would fail.

Listen, our identity is wrapped up in the fact that we are a spiritually gifted people. If that's the case, when you don't exercise your giftedness, you will have an identity crisis. You will, because you're not doing what God has gifted you to do. But if you exercise your giftedness, you then will be living out your identity in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Not only listen, not only is our identity wrapped up in the fact that we are a spiritually gifted people, but number two, our mentality is warped about spiritual gifts.

Our mentality is warped about spiritual gifts. How do I know that? I know that because seven times in the New Testament, Paul says, I don't want you to be ignorant brethren. In other words, he says, I don't want you to be dumb. I don't want you to be stupid. I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to be left down the cold. Now, some translators say it this way. I don't want you to be uninformed brethren, or I don't want you to not understand brethren. I like what Paul says in the King James.

I don't want you to be ignorant brethren. Don't be ignorant. He says that seven times. He said in Romans one, I don't want you to be ignorant about the stimulus for preaching the gospel. You can't be ignorant about that or you won't preach the gospel. Right? And then he says that on Romans, Romans 11, I don't want you to be ignorant about the salvation of Israel because God has a special plan for Israel. But have you ever noticed that people are really ignorant about the stimulus for preaching the gospel and the salvation of Israel?

And then he says later on, he says these words over in, um, in, um, uh, uh, I'm sorry. I got, I got a brain freeze. Yeah. In, uh, in first testimonies four, he says for 13 brethren, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning the second coming of Christ.

But you know what? We are. And then he says over in second Corinthians chapter one, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning suffering, but we are, we understand why we suffer.

We don't understand how come we suffer in this kind of way, but we become very ignorant about suffering as it applies to the believer. And then Paul says over in second Corinthians two 11, I don't want you to be ignorant about satanic devices, but guess what?

We really are ignorant about satanic devices. And then in first Corinthians chapter 10, he says, I don't want you to be ignorant about the sins of Israel, but we are because we commit the same sins that Israel committed.

See the things that Paul says, don't be ignorant about are the things we are totally ignorant about, whether it's satanic devices, whether it's about the second coming, whether it's about the stimulus for preaching the gospel, whether it is about anything that Paul says, but first Corinthians from what he says, brethren, I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts, but we are not only as our identity wrapped up in them, but our mentality is warped about them.

We really don't understand spiritual gifts. We don't get the fact that first Corinthians 12 is about spiritual gifts in the membership.

We don't know that Romans 12 was about spiritual gifts and worship. And we don't know that Ephesians chapter four is about spiritual gifts and leadership. And first Peter four is about spiritual gifts and stewardship.

We don't get that. We don't understand that there are assigned gifts. There are speaking gifts. There are serving gifts and there are special gifts. We don't get that. We know that sign gifts establish God's authority. We know that speaking gifts explain God's veracity. We do know that serving gifts enable God's ministry and special gifts equip God's family because that's what the Bible says.

But for the most part, we don't get that and how all those four main passages of scriptures come together in the life of the believer so that we can live a life that honors and glorifies Christ. We need to understand what Paul says when he talks about giftedness because the church that God commends is a church where the work of God is absolutely prevalent throughout the church, that people are growing in their sanctification and they're giving in their service. They truly want to honor the king by exercising their gifts.

Paul says this in the first Corinthians chapter 12, these words, he says very uniquely that we might understand this.

He says, God has placed the members, each one of them, verse 18 in the body, just as he desired. That's just a magnificent statement. God, like your physical body is put together in a very specific kind of way by the creator of the universe. So to the spiritual body is put together in such a unique kind of way that God is honored in the church. God has set in order. God has placed them. It's a divine sovereign appointment. And the Bible tells us that they are for the common good. But to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for seven for the common good.

Listen, God has gifted you not for you. God has gifted you for the common good, for the profit of everyone around you. God gifts you not because you need to experience your giftedness. God gifted you because those around you need to understand how your giftedness is going to affect them. It's for the profit of all. It's for the common good of every man, every woman in the church. And so when you exercise your gift, you profit everybody. When you don't exercise your gift, we miss out on the profit because you're not doing what God has uniquely designed you to do for his glory and for his purposes.

So important to understand that. So God, in first Corinthians 12, Paul spent a lot of time talking about spiritual gifts.

He does that because the Corinthians had a hard time understanding spiritual gifts. That's why he says, I don't want you to be unaware or ignorant, brethren, concerning spirituals, concerning these effects, concerning these manifestations, concerning these varieties, concerning these miracles. I mean, sorry, these gifts. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning spiritual gifts. And so he spends a lot of time, first Corinthians 12, first Corinthians 13, first Corinthians 14, explaining what spiritual gifts are all about.

Because it deals with the membership in the church. But when you come to Ephesians chapter 4, things are different. It's very short. Same with first Peter 4.

Romans 12 is a little longer. But Ephesians 4 talks about the special gifts. And they're special gifts because God has designed four men, four kinds of men to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Turn with me in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment.

Ephesians chapter 4. Paul says this, verse 7, but to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men, verse 11, and he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service in the building up of the body of Christ. God has given gifted men, these are the special gifts. They're not special because these men are better than anybody else.

They're special because they are called gifted men that have spiritual gifts that God has given to the church. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. Okay. Now they are apostles, not like Peter, James, and John were apostles. We're apostles with little a's. They are our modern day missionaries. And then there are evangelists. There are people who have the great gift of leading people into the kingdom. That's what God has gifted them to do. They're like obstetricians. Pastors and teachers are pediatricians and evangelists are obstetricians.

Okay. So the evangelist leads you into the kingdom and the pastors and teachers grow you in the kingdom. See, that's how it works. And so God has given gifted men to the church, it says, for the equipping of the saints. Because that word equipping, same word used in 2 Timothy 3, that talks about how the man of God is thoroughly equipped, thoroughly put together. How is a man of God put together? By the word of God. So God gives gifted men to the church to explain the truth of God's word, to expound that word, to help mend people's lives so that then they will begin to minister to others.

And once they minister to others, the church will become mature in Christ. The building up of the body of Christ. You see, so God has given gifted men to the church. That's what Ephesians 4 is about. That's why it's about spiritual gifts and leadership. 1 Corinthians 12 is about spiritual gifts and membership. What you have is a gift common to all. It's for the profit of everyone involved. So everybody benefits from your giftedness. In Romans 12, it's spiritual gifts and worship because your spiritual giftedness flows from your worship in the kingdom.

That's why Paul says in Romans 12 that he would beg that we present our bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. And then he says that do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allowed to each a measure of faith.

For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly, if prophecy, according to the portion of his faith, if service in his serving, or he who teaches in his teaching, or he who exhorts in his exhortation. In other words, what you're doing is in line with God. In his service, you are serving him.

In his, in exhortation, you are giving his exhortation. You're giving his teaching. You're giving his word, see? But it all stems back from your worship and presenting your bodies a living sacrifice, so that you don't think too highly of yourself than you want to think. So Romans 12 was about spiritual gifts and worship, and then 1 Peter chapter 4 is about spiritual gifts and stewardship. Listen to what it says in 1 Peter chapter 4. Peter says this, as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to him to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. In other words, God says these are the gifts.

I've given you sign gifts, sign gifts that establish God's authority. Gift of tongues, interpretation of tongues, the gift of miracles, and the gift of healings. I've given you special gifts, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers. They are to equip God's family. And then I've given you speaking gifts, because speaking gifts explain God's veracity. You have the word of wisdom. You have the word of knowledge. You have prophecy. You have exhortation and teaching. And then you have the gift of service, the gift of serving.

And that is a gift that enables God's ministry to function in the church. And so you have the discernment of spirits. You have the gift of mercy. You have the gift of helps. You have the gift of faith. You have the gift of giving. You have the gifts that come along others called the gift of service that really support the work of the ministry. And yet so many people in the church have no idea how to find their spiritual gift or what their spiritual gift is. But yet your identity is wrapped up in them.

Yet our ministry is warped about them. Okay. It's warped about them. So we need to understand how we can no longer be weak, but strong. And that happens because every one of us exercises the gifts that God has given to us. I can't overemphasize that enough. Listen, the gifts that God has given to us are yes, for the profit of all, are yes, for the common good. But everything about who you are is wrapped up in the special gift that God, specific gift that God's given you. What gift has God given you?

Have you unwrapped the gift? Do you understand that? Do you understand how God has placed you in the body of Christ for a specific purpose to help in the process of ministering to one another in the body of Christ? Your ministry is so crucial to the growth of the church. So a place where the work of God is prevalent, you have people who are growing in their walk with Christ in godliness. As a result of that, they're growing in the exercise of their giftedness because they've understood their spiritual gift and they want to impart the benefit of that to those around them.

Folks, this is crucial for us as a church because every one of you is extremely valuable to how our church at 1432 West Point Avenue functions. Every single one of you. And so if you decide to sit back and not exercise your giftedness, to some degree, you hinder the growth of our church. You're into the spiritual development of the people around you. But when you exercise your giftedness, you touch everybody around you. And what I found out that when you are in the process of exercising your giftedness, for the service of the king, you spend so much less time focusing on you.

Did you know that? And that's maybe why we don't do it because we like to focus on ourselves a lot. But listen, we need to get our eyes off of ourselves and under those around us so that we can give of ourselves to others. That's what we're supposed to be doing. That's a place where the work of God is absolutely prevalent in the church. And so when God looks down upon Christ community church, what does he see? Does he see a place where the word of God is absolutely paramount? Where the worship of God is passionate?

Where the will of God is preeminent? Where the ways of God are prominent and the work of God is prevalent? Because if he does see it that way, then it's a church that's commended by God. We want to be a place where God is pleased. God is honored. God is lifted up and God is glorified. And every one of us plays a major role in that. None of us are exempt from that because we love the living God. And may God give us the grace to accomplish his purposes. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for today.

Thank you for all the things that you have taught us. You are such a great and glorious God. Forgive us, Lord, for not understanding the gift that you've given to us. Forgive us, Lord, for not really truly following your word. And our prayer, Lord, is that you do a mighty work in all of us. That every one of us, Lord, would truly search our souls and see where we are in the gifts that you've given to us that we might truly honor you. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our soon coming King.

Amen.