Unwrap Your Spiritual Gift Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. For some, church is a weekly duty.

These people are missing out on the great adventure of finding their place in the body of Christ and learning how to serve in the power of the Spirit. Today, we want to ignite in you a passion for the church, Uattan. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, today you begin a series on developing a passion for the church.

Give us a roadmap for the journey that begins in a few moments. You know, Dave, one of the things that I've discovered is that in poor countries, in countries where there is opposition and even persecution, there's a great deal of appreciation for the church. There's strength in having believers come together, praying together, encouraging one another. Here in Western culture, oftentimes we think that church is optional, and that's a mistake. In this series, we're going to be talking about spiritual gifts.

We're going to be talking about what God expects within the church and what he expects of us. But before we go there, let me say that this is your last opportunity to receive a book that we have been offering this month entitled Seven Snares of the Enemy, Breaking Free from the Devil's Grip. You may remember that I wrote this book helping people to have a roadmap so that they recognize that they don't have to stay in the same rut.

There is hope for addictions. Seven Snares of the Enemy, for a gift of any amount, it can be yours. Here's what you do.

Go to RTWOffer.com, RTWOffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And now let us explore what the scripture has to say about spiritual gifts operating within the church. Today I want to be very clear in what I have to say to you. So I'm going to begin by laying it all out, plunging right in without any chit chat. Sounds good. Amen. Amen.

Sounding good. I want to smash to smithereens the idea that you can be passionately in love with Jesus Christ and at the same time not be passionately in love with his church. I want to speak to those who think that it's possible to be connected to Jesus through faith and therefore a member of Christ's body. But whether or not you are a member of the church and involved in a contributor is tendential and somewhat irrelevant.

That's your choice. I want to speak to you today. I want to speak to those who think that they can church hop. You know there is an expression like that. Sermon samplers. Oh I like this sermon first.

In fact I read about a guy who because there were two churches in the neighborhood he attended one for the sermon and the other for the music and he was able to work it out and stop at McDonald's on the way in between his two trips. I'm speaking to you. Who is this message for? Well first of all it's for those of you who are committed to the church. You are involved. You are making a contribution. You've connected with others here in the church. You have friends here and you are contributing in some way with your time, your talents, and your treasure. I am preaching this to encourage you and to let you know that you're on the right track and to light a fire within you that you might be encouraged to continue on in that devotion. I'm speaking to you. Thank you.

A little weaker than I hoped for but hey I'm just beginning. I'm also speaking to those of you who think that it's possible to be a good Christian and not be involved with God's people to to simply come and to be a spectator rather than being involved in ministry. I'm also speaking to those of you who are visiting and telling you a couple of things. First thank you for being here. We have visitors every Sunday from all over the world and we're glad that you are here. If you're from the Chicago area we'd like you to think about making this your home church but that's a decision that's up to you and I hope that the message that I give you today you will take back to your home church where you are involved and committed. I'm also speaking to those who can no longer contribute in the sense in which I mentioned because of physical disability because you may no longer be able to function in a way that is helpful to the body. I want to tell you something you also are necessary. You're necessary as we shall find out especially next week and then I'm talking to all those of you who are who are not Christians who are kind of evaluating the Christian faith and I want you to listen because you must understand that when you receive Christ as Savior you become a part of something that is so much greater and so much grander than you or I are individually.

I want you to understand that this is this is a wonderful experience to belong to the body of Jesus Christ. I'm speaking to the young people. I'm speaking to the old people. Do you get the impression that I'm talking to everybody?

That's the one I want to give. The only requirement for you to know that I'm speaking to you is for you to be alive. Now if you're dead if you're dead I call you to rise but I'm talking to everybody today.

I've got a burden on my heart that has to be delivered. What is the church? The church is not the building.

The building is where a part of the church meets. The church are those that are called out by God. There is such a thing as the universal church.

What that means is I can travel to the Ukraine. I can travel to China as my wife and I did many many years ago and we can meet Christians there and we have an instant bond because we're we're both connected to Jesus therefore we're connected to one another. That's the universal church. But in the New Testament the emphasis is on the local church.

All the letters were sent to the local church. The local church is represented by the people who are sitting beside you ahead of you and behind you. It is it is the local church and God says the church I think so highly of I call it my body.

That's what I think of the church. Gentlemen those of you who are married do you cherish your bride? You love your wife? I love my wife Rebecca. I want to protect her. I want to connect with her. If you know my wife Rebecca you know that she's a keeper.

I plan on keeping her. But you know my love for my wife is nothing in comparison to the love that God has for the church. Jesus laid his life down for the church. The church is number one on his agenda to take care of things in the universe. The church for which he died. In fact the church is so important that it teaches in the New Testament that angels attend worship services just to rejoice in what takes place when the people of God gather in the same place to sing his praises and they are distressed when a church is chaotic and out of control.

Talking about the church and if you are the kind of person who thinks that you can somehow be a good Christian and be disconnected, just physically present, you are cheating yourself, you're cheating the wider Christian community, you're cheating the world and you're hurting Jesus, his body. Every Christmas we've ever had we've opened all the gifts. Have you ever received a gift from somebody and maybe you know you've been out of sorts with them, they send you a gift you kind of wish that they wouldn't have because it kind of obligates you to send them one too and you see the thing sitting under the tree there and you'd rather just not open it. Well but because you're a respectable person you open it anyway. Imagine receiving a gift from God and you don't unwrap it, you just simply ignore it.

Imagine that, what an insult to God. The text is 1 Corinthians chapter 12, everyone brings their Bibles to church, everyone brings their Bibles to church. You say oh pastor that's not true, no it's not but if the person sitting next to you doesn't have one, would you share yours or use a pew Bible? That's good teaching, praise God.

I'll need you in a few minutes brother, I'll need you in a few minutes. I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul begins 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Now concerning spiritual gift brothers I do not want you to be uninformed. The Greek word uninformed is agnostic, is I don't want you to be agnostic regarding spiritual gifts. We have tons of people in our churches today who are agnostic regarding spiritual gifts.

Oh I don't know what my gift is, I wouldn't make any effort to find out, I don't think that I can serve, I don't know what's going on, I'm just here listening to the sermon, enjoying the music and going home. Paul says I'm writing so that you will no longer be an agnostic. And then he says, he refers to their pagan past, he says when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols however you were led, therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

He's talking about oracles such as Delphi, not too far from Corinth, north of Corinth of course. People would go there, the idols were dumb, you know their lips weren't moving, idols of stone, but nonetheless the oracle was sending messages and speaking and what Paul is implying is demonic spirits were doing the speaking and some of these oracles were cursing Christ, that's of the devil, and nobody can say that Jesus is Lord and really mean it and be glad about it unless it's by the Spirit. Now even the demons confess Jesus is Lord, but they do it with hatred in their heart toward him. So Paul is saying nobody can do it and embrace it and love that truth except by the Holy Spirit. That's a whole separate message about how confusion regarding revelation, but we have to plunge into the text. Now notice that Paul says in verse four, now there are varieties of gifts Charismata is the Greek word from which we of course we know the word Charis means grace in Greek, so it's grace gifts, that's what Paul is talking about.

In the proper sense of the word every one of us should be Charismatics because we believe in the gifts. And you'll notice now three characteristics that Paul gives, let's go through them. First of all he says each gift has the same source, I am there in verse four. Now there are varieties of gifts if you're in the habit of underlining your Bible, look at the word same which occurs three times. There is the same spirit, there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, there are varieties of activities, but the same God.

What did you notice about that verse? The whole Trinity is involved in gifting. It's the same spirit, it's the same Christ, it's the same Lord, it's the same God, the Father. All the Trinity is watching you today seeing whether or not you're exercising the gift that they determined would be given to you.

They not in the sense of plural but in the sense of the Trinity, one God, but all of them involved. And what that means is God knows what we need. How much does the Trinity know?

Everything. Does the Trinity know what Moody Church needs? The Trinity knows what Moody Church needs.

What does the Trinity do? If we're obedient, God by the Spirit brings to us what we need. For example, we know that we need here at the church children's workers. We need people to help with mops. We need people to help park on Sunday. We need people who are ushers. We need people in a variety of experiences. You'll notice in the bulletin today a desire on the part of Denita for Kids Club and the need for volunteers. Do you think that God raises up this ministry and part of its impact is because of the volunteers and then God says, well, you know, I'm raising it up but I'm not providing the leadership with the volunteers for it.

I don't think so. The fact that we are short in all those categories first of all reflects on us as leadership. We have not properly challenged you to be trained and to get involved. The other part of the equation might be some of you, God bless you, who simply are so self-absorbed in your little world that you are not willing to step out in the very areas in which God may have gifted you to say I'm willing to sign on the dotted line. I'm willing to be committed.

I'm willing to stop the spectatorship and begin to get into the game. Could well be that God by his spirit today will drag you, will drag you into involvement for his glory. And when he does it, there's always unity. There's always unity because it's the same spirit, it's the same Lord, it's the same God.

Obviously there's unity and there's such variety in the unity. If you're painting a picture and God paints pictures with his church, if you're painting a picture, the river doesn't say to the mountain, why can't you be like me? The mountain doesn't say to the tree, why can't you be like me? But all of them contribute to the picture and how different we are. And the more different we are but unified, the more beautiful the picture that God is painting. So the first thing is that we have the same source of the gifts.

Secondly, we have, these gifts have the same purpose, same purpose. You'll notice it says to each is given the manifestation of the spirit, I'm in verse seven, for the common good. The common good, the Greek word is sum, sum, pharaoh, sumpharo, different forms of it but sumpharo.

What does that sound like to you? Sumpharo, sumpharo is the word from which we get symphony. Looked it up last night in the Greek text, checked a lexicon, it said it's related to music, the making of music. This may be as close as the New Testament gets to saying that music is a gift. But whether we are musical or not in the traditional sense, the intention of the gifts is that we might be a symphony for God to make music. You ever heard a symphony warm up?

Isn't it the lead violinist that begins and gives the notes? I mean, I have to tell you that for the first few moments they sound as if they're a bunch of cats in a barrel. Everybody's scrawling around, making all this noise, but then they get unified and it's beautiful and it's harmonious and you say, what precision and what beauty. Now every once in a while I meet somebody in the church who says, you know, I'm not committed to the church, I'm just out there. Me and Jesus, we've got this thing going.

Watch the people who say that me and Jesus, we've got this thing going. I don't have to be committed to the church. I don't have to love the local church. Come when I want, leave early when I want to, come late, I'm just here whenever I'm here, give when I happen to have some money, don't give when I don't happen to have any money, and you know, I'm just not committed. Now can you imagine a symphony in which the violinist said, well, you know, I'm into this kind of music and I want to play this and the cello player says I want to play this and the bass says I'm going to play that. You've been to some churches like that, haven't you?

Doesn't that describe some churches? Half the board is in favor of this, the other half is this, these people don't like what's going on here, these other people think that we should do this, and you know what happens? People come in and they leave and they say, you know what, we just can't take the noise.

We can't take the noise. I'm appealing to you today to realize that the real purpose of your giftedness is not for you. It's for the common good.

It's for the purpose of the symphony. That's why we gather together. And my dear friend, this is Pastor Lutzer, and of course the other reason that we gather together is for spiritual strength in the struggles of life. This is the last time we are making a resource available titled Seven Snares of the Enemy, Breaking Free from the Devil's Grip. I wrote this book with the intention of helping people to understand that they don't have to stay in their ruts, they don't have to stay with their addictions.

You know there's shame and self-hatred associated with addictions such as gambling and alcoholism, greed and so forth, pornography, but what if we approach these addictions with compassion and with the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ along with the body of Christ? As I've mentioned, this is the last opportunity you will have to receive this resource. Seven Snares of the Enemy, Breaking Free from the Devil's Grip.

For a gift of any amount, it can be yours. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. Thanks in advance for standing with us. Remember, we exist to help people make it all the way to the finish line and to run the Christian race and do it successfully. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. What denomination is the right one? Many people wonder about this, including James who listens to Running to Win in Alabama.

Here's his story. My 90-year-old mother is a member of what I'll call a certain denomination. She's being taught that only that denomination will be going to heaven. I attend a Baptist church here in Alabama and I've discussed this with her that the teaching is incorrect. She's continually trying to get me to attend that denomination in fear that I'll be lost if I don't. I am a Christian and I know what one has to do to get to heaven. What can I show her in scripture that will let her know the truth? Well, my friend, your mother is 90 years old and I need to tell you up front it's very difficult for a person of that age to change his or her mind. So you do have a challenge.

A couple of things. First of all, point out that the Bible says whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Remind her that the thief on the cross was saved even though he didn't belong to any church, any denomination. He wasn't baptized. He didn't participate in any rituals.

He never had the opportunity to do good works. His faith was limited but thank God it was in Jesus and he was saved and given the assurance that he will be in paradise. Also, it seems to me that your mother needs some understanding regarding false religions. They always want to control their people. They want to make exclusive claims that only they have the truth. Now, of course, I do believe in exclusive truth but I don't think that it is limited to one church or one denomination.

It is what is found in the Bible. Third, I would really challenge her and ask her whether or not she is sure that she's going to go to heaven when she dies. And it would be interesting to find out where her faith is really placed. Is it in the denomination or is it in Christ? All that I can do is to tell you that there are some ritualistic churches that tell you that if you believe and if you come and participate in their rituals, they'll take care of your relationship with God for you. If that's what's happening in her life, point out that error.

Bottom line, my heart to yours, I'm praying for you that God will give you wisdom as you approach her and help her to see the truth. Thank you, James, for bringing that question to our attention. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or, call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. In the body of Christ, everyone has a gift with which to serve others. Knowing what that gift is and putting it to work are the keys to satisfaction and joy. As each does his or her part, the result is a marvelous harmony. Next time on Running to Win, we'll learn more about the various spiritual gifts God gives His children and then point the way to identifying the ones you and I have been given. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.