Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Maintenance of the assembly

First Peter, tonight, please. First Peter, chapter 4. First Peter, chapter 4. I appreciate it. We’re obviously persevering and hardworking. We’re just about halfway through, aren’t we? We’re more than halfway through tonight, I suppose. Good to see everyone, and those of you who are coming back, I appreciate that. Bless us as we continue our studies in the local assembly, the local assembly truth. Now, we’re thinking tonight about the maintenance of the assembly. So really, we’re thinking about how it is that a local church, a local assembly, can be kept in good spiritual health. That’s what we’re thinking about. We’re going to focus on three things in particular, and we’ll see what those things are as we read the scriptures together.

So, 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. I’m reading scriptures in reverse form, so we will come to Peter just at the end of the meeting. One way in which you can keep a local assembly in good spiritual health is by the activity of the Spirit of God, of course. He grants us spiritual gifts, and spiritual gifts need to be used to edify and build up the assembly. There are a number of passages in scripture that deal with spiritual gifts, but there are a couple of statements here which are very helpful in Peter’s first epistle. Just notice verse number 9: Peter says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” That is, be hospitable one to another without wishing that we didn’t have to.

Then verse 10: “As every man has received the gift…” Now, it’s not the gift as if it’s the gift of salvation, but this is spiritual gift, which is given by the Spirit of God to every believer. So, as everyone has received gifts, if you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus, you have been given a spiritual gift. That gift is used to build up and to maintain the assembly to which you belong. So he says, “Even so, minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace, the variegated, multicolored grace of God.”

Then Peter seems to divide spiritual gifts into two categories. So he says, “If any man speak…” There are some gifts that are speaking gifts. “If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.” Then he says, “If any man minister…” Some gifts emphasize speaking, while some gifts emphasize serving and ministering. “If any man ministers, 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.”

Still on our theme of spiritual gifts, just turn to Ephesians chapter 4. A number of different passages to read tonight. This is Ephesians 4, one of the other passages in the New Testament that deals with spiritual gifts. Verse 12, “For unto every one of us is given grace.” God has given us grace by His grace, freely given us, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

“Therefore He said, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and He gave gifts unto men.” Verse 11: “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets” (New Testament prophets, that is), “and some evangelists, and some pastors.” Now that really is the word for shepherd. So a shepherd is a spiritual gift. “And some teachers.” Why were these gifts given? “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body.” This is all about the maintenance of the local assembly. These gifts, given by the Spirit of God and energized by the Spirit of God, are used to maintain the assembly and to keep it in good spiritual health.

Right, we’ll look at Acts chapter 20. We will talk about spiritual gifts tonight. We will also speak this evening about shepherds or elders. Of course, these men were appointed by the Holy Spirit, and they are used to maintain the assembly in good spiritual health. Acts chapter 20, look at verse 17: “And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.”

Acts chapter 20 is very helpful because it describes these men, elders in the church at Ephesus, in three different ways. Here in verse 17, they are called elders. That’s their spiritual maturity. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are old, but certainly, as far as their spirituality is concerned, they are mature, not necessarily old in years. So he called the elders of the church, and Paul wanted to speak to the elders and warn them about grievous wolves. Verse 28 says this: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock.” Now, if the Christians in the church at Ephesus were like sheep, they were a flock, then these elders must also have been shepherds. So you’ve got the idea of these men being elders and being shepherds: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers.”

These are three different ways of describing these men. They are elders, they are overseers, and they are shepherds. As such, they feed the church of God. Remember, that’s a way of describing a local assembly. Their responsibility was to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with the blood of His own. “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” These shepherds have a very important role to play.

Now there’s more to say about them. In 1 Timothy 3, remember, 1 Timothy is an epistle that deals in particular with the local assembly. It describes it as the household of God. One of the things that Paul wants to emphasize to that local church is the importance of shepherds, elders, overseers. Look at 1 Timothy 3. Verse 1: “This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of a bishop…” Now there’s the good old authorized version (KJV 1611). We don’t use those words that are in common use. It will be off with our heads. So this is not really the word bishop. That was a word that was in use in the Church of England in 1611. The word that you have here is simply the word for an overseer. So if any man desires the office of an overseer, any man aspires to exercise oversight, then that individual desires a good work.

There’s no thought of some sort of official office here at all. The term office is not in the Greek. It’s somebody who desires to exercise oversight in God’s assembly. Paul says that’s a work, and if he desires that, well, he desires a good work.

So, verse 2: “An overseer then must be blameless.” If he’s married, he must be the husband of one wife. He must be vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt or able to teach. He doesn’t necessarily have to be public or platform teaching; it might be one-to-one teaching, but he’s able to teach the Word of God. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, and so on.

Just look at verse number 5. He talks about having his own house and his own children in subjection so he can oversee his own household well. For if a man knows not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? This individual can’t be a novice, so not a recently saved individual, lest being lifted up with pride, he falls into the condemnation of the devil.

Now, I have one more scripture I want to read: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. I’ll give a moment for all of you to find it. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. What Paul is doing just towards the end of this chapter is describing for us a good, spiritual, and healthy local church. This is very helpful to us tonight as we’re thinking about the maintenance of the assembly.

So, verse 12: “We beseech you, brethren, know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.” So here are those elders. He says, “Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake, and be at peace among yourselves.” Now we exhort you, brethren. I think that the overseers of verses 12 and 13 will be primarily in this work of verse 14, but really, Paul is speaking to all of the saints. He says, “We exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, disorderly; they’re out of step with the other saints.” There’d be a variety of reasons why. Comfort the feeble-minded; support the weak; be patient toward all. Note that.

These are the saints that you would find in the assembly. “See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all.” He describes a spiritual Christian: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Young people who want to know what is His highest life, there it is in a nutshell: “Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.”

That’s an aspect, or three aspects, of the light of the will of God. Now, verse 19 says importantly, “Quench not the Spirit.” “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”

1 Thessalonians was a very early epistle. Christians were standing on their feet, those who had been given the gift of New Testament prophecy, and they were speaking directly from the Lord. Scripture was not complete. The canon hadn’t been closed. They needed direction from the Lord. A New Testament prophet would have stood and said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord says,” and they would have given a word by revelation.

Now, sadly, there were false prophets abroad, not just true prophets. The Thessalonians were worried about this, so they were treating prophecy with some disdain. But Paul says, “Don’t do that.” He says, “Despise not prophesyings.” How else will the Spirit of God speak to you?

“Despise not prophesyings, but rather,” and all those verses tie together, “prove all things, and that which is good, hold it fast.” That has to do with prophecy and the word of God being spoken. But if it doesn’t prove to be good, if it gives you the “appearance of evil,” he says, “abstain. Abstain from that.”

Now leave the reading there, and God will add blessing to the reading of His word.

So tonight, I know that a lot of reasons I know that, but that means I can just refer to them in due course, right? You know exactly what’s going on because we’ve read all these scriptures together. What we’re thinking about tonight in this meeting involves three things, but overall, it’s about the maintenance of a local assembly.

And what we’re thinking about is this: How does a local assembly achieve and remain in good spiritual health? That’s what we’re interested in. I’m going to suggest to you tonight, just for the purposes of this meeting, that there are three things that will maintain an assembly in good spiritual health.

These are the three things: the activity of the Spirit of God. We’re going to think about that, especially in relation to spiritual gifts. I’m sure it’s clear tonight from the scriptures that we’ve read. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you have been given spiritual gifts. It is your responsibility to use them. It is your responsibility to exercise them for the benefit and edification of this assembly. So I hope you know what you’re gifted in, and I hope you use it. That will lead to a very healthy local assembly.

So we’re going to speak about the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry. Then we’re going to talk about these men. Love them all, honorably. But Scripture says you should love them, and Scripture says you should esteem them very highly. We’re going to speak about these men that the Holy Spirit has appointed— a plurality of men. Scripture knows nothing about a one-man pastor system in a local church, but rather the Holy Spirit appoints a plurality of men who have the spiritual oversight of an assembly.

So we’re going to talk about the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry. We’re going to talk about shepherds, because that begins with an “S,” but they’re also elders and overseers, right? We’re going to talk about shepherds and their government in the local assembly. If they are doing their work effectively, then the assembly will be in good spiritual health.

If you’ve got my points on the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry, shepherds, and their government of the assembly—one more thing: Scripture. Don’t forget that if the assembly is going to be in good spiritual health, it must be founded upon, must love, and must be obedient to the Word of God. So we’re going to talk about Scripture, and we’ll talk about the fact that Scripture guides us as to our behavior and how the assembly should operate.

So, that’s what we’re discussing when we talk about the maintenance of an assembly. Now, don’t forget this, will we? Don’t forget this. An assembly is only as strong as the sum of its parts. What do I mean? The assembly, corporately, collectively, as a whole, is only as strong as every individual believer that makes it up.

So if you say to me tonight, “Well, the assembly to which I belong, I’m not so sure it’s in good spiritual health,” just stop. Are you in good spiritual health as an individual? You see, don’t go talking about the spiritual health of the whole—the corporate assembly—if you yourself are not in good spiritual health.

Also, I’d say that’s something for individuals to consider. And to be quite plain tonight and blunt, if you think that the assembly is not quite up to scratch and the assembly is just not spiritually healthy as you would like, before you start pointing fingers at other people, point the finger at yourself. Because if you want the assembly to be spiritually healthy, it has to be made up of spiritually healthy individuals. That’s an important thing to do.

So here is one of the absolute foundations of a good spiritual assembly. Now, this is why I turned you to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. What Paul is doing in these latter verses, and we love these verses definitely because they’re very short, right? They’re punchy. You almost think at the end that Paul is just punching out exhortations, commandments to the assembly, and he’s running out of papyrus on which to write.

He wants to exhort them about so much; he better just put these down. In actual fact, they all run into one another. What Paul is doing at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5 is describing a good, healthy, spiritual assembly.

You’ll notice that he does speak in verse 12 about shepherds. We’re going to come to those in a moment, but he mentions them. He says you should know, you should recognize those that labor among you, that insert themselves among you, and have the spiritual oversight of things in the Lord. Sometimes they admonish you. Sometimes they warn you. They are there for your spiritual benefit and blessing.

Verse 13: “You make sure that you hold them in the highest possible regard and respect.” While they keep watch over your souls, I don’t think you appreciate the elders in the assemblies to which you belong. I think you ought to take time to thank them for what they do, for they often endure “thankless” sleepless nights, exerting themselves hour after hour, day after day, just to look after the assembly, and you may know nothing about it.

Paul says, “I want you to hold them in the highest regard and respect.” The next point is this: he starts to talk about the saints. Aren’t saints awkward? Look at what he says about them in verse 14. “Now we exhort you, brethren.” This isn’t just those overseers that we’ve been speaking about, but actually this is all of the saints. We all have a responsibility in this.

He says some of them are unruly and undisciplined. You’ll need to warn them. He says some of these saints are feeble; you will need to comfort them. He says some of the saints are spiritually weak, and you’ll need to support them or hold them tight. He says some of them really try your patience; so be long-suffering toward all.

Let me put it another way: don’t be irritable and upset when they act foolishly. Instead, be patient with them. We are a funny bunch, aren’t we? A saint that belongs to one saint. But Paul isn’t removed from reality, is he? This is what the assembly of Thessalonica was like 2,000 years ago. These are the kinds of saints that were in that assembly.

Paul says we need to be kind and compassionate. But what’s the key to strengthening? This is my point. We’re thinking about the guidance of Scripture in a local assembly. That will maintain us in a healthy state. Look at what he said in verse 19: “Quench not the Spirit.” He’s spoken about shepherds; he’s spoken about the saints; now he’s speaking about the Spirit and the Spirit in regard to Scripture.

He says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” This is essential. You know that Ephesians 4 speaks about the Spirit of God, and we are not to grieve Him. The Spirit of God is a person. He’s a divine person. He’s an individual. He indwells every single one of us. As a person, you can hurt His feelings. Ephesians 4 says, “Don’t grieve the Spirit.”

Now that’s individual. And we can grieve Him when sin enters our lives. Here, Paul says, corporately as an assembly, you must not quench Him. What’s the idea? The idea is that the Spirit of God is in our midst as the assembly gathers, and Paul is presenting the Spirit of God now under the figure of a flame.

He says the assembly, by the way it behaves, can extinguish that flame or can stifle the activity or the manifestation of the presence of the Spirit of God. You can affect that adversely. This is a serious matter.

I’m sure as a believer, you have been in meetings where you have felt a real sense of the Spirit of God present. Whether that’s in a preaching of the gospel, a prayer meeting, or a teaching meeting, you have felt a real sense of the Spirit of God moving and speaking. Sadly, it doesn’t happen as often as it should. Why not? Because we can quench it.

We can stifle His activity among the saints. We say, “Well, we wouldn’t want to do that. How can we avoid doing that?” That’s what Paul goes on to say. He says, “Now listen, do not despise these prophets.” So these Christians in Thessalonica, they were treating New Testament prophets with low appreciation or even suspicion.

You understand, because I’ve said this already, the word of God was not complete. Very, very little of the New Testament had been written. Some of it had been passed on, the teaching of the Lord Jesus, for example, in the Apostles’ Doctrine. That had been passed on by word of mouth, by tradition, but much more was needed to build up and establish these assemblies in the truth of God.

God, as part of the gifts that He gave, gave prophets and evangelists. These were men who would stand on their feet in the assembly gathering and, as moved by the Spirit of God, would say, “I have received a word from the Lord,” and they would give that word to the saints.

Sadly, false prophets were coming in too, and they were saying the same kind of thing: “I have received a word from the Lord, and this is the word.” The Thessalonians were distressed; they were worried. Was this a true word from the Lord, or was this a false word pretending to be from the Lord?

Instead of listening to what the Spirit of God had to say through the true prophets, do you know what they did? They despised prophesyings. They were saying, “Don’t hear us. Just sit down and be quiet. We would rather not hear anything at all.” They were treating the word of God and the activity of the Holy Spirit with suspicion.

Paul says, “Don’t do that with the prophets.” He says, “This is what you should do instead.” Verse 21: “You should listen to what the prophet has to say.” He says, “And you should seek to prove it.” What the prophet actually gives as a word from the Lord, test it among yourselves. Test it by what Scripture has already been given. He says, “Prove all things; and that which proves to be good, hold it fast.” Stick to that like glue. It’s genuine. Embrace it wholeheartedly. Possess it. Keep it.

But he says, “And everything that appears to be evil, that which fails the test of the revealed word of God, abstain from that.” But you see the emphasis? If we want the Spirit of God to be active among us, then the words of God must have a good place in our assembly. The Spirit of God, who has given us spiritual gifts, must be encouraged. Those gifts must be used.

It must never be despised. If those things are done, the Spirit of God will show us the strength and power of His presence. Amen.

You say, “We don’t have prophets today.” I’m impressed. We don’t have prophets today. New Testament prophets was a gift that was given for the foundation of the church. Once the word of God was complete, there was no need for New Testament prophets. There was no additional revelation to be given. The revelation was complete.

So you say, “How today do we test all things? How today do we hold fast to what is good?” Well, today you don’t get prophets, but you get teachers. Here’s one.

Now, I’m not here, of course, to teach you what’s right and what’s wrong. But by the way, that’s exactly what a false teacher would say too. So what do you do? You don’t just accept whatever a teacher says without reservation. You test what I’m preaching and teaching to you tonight. You take it to your own home and submit it to the test of the Word of God. What proves to be good, hold fast; what proves to be evil, you reject. That is why the shepherds are here: to protect the flock and to ensure that individuals on the platform teach what is good. Anything that’s found to be evil, you should turn away from.

If you want to experience the power of the Spirit of God among us, then elevate the word of God in your assembly. The obedience to the word of God will ensure that the assembly is in good spiritual health.

Let’s go back to these shepherds. This is point number two. Remember we read it in Acts chapter 20. We read it in 1 Timothy chapter 3. We’re speaking now about the government that God has put in every local assembly. Not only does He guide local assemblies by Scripture, but there is a government, a Holy Spirit-established government in every local assembly, and they are comprised of what Scripture calls “shepherds.”

Now, if you’re not in 1 Timothy 3, I recommend you turn to 1 Timothy 3 because I want to draw your attention to just a verse or two. Paul says, “This is a true saying: If a man desires the office of a bishop, if he aspires to exercise oversight, he desires a good work.” So what we’re being taught from Acts chapter 20 and 1 Timothy 3, and a number of other passages, too, is that the affairs of a local church are guided by a plurality of Spirit-identified and Spirit-equipped overseers.

Paul says if there is an individual who aspires to exercise that oversight, he desires a good thing. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? By the way, the only result of a person desiring that is not some kind of official position. There are no badges given out for those individuals.

Rather, it is a labor. You see what Paul says in that verse? He desires a good work. The word for work has the idea of laboring and toiling to the point of exhaustion. Do you still aspire to it? Paul says if there are individuals who aspire to do the labor and toil of spiritual oversight of the assembly, he is aspiring to something honorable.

You say, “What do these individuals do?” Well, primarily in verse number 5, “They take care of the church of God.” Isn’t that a lovely description? That they are taking care of the local assembly. By the way, that’s the same word used in the account of the Good Samaritan.

Remember the Good Samaritan? The Good Samaritan traveled right to where that man was who had fallen among thieves. What did he do to him? He was helping him. He poured in the oil and the wine, and he put him upon his own beast, and he carried him to the inn, and he took care of him.

That’s what overseers do: they take care of the church of God. You say, “So hang on. Is it possible to work your way into this position?” No, it’s not a position. But is it possible to have a desire in your heart to do that work? Paul does say in verse 1, “If a man desires an office in a very strong way, if a man strives after this work…” Let me tell you—this desire is not self-centered ambition.

It’s not like, “I want to do this work because then I will have a say in the affairs of the assembly and will be able to tell the saints what to do.” That’s self-centered ambition. It’s not that at all. You see, this strong desire—this striving after the work—is not a self-centered ambition.

It is a Spirit-implanted compulsion. It is the Spirit of God that raises up overseers and gives the gift of shepherding. It is not the man seeking the opportunity; it is rather the office that seeks them.

If you’ve got a brother who just nudges the overseer and says, “Have you thought about me joining the overseers?”—I think I’d be pretty good at it; has it crossed your mind that maybe you should be invited? As soon as you’ve got an individual like that, they disqualify themselves immediately from the oversight of the assembly.

It’s not the man seeking the office; the office seeks the man. That is only what we need to remember. We need young men who have such an exercise and care for God’s people and their souls. We need young men who would strive to walk by the help of the Spirit of God and shepherd God’s people. That’s what we are lacking to a certain extent—evangelists, and we’re lacking teachers. But more than all of these, we are lacking godly spiritual elders.

Some of you young men, perhaps you would have spoken to taking care of the church of God. Is there anything that has more dignity attached to it? I’m not sure—

Let me describe these men very briefly. You all know there are two principal terms that describe them. They are overseers and they are elders. And there are two primary responsibilities that they have: they are shepherds towards the saints, and they are stewards of God’s people.

So let’s think about these two principal terms very briefly. They are called overseers; that’s a word we have here in verse 2: “An overseer then must be blameless.” I keep referring to them as overseers. You say, “What exactly does that mean?”

Well, that describes the spiritual ministry or the duty of these individuals. In fact, that word for overseer is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe an individual who was overseeing a building project. It’s like the foreman who casts his eye over everything going on in the building project. He has an eye set on fitting quality and behavior to ensure that everything that is going on is to a fitting and correct standard.

An overseer is just watching over the activity of the assembly. They’re not looking for faults necessarily, but they are looking to see that the saints are displaying fitting behavior and that what is going on is of a fitting standard.

But the assembly that is being built—1 Corinthians 3—says, “If any man build on this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones”—not wood, hay, or stubble. So the local assembly is a building project. These overseers are just watching over the assembly that everything going on is of a fitting quality.

They are also called elders. Now, that doesn’t describe their spiritual ministry or duty so much. The word elder describes their spiritual maturity and dignity. The word elder has the idea of fatherly oversight.

In fact, it’s a word that goes all the way back to the Old Testament. When God’s people had come out of Egypt through the Exodus, Moses appointed certain elders over the people of God. These individuals had a fatherly oversight of the tribes and of the nations.

So here are individuals who, as far as their duty is concerned, they oversee, but as far as their dignity is concerned, they are older. They don’t have to be old in terms of age, but certainly, their spirituality is of such maturity that they can do that. That’s why they’re called elders.

Now, if that’s how they’re described, you ask, “What about their responsibility?” I’ll just mention this, and then we’ll get into spiritual gifts. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. Their shepherds. That’s part of their responsibility. As shepherds, they’re standing before the flock. As shepherds, they are leading the flock as examples to them.

As shepherds, they must know the flock. As shepherds, they must feed the flock. As shepherds, they must protect the flock. That includes preserving the unity of the assembly. Remember the Lord Jesus in Matthew 9? By the way, Christ is the great shepherd of His sheep. He is the good shepherd. Shepherds in our local assembly are under-shepherds, under Him who is the great shepherd.

Remember the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 9, when He saw the multitude, He looked on them with compassion, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd, and He sought to bring them back together as one flock and unite them again. That’s what shepherds do—they’re interested in the spiritual unity of the flock.

If you take it to John 10, “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd gives His life for the flock. Here are individuals that don’t just know the sheep; they will protect the sheep, and they will be willing to sacrifice for them, even to the point of death.

And they’re not just shepherds towards the saints. Here’s one that’s often forgotten: Titus chapter 1. They are stewards of the Lord. You say, “What is that?” Paul says in Titus 1, “An overseer must be blameless as the steward of what?” They are administrators. They are overseers of what belongs to God. They have a responsibility to watch over it. Isn’t it a dignifying thing?

Now before I get to the gifts, let me show you Hebrews chapter 13. So those of you here tonight who are saints—who are part of the flock and not overseers—remember you are responsible. “Obey them that have the rule over you.” You say, “I knew it. They want to keep a big stick over me and just beat me.” It’s nothing like that at all.

Hebrews chapter 13: “Obey them that have the rule over you.” Literally, “Obey those that stand before you.” They must be the best spiritual example, and you are so persuaded by their manner of life and Christian living that you willingly yield to their kindness. It’s spiritual; it’s wise.

Obey them that have the rule over you. Now, I spent a lot of time going through that because, without those leaders and without the reciprocal and right response from the flock, we will not have a strong local assembly.

Now, those are these. What about the gifts of the Spirit of God? We thought about the guidance of Scripture. We thought about the government of shepherds. I want to talk to you about the gifts of the Spirit.

Now again, in the time that I have left, here comes a whole load of information. You take away as much as you can, and if you want more, I’ve got plenty of writings on this, including good quality paper, which everybody loves, a good diary to write things down. I have this material you just ask me for.

Now, let’s talk about the gifts of the Spirit. I’ve said already, and I’ll say it again, every single believer in the Lord Jesus has a spiritual gift. You say, “Define it for me. What exactly is a spiritual gift?” Well, the word in Greek is “charisma,” right? I’ve got bags of charisma, yes?

You’ve heard before of the charismatic movement. They should never have used that word. The word “charisma” comes from “charis,” which means grace. That’s just the Greek word used for a spiritual gift. When you talk about the charismatic movement, what it means is here is a group of Christians or a movement of Christians emphasizing—and may I say overemphasizing—spiritual gifts.

It is the word “charisma.” You say, “What does it mean?” Well, grace is its very center. So it’s a spiritual gift. Charisma denotes gifts given by the grace of God. You cannot earn spiritual gifts. If you long in your heart to be a teacher, you cannot earn that gift. You cannot merit that gift. If the Spirit of God hasn’t given you the gift, you haven’t got it.

It is something that is freely given by grace. If you read those various passages, you will find the Father gives gifts, the Son gives gifts (that’s Ephesians 4), and the Spirit of God gives gifts. Spiritual gifts come from the Godhead.

So if you don’t like the gift you’ve been given, don’t complain about it elsewhere. These gifts come from God Himself. We call them spiritual gifts because, and this comes from 1 Corinthians 12:7, they are manifestations of the Spirit. So gifts are Spirit-endowed, Spirit-enabled abilities. That is how you can see the evidence of the Spirit of God in a believer.

Not only does He produce fruit, but the gift given to that believer is a manifestation of the Spirit of God within them. So you do understand this, don’t you? Spiritual gift is not a natural gift, which has just been set apart for the work of the Lord. You say, “Naturally, I’m a brilliant football player. Can I devote that natural gift to the work of the Lord?” Well, it’s very difficult to find out! The Spirit shall give, and the Spirit will give.

When did you receive the Spirit? When did you sign? At that moment, when you believed, you were given gifts. You didn’t know what it was, but He gave you gifts. As you exercise them, they are manifestations of the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. Isn’t that wonderful?

Here’s what I think: we’re going to have to open one thing: it’s a big one. If you go to Ephesians 4, and you go to 1 Corinthians 12, and you go to Romans 12, and you look at the various lists of gifts, I am not sure that they are exhaustive. There are probably others.

But if you look at the lists of gifts that are given, I think that Paul gives us 20 different spiritual gifts. Now, Peter in 1 Peter 4 divides all the gifts into two categories. He says some of them are speaking gifts, like the evangelist—who will emphasize public speaking, the preaching of the gospel, and discussing the gospel with individuals. What about the teacher? That’s a speaking gift, too.

Here is an individual that communicates to God’s people the Word of God. What about an exhorter? Oftentimes, an exhorter is someone who stirs up the spirit. He encourages the saints through the communication of words. Peter says, of all those gifts, some of them are speaking, while all the other types of gifts are serving gifts; you don’t necessarily have to say anything to them.

He says, “It’s what you do.” You take action, ministering to others. Peter divides those gifts, and he says, “Look, you just divide them into those that are speaking and those that are serving.”

You can also divide— forgive me for saying this—gifts not into two, but into three groups. Some of those 20 gifts were revelatory gifts. We’ve already spoken about them. Especially in the early days of the church, when the Word of God was not complete, and God was doing such a new work through the church, and God’s people needed establishing in truth. There were certain gifts that revealed the Word of God.

We do not find these in the church today. God’s revelation is complete. Thank you! If anyone ever says to you, “I’ve received a word from the Lord; God has given me new revelation,” they are telling lies. The revelation is complete, but that was the case then.

So those revelatory gifts, like apostles and prophets, are not in operation today. There were also confirmatory gifts; you can call them, if you like, sign gifts. These were gifts God gave to confirm He was doing something new.

The preaching of the gospel and calling out the Gentiles from the nations to build the church offered a clear message that God had put Judaism to one side and finished with it. That means He was doing something new.

Whenever God does something new in Scripture, whether it’s Moses, Elijah, Elisha, the Lord Jesus, or the apostles, it is always marked by miraculous signatures. Healing, for example. Think about speaking in tongues, speaking languages not learned before by the individual. Those were confirmatory gifts God gave to show He was doing something new.

But today, we’re almost at the end of a project. There’s no need for revelatory gifts or confirmation. So, those are two categories. You say, “What are we left with?” We’re left with what I call contemporary gifts. I think there are some gifts that are contemporary today.

In fact, I suggest to you that there are 10 spiritual gifts that are contemporary to today—three of them are speaking gifts, and seven of them are serving gifts. I would expect, therefore, that the majority of believers have serving gifts rather than speaking gifts.

You say, “I’d love to know what they are.” Your wish is my command. Those speaking gifts—of course, there’s the evangelist; the evangelist deals in the salvation of souls. So do we all, but he is particularly gifted by the Spirit of God to communicate the gospel.

He speaks to individuals and makes inroads where the rest of us would just flounder. The evangelist is somebody who deals in the salvation of souls. Literally, he or she is a good news person.

You don’t have to stand on a platform like this to be an evangelist; you can be doing it with next-door neighbors. You can be a person who is tremendous at speaking to individuals you meet on a daily basis.

What about the teacher? The teacher is somebody who gives sustenance from the Word of God. The evangelist deals with the salvation of souls; the teacher gives sustenance from the Word of God.

Then there is the exhorter. The exhorter is an individual who stirs up the spirit; literally, he is a consoler. He kindles the fire within the saint. I’ve got to say he “winds” them up, but that might sound negative.

He really stirs them up to action as they exalt. Three contemporary—those are speaking gifts. Let me just tell you three contemporary serving gifts.

I love these! Everyone’s favorite gift— I want you just to shout out some gifts. Most of you would have said evangelist and most of you would have said teacher. Everybody’s favorite gift from those two was this: the gift of helps! That was it, wasn’t it? That’s what you were thinking about! I mean, not all blank faces!

The gift of helps! That’s a great gift, isn’t it? If you don’t fall into any other category, well, maybe I’m a helper. Do you know, I think the gift of helps is true and real!

You read about that in 1 Corinthians 12. Here’s an individual who supports the struggling. The gift of helps is a person who is particularly enabled by the Spirit to help others in times of need. The word literally means to lay your hand upon. Now, you’re not slapping them or anything; you’re laying your hand upon them in order to remove a burden from them.

“I come in just a little bit to help you with that difficulty that you have. I’m going to bear that burden for you.” That’s the gift of helps! Isn’t that lovely? There are saints who are particularly sensitive to needs, like my wife, for example. She can see the burdens that others are bearing. I, on the other hand, might miss them altogether.

But there are some who can see the burdens and possess that gift to be able to come alongside and bear that burden for someone else. Isn’t that lovely?

Romans 12:1 speaks about the gift of helps. Romans 12 also speaks about the gift of ministry. This is now not so much supporting the struggling; this is now serving the saints.

That’s what ministry means. Maybe you have got the gift of serving the saints. I’m thinking now of a believer in the assembly where I come from who certainly has the gift of ministry. He is constantly serving the saints. In fact, he’s more concerned about serving others than thinking about himself, whether it’s material needs, hospitality, lodging, or food; he’s constantly serving others.

We should all be serving, but there are some who are particularly enabled by the Spirit to do so. Showing mercy is also mentioned in Romans 12. Why all these gifts to God?

Helps, beautiful. Ministry, so meaningful. Showing mercy—individuals, who comfort the sorrowful, characterized by their kindness. I feel very fond of that one! Maybe that is where they want to be a teacher! The children will cry and say, “Just don’t cry for someone else. Just take care of me!”

But my kids are moaning and groaning, “Don’t moan and groan to anybody else!” I don’t seem to have much energy. What do these individuals do? If someone is sorrowful, they have particular compassion for them.

In this kind of spirit. Now, those are just three examples of certain gifts, and I’ve given you three examples of speaking gifts. I will close with this. I really want you to take this in. How has God gifted you? Stick to your gifting! Get engaged in the life of the assembly, and it will become obvious.

Peter says, “Since you’ve received it, you’ve received it to serve one another as good stewards of the glorious, multi-colored grace of God.” Use that gift to serve so that, in all things, says Peter, God might be glorified. That’s the point of gifts, isn’t it? Not so that I might look good or you look good, but the point of gifts is to build us up and ultimately to glorify God.

Filed under: Ministry, rudge-daniel