Moody PresentsAll of us have been given a special and unique gift and talent given to us by God... do you know what it is? Are you using it? More importantly, are you using it for the good of those around you?
Today on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. We'll discover how we're all gifted individually, but for the good of the team.
When the Holy Spirit empowers them. You have an uncanny divine ability to do something that is better than what the majority of people know how to do it, because it's a supernatural gifting that comes from God.
Welcome to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute, and maybe you've heard he's also senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Think of this. All of us have been given a very special, very unique gift and talent given to us directly by God Himself. Now, do you know what your gift is? Are you using it? More importantly, are you using it for the good of those around you? Well, let's turn our focus toward the New Testament as we explore First Corinthians chapter 12, where we encounter some unique Roman culture and an important tie that Jesus Christ redeems and gives to his followers. You'll see what I mean as we join pastor Mark Jobe right now on Moody Presents.
The Bible says that the spirits not of God also have power. Do you remember that in the in the book of acts, there was a girl that was possessed by a demonic spirit, and she had the power to predict the future, and her masters were making money off of her special supernatural ability to predict the future. But it was not a spirit that came from God. It was a fallen spirit, or what the Bible calls a demonized spirit that was giving her that supernatural ability. Just because she had a supernatural ability, it didn't mean that it was coming from God. Are you tracking with me? Oh, you say, pastor, I would never go to a psychic. But, you know, my mom took me to a curandera and she had a picture of Jesus in the background. And a statue of Mary. What did she do? Well, she prayed to some prayers over me. Cracked an egg on my stomach. Blew smoke over my face and. Come on, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. And did all these things because there was a curse. I had to get rid of this curse, and, you know, it worked. Oh, yeah, it worked. But let me tell you, if at the heart of it, if at the center of it was not the lordship of Jesus Christ and Scripture, and she was invoking all kinds of weird things and doing all kinds of weird things of you, it was not of God. And what it does, it's an open door to a dark world that gets you sucked in and ultimately takes control and deception over your life that will lead you to the wrong place. So you need to be very aware of it. Okay, now I'm going to offend some of you, like really offend some of you. So the Bible says that some of you were influenced and led astray by mute idols. Let me tell you this. There is one mediator between us and God, and his name is Jesus the Christ. There is no other mediator. The Bible refers to it as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The word Trinity does not occur in Scripture, but the the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit does occur in Scripture, and we refer to him as not three separate gods, but one God in three persons that have the same mind, the same essence, the same nature, and flow in perfect harmony with one another. And so they are indistinguishable from each other except by their function. Some of you are like. Let me illustrate how it works in prayer. We pray to God the Father who answers our prayer. We have access to God the Father through the mediator who is Jesus Christ, who gives us entrance into the presence of God because he's washed us and cleansed us. We know how to pray because of what the Holy Spirit guides us to pray. Are there three gods? No. It's one God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all functioning together to lead us in the right direction. That is how God works. Now listen to me well. In the Greco-Roman world that when Scripture was written, they spoke Greek. And that's why the Bible is written in ancient Greek. But the culture was Roman because the Romans had conquered the world at that time. The Roman culture practiced paganism and pluralism. Paganism was the belief in many gods. Pluralism was the fact that you can embrace many gods at the same time, and they were all of equal value. So most of the people that lived in the city of Corinth had multiple gods that they prayed to. Gods in the Greco-Roman world were almost like, well, if you were a sailor, you had the God of the sea. If you were a blacksmith, you had the god of the blacksmith. If you were a farmer, you had a god of fertility. It's almost like the unions, you know, here, if you were a part of this union, you had this God. If you were part of that union, you had that God. And people had many, many gods. And it was okay to have multiplicity of gods. The reason that they were against Christians were that Christians were the only ones that were exclusive. Christians said there is one way to the father, not many way. There is one way to God. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. So they refuse to acknowledge other gods or serve other gods or worship other gods. And so they were persecuted by the Romans, fed to the lions, tortured, killed, persecuted because the Emperor hated the fact that they would not bow to him as a god because they said, no, we will not bow our knee to you. You are not a God. We have a God. His name is God the Father, that we worship through Jesus the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. Now listen. Listen to me. This is where I'm going to step on your toes. So for you, you're clapping. I'm not stepping on your toes yet. Some of you come from religious traditions in which you don't call them gods, but in essence, you treat them like little gods. You have your own patron saints. You say, well, it's really not a god. Yeah, but let's think about that. You pray to them, you ask favor from them, and you expect that they answer your prayer as a mediator to God the Father. Scripture calls that an idol. Well, pastor, you don't know. You see, I was really trying to sell my house. I couldn't sell it. The market was really bad. Oh, I tried and I tried and someone told me, well, have you consult in Saint Joe? Saint who? Oh, Saint Joe. No. No, no. Well, see, you need to get Saint Joe. Bury him upside down in your front yard. And Joe is really good at selling houses. He's the patron saint of real estate. I don't want you to ask you to raise your hands if you've done that. And so you think that it's just a nice thing to do, that it's really not. But let me tell you, when you pray to anything other than God through Jesus the Son, the Bible refers to that as idolatry. You can call him a saint. You can. You can call it what you want to call it. But if you're asking for divine favor from a being that's anything other than God the Father, through Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Bible says that's idolatry. If in your house you have a statue that you pray to, or a picture that you pray to, that you invoke special favors to come from that statue or that picture or whatever it may be, and you say, well, it just helps me pray, but. But but but but but it's something other than Jesus or God. But you feel like there's special powers that come from that. That is called an idol and it's called idolatry. And it's not of God. Oh, I know now you can get up and walk out if you want some, some of you want to, I know that, but I'm going to tell you what the Word of God says. I know that you were raised that way. I know your grandmother follows that way. I know you have a great uncle and aunt that came from a different country, and they do it that way. But I'm not talking about culture here. I'm talking about biblical Christianity because the Bible always supersedes culture, okay? Always supersedes culture. So do you realize that the New Testament says that some will come before God and say, didn't we cast out devils in your name? Didn't we do miracles in your name? And God will say, depart from me. I never knew you. Not every power is from God and you need to realize that. And you needed to make sure that it's an authentic power that comes from the Spirit of God and doesn't lead you astray. So who gives us this? The gifts the Holy Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit? He's the third person of the Godhead. Jesus in John chapter 14 said, I have to leave so that the Paraclete can come. Who's the Paraclete? It means counselor, helper, coach, someone that comes along beside you. Jesus said, I must leave the world so that the Holy Spirit, who is your day to day counselor, convict or guider, can come, that Holy Spirit will dwell inside of you. He will be your internal spiritual coach. He convicts you, convinces you, teaches you, empowers you, guides you, watches over you, convicts you of sin, leads you to righteousness and judgment in God. That's the Holy Spirit. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes and awakens your spirit, and he comes with gifts that are supernatural and empower you to do a work that you could never do on your own. It's called the Holy Spirit. Number two, I'm talking about gifts. Knowing your gifts and using your gifts. Number two, it's the unity principle. Not only the Lordship principle, but the unity principle. We are all gifted differently, but empowered the same. Notice what it says in verse four. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of workings, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God. Notice the Trinity, the same spirit, the same Lord, the same God, Holy Spirit, Jesus the Lord and God the Father spoken about in this passage. The point that the Apostle Paul is making is that your gift may look very different from one another, but what your gifts have in common is that the same power source is what fuels those gifts. I brought a little illustration for you because, you know, I thought this was a good illustration of it. Anybody know what this is? It's a power strip. So for those of you that are listening over audio, I have a power strip in my hand now. It has multiple plugs. 1234566 plugs in this power strip. You may take this power strip and say, well, I'm going to plug in my television in this. And you can watch programs and you may decide that the second plug is going to plug in your iron. So you can, you know, try to iron your clothes and iron a television look very different. And the other power strip, you say, I'm going to plug in my uh, the charger for my iPhone. And so you plug it in and another power strip, you say, well, I'm going to I'm going to plug in my blender. And so the blender and your iPhone and your television and your iron seem very, very different. But they have one thing in common. They all service your household, but they all come and are empowered by the same power source. The electricity that runs through the wiring of your house provides the power for all those different sources. If the electricity in your house cuts off, what happens to all those elements that are plugged in there? They lose their power. It's the same in the body of Christ. Some of you may have the gift of helps. Someone else may have the gift of of faith. Someone else may have the gift of encouragement. Someone else may have the gift of teaching someone else may have the gift of healing. Someone else may have the gift of administration. All of those gifts seem very different from one another, but they have one thing in common they are all empowered by the same power source. The power source is called the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit empowers them, you have an uncanny supernatural divine ability to do something that is better than what the majority of people know how to do it. Because it's not your own gifting. It's a supernatural gifting that comes from God. Now, what you need to understand is that you have a gift, and your gift may be different from the people around you, and God doesn't want everybody to have the same gift. He wants you to have your gift, but use your gift for the service of God. And this is what we call the unity principle. We're all gifted differently, but empowered the same. Everybody has their gift, and everybody embraces their gifts, loves their gifts, practices their gifts. And then the body becomes this incredible, powerful, united flow that's empowered by the Holy Spirit and accomplishes incredible things because you're happy with your gift and embrace your gift.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we're all plugged into the same source for this gifting that we've been hearing about. And there's much more to come as we continue with today's teaching. But first, this very brief moment to let you know about a resource I think you're going to want to have. Former Moody president Doctor Joe Stoll has written the book Eternity Reclaiming a Passion for What Endures. As you read it, I think you'll find yourself replugged in to the overwhelming hope of heaven in a world obsessed with the temporary. You and I can sometimes forget what truly matters, right? Well, Doctor Joe Stohl's book eternity provides deep insights into embracing eternal values in a temporary world, offering a clear roadmap to a life that that resonates with lasting significance. Don't you want that? Hey, don't let the temporary overshadow the eternal request. Your copy. Now, when you give a gift of any amount at Moody presents.org, that's Moody presents.org for your copy of eternity. Now a gift of any size gets you that book. And since we're listener supported, think of this your gift. No matter what, the size goes a long way in helping us share the gospel and always helping you to take the next step in your walk with Christ. All right, let's get back to our teaching segment here on Moody Presents. Here's doctor Mark Jobe with more on gifting.
Later on in this passage, by the way, the apostle Paul talks about the church, the community of faith as a body? And here's what happens. The body is an incredible thing, isn't it? Your hand coordinates with your toes. Your eyes blink together. Your so. Well, most of us. Unless you're 12 years old, then you're not that coordinated. But most of you are so coordinated you really flow together. But later on he says, but what if the Apostle Paul tells us in later chapters, what if everybody in the body decided we wanted to be an eye? And the toe said, you know, I'm I'm tired of just groveling around here. I got the hard job and closed into the shoe. These other toes around me stink. I just wish I was an eye. I want to be an eye. And the ears say, you know, I'm tired of listening. I just want to be an eye. I get to see the beauty I have colors. Who looks at your ears really, when they meet you? When's the last time someone has said to you, you know, the first thing I noticed about her Were her earlobes. No, no, no. You're a little strange if you say that. You're going to say. The first thing I noticed was the beauty of her eyes. Everybody looks at the eyes, so the ear says, I don't want to be like second. Third. I want people to notice me. So Paul says, if everyone in the body wanted to be an eye, what would you would say? There goes Joe. Joe's one big eyeball rolling down the street there. He can't hear, he can't talk. But boy, can he see. We would say that's an anomaly. It's strange. It's abnormal. It's awkward because everybody wants to be the same thing. Listen, in the body of Christ, everybody, all of us, we have different functions. Leads me to my third principle. Not only is it the lordship principle, the unity principle, but the common good principle. In verse seven, the common good principle is. My last principal says this. We are all gifted individually for the good of the team. Notice what it says in verse seven. Now to each one the manifestation of the spirit is given. For what? Say it out loud. For what? For the common good. Why do you have a gift? Go ahead. What's the answer? Why are you empowered by the Holy Spirit? Is your gift for you? It's for what? What is the common good? The common good is the edification and building of the people around you. You don't have a spiritual gift so you could shine on stage. You don't have a spiritual gift so people can compliment you. You don't have a spiritual gift just so you could be edified. If you if you have a special gift of singing, it's not just for you to do it in the closet by yourself at home. Just edifying yourself. No, no, no. Your gift is for the building up of the believers around you, for their edification, for their good. That's why God gives you a gift. Your gift is not for you. Your gift is for others. If you don't use your gift for others, you are robbing the body of the gift that God has given you. If you're using the gift only for yourself, you have misused the gift that God has given you. The gift is for the common good. So therefore, if you have the gift of encouragement, that's one of the gifts. The gift of exhortation or encouragement. When you walk in these doors on Sunday morning, you say, well, you know, I'm just here to receive. I'm tired of giving at work. Everybody wants something from me. I'm just exhausted. You know, give me, give me, give me. I just want to. I just want to come and just receive. There you go. He must have the gift of helps. He's helping out right away. There you go. They get to help him in operation. Someone says I just want to receive. So you walk in these doors and guess what? You sit next to someone that you don't realize this, but the person next to you is at the end of the rope. They've already tried to take a bottle of pills that week. They're so hopeless about their life. They wore long sleeves because, you know, they they tried to cut themselves this week and they're so desperate. You have a supernatural ability to encourage. But yet you've decided I'm not going to use my gift because I just don't feel like it. Because I'm tired. But yet the person beside you, what they desperately need is not another message from pastor Mark. What they desperately need is the power of the encouragement that God has placed inside of you to turn them around but yet, because you've chosen not to use it. They go out still suicidal and you leave unfulfilled because the the most fulfilled people are the people that are flowing fully and powerfully in the gifts that God has given them. Are you tracking with me? But when you come and you say, I'm not here just to receive, I'm here to give. And that person sits next to you and you, you realize the hopelessness about your soul. Your spiritual antennas go up and you realize this person really needs. And you just say to them, are you okay today? And they don't even know you. But because you have the gift of encouragement, they perceive this is an encourage you and you just pray for them and talk to them and speak into their lives. And they walk out of this place saying, there is hope. I know there is. Why? Because someone like you spoke into their destiny, spoke into their life, ministered to their spirit. Let them know God has a purpose and a plan for their life. You encourage them like no one else in this auditorium could have done. Because you have the gift of encouragement. You have a gift. I don't know what exactly it is, but you have a gift in powered by God and is to be used for the common good. So let me close with this. Listen, it says each of us has been given the manifestation of the spirit. Some it's the message of wisdom, some it's the message of knowledge. There are other gifts that are given here. Uh, some, it says, have the gift of faith. Some have the gift of healing. Some have the gift of miraculous powers. Some have the gift of prophecy. Some have the gift of distinguishing between spirits. Some have the gift of speaking in other tongues. Some have the gift of interpretation of tongues. To each believer is given the manifestation of the spirit. When we use it properly edifies other people. When we use it negatively, it tears down other people. That's why Romans chapter 12 verse six says, we have different gifts according to the grace given us. First Peter chapter four verse ten says, each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God's grace in its various form. Let me close with this final illustration I have here. Those of you that were in a band, this is called a what? Clarinet. But it's part of a broader group of instruments called what? Not stringed instruments, but wind instruments. Why is it called wind instruments? Because in order to make sound, you have to. I'm not even going to try. You have to blow in this thing. I can press on all the buttons. It's fancy. I can touch all these buttons. And guess what? This makes no noise even though I'm pressing the buttons. Why? Because in order for it to work, it's got to have wind. Without the wind, there is no music. Even though the buttons are there, you have a gift. It's a powerful gift. It's a gift that God can use. It's a gift that makes beautiful noise. And other people respond to it. But let me tell you something. It needs the wind of the Holy Spirit. When the wind of the Holy Spirit begins to blow through this instrument, then suddenly it starts working in a way that you can't imagine without the wind of the Holy Spirit. It's just a bunch of buttons. It's a tool, but it's not used. You have the power to be used of God when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, who empowers you and sensitizes you to the needs that are around you. When a church full of people discovers their gift and starts using them. We become this incredible force for change, this unfathomable power of transformation. Only when all of us together start embracing the fact that we have a gift, that we can use it, and that God has called us.
Gifted by the Holy Spirit, we now know where that all comes from. But why? That's the question we'll address next week here on Moody Presents. As a reminder, head to Moody presents.org to get our resource eternity reclaiming a passion for what endures. Thanks for connecting with us today. I'm John Gager hope to link up with you again for more powerful biblical insights on Moody presents a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
