Gifts – God eqips

Reading: Exodus 31:1-11

Which do you major on? Finding spiritual strengths or fixing spiritual faults?

Much preaching (especially in my formative years, and still today) is about fixing people. It’s predicated on the presupposition that most of the things we do are at best spiritually flawed and at worst downright sinful.

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!”

is a verse that is often used by preachers to induce a sense of guilt and inadequacy in us.

Don’t misunderstand this. I’m not denying that original sin taints much that we are and do, I’m not denying for one moment that we’re far from perfect, that we’re in desperate need of God’s grace and that of ourselves we can earn nothing.
But this has to do with our standing before God, not our abilities in life.

Guilt is real and sometimes we need to feel it, but guilt is only intended to be a temporary state!

The purpose of the cross was to free you from your guilt before God!
It was to release us from the burden of our wrong-doing to the joy of right-doing!
so that you and I could experience real, genuine, unadulterated joy in God!
And make a difference for him by using the gifts he’s given us!

This is what the Bible calls holiness. It’s being set apart from any sin I’m conscious of (by being forgiven) and placed into a lifestyle that is full of the joy and peace of God!

John Piper has come up with a wonderful phrase to describe this – He calls it ‘Christian Hedonism’

the hedonist is the person who seeks pleasure for its own sake regardless of the consequences or the effect his selfishness has on other people,
The hedonist (given an adequate supply of money) will enjoy all the so-called pleasures this life has to offer. From sunning himself on a breach to sexing himself in a brothel – he or she doesn’t care – they want it all!
The hedonist seeks ultimate pleasure even though the routes they go down may eventually kill their spirit. This is often the motivation behind using hard drugs – a moment of pleasure
and we know they they can kill.
and the tragedy is that these activities can kill the spirit long before they kill the body.

The Christian hedonist also seeks ultimate pleasure

but him (or her) pleasure is to be found by receiving (and sometimes fighting for) real joy in God.

God is glorified most clearly when we enjoy him most intimately!

And instead of bringing death, or risking our health, it brings life, freedom , fulfilment and joy – all the things a loving God designed us for!

And much of that comes through using the gifts God’s given us!

God is glorified most clearly when we serve him most effectively

What marks out

Take a Sunday service for example.

Time and time again someone says to me “I met with the Lord today” “that spoke to me” “God’s in this place” etc.
How did that come about?
By the Holy Spirit working, yes, but also by a large team of people serving effectively to create the space, the atmosphere, the moment for that to happen!

God couldn’t move like he does here without people serving as they do here!

And that’s only one (very obvious!) example

Thriving Christ followers know and use their spiritual gifts

1 Cor 12:1

“The spirituals” => the spiritual side of the church

Using our Gifts is God’s way of building the church

The church is the physical representation of God’s kingdom

the place where God is (or should be) king

But it doesn’t mean I can duck out of doing things I don’t fancy

Principle – one area where you use your gifts, + one act of service where you may not.

Too often theses two areas get muddles up. I know that i’m undeserving of God’s love, so I think I’m unlovely

What the Holy Spirit does

… that to talk about my abilities is tantamount to boasting!

What part does the Holy Spirit play in our discipleship?

He equips us

If you’re going to thrive in your journey of faith, and excel in your discipleship, you need to understand your unique spiritual gifts and use them – often!

Let’s do a thought experiment … Just imagine what life would be like if you could so what you know God has equipped you best to do every day of the week.

Bezalel’s story gives us some vital pointers to understanding how God uses the gifts he’s invested in us

notice how precise God’s identification of him was!

Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.

No doubt there, then! This could only possibly refer to one single individual. An individual whose name God knew and whose family God had tracked. That is like each of us. God knows your name, your lineage, your family tree and all that brings to you. He knows what makes you, you.

notice “I have filled him with the spirit of God”

The term used for spirit here is ruach or breath

The breath of God breathes through his nostrils!

God had made a covenant with Moses that the children of Israel would be his people and that works its way out in the way God

Ever sat next to someone with bad breath? Every time you get close to him/her

They don’t have to try, it just happens – and others notice!

That’s a contra-example to what he have here. Instead of bad breath we have God’s breath, the spirit of God. He was present in Bezalel so that every time someone got close to Bezalel, or saw his handiwork, they were uncannily aware that there was something God-glorifying about it.

Through his metalwork he breathed out God (in some indefinable way)!

notice that the way the Spirit was manifest was clear and obvious

The Spirit of God was not a mystical experience (a mistake we so frequently make) it was

It was his metalwork and woodwork

Can I say something here

Bezalel is the very first person in the Bible to be described as being ‘filled with the Spirit of God’. Now we might expect the first occurrence of that phrase to be used of a prophet, or a preacher, or a priest or a leader – but it’s not. (I just love this) It’s used of a handy man!

His name means “in the shadow or the protection of God”

God values and honours the skill of the metal and wood worker. The way the spirit of God emerged from Bezalel (and his helpers) was in their woodwork, or metalwork or jewellery. He was a man who earned his living with his hands.

God said “I have filled him with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts”

notice that his hands produced objects of beauty

they were “artistic designs in gold, silver, bronze … and all kinds of craftsmanship”

notice that God gave him assistants to extend his work

And what is more (says God) I have appointed Oholiab, son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you

Clearly the work was going to be too much for Bezalel alone.

Find and use your spiritual gifts.

A “get-to-use your gifts” day >>>
fill in response

He restrains us

Gen 6:3-5: 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man for ever, …; 5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The Spirit was ‘contending’ – competing for the hearts and minds of mankind

seeking to bring restraint but getting nowhere
because of our sinful nature we can resist the restraining work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The result? Destruction of the earth as they knew it – a catastrophic flood from which only Righteous Noah was saved.
Being in an attitude of resistance to God is a perilous place to be!: “My Spirit will not contend with man for ever, …
1 Thessalonians 2:7 >>>

He Alerts us <ppt>

Alerting people to spiritual reality

putting God and his love for them on their own personal radar

E.g. Samson

mother could not conceive

Judg 13:2-3 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.

3 The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.

…

8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

…

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him,

25 and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

(NIV)

Spirit was alerting Samson to spiritual reality –

He comforts us

John 16:7-13 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Comforter = ‘parakeltos’ someone called alongside to help in a tough time
E.g. image of earthquake victim

distraut
uncontrollable tears
but someone was supporting them – arm round their shoulders as they walked away from the tragedy.

That’s parakletos!
Some of us, facing tough situations need God as out parakletos.

He convicts us

8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
(NIV)

He Converts us

When you became a Christian, that was a sovereign work of God by the HS!

It doesn’t matter whether you can remember a date!
John 16:15
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

He Awakens us

the Spirit awakens people

This implies one is asleep in some sense

It is of course possible that having come to Christ, perhaps many years ago,

you can become so familiar with the ideas, so accustomed to the concepts and the routine of reading your Bible each day or coming to church each week that your spirit is no longer fired into praise when you think or talk about God or Jesus

Listen to Rev 2:2-4: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.; 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.; 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
Jesus had a lot to commend this church for!

he was not doubting their sincerity, their effort or their orthodoxy

he was questionning their love

If Jesus was here this morning would he have cause to question you love for him?
Don’t misunderstand my motive in saying this
I’m not attempting to make you feel guilty, or a failure, or inadequate or un-spiritual
I ask you that question because I long that you experience the reality of fresh love for God!
If your soul is asleep in Christ – allow the HS to wake you up!

He empowers us

Jesus is just about to return to his heavenly father. Giving final instructions to him disciples
he knows this – therefore his words are going to be carefully chosen!
Acts 1:8-9: 8 [my dear friends, my disciples] you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
and then woosh! And he was gone: 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Stephen Olford (used to be a minister in Richmond, Surrey – one of my early heroes – only a few of us will have heard of him I expect)
Many years ago he was speaking at a conference in Hildenborough Hall, hear Otford in Kent.
Subject: the Holy Spirit: “On Friday night we gathered for a period of sharing to be followed by a concluding message. American visitors were with us on that occasion. Among them was a young man named Bill. As he heard the testimonies of the young people who had entered into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and then listened to my exposition of Ephesians 5:18, [=”Don’t be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit”] he walked up to me and with a resolute look in his eyes asked to know more.; We were unable to talk freely at the time, so made arrangements to meet in Wales.; There I found Bill was seeking for more of God with all his heart; and he felt that I could help him. For most of two days we were closeted in a Pontypridd hotel with our Bibles open. I expounded the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer who is willing to bow daily and hourly to the sovereignty of Christ and to the authority of the word. [I had only recently experienced this myself and] … this lesson was so new to me that it cascaded out, revealing bright glimpses of the inexhaustible power of the love of God.; Bill drank it in avidly. And at the close of the second day we prayed like Jacob – laying hold of God and crying “We will not let you go until you bless us”. [It was then that we came] to a place of rest and rejoicing and Bill said to me ‘This is a turning point in my life, this will revolutionise my ministry’
Who was Bill? – Billy Graham. <ppt image>
Jesus very last words on planet earth were to tell the disciples that they are to expect power because the Holy Spirit will come on them.
So – should – we.
If a watching world does not see evidence of God’s spirit in churches who claim to be God’s people then they will believe what they see rather than what we claim.

Unless our faith in inexplicable in human terms we will be relegated to the plethora of ‘faith streams’ that are historic, inoffesnsive, innocuous, and characterised by powerlessness.

I don’t want a faith like that!
I want something which shreaks the power of God
I want something that is deeply attractive to outsiders

something which satisfies the longings of the human heart, (including my own)

only the HS can do this

I urge you to get alone with god and fully yield yourself to the Holy Spirit – allow god imself to invade you
But I want to give you one final insight into the work of the Holy Spirit today.

He refreshes us

the Spirit refreshes
Acts 3:19: 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
When I refresh something, I bring it back to a useful condition

I refresh my computer screen when it gets in a jumble
I refresh my face by washing it

When God invades a Christian’s soul it is often to bring refreshing where he or she is dry

The spectrum of gifts

Read Romans 12:4-8 (p1139)
There are many examples of the Holy Spirit enabling people in the OT too
It wasn’t long after creation that the animals go together to form a school

They wanted the best school possible – one that offered their students a well rounded curriculum of
swimming, running, climbing and flying. In order to graduate, all the animals had to take all the courses.

The duck was excellent at swimming.

In fact, he was better than his instructor.
But he only made passing grades at climbing and was getting a very poor grade at running.
The duck was so slow in running that he had to stay behind after school every day to practice.
Even with that there was little improvement.
His webbed feet became badly worn from running,
and with such worn feet, he was only able to gain an average grade for swimming.
Average was quite acceptable to everyone else, so no-one worried – except the duck.

The rabbit was at the top of her class in running

but after a while she developed a twitch in her leg from all the time she spent in the water trying to improve her swimming.

The squirrel was a peak performer in climbing

but was constantly frustrated in the flying class.
His body became so bruised from the hard landings that he did not do well in climbing
and ended up being pretty poor in running.

The eagle was a problem student.

She was severely disciplined for being non-compliant.
For example, in the climbing class she would always beat everyone else to the top of the tree, but insisted on using her own way to get there.
Each of the animals had their own area of expertise which shone when they did what they were designed to do.

Can ducks run? – yes, but they don’t do it best!

Bezalel – artistry

Gideon leadership

Story >>>

Isaiah prophecy

I wonder how Isaiah felt as he started out as a prophet – nervous? Unsure of himself?

He almost certainly made mistakes

But eventually he realised something

IS 61

I can’t help feeling this passage has a deeply personal ring to it

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion –

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendour.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

Nehemiah – organisation

Some spiritual gifts are human abilities that are taken by God and used for His purposes

others are unique to being a Christian

Tonight we will group them

Tabitha (Acts 9) – a carer and char£ity worker

Her ministry so vital that God brought her back to life

Each person can make a difference.

Spectrum – what does it look like?

On the one hand

God takes ordinary skills and invests them with his power to make a spiritual difference. >>>

God gives spiritual skills to make a difference in ordinary life.

Isaiah’s prophecy >>>

gift of insight – >>>

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