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Sermon

In His Strength, With His People, For His Glory

Speaker
Mark Twombly
Scripture
1 Peter 4:10-11

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from 1 Peter 4:10-11 teaches us about God’s design for spiritual gifts and their use within the body of Christ. Though placed between warnings about worldly sinfulness and the reality of suffering, these verses sharpen our focus on what matters most — serving one another in Christ’s strength and for God’s glory.

Key Lessons:

  1. Each believer has a unique spiritual DNA — a combination of gifts, ministries, and effects — distributed perfectly by God for His purposes.
  2. We are stewards, not owners, of God’s grace; our concern should be faithfulness with what He has provided, not anxious self-provision.
  3. Speaking gifts must convey God’s words, not human opinions, while serving gifts must draw on God’s strength, not our own energy.
  4. The body of Christ is interdependent by design — no one is expendable, and growth requires every member exercising their gifts.

Application: We are called to identify our spiritual gifts, actively use them in service to one another, and stop striving in the flesh. This may mean dusting off a spiritual gifts assessment, having honest conversations with brothers and sisters, and evaluating whether we are doing too much, too little, or are misaligned with what God has designed for us.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you know what your spiritual gifts are, and are you actively using them within the body of Christ?
  2. Are there areas where you are striving in your own strength rather than serving by the strength God supplies?
  3. How does understanding that you are a steward — not an owner — of God’s grace change the way you approach service and provision in daily life?

Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 4:10-11 teaches that spiritual gifts are to be employed in serving one another as stewards of God’s manifold grace, with speaking gifts reflecting God’s utterances and serving gifts drawing on His strength — all so that God is glorified through Jesus Christ. Supporting passages include 1 Corinthians 12:1-7 on the trinitarian distribution of gifts, Ephesians 4:11-16 on the body’s interdependence and growth toward Christlikeness, and Romans 12:6-8 on exercising gifts according to grace.

Outline

Introduction

Well, good morning. Would you take your copy of God’s word this morning and turn to First Peter chapter 4? If you’re following along in the Pew Bibles, they are on page 12:14.

I’ll be reading the whole chapter today, but we’ll be focusing just on two verses for our time together.

1 Peter 4. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose.

Because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you.

But they will give account to him who is already the judge of the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. The end of all things is near.

Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received the special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies. So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation.

If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. Amen.

Would you pray with me? Father, we praise you that you have called us as believers with a living hope to a royal priesthood, a godly lifestyle, a fervent love, and a humble heart. All exemplified for us and empowered within us by the person of Jesus Christ.

Open our eyes, Father, to the reality of the challenges in the world around us, more than met by the resources within us and among us as your people. Open the eyes of our hearts today to see these realities and to live within them, never doubting the overflowing resources that you have provided. May we align with your power, your purposes, experiencing it as your people and be utterly captivated by your glory in all we do.

Do what only you can do in, among, and through your people today as we boldly face the future that you have for us. As your servant, Father, may I speak as it were your words and not my own ideas.

May I do it in your strength and may all the glory and attention be given to you. Amen. Amen.

Well, as we focus today on verses 10 and 11, taken by themselves, they seem a wonderful exhortation for us that we have spiritual gifts and we should use spiritual gifts. It’s one of several passages that emphasize that for us and I find them to be particularly encouraging.

We use these gifts to serve one another and strengthen the local church specifically and the body of Christ, the family of believers generally.

But as is often the case when we look at the context of scripture, it illumines, enlightens, and sometimes even surprises us. I think that’s the case in this passage.

Background of 1 Peter

Let me give you a little bit of background on the book of First Peter. The author is the Apostle Peter, one of the three close associates of Jesus with James and John, who was apparently rebuked the most by Jesus and the only one that I can tell who rebuked Jesus.

He was also rebuked by the Apostle Paul. I think we could agree that he needed those things.

But God would mold and shape this self-generated passion into humble spiritual strength. Isn’t that encouraging to us that God can do such a thing?

The audience is spelled out for us in 1 Peter 1:1. It is those who reside as exiles scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia who are chosen.

Because of the growing persecution in the church, the church was scattering following the martyrdom of Stephen. You can read about that in the book of Acts.

“God would mold and shape this self-generated passion into humble spiritual strength.”

The church scattered not willingly, but because it was God’s plan.

You’ll recall in the beginning of Acts, Jesus commanded them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Without persecution, they weren’t doing that.

It was God’s design to bring persecution upon the church so that they would fulfill the great commission to make disciples of all nations. You and I are here today because of that foundation. Praise God.

There were various cultures scattered throughout this region of Asia Minor. But the one thing that they had in common was their hostility to the gospel, to Christ and his church.

Peter strengthens them and us in this epistle with the reality that because of the sufferings of Christ and our identity as his people, the truth and mission of the gospel, and in light of the second coming of Christ and his eternal glory, we are to entrust our souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right in sacrificial service to his church and an uncompromising commitment to his truth.

The outline is broadly this: God has called us to a living hope, a royal priesthood, a godly lifestyle, a fervent love, and a humble heart.

The Placement of Verses 10-11

Now, if we zoom in a little bit on this chapter, it’s very curious, I think, that verses 10 and 11 are there. We note prior to these verses, we see the sinfulness of the world and the countercultural nature of the church, including our hospitality to one another. We see that in verses 1-9 and the sober reality of the fiery ordeal as it said of suffering in verses 12-19 which should not surprise us and is the experience of most Christians throughout history and many Christians—I would say most Christians in the world today.

So what are these two verses doing here?

“What are these two verses doing here? They sharpen our focus on Christ and how he is building his body.”

They seem oddly placed. I believe they’re designed to sharpen our focus on what is important: on Christ and how he is building his body in a world that hates him.

As we explore this passage, we will learn how we are to live our lives in his strength, with his people, and for his glory.

That was the introduction.

In His Strength

Tremendous in his strength.

Do you ever wonder as you go through life if you will ever have enough or even ever be enough for the tasks and responsibilities that are before you? I think if we’re honest, we doubt that. We struggle.

In our scripture reading earlier in Exodus 36, we saw a wonderful picture of working from the skill that God had given certain people. Working from hearts that God had stirred to work wholeheartedly. And you notice in the passage there was more than enough of both workers and materials.

“Working from hearts that God had stirred to work wholeheartedly — and there was more than enough.”

The people had to be restrained from giving anymore. Have you seen anything like that before? It’s an amazing thing to think about.

While I’m so thankful for the many servants here at Calvary, I think we can say this isn’t our reality here. We’re not having to stop you from serving or from giving. Oh, that we should have such a problem. May the Lord do such a thing here.

Maybe we pray for that in our daily lives. Can’t you tell the difference between someone who is doing something from the heart versus just going through the motions? We can tell that, can’t we? We can tell that in ourselves.

Our passage today paints a picture for us, a blueprint of, if you will, of how this can and how God intends for this to happen. We start generally with spiritual gifts.

Spiritual Gifts: Our Spiritual DNA

We see how our passage begins in verse 10: “As each one has received a special gift.”

The literal meaning here is that in proportion to what each has been imparted with and partakes of a gift of grace. These gifts of grace are spiritual abilities, supernatural abilities given by the Spirit of God. They are different from natural talents or abilities that we might have. It’s something much deeper than that.

I’d like to talk a little bit about what this means in terms of our spiritual DNA.

“These gifts of grace are supernatural abilities given by the Spirit of God — much deeper than natural talents.”

Our identity, our spiritual DNA. God has given each of us as believers a unique identity. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about that.

Our spiritual design or DNA to live out.

The key texts for spiritual gifts are found in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. Why do I use the term DNA? Well, because just as God has skillfully crafted each of our bodies in a unique way, and even our temperaments to be unlike anyone else—as the saying goes, you’re one in a million just like everybody else.

Our Unique Identity in Christ

Seems kind of trite, but it’s important that there is uniqueness. God’s skill is in our lives, and as those of us in Christ called to salvation in him, made alive in him, similarly we have a spiritual DNA which is unlike any other believer.

Ephesians 2:10 says that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? For good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I think we understand maybe scientifically what DNA is, how amazing DNA is and the complexity of it. But God has done this for us spiritually in our new identities in him.

I draw our attention to think maybe more deeply about that than you have. What we are talking about today is not merely tasks to perform but an identity to live out. Amazing.

I find myself saying you can only be who you are. It sounds obvious, but think about that—what that implies in terms of how you live out your daily life. We are always living out our identity.

If we are living consistent with who we are, then we’ll never go through the motions. There’s a sense of inevitability to this that we cannot help ourselves because it is who we are and who God has made us to be.

You ever see someone fulfill a role that doesn’t quite fit? You say that’s just really not him. That just doesn’t really work. I’ve been in those situations and had to get the hook, right? You understand how that works. I think we’ve all been in those situations.

But for some situations, we say that is so him or that is so her. Yeah, that person is living out their identity. They are being who they are. And there’s something refreshing about that.

In the same way that God has crafted us individually, he has created a unique context for each of us in his body if we are in him.

“What we are talking about today is not merely tasks to perform but an identity to live out.”

Our Expression in the Body

And that’s our expression. Our expression is the context of the body. I think it’s common for some people who profess Christ to say, “I’m not religious. I’m just spiritual.” And that’s code for “I don’t belong to a church and I don’t want to belong to a church. I don’t want to be in with those people.” Right? Often it is that.

We are challenging. We sanctify each other in welcome and unwelcome ways. You’re welcome. That’s how that goes.

But the context where our spiritual lives and our identities really show themselves is in the context of the body, which is, if we’re honest, kind of a mess. But God is gracious. And that’s what I would point your attention to today.

Consider 1 Corinthians 12:1-7. “Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. That when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols. However you were led. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the spirit of God says that Jesus is cursed and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same spirit and there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord and there are varieties of effects but the same God who works all things in all persons but to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.”

I’m tempted to just spend the rest of our time here.

1 Corinthians 12:7: “To each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.”

Gifts, Ministries, and Effects

It’s just so rich. I hope you notice the trinitarian nature of that passage. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working together to empower us. We have three things that are demonstrated here for us: gifts, ministries, and effects. They’re in a variety.

The sense of variety we saw in our main passage today indicates a division or distribution similar to what we see as manifold in 1 Peter 4:10. The sense being variegated, multicolored, diverse.

We are not all the same. Praise God for that.

1 Corinthians 12:11 says, “But one and the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as he wills, not as we will, but as he wills, perfectly distributed.”

1 Corinthians 12:11: “One and the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as he wills.”

Don’t be tempted or fall into the temptation of being jealous of another’s gifts. God has distributed them just as he wants to for his glory. Don’t be jealous of your brothers and sisters. Be thankful for what God has given you.

What are these gifts, ministries, and effects? A gift is, in short, the Greek word charisma. I think we see that transliterated into our language today. It’s a specific supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit. It’s much different than simply a human talent.

Ministries—this is diaonia, the same word from which we get the word deacon or servant. They are designed as ways for us to serve. A ministry is a specific office or role where that gift is displayed.

And then effect—energma, I think is how you say that in Greek. I think it’s obvious where we get the word energy. Isn’t that interesting? It is a specific scope or impact of that gift.

Overview of Spiritual Gifts

So what this means is that each of us has a unique combination of gifts, special abilities, ministries, ways and roles where they’re expressed and effects, some visible, some not visible, where those gifts are displayed. Each of us has a unique combination of gifts, ministries, and effects. Each equally, if not visibly, an equal expression of his grace. Each one perfectly unique.

Let me give just a brief overview. Spiritual gifts is a huge topic, and I know in Yam you guys have been studying that most recently. There are foundational gifts from the past and then there are current gifts which are operational today.

The foundational gifts start with apostleship, which we no longer have today. Apostleship was validated or demonstrated through healing, miracles, prophecy—that is foretelling or giving new revelation which we see in our scriptures today.

“Each of us has a unique combination of gifts, ministries, and effects — each one perfectly unique.”

Tongues and interpretation of tongues are foundational gifts that lay a foundation for the word of God which we have today.

Operational gifts in the present, upon which those are built, are examples such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, prophecy—which in this sense is forthtelling, boldly proclaiming the word of God—discernment, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, and evangelism. I hope that as you hear that list, something is resonating with you, that God has given you a particular gift in one of those areas or more.

God has given all of us a place in his family, his church, his body, which he has promised to build. God has provided an eternal purpose of glorifying himself through this unique distribution of gifts, ministries, and effects. No one person has all the spiritual gifts so that he would get the glory. Amen.

We need each other. We need each other. All of that so far is from the phrase “as each one has received a special gift.”

Our Stewardship for the Body

Let’s talk about how that reality lands in our lives. We read next about our stewardship—our stewardship overflowing for the benefit of the body. We see that in verse 10.

Employ it in impressing others, giving glory to self? No. Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The sense here is that we are to be using our gifts for the benefit of one another as useful, harmonious stewards.

“We are to be using our gifts for the benefit of one another as useful harmonious stewards of God’s overflowing grace.”

What Is a Steward?

That’s what the sense of good is. It brings a harmony to the body. Useful harmonious stewards of the manifold diverse and overflowing undeserved favor of God.

Now let’s think for a minute. What is a steward? I don’t know if you’ve given this much thought, but a steward is not an owner. A steward is one who does not provide for himself but is to be a faithful manager of the resources of another.

A steward as such is not worried about provision. Rather, he concerns himself with being faithful with what has been provided to him. And I find this so helpful for me as I think about Matthew 6 and Jesus’s words about not being worried about provision.

Why are we not to be worried about provision? Because he is our provider. We are not our own providers. I hope you get that. That doesn’t apply just to material things.

“A steward is not worried about provision. He concerns himself with being faithful with what has been provided.”

That applies here as well.

Because God’s grace is so diverse, so overflowing, he needs and equips many faithful stewards. He includes us in his work. The Apostle Paul expressed his stewardship in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, which reads, “Let a man regard us in this manner as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”

I always think about my father-in-law, Jerry Lee, when I think about this. He was a behind-the-scenes guy serving faithfully, just trustworthy the whole way.

Are you and I trustworthy with these abundant resources that God has given us? Do we understand the nature and the magnitude of these resources? Or are we like the unfaithful servant in the parable of the talents, afraid, and we bury our talent and we don’t use it?

We see that in Matthew 25:25.

So with a clear view to the perfection of God’s design and his abundant provision, let’s take a look more closely at how we can use those gifts, exactly how we can be the good stewards that God wants us to be. And there are two categories this passage gives us: speaking gifts and serving gifts.

The speaking gifts are more like what I am doing today or what we do in Sunday school or if you’re teaching children, teaching in any capacity. They are visible teaching roles and everything else is serving in other capacities. Some are seen and some are unseen.

I hope some of you who are very faithful servants are serving faithfully behind the scenes. And I kind of refer to that as the backbone. I was talking to a brother this morning who was here early. I’ll call you out, Skip. I don’t know how early he gets here every Sunday and how fervently he prays for you and for us. I lean on that. We need that.

And that’s an example of serving. So let’s talk a little bit about speaking.

Speaking God’s Word

What specifically is this talking about?

Speaking God’s word. Notice what it says. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God.

I hope you can feel the weight of that. The utterances of God. The sense here is that if someone teaches or preaches, it should be clearly and from the heart and it should be with God’s words and God’s character.

In other words, we are to say what God says the way he says it.

“We are to say what God says the way he says it.”

We read earlier that Paul saw himself as a steward of the mysteries of God in 1 Corinthians 4:1. And later on in that chapter, he said of himself and all the apostles that they were not to exceed what is written. Praise God. We are bound to tell you what God says.

I wouldn’t be up here if I didn’t have such a tremendous stewardship. What confidence that gives that God has given such riches to us to unfold. And we see that the foundation had been established in the Old Testament through God’s prophets.

Jeremiah 23:28-29 read as follows. The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has my word speak my word in truth.

What does straw have in common with grain?

Declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer which shatters the rock. I hope you see from that that man’s ideas and words and God’s words cannot even really be compared.

Isaiah 55 says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth.” Right?

Gifted Teachers as Gifts to the Church

My thoughts, my words, my ways, God says to us, are infinitely higher than yours. The prophets were obligated not to make things up, but to say what God said. They were indicted at times for stealing their words from one another, for not saying what God said.

Jesus gave the command for us that we are to teach others to obey his word, not our opinions. That’s in the great commission: “Teach them to obey all that I commanded you.” The apostles were clear on their obligation to preach the word in 2 Timothy 4:2, and they were clear on the need to distinguish God’s word from the many false teachings and false teachers which existed.

It is the same for us today. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:17, “For we are not like many peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” I hope you feel that.

What that means is as teachers, we don’t teach our own ideas or use God’s words as a platform to teach our own ideas. We let his word speak to us as he sets the agenda, defines truth, and directs our path. As teachers here, our role is not to obscure God’s truth, but to unfold it, to unpack it.

The psalmist said, “The unfolding of your word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.” The admonition here has in view those who teach with authority in the church because the teaching of God’s word should be exceptionally clear, and those who teach it should reflect by their example God’s character.

God tells us that for this role, God has not only given gifts of teaching but has given gifted men as gifts to the church. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the works of service, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ.”

While we don’t have apostles today, stewards of the apostles’ words are given by God. They are prophets who are bold forthtellers of the existing revelation, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

I love what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:11, which reinforces the point: “The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails. They are given by one shepherd.” What does this mean? Both the words and the wise men themselves, the masters of God’s word, are given by the great shepherd, God himself.

“Both the words and the wise men themselves are given by the great shepherd, God himself.”

That’s what we want to do here. We all have a role in his shepherding of us, and we want to follow that. We want to submit to that.

Some of you have been really kind and encouraging me as I teach, correcting me when I get something wrong. I love that. I need that. Please pay attention. I’m not going to trick you. I’m not going to put anything intentionally wrong here today, but I’m sure that I didn’t get everything right. I look forward to your feedback.

One of the things I often say is I only use the best ingredients.

Serving by God’s Strength

Only use the best ingredients and I try not to make things up. Glory to God that he has given that. We want to make it clear that in the most ultimate sense, God is our teacher in this exercise that we are encountering even today and experiencing even today.

We seek him, our great shepherd, to instruct us and to direct us together, which leads us to serving by God’s strength. Notice the end of chapter 11: “Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies.”

I mentioned from the beginning, do you ever worry that you aren’t enough? Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough or will never be enough?

One of the things I think about is strength. How am I going to get through this week? How am I going to get through this day? How am I going to get through this sermon? It’s by his strength.

Imagine how much our attitude would change if we recognize consistently that we have an infinite source of strength.

“Imagine how much our attitude would change if we recognized consistently that we have an infinite source of strength.”

We’d probably worry less about provision, as we talked about before, and concern ourselves more with management and living it out. In a sense, we’ve already covered the “in his strength” part as I unfolded for us some of the realities of spiritual gifts. We use the abundant resources of his grace and not our own.

Spiritual gifts are so much more than our natural talents. The sense here is that we wait upon the needs of others with the inherent power which God is furnishing generously from his infinite resources.

The testimony of the scriptures is counterintuitive. “He who waters will himself be watered.” The proverbs say, “He who blesses will be blessed.”

You don’t think you have the power, but as you start, as you engage in what God has given you, somehow he gives the strength. It’s a beautiful thing. Some of us are still waiting to take some of those first steps.

If we are submitted to and aligned with the gifts, ministries, and effects that God has given—distributed perfectly—then we have infinite resources of his grace and strength that he provides.

In 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul says this on stewardship: “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

In other words, we don’t use spiritual gifts that God has given us for selfish purposes. We don’t use those to exalt self. As Paul said, we do not preach ourselves. That’s not how that’s supposed to go.

The Example of Jesus

And I would draw our attention here to the example of Jesus. Did Jesus need to appropriate God’s strength? He did. You recognize that as being fully God and fully man, his humanness made him limited. And he set an example for us in some wonderful ways.

Consider this. As the ultimate spirit-filled human, he did only what the Father gave him to do and said only what the Father gave him to say. We see that in John 5:36 and 7:16.

Who are we to do less or to try to do more? If Jesus needed to do that, and you could say with Jesus, he could have gone rogue and just done whatever he wanted to do and probably been okay because he was the Son of God. But he didn’t. He intentionally set an example for us to be tethered to the Father, to be prompted by his leading in his life.

Here’s one that you might not have thought of. Jesus was not directed by the external needs of others, but internally by the Father. Let’s think about this for a bit. We see this in Mark 1:35-39 and Luke 5:15-16.

Jesus, with the needs of the crowd bearing upon him and knowing that he could do something about that, he could heal them, he could feed them, right? He withdrew to be with his Father.

That’s counterintuitive.

Why did he do that? Because his actions were not directed by the needs of those around him, but by the Father.

“Jesus’ actions were not directed by the needs of those around him, but by the Father.”

We struggle with this. We see this around us. Well, there’s a need that I can meet. Does that mean you necessarily have to meet it? Maybe God is calling someone else who’s better gifted to do it. We always need to be directed, not by the needs of others. If we let’s face it, if we were directed 24/7 by the needs of others, we’d never get sleep, right? And so I think this is something to think about. Look at the example of Jesus who was directed not by people but by the Father himself.

And then Jesus said this: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” I love that. My food, what does he mean? I think for Jesus, doing God’s will, doing the Father’s will was energizing and refreshing and satisfying for him.

And so it should be, but isn’t always for us. Shouldn’t that be for us? Shouldn’t there be a refreshment, a strength maybe that you haven’t tapped into yet in serving?

And so we do this with his people. The challenging part is with his people. Church. It would be great if it weren’t for all those people. If it weren’t for me, for you. God’s design is so perfect, isn’t it? When we look not to ourselves, but to him, he knows.

Think about the twelve disciples. Come on. These were not the best and the brightest. Let’s just be honest about that. I think the Lord is telling us something about that. Think about the patriarchs again. What is going on here?

Glory to God that he would use such as them and such as us. And so back to employing these gifts in serving one another.

Interdependence in the Body

Now this may seem obvious, but God has designed the spiritual gifts and he’s distributed them in such a way that we need to be dependent upon one another and be built up with one another. You cannot grow alone. We cannot grow alone.

In Ephesians 4:15-16, the Apostle Paul says this: “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what? Every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

Ephesians 4:16: “The proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

To the extent that we each individually exercise our gifts, the body will grow. To the extent that we don’t, the body will suffer.

We all need one another equally. If you dive deep into those passages on the body of Christ and spiritual gifts, you’ll see that no part of the body is expendable or unnecessary.

We need each other. Every one of us is essential. None of us is expendable. I want you to feel the encouragement of that, and I also want you to feel the weight of that. You and I are responsible to be directed by God for the benefit of one another.

Romans 12:6-8 is probably our primary cross reference, the one that’s closest to our passage today. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. If prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives with liberality; he who leads with diligence; he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.

Isn’t that beautiful, Lord? I see a lot of that here. May that only grow.

As believers, God has called us to himself in salvation. He’s called us with spiritual gifts, our spiritual DNA if you will, and for good works that he has designed and prepared us for. He’s called us to a new family, a body of believers with Christ as the head.

Colossians 3:15 says that we are called to one body, and we should be thankful. Isn’t that interesting how he puts those together? Not always easy to be thankful with one another, is it? I’m thankful for you all. I am.

For His Glory

Let’s make that our attitude. And we do all of this for his glory.

Notice the last part of verse 11. So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

I love the doxology at the end of Romans 11. This is undoubtedly familiar to many of you. Romans 11:36: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever.”

Romans 11:36: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever.”

Amen. Our passage ended in a very similar way. From him, through him, to him. We see this very specifically described for us in our passage today. He is the beginning.

From him, the source of all spiritual gifts. He is the means. Through him, his spirit empowering, sustaining, and guiding us. And he is the end. He is the goal.

The Goal: Christlikeness and God’s Glory

It may sound trite, but it’s worth considering. Christ himself is the goal of all things. Notice what it says in Ephesians 4:13: “All of this is designed, this beautiful design of the church that God has given for this purpose until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

The goal of God’s design is both individual and corporate Christlikeness.

“The goal of God’s design is both individual and corporate Christlikeness.”

And the goal of our salvation is the glory of God. As it says in Ephesians 1:12, “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory.” Are you and I living in such a way that we are following him, being directed by him so that we are to the praise of his glory?

Eternal Impact

These eternal purposes lived out are designed to have an eternal impact. I hope you recognize from this passage that there’s so much I could say here.

Let me try to keep this part brief.

The impact in the here and now in the body of Christ—I hope you’re getting a vision for that—is incredible. It’s just an amazing thing that what God wants to do and is doing among us.

But it has an eternal impact. We are on the foundation of faithful believers throughout history. When you’re part of the body of Christ, it’s amazing enough to think that we’re part of this body. I just love this body and how warm and how strengthening it is.

But we’re also part of all believers everywhere in the world right now. That’s amazing to think about. And there’s all kinds of situations where God is at work.

But it’s not only that. It’s that across all time and space. That’s what we’re part of. That’s what God has in view as we draw from faithful brothers and sisters from the past and we look toward the future.

As the song goes, may those who come behind us find us faithful. Will they, by God’s grace, may it be so. This passage speaks both to what is proportional, figured out as he will, and appropriate. We act within the proportions of what he has given to us, and his glory is the only appropriate goal for us. It’s the only appropriate motive.

“We are part of all believers across all time and space — that’s what God has in view.”

Okay, I’m going to say in conclusion, but it’s not going to be five minutes. So a little bit of a lengthy conclusion. You’ve heard me preach before, so you probably know that.

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Is he really concluding? What’s Mark doing up there? Well, if we’re honest, the work we just talked about God’s glory, and let’s be honest, the work doesn’t seem that glorious all the time. We don’t seem that glorious all the time. The person you’re serving with may not seem that glorious, and he or she might be saying that of you.

I alluded to this before in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7. We do not preach ourselves.

Let me back up for a minute. The fact that we’re not glorious in an obvious way is part of God’s design. Let me explain. Paul said, “We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus’ sake. For God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” What does it say next? But we have this treasure where in earthen vessels. Why?

2 Corinthians 4:7: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God.”

So that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. This is God’s glorious design. God knows our tendency toward pride, and so he’s distributed these things in a way that he would get the glory.

It’s hard by design so that we would look to him. You and I can’t pull this off. As Chuck Smith said years ago, the problem with the modern church is that we try to do the work of the spirit in the power of the flesh.

Tools in the Master’s Hand

And I think this passage would move us along in a different direction. As a young man, the pastor who married us would remind me that in God’s kingdom, he has not made us to be museum pieces to be admired, but tools to be used in his hands. Tools get scratched, they get abused, they get worn.

And like the violin in the poem, the touch of the master’s hand. Some of that we are not much on our own. But in his hands, each of us and all of us are used by our master Jesus Christ to create something beautiful, which the Apostle Peter described earlier in the book as living stones that are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You see that in 1 Peter 2:5.

“In his hands, each of us and all of us are used by our master Jesus Christ to create something beautiful.”

Well, how about you?

I thought I would draw from some encouraging words from a French theologian.

No, not that French theologian. That’s John Calvin. I was thinking more of this French theologian.

It Is Unnerving Not to Serve

Do this guy? Sometimes you hear these—sometimes the kids’ cartoons are unintentionally or maybe intentionally brilliant. And I remember hearing this thinking, wait a minute, he’s laying down some good truth here.

What did he say?

He said, “Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving.” Amen. Right? We feel that he’s not whole without a soul to wait upon.

Those good old days when we were useful. Suddenly those good old days are gone. Ten years we’ve been rusting, needing so much more than dusting, needing exercise, a chance to use our skills. It’s kind of profound when you think about it.

We see in Beauty and the Beast, the castle became alive when they had a mission to accomplish and a people to serve. Without that, they were languishing. They weren’t happy.

So it is with us. It is unnerving. And I think intentionally so by God’s design, it is unnerving if we’re not serving.

“It is unnerving if we’re not serving — but utterly fulfilling as we live out our identity and purpose in Christ.”

We’re designed to serve. Sometimes when we have a high degree of discontent in our lives, I think we have to look at that.

But we are—it is unnerving when we’re not serving, but utterly fulfilling as we live out our identity and our purpose in Christ. That is God’s wondrous design for us. Let me get this guy. There we go.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

Do you and I have a vision? I don’t mean just a general vision of God’s glory, but a specific vision of growing in Christ likeness to the glory of God in your own life. Is that clear to you what that might look like?

Do God’s glorious design and God’s glorious purposes motivate and direct your service for him? Think, if we’re honest, not always, not 24/7. We’re human. We struggle.

Now, if you’ve been through membership and taken the spiritual gifts assessment, it might be time to dust that off and take a look and ask the Lord what he would have you to do. Some of you have spiritual gifts that you’re not using.

Have a conversation with your brothers and sisters in Christ. First, have a conversation with God. Seek him on this. Lord, what would you want me to do?

As we were talking in our elder Q&A this morning, while there are complexities in scripture, he graciously always makes what he wants us to do clear, and we trust him to do that. Have a conversation with your brothers and sisters in Christ to gain insight and confirmation as to what your gifts are and how God might want you to serve.

I know as a young man, I had to be told. Others could see things that I just couldn’t see. As elders, we’ve begun to look more closely at our own spiritual gifting and alignment. It’s good for us to do that and to recognize a need to better understand your gifting and to help equip and align us for service. We always need to be looking at that.

So, as we end our time together, let me challenge you with the following questions to consider this week.

What are your spiritual gifts? We read earlier of spiritual gifts. Paul said, “I do not want you to be ignorant.” And we ought not be ignorant about that personally for ourselves.

Are you actively using those gifts? And are you content and energized in his role for you, whether it’s visible or whether no one notices? In a sense, we should be jealous of those who serve and no one notices because you could make the case from the gospels that your reward is greater because no one notices. There’s something to think about.

What do you need to be doing to more actively use your gifts? And maybe even more challenging, what do you need to stop doing to more effectively use your gifts?

“What do you need to stop doing to more effectively use your gifts?”

If we are using our gifts faithfully, then in his strength, it should be fulfilling to us with his people. It should be a blessing to others. And when that happens, it is glorifying to God.

Many of you are serving faithfully and wholeheartedly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Many of you go unnoticed. Some of you are doing too much. I know for me that was the case last year and I had to humble myself. I was striving too much in the flesh trying to do things that I ought not do. And so we had some difficult conversations about stepping back a bit and that needed to happen. Thank you guys for that.

Some of you are not doing enough. Some of you are misaligned with the gifts, ministry, and effects that God has designed for you. And some of you are right in your sweet spot.

I mentioned one precious saint in our congregation that said, “You are right there. You are in the right spot. Clear, energized, aligned with who God has made you to be.” And it’s very obvious your efforts are fulfilling to you. They are a blessing to others and they are glorifying to God.

I think we have to acknowledge that God’s work is hard work. It’s for no reason that the Apostle Paul said, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Because we get discouraged, it can be hard. Let’s not sugarcoat that.

1 Corinthians 15:58: “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain.”

It’s hard work. In fact, it’s impossible work. If we are in the business of being used of God for the salvation of others and the transformation and the sanctification of others, let’s be honest, this is well above our pay grade, is it not?

And so, it must be done in his strength with his people and for his glory. And so may we like the Israelites of all that we read about overflow abundantly with more than what is needed as an expression of the manifold and overflowing grace of God. May the Lord make that so.

Would you pray with me?

Father, praise you for being our great shepherd and the great conductor who aligns things perfectly. May we follow your instructions as individuals as we read that each of us would faithfully do their individual part and trust you to intertwine those in an independent way that only you can do.

Father, you have saved us and called us with a holy calling. You have lavished your grace upon us, grace upon grace through salvation and through spiritual gifts. You have provided the example of Jesus who perfectly spoke your words and did your will. You are empowering us by your Holy Spirit. And you are providing the gifts of your word, your leaders, and one another that we might grow into the image of Christ as individuals and as a body. And you are building and growing an unshakable and eternal kingdom.

In the many and increasing trials of this world, may we live out what is eternally important. May this passage, these words sharpen our focus to be good stewards of your manifold grace, always being about your business, always looking to Christ with exceeding joy. Amen.

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