You may remember from last week
that Paul has began to speak, beginning in chapter 12, on spiritual
gifts. And as I've looked at this and
I've been thinking about it, Paul does not actually talk any
about the use of these gifts or how to use them. All he talks
about is the attitude that one has toward others with respect
to these gifts. I think it's very interesting. I hope that the Lord will use
this to teach us something about true love to our brothers and
sisters in Christ. Now look in verse 24 and 25 of
1 Corinthians chapter 12. He says, our comely parts have
no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given
more abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there should
be no schism, no division in the body, but that the members
should have the same care one for another. There are no divisions
in the body of Christ. Every individual believer is
a member of the body of Christ. Now that's an awesome thing to
think about, isn't it? To think that I'm actually the
habitation of God. Look in verse 27, now you are
the body of Christ and members in particular. Now in the body
of Christ, there is no more important and no less important members. There's no hierarchy. There's
no inner circle. There's no elect of the elect. In a church, there will be some
people you may enjoy being around more. Hey, that's life. I mean,
there are some people that you have more common interests with
and so on, but that doesn't mean that there's more important and
less important in the body of Christ. There's no more important. There's no less important. There's no inner circle. Everybody is brethren. Christ
is the head. We are the body. He is all. We're nothing. Yet we're something
in Him. We're complete in Him and we're
completely satisfied to have it that way, aren't we? We really
are. You know, I find such satisfaction
in being in Christ. Not in anything I am in myself. I don't find any satisfaction
in that. As a matter of fact, all I get out of that is depression.
But I find such satisfaction in simply being found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how many times have you
thought you would have liked to have been alive during the
times of the early church when all these miracles were going
on? and you could have seen them. You ever thought that? I sure
have. I thought it seems like it would
be easier to believe if you were in this atmosphere of the miraculous
with people who were dead being raised up, with people who were
sick being healed in this miraculous way. It seems like it would have
been easier to believe if we could have seen these miracles
they were able to perform. All of these gifts of the Holy
Spirit in full operation. Now, I've already talked last
week about how these gifts are no longer in operation. They
only came through the laying on of the apostles' hands, according
to Acts chapter 8. And when the last apostle died,
no one had the ability to transfer these gifts. They only came through
the laying on of the apostles' hands, and Paul Brings out clearly
in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, that when that which is perfect
has come, talking about the Bible, the full canon of scripture,
that which is in part shall be done away with. Now, the church
at Corinth had developed a wrong attitude regarding these gifts. And as I thought about this,
I saw what a blessing it is to not have these gifts. I think this is the most clear
I've ever seen this. It's a blessing. It's a mercy of God to not have
these gifts. Now, in the Church of Corinth,
there were some who were greatly gifted. They had the ability
to heal the sick. They had the ability to speak
in other languages. They had the ability to perform
miracles. I mean, they were greatly gifted
people. And there were some who perhaps
didn't have any of these gifts. And the people who were greatly
gifted would have a tendency, and I know I would. I know I,
I just know myself. You know, when I read about the
disciples arguing about who's gonna be the greatest, I know
I would have been in that argument. I'd know, deep down I'd know
better than that, but I just know myself. I know the way,
direction I'd go. I'd be thinking I oughta be the
top dog. I know myself. So if I had these gifts, and
you didn't have them, I would have a tendency to feel a little
one-up on you, a little bit more blessed. Now, no doubt some of
the members of the Church of Corinth had got this attitude. I've got gifts that you don't
have. And the ones who didn't have the gifts, they felt slighted. They felt like they weren't as
blessed. They felt like they weren't quite
as important, weren't quite as used, weren't quite as useful. And they felt a little bit of
intimidation because of this. And they felt like I'm missing
out on something these other people are having. So both of
these attitudes are terribly, terribly wrong and totally contrary
to the spirit of grace. To have a gift and look down
your nose at somebody and feel some sense of superiority, Well,
that's evil. You're just a greater debtor
is all you are. You know, the more gifts you have, it just
means the more you owe. Is there anything to be proud about? Not
at all. And to the point Paul is making
in all of this passage of scripture, here's the main point. Grace
is more important than gifts. Grace is more important than
gifts. Look in verse 28 of this chapter,
1 Corinthians 12. And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments,
Diversities of tongues, he's done this. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are
all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles?
No. Have all the gifts of healing? No. Do all speak with tongues?
Do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best
gifts. You know, I want whatever gifts God has, I want to have.
He says, covet earnestly the best gifts. Yet show I unto you
a more excellent way. Something that is infinitely
better than gifts. And he goes on in chapter 13.
I don't, that's, there's not a more wonderful chapter in the
Bible than first Corinthians chapter 13, that chapter on charity. There are different gifts. Look
back in verse four, the first Corinthians chapter 12. There are different gifts that's
granted. but it's one spirit who gives
them. He says in verse four, there
are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. Look down in
verse 11, but all of these work that one in the self saving spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will. Now back to verse
five, there are difference of ministrations, but the same Lord. There are different ministries,
but the same Lord. Come on. He just opened back and forth
the doors. There are different ministries,
there are different operations, but the point he's making is
it's the same Lord. And I'm thankful for diversity,
aren't you? Aren't you glad there's different people, there's different
ministries? I'm glad everybody's not alike. Aren't you glad everybody's
not like me? I hope so. I mean, I'm sure you
are. I'm glad everybody's not alike. I mean, I like y'all the
way you are, but I'm thankful for diversity. And there are
different ministries. God uses different things. It's
not everybody's the same. He uses different things, but
it's the same Lord. Verse six, and their diversities
of operations, diversities of workings is the word, but it's
the same God, which worketh all in all. But the manifestation
of the spirit is given to every man to profit with all these
gifts are not to make gain of like Simon Magus, nor to encourage
pride or to cause envy. They're given for the profit
of the church. You see, when it comes to gifts,
forget gifts. We're all know, but if you have
a gift, he gave it to you. But so what? As far as importance,
let's look at a couple of passages of scripture. Turn to Matthew
chapter 20. There's no hierarchy in the kingdom of heaven. Now
listen to me. There's no hierarchy in the Kingdom of Heaven. There's
no secular and clergy lady. There's God's clergy and then
there's the lay people. There's no full-time Christian
service and secular work. Not at all. Every believer is
a full-time believer and everything you do is sacred. Because it's
unto the Lord. I don't care if you're washing
dishes. I don't care if you're taking care of your kids. I don't
care if you're a CEO of a company. If you're a believer, everything
you do is sacred. Because it's as unto the Lord.
And all you are is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
look here at Matthew chapter 20, verse 24. And when the ten heard it, they
were moved with indignation against the two brethren. Now James and
John wanted to be the top dogs. One wanted to sit at the right
hand and the other one at the left of the Lord. And as a matter
of fact, their mother had requested that. And I guarantee you, I
know my mom, she'd be requesting it for me. You can just bet.
And I understand this. But Jesus called them unto him.
Now they were mad at them about this because deep down they thought
it should have been them. But Jesus called them unto him
and said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them. Somebody has authority and they
that are great exercise authority upon them, but it shall not be
so among you. But whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister, your servant. And whosoever will
be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. and to
give his life a ransom for many. Turn to Matthew 23. He's talking about the Pharisees
who love greetings in the marketplace and to be called by men, rabbi,
rabbi, teacher, you've got some authority. Now look what he says
in verse eight, but be not ye called rabbi, for one is your
master, even Christ. and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon
the earth, your spiritual father, for one is your father, which
is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters,
for one is your master, even Christ. But he that's greatest
among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. Now, these gifts that are given,
they're not to exalt the flesh. They're not to put up one over
the other. No, everybody's the same. Everybody. You know, the
preacher. In this church, I'm the one Who
is the most visible? I'm the preacher, I'm the one
who gets up here and talks. Does that make me more important
than anybody else? In reality, does it? Is what
I do more important than the one who prays for me? You know, we talk about, let's
talk about the TV program we have. It's not my program, it's
our program. You pay for it. You're the ones
who give me the ability to study and give myself to that. It's
just as much yours and you're just as responsible for it as
I am. We're all brothers in Christ
Jesus. There's no head. Now somebody's
got to be the leader. I realize that. I'm the leader
of this church. I'm the pastor. But does that mean I'm better
than somebody else? Not at all. Does that mean I'm superior?
Not at all. These gifts are not given to
encourage pride or to cause envy. They're not given to make a separation
in the body of Christ. They're given for the glory of
God and the good and benefit of the church. We're not in competition. We're really not, are we? We
love each other. Don't you find it a privilege
to be here? to be with God's people. It's
special. It's special. I love being with
the Lord's people. I, I, I find it such a privilege
just to call you my brothers and my friends. It's a blessing. Now let's go on reading verse
eight. Now he talks about these gifts down the next three verses.
He says in verse eight, for to one is given by the spirit, the
word of wisdom. Now, before I go on talking about
these gifts, I feel confident that none of them are in operation
today. None of them. These are all supernatural
gifts that passed with the apostles. It's before the canon of scripture,
and none of them are in operation today. But what we can learn
from this is so important as to what our attitude toward our
brothers to be. Because all this is about, you'll
notice he doesn't really say much about the gifts. He talks
about our attitude as we're going to see in this chapter. Now look
in verse 8, for to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. And I believe that's infallible
preaching. infallible preaching and there was infallible preaching
before the full canon of scripture. A preacher could say, thus saith
the Lord with the same authority the Bible does because we didn't
have the full canon of scripture. So it was infallible preaching.
Don't have that now, do we? Not with me, not with any man.
I'll tell you what, when I read the Word though, that's infallible,
isn't it? All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished, and do all good works. Don't need an infallible
preacher. I'm glad we don't have one. It's
best this way. You know, it's best to not have
these gifts now. It's best. If we had them, it caused all
kinds of problems in the Church of Corinth, and it would cause
all kinds of problems here, so I'm thankful. I'm thankful. But
at the time, there was the Word of Wisdom. Next, he says to another,
the word of knowledge by the same spirit. And I believe that
that's talking about the infallible interpretation of the Old Testament
and understanding of the Old Testament. They didn't have the
New Testament at this time to expound it. You know, we have
the New Testament to tell us what the Old Testament means
now. And I'm thankful for that. I'm so thankful for that. But
they didn't have the New Testament at this time. As a matter of
fact, 1 Corinthians is the first epistle Paul wrote. And they
didn't have all these scriptures like Hebrews and so on to explain
the Old Testament scriptures. And there were men who could
interpret the Old Testament scriptures like that. Now look what he says
next. Verse nine, to another faith by the same spirit. Now
that's not talking about the faith you and I have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's talking about faith to
work miracles. Look in first Corinthians chapter 13, verse
two. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that
I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.
He's talking about the faith to work miracles. And then he
says in verse nine, to another the gifts of healing by the same
spirit. And do you know, they actually
had the ability to heal the sick. They could go into the University
of Kentucky hospital or Central Baptist or St. Joe's and heal
everybody in there. You know, the fact that these
fellows claim to be faith healers today just absolutely kills me.
I think if you are, why don't you go to a hospital and heal
people? The only reason you don't is because you're a phony. That's
it. Because anybody who truly had this ability to heal, they
would go into a hospital and heal people. And they didn't
say, if you have enough faith, you'll get healed. No, they just
say, you're healed. And they'd be healed. That's
the way our Lord worked miracles. And these people had this ability. Now, don't you believe God heals
people? Of course I do. Lord healed me. He heals through
the use of means, but he heals people. If you're healed, he
healed you. And let me also remind you, if
something's going to get you and you're going to die one of these days, you're
not going to get healed of everything. If something's going to get you,
you're going to die. And it's going to be a blessing. And you're going
to come into the presence of the Lord and thank God for that. But at this time, they had these
miraculous gifts of healing. Working of miracles what I thought
of is the Apostle Paul. He had the ability to work miracles
You know somebody over in Acts chapter 12 Sergei's Paul is getting
a hard time and Paul blinded him He blinded him. Sometimes I wish I had that gift.
Somebody gives me a hard time. All right It's over for you.
You know, I mean, it's a good it's a good thing. I don't really
I mean seriously Aren't you glad I can't do what Paul could do?
I bet you are. It's a blessing. I don't have
that gift. You guys would be in trouble if you crossed me
but They had the gift to work these miracles. The next thing
he mentions in verse 10 is prophecy, the ability to foretell the future.
And you know, I'm glad I can't foretell the future. That's a
blessing. You want to know what's going
to happen tomorrow? I don't. If it's good, I do. But if it's
trials, no, I'd rather not know about it. Well, you're going
to find out you've got cancer tomorrow. Oh, I would rather
have the next 24 hours at least feel good, you know. I'm thankful to not have this
gift of prophecy, but they had it then, they could foretell
the future. To another, discerning of spirits in verse 10. People
who could see the difference between the real and the phony,
they had some kind of gift to discern to know who was real
and who wasn't. Now, once again, I'm glad I don't
have that gift. How would I treat people if I
knew that they weren't going to be elected and they weren't,
you know, they were nothing but phonies? Can you see where it's a blessing
to not have these gifts and how having these gifts could really
create a lot of tension and problem and jealousy and so on and strife
and it sure happened in the Church of Corinth. So it's a mercy from
the Lord that we don't have these gifts. Now I've often thought,
oh, I'd love to see these things and I would, I would, just like
I would love to see Moses and all the stuff that happened when
the Lord was doing all those miracles in Egypt. I'd like to
see all that stuff and you would too, but evidently it's best
that we don't. evidently because these gifts
are no longer in operation, to another diverse kinds of tongues.
And remember this, tongues is the ability to preach the gospel
in other languages. It's not some kind of heavenly
gibberish where people just start making all kinds of noises and
they say they're praying in the spirit and speaking in the spirit.
No, no, no. That's foolishness. That's all
it is. It's foolishness. It's the ability
to speak, preach the gospel in other languages. And then he
talks about the interpretation of the tongues. That means you
could hear it in Spanish or Russian or Swahili or whatever language
it was, and you could understand it and tell everybody what was
being said to folks who couldn't understand it. These were miraculous
gifts indeed. But look what he says about these
in verse 11. But all these worketh, that one in the selfsame spirit
dividing to every man severally as he will. He sovereignly gives
these gifts to whom he will. And then beginning in verse 12,
he gives us what the proper attitude we should have regarding these
gifts. And this is very applicable to
us today. Everything in the Bible is applicable.
I shouldn't even say that, you know, what's applicable. It's
all, it's all practical. You know, if it's not practical,
it's not even true. Everything in God's Word is practical.
I've heard people talk, well, that's a practical message and
that's a doctoral message. That's foolishness. It's all
doctoral, it's all practical, it's the Word of God. If it's
the Word of God, it's eminently practical. It's good for us. So it's something we need to
hear. So look what he says in verse 12. For as the body is
one and hath many members, And all the members of that one body
being many or one body, so is Christ because of union with
Christ, the church is his body and a body is made of many parts,
but it's still only one body. Verse 13, for by one spirit,
we are all baptized into one body. Whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free, we've been all made to drink into one
Spirit. Now this is a reference to the
new birth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What's the baptism
of the Holy Spirit? It's being born again. It's being
regenerated. It's being immersed into Christ.
It's being placed into Christ. That's what the baptism of the
Holy Spirit is. And we've all been baptized by
one Spirit. I've got the Spirit of Christ.
You have the Spirit of Christ. We have the same Spirit. God
the Holy Spirit. Therefore, that's why we believe
the same thing. You know, every believer in here, we believe
exactly the same thing. Now, some people might have a
little bit more light on something than somebody else, but we still
believe the same thing. And even if something seems different,
it's just because at one time, maybe I'm looking at it from
a different angle than you are. But every believer believes the same
thing. We've got the same teachers, taught us the same things. We've
been baptized into one spirit. Every believer believes the exact
same thing. And what I don't see clearly,
pray for me that the Lord will give me more light. You do the
same for yourself, but still we all believe the same thing.
We're brethren, brethren believing the Lord Jesus Christ, baptized
by one spirit. Verse 14, for the body is not
one member, but many, the body has many members. There's hands,
there's feet, there's legs, there's arms, there's eyes, there's a
nose. There's a mouth, there's ears and so on. One body made
of many members. So is the body of Christ. It's one body. It's made of a
lot of different kind of people, different members. And there
is no division with the members of the body. And look what it
says in verse 15. The body is not one member, but
many. If the foot shall say, Because I'm not the hand, I'm
not of the body. It's not fair. He's a hand and
I'm a foot. He's more useful than me. He gets to do more stuff
than me. He's a hand and I'm just a foot. They put a shoe
over me, nobody even sees me. Does your foot ever say that? Your foot doesn't say anything
like that, does it? Matter of fact, your foot loves your hand.
Your hand loves your foot. Matter of fact, your hand takes
care of your foot, doesn't it? It does what it can to help your
foot. And your foot, it carries your hand around. I mean, one's
as necessary as the other, and your foot doesn't talk about
your hand like that. Verse 16, and if the ear shall
say, because I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore
not of the body? The ear or the eye wouldn't say
anything like that. If the whole, verse 17, if the
whole body were an eye, now that's grotesque, isn't it? Think of
a big eyeball rolling around. That's all it was to the body.
Wow, that wouldn't be something you'd even want to see, is it?
If the whole body were an eye, you couldn't hear, you couldn't
speak, you couldn't touch, you couldn't embrace. Thank God for
the diversity of the body. Thank God for the diversity of
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. One body with many members. Verse 18. But now hath God set
the members, every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased
him. Now, you are where you are, who
you are, what you are because God placed you right there. Isn't that fun? Don't you find
complete satisfaction in being where the Lord has placed you? I find such satisfaction in that.
And somebody says, well, of course you do. You're the preacher.
No, believe me. You don't know, I mean, I love,
God's called me to be a pastor. Don't get me wrong. God's called
me to be a pastor, but you don't know how many times I wish I
wasn't a preacher. Yeah, I think that. So you try this
for a while and see whether you wouldn't, I don't know where
I'm going. God has made the human body as
it's pleased Him, and He's made the body of Christ as it's pleased
Him. And isn't it great to be exactly
where the Lord has put you? Now let's go on reading. Verse
19. And if they were all one member,
where were the body? But now are there many members,
Yet but one body. If we were all the same, we wouldn't
be a body. But there are many members, all different, but one
body. Verse 21. And the eye cannot
say unto the hand, I have no need of thee. Nor again the head
to the feet, I have no need of thee. There's no more important
and lesser important. My hand never thought that about
my foot. My eye never thought that about my hand. Never have
I thought, you know, this hand is more important than that foot.
I mean, you don't think that way, do you? That doesn't even
come up in your thinking. And it ought not come apart in
our thinking with regard to the body of Christ. We're all one
in Christ Jesus. We're all brethren. He's the
Lord. We're brethren. Verse 22, nay,
much more of those members of the body would seem to be more
feeble are necessary. And those members of the body,
which we think to be less honorable upon these, we bestow more abundant
honor in our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. Now
everybody knows, here's an example of what he's saying. Isn't it
wonderful to hear good preaching? good speaking and that's a blessing. I want to hear someone that preaches
in the power of the Holy Spirit, who's organized, I can follow
him, I can understand him. It's a blessing to hear good
preaching. Boy, the tongue, isn't the tongue a blessing? If it's
used properly for the glory of God, isn't the tongue a blessing?
But you know there's some things going behind the scenes of that
tongue. Could you speak without lungs? Could you speak without
a heart? Could you speak without a liver? There's a whole lot more to,
you know, the tongue is the one that everybody hears, but there's
a whole lot behind the scenes. And just like in the preaching
of the gospel, there's a, what's more important, the one who preaches
or the one who prays? You can't say one's more important
than the other, can you? But I'll tell you what, if I was going
to say one is more important, I'd say the one who prays, the
one who prays that the Lord will enable that man to preach the
gospel. I like what Spurgeon said. Somebody once said, they
asked Spurgeon, they said, what's, what's the key to the success
of your ministry? He said, my people prayed for
me. Is that it? God blesses it. That's it. Look once again at
verse 23. The members of the body which
we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant
honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
For our comely parts, verse 24, have no need, but God tempered
the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part
which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body, but
that the members should have the same care one for another. human beings put such an emphasis
on physical beauty and if you think about how unimportant physical
beauty is it's amazing how unimportant it is and it's not going to last
but people put such a premium on it oh to have a beautiful
face and so on to be to be pleasant to look at all all the things
that human beings put a premium on well what would you rather
have a pretty face or liver Now that liver's not very pretty,
is it? It's very offensive looking. But what's more important, your
liver or your face? Your liver's a whole lot more
important. That's the way the Lord has tempered the body, that
there should be no division. There's not any, you know, the
part that everybody sees that we think is important, or that
men put a premium on, it's not even important. It doesn't even
matter. Liver's a whole lot more important
than a pleasant countenance. There's no schism. in the body. Verse 25, there should be no
schism, division in the body, but the members should have the
same care one for another. No more important, no less important
in the body of Christ. No clergy, no laity. The members have the same care
one for another. And think about this. What part of your body gets the
most attention. The part that's hurting. Ask
Leanne Walmsley this week what part of her body she thinks about
the most. I know what that is. She broke
her knee. Oh, that knee. She takes care
of that knee. It's the part that's hurting
that the body gives the most attention to, and the most love
to, and the most affection toward. That's the way our bodies work.
And that's the way the body of Christ works. Isn't it wonderful
to be a member of the body of Christ and you want, well, let's
go on reading this. Now you, verse 26. They have the same care, one
for another. And whether one member suffers,
all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it. If you're honored, you know who
else is honored? I am. That's why I rejoice. Members
of the same body. If you suffer, you know who else
suffers? I do. Because we're members of
the same body. That's how powerful this thing
of the church is. Members of the same body, a true
and genuine love for one another to where we actually rejoice
when somebody else rejoices and we suffer when somebody else
suffers. That's a true and a genuine love.
Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular. Verse 28, And God set forth some
in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues. Notice he doesn't tell you how
to use these gifts. He tells us about the attitude
to have in these gifts. having the same love one toward
another. Are all apostles, are all prophets,
are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts
of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? He
said, now covet earnestly the best gifts and yet show I unto
you a more excellent way. You see, grace is greater than
gifts. And if you want something to
be ambitious about, something that you want to strive for,
strive to love your brother. That's the highest position you
can attain to. To love your brother and sister
in Christ, to truly love, to be merciful, to be gracious. That's better than any gift.
I want to close by looking at Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, verse 17. And the 70 returned again with
joy. Remember those 70 the Lord sent
out two by two? Two. have them go before him
before he would go in to preach these different places. He sent
out these 70 men. Who they were we don't know,
but he sent them out by two. And they were to go announce
the coming of the Messiah. And he gave them supernatural
powers. Now the 70 returned again with
joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. Now you think about what that would be. I mean, the devils
are subject what we tell them to do. Man,
you have given us power. This has been such a blessing.
This has been great the way the Lord has used us. They came back
with joy. They were so happy. And I understand
that. Well, let's go on reading. And
he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power
to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy. And nothing shall by any means
hurt you. Man, that's great. Notwithstanding,
in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. That's what to rejoice in, not
gifts. And you're thankful for the gifts?
You're thankful for the withholding of the gifts. The Lord knows
what to do. Whatever he does is right. But here's what we
rejoice in. Not gifts, but grace. We rejoice that our names are
written in the Lamb's book of life. What would you rather have?
Gifts or grace? I'll take grace any day. Let's pray together.