The Body of Christ - Part 6

Good Morning My Beloved,

I am over joyed that you're all here today.
Thank you, thank you for joining us today.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being the calm in the storm
Lord, You are the God who Provides

Help us to trust in You as many look for work. Lead them to the right job.
Help us to be patient in the waiting.

Lord, we know that it’s in the waiting where You do your greatest work in our hearts. Help us find rest in Your goodness.
Help us to be steady and strong for our families
yet help us to remember to be honest about our fears
and how we are putting our trust in You

Remind us to share with others all You have done
that which You continue to do for us
And of our confidence in faith of what will be done
These things we pray
In Your precious name
Amen

"For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body.
So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary. And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation. But our presentable parts have no need of clothing. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it."
I Corinthians 12:12-27

Today's Message: The Body of Christ - Part 6

Today, we attempt to conclude our study in I Corinthians 12. There's quite a bit of stuff I'd like to cover, so we'll see what happens. We'll see.. Let's get started.

Open with me, if you would please, your Bibles to I Corinthians chapter 12. Now, we know that it's Christs' desire, that the Church would be powerful. He wants the Church to be mature. He wants the Church to be functioning. He wants the Church to be consistently growing. He wants the Church to be witnessing and manifesting His love. So, in order for us to do that, in order to do that, God designed a plan within the confines of the Church, His body. And I’m not talking about confining the Church building or organized church, but the True Church.

God’s plan, in order to cause the Church to really grow and really have a unified witness, God designed that every single member of His body, every believer, every Christian, every body member would have a certain function or functions within the body.

Hang onto your hat, now. Every Christian then has a function within the body that results, in the health of the total church body. In other words, if God designed that we be a healthy body, growing, maturing, functioning, witnessing then every member has a ministry that lends itself to the health of that body.

Now, that said, the human body is the analogy, and the human body is all kinds of organs that interact, several limbs that interact with one another. If you have just one of your organs that doesn’t function, then the whole body is then sick. And the same is true of the body of Christ: Every organ must function in such a way, that results in the health or sickness of the whole body.

So, every believer has a vital ministry as a vital organ of the body. And if the body is to be healthy and mature, and thus a single dynamic, edified, built-up testimony to the world, then every believer must actively and intensely involve himself in the function which God has given him. Your service and your ministry makes the body healthy because it carries strength to the other vital parts of the body.

Your failure to serve on the other hand, your unfaithfulness, your carnality, your self-centeredness, your divisive spirit, your laziness spiritually are all non-functions, and non-functions make the body sick, crippled, and retard its overall health, its growth and its maturity. And thus, as a result, it retards its witness. God has designed you into the body as a vital, functioning organ if you’re a Christian. You must, you must, you must minister to the body if the body is to be healthy.

God’s will for the body is that we be like Christ. Christlikeness. That’s His will for the body. In Ephesians 4:13 it says this, just listen to this, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

You know what our total body is to be like? Like Jesus Christ. Like Jesus Christ. Is the total church body like Christ? No. No. Absolutely Not! Is Christ divided? Paul said that, didn’t he? Is Christ divided? No, Christ isn't divided. Is the body divided? Yes. Is the body like Christ? Certainly not. Is the body supposed to be like Christ? Yes. Why isn’t the body like Christ? Because it’s divided. That's pretty simple, right. Why is the body divided? Because there are some of it's members who are non-functioning organs within the body.

God’s will for the body is that we be like Christ. You see, here’s what the point is. Through the Church, the body of Christ, Christ wants to manifest His own character. He wants to manifest His person through us, not just as individuals, and yes, that’s what He wants us to do as individuals, doesn’t He? But as one body. He wants to manifest His person through the body of Christ. We are to be individually like Christ, and we are to be in unity like Christ.

And the method, as I said, to accomplish this Christ-likeness is to give every member of the body a function that each ministers to the rest of the body. Certain spiritual gifts that each of us have through which the Holy Spirit can manifest himself to the whole body and bring the whole body to maturity and health.

Now, please keep this thought in mind, and you’re going to have to think a little with me on this, it’s not going to come easy. All the gifts were, in their fullest sense complete themselves, in Christ. All the gifts were, in their fullest sense, are complete in Christ. The gift of preaching. Could Jesus Christ preach? Could He preach? Absolutely, and like no other person on the face of this planet, ever has! The gift of teaching. Could He teach? Better than the best of them. Showing mercy. Could He show mercy? Yes, Help, Ruling and so on. The point is, I really don’t care what your specific gift is, it was complete in Christ. And the reason He gave each of us, each member all these different gifts is He wanted a composite, not merely just connected, but essentially fused, and otherwise combined into a single Christ-likeness. One body. Do you understand what I'm saying? Each separate spiritual gift, is complete in Christ, to be utilized individually and collectively, as a single body, we are complete in Christ, manifesting His own character, individually and as a body, working together in unity, for one goal, one mission, in Christ-likeness.

Every one of the gifts that we all have was made complete and perfect in Christ. He gives us, as members of the body, these various gifts that we might be built up to the fullness of whom? Christ.

Can you see that?

The Holy Spirit didn’t say, “Gift? Uh, OK sure. I’ll take a couple of those, and maybe one those ones. Oh well, that's a nice one of those, yes, I'd like one of those too." No. Every single gift that the Holy Spirit gave to the Church was a characteristic of Jesus Christ. And He alone, was the totally complete and full person, just as God wants the Church to be. You and I, each possess a fragment. As believers, want to know something? The only way you and I will ever be that full stature man in Christ is when you have all those gifts being ministered to you. Did you not know that? Can you not see it, we will never be like Jesus Christ until we characteristically have been built up in all the areas that He was built up in.

Let’s just say that my gift is preaching. That’s why I must minister my gift to you, because as I minister my gift to you, it will build you up in that area. And though I minister to you in the gift of preaching, maybe you’ll never have the gift of preaching, but you learn just from my ministering to you how to communicate your spiritual gift on a efficient level. And so, I’ve built you up in that way.
Now, maybe your gift is showing mercy, and you minister that gift to me, and I learn something more about how to show mercy, now I’m built up in that area. It's a chain reaction. So pretty soon, as every member ministers to each other, and we’ve all been built up as individuals to be like Christ and to reflect all of His attributes in us. Then collectively, as a body, we manifest the total person of Christ.
And as a body, we minister our gifts to others, they too become built up, manifesting Christ. When it is observed, when we actually learn to put this in practice, it will be a beautiful represent of Christ before the world. Just as they were drawn to Christ, they will be drawn to His church.

When we finally get this, through Christ, we'll have a profound impact in and on the lives of the world. Just as the first church did when Peter preached at Pentecost, and 3000 were baptized and saved. All for His glory!

Now, the word in the New Testament charismata, is the plural form for the Greek charisma, which means, "gift of grace." So, they’re gifts of grace; you don’t earn them. The more spiritual you get, the more gifts you get, right? No, wrong. You don’t earn them; they’re gifts of grace. They are so critical, they are very critical to the health of the body of Christ. And a sick body is a sick evangelist. And if we’re going to reach the world, if we’re going to reach down the street, if we’re going to really have a testimony that is devastating, it’ll only happen when we are one ministering in love to each other these gifts. Beloved, I pray that you're all paying attention, because this is really important stuff.

Let's turn again to I Corinthians 12, some of you may still be there, but if you’re not already there. Now, I want to show you four things about the gifts, about spiritual gifts of grace. The first is, the importance of the spiritual gifts. Second, the source of spiritual gifts. Third, the power of spiritual gifts. And fourth, the extent of spiritual gifts. The importance, the source, the power, and the extent. The four very important aspects of your gifts.

Ok so number 1, the importance of spiritual gifts. We have already talked about this a little, haven’t we? Why are they important? Because the body can’t be like Christ unless they’re ministered. And we all grow up together in the maturity in all of these areas that characterize Christ. How can I say I am like Christ, I have Christ-likeness, if I don’t know how to show mercy, if I don’t know how to teach to some degree? And how can I know these things, because these are not my gifts, unless there is somebody within the body, who has that specific gift teaches me. Right? And, just so you know, it’s not any human capacity in which you use the gift; it’s the Spirit through you teaching me. And we’ll talk about that more later, but basically, they are important because unless we minister our spiritual gifts not in our own energy, but in the energy of the Spirit however, unless we minister our spiritual gifts, to others, the body is not built up. If it’s not built up, it’s not like Christ, and thus, I’m not like Christ. And the prayer was that we would be like Him. And if we’re going to have any witness in the world, it’ll be when we’re like Him.

All right, the importance of spiritual gifts. Verse 1 and that’s the verse that we’ll deal with, no other verse on this subject. The importance of spiritual gifts. "Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Now, unfortunately, people are ignorant. The Corinthians were grossly ignorant. And people today are ignorant. Some people abuse the spiritual gifts. Some people have gone way out in left field somewhere; they’ve jumped the fence, they've run out in the back forty of the parking lot somewhere, in terms of spiritual gifts. All strange things. Emphasizing gifts, the miraculous gifts.

And we often stand back and say, "Oh, look at them; they’re way out there. They're just weird." And so, we just take spiritual gifts and file it away somewhere. Now, stop and think about this, if some are guilty of abusing spiritual gifts, we are certainly guilty of neglecting some of them. It seems to be indifference on the one hand or fanaticism on the other hand and nothing in the middle. And here Paul says, "I don’t want you to be ignorant, brethren, I want you to know about spiritual gifts."

The understanding of spiritual gifts is so critical to the life of the body of Christ and the testimony of the Gospel in the world, that it ranks with the cardinal essentials of salvation and the Gospel. My beloved, this is too essential to miss. This is not just a fleeting thing, it is one of the keys to all the revelation of God and to the ministry in the world today that you understand the significance and importance of spiritual gifts.

The body will never be what it could be, it will never be what Jesus prayed for it to be, it’ll never be what the Holy Spirit gifted it and empowered it to be, until we are no longer ignorant about spiritual gifts, but rather we understand them and we begin to use them in the energy of the Spirit.
So, do we see the importance of spiritual gifts? If not, I'll keep going because this is important, it's very, very important. If you don’t understand spiritual gifts, you are going to be ignorant of a critical basic of God’s revelation.

Alright, then, next we have the source of spiritual gifts, in verse 11. We’re skipping over verse 2 to 10 for but we’ll come back to them. Verse 11, the source of spiritual gifts. So, where do they come from? Verse 11, "But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing  to each person as He wills."
So what is the source of spiritual gifts? The Holy Spirit. Where do gifts come from? They come from the Holy Spirit, that’s where they all come from. And this verse is so clear in this. And it is also clear that God is involved. In chapter 7, verse 7, it says, "I wish that all people were just like me. But each has his own gift from God, one person in this way and another in that way."
God gives these gifts through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then takes the various gifts and distributes them to the body member.

The day that you were born into the family of God, the day that you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the Spirit of God distributed to you a certain gift. And through those gifts, now through those gifts, the Holy Spirit wants to minister to you and to the rest of the body. A spiritual gift is a Spirit-given ability which acts as a channel through which the Spirit ministers to the body. Did you get it? The spiritual gift is not the end in itself, is it? The spiritual gift is only the channel through which the Holy Spirit operates.

Let me add a little something here. Spiritual gifts had nothing to do with spirituality. Every believer has spiritual gifts. Even the back-slidden ones. Because a spiritual gift doesn’t mean you’re spiritual. A spiritual gift is is a Spirit-given vehicle through which the Spirit can minister. The only question is whether the channel is clear or whether it’s all clogged up so to speak. And would you please notice that it says at the end of verse 11, "..distributing to each person as He wills." It’s so amazing to me that people think they can seek certain gifts. You can’t. People think they can tarry for certain gifts. You can’t do that either. The Holy Spirit gives them as He will to whom He will. Here's the bottom line, The Holy Spirit gives the gift by divine will and divine choice, not ours. The Holy Spirit knows what gifts are needed. He knows where they’re needed, when they’re needed, and who is to receive them to be ministered. And so does He give them. And if each member uses His gifts, then there is a total sum, each complementary to the others, and the work is fully accomplished to the glory of God as the body is built up.

In I Timothy 4:14-16, Paul said to Timothy, "Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers."

And in II Timothy 1:6, "Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands."

There is no doubt that the apostle Paul was an illustration of the difference between a true gift and just a physical ability. Let me try to explain why. Paul obviously had natural ability to express himself publicly. He just was sharp, he was fast, and he was really quick on his feet. He had a natural gift, the ability to talk. But it is perfectly clear and I want you to note this as critical to understand he never regarded his ability to speak as a gift of the Spirit. He was a man of tremendous learning and education. He could have potentially used his knowledge of philosophy and literature and composed eloquent, convincing orations, couldn't he? And he could have also delivered them with incredible ability. But you know what Paul said? He said in, I Corinthians 2:2-5, just pay attention to this, "For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power."

Do you understand what Paul’s saying? He’s saying, "Though I have a natural ability to speak, I have a natural ability to communicate exceptionally well, I know philosophy. I took it all, stuck it over there and said, ‘Spirit, speak through me" The Holy Spirit expresses Himself through man’s powers. He uses a man’s abilities and knowledge, then uses them in a supernatural way, apart from that man’s own ability. Isn't that a beautiful thing? He takes what is natural to us, then uses it spiritually, to accomplish through man, what that man could never do on his own. That's rich. A gift or a manifestation of the Spirit is of the Spirit, not of the flesh.

I have known people, who have the gift of communication, they have an incredible ability to just rattle off things, without even thinking, they are really, really fluid in their eloquent words and graceful speech. However, God did not call them to preach, He put them in a totally different area within in the body of Christ. He used them in a way that wasn’t even visible publicly, and yet they have the gift of eloquent speech. Perhaps, someday, God will move him to pastor at a church. Who knows.
God may elect to use our natural ability. Then again, he may bypass it completely and give you a gift that has no connection with our natural ability. And so, when you talk about spiritual gifts, you’re not relying upon a persons physical power for the production of spiritual fruit. All that is is a hindrance. That’s a pain in the neck to the Holy Spirit. That’s so clearly illustrated in so many places in the Bible.

The first one that comes to mind, is I Peter 4, I Peter 4:10-11 I believe. Now, here’s the distinction. this is beautiful, a very graphic illustration. It’s illuminating what I’ve just told you. You don't need to turn there, I'll read it quickly. "Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen." In other words, minister your gift. Right? Minister your gift, did you see what I Peter 4:11 says, "If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen." Did you know that some people can speak and not be speaking the oracles of God Word? They're not really exercising their spiritual gift? There’s a vast difference between ones natural ability to speak and the Spirit-given gift of preaching.

We see a lot of that today, a man may have the gift of ministering yet still ministers in the flesh? That’s what the Scripture says. Just because someone has the Spirit gift doesn’t mean that every time they preach, they're doing it in the Spirit. And, you can easily spot the difference, at least I'm able to. Maybe not everyone can. I'll speak for myself here, it would be so easy for me to stand up in front of an audience and rattle off a message, and I could likely go on forever. Right? Because I can talk. I like to talk, and I'm often told, I'm quite good at it. And it is occasionally a battle within my own heart and mind to speak not humanly but the Word of God, for the Holy Spirit to bring my gift into subjection to Himself. Because I could easily minister my gift, just as anyone can, purely in the flesh, I do not have a desire to do that! So, I always seek the guidance of the Spirit, to lead me, whatever I speak from this platform, it must be by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, people love it, sometimes they like it, and other times, I get the "What on earth were you thinking? Nobody wanted to hear that!" Well, I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, so I'll just say it, that's not my problem. If the Holy Spirit leads me and gives me something to say, I don't question it, I don't challenge it, I just teach it. I used to do that, a little conversation, between God and myself, "Are you sure that's what you want me to say?" "Yes, it is!" Can I say it some other way, maybe a little less offensive perhaps?" "No, say exactly what I've given you the way I've given it to you!"
So, I guess, if that's a problem for anyone, take it up with God, and the Holy Spirit, not me. Whether you love it or hate it, it's not me. I'm just His voice.

Next, which is the third point, you can minister your gift either in the energy of the Spirit or in the energy of the flesh. The fact that one has the gift doesn’t necessarily mean he ministers it in the Holy Spirit. And the gift is no sign of spirituality. None at all. Just because I have the gift to preach, that doesn’t make me spiritual. I have the same struggles with sin that you have. And sometimes I think my struggle is greater than yours must be, although maybe that’s not true. But you know you have that.
In I Corinthians 14, there's a really important statement. This is really important. Verse 32 says this, "And the spirits of the prophets are" – what? – "subject to the prophets." Do you know what that means? That even a prophet’s got to subject his own spirit. Just because you’ve been called to be a preacher, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to subject yourself anymore. I’m not spiritual because I preach; I’m not even infallible.

Let's quickly turn to I Corinthians 14:29, look what it says, "Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate." Did you catch that? Did you see there that even the prophets aren’t even so infallible, they’ve got to have three people and somebody else judge who’s right. Some people think just because they’ve got the gift, that settles it. No, sir. That's not how it works. Even the prophets had to check with two or three, work it all out together, and then have somebody else judge who and what was right.

Gifts are no sign of spirituality; there are no guarantees that you’re always right. Though there are some, who think they are, but I'll not elaborate on that. (smiling) Gifts are not always necessarily in connection with your own supposed abilities or even your disabilities. For example, Joni Eareckson Tada, she ministers wonderfully to many. She does so much. she speaks publically, she paints etc. She is an inspiration, to me, and so many. God has used her spiritual gifts in phenomenal ways! Now hear this, she has been a paraplegic since the age of 16 or 17, as I recall, from a diving or swimming accident! I encourage you all to check out her website, her paintings. She paints better with her mouth, than I can paint with both hands! I just adore her. Anyway, that's is truly amazing, when you think of how many today will say, "I just can't." No, you don't want to, but you technically can! When God and the Holy Spirit wants to use you, you can literally do anything! You just have to be willing!  But, my original point, was you can either minister your gift in the flesh, or you can minister your gift in the Spirit.

Beloved, our spiritual gifts are so important. They are very critically important. They are important because we saw them ranked with the cardinal gifts, the cardinal doctrines of salvation. They are important because they’re needed for the body to be healthy. The source of spiritual gifts we just saw was the Holy Spirit.

Ok, we're running out of time, so let’s look quickly at the power of spiritual gifts. The power of spiritual gifts, that in I Corinthians 12 verses 2 through 6. "You know that when you were pagans, you used to be led off to the idols that could not speak. Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person."
What he is saying to the Corinthians is, "You know, you Corinthians used to be in real sad shape, going around worshiping dumb idols, praying to these ridiculous god’s who can’t even answer you." It's really kind of a pathetic, hopelessness in idol worship, isn’t it? There many today, who are practicing the same kind of idol worship, praying to gods, and inanimate objects, that have absolutely no ability to answer them. It's ludicrous, and it's sad. 

He's saying, "Hey Corinthians, I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts, but I know this: you couldn’t know about them because you couldn’t even know the basics. You couldn’t know about spiritual gifts, you couldn’t even know about taking the first step one, the lordship of Christ apart from the Holy Spirit."

Here is what non-believers do not seem to get. They'll say things, like, "That isn't true, it makes no sense!" The flesh is incapable of knowing anything spiritual. If the natural man can’t even understand the lordship of Christ, how could the natural man understand the work of the Holy Spirit through spiritual gifts? He cannot and he never could. Spiritual understanding and spiritual work can only be done by the power of the Spirit. Well, who is the power then of spiritual gifts? The Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say in Acts 1:8? "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Who, then, is the power for understanding? Who is the power for operating spiritual gifts? The Holy Spirit. That’s exhilarating. That is absolutely astonishing. I mean do you get that? Whatever we do in our flesh is a huge waste of our energy. Whatever we attempt to do in our own in our own flesh, in our own fashion, in our own will, in our own design is failure and a mockery. Destined to fail.

I am blown away, by the fact that whatever I do when I’m filled with the Holy Spirit, whatever I do to exercise my gift in His power is born by divine energy. What a fantastic thought. Just to think that I can minister with divine energy, wow, that's just astonishing to me. But guess what else, so can you! You can also minister with divine energy. It doesn't mean you'll preach, but what you do that uses your gift can have divine energy. That's incredible. Now I know some of you might be asking, "How do I do that?" Here's how, step one, you pray! And pray some more, and again more. Constantly praying, bearing that same message to God, asking Him to cleanse your life, to use you in the energy of the Spirit. Step two, yield, you must yield yourself. "God, here’s my mind and body, I submit myself for Your righteous thoughts, righteous deeds." That's in Romans 6. Next, "Be Spirit filled," as it says in Ephesians 5. Be Spirit filled. And that means to turn every decision, every thought, every attitude over to the Spirit’s control. That's number three. In Galatians 5, the fourth one is, we must walk in the Spirit. One step at a time. That the key to doing that, the Spirit is our energy. The guarantee that you are functioning in the charismata, the gift of grace, and not a counterfeit is to be filled with the Spirit. Plain and simple, that’s the key. 

Beloved, when we operating in the Spirit, we're connected to a divine source of power!

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, and we're operating through all of them. There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who works all in all. You see that? Take notice of the Trinity! The Spirit, the Lord, and God. That's the Trinity. They’re each one, working within us, but the energy is the Spirit’s energy.

We actually operate on by a divine power supply. And when you minister your spiritual gift, the 'Spiritual Juice' is really flowing through us. That is significant power right there! The gift is there. The only thing that may not be there is yieldedness on your part. You must yield to the Spirit. Ok, I need to cover this, though we're out of time, it needs to be covered, so bear with me. Very quickly here, I want to show you the extent of them, verse 7 to 10. This is two or three fold: To what extent do believers have them, and how many are there and what are they. I Corinthians 12:7-10.

"A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:

to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge
by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits,
to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages."

In Closing...

So how many believers have the gifts? All of them. Through which the Spirit manifests Himself to the body. "Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:" Do you see it? It's beneficial to us, the believer. In Some translations, it says, "to profit." So when I minister my gift to you, you profit, and you grow stronger with me. As do I with you, ministering your gift to me. By your constant ministry to me, I will be built up in my weaker areas, my non-gifted area. I may never have the gift that you have, but I’ll be built up in that area because of the ministry of your gift in that area to me. That's how it works. We all have them, we all benefit. We're all stronger and healthy when we minister to each other. Every believer, in every church, around the world, desperately needs to grab hold of that concept. How many gifts are there? There are some listed in the 12th chapter of Romans and some in the 4th chapter of Ephesians. We're out of time, so you can, and I encourage you to explore that on your own. Increasing in knowledge! We just don't have enough time to study all of them. There's many gifts, there all listed in Scripture.

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

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