1 Peter 4:10,11
Gifts for Each Other from God

1. Judgment Day is near so be serious for the purpose of prayer.
   1. Judgment Day is near
   2. Therefore be serious for the purpose of prayer
2. Above all, love one another.
   1. In general, because love covers over sins
   2. Specifically, by being hospitable

The end of all things is at hand. The last days—in which scoffers and haters of God will arise—are upon them. Peter has commended them to prayer that they may stand fast in the day of temptation and that Christ will come. (Lead us not into temptation... Thy kingdom come.) For by prayer they rely upon God to protect them from the evil one. And by hospitality they love one another, presenting a united front to the world and sharing the love of Christ which constrains them to turn from evil and seek righteousness.

One more assurance they need: their perseverance and love for each other will not come from their own strength. God has given gifts to his church sufficient to enable her not only to hang on but to give him glory until her Savior returns. This is all the more needful as the miraculous gifts of the early church have begun to cease. Peter writes fairly late in the day, the canon of Scripture is almost complete. And in anticipation of that finished and perfect word, gifts of prophecy and tongues-speaking and words of knowledge have begun to cease. The miracles that must occur to confirm God's word have occurred; gifts of healing and miracles are therefore being phased out. The only gifts that seem to continue are the "ordinary" gifts of teaching and service. What good are those against a powerful enemy who prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour? It is into this context that Peter inserts the assurance that God has given gifts to his people to enable them to stand against the world and the devil. And these gifts, he insists, are in no way inferior to their flashier predecessors. Preachers still preach the very word of God and Deacons still minister his very power. And so it is not just with ordained ministers but with the whole church that each one has a gift by which he may minister to the spiritual or the physical needs of his brothers and sisters.

1. Exercise your gifts for the common good
   1. As each one has received a gift
      1. Peter presupposes, here, that all the people of Christ have received a gift from God.
      2. The church does not divide into those who have gifts and those who don't—so that the haves serve (or Lord it over) the have-nots.
      3. Everyone has received a gift from God
      4. As noted, this assurance is necessary now that gifts are much less likely to manifest themselves in ecstatic utterances of prophecy or in opening the eyes of the blind.
   2. Out of the manifold grace of God
      1. Peter is about to mention only two sorts of gifts: Speaking and serving
      2. How drab compared to the long lists that Paul gave while the authority of the new revelation was being established:
         1. words of wisdom and knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, tongues, interpretation.
         2. How can they compete?
      3. Though the kinds of gifts are simpler in number, Peter argues that there is just as wide a variety
      4. Every gift is unique because it proceeds from the manifold (varied) grace of God
         1. In Peter's mind, there's no sense in having some sort of "Identifying Your Spiritual Gift" seminar in which you get a special Biblical name for your gift (like exhortation or whatever) and then you can bone up on what people with your gift are supposed to do so you can start doing it.
         2. He deliberately doesn't give you a long list lest you think that list is exhaustive and insist you find yourself on there somewhere. (Even with the two, he not suggesting you only have one)
         3. Rather, he says, your gift is unique, crafted for you by the Son of God who ascended on high to give gifts to men.
      5. So today the treasure house of Christ's gifts has not been exhausted in a mere 1960 years.
         1. He has given you a unique gift as well by which you may be enabled to serve your brethren
         2. And he has given them unique gifts by which they may serve you
         3. And if in the love of Christ we begin seeking ways to serve one another, we will soon discover what it is Christ has given us to do
         4. But you will never plumb the depths of this gift; it is a new name which no one else knows but you and your Savior; a new selfless identity that you will spend the rest of your life getting to know. It is in one sense exactly like Christ; in another it is uniquely your own.
         5. Go out with this faith, this confidence, Christ has given you a gift (and in a moment Peter will tell you how to use it)
      6. But one thing unites all the gifts—the way they ought to be used....
   3. Use it to serve one another
      1. This is what "minister" means in the Greek
      2. The NT writers are united in saying the purpose of the gifts was so that we might serve the needs of the church
         1. This was the problem that Paul dealt with in Corinth; they were all seeking after speaking in tongues, the flashiest of the gifts and the one that would most soon pass away.
         2. The Corinthians wanted to serve themselves with this gift
         3. Paul condemns the whole process when he says "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself" and urges them rather to seek gifts for the edification of the church (1 Cor 14.4,12).
      3. This is, in effect, Peter's second practical application of his admonition "have fervent love for one another" (the first being hospitality)
      4. This is yet another lesson Peter learned from Jesus when the disciples argued over who would be the greatest.
         1. Jesus taught them the greatest must be the servant of all
         2. And did he not exemplify that as well, washing the disciples' feet and thus symbolizing the cleansing power of the blood he would shed on their behalf.
         3. Do you love Him? Do you want to be conformed to His image? Then seek it in this, that the one who shared the very glory of God did not exploit that glory but laid it aside to become a servant and suffer death on the cross.
   4. As good stewards
      1. These gifts are commended not only for our service to one another but to God.
      2. A "steward" was a slave who was put in charge of the affairs of the household or business—tremendous responsibility, but he answers to his master at the end of the day.
      3. Again, these gifts are not to enrich us as independent individuals
      4. Rather it gives us, who had nothing to offer God, the privilege of managing assets he has given us that we may have an abundance to offer him in the day His Son returns from heaven.
      5. Think of it! We, who had nothing, are being given the means to give to God. The very thing we long to do, to have something to offer to God, not as a basis of justification, but out of sheer love for his overflowing mercy. And here it is! God gives it to us as a Father gives his 6 year old son 10 dollars so the son can afford to get his Dad a birthday present. And here the Father not only gives the 10 dollars but enables us to multiply it.
      6. Let us seek to have a good answer for our Master. He has commended these gifts into our hands, just as in the parable of the talents, commending more to some than to others but requiring a return on his investment. (It is this last part that drives us back to the power of God as Peter is about to note. We will be unprofitable servants if we rely on our own ability. But the manifold grace of God is able to make us abound in good fruit to the praise of his glory)
2. These gifts rely on the authority and power of God
   1. Peter here distinguishes two types of gift
      1. The one who speaks and the one who serves
      2. These gifts are formally realized in the Preaching ministry and in the ministry of the deacons
      3. And note well that these are both ministries, i.e. the work of servants, according to Peter. The preacher is called to be a servant of the entire congregation for their salvation and must tirelessly seek the saving of their souls and their growth and perseverance in grace.
      4. However, remember Peter has said that each one has received a gift, so he is not merely referring to the ordained ministry
      5. However, he is using the two areas of ordained ministry as categories into which all other gifts fall. (again without limiting anyone to only one or the other)
      6. Thus also he sets before you the officers of the church who will guide you and exemplify for you wise stewardship of the gifts Christ bestows
   2. Speaking gifts must bear the authority of God's word
      1. Speaking the very oracles of God
         1. The oracles of Peter's time went into trances in which they shrieked and wailed and thrashed about. And when they had settled down, they began to chant prophecies.
         2. These "oracles" that Peter speaks of are the infallible, inerrant words of God himself.
         3. Do not be timid! Peter says. Speaking in tongues and words of knowledge and prophecies are passing away...
         4. But you haven't lost what those things were—the very oracles of God
         5. You are about to have what all those things were yearning and struggling toward—the finished word of God
         6. The word we have been given is no less powerful than the Word that came down at Pentecost, enabling them to speak to each man in his own language
         7. Thus Peter absolutely forbids this speaking ministry from speaking on its own authority, but only to say what God himself has said in his word.
         8. Thus we are utterly dependent upon God for the exercise of this gift. Even now, we have not been given a gift and told to go off and exercise it as best we can on our own. Rather we are given a gift and told that God himself will give us everything we need for the proper use of it.
      2. Regarding the Preaching Ministry
         1. This first and foremost must be true of the pastors and teachers in the church
         2. The pastor may not preach anything but the word of God
         3. There is no place for "in my opinion" in the preaching of the word.
         4. The doctrine I preach must be the doctrine the Holy Spirit states in his word. The application I preach must be the application intended by the word. Sometimes preachers speak of "making application" from the text. But this is a horrifying phrase. I must rather preach the application that the text provides. I am no more free to "make application" than I am to "make doctrine." The Word of God must contain my doctrine and my application.
         5. I must not, then, ask "What do I think the congregation wants to hear," but "What does God want the people to hear?" And I find the answer in his Word. Woe to me if I intentionally add to or take away from the words of this book. And may the love of God cover over my unintentional sins in this regard. I must preach the whole counsel of God—no more, no less, no other.
         6. This is God's gift to you, as powerful as an apostle standing in your midst and prophesying. For here you have the apostle Peter speaking to you over so many years through the ordained preacher—not by some mystical experience in which I channel the spirits of the dead—but as God makes me faithful in opening this word, this is the very oracle of God coming to you this day.
      3. Regarding the ministry of the elders
         1. The elders sit with the pastor to judge matters in the church
         2. They as well may not judge things according to their private inclinations.
         3. But they bear the authority of the word of God and only that.
      4. Regarding all of you as you speak to one another
         1. Speak these words of Scripture as you read and hear them
         2. Especially, let your speech be seasoned with grace as with salt
         3. In all situations with your brothers and sisters, ask yourself, how does the word of God speak to this? Speak those very words.
         4. Learn to speak as Paul and Peter and John speak of the death and the resurrection of Christ, of his ascension into heaven, of his love for his people in his sacrifice and his intercession.
         5. Follow their example by constantly casting one another's thoughts up to heaven even while mourning with one another about the futility of this earthly life
         6. A brother loses a job. Do we comfort one another by saying "I'm sure you'll get another one?"
         7. A brother loses a family member to death, do we say, "Try not to think about it?" Or do we grieve with them even as we point to the resurrection.
   3. Serving gifts must rely on God's strength
      1. This was obvious when the serving gifts consisted of things like healing and miracles. Of course God must provide the power. What can I do?
      2. But as the gifts become more "ordinary" it become easier to confuse them with our own natural abilities (just as with preaching v. prophesying)
      3. How easy in the serving gifts to rely on our own strength
         1. We need money for the church? Well let's get on the horn and drum up some contributions
         2. One of the ladies has just had a baby and needs a meal brought to her? Well even I can do that much.
         3. Let us seek God to show us our weakness that he may be strong.
      4. First to the deacons (and to you who desire this office [which is a good thing])
         1. The tasks God calls you to range from Bookkeeping to Janitorial to using the funds of the church to help those with financial need
         2. How easy just to do it. But if it becomes a task an unbeliever could accomplish, the glory of the gift is being lost
         3. All these things we must seek to do out of love for the brethren. And we can only do that by relying on the strength God provides.
         4. You keep track of the money because it is God's money and must be used as a prudent steward, stretched as far as possible—by God's grace farther than possible—to serve the needs of his people
         5. You visit the sick and care for the widows because these are your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in Christ and they do not need your ministry as you are in yourself. They need Christ himself gently enduring their pain with them and easing it by feeding them and clothing them and providing companionship. It is your gift to give that; but only God can provide that kind of strength.
      5. To all of you, seek the strength God provides for this sort of service
         1. A deacon doesn't become a deacon first. He is seen serving according to his gift and so the congregation begins to recognize him as a deacon.
         2. The Bible speaks of "deaconesses" as well and even though in the OPC we do not ordain women to the office of deacon, no one denies that you women are gifted by God for the service of the church.
         3. So to all of you, understand the vastness of this service that you may desire it not as an easy thing but as something impossible for you apart from the power of God
         4. But seek such opportunities to serve one another knowing that God has gifted you in some way and will therefore provide power as well.
         5. Even your money and time are given to you that you may offer them to the service of one another willingly out of love. We mustn't do this unthinkingly, but in reliance on God's power.
3. That God may be glorified in Christ
   1. So God may receive all the glory
      1. Yes! This is their heartfelt wish—not to be trapped in sin or found unfaithful in the day of Christ—but that they should bear much fruit and that their fruit would remain to the glory of God when their Savior arrives.
      2. The end of all things is near and now they know they will not merely limp along but prosper and triumph in Christ in gifts that are outwardly weak and foolish but full of authority and power.
      3. These gifts (and this love and hospitality and prayer) will provide them (and you) with gifts to lay at the feet of Christ to the glory of God at the last day
      4. And as they are pursued in the authority and power that God provides, we have no temptation to take any glory to ourselves but we know that of him and from his and to him are all things to whom belongs the glory forever
   2. Because to Christ belong eternal glory and dominion
      1. Thus God is glorified in his Son who has all glory and power and willingly hands it over to his Father that the glory may come to Him
      2. Yet he hands it over in a way that it does not cease to be his.
      3. His is the glory and dominion forever and ever; he will be our king forever and ever. In him forever we will see God the Father (who is invisible) face to face. And to him we will offer blessing and honor, glory and power and through him to God the Father forever.

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