Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 25 November, 2018
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering ...”
(Col. 3:12)
Morning Service - 11:00 AM
Gospel Living (5)
The Seven Gifts of Romans 12
[download]
[youtube]
Scripture Reading: Romans 12
Text: Romans 12:6-8
I. The Three “Speaking” Gifts
II. The Four Other Gifts
III. The Recipients of These Gifts
Psalms: 100:1-5; 89:40-47; 119:97-104; 84:4-12
Evening Service - 6:00 PM
Gospel Living (6)
Gifts and Office-Bearers Among the Members of the Body
[download]
[youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 12:1-27
Text: Romans 12:6-8
I. The Gifts and the Members
II. The Gifts and the Office-Bearers
III. The Gifts and the Body
Psalms: 96:1-7; 89:48-52; 115:4-14; 75:3-10
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services,
contact
Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart
or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast:
www.cprf.co.uk/live.html
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 12:6: “You should not be lazy in the church, and you should not say, ‘Let somebody else do the work, I’m only going to get the benefits. I never study, I never think, I never pray, I leave it all to the preacher or somebody else.’ That is all wrong ...”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
On the back table today are letters from Rev. McGeown and from the Philippines.
Monday catechism classes:
5:00 PM - Josh & Taylor (Juniors OT)
5:45 PM - Corey & Katelyn (Beginners OT, Book 2)
6:30 PM - Bradley & Samuel (Seniors OT)
7:15 PM - Alex, Jacob & Nathan (Essentials)
Tuesday Bible Study at 11 AM will consider lessons regarding sin, Jesus Christ and our calling from all four bloody sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7.
Belgic Confession Class will meet this Wednesday at 7:45 PM to continue our study of Article 35 on the words, “This is my body.”
Men’s Bible Study meets this Saturday at 8 PM at the Kennedys to discuss Acts 6.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled “The Goodness of God’s House” (Ps. 65:4).
Offerings: General Fund: £769.65.
Translations: 1 Portuguese and 1 Polish.
Rev. McGeown is speaking for the Christian Union (CU) of University College Cork (UCC), on “Old Testament Prophecies of Christ” this Tuesday (27 November) at 7 PM.
Rev. McGeown will discuss (via phone link) his book, Grace and Assurance: The Message of the Canons of Dordt on “Iron Sharpens Iron Radio” on Friday, 7 December, from 4-6 PM (ET), which is 9-11 PM (GMT) (www.ironsharpensironradio.com).
PRCP News: The Classis of the PRC in the Philippines (PRCP) decided on 31 October, that theological instruction of prospective students for the ministry of the Word and sacraments in the PRCP should begin in August 2019. To this goal, Classis decided that the 3 PRCA missionaries (Revs. Holstege, Kleyn and Smit) be appointed to serve as an initial faculty to assist Committee 1 with the necessary preparations and arrangements for the start of seminary training. Currently, much planning and preparation are underway regarding curriculum, instructors, location and finances. Many of these plans will need to be approved by the Classis in February and June 2019 so there will be more announcements as August 2019 approaches. Committee 1 and the missionaries covet your fervent prayers to our heavenly Father for His blessings of grace and wisdom for the instruction of prospective ministerial students.
An Excerpt from “Whence the Diversity Within the Church”
by Rev. Ron VanOverloop, Standard Bearer, volume 80, issue 8
As amazing and as wonderful as is the unity of the body of Christ, it is just as amazing and wonderful that in the unity there is a diversity. While all the elect are one in Christ, they are not identical. Though we are so much one, yet we can be addressed in this verse as “every one of us.” We retain our individual selves, our own personalities. The unity of the body must not be conceived as uniformity. Uniformity means that every member is identical in every respect, without variations or differences. The glory of the unity of Christ’s body is that we are not merged together into a single, solid mass, without individual identity, but that there is a diversity in the unity and a unity that comprehends endless variations. The unity does not do away with the diversity and the diversity does not break the unity. The diversity in the unity makes for beautiful harmony!
This is an amazing truth. But let us all recognize that it is one thing to say a loud “Amen” to this truth and another thing to have a genuine appreciation for the various members of the body!
How can the unity and the diversity be present at the same time in the body of Christ? They co-exist because the source of the unity is also the source of the diversity. The source of the unity is Christ, the Head of the body. And the source of the diversity is Christ, the Giver of the various gifts in each member.
Christ is the Giver of the variety of gifts enjoyed by the church as a whole and by each member in particular. It is not that the members, as parts or pieces, have to be put together and made to harmonize. Rather, the unity is first and the parts arise out of the unity. This truth is pictured in the human body. Just as the body begins with one cell that contains in it all the different parts of the human body, so the body of Christ begins with its unity—in its Head. That the unity of the body is first is implied in the fact that the calling given to us as members of the body is to keep or preserve the unity, not to make it.
The truth that Christ is the Giver of every diverse gift and manifold grace in His body was spoken approximately 1,000 years earlier. The apostle is inspired in Ephesians 4:8 to quote Psalm 68:18: “Thou hast ascended on high, thou has led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men.”
... When we, the members of Christ’s body, consider the unity and the diversity of the church, then we see that the various members, each being gifted with a function to perform for the whole, are altogether under the one and only Head, Jesus Christ. We see that every one of us is given grace. This grace is a part of the grace of salvation—that grace by which we are saved (Eph. 2:8). This grace is the grace of the functions or positions given to each member. We have “gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,” or ministry or teaching or exhortation or giving or ruling or showing mercy (Rom. 12:6-8). All the members have “received the gift ... as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Pet. 4:10).
To every member of the church is given the grace that enables him or her to perform a particular function. To each member is given a unique position and function in the body, and with it is given the ability to exercise that function. Christ’s distribution of those gifts is according to the measure He had determined. Each member is gifted according to a perfectly wise plan, so the result is the functioning of a beautiful, harmonious body, of which Jesus Christ is the Head.
We have not only different gifts but also different capacities for the use of those gifts. Consider the tremendous variety in the human body! So in the church, the body of Jesus Christ, there are given various gifts: wisdom, knowledge, exhorting, giving, encouraging, praying, serving, teaching, ruling, loving. Doctor Luke, fisherman John and rabbinically trained Paul differed one from another and yet fit together in the body. Every member must be busy in his position, functioning for the sake of the whole. And no member may despise other members just because they differ. The eye may never exalt himself over the foot, nor may the foot consider himself unnecessary just because he is not an eye (I Cor. 12:14-25).
There is an equality even though some gifts appear to be more important than others. As in the human body, some parts are more comely than others, yet the uncomely ones are as necessary (I Cor. 12:22). The functions differ—and they are meant to be different. Yet they are all essential to the harmonious working of the whole. Each member must labour “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (I Cor. 12:25). Each member must labour for the same commendation: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” Each must be faithful in the use of that which was given to him by the grace of God. And each must realize, when looking at the other members of the body, that, if the different members have been given grace by God, then they are viewed as indispensable.
The differing grace will make for apparent inequalities (especially from our human perspective). Instead of being disturbed by this, we must see that each member is graced for the sake of the full and harmonious functioning of the church. When we recognize these differences and gradations, then we must respect them; for in respecting them, we respect Him who gifted or graced them.
Let us see the implications of the truth of the diversity within the unity of Christ’s body. First, let every one of us confess our pride and proneness to jealousy. Let us confess our self-seeking and our feelings of being neglected or unimportant because we are not like another member. Let us humble ourselves before the Head and ask Him to forgive us, to cleanse us and graciously to continue to use us in His body.
Also let us humbly recognize that what we have is what we have received. We do not have anything of ourselves. “Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” (I Cor. 4:7). Let us confess with Paul, “I am what I am by the grace of God” (I Cor. 15:10). And because it is all of grace, then no one can boast. Because it is all of grace, each member is essentially equal with all the other members. That equality is that each is damn-worthy and it is only by grace that he is brought into the body of Christ.
Let us be content with what we have been given. Let us consciously be used by God for the sake of the other members of the body. Let us seek to use the gifts we have been given, however lowly we may sinfully think them to be. Let us use the gifts we have received for the glory of the Giver. He who glories, let him glory in the Lord, the Giver of the gifts, and the Head of the church.