Gifts must be used with a pastoral heart

I want to invite you to go with me to First Corinthians in chapter 14, it is an interesting subject that I want to discuss with you. In light of our desire to be an effective church in reaching and retaining souls and to be a church that when people come in and worship with us they feel welcomed, they feel good, they feel in harmony, they feel they are in a safe place , a place where they can experience the peace of the Lord. Because it is of no use to us that people come and do not find the space they need for their needs, when they come sometimes busy, sad, anxious, when they come confused, when they come hurt from outside, when they come with some situation that afflicts them, it is It is important that they are in a place where they can find that rest and that harmony that they are seeking from the Lord.

And that's why it's so important. Evangelism includes not only bringing people to church, but also offering them that safe environment, that peaceful environment, that environment where they can stay and be at ease. The Apostle Paul was not only a theologian, he wrote a lot of passages of scripture, two thirds of the New Testament was written by him, but he was also a church planter, he was an evangelist, and he was also a pastor because he had a pastoral heart and he wrote to the pastors and the congregations that he helped to plant, about how they should conduct themselves, how they should regulate their daily life, their daily life as congregations. And he wrote principles because in those times they did not have what we have, this writing already written, already codified, already well ordered. They did not know how to behave because the growth of the Gospel was just beginning. It was the first century and everything was yet to be established.

And so he wrote letters that were later assembled and assembled into what we now call the Bible, but at the time they were simply the advice of a pastor writing to his congregations that he had helped plant, sometimes answering questions that they asked him. Paul, we have this problem in the church, what do we do? We have such a situation, it is causing division, what do we do? And he also preemptively wrote many principles that later evidently the Holy Spirit was directing him to do those things, but then those principles had to be collected in this document called the Bible, which helps us govern ourselves and direct our congregational life.

That as a prelude. Let me go with you quickly, verse 20. First Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 20. It says there and it says to us:

“Brothers of the Lion of Judah congregation, do not be children in the way of thinking but rather be children in malice. – There are people who are very adult in malice and very children in love and grace. – He says, do not be children in the way you think, that is, in your behavior, in your way of seeing things, in your way of reasoning, but if you are going to be children, be children in malice, but mature in the way you think, because in the law it is written in other languages and with other lips I will speak to this people and they will not even hear me, says the Lord.

It is a passage from the Old Testament that he is quoting, that of other tongues and other lips I will speak to the people of Israel. So he says, "So the prophecy is a sign not to unbelievers but to believers, here he is referring." Here he is referring to the different gifts of the Holy Spirit of which he has already spoken in chapter 12 of this same letter, gifts of tongue, prophecy, gifts of knowledge, wisdom, healing, signs and wonders, all these different gifts. and also includes languages.

He is trying to teach what the purposes of each of these gifts are within the life of a congregation. “If, for example, the whole church gathers in one place, as we are this morning, and everyone speaks in tongues and unlearned or unbelievers come in – what does it mean? To uneducated people means that they are not educated and are not knowledgeable about the word of God or the principles of the Christian life. They are completely uninstructed in the Christian life.

“…if unlearned or unbelievers come in – maybe people who don't know God and are simply totally foreign to the principles of the Gospel come in – if those kinds of people come into the church and they see you speaking in tongues, the whole world at the same time and making senseless noise, as can happen sometimes... I don't know if you have ever been to a congregation where it is a walk out, everyone is there having their little party and everyone is talking and he's moving and yelling and all that, and it's a cacophony.

And then if someone comes in at that moment who is uneducated, is an incredulous person, is a timid person, is a person who does not understand what is happening, "won't they say they are crazy?" he's saying it in a way like be careful, the idea is that we don't want people to come along and think we're a bunch of nuts. Thank God that the Apostle Paul said that and not me because if I said it, they would say the pastor is damaging the spirit, they are constricting the spirit, but the great Apostle Paul who knew all the gifts says it.

“Won't they say they're crazy? But if everyone prophesies and an unbeliever or ignorant person enters, he is convinced by all, he is judged by all.”

Now when he says, but if everyone prophesies, you will see later that he says, if they prophesy but it has to be one by one. We're going to skip that for a little while so you can see, because you're not contradicting yourself. Look at the principle that he lays out in verse 31, he says:

"Because you can all prophesy one by one so that all may learn and all may be exhorted." But someone will say, ah, but pastor when I want to prophesy it's that I can't hold it, the words come out of my mouth, one cannot control God, one cannot control the spirit. And he says, "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." In other words, you can control. Don't tell me that the word came out or that something happened.

It may be that when a person is inexperienced on an occasion when they first experience a filling of the spirit, since they do not have wisdom they may not have control at that moment, but what Paul is suggesting is that when you already have some experience in the matters of the spirit, you do have control, you can wait to speak, you can meditate on the most appropriate moment, you can know if you are in an environment where what you say will cause scandal and confusion or will be a blessing . All these things the person who is prophesying must consider.

It's not a matter of oh, the spirit told me that this person is going to have an accident when he leaves here and he is going to kill himself and his children, so I am going to tell him immediately in public. Brother, so says the Lord, when you leave the church you will find a truck and it will run over you and it will... Lord rebuke the devil! You have to be careful with those things. You have to meditate, you have to think, you have to weigh what you are saying and then you can…

In other words, always look at that principle here of order that he is trying to establish. Then, he says, “But if everyone prophesies and an unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convinced by all, he is judged by all, the secret of his heart becomes manifest and thus, falling on his face, he will adore God, declaring that truly God is among you. .”

"What's up then, brothers? – How beautiful this passage. – When you meet, as in a meeting this morning, each one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation, let everything be done for edification.”

Now, notice something here as well. Sometimes I get a little ahead of the order of the sermon because I don't want to miss the opportunity when the time comes for the text. One thing that needs to be made clear is that Paul is writing to a church – that's why it's called the primitive church, it was the very beginning of the church. Actually there were no such churches yet. the concept of a church like this that exists here, like a synagogue. What the Jews had were synagogues, they understood that. The church was like an extension perhaps of the concept of a synagogue or a Greco-Roman temple.

But how did the first Christians meet in the first decades of the Gospel? Where they met? In the houses. There were no temples, there were no shrines. Remember, there was no Bible, a book of the Old Testament cost a whole year's salary of a laborer. There was nothing written, there were no texts that could guide worship in those times. There weren't even pastors in many cases because that concept had not yet been developed, that kind of a pastor who directed. Little by little we see that as the church advances these things... the church becomes institutionalized, establishes an order, protocols, a way of worshiping.

There was certainly no electric piano like this one so well played by brother Omar Medina or different instruments. There was no order of services. There were no choirs. Then the brothers met and it was… God spoke to the people and if there were 10 brothers, 15 brothers gathered in a house, one had a word of edification, “brothers, I had a dream, I think the Lord spoke to me about this, this and other." There were testimonials, there was a psalm, one had a hymn. I want to sing something to worship the Lord.

The service was very informal and glory to God, led by the Holy Spirit. I think that sometimes we have gone to the other extreme, where there are churches that have so much order that it is a straitjacket rather than limits the Holy Spirit. Because extremes are always bad. In those times these very simple brothers met to adore the Lord, and one adored one thing, another said another, one sang a hymn, another spoke a prophetic word and thus they came out edified and blessed from their meeting.

Now, today, church meetings are public, they are large congregations like ours and they are not people from just one small town tucked into a mountain, they are people who come from all countries on earth, they are people of different nationalities. , different cultures, different socioeconomic levels, different levels of education, including different religious backgrounds and different denominational backgrounds. Some come from Presbyterian backgrounds.

For example, yesterday sister Delia, we were in a meeting with her and she told me that she attended a Presbyterian church before, before coming to León de Judá. And in the Presbyterian Church you know that everything is well ordered, glory to God, we say it with great respect, there is liturgy, there are repetitions, there are very symbolic things. And she comes from that background and so she entered a church like ours that is a more Pentecostal, charismatic church, but there are churches that are still more Pentecostal or more 'revived' or whatever it is called, more spontaneous or whatever. And here in our church there are people who come from all those backgrounds.

Is there anyone who comes from a Methodist background or has attended a Methodist church for a while? Here we have someone, for example. From a Baptist background? We have Baptists around here. Presbyterians by any chance anyone? Wow! that is to say, I am sure that if I ask there will be someone... How many attended the Catholic Church at some time in their lives? All who are here. So, we have people from different backgrounds and we have drunk that milk and we come and although we enter the unity of the Lion of Judah church but we still have some principles that we remember from our pasts and we kind of want to find that perfect place where… a little bit of there , a little from here, and a little from everything.

But remember that if there is a little bit of everything, that means that there cannot be everything for everyone. There has to be a selection of things, that is why sometimes we are not going to be able to be pleased with everything that we expect in a service. But not in those times, they were all Jews, converted, or they were all Greeks or they were from a small town, from a mountain over there and then there could be that greater freedom, but in a public environment like this, where they are not only seeing us We here at each other, they are looking at us through the internet, in Spain, in Italy, in Buenos Aires, in Guatemala, imagine, this type of service is even more public, a 2-dimensional screen only, which is not the same to see the person in 3 dimensions as we see them here.

So, all these things are… he is talking about those environments that are very homogeneous. Now, if you have a tongue, revelation, let everything be done for edification, verse 26. Everyone say with me, edification. What does edification mean? It means to strengthen the people, their faith, for their blessing, for their instruction, so that they know more about the word of God, so that they feel more secure in their faith, so that they receive something that is of benefit. for their lives. That is, so that more may be built, like a construction that goes up little by little.

Every time we come to church we come for that, to be edified among other things, also evidently to worship God, first of all, but also to come out stronger than when we entered. And that should be the number 1 principle that should govern everything that happens within the church. When you do something in church, and I include myself, we all have to ask ourselves, is what I am doing right now resulting in edification for those who are the object of what I am doing or those who are witnessing and watching? and watching what I'm doing?

I believe that if we were to ask ourselves that question pastorally, how many know that each of us are shepherds of one another? It's like when Cain asks God, will I be my brother's keeper? Yes, in the church each one of us is his brother's keeper. We are shepherds of one another. We have to take care of each other and take care of each other and be aware of what my brother is feeling when I am doing something. Sometimes it can be something supposedly in the spirit, maybe it is in the spirit, but I have to ask myself at that moment when I am doing something in the spirit to glorify God, that I believe, I am convinced that It's good and it's important, how is that affecting my brother, my sister? Is it being edifying? Are you being a blessing? Or is it being a stumbling block or scandal or strangeness? Are you taking away the joy of being in adoration at that moment?

And that we have to ask the question both about an individual to whom we are ministering perhaps up front, or in terms of the entire congregation that is watching us, or perhaps in terms of those that are watching us through the internet. Now, understand me, that everything has its limit. It is not that we continually live only doing the things that are universally acceptable to everyone, because then nothing would get done. But you do have to be a certain degree of care that no man is an island, as a well-known saying goes. We are a continent, we are all part of one another. We are one body and so when I am in my time of worship and I am in the presence of the Lord, I have to reserve a little mental lucidity to observe myself or how others see me and to try to ask myself how it is affecting what that I am making the feeling and the spiritual state of others.

I ask, are they with me up to here or have I lost them at some point? Are they following me? Because these things I know are a little delicate. And I'm going to tell you why we're preaching this later, but I've gone ahead and decided to take the rice and beans and mix it all up here.

So, he says, "if one speaks a strange language, be it for 2 or at most 3..." Strange language, what does it mean? a language that others cannot know, that others do not interpret, it is a spiritual language, it is speaking at times… if I spoke human and angelic tongues, says the Apostle Paul, a language that others do not understand.

If I speak in a foreign language, be it for 2 or at the most 3 and – everyone say – in turn, it means that in sequence, one first, another later. And that there are also nuances that can be added. “…and one interprets – that's something too… today this idea of interpretation is not used so much in Pentecostal congregations and many of these terms would require a full sermon just on them. But the idea is that if someone, for example, gets up, let's say not like now, because now I am preaching and who knows maybe at a given moment and sometimes it can happen but the number of occasions when a pastor someone is preaching stand up and it is legitimate to give a prophecy because again it says in turns.

But there may be an occasion that is so. What Paul is referring to is that when there are tongues, when they are speaking in tongues, in a way that stops the course of things and commands the attention of the whole world to that person who is speaking in tongues, that there has to be interpretation. of that language.

Now, that does not mean that if you are in worship time and Laura is at her peak of worship, you can be quiet speaking in tongues, soft, praising the Lord, so that you don't interrupt your brother, your sister, you you can do that. and many can do it at the same time, there can be a very nice murmur, or there can be on occasions, for example, what is called a new song. How nice when a congregation worships the new song and sometimes they are worshiping in different languages and one is singing, another is speaking in tongues softly. In this case, what is heard is more like a unanimity, a murmur that no one in particular is paying attention at that moment. In that case, I do believe that it is possible to speak in tongues even a little higher.

What Paul is saying is that when there is sort of a speech in tongues it is spoken that way specifically or a person is speaking loud enough for everyone to hear it, in that case it must be assumed that there has to be interpretation. And that person who is speaking in tongues many times must ask the Lord, says the Apostle Paul, for the interpretation. Because? Because it is important that they know what is being said.

It says here, and one interprets and if there is no interpreter, go to church and speak to yourself. It means in a lower form and for God. Likewise the prophets speak two or three and the rest judge. What does judge mean? It means determine the validity, legitimacy, and biblical character of what that person is saying. Because if someone says, behold, my children, so says the Lord, Pastor Miranda has to leave the church because his time has come.

I am going to judge immediately if that person is telling the truth or not. there are things, my son, that's what the Lord tells you, you have to marry so-and-so because he is a vessel chosen by God for you since the foundation of time. You have to be careful with those things. You have to judge the legitimacy, you have to determine if what that person is saying...

There is nothing wrong with if a person tells you, look, the Lord told me that you are going to die at 35, you tell him, brother, let me pray, I am going to think it over, I am going to meditate on them and if it is from God, I'm going to believe him. You have to judge, you have to determine the validity, the legitimacy of what the person… that does not mean that you are incredulous. It is that today there are so many… out of every 100 prophecies I believe that 3 or 4 or 5 are often from the Lord and if that scandalizes you, I am sorry but that is the experience that I have seen. Not everything that comes out of people's mouths, especially in these times in which we live, is truly from the Lord. Did I offend someone? I don't see anyone getting up from their seat, so it looks like I'm fine so far.

Yes, you have to judge, you have to determine what is of God and what is not of God. I say that sometimes the prophecies are like in those times, like in the 60s, 70s, I wasn't born yet but they tell me that the meteorologists said in the 60s when there were no radars and there weren't all these machines that today There is a day, tomorrow it is going to rain and the sun was burning people. It is thought that tomorrow there will be sun and people would have their party outside and a spray of water would fall on them. Today meteorologists are much more accurate than in those days.

I believe that today, it is not because God does not speak clearly, it is because many times there is no level of revelation that there was in other times for different reasons. But you have to be careful because the truth is that when you see what the result of the prophetic word is, many times you say, wow, there really is no accuracy and it is that you have to be clear, or yes or no, you cannot cover it up the sun with one finger. We want to see the manifestation of God and sometimes we want so much that we obscure the fact that there is no...

God doesn't need excuses. I don't have to make up God. He is perfect. I don't have to defend it. If there is a word, glory to God, if there is not, amen, he is God and he continues to be God. And you have to be careful with these things, that's why you have to judge.

Even in those times, we are talking about the first century and Paul, in those decades of pastoral experience alone, had already seen everything that is seen today in the churches, because he wrote this precisely to address the excesses and abuses that they already existed in the first century, 2000 years ago, these things already existed and also exist at this time, that is why the pastors and instructors of the word of God that God has placed to preside over the churches have to exercise that same type of integrity and order in the conduct of the things of God.

In the same way, two or three prophets speak, the others judge, and if something is revealed to another who is sitting, the first should be silent because you can all prophesy one by one so that everyone learns and everyone is exhorted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. I mean, don't tell me anyone, no, Pablo, I just can't stand it, you can take it. The spirit that God has put in you is… God gives you dominion, control so that you direct it.

For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. We could keep reading this but I am preaching this sermon in the context of being an effective church in retaining and reaching and evangelizing others, also maintaining harmony and peace among ourselves, because if there is disagreement, if there is dissatisfaction, if there is discomfort in the people of God, that environment will affect the blessing and it will affect the people who come and stay in a congregation.

There are several principles here that I want to quickly point out, in addition to the ones I've already pointed out. 1. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are real, they are true, and they should be used both in private worship and within the church. I love the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I would never go back to other times in the life of this congregation where there was no room for the manifestation of the gifts, as we have during many different times in the life of our church.

I consider myself Pentecostal, I consider myself charismatic, I consider that our church is a church open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a Pentecostal church. Look at my Bible that weighs about 7 pounds, Pentecostal study Bible. I hope the Lord will put that Bible in my grave when I die, I want to keep it. I like that idea that his interpretation of certain passages and the comments he makes is Pentecostal. I believe in gifts and gifts must be used.

I encourage my brothers to learn more about the gifts. As the Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 12, my brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant about the gifts of the spirit. It is important. So I'm not saying no, on the contrary, what I want is to provide a suitable platform so that the gifts can continue to manifest themselves freely. I hold the gifts so dear that I want to make sure they have the proper adornment and foundation so they can continue to be used.

The other thing comes from a conversation that we had among some of the pastors this week, at the pastoral staff meeting, where we talked about it and… we worried a little bit about the ministry times when people come up front to make sure that sometimes well-intentioned brothers when they minister, that they do it in an appropriate way to others, that there is no misuse of the gifts or of the prophetic word.

I will talk about that later. But that conversation that I had with the pastors motivated me to say, I am going to take a sermon to talk a little more about it and to establish the order, what the church believes. Because many churches don't take the time to do what Paul did here in First Corinthians, chapter 14.

Those two things, being effective, entertaining people and bringing them when they are strangers and don't know the word and also making sure that there is order in the moments where the spirit manifests itself and where there is ministry.

So the gifts exist. An important principle that I already said, the gifts exist for the edification of the people of God and as a sign of his power and his presence in the midst of the congregation. That's why Paul talks about when a person is healed or receives a prophetically accurate word, wow... how many people have come to church and said to me, pastor, that person looks like they were reading my email because they told me something that was absolutely true and that touched me, it impacted me. And it is a blessing. On other occasions they are like in another part of the galaxy talking to the person and they didn't give but not at all. It depends, but on many occasions the exercise of the gifts can bless a person who suddenly arrives at church. They exist for building.

Another principle, the gifts have importance and value to the extent that they are for the blessing and edification of those who are present in a meeting of the people of God. If a gift blesses, edifies, strengthens, heals, helps, promotes the growth of someone or the congregation, it is definitely of great benefit.

Now, if the exercise of a gift results in confusion, in scandal, in discredit for the Gospel, then that gift becomes a stumbling block rather than a blessing. The gifts must be used with a pastoral heart, I already said that, that is, taking into account the person to whom they are ministering or those around them and taking care not to shock, hurt, confuse, cause discomfort or conflict in the people around us.

I remember years ago I went to the graduation at Gordon College and it was a moment... you know how these Anglo-Saxon evangelicals are, very solemn, it was a very solemn graduation, everything was in order, very solemn and there was a brother, I'm not going to say what culture he was from, but he came from an obviously Pentecostal background, and every time the preacher said something, he would come out with a Pentecostal expression, amen, Hallelujah! Glory to God, he was the only one who was doing that and he stood out like a claw on one leg and as the service proceeded, the preaching, the more uncomfortable the people became. You saw people looking at each other, he was having a big party with himself, he thought he was touching the hem of God's mantle in the heavenly sanctuary, but down here, these people who were not used to and in this environment where such things were not allowed or customary, he would go out of tune as if he were in a completely different key.

I think that in part he wanted to affirm his culture where he came from and also his Pentecostal culture. Well, this is important, the Lord likes it, so I'm going to do it and let the others have a heart attack, what does it matter to me. And I said, here you have a case where this person is not discerning the spirit, he is not having a pastoral heart. He is happy with what he is doing, he believes that he is pleasing the Lord, but he is not taking care of his brothers around him, he is not exercising that spirit of Jesus Christ that is so important when we minister in the spirit. Follow me?

They should be used with a pastoral heart. It is useless for a person to exercise a gift if it is causing conflict in the church or scandal or discomfort of some kind or causing confusion in people who often have no experience in the use of gifts. A church like ours where right now I can tell you that there are at least 20 people who are relatively new to the church, or very new to the Gospel, or are just still exploring the idea of committing their lives to Jesus Christ, or are visitors Or do they come from a background...

Right now there are two young people who are visiting, one a member of my family and another who… young people who are in the service in English, who are completely uninstructed in the things of the Gospel. Glory to God that they are here this morning. But they come from a very intellectual, very academic background and I am sure that what they have seen is the ridicule many times of the gifts among Pentecostals and now they come and praise God that they are here, and they have no criteria to be able to judge certain liberties that we who are experienced in the Gospel take to ourselves.

Look brother, if someone grabs right now and hangs on one of the walls of this church, I stay calm and continue to worship the Lord, it doesn't take away from me, but as a pastor, I know that there are many others who do worry with that and they feel like it is disrespectful to their sensibilities. So one has to be careful with those things. Now, if we're all… it's like when people are drunk, you've seen 6 or 8 drunks talking, they say nonsense and they all understand each other, they laugh at the jokes, the one who isn't drinking sees them and says, this is a game crazy, but they are happy and make sense and enjoy their time and affirm their friendship like never before, because they are all drunk.

And that's how it happens, in a church where everyone believes the same thing and everyone has the same custom, look, anything happens there, you go outside and everyone is happy. The Lord is here, they leave edified, strengthened, fixing the bow that fell off, etc. sweating like horses, but in a diverse environment things are very different. So, one has to judge the maturity, the experience of the people, the culture, that is biblical, that is not one simply being a 4 by 4 evangelical coward, it is being biblical what the Apostle says.

It is useless for one to exercise a gift if it is causing conflict, discomfort or scandal in some type of person who has no experience in the use of gifts. In the León de Judá congregation we want to give space for the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of the exuberance of the spirit, but at the same time we want to promote congregational harmony, we want to avoid conflict, scandal, confusion for people who do not have experience or maturity, or depth in this dimension.

I'm not necessarily saying that these people are wrong. I'm just saying that since they are weaker or less experienced or maybe correct, we should be careful with them. He knows that there is one thing, that the fact that you are right does not mean that you have freedom. Think about it. Go home and chew that a little bit.

Many times the principle of love is superior to the principle of reason. For example, Paul speaks in a case of those who did not mind eating food that had previously been sacrificed to idols. In Greco-Roman times, a cow was slaughtered, sacrificed to Jupiter and then it was sent to the butcher shop to sell for $4.99 a pound and then the evangelicals, the Christians said, I cannot eat that food, it has been sacrificed to Satan. If I eat it, a demon will catch me, or whatever. And there were other Christians who were very mature and very confident and they said, give me that breast over here, I'm going to eat it in the name of the Lord and those idols right now are canceled in the name of Jesus. I'm going to cook that chicken and I'm going to eat it to the bone, glory to God. Hallelujah! And others thought, if I eat that, a demon will catch me.

So when they met for the sacrament, to eat all together those who had a lot of freedom and maturity stuck to their good piece of meat sacrificed to idols, because they knew that idols were nothing. And the other little brother who thought he knew that he had sacrificed to idols was like, wow, this man, how dare he eat that? He does not believe in God, he does not have reverence, he does not have holiness and he judged the other and sinned. So that free, mature little brother, who knows that idols are nothing, was being a stumbling block for the other, although he was right. The other is the one who is wrong because idols are nothing, according to your faith it will be done to you and if your faith gives you certain things, glory to God. But the other does not have that maturity. So you have to...

Pablo says, then, submit your maturity and your conviction to that of the weaker little brother and do not provoke him to misjudge. I hope someone is getting into a blessing right now. Glory to God. I'm giving you gold here, geez. Not everything that is right is necessarily legitimate in the context of the body.

Do you know what a cancer cell is? A cancer cell is a cell that says, I'm going to continue growing no matter what, I don't care about other cells. I have to grow and I want to be big and strong and I want to multiply. And that cell is not aware that it belongs to a complete body and it begins to multiply and creates a tumor that damages an organ and kills the person, because it did not think it was, so to speak, in the body.

The fact that we exist in the body with each other has a series of ramifications and very big consequences that go beyond just me being right and wanting to do what God tells me to do or what I think God is doing. tells me to do

So, we love the gifts but we want them to be manifested in an orderly way. Lion of Judah is a very diverse congregation, with people from different Christian backgrounds and many people new to the faith, or just exploring the faith, and from different cultural and educational backgrounds, so we have to exercise a lot of caution and discipline to make sure that the use of the gifts does not cause confusion and conflict.

Paul was an ardent defender of the gifts, which is why he wrote First Corinthians 12, read it for yourself. That is why he taught about it and declared that he did not want us to ignore the gifts but at the same time he strove to establish an order and give good guidelines and security barriers for the exercise of the gifts, establishing an order, establishing a logic. spiritual in the use of gifts.

You have to know the word to understand where the boundaries that govern the use of the gifts are, because we exist in terms of a body. And many times, this is important, I say that many times the collective order produces a certain degree of impoverishment that if we did not exist together with each other it would be very nice to have it, but since we exist in terms of a society, a collectivity, then sometimes you have to impoverish things so that there can be the order that is needed.

For example, it is 3 in the morning and I am standing at Highland Ave. corner Lowell in Summerville, 3 blocks from my house, and there is not a car anywhere, there is not a horse, there is not a cockroach moving at 3 in the morning on that corner, but there is a sign that says “No right turn on red,” and the light is red and I look around I don't see a policeman, I don't see anyone, but there is a law , because yes, I may not see anyone, but what if a car comes at the moment with the lights off and I turn and it hits me and someone is injured or a child dies or whatever. What do I do? I have to stand there, waste 2 minutes of my life, waiting for the blessed light to change when there is no one around and I am wasting time, but that is what the order of society and culture demands.

Because at 3 in the afternoon there might be a crash, or at 2 in the morning or 3, if I'm not looking because I had a couple of drinks over there and I don't see that car that came, my reflexes aren't fast enough , or crosses a dog that I did not see, there may be an accident, so no. we have to… although it is not urgent and absolutely necessary, the order demands that I stay there.

And so it is with the exercise of gifts. I think that it would be better if everyone could jump at the time they wanted. Right now brother Miguel stands up and begins to jump on the chair, glory to God. Hallelujah! Father, I adore you. And I'm thinking here, that chair cost us $45 dollars. Suyen who is behind him is saying, he won't let me see the pastor and what is this crazy man doing jumping here. Lose the blessing. The other sister over there is saying, I contributed $10 for that chair and look what this one is doing to her. Lose the blessing.

For the order of the set there have to be certain things. Perhaps the brother is going to have to suppress his freedom a little bit but in the context of the whole church he is doing that, in a sense he is glorifying God. How nice it is when one exempts oneself from doing certain things that one would like to do for the love of others. That glorifies the Lord very much too. And sometimes we have to impoverish our own freedom a little so that there is the necessary harmony in the body of Jesus Christ. That is why love is so needed.

The greatest principle of all is love. And Paul said it in First Corinthians 12, I say that everything you need to know about the gifts is in First Corinthians 12, 13 and 14. If I speak human and angelic tongues and I do not have love, I become like resounding metal, a tinkling cymbal. And if I had all the gifts in the world, prophecies to the extreme and it doesn't do that with love, I am nothing, it is of no use to me because love is the imperative principle, it is the number 1 principle and everything we do we have to do in the context of the love of brothers and others.

And the Lord knows up there. See if you felt that God told you, throw yourself at that brother's feet and kiss his shoes now, and you say, but if I do that this man will think I'm crazy, that I'm making a strange approach to him. And you exempt yourself. You are going to think, no, I am offending God. No, the Lord knows. You live in a different context, a strange context. Do not think that simply because you had an impulse, no, measure it first. How will the brother receive it? How is the person who sees you there kissing your brother's shoes going to see it? What will you think?

So one has to be careful and if somehow God wanted you to do it and you didn't, do you think the Lord is going to be there ready to throw lightning at you like Jupiter? I'm going to break his head because he didn't do what I said. No, the Lord knows.

I sometimes tell the brothers, I prefer that they not do that now. No, Pastor, but God told me to do it and you're… No, don't worry, me and God got by. Sincerely, because God has sometimes given pastors a burden to keep order. God, you think you're there because the pastor missed the mark a little or he's going to condemn you then, a disease or whatever, because he didn't... That's not the case. God is a much broader God, more logical, more… he delegates.

Now I always say, Lord, you know my heart. If it is something that I am preventing your glory from manifesting, correct me, talk to me, teach me, I am willing to do your will. And I believe that God and I are fine at the end of the day. I believe that one is always learning and growing, but I serve the Lord in that sense calmly. I do not worry. I know that God is a God who understands our weaknesses and our limitations.

Gifts are not an end in themselves but depend on the context in which they are used and the way in which they are used to express their true value. The church has to maintain a balance between the freedom in the use of the gifts and the pastoral responsibility to maintain order, avoid conflict and confusion during the service.

In particular there are 2 times when this is more careful, in times of worship and in times of ministry. These are the times of a lot of traffic and that is the moment in which there must be a lot of discipline and order and pastoral supervision and subjection of the brothers to the pastoral authority. It is important to keep in mind the order in those times and to pay attention to the public nature of what is taking place.

Sometimes you have to establish protocols that are not ideal for allowing freedom in the spirit, but that make possible the biblical order we are talking about. And there will always be a tension between absolute freedom and absolute control. Both have to be limited to a certain degree for there to be a proper balance.

I think that this has to give, for example, there are brothers who like to come by, and I love that they come forward during adoration. That's beautiful, that's cute, that's biblical, that's spiritual, it inspires me when I see brothers who come forward in ministry time and are there ready to adore, to pray. I think that dance is pretty too, it's pretty, it's beautiful but also depending on the public and attractive level of the gesture, one has to be careful.

A person stands up front here and just, Father, I'm here bringing you my load. That is the minimum level of attention that commands. Now if a person is jumping or doing other things… glory to God. Hallelujah! Holy is the Lord. It's already another level, so you have to be more careful how things are done. If you move, if you are dancing, all these things if you are here in the front in the middle, everyone sees you. I tell the brothers, look, if you want to express fusion and enthusiasm and spiritual exuberance I have no problem, veto a corner. Brothers, how many believe that God can see you under that balcony or here in front? Yes or no?

This is not to scare anyone. This is for you to just feel free. So to the extent that you're commanding the public's attention, to that extent you have to say, wow, am I being a blessing? For example, when a person looks through the internet, those people are not where we are, or when an unbeliever comes they do not have the love that we have for the church.

I love the church even when it has its follies and its things, I love it. Others don't have that affection for the church, they just see… I was watching one of those things by chance yesterday, a recording came to me on YouTube that says, “Ministers gone mad” and it's a collection of someone who I'm sure doesn't love the church, of the crazy things that Pentecostals do when they are in their service.

There was a pastor brother crawling all over the church, there was another howling like a wolf, a number of things and as I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ I see that and I feel tenderness towards my brothers. I love God's people who are willing to howl for God. We must start a howl for God, that's a good motto. I love them, but imagine one of those rabid atheists, those people who are so cynical with the Gospel, seeing these things, they laugh, they make a fool of themselves. It's like making love in front of a public camera. Love is made in privacy, you with your wife in your camera. And I believe that many times in this public environment in which one lives from the church, one does things that are intimate to the church. The church understands these things but when there is a public that sometimes does not care or know or want or love, what they see is a bunch of crazy people doing things and for me that lowers the dignity of the Gospel.

We have to be respectful of those things. When we minister to people... I like it, I love the fact that there is freedom, that brothers come and pray for others and I don't see any problem in someone approaching if God moves a person and with everything respect to stand quietly and respectfully, knowing that it is not the same as your being a pastor.

For example, I have a relationship with sisters who have known me for many years, if I approach them and put my hand on their shoulders carefully, with respect, they feel calm, but if a man they don't know comes and places his hands on them they feel uncomfortable because who is that person. He may be very calm and very innocent but you have to be careful. If a sister ministers to another sister, you have to be careful what you say to her. Sister, you cannot give birth because you sinned 10 years ago and that abortion you had now prevents you... Be careful what you say. You have to be very careful. The more risky the prophecy, the more careful you must be.

I believe that a pastor ministering or a beloved sister that you know is praying for you is not the same as a perfect stranger. So one has to be careful with liberties, laying hands... I sometimes see people that what they need is to put a spanner in it so that people fall to the ground. I do not have to prove my anointing to anyone, if they are going to fall that is God's thing. I don't have to help God.

If you don't know, don't lay hands. Be respectful. I myself reach out to people and try to say, sister, that they know my voice and that they know who it is. Sometimes they are into it and I scare them if I speak too loudly, cautiously, with a pastoral heart, knowing your limits, getting in tune with the other person to whom you are ministering and saying, who is that person? What are you feeling? You want?

There are times when what a person wants is to stand here in front and be present before their God and be calm with God, they don't want hands laid on them, they don't want to be hugged, they don't want to be kissed, they don't want to have their hair fixed. hair, just be easy with God.

Sometimes you have to give people time too. Sometimes people pass by and immediately we fall on them. No, let him… take it easy, boy. Give him a little while to be with God and then come closer. Pastoral heart. Get in tune with people's needs.

I don't think I'm saying anything unbiblical up to here, brothers. And what we are looking for is that there is room for the beautiful, harmonious, attractive, ministering manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We want a mature church, as Paul says, in the principles of the word of God, that nuances one thing with the other, that combines one theme with the other and that there can be harmony and a suitable place for the gifts to manifest themselves. That is what we want and may the Lord help us to be a church of the spirit, a church of the gifts of the spirit, but also a church of love and spiritual harmony.

I bless you in the name of the Lord. Pray with me. Father, Lord, we give thanks for your word, we give thanks for the advice of the spirit, we give thanks because you are a generous God, a good God, a God who has mercy on us and who knows our weaknesses and we ask that this church always have space for everything you want to do. We never want to limit you and we say, Father, that sometimes there will be strange things too, that you are going to do and we will not understand but if it is yours we will give you the glory and we will also submit ourselves, Lord. Deliver us from saddening your spirit, deliver us from limiting what you want to do.

Teach us the balance, Father. Guide us every day to be a church where freedom in the spirit is manifested at all times and in effective and powerful ways. May no one be harmed in any way, Lord, by this teaching that has been presented this day. Thank you for the advice of your word. I bless your people, Lord, up there, down here, their neighborhoods, their homes, their families, their marriages, their studies, their apartments where they live, their friendships, their dreams, fears, anxieties, I bless them in the name of Jesus. And I throw every spiritual blessing on your people, Lord, on this day. Receive it now in the mighty name of Jesus and return to your home, to your house with the assurance that Christ goes with you every day until the end of the world. I bless you in the name of Jesus amen, amen. God bless you, my brothers.