[Steve Myers] Welcome back, everyone. We've been studying 1 Corinthians, and we're in the middle of Chapter 12. We've been talking about spiritual gifts. And as we looked at that list as Paul began to talk about these things, basically Chapter 12, verse 7-10, he lists quite a few different gifts. We also referred to Romans 12:6 where there were other gifts that were mentioned. Some similarity there, a couple different ones that we can talk about a little bit later. He'll also reference some of these in Ephesians 4. And so we're going to get into that just a little bit as we kind of finish up Chapter 12 as well.

And so we've seen a number of gifts that I think you could say would be maybe serving gifts and then other gifts that have to do with the things that we say, maybe speaking gifts. Not sure it's clearly delineated in that regard. I mean, serving gifts, they're all supposed to be serving gifts. It is interesting to see how some are more motivational for individuals, whether it's teaching, or exhorting, and giving, and leading, and demonstrating those gifts in that regard. Other gifts seems to be more evidence of things where you've got knowledge and wisdom and healings and things like that. And so it's amazing the diversity that we find here that really covers all the needs of the church when you really get down to it. And so I think that's the important point that he begins to make here, that God's given these to each individually to serve the church as He wills. And of course, as we talk about these spiritual gifts, we know we don't deserve them. They are gifts. They are given by God as He wills.

And so as we get into the middle, of Chapter 12, if you would like to turn there, 12:12 begins to give us a metaphor of how these gifts should operate within the church, within our congregations. And Paul uses the body as an example of how these spiritual gifts should function and how they should work in the church. So he says, here's an example.

1 Corinthians 12:12 "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body. So also is Christ."

Of course, the church is the body of Christ. We are the body of Christ. There are many members, just like our classroom. We are many individuals, but we're one class. We are one class, we're the class of 2024. Wow. It's going to be here before you know it, isn't it? Same with the church. We have many individual members, but one church. One church. And so he's emphasizing that point when it comes to these gifts that he gives.

1 Corinthians 12:13 He says, "By one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

And so using this example, by God's Spirit we're one. So it's just not, oh, we're just an organization that we agree on certain principles. No, we're a spiritual organization. We are a spiritual body. We have been baptized into that body. That's how we become a part of the body of Christ is through baptism. With this covenant agreement we make with God, yeah, that's the way we become a part of it. It doesn't matter what our background is. We're all from different backgrounds, but we've been made one through baptism by being one in the Spirit. And so he talks about drink in that Spirit, which is kind of an interesting thought. Okay, we've been called, we've been baptized, now is that the end of the journey? Well, obviously not. Obviously not. We've begun. We've begun now being a part of the body of Christ. We are one of many and yet one body.

And now he says, drink, drink. And it's interesting, this word for drink can also carry a connotation of being irrigated. So it's not just, we'll take a little sip of the Spirit, right? Be watered by the Spirit. You think of the farming analogies. Yeah, you got to get enough water that the crops are going to be irrigated and they're going to grow. So there's this idea of saturating the soil. And so he uses that analogy that, okay, we are to drink in, be watered or irrigated by God's Spirit. And what does God's Spirit bring? It brings unity. Right? There's this togetherness. You can't be separate. You can't be comparing. You can't be divided. So we have a sense of unity. And he uses the body as an example. The human body, the physical body is representative of what's going on in the body of Christ. What a cool connection here.

1 Corinthians 12:14-15 He says, "For in fact, the body is not one member, but many." Yeah, we've got lots of pieces and parts. Verse 15, "If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, am I not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ears should say, because I'm not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?"

Can you see what's happening in Corinth? It certainly seems like some were saying, "Well, I'm so much better than you," and comparing themselves among themselves, thinking they were so much better than others. "Oh, well, you're just a slave. I am a Roman citizen. I've been called by God." You can imagine, you know, some of those types of conversations that could have very well taken place. And then indication is here, some people took that to heart. "Oh, well, they must be better than me." Well, I'm just a foot, so I'm not even part of the body. And so others were really feeling those things. And Paul's reminding them, no, that is not the way it is.

1 Corinthians 12:17-18 "If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members each one of them in the body just as He pleased. And if they all were one member, where would the body be?"

We wouldn't have a body, right? And so as you look at this, it takes everyone. It takes everyone. And what has God done? And I think this is a critical point. It says, "He's placed you in the body, the body of Christ as He pleases." And so if God's placed us in his body as He pleases, what's the expectation? That we're all a part of this body. We all have a function within the body. And what happens if we don't fulfill our function? Well, if you're an ear and you don't want to hear, the body is not going to hear. If you're a hand and you're not going to function as that hand, the body isn't going to be able to grasp things and do things.

And so I think this is just an amazing concept when you begin to think about it. "Each one of us are placed in the body as God pleases." And so that means we can't discount ourselves and we certainly can't discount others, that every one of us has a part to play in the body. And if you don't do your part, or if you put down others so they don't do their part, then the body of Christ won't function the way that God intended. And I think that's absolutely critical. So it takes all of us, every single one of us. And that's why he says, all right, every one, everyone, he's distributed to each one individually. And collectively, then we come together and function as the body of Christ. And it's as God-pleased. It says God pleased. It says He directed. So God's put you right where He wants you. And so our job then is to function in whatever part that is. And each one of us absolutely has a part to play. And if we don't do that part, the body of Christ just isn't going to work the way that God intended. And so he reminds us of that very fact. He says in verse 20.

1 Corinthians 12:20-22 "But now, indeed, there are many members, but one body." And so thinking of it on the physical sense, verse 21, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'" No, you need all the parts. He says, “No, much rather those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.”

Important word there, seem, seem to be weaker, seem to be not as necessary. Well, I've got to have my hand or I won't be able to do things. Yeah. Maybe a big toe isn't that important. No. He's saying, don't get the wrong perspective here. Don't get the wrong...Yeah, and sometimes because we think...on a human level, we think, oh, well, we're so much better than this other person or this gift that I've been given is so much more important than that. He says, no, that's not. It might seem that way. It might seem that they're not as strong or they're weaker and not as useful, but that's wrong thinking. That is not thinking on the God plane at all.

1 Corinthians 12:23-24 And so he says, "Those members of the body which we think to be less honorable." Oh yeah, who thinks it? People think that. Yeah, sometimes if we let our human nature get away from us, we start thinking like this. He says, no, you can't. You shouldn't. He says, "Some we bestow greater honor and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need."

That's kind of an interesting way to think about it. Okay, we all can see our heads that's on top of our clothes, hopefully on top of our bodies too, right? And we don't walk around with bags over our heads and nobody can see us, right? That would be what he's talking about, having a presentable part. Yeah, we show our hands. We show our heads. But other parts of our body we cover up. So you want to think about things not being presentable. You want to think of things being not so important. He says, well, wait a second. Those things that you think are unpresentable, yeah, he could be even implying some private parts there, he says we cover those up. We have greater modesty. We cover that up.

So in other words, we're taking special initiative and recognizing even those things that might be unpresentable get special attention. So think about that in terms of this example of the church, the body of Christ. The body of Christ. You might think someone's not necessary. I mean, do we really need, you know, the old people as part of the church? They don't do anything. All they do is you got to serve them all the time because they can't hardly do anything. Well, yeah, you may start to think in that wrong way. Wait a second, their value is, in God's eyes, absolutely amazing because they're the ones that are praying for you and for me. They're the ones that are bringing us before God. They're the ones that are supporting others and prophesying, encouraging others, right, speaking in inspired way. So he's saying, don't discount people. Don't put yourself above others. Don't think in those terms at all. And so you might think you don't need them, but they're part of the body and they are absolutely critical. And so he says that in verse 24.

1 Corinthians 12:24-25 "But God composed the body having given greater honor to that part which lacks it." God's going to take care of these things, “that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”

So what does he emphasize here? Unity. It's about unity. We have a mutual dependence on each other. And together we respond to the needs of the body and we respond to each other's needs. So what happens to one part? Does that affect all the other parts? You ever stub your toe? Right? Yeah, does that affect your whole thing? Yeah, you walk...maybe last time I did it, was walking around in the middle of the night and boom, walked into the end table. "Oh," you got to do the stub my toe dance, you know, when you're dancing around, right? Yeah, you got to do that. Yeah, it affects everything. All I can concentrate on that time is, oh, it's not that it's 3:00 in the morning and I'm tired and I gotta do this later. No, it's like, "Ah, my toe." Everything's focused right there. And so that just makes the point. Yeah, how critical is that part? Well, for a while there, it just seemed totally insignificant. I hadn't even thought about my toe until, yeah, it met the end table. Then I was in trouble, right?

So it just tells...and that's the story Paul is telling here. It's not a big toe stubbing story, but it's talking about the fact that what happens in one part affects the whole well-being of the body. It affects everything. And he's also getting to the point that, well, if you are the big toe, don't compare yourself to the eye. If you are the ear, don't compare yourself to the elbow. He says, you need all of these parts, and don't forget, why are you the big toe, or why are you the eye, or why are you the ear, or whatever it may be? Because God's put you there as He pleases, as He pleases. And so he makes that point. Yeah, if your big toe suffers.

1 Corinthians 12:26 "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it."

Yeah, that's the stubbing toe-dance. I think that comes evident there. Right? And he says, "If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." And so, Corinthians, you need to have the big picture. And we as God's people today, yes, exactly the same. We can't be envious of someone because they're successful or because, well, they got ordained and, you know, I'm the one that should have been ordained, not them. I mean, these things are out there, and those attitudes certainly can rear their ugly head. And here Paul's talking about be a unified body, be one body, even though we're all these various parts. And so when one part is hurting, it's like stubbing your toe, you're all going to suffer with that. And if someone is honored and someone is recognized, wow, everyone should be thrilled. We should all rejoice over that. And so he brings home this metaphor, I'm not talking about a physical body. That's not the point.

1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ and members individually."

So we are all these separate individuals, but we come together unified in the body of Christ. So it's such an important metaphor when you think about it. It's not, well, we're like the body of Christ. The church is, no, we are the body of Christ. And so in that regard, we are one, even though individual members. And so these are the way...we're placed the way that God wants it. And so he emphasizes that point as he gets into verse 28.

1 Corinthians 12:28 He says, "And God has appointed these in the church."

Well, God has done this. Like it said before, "These were placed as God pleases." And I think that becomes critical as well. You think of being God appointed. That word can mean to be set aside by God. That can mean to be placed or even established by God. Yeah, He's given these gifts. He's established these things. He's given them and placed us in the body as He pleases. And now he says He's appointed these in the church.

And I think what we have to keep in mind as we look at these different things that he mentions now, he mentions apostles, prophets, teachers. He says “Miracles, gifts of healing, helps, administrations, variety of tongues.” So he mentions a number of things. And as we begin to think about these things that God has set aside and established...well, what chapter was this? What was the theme? Spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts. So as we get to this section of Scripture, has he suddenly changed and now going to refer to ranks of authority within the church? I don't think so. I don't think so. He's been talking about spiritual gifts. He's been talking about how we are one body. And yes, these gifts are different than the ones that he was talking about earlier, which is just an interesting thought overall. The gifts that he had talked about, they're not given to individuals as an individual gift, like an individual gift of, let's say, teaching or wisdom or faith. These gifts that he's going to talk about are given to the church. Individuals receive gifts that we just got done talking about last time to serve the church, but these are given to the collective body of the church.

Let's see if we can see that little bit of a nuance of a difference here. In verse 28, he talks about this very fact that He gives these various gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:28 And he says, "He's appointed these in the church. First," he says, "apostles." First, apostles. So is he saying the highest authority in the church is an apostle? All right, let's think about that. Is that really the point that he's making or is there something a little bit more to it? Now, of course, as he begins here, he says there's apostolos. There's those that are apostles. He says, "First, apostles." Now we've talked about the definition of an apostle. I mean literally it's one sent or one sent forth. But we know that's just indicating an aspect of what an apostolos is. It certainly is one that's sent by God who has authority, who has a message, who is representing the way of God as well. All of those things come into play as we recognize that very thing.

Paul mirrors this a little bit over in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 2:20 talks about the church built on the foundation of the apostles. The apostles and the prophets is what he mentions there. And, okay, what's interesting here, yeah, he uses this word certainly to point back to the 12 who were with Christ, they were apostles. We know others in Scripture are accounted as apostles. Can you think of any of those other than the 12, the original 12? Well, we have Paul certainly mentioned as an apostle. Barnabas is mentioned as an apostle. Anybody else come to mind? Not Stephen, but, I'm sorry, James? You said James? I'm not sure you did, but that's right. James, the half-brother of Christ, is referred to as an apostle. So there are a number other than the 12 that, I suppose you could say, joined the other apostles and had an impact in the church, a huge impact in the church.

And so when you begin to think about this idea of, "First, apostles," okay, what took place as the New Testament Church began? What's interesting, Acts 6, the apostles appointed deacons and deaconesses so that they could do the physical side of the serving of the church so the apostles could dedicate themselves to preaching and teaching and upholding the truth and the church itself. And so what's interesting is when you think about this idea of, "First, apostles," is that a rank in the ministry or is this something a little bit differently? Oftentimes we think of it as authority or rank, and we're not saying there's no authority here at all, but another way to view this is that this is talking about a time sequence. And so if you were going to tell a story about what happened, how would you tell that story?

You'd probably say, well, first, this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened next. And then third, this would happen. And so you'd go right down the line telling the story in sequence. And so it seems that's what Paul is doing here, using a time sequence, saying first there was a need for apostles. And God granted these gifts in order to serve the church. And what did the church need initially? Well, we needed apostles. Their gift was absolutely essential in order to establish the foundation of the church. That's what Ephesians 2 says. You want to establish a foundation, we've got to send people forth with God's authority and His message so that He'll begin to call people. So to establish the foundation of the church, apostles were certainly necessary. Next, what happens?

He says, "Second, prophets." Well, what did the church need? Well, initially we needed apostles, but second, prophets. We talked about this connection to prophesy and prophesying, speaking in inspired ways. Inspired ways certainly reflect on this idea of the gift that was given to prophesy. So there was the need of prophets so that those who were being called could be instructed and could learn the truth. And so that seems to flow with that idea of a time sequence in order of what was needed for the church. Because as the church began, you've got to have the prophets and the apostles, or the apostles and the prophets in that order, so that the people could hear the Word of God and be inspired and directed and then respond to that calling.

And of course, as that took place, what is the next that's mentioned in this, what seems to be a time sequence here? He says, "First, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers." Teachers. So the gift of teachers, to instruct those who have been called to God's way of life and to His plan of salvation. And so it is an interesting thing that those Greek words for first and second and third, they're almost always in Scripture listed sequentially, listed in order as, you know, what happened first, second, third, rather than referring to something that's kind of a hierarchical ranking. Doesn't seem to be that. I mean, you'd automatically run into a little bit of a conundrum, a little bit of a problem if you strictly tried to take it as some kind of a ranking or a level of importance, because why would the ability to prophesy or or speak with inspiration play someone over that has a gift of teaching? Why would that be? How would you define that and determine that? That seems like that would be pretty difficult overall.

It's also kind of interesting, I'm not a Greek scholar or anything like that, but you can look up in word dictionaries some interesting things when it looks at the way the Greek is used here. These words, first, second, third, they're all adverbs. And so they're describing an action. For all you English majors out there, adverbs do that sort of thing. They're describing what action? The action of how God appointed these things or how God set these gifts in the church. I think if it was describing ranks, it would have been a different use of the language. It would have used adjectives to describe apostles, and prophets, and teachers, right? Adjectives describe nouns. So English lesson for the day or Greek lesson for the day in that regard. So what I'm trying to get at is that supports this idea that these are more of a sequence of terms that are used that really talk about functions. They're talking about functions. They're talking about that aspect rather than just a position or an authoritative kind of a rank in that regard. And what they actually do is absolutely critical. It is vital to the well-being of the church. So we're not discounting that. We're not saying there isn't any authority. Absolutely, there is authority in the Church of God. No doubt about it. The point is it's just not really talking about that authority here.

Remember our theme of this chapter, and as it even gets into 13 and 14 chapters, it's talking about spiritual gifts. And so when we talk about this idea of first, apostles, and then second, prophets. So we have this prophesy word once again, prophetia, the base word, the noun, speaking inspired things, speaking forth God's word, His wisdom, His counsel, all of that sort of thing. Certainly, once again, not talking about just foretelling the future, but like we read in Chapter 14 last time, 14:3, talked about those who prophesy, speak edification and exhortation and comfort to men. And so certainly that's part of what was necessary as inspired speakers, you know, shining forth that need within the church.

Now, as we go back to verse 28 again, he then says, "Third, there are teachers." So teachers. And it's kind of interesting the way that connects as well. If you hold your place here for a minute, we could go over to that other section of scripture that does talk about spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4. So if you want to look at Ephesians 4 and...let's figure out where we want to read from. In Ephesians 4, interesting, he uses the body analogy here in verse 4.

Ephesians 4:4 "There's one body, one Spirit," and he recognizes that. Then all the way down in verse 11.

Ephesians 4:11 "He Himself gave some."

So giving ties in with our charisma, our gift given. These are things that are given. We have apostles, some prophets, evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Pastors and teachers. Interesting that here in Ephesians 4, it just doesn't stop with teachers. He says pastors and teachers. Pastors and teachers. And what it seems to be indicating here, it's not really one or the other, but it's both. That there's teaching pastors. Pastors who are teachers. And so this teaching gift here in Ephesians is linked to pastors.

The teacher word or the teaching word here is didasko. Didasko, teachers, an instructor. An instructor would be one who is a didaskalos. A didaskalos is the teacher or the master or the instructor. And they didasko, they teach. They teach or they instruct. And so interesting when you put that together with what we've been reading in 1 Corinthians 12, this spiritual gift of teachers speaks to the idea that you can clearly communicate the truth of God. You can understand God's Word, you understand the Bible, and you can convey it to others. You can help them to deal with life situations. So if we head back to 1 Corinthians 12, we see that this idea of third, you know, after apostles, that there was certainly a need for prophesy, for inspired speaking.

Next, third, those that can continue to teach, those that can clearly communicate the truth of God. And so study and discipline and help in that way. Well, what did he tell Timothy? He told Timothy that a good teacher should be able to reprove and instruct and correct and train in righteousness. Remember where that particular passage is? Probably one of your memory verses that if you haven't had it yet, I'm sure that you will.

2 Timothy 3:16 gives that instruction, "Preach the word and be ready to do that, to reprove, instruct, correct, and train in righteousness."

You have all of those things. And that's what a teacher does. That's what a teacher does. And so when we recognize that, this is a powerful gift.

And it can be utilized in a number of different ways. It's not just a teaching pastor. It can be, and pastors should be teachers, no doubt about that. When you look through the instructions in Titus and Timothy, that connects to those who would be elders. But others also are given that gift of teaching, those that aren't necessarily ordained. And perhaps you can think of some examples of those. How about those that instruct our Sabbath school? Are they teachers? Well, sure, they may be have been given that gift. Those who, you know, help with teen Bible studies, those who help and guide others, those that may be a choir director leading the children's choir, all of those kinds of things could be falling under that application of being a teacher in that way.

So as he's listing these things, next, verse 28, he says, "After that, miracles." Miracles. We've talked about miracles before. That's the dunamis word, that working of miracles. Was that a need in the church? Yeah, absolutely. It certainly was. Then he goes on and he mentions the word helps. Helps. A little bit different gift than some of the others that were mentioned earlier. Interesting that this word has to do with being paid back or the idea of remuneration, that you're paid back or you're compensated in a sense. So you're receiving a remuneration. You're receiving a payback in that sense. Literally, that word for helps means that. But in the Greek, the way they use that word would mean to help or to render assistance, to render assistance, to help out when needed. So that word came to mean that aspect. And so here in 1 Corinthians 12:28, it's used as a noun that you are a helper. You're the one who comes to others aid and assists them. And you do it in a way that is especially inspired. And so he ties that in with these spiritual gifts as well.

Also interesting, we see the needs of the church. He talks about next, he says, "Administrations." Administrations. That's an interesting word. Sometimes the Bible translates that as governments. Governments. Interesting. You look that up in the King James Version, it says governments, governments here, administrations in the the New King James. And there's an interesting connotation here. You know where that word came from? It came from the navy, from use in the shipping industry. The Greeks would use this particular word to pilot. You would administer a ship, meaning you would steer it or you would pilot that particular ship. And so it has to do with that idea of you're going to guide this ship. And so when you are administering, you're guiding the ship. Now, of course, it's not a ship in this case. In this case, it's the church. And so does the church need piloting, direction, government? Well, yeah, absolutely.

So metaphorically, a government in the church, yeah, there's authority in the church, but who's providing organization? Who's providing direction? How are we going to implement what God has given us to do? How are we going to accomplish that? Well, today we've got an operations plan and we've got a strategic plan, and we're going to look at Scripture and recognize God expects us to accomplish these things in the church. All right, this needs to be done. Well, who writes up that stuff? Who figures that out? Who puts it in an organizational way that we can all understand and we can agree on? And then who's going to do it? What operation is going to make those things happen? Yeah, I think there are definitely individuals who have this gift of administration and are good at initiating and guiding and implementing, in a sense, like the navy would plot their course. This is where we're going. Let's follow the stars. And this is where the ship is heading. Yeah, we have that gift in the church.

And I think these administrators certainly spell out what Corinth needed to do. Corinth was instructed to do all things decently and in order, right? Do it decently and in order. And an administrator, one that would have this gift, would certainly have that responsibility to serve the church in that way. And of course, as you look at these different terms, well, not all pastors are good administrators. Some of us are terrible. Some of us are, okay, we have a gift of organization, but others of us just don't. And so you can see these differences within these various gifts that certainly become more evident. And so administrations.

And then if we head back to verse 28, we see once again the gift, the varieties of tongues, the varieties of tongues. And so once again, we see that gift of various glossa, various languages. And so what an amazing chapter that describes all of these wonderful things God's given. And then to really drive the point home, what does he say as he kind of goes through these various gifts that are given? He says, "Are all apostles?" Wow, sounds like his body analogy he just finished with. "Are all prophets?" And what's the answer? No, no, not all people are apostles. Are all people? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? Of course not. Do all have gifts of healings? No. Do all speak with tongues? No. Does everyone interpret? Nope. That's the point. Everyone doesn't have every gift. But together, together, it makes the difference.

1 Corinthians 12:31 He says, "Earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way."

And so here we we have an interesting point that he comes to here. First of all, he says it's not bad to want a spiritual gift. Yeah, absolutely. Desire the best gifts. What are the best gifts? Well, it's interesting. He doesn't say desire the best spiritual gifts because all of these gifts are awesome. They're amazing. They're miraculous. They're God-given in that sense. But the difference between just one, oh boy, it'd be nice to have a new Ferrari. Wouldn't that be awesome? I'd love to have that be given to me. Was that the best gift? No, to serve the church, you know, I probably couldn't even pick up a widow in the Ferrari. Couldn't get in the door. That wouldn't help at all. Here's the point. Together to serve the church. Desire the best spiritual gifts.

So would it be acceptable to pray to God and ask him to give you a gift? Yeah, he says, not only just desire it, not only just want it, but really want it, earnestly desire. And of course, we know God's the one that gives the gifts. And so we petition God, we go before God, we ask him. And maybe part of that prayer that we should make in desiring the best gifts, you may already have that gift. God may have given you that gift already, but you haven't recognized it. And so we can pray and ask God, make it evident in my life. Open my mind to understand and see what gift have you given me and help me to put that gift to practice. Because really, that's the most important thing.

As Paul kind of finishes up this particular thought, he really gets down to an important point. Here's the real gist of the matter. Having a gift is not as important as using a gift. And that's absolutely critical. Having some spiritual gift, okay, it's good to have it. But if you don't use it, what's the point? That's no good. And so he makes that critical point. It's more important to use that gift than just to have it. And so we can pray and we can ask God to make it obvious, what gift have you given me? You say you've given me a gift. And so in a sense, we can come before God and say, hey, you say right here you gave me a gift. Help me to see it. Help me to understand it. Help me to recognize it. And help me to put it into practice because I want to serve you. I want to serve your people. I want to be a part of the body that is vital and accomplishing the purpose that you gave me as a part of the body of Christ.

And so as he finishes Chapter 12 here, of course, he didn't he didn't write it with chapter markers or anything like that, he concludes this thought by saying, "Let me show you an even more excellent way." Boy, if we desire desire the best gifts, yeah, that means, what's excellent? And it brings to mind a thought that sometimes you'll see it as a meme out there on the internet, and I think it really speaks truth. It's said in various ways, but really when you get down to it, I think it's powerful. And it goes something like this. if better is possible, is good good enough? You know, better is possible, is good, good enough? I mean, spiritually speaking, no. No, better is possible. And so I think that's what Paul's driving at here. You earnestly desire the best gifts. Let me show you what's possible. Let me show you what's better than just okay, better than just, oh, it's good to have a gift, but it's even better to put that gift to use. And the best gift is the most excellent way. And that's where Paul's going next. He's going to talk about the excellent way. And that excellent way is God's way, the way of love, the way of godly love. And so we'll get to talk about that more excellent way next time.