Shallery together this evening, First Corinthians chapter twelve. First Epistle of the Corinthians chapter twelve. And we'll read from the beginning. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus anathema, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of administration, but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues. to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one of the very same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and as many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is the Christ. For by one spirit we all baptize into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member but many. If the food shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, Is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it has pleased him. And if there were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head of the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more of those members of the body which seem to be more feeble or necessary. and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncumly parts have more abundant calmliness. For our calmly parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there should be no scism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another." and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are body of Christ, and members in particular, and God hath set some in the church. First apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Of all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interprets? And the answer to each one, of course, is no. But covet earnestly the best gifts. And yet show I unto you a more excellent way. And that more excellent way is chapter thirteen, where we get that beautiful, beautiful exposition of what love really is. Love is the more excellent way. Now tonight we have come again to a difficult chapter. And again to some portions of the Word of God that it gives one a good deal of burden and exercise to speak about. Some things in this epistle that we have been looking at, we can't help but feel that it is very, very difficult and delicate to speak about it in any way at all. But I think if it's done graciously, not hitting art at anybody at all or saying anything unkind, I think we can learn something from the teaching of this tremendous epistle. I don't need to tell you that one of the most, one movement that's spreading rapidly all over the world is what is called the Charismatic Movement. I believe that in that movement there are many, many dear saints of God. I believe many, many born-again people, many who are utterly sincere in every way, and I believe that one day they're going to be in heaven. And these ideas that some of them have that spreading around like a bushfire right around the world in practically every continent, I believe that we should examine the Word of God and test these things by what we find in the Word of God. And so tonight I want to look at this, chapter twelve, and then Lord's willing tomorrow morning at chapter thirteen, this great chapter concerning love. And then chapter fourteen, where we find the regulation of spiritual gift. Now I've often thought that the three chapters could be compared to that advice that the apostle gave to Timothy, that young man. He said, God hath not given to us the spirit of fear. but of power. and of love and of a sound mind. And over these three chapters, the first one you could put the word power. Over the second one, you could put the word love. And the third one, you could put over a sound mind. I think about eight or nine times in chapter fourteen, we get the term understanding, understanding, understanding. We must not divorce our mind, our understanding from our tongue. And I believe that that is what we find in the regulation of gift that we find in chapter fourteen. Now, looking at the chapter itself, I don't need to tell you that there were some things in the church at Corinth that were being abused. And as we mentioned at the commencement of these meetings, practically everything that we find in the epistle is correction. There were abuses in practically every problem that's brought up in the epistle. And we find some lovely teaching here that those abuses are the can be corrected. And certainly we find the same thing in connection with spiritual gift. I think it's a delightful subject. And, beloved brethren and sisters, here tonight, if there's one subject that we love to speak about is the fact that the head of the church, the risen Christ, has given gifts unto man. We thank God for that. We have had some among us in years gone by on their very memory that brings delight to my heart. I thank God for a man like Alph Gibbs. He has preached on this platform and it all over the country. I believe he was a five-talent man, a man that was highly gifted by God. The Holy Spirit spoke through that dear brother and did a wonderful work through him. And this whole subject of spiritual gift, I think we need to sit down and study it in relation to our lives at the present time. Now there are four great passages that speak of spiritual gift. One is Romans chapter twelve. And if we were to turn over there, we would find that Spirit is gift there comes from God the Father. The second one is First Corinthians chapter twelve, and you find this is the Holy Spirit of God. It's prominent here. The third one is Ephesians chapter four, and there we find that it is the risen Christ, the ascended head that gives gifts unto man. And then if we're to turn over to the first epistle of Peter, chapter four, we find there again a list of gifts that has been given by God himself. The triune God is giving gifts among men today. I think we have to recognize the fact that there's a difference between natural gift and spiritual gift. There are some of our dear brethren and sisters are gifted right from the very moment they're born. It's something that has come with them from their heritage and their family. Many a time I've tried to do some things and I had to give it up. For instance, playing a piano. And I must confess I'm no judge at all of music. I know good music when I hear it. I can appreciate it. And I know the other kind as well. Having spent the most of my life in the middle of an African jungle, I tell you, I can understand the difference between the real thing. That heavenly music, that uplifting music, I believe that comes from God Himself and that we're going to enjoy on a coming day. and then the other kind I believe that is satanic. It comes from the African jungle and it's always mixed with something that is absolutely vile on the basin. So while we may not have a gift along that line, we're able to discern that gift in others. But natural gift is something that God has given to certain individuals naturally in their birth. But spiritual gift is something entirely different. It's a gift from God that's given a conversion. And there are certain things connected with it that I want to mention as we go along. First of all, we should discover it. First of all, I think we should desire a gift. Every single member of the body of Christ has a gift that has been conferred by the risen Christ. Have you found out what it is? Do you desire it? First of all, to desire the gift, and then to discover what it is, and then to develop it, and by all means from day to day, to develop whatever gift God has given to us. So let's make the distinction, first of all, between natural gift that's given to us at our birth, but then spiritual gift that's given to us at our spiritual birth. given to us by the risen Christ himself. So here are four great passages that deal with it on this one that we want to look at tonight. It is the Holy Spirit of God that is prominent in it. Now, looking at the beginning, I want you to notice that there's a beacon light. As a matter of fact, there's a red light right here at the very commencement of the chapter. Notice what it says. Now concerning spiritual gift, brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant. You know that your Gentiles carried away onto these dumb idols, even as ye were laid. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, call of Jesus a cursive or anathema. And that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. Now here Paul is pointing back to that old life before they became a Christian on the pagan worship in which they were involved in that pagan temple outside the city of Corinth. I believe there were gifts that were being manifested there, but they were influenced by demons. And I believe that that's what he's pointing back to. Their own life, those dumb idols, they were carried away by them. And it's just possible that they were influenced by what they had learned in their ungodly life. I would just like to say this. As far as tongues are concerned, and this was something that was very evident, I believe one of the abuses at Corinth, it was being manifested in that pagan temple. And the origin of it was satanic. You know at the present time in the pagan world, it's possible for people to speak in tongues onto the power of the demon. I have seen that. Many years ago, I was sitting in a little village in the basin of the Congo River, right away up in the north of Angola, a place where the gospel never had penetrated. And I was preaching from John three, sixteen in the Chokwe language. I want to repeat John three, sixteen and chop way to see how it's loud. If I was preaching there, if I was preaching up there tonight, this is the way it goes. And I had a number of people gathered around in a little hut in the center of the village, the children sitting around their feet, a fire burning in the middle of the floor, an old man, the men on the other side, and the women on the other side, the men and the women, they never sit together. But I was preaching anyway in John three, sixteen, and trying as best I could to make the Gospel a simple and plain in the language of the people there. There was an old man sitting on the other side of the fire. He was a witch doctor. And while I was speaking, I could see that he wasn't taking in what was being said. Gradually his eyes became glazed. And after a little while, perspiration came out on his forehead and ran down his face. And then his lower jaw dropped down and he started to speak. Now he wasn't speaking from his vocal cords. It seemed to be coming from the pit of his stomach. And when he started to speak, he wasn't speaking in Chokwe. That was the language that the people there spoke. But he was speaking in a language that was not the language of that part of the country. The whole air seemed absolutely charged with evil influence. It would make you shiver. I just, it made a shiver as we sat and listened to it. I listened to him for a little while and finally when I could stand it no longer, I put out my hand and I touched him and I said, friend, what are you saying? Now I have never felt myself competent to cast out a demon. I have been in the presence of demon-possessed men. I have never felt myself competent to cast the demon out. Possibly I should have, but I didn't feel competent. But what we did do is sit down and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and always mention the power of the precious blood. And not always, always, a hundred percent of time, it has always been effective. But in any case, I touched a man and spoke to him and I said, my dear friend, I said, what are you saying? After a little while, he came back to his senses. Well, he said, at the most unexpected times, he said, my familiar spirit, it comes and takes possession of me, and it speaks a language that I don't know. Now, it wasn't gibberish. You could tell that it was a properly formulated language. I turned around to the man there, sitting in that little hut, and said, do you understand what he's saying? All of a sudden, it's a Bantu language, all right, but it's not the language in this area at all. Now, there was a man speaking in tongues. under the power of a demon. Now you find that in animism in Central Africa among people there that are completely pagan that know nothing whatever about the Word of God. If you went up to the Sudan or up to the Chad where you find Islam is predominant, you'll find people up there speaking under the power of a demon and they're speaking real languages and they're demon-possessed. Now, not only that, but I understand among the Mormons, the speaking in tongues. Uncertainly, it's not speaking for the power of the Spirit of God. It's something that is satanic. Now, that is something I believe that the Apostle is referring to here. He's pointing them back to their own life. That is, before they became Christians at all, in that pagan temple up there, carried away by dumb idols. And then he gives a test. He said, no man speaking by the Spirit of God would say that Jesus is anathema. Jesus is a curse. And no man can say that Jesus is the Lord except by the Holy Spirit. You know, anytime I ever hear any man speaking, ministering the gospel or preaching, ministering to the saints, I always listen very, very carefully to the way that he mentions the name. Oh, if it's the Lord, if it's the Lord, he's speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. But if he deliberately leaves out the title, the Lord. If he deliberately leaves it out for something seriously wrong, if he does that. Again, I was in Ethiopia a few years ago and there was a young man commended from England and he had been involved in the charismatic movement in England before he came out to the field. And he was practicing that kind of thing there in Ethiopia. The other brethren that were there at the time were a little bit perturbed about it because it was going to result in division. in the work in that time. And we had a prayer meeting about it. We all go down on our knees. All the workers that were there at the time, we sat around in a circle and we prayed. When it came to this young man praying, I listened carefully. Never once in his prayer did he use the term, Lord. It was always Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, dear Jesus, precious Jesus, loving Jesus. And terms of that kind. But never once does he use the term Lord. After the meeting was over, we got up onto our feet and I turned around to him and I said, My dear brother, I noticed something about your prayer that disturbed me. I said, You never mentioned the name of the Lord. Oh, he said, I didn't notice it myself. Now let me say that we love that name, Jesus. Jesus, the very thought of thee with sweetness, fills my breast. What sweeter far of thy fantasy, and in thy presence rest. We love that name. It's the name of the Savior. But always, always remember that in glory today the Lord is glorified. And Simon Peter in this Pentecostal address, he said this, that same Jesus who you crucified hath been made both Lord and Christ. And I believe that that is a test that we get right at the very commencement of this chapter. Pointing back to their old ungodly life in the pagan temple, it's a red light, and I believe it gives a test of all true ministry or the exposition of the Word of God on the display of any spiritual gift. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Now coming down to the next little paragraph in the chapter, here we get the source. First of all, get the sign. of all speaking, spiritual gift, speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit, is how we use the term, the Lord, Jesus Christ. And then we get the threefold mention here of the exercise of spiritual gift. And notice the three members of the Godhead are mentioned. There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit. There are differences of administrations but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations but it is the same God who worketh all and all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit. Notice the three members of the Godhead, the source of all spiritual gifts. Thank God for the Holy Spirit conferring gifts upon man. Thank God for the risen Christ. Again, conferring spiritual gifts upon man. And thank God for God the Father in Romans chapter twelve. He is the origin, the source of spiritual gift. So going a little further down, we get a list of nine gifts that are given here. Under one is given by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another various kind of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these work at the oneness and the self-same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Now there are nine gifts that are mentioned here. And if we run down to the end of the chapter, again there are nine gifts are mentioned. Now if we were to take these two lists at the beginning of the chapter and at the end of the chapter, you'll find that there are eighteen of them. Now, when we do away with duplication, because there is duplication here, and referring to the other list of gifts in other parts of the New Testament, these chapters that we have mentioned, there's approximately eighteen or nineteen gifts that are listed in the New Testament. And it would be interesting to go down the list and speak a little bit about them. Now, that would be almost an impossible task here tonight. Let me say, as far as I'm concerned, I believe that these gifts are divided into three categories. First of all, this apostolic gift right at the very commencement of the church. We read about apostles and prophets. They were in the foundation, the Apostle and the Prophet. I would like to ask you, do we have in the primary sense, do we have Apostles and Prophets among us today? I don't think we have. The Apostle was a man who had seen the Lord and had been commissioned by him. All the Apostles have passed away. And in the primary sense, we don't have prophets among us today. I believe that when the canon of Holy Scripture was completed, this great gift of prophecy, I believe, it ceased at that time. I know there's a secondary sense in which we get prophetic ministry. Prophetic ministry, I believe, is speaking to the hearts and consciences of men and women, and it's a message from God that comes from him. But in the primary sense, The Apostle and the Prophets, they have passed away. They were in the foundation. Now there are four gifts here that I believe are temporary. The first one is miracles. And the next one is healing. And the next one is tongues. And the fourth one is the interpretation of tongues. I believe these were temporary gifts that were given to authenticate the message at the commencement of the dispensation. You know, when we look at the overall picture in the Word of God, you'll find that at critical periods in human history, God has wrought in a supernatural way to authenticate the work that he was doing. Not just to illustrate. You remember Moses, the man that was called by God to be the leader among the people of God, when he was called. and went to meet Pharaoh, God authenticated his message by working miracles. It will be interesting to turn over to the passage and find that that was so. So to speak, it was the introduction of the period of law. And it was authenticated and corroborated by divine work at that time, supernatural things that took place at that time. But after a period of time, when that period had been brought in and established, they were withdrawn. Now the second period was in connection with the Prophet. You remember Elijah and Elisha. When we read First and Second Kings, we find that the work that they were doing was authenticated by supernatural gift. And when that work had been thoroughly established, then for a long, long period of time, it was withdrawn. And then our Blessed Lord, in His ministry down here, we read about thirty-five miracles that He performed. What was the reason for that? It was to authenticate that he was the Son of God. As a matter of fact, the gospel according to John tells us that, that the signs that were given at that time was to show that he was the Son of God, sent by God. And then at Pentecost, it was continued when the Holy Ghost came down and formed the church. And in those early days, of the commencement of the dispensation commencing with the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus on the establishment of the church Throughout the Roman Empire, these great Pentecostal supernatural gifts were granted. But I believe when that was authenticated, after a period of time they were gradually withdrawn. You take miracles today. Now, I believe there's such a thing as a miracle. Don't misunderstand me. But you know, when the Lord was here on earth, he was able to raise the dead. Three occasions he did. Is there anybody today in the world is able to walk into a funeral parlor when there's a casket lying there in a person in that casket and has the authority of the day to raise the dead? I don't think there is. Is there anybody today that's able to walk on the water as our Lord did? Is there anybody today that's able to turn water into wine? Is there anybody able to feed five thousand people with five loaves and two small fishes? If they want to authenticate what they're doing, a supernatural, let them try. It has passed away. Miracles. And then healing. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I believe there's such a thing as divine healing. In my own life on a number of occasions, when we're absolutely up against the stone wall, no medical help of any kind, we were completely cast upon God. And through prayer, on lifting our hearts to God, and by simple faith, committing ourselves to Him, the Lord graciously heard our prayer. We do believe in divine healing, but we don't believe in professional faith healing. And the kind of thing that professes to be apostolic today, there's an awful lot of spurious work among it. We have had a little bit of experience in this. I'm not going to go into detail about it. But as far as these two gifts are concerned, miracles and healing. By and large, they've passed away. Thank God for the medical fraternity that we have today. I thank God for doctors and nurses and people who are able to take care of us in our sickness. I thank God from the depths of my heart for it. I owe my life to them. I thank God for a good man in the medical profession and in other professions too. I actually owe my life to them and I thank God for it. Divine healing, yes. professional faith healing, no. It has passed away. And then tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. You know, wherever we find tongues in Holy Scripture, there are two things that I want to mention connected with it. First of all, it was a real language that was spoken. As a matter of fact, if you look at the three occasions and the Acts of the Apostles, you'll find there that it was the dialect. It was the language that was spoken and it had the object of explaining and preaching the work of God to those that were present that had a different language. At Pentecost, there were sixteen different language groups, but every man heard in his own dialect the wonderful works of God. And every time we get the word tongue, Glossa. Every time we get it in Holy Scripture, it means a language, a language that people can understand. And it was a divine work. It was something that was genuine at Pentecost. Every man heard in his own language the wonderful work of God. And I believe in the first epistle of the Corinthians, it was being abused. Here we find at someone going into their own room and instead of communicating anything, talking in gibberish in their own room. Do you mean to tell me that that is the apostolic gift? I don't think it is. Wherever we find the word, glassa, tongue. It is always a real language. And it has the purpose, first of all, of communicate the mind of God to people in their own language what God has been doing. And then secondly, the second thing about it is it was a sign to unbelieving Israel. If we turn over to the book of Isaiah chapter twenty-eight, we find there the promise. And then the Lord, he spoke to the nation. And he said that if they wouldn't listen, in their own tongue to the word of God, that there would be an outbreak of tongues and they would have to listen to it in another tongue. It was a sign to unbelieving Israel and that was the purpose that it had at that time. Then again, in first Corinthians thirteen, read, As for tongues, they shall cease. One could go on and on and talk about this. We have had to spend our life in language work. I was over in Africa two years ago, and I was speaking in four different languages, in four different assemblies, there in the Wanda. You know, it has meant a long lifetime of hard work. I do wish I had the gift of tongues. But you know, it means in learning a language, you have to sit down and study, study, study, sometimes ten hours a day with your grammar and your vocabulary and your lexicon or what have you, and then it takes a long time to be able to communicate to people in their own language. We had meetings in Portuguese, in Ubundo, in Chokwe, and in Songo, four different languages. four different assemblies. And it has meant a long lifetime of careful study to be able to communicate with people in their own tongue. You know, anybody that's able to come up with the gift of tongues and is able to go into an environment of that kind and without putting in a lifetime of study and doing it, well, I envy them. But it's just simply not possible. When a dear young couple came to Angola, a good many years ago, they came from Tennessee, And that dear fellow, he came from a group that believed in tongues and also believed in healing. That is faith healing. He was there for six months. And at the end of that time, he came down with malaria. We tried to do everything with him to try to take the prophylactic that we took every day, just a tablet of quinine. He wouldn't take it. And after a little while, he went into a coma. And when he was in the comma, we sent for the doctor. And the doctor took a long journey. And just as he entered the room and walked up to the bed, he was just in time to see that dear fellow pass into the presence of the Lord. The doctor stood at the head of the bed with tears running down his face. And he said, there's a young life thrown away by nothing but sheer stupidity. You know, God has given us means today. That young fellow, twenty-six years of age, he's buried in a place that I know very well. And it was heartbreaking to see it. His wife was left, a young widow. and she remained in the country for eighteen years under oath of professed to be able to speak in tongues. At the end of eighteen years, that dear girl wasn't able to communicate in a comparatively simple African language, communicate the gospel to the women. Do you understand that? Speaking in tongues? are not able to learn a language and to communicate the word of God to the women and the children that were there at that time. Now this is the practical side of it. And I believe that what people say today is the gift of tongue, I believe it's just an imitation of the real thing. It could be psychological. but it's generally just baby talk gibberish with neither talk nor tale to it. But the gifts of tongues in the Bible were real languages every time, and it had the purpose behind it of communicating a message from God to the people that were listening to it. So this was temporary. These gifts were temporary gifts that were given, and then, when they fulfilled their purpose, they were removed. As for tongues, they shall cease. And by the way, the grammatical construction there is, it shall cease off itself. It just simply died out when its purpose had been fulfilled. It doesn't give me any pleasure at all to speak along these lines. But this is something that we find everywhere today in this beloved land. We're not saying anything unkind about anyone. God knows. But I believe we need to get down to facts on what is happening today. We believe there's a spurious thing. And there's a real danger of anyone to say that they have this gift, leaving their mind a blank. And if they do, their mind divorced from their tongue for something to come along and take possession of their tongue and say something that they shouldn't say. I believe that is a real, real danger. In another area, we were talking about this thing, and I happen to mention the fact that a better gift of the gift of tongues is the gift of being able to hold your tongue. And I believe that that is a very, very important gift at the present time. Now, right in the center of this lovely chapter, there are some most important, most important things. First of all, the baptism of the Spirit and how the body is formed. Read here in verse thirteen, for by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. That is one of the most important passages in the whole of the Word of God concerning the problem at the present time. For by one Spirit were you all inclusive, Were you all baptized into one body? And by the way, a person who's not in the body is not a Christian at all. It's not a subsequent experience to conversion. It happened simultaneously with conversion. First of all, ideally, it took place at Pentecost. When the Holy Ghost came down, it was historic. It was inclusive. And not only that, but it was final. In God's estimation, the body was formed when the Holy Ghost came down. Instead of the baptism of the Holy Spirit today, there's the filling of the Spirit. Ideally, authentic God. But practically, when we trust Christ's salvation, we're put into the body. merged into the body, put into the body, linked to the risen head, and is done by the Holy Spirit of God. For by one Spirit will we all baptize into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. And then there's the illustration here. Again, our time is just about finished. I'd love to have taken some time to speak about the illustration of the members of the body. The foot and the hand, the ear and the eye. And the whole idea here is there must be no jealousy among the members of the body. The foot and the hand, these two members of the body, As far as the anatomy is concerned, exactly the same. The hand and the foot. Every time we look at her hand as a very prominent member, you think of the pianist, you think of the lady at the time, sitting there at a hundred and twenty words a minute without looking at the Without looking at the different letters, I'm always amazed at that. You think of the hand of a surgeon. You think of the hand of the artist. Oh, Brother Hand is a very important member. But Brother Foot's, he's covered with a sock and a shoe and nobody sees him. And he says, Brother Foot, because I'm not Brother Hand, I don't belong to the body. Is he not of the body? Of course he is. And then the eye and the ear. Brother ear, he sticks away around at the side of your head. And there's nothing very, very beautiful about him. But Brother eye, he's one of the most important and beautiful members of the body. All the personality of a person is concentrated in the eyes. Did you ever see a person who was blinded? It just seems that when a person is blinded, all the personality goes out of the face. But Brother I and Brother Ear, a conversation there. Brother Ear, he says, because I'm not Brother I, I don't belong to the body at all. Does he not belong to the body? Of course he does. What does it mean? There must be no jealousy. You know, there's some highly gifted servants of God. just like Brother Han, and we thank God for them. But there are others that are rather obscure. You don't often see them on the platform, but I tell you, they're the ballast among the people of God. We thank God for them. So the different members of the body here and the functions that they perform, there's some very amusing things here, and at the same time, some very, very important things concerning the functions in the body. Now, among the gifts just at closing, there's one little gift as far as I'm concerned I would like to have. I haven't as slight a desire for these outstanding spectacular things, but there's one little gift. I would love to have, and it's just four little letters, H-E-L-P, helps. I would love to be a help. That's the only ambition I have, just to be a help among the people of God. And my dear brother, And sister, here this evening, if you only desire this gift and can be a little bit of help among the people of God, wherever the Lord has placed you, I believe you're fulfilling your function in the body of Christ. A help to the people of God. May God bless his words to our hearts for his name's sake. Little word of prayer. Our blessed God and Father, we do thank thee for thy word. And as we look abroad today and see so much confusion, Our Father, we do pray that that will help us to understand the teaching of thy word. And we ask of thee that in all our life down here, that it may be our desire to please thee, and that it may realize that we have a function to perform in the body of Christ. And our Father, we ask of thee that we may discover what it is. and then try to develop it by all means and then try to perform the work that thou hast given us to do. We thank thee, our Father, for many of our dear brethren and sisters around the world, highly gifted. We thank thee for them. And we pray that many more may be raised up to carry on this distinguished work until the Lord Jesus comes. We just commend us to the asking thy blessing upon each one here tonight. Lord, bless thy people. We pray as we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus.