Spiritual Gifts — Romans 12

0:00 Good morning everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. I always enjoy coming to Westlake Bible Fellowship. I was doing the math in my head the other day and my family and I were in fellowship here thirteen years ago. So at that time I was 16 and my little sister was 11.

0:24 She just got married two weeks ago. So that's, if any of you remember Bethany Henning, she has changed a lot since she was 11. But she is now married to a wonderful Godly man and I had the honor of officiating at the wedding. So that was my first time doing that and I was very excited about that wedding. My wife Anna sends you her love.

0:49 She couldn't be with you here. She's very sick with morning sickness, which is the best reason to be sick. We're expecting another child sometime in May. So I don't know if you had heard about that or not, but the Lord is very good to us in blessing our life and our ministry in Detroit. It always takes me less time than I think to get here.

1:14 I always prepare for three hours, three and a half hours, and of course I'm off to a little bit of a late start and so I fly out the door and I always get here earlier than I think. And I did not hear the good news. Apparently the turnpike has changed and now 70 miles an hour. This is, you know, which gives everybody just you can go five miles an hour faster than what you would have gone before. But I was thinking that a hundred years ago, the thing that I'm doing right now would be a lot harder, wouldn't it?

1:49 Just pack up from Detroit early in the morning and just come over to Cleveland. Spend the morning, go out for lunch, and then go back. You wouldn't do that sort of thing a hundred years ago. And the more you think about it, the invention of the automobile is really significant. And that was made possible because ninety nine years ago, Henry Ford perfected, or really utilized, the assembly line.

2:21 It was through the assembly line that he was able to make cars efficiently and cheaply and on a mass scale. The idea behind an assembly line is that each person has their own specific unique job. They only work on that thing. They don't have to put their tools down and then go do something else, but they focus on that one job. They work hard at it and then the car or whatever else it is is passed along to the next person who then does their job.

2:50 God has created the church to be a lot like an assembly line. Now, anybody here ever worked on an assembly line? I have worked. Oh, only one. Wow.

3:04 I have worked on an assembly line for what seemed like an eternity. It was three months. Man, it is not... Okay, there you go. That is a lot more fun than working on an assembly line.

3:24 It was incredibly boring when I worked on the assembly line doing the same thing over and over again. But God's assembly line, the church, has the same principle that each person is given a task to do and they are to perfect that task, but yet it works out to be a lot more fun and a lot more pleasurable than working on an assembly line. Well, as was announced earlier, we're going to talk about spiritual gifts. And there are several passages of scripture that talk about that subject, but we're going to read this morning from Romans chapter 12. And we'll start reading from verse one.

4:39 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given to me that everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ. And individual members of one another.

5:19 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophecy in proportion to our faith or ministry, let us use it in our ministering or he who teaches in teaching or he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. In a little while, what I'd like to do with you is run through a list of spiritual gifts and talk about what they are and their place within the church. But before we do that, let's consider why does God give spiritual gifts? He could have made us all the same.

6:08 Each person with the same job, each person with the same passion and interest and with the same abilities, but he's not done that. Why is it that God has given us spiritual gifts? Why does God give diversity within the church? Well, we read in verse three of one reason. It's so that way we would not think more highly than of ourselves than we ought to think, but instead to think soberly.

6:43 Because God has given to each of us our own entrusted gift or a measure of trust or faith. When we look around and we see people who have different abilities, the fact that we have one thing that we are gifted in and we lack the other gifts, it should drive us to humility to realize that we need other people. If everyone was like me, the church would be very badly off. Praise God that you are not like me. Maybe that's exactly what you're thinking too.

7:25 Praise God, I'm not like you. But God has made us different so that way we can see that we need one another. The show is not about us. We don't have it all figured out. But instead, we need one another.

7:42 It says also in chapter 12 here that we are members one of another. The other main passage of scripture that talks about spiritual gifts is first Corinthians chapter 12. And it's there that we see that the reason God has given us, I think it's in verse 25. First Corinthians 12. Yeah, verse 25.

8:05 That there should be no schism in the body. That's why God gives diversity. That we wouldn't be competing but instead that the members should have the same care for one another. We need one another. And that's not a function of sin.

8:27 That's not a consequence of sin that we're not good at certain things. That's because God has designed us to be that way. God designs us to be different from one another so that we will realize that we have to depend on one another. Now, all of that sounds fine and nice until it starts to actually get put into practice. I'm one of those people who would just rather do everything myself.

8:53 And whenever, if there's a list of 10 things, it'd just be easier for me, I'll just do it all and you can come and I'll have it all done. But that's not the way God has designed us. He's designed us to work together so we can love one another and realize that it's not about ourselves. Turn with me also to another important passage about spiritual gifts and that's one Peter chapter four. We'll read verses ten and eleven.

9:57 Verse 11, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they trust him for eternal life. God gives that individual a spiritual gift, a supernatural ability.

10:33 And the reason he endows an individual, a believer with a spiritual gift, is that we're supposed to minister it to one another and ultimately for the glory of God. The church is all about Jesus Christ. He is our head and he is in heaven. He is the one that should get all the glory. He is headquarters from whom we get all of our commands.

11:04 Just as when you look up here, you see my body. It's the external manifestation of who I am. In the same way, the world right now does not know Jesus Christ. It cannot see Jesus Christ but it can see and know us. We are the external manifestation or at least that's what we are called to be of who Jesus Christ is.

11:25 Think of the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles where Luke writes, The former treaties I have made unto you, Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. And then what the book of Acts is about is what Jesus continues to do through his body, the church, because he is in heaven. There's a wonderful there's a wonderful little bracelet. I don't know if people still wear it anymore. A lot of times, preachers like to talk bad about this bracelet, but I thought it was wonderful, the WWJD bracelets.

12:02 I thought they were great. I mean, theologically, we could say maybe it would be better to say, what did Jesus do? And but you know, it's wonderful to think about what would Jesus do. That's what the church should be about. God has equipped the church for this great mission to represent Jesus Christ on the earth by giving several spiritual gifts.

12:29 The Lord Jesus Christ, as we study him in the Gospels, was a great preacher. Amen? Amen. But he was more than that. He was a wonderfully merciful man.

12:43 But he was more than that. He was a servant. But that's not all. It goes on and on. I wonder what a person might think when we say that the church is to represent Jesus Christ.

12:58 What a person from the world might think when they seriously take that concept. Does that mean that all that the Lord Jesus does is teach and sing? Because that's what the church does. That's all the church is known for doing. What I'm trying to get at is, God gives spiritual gifts so that way we can accurately reflect the multifaceted nature of Jesus Christ.

13:28 God made several of us teachers because we're supposed to represent Jesus Christ who is the greatest teacher, the good teacher. He made some people pastors and shepherds because Jesus Christ is the great shepherd, the chief shepherd, the overseer of our souls. He gave some people the gift of mercy because Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners. He made some people to be givers because Jesus Christ is the one who excels at seeing needs and meeting people's needs. He gave some people the gift of faith because Jesus Christ, like no one else, is the captain and finisher of faith.

14:07 And the list goes on. Of all the spiritual gifts, the reason that they're given is so that way we could, as a church, collectively give the world a very full picture of who the Lord Jesus is. So, that's important when we study what is the church. I have been led to believe that you're in the middle of a study like that. Is that right?

14:30 You're studying the church and what the New Testament teaches? Well, there's a lot of different specific teaching in the Bible about what the church is to be and there's a lot of metaphors or pictures. And one of the most powerful and profound is the body of Christ. So what sorts of things should the church be involved in? Well, teaching?

14:52 Yes. Exhortation? Yes. Leading? Yes.

14:57 Mercy? Yes. Faith. Yes. Giving.

15:01 Yes. All of the different spiritual gifts give us a very clear picture as to the sorts of things that the church should be involved in. With not one being more important or significant than the other. And all of this is done so that people may be able... Might be able to get a better picture of who the Lord is and that he would get more glory from it.

15:49 Now, when you study them, you might come up with 10 or you may come up with eight. Keep studying, you'll come up with nine. No, but after a lot of thinking, it may be eight, it may be 10, but the list that I come up with is nine and in no particular order, here we go. The first is evangelism and we can read about that in chapter four of Ephesians. Simply sharing the gospel with others.

16:17 Now, we are all called to the work of evangelism. All believers are called to the work of evangelism. We read in the Bible that I have believed, therefore I have spoken. The Lord Jesus gave us the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark sixteen fifteen.

16:43 Paul told Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. He was not an evangelist by gift, but he was still to do the work of an evangelist. But there are some people who are especially gifted and especially good at and have a special burden for evangelism. They see people who are lost and they can't do anything but go and tell them. In the Bible, we think of someone like Philip the evangelist who goes to the city of Samaria and he preaches the gospel to a whole city.

17:22 In fact, that's his name, Philip the evangelist, maybe to separate him from Philip the apostle. And then later he goes and leads the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ. Whether it's one person or a whole city, evangelists cannot help but preach the gospel to others. Now, my dad likes to hunt. I like to hunt also, but not quite as much as he does.

17:50 And I know that there are some hunters in this room. And you know that you're with somebody who likes to hunt when you're driving down the road and all they do is just look out the window and as you drive down 80 or 80 or 90 or whatever it is, oh, there's one way over there. And my dad can always spot one a long ways away and he always gets them before I do. You might wonder, why is it that my dad or that a hunter always is able to see the deer before I do? Well, because they're looking for them.

18:22 And that's the way an evangelist is. They're looking for chances to share the gospel. And so they're in lots of evangelistic encounters because they're looking for evangelistic encounters. If I had to think of an example today of an evangelist, I would think of Chris Schroeder, a person I remember when I was with the Ezekiel Project. We would go to the mall and the idea was let's just start talking to people.

18:48 And people would get distracted and go into stores and I would do my best to try to talk to someone and it's been an hour and it wouldn't really get anywhere. They would meet up back for lunch and you'd always have to like save a side of the table for all the people that Chris would bring to introduce to us that he had met and was able to talk to about the Lord and wanted more information. The rest of the team, maybe there would be one other person that would be interested in talking to us and Chris would always have half a dozen or so. Someone very clearly gifted in evangelism. Another gift, shepherding.

19:37 If we understood it, stand the word pastors to mean someone who cares for someone else and comes alongside of them and shepherds them. Not the idea of a public speaker. The Uplift magazine defines shepherding as leading, heating and feeding the sheep. In the Bible, we are told, once again, those verses in first Corinthians twelve twenty five that the members should have the same care, one for another. We're all to be concerned for one another.

20:10 As a scriptural example, we can think of Epaphras. He's the one who delivers the Philippians money to Paul while he's in jail. And Paul writes about him saying that he has so much concern for you that it makes him sick. And all he is concerned about is making sure that you do well. A shepherd is someone who sees people and genuinely cares about them and wants to see them go on for the lord.

20:35 Another gift is ruling or we could compare, we could say this is the same thing as government. That is found in Romans 12 and in first Corinthians 12. I'm tempted to lump that in with shepherding. The word shepherd, if you look up the usage of that word, it often means to be a leader. It's a common metaphor for being a shepherd, but it seems like shepherding might be just a little bit different, though it could be the same.

21:04 The word means to lead or to guide. What we normally think of is leadership. It comes from a verb that means to steer or to guide a ship. Every believer, in some sense, is called to be in government. Every Christian is called to be in leadership.

21:27 We all are supposed to be in charge of certain things. Not in necessarily in political government, but we are all to be in charge of things. Whether we are in charge of a Sunday school class or whether we are in charge of our own particular little ministries. In Titus chapter three verse eight, Paul writes, Let those who have believed in God be careful to maintain good works. We're supposed to...

22:01 And that's the same word for manage or to govern our good works. That's another spiritual gift that God has given for some people to be in charge of things and it would make sense if the leaders, the elders had the gift of ruling or government, though they aren't the only ones who have the gift. Another gift that the Bible talks about is teaching and knowledge. And that list is found in Ephesians four, Romans twelve and one Corinthians 12. A good teacher is somebody who can explain concepts from the Bible in a way that other people can understand.

22:37 Have you ever listened to a preacher or a teacher and thought, Wow, that guy's really deep. He really knows his Bible doctrine. That is some complicated stuff. Chances are that person does not have the gift of teaching. Because a teacher is somebody who takes the truths of the Bible and makes them easy to understand.

23:05 I think it was H. A. Ironside that it said... It was said about him that he put the cookies on the bottom shelf so that even the kids could get at them. And he would take really deep spiritual things and he would make them easy for anyone to understand.

23:20 And that's what a teacher is. He doesn't try to sound intellectual or show off how much he knows. He wants everyone to understand. And we are all to teach. We read in Colossians three sixteen, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns.

23:44 Are you teaching? As a believer, you are called to teach. That doesn't mean you're called to stand up and to preach. It doesn't mean that you're necessarily supposed to lead a Bible study, but there should be should be someone else in your life, no matter how old or young you are, that you are communicating spiritual truths to. We are commanded to teach one another.

24:10 But some people are especially gifted and here I think of the man that was mighty in the scriptures, Apollos. He was a teacher and people loved to hear him teach. But yet, for all of his intelligence, when he met someone else, a husband and wife combo, Priscilla and Aquila, who knew something that he did not know, what was his attitude? He listened, he paid attention and he changed. No person, even if they are a teacher or if they are a leader, no person comes to the point in their spiritual life to where they cannot learn from another Christian.

24:54 And that's a good challenge for anyone who might consider themselves a teacher. When is the last time that someone changed your mind about something? That you came head to head with someone else, you held one opinion, they held another opinion, and afterwards you said, you know what? You're right. And I was not.

25:18 When was the last time that that happened to you? If we are to be humble learners of God's truth, that experience should be be frequent. So that's the gift of teaching. I would also compare that with the gift of knowledge. Bible talks about the gift of knowledge that may be supernatural knowledge, but I think it means that we understand the Bible not for our own benefit but for the benefit of others.

26:19 So putting those ideas together, the idea of encouragement or exhortation, which is something we're all to be involved with, but some people are called to it more, is not going around telling people what they're doing wrong. The idea of exhortation is that you come alongside of someone and you share something with them so that way they want to change. There is a way of confronting someone and all they do is just dig their heels in the ground. And the last thing they're going to do is let you be right. That is not exhortation.

26:51 Exhortation is coming along and gently applying Bible truth so that way the person wants to change and they walk away with a feeling that this person is on my side. That's the idea once again in the original is to come alongside of and to support, not come head to head with. The next one that we'll talk about, let's see, one, three, four, five, six, the sixth is faith. And we could define that as trusting God in exceptionally difficult or hard circumstances. And that is mentioned in one Corinthians chapter 12.

27:27 It's a spiritual gift. Not all believers have the gift of faith. Now all believers have faith. If you don't have faith, you're not a believer. As it means to be a believer, believe in faith in the same thing.

27:41 But some people are called to trust God in more extreme or difficult circumstances. All Christians once again are called to live by faith. Four times in the Bible we are told that the just shall live by faith. But some people have to live in very difficult circumstances. I think of the Apostle Paul in Philippians four.

28:01 We thought earlier about all the hardships that the Apostle Paul had to go through. And yet he could say, I have learned, I've learned the secret of being of whatever state I am in, therein to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. I know to have a lot and I know how to have a little. He was a man of faith who trusted God for all of his resources.

28:26 Next, we have the gift of helps or ministry. Again, that's in first Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12. I I've identified those two as the same thing. Just called different things in different lists. That is the the ability to serve and to support others.

28:48 Now, only some people have the gift of helps. Does that mean that on your way out, if you see that the garbage is overflowing and you don't have the gift of helps, that you can say, well, it's not my calling and you can pass it and wait for that other brother that you know always takes out the garbage. That is the way that so often we act but it shouldn't. We have somebody at my assembly back at home and he always cleans up after everyone. And so it's difficult.

29:22 As you walk out, it's easy to see coffee cups just all around the chapel because you know that you put it down there and thirty seconds later, he's going to come around and pick it back up and throw it away. But we shouldn't take advantage of people who have the gift of help through ministry. I thought of the verse Galatians five thirteen, Through love, serve one another. Now, I made this point the last time I was here speaking on this subject and I listened to my sermon again and I forgot that I made this point. And so, if I forgot that I made this point, chances are you forgot that I made this point.

29:56 The word for serve in Galatians five thirteen, where it says, through love, serve one another, it is the verb, now don't get lost in all the grammar, but it is the verb of the noun slave. So we could say, through love, be a slave to one another. And that is for every Christian. I completely forgot that I made that point and just carried it on as if I had never said it. Do I see myself as a as your slave?

30:29 Services being a servant is one of those things that we all like to be called a servant but nobody likes to be treated like a servant. Do I want to be treated like a servant? Do I want to be treated like a slave? Is that how I actually think of other... Think other people could think that of me?

30:49 That is what we are called to do. All of these should be challenges to all of us. But some people will focus on it more and be able to excel at it more easily. There's also the gift of giving and that is mentioned in Romans chapter 12. Once again, Uplift magazine defines it as the wise and timely distribution of the Lord's resources.

31:42 It's that you have an eye towards seeing what people need and you are able to give at the right time. There's also the gift of mercy. And that's the last one that we're going to discuss. It is mentioned in Romans chapter 12. It includes acts of compassion and kindness like caring for the sick, the elderly, the poor.

32:05 We could also add on top of that to drunks and to people that normally we don't like to associate with. We are all called to have mercy. The Bible says that he who judges without mercy will be judged without mercy. If you want the Lord to show you mercy when he reviews your life, you had better show mercy towards others. But some people are called, and you can tell people who are like this, when they enter into a room or somebody enters into the room.

32:41 We have a gentleman like this right now at our assembly and he's a homeless man and when he walks in, usually people, everybody notices because he often doesn't shower and he smells different than everyone else. And you'll tell there are some people who will get up and it's just too difficult to sit right next to him, it'll distract him. So they completely kinda move around to another side. And other people don't mind and they'll go up and they'll give him a big hug. They'll shake his hand and they'll sit and have the whole meal with him.

33:13 People who need extra mercy. There are lots of opportunities for us to show mercy, although some excel at it more than others. Now, is eleven fifty five And I'm looking at my notes. And I've got all these other miraculous gifts that I think would be a lot of fun to talk about. But it is 1156 now.

33:45 Time is ticking away. We're not gonna be able to talk about other gifts. Suffice it to say, these were the foundational period of the Bible. But I've got a whole lot that I would love to be able to talk about with the the miraculous gifts that are described in some of these lists such as apostleship, prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discernment, healing, and miracles. And to talk why is it that you don't see those sorts of gifts being exercised here at Westlake Bible Fellowship.

34:15 But if you're really interested, I would love to talk with you about that later, but time forbids it. Instead, in the next four minutes, let's think about what our responsibility is with these spiritual gifts. Again, the point cannot be stressed enough that we are all commanded to do all of these things. If you have the gift of mercy and instead you spend your time giving, you will never stand before the Lord and him say, you spent, you gave just too much. That's not what I wanted from you.

34:56 You're to be a mercy giver but instead you contributed financially and of your time. To do these things is never a sin. I wrote a little message on spiritual gifts a while ago and the reason that I wrote it was because an elder at our assembly came up to me and said, Bruce, I'd like you to give a message on how a person can know what their spiritual gift is. And I thought, that's a great idea for a message. How can I know what my spiritual gift is?

35:56 Instead, this is how these passages read. Like we read in Romans chapter 12. Because of the mercies of God, you were to give all of yourself as an offering to God, holy and pleasing. You are to offer all that you are to God. And as you begin to serve and to work, you will discover that you are different from other people.

36:17 Don't worry. That's the way that God made you. He designed things to be like that. Don't get jealous of other people because of the way God has made them. Instead, you deserve as hard as you can for God's glory and to build up other believers.

36:35 So what is my advice If you don't know what your spiritual gift is, we're not going to do it but it'll be interesting to have a show of hands of people who think they know what their spiritual gift is but if you don't know what your spiritual gift is, what should you do? Well, the Bible says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it. Serve in whatever capacity you can. And as you continue to give yourself to the Lord, you'll just notice that people keep asking you to do the same sorts of things. And that you really love to do this and you're really not so excited about that.

37:13 Begin to work to help one another to do all of these things and it will become very clear. The eye just opens and it knows what to do. Feet just walk. The liver just does its thing. It doesn't have to worry or go through times of self introspection as to how good am I really at doing all these different things.

37:40 It just... That's just what it does. And that's what we should do. We serve and God has designed us to be our own special, unique person. So my responsibility is to serve.

37:55 Turn with me to one more passage about spiritual gifts and and we'll close by talking about this in Ephesians chapter four. All... From eight through 16, really, the whole subject is spiritual gifts. But he's talking here that we're supposed to grow up into all things and to Christ. And then he says in verse 16 of chapter four, from whom the Lord Jesus, the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effectual or the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying or for the building up of itself in love.

38:57 Here we find God's great plan for church growth. It is according to the effective working of every part. If you have... One of the things that always fascinates me whenever I get sick is how I never notice that part of the body until it went bad. It was about this time last year that I had this terrible sore throat, I had strep throat, and I never noticed that little thing that hangs down.

39:34 Right? I never pay any sort of attention to it. I don't wake up every day saying, Oh God, thank you for a healthy uvula. Maybe you pray that every day, but I don't. But I did pray it for several days after I had strep throat.

39:54 When it goes bad, you notice it because God has designed the body to work together. And when one part suffers, the whole body suffers with it. So what is our responsibility in spiritual gifts? Well, it's to use them. Whether you like it or not, God did not ask for your permission.

40:13 When you believed in the Lord Jesus, he made you a part of his church. And now other people are counting on you. And the well-being of the whole church depends in part on you. And if so, if you go rogue and if you decide that I'm not not just gonna I'm just not gonna use my gift. I'm gonna take a week off.

40:39 Well, when my uvula took a week off, the whole body suffered from it. When you take a whole week off, the rest of the body significantly suffers from it. And that's one of the things I want to leave you with, is to impress upon you how serious your part is in the body of Christ. You may not think that you're significant, but you are. When you don't come, when you don't attend, when you don't serve, it is a discouragement to the rest of the body.

41:12 When you do serve, when you do show your interest in spiritual things, it is a boost in the arm for everybody else. God has given each of his children an incredible capacity to influence others. And you can't just pass up on that and say, well, no thanks, Lord. I'd rather not influence others. You will, either for good or for bad.

41:37 Now, when you are working for good, sometimes you don't get noticed as much as you should. But your job is still just as vitally as important. Alright. Let's close in a word of prayer. Our father, we thank you so much for the Lord Jesus Christ.

42:01 We are assembled here together as a group of believers in Christ. We love him. We're so thankful for him. We'd be eternally lost without him. He is the lily of the valley to us.

42:52 He is the one who who exhorts and encourages, who came alongside of people and applied the word of God to their own specific situation. He showed mercy as the friend of sinners. He is the one who gave and gave. He is the one who showed faith. Father, help us to take seriously the job that you have given to us to to continue on in the work that the Lord started here on the earth.

43:24 To take seriously the unfinished work of Christ. We love the finished work of Christ. It's the work that he did for us on the cross, that perfect work that saves us. But yet there is an unfinished work, work that still needs to be done. And you've given that to your body, the church.

43:46 Help us to be excited and have a zeal to be about your business and to do it your way, to use our abilities, the abilities that you have given us, your gifts, for your glory. We pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.