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[0:00] I learned three new words in a new language. And I'm going to mispronounce them. Happy, right?

[0:18] Happy, happy, like this way? Happy? Father, I don't know how that's father. I was going like this. I was told, no, that's not right.

[0:31] This is father. And then day. The sun going down. Happy Father's Day. Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to the tome of Romans, chapter 12.

[0:53] Paul's masterpiece on the gospel. Romans, chapter 12. We have been looking at Romans 12, because that's where Paul introduces spiritual gifts as an outflow of fundamental Christianity, as an outflow of how both we serve God and particularly how we serve the body of Christ.

[1:21] God has designed for us to serve one another, and he's given us the abilities, the unique, empowered abilities that we did not have before in order to serve one another.

[1:38] And so, as we learn what our gift is, our gift then tells us how to ministry. Our gift then leads us and directs us, determines how we fit in the body of Christ.

[1:50] So, let's look at it. So, I'm going to read the text. We're in Romans 12, verses 1 through 8. We'll be focusing today on verses 7 and 8, looking at, oh, three whole gifts today.

[2:05] We only looked at one last time. But we're going to town, so we'll be here a while. So, no, Lord willing, you'll be able to go to your Father's Day lunch or whatever you're going to do.

[2:18] So, if you're able to stand, please stand as I read from Romans 12, 1 through 8. Paul says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

[3:01] So that by testing or proving or experiencing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Four, by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment.

[3:24] Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For, as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.

[3:55] Let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to the faith. If service in the serving. The one who teaches in the teaching.

[4:07] The one who exhorts in the exhortation. The one who contributes in generosity or sincerity. The one who leads with zeal.

[4:18] The one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. So, reads the word. Let us pray for understanding. Father, guide us today, as always.

[4:30] Open the word to us. Grant your servant the ability to explain. And grant us all to receive the truth.

[4:41] And we pray, Lord, that you work in practical ways today. That for some today here, the explanation of some of these gifts may turn on a light, may encourage, may motivate, may challenge, may comfort.

[5:01] So that they, we each together begin to understand our place and our function, our role that you've assigned to us.

[5:13] So this we pray. Because of Jesus. We pray this in his name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. So, anybody here think that exercise is important?

[5:37] Anybody? Anybody actually do it? Anybody who doesn't do it, anybody feel bad that you don't do it enough? Anybody? Anybody?

[5:47] Well, if you do, I got good news for you. If you feel bad for not exercising enough, consider this. The inventor of the treadmill died at age 54.

[6:02] The inventor of gymnastics died at age 57. Not good that did, right? The world bodybuilding champion died at the age of 41. Why bother?

[6:14] The best footballer in the world, Maradona, never heard of him. Football, I don't know about. Died at the age of 60. James Fuller Fix.

[6:26] James Fix. Right? Credited with helping start the America's Fitness Revolution by popularizing the sport of running. Jim Fix was a tremendous miler runner.

[6:38] Died of a heart attack while jogging at age 52. So, what's the point? Right? But on the other hand, ponder this.

[6:52] The inventor of Kentucky Fried Chicken died at 94. Charles Winston, cigarette maker.

[7:03] Died at 102. Right? The inventor of opium died at the age of 116. In an earthquake.

[7:17] And the Hennessy liquor inventor died at 98. See where we're going here? How did smart people come to the conclusion that exercise prolongs life?

[7:28] These are facts, people. The rabbit is always jumping up and down but lives for only two years. The turtle that doesn't exercise at all lives for 400 years.

[7:44] Come on, people. So, we can always find information to support avoiding something we want to avoid.

[8:00] Now, that might be unwise. If I just pick the information I want to avoid exercise, it still might be unwise. But it's my option.

[8:12] My doctor cannot order me to exercise. I can disregard her every time she says so. It may not be wise, though.

[8:26] I have a freedom of choice. If I don't feel motivated enough, I will avoid the activity. Right? And I can claim and justify that I just don't have enough time.

[8:39] Or I have other priorities. Right? I don't have time to exercise. Yeah? Is that working for you?

[8:52] Is that... No? Let me turn the corner on this. What about for a Christian? When it comes to being a Christian, can any excuse justify avoiding serving God?

[9:06] I just don't have enough time. I have other priorities. I'm just not motivated. I mean, it's my right, right?

[9:19] I have... God has saved me, and now I have freedom of choice. Do I not? I don't have to serve Him, do I? I don't have to serve Him. I don't have time to serve Him. Or, even more, can any excuse justify avoiding serving His church?

[9:38] Truly, I'll serve God, but I don't have time to serve the church. I've got other things. It's just too busy. God can't order me to, can He?

[9:54] Can He? Isn't it kind of like the doctor? The doctor can tell me what I should do, but I don't have to do what she says, right? But God tells me what to do. I don't have to do what He says either, do I?

[10:08] I don't see anybody going, no, I don't have to do it. Yeah, it's a little different when it comes to God, isn't it? See, God, whereas my doctor doesn't have a claim on me, she's simply investing in some wise choices for me, or trying to.

[10:26] God, on the other hand, does have a claim on me. He has a major claim on me. Not only is He my Creator, so He has a claim on everybody.

[10:38] He gives me breath. He has recreated me as well. He has released me from the power and authority of darkness so that I can have the freedom to not go there.

[10:58] He has transformed me. He has not done that so that I can do what I want. He has done that so that I can serve Him.

[11:11] He has released me from one dark master and placed me in bonds to a new good master.

[11:22] That's how Paul sees it. He is a bond slave of Jesus Christ. There are no options. This is not about legalism.

[11:33] Please do understand that. This is not about have to, should, must, ought to, because, you know, it's the law. No. It is about should, must, ought to, because I owe Him everything.

[11:47] It's not out of a debt. It's out of joy. It's out of what He has made me. So do you understand the difference?

[11:59] And I think those who call themselves Christians and say, I don't have to, don't understand fundamental Christianity. And maybe they're not Christian at all.

[12:10] Maybe they're American Christians. There is an American gospel going around in there. You know, right? Whatever's best for you. So Paul's point here in Romans 12 is that the only logical response that every believer, every Christian has is to serve God.

[12:31] Because of God's mercies. And he, in Romans, he spent 11 chapters talking about everything that God has done for us. In spite of how horrible we are.

[12:45] And so the mercies are vast. And the only logical response to that is, I owe Him everything. To lay down my life. To make, to present my body as a living sacrifice.

[12:59] That's fundamental Christianity. To choose my own way is to dishonor my Savior and discredit Christianity at the very least. What does Jesus call us to do?

[13:14] What is His basic call? Jesus, I want to follow you. What does He say? If you want to follow me, it's real simple. Deny yourself.

[13:26] Deny yourself first. It's not about you. It's not about your best life now. It's not about you. Deny yourself.

[13:37] Take up your cross. Follow me. Are you happy now? God has a wonderful plan for your life. Remember the four spiritual laws, flaws, whatever it was called?

[13:48] Remember the first line was, God has a wonderful plan for your life. Can I reel them in, right? And then I don't want to tell them about what Jesus actually says. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Probably why nobody really bought that.

[14:02] I'm sorry. I don't know why I went there. Life is not about choosing my own way. When Jesus calls us, He calls us to die.

[14:14] It's not about conforming to the world. It's not about me. It's not about my best life now. This is fundamental Christianity. Well, logic is because God has been so merciful to us, given us so many things that we do not deserve, that it's logical for me to sacrifice everything to serve Him.

[14:34] And in verse 2, He adds to that, that that involves not conforming to this world, not about here. It's about being transformed, that I put myself under God's care so He can transform me.

[14:48] And my part is the renewal of the mind, that I keep renewing my mind so that as I grow and experience and process through this, I begin to know what the will of God is, what's good and acceptable and perfect.

[15:01] And then that logic leads me to the next mindset. Not only do I sacrifice, sacrificially serve God with all my life, but then notice verse 3, He's going to explain it further.

[15:15] Notice the first word of verse 3 is for, F-O-R, right? It's kind of a shortened therefore. You know, therefore is the big, you know, here's the logical thing. For is kind of a shortened one.

[15:26] It's like, okay, I said that now. Let me explain what that looks like. So, sacrifice to God and transforming your life begins here. Verse 3, it means how you think about yourself, not thinking more highly than you are, but to think with sober judgment.

[15:41] How do I do that? Do I just kind of sit down and figure out how to think rightly? Well, no, it's according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. So, it comes with some, that's also a gift that God has given you to how to think differently.

[15:53] How do I think differently? Verse 4, well, it has to do with how you function in the body of Christ. For we're a body with many members. The members don't all have the same function. So, we don't all, I don't fit into this body by doing the same thing that everybody else in the body does.

[16:06] Everyone in the body has a different role and function, and that has to do with gifts. Verse 5, so we, though we are many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

[16:17] So, we are a body, but we're all connected. We all are different members of this body, so we're not independent. We're not individualists.

[16:28] We are individually functioning within the whole body. That's what he's saying. And how does that work? So, that's verse 6. That's gifts. That's gifts. He's given us gifts to function in those ways in the body.

[16:43] In other words, your gift determines how you function. Your gift determines your place in the body. Your gift determines how I fit. Your gift determines what I focus on. Because I don't focus on the same things that everybody else focuses on.

[17:03] My gift's different. Not that everybody's. I mean, there's other people that have the same. But even if I have the same gift as somebody else, I don't do it the same way that they do it.

[17:15] They don't do it, hopefully, don't do it the same way I do it. Okay? So, that's the logic. That's the logic. So, let's look at the gifts. Our focus today is to teach, again, that you might be aware of these gifts to give you practical encouragement to engage in the body.

[17:32] This gives you more. If you know what your gift is, you kind of know where your place is. That gives you encouragement and confidence to function where God has gifted me to function. Instead of just kind of, I don't know, I don't know what do I do.

[17:47] Well, God's already let you know that by a gift He's given. He's given formative, charismatic gifts.

[18:00] Remember, every gift, the Greek word for gift is charisma or charismata. So, if you are a Christian, you are a charismatic.

[18:12] But you probably don't want to use that in today's culture because most people think that means something different. Which it doesn't mean, but it's come to me. Anyway. Everybody's charismatic.

[18:28] Not in the, you know, okay. In the spiritual gift sense. So, last week we looked at the gift of prophecy. We spent most of our time on that one because there's a lot on that one and that one's confusing.

[18:40] Some say it's no longer in service. Temporarily, no. Permanently out of service. Others say, no, it's still a gift for today. And so, we have defined it in a way that I think follows the biblical pattern in the New Testament.

[18:56] Prophecy is not the same as Old Testament prophet. It's different. And it is limited. Okay. So, we defined it as the ability at times to report a message, usually a very practical message, spontaneously brought to mind by the Holy Spirit.

[19:14] So, it's something revealed. Right. And is accountable to the Scriptures and others in order to edify, exhort, and console. So, prophecy.

[19:25] So, we looked at that. If you want to kind of know what we did with that, you'll have to look at the notes or the tape from last week. So, today we're going to look at three new ones.

[19:36] Verse 7. Service. Service. Service in our serving. Teaching. In His teaching. And exhortation. Exhorting. The one who exhorts in His exhortation.

[19:46] So three more gifts. And as we look at these, you know how Paul makes the analogy, makes the picture, a body with members, right?

[19:58] So a body has hands and feet and eyes and ears and a mouth and has different members, right? They all have a different function. So he's given an analogy that gifts are like that.

[20:10] So some gifts are the hands. Some gifts are the eyes. Some are the mouth. Some are the ears. Some of the feet. Some of the toe.

[20:21] I don't know where you get to. But as we go through these, at the end, I'm going to ask you, okay, where does that gift fit? Is that gift a hand? Is that, you know, where does that fit?

[20:34] Because that's the analogy Paul's using. Our gifts fit into the body like body parts, like members of a body. That's extra credit, by the way.

[20:44] You don't have to do this. It's just extra credit. All right. So let's look at the gift of serving, serving, serving. So verse 7, if service in our serving.

[20:55] And literally, if you heard me read it, if serving, it's not in our serving. The translation is in the serving. It's not a subjective serving. It's a concrete, if serving, in the serving, in a particular way of serving.

[21:12] Okay? Not whatever I think it looks like. So it's my gripe with translators. They don't always translate. So, serving.

[21:22] So, serving. It's the word diakonia. Diakonia. Diakon. You heard any English in that? Deacon. Deacon.

[21:32] It's a word for deacon. It literally means to stir up dust. Right? Somebody's busy, right? Martha. It also has the idea of waiting on tables.

[21:46] So, when you go to a restaurant, somebody's waiting on you, they're a deacon. They're waiting. They're serving you. Right? They're waiting on. It emphasizes task and doing. Okay?

[21:57] Here's what it is by my definition, which is the correct definition, of course. So, you can see whether it washes with the text that we do or not. But here's what I'm presenting.

[22:08] It's the ability to provide for practical material needs. And when I say provide, it can involve organization. The ability to provide and organize for practical material personal needs.

[22:21] This has to do with people needs in the local church body. They could be doing it publicly or privately. Okay? They could be like deacons who are functioning, right, for a whole bunch of people.

[22:34] Or they could be simply a deacon behind the scenes serving people. And, of course, these are people who are deliberately relying on the strength which God supplies.

[22:47] This isn't just a natural gift of serving other people that I do because I can do it in my own strength. This is a gift that requires, as Peter says, relying on the strength which God supplies.

[23:02] That's how the gift is to be used. It's a spiritual, empowered gift. You think, well, setting up tables, does that really take the power of God? Sometimes.

[23:13] Sometimes. Well, not sometimes. According to Peter. Yeah, all the time. Okay, so let's apply it. How is this gift applied?

[23:23] He says, if service, if your gift is service, then use it in the service. In the service. What does that mean? What is he talking about?

[23:34] If your gift is service, if you're the hands, then don't be the feet. Be the hands. If your gift is hands-on task work, then focus on hands-on task work.

[23:53] That's what. If service, in the service. If your hands, do hand work. Right? That's your priority. Pour your energy into that.

[24:04] Look for opportunities to serve. In fact, if you have this gift, you'll be drawn to tasks to do for other people. You will be stirred to serve the needs of people.

[24:18] And you'll be looking for practical ways to do that. You're not going to be interested in writing a check to help somebody. You're going to be interested in, what can I do? How can I help them?

[24:30] And you might even be, we've got to organize all these guys to go over to their house and fix these things for them. Whatever, whatever. I might be the service guy. Okay, it's used in different scriptures.

[24:41] It's used in 2 Corinthians 9, 12 and 13. That has to do where Paul is talking about a ministry of gathering a contribution of funds to send to supply the needs of the saints in another place.

[24:58] He calls it a ministry. He calls it a diakonia. That organizing of funds to go help other people.

[25:09] So, in other words, this idea of a deacon or a deakonia, a servant, can be finance involved. It can be somebody organizing finance.

[25:22] It's organizing to get the needs of others helped. So, it's organizing, managing. And then in 1 Timothy 3, it's used particularly of those people who are qualified to be a deacon.

[25:39] Or a deaconess. As I understand Paul talking about. To take on an official role within the church. Right?

[25:51] To serve. So, what do deacons do, by the way? What do deacons do? They have a board, right? They decide how much the pastor should get paid.

[26:01] They do. I don't know. Have you had a different experience with deacon boards? Have you? I've had some fun experiences with deacon boards. They don't match up with what I find in the scripture.

[26:12] Anyway. So, Acts 6, I think, is the prototype for the role of deacon. This gift of service may involve the specific gift of deacons who are those who look out for the needs of others.

[26:32] Notice how this is people oriented. But it's also, there's planning and organization going on. But the goal is to serve. Right? And it's task work.

[26:43] So, notice how this comes about. Acts 6. It says, At this time, while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose. Does that happen in churches, by the way?

[26:56] Complaints come up? Anyway. Interesting. So, Scripture's really honest, isn't it? Isn't that great? Oh, I wonder how they handle that. A complaint arose in the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrew Jews.

[27:08] So, the Hellenistic Jews are the people that don't live in town. They live in the Hellenized world. They live out of Jerusalem. They live out of Jerusalem. They're living out in the world somewhere. Right?

[27:18] So, they're still in Jerusalem. Why? Because that's where everything's happening. It's where the church exploded and they don't want to go back home. And because they don't want to go back home, it's kind of created problems for mother church.

[27:31] Jerusalem church is like, how do we handle all these people? We've got to take care of all these people. So, they've got a problem. Right? So, the Hellenistic Jews have a problem with the native Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of tables.

[27:49] The daily serving of food. The widows aren't being fed. Oh, the Hebrew widows are taken care of because they're hometown ladies. Right?

[27:59] What about these guests from out of town who won't go home? Right? I mean, they're not being taken care of. And they're widows and they have a legitimate need.

[28:10] So, how do you take care of that? So, the 12, the brothers, the apostles, right? The 12 summoned the congregation of the disciples.

[28:22] So, this wasn't a top-down decision. This is a, we're going to talk to the congregation about this. And said, it is not desirable for us, the apostles, to neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables.

[28:34] Now, stop there. They got an attitude problem? Sounds like an attitude problem, right? We don't do that kind of work. No, watch what they're saying. They understand what their gift is.

[28:44] They understand what their ministry is. And they're not going to mess with that. It is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God, that's their ministry, for the ministry of serving tables.

[28:57] They're not saying serving tables is below them at all. They're just saying it's not our job. And they're not trying to, you know, they have a solution. But select from among you, brethren, whoever you can find to do this, right?

[29:12] No, they say select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, because they're going to need wisdom for this, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we, the apostles, will devote ourselves to what God has told us to devote ourselves, to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.

[29:29] Our ministry, our service, our deaconess, deaconing, is the Word. And the statement found approval with the whole congregation, and they chose seven men to do this.

[29:44] Right? So, they're putting people in charge of this task. What's the task? Taking care of the widows. That's a people need. That's an important need.

[29:56] And it's going to take planning. It's going to take organization. Right? How are we going to get all this food together for all these widows? Well, you do it.

[30:07] No, you do it. Well, seven men. You guys figure it out. Because you're deacons. Who have a good reputation, are full of the Spirit and full of wisdom.

[30:25] Okay? They're not self-empowered. They're Spirit-empowered. They're not leaning on their own wisdom. They're leaning on the wisdom given by the Spirit.

[30:37] And they're trustworthy people. Because they're going to be handling money. And how that money's used. Or resources. It may not be coinage.

[30:48] But they're going to be gathering their resources. And they're going to be using. That could be abuse. So, you've got to take. So, all that to be said. There's an example of what this gift of service looks like.

[31:01] So, how about you? Is this maybe your gift? Now, I understand every Christian is called to serve. And you could probably say that about every one of these seven gifts listed in Romans 12.

[31:14] We all have responsibility to do some of these things, at least. Right? We all have a responsibility to serve. We all have a responsibility to teach. Did you know we all had a responsibility to teach? What's the Great Commission say?

[31:27] Go and make disciples of all nations doing what? Baptizing. And teaching. So, every Christian's job is to teach on some level. Then become a parent.

[31:39] Then you learn really about what teaching is. So, exhortation. We're all to encourage one another. Contributing. We're all to give. Leading. Well, I don't know.

[31:49] Are we all leaders? Maybe in some ways. Mercy. Yeah, we're all called to mercy. So, recognize these are all things that all Christians are called to do on some level.

[32:00] But God is giving an extra measure of grace to some people, in particular to these different things. Okay? So, we're all called to serve, but who's got the gift?

[32:14] Who's the one that should be focusing on tasks of service? If your gift is serving, get with the serving. Right? Focus on that.

[32:24] Concentrate on that. So, what does that look like? Well, let me ask you some questions. Are you constantly, constantly concerned with the practical needs of others in the church?

[32:38] Are you worried about certain people and their needs? Are you drawn to help them? Are you thinking about how we could provide for them, how you could organize that, how you could manage that?

[32:52] Are you a person that thinks very practically how you could organize and manage needs of people more efficient in the church, in the body?

[33:06] You're happy to get your hands dirty? Maybe you're an organizer, but you're also, yeah, but that doesn't mean I sit back and watch. I'm in there.

[33:18] You have joy at digging in and helping others in practical ways, whether it's seen or unseen. Does that fit you? Maybe. Something to ask.

[33:29] So, serving. Let's see what the next one is. What's the next one? Seven, if service. Okay, we did that one. The next one, the one who teaches in the teaching.

[33:41] Gift of teaching. Okay. Got any teachers here? School teachers? I know you taught for a long time. All right? How about the gift of teaching?

[33:54] Spiritual gift of teaching. Right? Right? No? I'm it? That's it? Come on now. All right. All right. Let me dig it out here. Let's see if we got any. Because we didn't think we had any prophets last week, and then at the end we had some, we had some, I don't know.

[34:07] Yeah, maybe. All right. So, teaching. The word is didasco. Is that helpful? You hear an English word in didasco?

[34:18] Tabasco. Tabasco. Thank you. Yeah, it's saucy. So, didasco, didactic. Which can have a negative meaning, but also has a positive meaning of being very orderly.

[34:33] An orderly teacher. Or very, right? Someone organized when they teach. Which can have a negative thing, but I don't think Paul meant it negatively. One who interprets and explains.

[34:47] What's a teacher? A teacher is somebody who's explaining knowledge to somebody else. You could be teaching a concept, or you could be teaching a skill. Right? You're teaching a skill. So, somebody, Carrie taught me this morning those three words.

[34:59] You know, happy, or happy. Obviously, I'm not a good learner. Fathers, right? And dead. Right? So, that's teaching, right? Explaining and showing how it's done.

[35:11] Right? So, you can't blame the teacher for the student. So, let's define it.

[35:21] What is it? Okay. So, I've got a little bit more involved in this one. It is the ability to unpack, interpret, and explain the Scriptures to others.

[35:35] The ability to unpack. In other words, to dig and break down the text. It kind of, you can look. I mean, teachers are people that they can kind of connect the dots.

[35:47] They can break it down. They can see what it means. In fact, for a teacher, it comes fairly easily. Not always. There's text that even Peter said, you know, Paul's like over my head on this one.

[35:59] But, in general, it comes fairly easily. I can see what this means. Right? And then they're able to explain it. They're able to pass on that information.

[36:13] They're the ones connecting the dots and explaining that to others. So, the ability to unpack, interpret, and explain the Scriptures to others. Independence on the Holy Spirit, of course, is a spiritual gift.

[36:26] Spirit-empowered gift. This isn't just that I can naturally do this. Because since God has given me this gift, this is not something I had naturally. It is not something I wanted to have naturally.

[36:40] Okay? This is something that's like, whoa. And I didn't know I had to tell. My brother says, no, you're going to go do this. You get the ninth grade boys.

[36:51] And I don't want the ninth grade. What do I, you know? We're going to just play games. No, you're not. You're going to teach them and I'll show you. Anyway. You know. Independence on the Holy Spirit.

[37:02] You're articulating the truth clearly. You're able to, you know, able to clarify the truth clearly and applying it convincingly. What's the purpose of all this? To pass on knowledge.

[37:13] To deepen the knowledge. For deeper knowledge and understanding of the hearer. This is a person who's able to help others get it. This is a person who can read and study the Scripture and gets it.

[37:27] And is able to pass that on to somebody else. Teach. Is able to pass that knowledge on. Help them understand. Right? And obviously the student, as we learned this morning, the student, it depends on how well they pass it on.

[37:42] It's not the teacher's fault that they didn't pass it on. The student can misinterpret things. So. So, applied.

[37:52] How do we use it? In the teaching. The one who teaches. In the teaching. So, in other words. If you have a gift of teaching. Focus on teaching. That's your priority in how you serve the body.

[38:07] There are lots of needs in the body. But if you've. God has decided to give to you the gift of teaching. You look for teaching opportunities. That's how you function. Doesn't mean you don't serve.

[38:18] Doesn't mean you don't come to work day. I'm a teacher. I'm not coming on work day. Right? Now, it doesn't mean that. But the ongoing function of your ministry is teaching.

[38:29] Look for teaching. Keep doing it. You don't retire from teaching, by the way, if you're a Christian. Keep looking for. Because that's a gift God has given you to use.

[38:39] And as Paul says, we're to be good stewards of that. That means one day God's going to say, what did you do with the gift I gave you? Well, you know, I taught Sunday school for a quarter and then, you know, I did my time.

[38:53] What's Jesus going to say? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I see. You think that's what. Anyway. You imagine how Jesus is going to respond to that.

[39:07] So, that's your priority. And I think if you have this gift, this stirs you. This kind of thing stirs you. This is a passion for you to pass that on to others.

[39:18] Because you get it. You want others to get it. And so, you want to do that. You want to be teaching. And I think teachers probably have that. You know, you spend a lifetime doing that. And you have a passion for that.

[39:29] Imagine that in a spiritual sense. As you're getting stuff that not everybody in the world understands. In fact, even Christians have trouble understanding. Peter had trouble understanding Paul.

[39:42] So, if you got Paul, you can do Romans. You're going to sit up there and go to Peter. What do you have a problem with? I don't understand. No. Peter was no slouch.

[39:54] You read 1 and 2 Peter. He's no slouch. He's not just some minor fisherman that didn't, you know.

[40:05] Well, we teach gospel. No, he got it. Okay. So, we see this word used all over the place.

[40:18] Jesus was a teacher. Right? Jesus went everywhere teaching. What did he teach? Well, we have an example of that in Matthew 5. Because in Matthew 5, it says Jesus called his disciples to himself.

[40:30] And he sat down, right? And he began to teach. And Matthew 5 talks about the Beatitudes. He talks about what's blessed life look like. Then he goes into salt and light.

[40:43] And he goes into law. You've heard that it was said, but I say to you. He begins to talk about what righteousness looks like. Chapter 6. Well, this is a sermon that goes for three chapters, right?

[40:54] By the way, if you read it, it takes 32 minutes to read it. In preaching, it probably took him, by my estimation, a couple of hours. So, this is a sermon that Jesus preached everywhere.

[41:05] He talked about what blesses. What kind of role do you have in society? Your salt and light. What does righteousness really look like? Is it just keeping the law black and white? Or is it what I say to you?

[41:19] It's not just loving your neighbor and hating your enemy. I'm telling you, uh-uh. Bigger than that now. Right? On and on.

[41:29] He talks about what prayer looks like. What giving looks like. What fasting looks like. He talks about what faith looks like. Right? He's going to explain all these things. That's teaching. Look at those three chapters of Matthew.

[41:40] And you'll see, what's the content of what a teacher teaches? And we know that Jesus taught that content in more than one place. Because in Luke, in Matthew 5, he's on a mountain.

[41:52] In Luke, he's on a plane. And he's teaching the same material. So, it's most likely the kind of teaching he did wherever he went. So, that's what we teach. 1 Timothy 6 talks about that your teaching should be sound.

[42:07] Healthy. And 2 Timothy 3.16 says all scripture is profitable for what? Teaching. Teaching is one of the things. So, what shall I teach?

[42:18] I wonder what I shall teach. Scripture. All scripture. Which Timothy understood to be everything before Matthew.

[42:30] Right? Because in 64 or so, when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, I guess we had Matthew.

[42:42] We had Mark by then. Not everybody had Mark. It wasn't copied yet. So, anyway. Most of it. And we learned that last time, right?

[42:52] When we talked about the Old Testament, we were talking about walking through the Old Testament. And what were the scriptures that they taught? They taught the Old Testament. For the first 30 years, at least.

[43:04] From the time of Pentecost to the time that the gospel started to be written and copied. They're teaching.

[43:14] The scriptures they're teaching is Genesis to Malachi. That's what they're teaching. So, how do we discover if you have this gift of teaching?

[43:28] What are the qualities of a teacher? So, look with me for a moment at Hebrews 5, 12 to 14. Because he talks about, in a negative sense, what a teacher is. He says, you ought to be a teacher by now, but this is what you really are.

[43:40] And he basically gives the opposites of a teacher. So, in other words, if we reverse what he's saying, we see what the qualities of a teacher are. Okay?

[43:51] Hebrews 5 says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

[44:04] And you have come to need milk and not solid food. He's not being encouraging at this point, right? He's not saying, time for milk is over.

[44:16] Time to be on solid food. And by the way, as a teacher, he's going to move on. He's not going to keep giving them milk. Because if you've read Hebrews, it's not milk. It's weighty stuff, right?

[44:29] He's not going to go lower his teaching to what the lowest thing is. He's going to push them further. Okay? So, what does he define?

[44:39] You have need of milk and not solid food. So, in other words, a teacher is going to have solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is what? Is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he's a babe.

[44:50] But solid food is for the mature, who, because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Okay, Bill, how do you get qualities of a teacher out of that?

[45:02] Well, what is not a teacher, the one who ought to be a teacher but still is on milk, is the one who is what? Not acquainted, not accustomed to the word. That means somebody who's mature, who is a teacher, is accustomed to the word.

[45:16] They're in the word. They're practiced in it. They have time in it. They have matured. They have solid food.

[45:28] So, they're not just milk. They are chewing on the meat of the word. That's teacher. Teacher wants to keep growing. A teacher wants others to keep growing.

[45:39] He wants to sink his teeth into this truth and pull it, unpack it, and explain it, and feed it to others. That's what a teacher does.

[45:50] Oh, I got one. I'm just forgetting to use it. Thank you, brother. I appreciate it. Servant, servant, servant, servant. We've got to start doing that. We see the gifts. We say, I got a prophet over here.

[46:01] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, because of practice, they have their senses trained.

[46:12] See it? A teacher is somebody who's practicing and training, and they're digging in. They're digging in to see, to discern, right? They're growing in knowledge, and then they're going to pass that knowledge on.

[46:27] So, the marks of a teacher, right, is someone accustomed to the word. They have experience in it. They take time training and being disciplined. And where, now he's saying, the writer of Hebrews is saying to his readers there that by this time, you all ought to be teachers.

[46:45] Well, there's a level where we all ought to grow to maturity, be able to teach other people, right? But that's going to be the starting point for people with the gift, right?

[46:55] That's their starting point. They're, where'd I go? They're spending time in it.

[47:06] They're stirred to pass this truth on. Okay? It's not just a duty to them. We all have the duty to train others and teach others on some level, on a big gospel level.

[47:17] But teachers are going to be, that's going to be like, yeah, that's my, that's my, that's my bread and butter right there. Or meat. Meat would be a better analogy, huh?

[47:30] So, if you have this gift, you're the kind of Christian who spends, you spend time in the word. In fact, you enjoy sinking your teeth into it. I mean, you don't just read, you're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, what'd that mean?

[47:43] And then, and then if you're like me, you probably start marking things up. I don't know if that's, because I got to like, pick it apart. Because look, there, that word, what's that mean?

[47:56] What's he mean by that word? Oh, he put four there. That means, and I, and I'm nuts because I just start circling those because I'm like, okay, that's, here's this train of thought. I'm going to unpack this. I'm going to figure this out so that I can explain it to others.

[48:07] So, you're the person that when you read and study the word, it makes sense to you.

[48:18] For the most part, not everywhere. But for the most part, it makes sense to you. You get it. And you want others to get it. That's a teacher. All right?

[48:30] So, one more. One more. By the way, if, so if, if the servant is the hand, what do you think the teacher is? Brain.

[48:43] I hear a brain. Why brain, did you say? Logic. Knowledge. Because that's the correct answer. What did somebody else have?

[48:57] Speaking. Okay. Speaking. The word. Okay. Could be. Could be a mixture of those. Yeah, I'm going with mind. But through the mouth.

[49:08] Mind, mouth. M&M. So, okay. So, now we come to another one. Exhorting. Exhortation. Gift of exhorting. Exhortation.

[49:19] Now, this word can be translated several ways. The word literally from the Greek is call alongside. Right? Para, kaleo. Para, parallel.

[49:31] Right? And then kaleo, to call. So, to call alongside. It's the name given to the Holy Spirit in the upper room when Jesus says, there's a helper I'm going to give to you. There's a paraclete.

[49:42] There's a parakaleo I'm going to send to you. Somebody called alongside you who will help you. And how will he help you? What does parakaleo mean? It means he will exhort you, he will encourage you, and he will comfort you.

[49:56] I'm going to do word pictures for that. So, there are different ways this word can be used. Right? So, if he's an exhorter, what's exhort sound like?

[50:10] Does that sound... So, you got comfort, encourage, exhort. Okay? So, comfort. What's that sound like? Where would you... If this gift is an arm...

[50:23] Shoulder. Where does it go? If you're comforting. Around the shoulder, right? Comfort. That's a good picture. If he's encouraging, where does it go? Pat on the back.

[50:35] If he's exhorting, where does it go? Harder pat on the back. That's just how I'm thinking. But... Do you see where it goes?

[50:45] There's a tender side to it, and there can also be kind of a get moving part to it. And if you have this gift, it doesn't mean you're all three of those. It might be... You might just be... God has gifted you to just really be a good comforter to people.

[50:57] Or maybe you're the encourager. Right? Or maybe you are the... Let's get with it, people. Paul's kind of that guy. Right? Because that's exactly what he's doing in Romans 12.1.

[51:10] He says, I appeal to you. I exhort you. I call you to lay down your life. So he's saying, I comfort you with that. What's the right way to translate this word?

[51:20] Right? I encourage you. Now, he's exhorting. I exhort you. Right? I'm begging you. I'm urging you.

[51:32] There's that sense to the word. Okay? So here's our definition. And it comes... It has three kind of looks to it, as I said. It's the ability to come alongside others.

[51:45] Okay? In three different kinds of ways. Three different looks. Three different applications. So one way is to support with comfort and counsel. That's kind of that... Just come alongside. Right?

[51:57] Or to motivate with encouragement. That's patting on the back. Well done. Good. You know, keep going. Man. You know? And then there's the challenging, the urging, the pushing with exhortation.

[52:11] Okay? Through the prompting enablement of the Holy Spirit. So what do you do with this gift? How is it applied? Well, again, he says in verse 8 here, the one who exhorts in what?

[52:23] In the exhortation. So if your gift is exhorting, what do you do? Get exhorting. Go look for opportunities to exhort. Right? You're tugged by that opportunity.

[52:37] You're sensitive probably to other people that need encouragement or comfort. You heard some of the prayers today. And some of you, either you have the gift of mercy or you have the gift of exhortation.

[52:48] You heard some of these things today. And your heart was going, I want to talk to that person. Right? That's probably your gift.

[53:09] So Hebrews 10.24 says, right, let us consider what?

[53:25] Anybody know that verse? Let's consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds, right? And actually the order in which it was written is let us consider one another to stir them up to love and good deeds.

[53:40] By not neglecting gathering together, as the habit is of, but by encouraging, exhorting, comforting, encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day coming.

[53:54] You know, get with it. It's kind of an exhorting book. If your gift is exhorting, that's your verse. That's your verse. Because it's like, okay, I'm going to consider people, because that's probably how you work.

[54:07] If that's your gift, you're probably thinking about different people and you're thinking, how can I encourage them? God, put somebody on your heart. The Holy Spirit draws somebody into your heart, maybe through the prayer requests we had today.

[54:19] And you're thinking, I want to encourage them. Or comfort them. Or give them a little push.

[54:29] However that works, that's you. You're thinking, you're considering, how do I stir them up?

[54:44] How do I stir them up? They're discouraged. How can I come along and raise them back up? How can I let them know, keep being faithful, you're doing well? Or how can I let them know, okay, enough sitting.

[54:59] Time to get out there. See, so Paul's doing that in Romans 12. I appeal to you. He's exhorting now. I appeal to you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

[55:12] He's not just comforting. He's, okay, now this is logical. This is what you need to do. This is fundamental Christianity. He does it again in chapter 15 of Romans 15, 30.

[55:25] He uses this word again. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf. So I'm begging you, I'm exhorting you, please pray with me.

[55:39] Excuse me. And then at the end of the book, in Romans 16, 17, he uses it again. It says, I appeal to you, I urge you, exhort you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught and avoid them.

[56:01] You're supposed to watch out and avoid certain people? Are we supposed to just love everybody? Paul's saying, watch out. There are wolves in sheep's clothing in churches.

[56:14] So he's saying, I'm urging you. I'm urging you. Sheepdogs alert, right? Sheepdogs alert.

[56:26] Be watchful here. So that's exhortation. It's also probably best known for the guy whose name was changed to encouragement, John. Remember John in Acts 4, I think, when everybody was, the church was poor and they needed something.

[56:48] And this guy by the name of John sold a piece of property and gave all the profits to the church to help encourage everybody. So they named him Barnabas, son of encouragement.

[57:02] Hey, Barney's here. Mr. Encouragement here is here. So in Acts 11, he came to Antioch.

[57:14] And when they had come and witnessed the grace of God, Barnabas rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. This is Barnabas' gift.

[57:25] He's not just an encourager, but when it says he's encouraging them to remain true to the Lord, what does that sound like? Exhorting. I'm urging you.

[57:38] Remain true. Remain true. Right? Is that you? You like that? You get like that with people? I know somebody over here that does.

[57:51] Did it today, too. He can't help himself. He gets up here. He starts exhorting. Did you know you're doing that? Okay. If you think he's doing that, let him know so he knows what he's doing.

[58:06] He's going to do it anyway. Just because it's a gift. Here's another way that this gift applies, 2 Corinthians 1. This gift also has a tender application to support and console those who are hurting.

[58:26] 2 Corinthians 1 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort. Here's our word. God of all comfort, encouragement. Who comforts, encourages us all in our affliction.

[58:41] Why does God encourage us in our affliction? We go through hard stuff. We go through trials. We go through tribulation. Why does he, you know, and at the end, he encourages us, right? And in the middle, usually, he's like, he's more exhorting.

[58:54] Keep going. Keep, keep, keep. But then we get comforted. Why does he do that? What Paul says, read on. He comforts us in all our affliction.

[59:04] Why? So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. So I can pass it on. I learned by my experience of God comforting me through tribulation and trial and suffering so that I can then do that with others.

[59:20] Why did God have me experience depression for so long? So I could just be a downer. No, so that I can learn. Because I hadn't a clue what that was like.

[59:32] I had no idea how handicapping that was. And that you couldn't just snap out of it. So now I can minister to those who are there.

[59:43] I get it. I can bring comfort from my own experience to them. There's hope. So, in fact, this is a God thing, I believe.

[59:55] It's a gift. Depression's a gift like everything else. So, but this is kind of where you live too.

[60:07] If you're an exhorter or a comforter, you look for people who are afflicted and are suffering. And you can't wait to get with them and share how God has brought you through your suffering and affliction and brought you comfort so that you can bring them comfort.

[60:25] See, that might be you. So, is that you? You see somebody suffering and you're just drawn to come alongside them.

[60:37] And share. And again, I think Hebrews 10, 24, and 25 are kind of your theme verse.

[60:48] Because that's you. You're considering one another to stir them up to love and good deeds. That's kind of where you live if that's your gift. That's what you want to do. You want to encourage others.

[61:00] But I don't know how to encourage them until I know them. So, I have to consider them, right? I've got to consider them. Because some people are encouraged one way and other people are encouraged another way.

[61:14] Some people need a push. Some people just need an arm around, right? Some people are sensitive and need a sensitive response. Some people are kind of hard-nosed and need a little bit more of a hard-nosed push.

[61:24] Right, Jimmy? Right? So, I have to consider those people. Then I can encourage them. But if you have that gift, it comes kind of easy for you.

[61:40] I'm not going to say natural, but there's a gifted sense. There's a grace enablement that you kind of know how to go there. More than people like me, who, I wish I knew how to do that.

[61:59] So, if you don't know how to do it, find people that know how to do it and hang around them and kind of maybe it'll rub off. Like, how'd you do that? Man, you just, you have a gift for it.

[62:11] Okay. We're done. I have no idea what timing we did. I was hoping to set a record today. I have no idea.

[62:26] I'm sorry. I missed that, Diana. Exhorter. Exhorter, Diana. What would you say there? I love that lady. So, today.

[62:40] So, last week I asked, at the beginning of the sermon, any prophets? Nobody raised their hand. At the end of the sermon, I said, are there any prophets now today? And a few people said, yeah. By that definition.

[62:52] Not the prophet of giving new revelation of new doctrine, but in terms of practical application. Yeah. Yeah. How about today? Any servers today?

[63:03] Anybody think that's kind of your thing? Yeah. Okay. How about teachers? Any teachers? Yeah? Yeah. Oh, my hands go up really loud. Come on. One more confidence.

[63:14] Huh? How about exhorters? Or encouragers? Yeah. Cool. All right. So, we got some hands. We got some mind, mouth, M&Ms.

[63:28] And we got some arm on the shoulder people. Prophet. What was a prophet? Did we decide what the prophet was? Ears.

[63:38] Ear. Because he doesn't speak until he hears first. Right? Remember, that's a gift that's not constant. That's a gift that when God spontaneously reveals, it's not a constant.

[63:51] It's like, I'm not always a prophet. I don't. But God will spontaneously reveal something, and then I share with the congregation. And if that measures up to what is true, right? It doesn't square.

[64:02] It doesn't. It's not unsquared with the faith. So, I'm not teaching something new, but I might be presenting a new way to apply what God wants us to do. All right?

[64:14] Okay. We got three more. Three more. So, if you haven't heard yours yet, we still got, what do we got? We got giving or sharing, leading, and mercy.

[64:28] Okay? So, giving. I don't know what that one is. Leading. Is that a, what body part would be leader? That'd be feet?

[64:40] Maybe eyes? Mercy. Mercy. What would that one be? Everybody? Yeah, everybody's going, heart. That's heart one, yeah. Giving, that's probably a hand. I don't know. Okay.

[64:53] Because that's extra credit. So, that's what you want to work on that. All right. Let's pray. Father, we ask you as we hear these words, we pray that you would fill us with the knowledge of your will.

[65:08] In all spiritual wisdom and discernment. Amen. So that we might walk in a manner worthy of you in every pleasing way.

[65:19] By bearing fruit in every good work. By increasing in the intimate knowledge of you. By being strengthened with all power according to your glorious might.

[65:33] For the attaining of all steadfastness and long suffering. And joyously giving thanks to you, Father.

[65:45] Who have qualified us for the inheritance of the saints in life. Fill us with that knowledge. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

[65:55]  Amen. Amen.