Part 5 - Teaching, Leadership And Exhortation Series

Spiritual Gifts Series

Part 5 – Teaching, Leadership and Exhortation

Rev. Bruce A. Shields

First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan

www.TawasBaptist.org

WELCOME

We’re continuing our series on the Spiritual Gifts this week. We’ve already looked at some of the Spiritual Gifts listed in Romans, including prophecy, service, giving and mercy.

This week I would like to talk about a few more gifts that are kind of related, teacher, leadership and exhortation.

PRAYER

TEACHER (pastor)

The Spiritual Gift of teacher is the capacity to educate by clearly explaining and applying God’s word.

While the evangelist goes where the lost are, the pastor/teacher stays in one locale and shepherds those already in God’s fold.

Along with shepherding, pastor/teachers comfort, encourage, and guard others while at the same time instructing, reproving, and equipping them.

Here is some scripture with their job description.

1 Timothy 3:1-7

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer (pastor/elder), he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife (not a polygamist or committing adultery), temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

So, here we read that to be a teacher/pastor or elder (both are interchangeable in the scriptures), there are certain requirements before you can effectively use your gift.

Although we are all human and we do all fall short of God’s glory, God requires a higher standard from those teaching His word.

Although God gives us the spiritual gift to be a teacher/pastor, we have the responsibility of living righteously in order to properly use that gift.

EXAMPLE,

I may have the spiritual gift to be a teacher/pastor, but if I commit adultery, then I just disqualified myself as teacher of God’s word because of what it says in 1Timothy 3.

Or, if I am a drunkard, or get into fist fights, etc...

I would disqualify myself from being able to use a gift that God has given me.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

We are told here in Timothy that preachers of the word are to correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction.

Because the time ill come, and I believe is already here, when men will gather where the words being taught will suit their own desires.

There are many churches, denominations and cults out there today that teach doctrine other than Christ’s.

People are like water. They travel the path of least resistance.

If someone is living in sin, and they know they are living in sin, and they want to continue to live in sin, they try to justify that sin.

They will go to a place that teaches that sin is not a sin.

This suits their desires.

It is our charge that if we have the spiritual gift to teach, that we teach God’s word for what it is.

God’s word is offensive, to those who are sinning.

God’s word is unkind, to those who refuse to repent.

God’s word is a double edge sword, if used properly it can separate our spiritual being from our carnal nature.

It’s our spirit that God is interested in, not our flesh which is corrupt.

A teacher of God’s word can preach to people in a way that they can grasp what the word of God is saying so that they may apply it to their lives and grow from it.

So many people miss out in life because they get saved, then never grow.

They never tap into the power of God’s Holy Spirit which He sent to be with us and empower us to live righteous and blessed lives here on earth.