Spiritual Gifts Series
Part 3 – “Gifts in Romans”
Rev. Bruce A. Shields – First Baptist Church Tawas City Michigan
www.TawasBaptist.org
I would like to welcome you to the First Baptist Church of Tawas City, we are very glad you are here today.
If you are visiting, please fill out a Visitor Card located in the back of the pew’s, and leave them on the pews as you leave, and someone will come by after the service and pick them up.
Scripture Reading
Romans 12:1-8
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
PRAYER
A few weeks ago we began our series on spiritual gifts.
We spoke about how it is God who gives us these gifts, to each of us who belong to the body of Christ. These gifts are given to us to build and edify this body of believers.
We know that these gifts come from the Holy Spirit in us, and are the Holy Spirit working through us and not anything we are doing or accomplishing.
We read in the scriptures how Paul doesn’t want us to be ignorant of the spiritual gifts. We need to know what they are and where they come from so we can use them the way God wants us to, in doing so we will fulfill God’s will for this church, and for us in our lives.
This is how God builds us and this church, through the Holy Spirit.
Another thing we talked about is how we are all given different gifts, and we are to work together as a whole.
God wants it this was so we work together, thus causing the unity among us that is pleasing to God.
We read in 1 Corinthians hat God has arranged THIS body of believers, every single one of us, just as He wants this body to be.
So if you are here, it is because God WANTS you to be here!
He has a plan for you, and He has given you the ability through Spiritual Gifts to carry out this plan.
If you do, your living God’s will for your life, and if you don’t you are living your will for your life.
God has given us the free will to choose Our will or His.
All of these gifts are from the same spirit.
God determines which ones and how many we have.
We learned from the story in Matthew 25 of the talents, that if we use our gifts properly, we will receive a profit from them, or they will grow, and God will give us more gifts!
We are given these gifts according to our ability to obey, and when we obey it pleases God.
The first time you exercise the Spiritual Gift of Faith, it may not be as strong as 5 years from now after you have exercised it a thousand times.
Using it properly, it grows.
We talked about how a lot of churches make the mistake of assigning positions and duties in the church according to people’s availability as opposed to their Spiritual Gifts and calling from God.
We want to be cautious of doing this.
God doesn’t just call people to be Pastor’s.
He calls each one of us everyday to DO.
We are commanded in the scriptures to be DOERS of the word, not just hearers.
Everyday God has something for us, we just don’t always hear.
Only through prayer and quiet time, and sometimes fasting, can we truly hear what God is telling us.
If you are trying to do something because someone asked you to, and it is not your Spiritual Gift, chances are you wont excel at it, and you will be unhappy.
But if it is what God has called you to do, it will not only be easy for you, but you will enjoy it and EXCEL.
There are many different gifts, but ALL are crucial to the body.
Remember the big toe story?
If you think your gift is too small to matter, you are wrong.
God would not give you something if it was worthless.
EVERY GIFT COUNTS!
All Christians have at least 1 gift.
Spiritual Gifts are essential for church growth and health.
There is no such thing as a non-essential gift.
Today we are looking at the first of the scriptures in the bible telling us about some of the spiritual gifts.
I say some of the gifts because the bible doesn’t list all of them.
It’s important to notice the wording in the beginning of the scripture reading today.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual[a] act of worship.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The scripture makes it very clear that, in order for us to know what God’s will is for our lives and this church we MUST do the following;
Offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
Don’t give into what our flesh may desire.
This is our Spiritual act of worship.
Do not live worldly, but be CHANGED by renewing your thinking!
THEN you will be able to know God’s will.
The scriptures continue;
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
You must have HUMILITY and OBEDIENCE to your understanding.
It’s SIMPLE – If you believe something is wrong, DON’T DO IT.
The scripture goes on to list some of the Spiritual Gifts.
So we see listed here;
Prophecy Exhortation (encouragement) Mercy
Service Giving
Teacher Leadership
Today I would like to look at one of these Spiritual Gifts, and give scriptural examples of them so we can better understand what they are.
The first Spiritual Gift I would like to talk about is prophecy.
1 Corinthians 14:1-5
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue[a] does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.[b] 3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,[c] but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues,[d] unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.”
All spiritual gifts are important, and none are non-essential.
But here, Paul says that prophecy is greater than tongues, because it strengthens, encourages, comforts and edifies the church.
So, unless you have an interpreter handy, tongues will only edify the speaker.
We must remember that God has given us these gifts to build or edify the entire church body.
There are two types of prophecy.
One is preaching the prophetic word of God from the scriptures.
For instance;
Revelation 1:3
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”
The other type is given to us through the Holy Spirit from God.
But it must serve God and strengthen, encourage, comfort and edify the church.
Like when Jonah went to Nineveh;
Jonah 1:1, 2
or Nathan went to David;
2 Samuel 12:1-7
or when Daniel went to Nebakanezer;
Daniel 2:24-49
or when the Prophet Samuel went to Saul, a few times.
1 Samuel 9
1 Samuel 13
1 Samuel 15
God is not going to give you the lotto numbers, or who is going to win the big game, which horse is coming in first, how many coins are in your left pocket, etc…
These things have NOTHING to do with God or His glory.
Those are parlor tricks. Unless it has to do directly with God or your relationship with Him or His people, chances are, it’s not God.
This would be called fortune telling, witchcraft etc...
That is not prophecy; prophecy must serve God and line up with the bible.
If someone tells you they have a prophecy from God that says anything that contradicts scripture, then they are not hearing God, but the devil.
There is no NEW revelation. The word is the word. You may grow in your understanding the word, but God is not going to give you anything that contradicts the Holy Word.
Revelation 22:18, 19
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
This is another reason why it is so important to know your scripture and read your bible, so as not to be fooled.
Anyone who preaches that Jesus has visited him with “NEW” words to record or another book that takes place of the Holy Word, they are of the devil.
God has already given us the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Any book that lays claim to be the new or next or extended revelation is a lie from the devil.
The book of Mormon is a lie from cover to cover.
I have read it, and anything that says it replaces the teachings of the Holy Bible is from the devil. I don’t care how you present it.
1 Corinthians 14:29-33
“Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
Those who prophecy are judged by other prophets on whether or not what they are saying is from God. They can do this because they know God will not tell someone something He isn’t telling His other prophets.
This is why it is so important to have more than one Elder. The bible always speaks plural when speaking of Elders. So they can all pray and listen to what direction God is leading them to lead the church.
This is why it’s important NOT to have one man, such as A PASTOR, in charge of everything.
It is not scriptural to have one man in charge of the church.
This is because Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
Now there’s nothing wrong with having a pastor, but his responsibility is not being the head of the church.
But preaching and teaching as a shepherd looking over God’s people and being an active member of the Board of Elders who as a group seeks God’s will for this church.
That IS scriptural.
This is why the Elders encourage the church to prayerfully consider decisions and such in the church; so that we can be sure it is the will of God. Because God is going give more than just one person His will for this church.
I’ve seen it here many times where 3 or 4 people who have not talked about a certain subject will come up with the same direction from God, and it is only later we discover that God was leading all of these people in the same, and most of the times very specific, direction.
1 Corinthians 14:37-40
“If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.[i]
39Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
Everything must be done in an orderly way. If it is not orderly, we are told to ignore what they have to say.
There should NEVER be someone hollering out unintelligible tongues or prophecies during a church service.
This is disruptive, disorderly and unscriptural.
Churches that practice this are allowing there service and worship to become disorganized and chaotic.
This is not God’s way.
Prophecy can come in the form of dreams as well.
I had a prophetic dream once of a man and 2 events with many specific details that were going to come into his life that would directly affect his relationship with God.
I was instructed to warn him, and I did, even though I didn’t really understand all the specific details.
A few weeks later the first event happened, and the details were correct.
Shortly after that the second event happened, and the details once again were correct.
Why did God give this prophecy to me?
I believe it was because this person I was to give this to would listen and trust me and his relationship with God was going to be in danger.
Although he heard me and trusted me, he didn’t listen.
But this is what the Spiritual Gifts are for, to build and edify the body.
My part was to warn him of what God showed me, and I did.
Do I get prophecies all the time? No, it’s only happened a few times, but every time has been right on with no error, and when I know God has given me something I do all I can to follow.
I can’t perform at will or get prophecies when I choose.
This would be man controlling God.
That’s not how it works.
It is God through the Holy Spirit doing this, not me.
I have ZERO control over it.
God decides if and when, not me.
I may never have another prophecy as long as I live. That may have been a Spiritual Gift I received for a specific reason, and it served God’s purpose.
But if I acted properly, using the gift as I was supposed to, perhaps God will grow that gift and continue to use me in that way?
All who belong to the body of Christ have at least one gift.
But you have to belong to the body of Christ.
To do this, you have to accept Jesus as your Savior.
ALTAR CALL
Ask yourself right now,
Have I recognized Jesus as Lord?
Have I confessed my sin to Him?
Have I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior?
If you would like to do that now, come forward and one of the Elders will pray with you.
If you would like to accept Jesus as your Lord and savior and allow God’s love to spare you from hell, come forward.
If you would like to be baptized or join our family here at the First Baptist Church, please come forward and one of the Elders will help you.
Or if you have a prayer concern or would like to be prayed over, now is the time to come forward and we will pray for you.
James 5:13-15
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
If the Holy Spirit is calling you forward, come forward now.
