 Well, today we're in Romans chapter 12. We're going to be looking very briefly at verses 3 through 8, a section that, to be quite honest with you, each one of these gifts that we'll be looking at in just a moment, gifts of the Spirit, could take up an entire session by themselves, and we're looking at seven gifts today that Paul makes mention of as he's writing to the Romans here in chapter 12. So let's begin reading at verse 3. I'll read verses 3 through 8, and we're going to do a very brief touching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as Paul begins to speak concerning them here in Romans 12. So beginning at verse 3, Paul writes, For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, 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 individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith or ministry, let us use it in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. And so as we begin, let me lay a foundation for you. Paul is beginning to admonish the Romans to humility. He's also encouraging them to serve the Lord and not only to serve God, but to serve God as well as people. And that is because service to God is the natural outflow of presenting yourself to him. Now he had said in chapter 12, 1 and 2, that they were to present themselves to God. And so if they present themselves as living sacrifices and if they're being transformed, then he's saying that the result of presenting yourself and being transformed would be service to the Lord. You see when you receive mercy from God, then the natural response should be dedication of your life to him. Now Paul was speaking as one who had received grace. Notice he says in chapter 12, verse 3 here in Romans, for I say, through the grace given to me. So he had received grace from God and so he could speak on two basic levels. One, he could speak of himself as being saved by grace and then from that standpoint, he could be like any other saved sinner. That gives him the ability, in other words, to speak as a saved sinner amongst other saved sinners. And so one, he had received grace, but secondly, he had been strategically placed in the ministry. Now when he speaks concerning this, he's in full-time service to God, that means that he understands grace on a personal level and he can communicate God's grace with authority. When Paul was writing to Timothy, let me lay this as a foundation in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 12 through 16, he said this, he said, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. However, for this reason, I obtained mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. So he was somebody who had obtained mercy, he was somebody who had been put into the ministry and so it was from that perspective that he began this portion of his letter. God has given me grace to serve him is what he's saying and this is something that every believer should be doing. That's what he means when he says, for I say to everyone who is among you, you see service to God is not for an elite group of believers, serving God is something for all believers. In Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12, Paul said these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. So Paul's plan is actually God's plan and God's plan is for all his people to exercise the gifts of the spirit that God has given to them. Now each believer in this room right now has a spiritual gift. Paul would be exhorting all of us to simply use that gift. Not every person in this room has the same gift and if you have more than one gift, not everyone has the same identical gift mix. That makes the body of Christ operate more effectively because the diversity of gifts and the way they are exercised is intended to reach other people. Now one of the ways that the gifts of the spirit and we'll be looking at them in just a moment, but one of the ways that this plan of God for people to exercise the gifts of the spirit and minister to others, one of the ways that that can be frustrated is through pride because one of the temptations attached to exercising the gift of the spirit is taking credit for what God does. And some people can become proud because they exercise noticeable gifts and then people will begin to follow them in particular and that's one of the reasons why immature Christians should not be given a position of spiritual authority. Paul in 1st Timothy 3 verse 6, when he's speaking of the qualifications of a pastor teacher said that he is not to be a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. And so humility is what God desires for us if we're to properly serve him. That's why he would write in Philippians 2-3, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. And so with that in mind, Paul begins to exhort us as he exhorts them not to think too highly of themselves. You see, people have a propensity of giving honor to the one who's the most visible and the result will always be a subtle kind of pride and the flesh can be rewarded with honor. So that's why Paul begins by exhorting them. Notice he exhorts them in verse 3 to humility. They're not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think. Instead, he says they're to think soberly. Now that word soberly means properly or balanced. They're to think in a balanced way. Now how can that happen? Well, God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. That word measure means determined. It's a determined amount. God has given to you the required amount of faith necessary to exercise your gifts. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit are exercised by faith. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural endowments by God. They are not natural gifts that you have that are enhanced by the fact that you're using those gifts in a church service or service to the Lord in this sense. I mean, you may be a great teacher and you may be teaching children in or high schoolers or college or whatever. You may be good at communicating information from an educational perspective, but that doesn't necessarily make you a spiritual teacher. You may have a great voice. You may be able to sing very well, but that doesn't make you into a worship leader because your gifting may be natural. There are other things God gives to you that may not relate to your teaching. It may not relate to your singing. It may have something entirely different. You may have a natural ability, but that doesn't mean that's a spiritual ability. Sometimes God will take that natural ability that you've already had. You've already refined through experience and all. Then God supernaturally will charge that and it becomes a spiritual gift, but that's not always the case. What it does, though, is God gives to us gifts. We'll look at those gifts in just a moment. Whatever gift you may have requires you to exercise it with faith. You have to exercise faith in order to use the gift. You have to take the chance sometimes. Step out in faith to see what the Lord will do. When I was 20 years old, my dad and I were talking on one occasion. I had just explained something out of the Bible to somebody else. My dad said to me, I didn't know that you could do that, and I said that I could do what? He said, I didn't know that you could communicate like that with people. That you could explain and they could understand. He said, I understood what you said. I understood what you were saying. I didn't know that the Lord had given to me that gift. I didn't know that. I simply exercised it. I simply shared. But that's how I began teaching Bible studies, because it was shortly after that that I asked my dad and my mom if they would mind being my guinea pigs. I mean my Bible students so that I could have a home Bible study, which began 40 years ago this month. It was in September. So I'm celebrating 40 years of exercising that gift that I initially and still do, had to step out in faith to exercise. All the gifts of the Spirit come through the exercise of faith. And so God has given to us the gifts of the Spirit, but it requires a step of faith to exercise those gifts. And so it takes faith to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, and God has applied what is necessary to do so. He has given to us, he says, a measure of faith. Now in verse four, he says, 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 individually members of one another. And so even as the human body is made up of different members, you have eyes and ears, you have a mouth, nose, hands, feet, and all of that. He said the body, the physical body has various members, but they're not all identical. Each one of them has their own manner in which they're to be exercised. And all he's saying, the body of Christ is like that too. And so every member of the body is of critical importance if the body is going to function properly. One of the things I would encourage you to, even as I'm introducing this subject, and as we'll be looking at it in just a moment, I would say this to you. I would say there are people here right now who think that they're not very important. They're thinking that their gifts don't really matter, that they really don't have anything to offer, that they're really not somebody that God can use. Well, I'm letting you know today that God wants to use you, that God has placed you into this position in order to use you, and we need each other. There are no perfect members in the body of Christ, and there are no perfect churches. And you can't have this attitude. The enemy has lied to you long enough. It's time to say that it's enough, no more. God has given to you gifts and abilities, and all it requires of you is to step out in faith and to exercise those, and see what God wants to do. God wants to do works through you. He wants to do something in you, and he wants to communicate through you to other people. That's what he designed the body of Christ to be. And you might look and say, well, there are other people that are more elite. There are other people that are better gifted. There are other people that are smarter or whatever. But the bottom line is, is you are necessary. In 1 Corinthians 12, 21 and 22, it says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. The head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. On the contrary, those parts in the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. We're all necessary. Every one of us in the body of Christ, and God wants to use us for whatever reason and in whatever way he wants to. And we need each other. And so we exercise those gifts because the body of Christ is intended to expose God to the world. The gifts that he gives to us is intended to be communicating his presence amongst man. And so he has gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now notice what he says in verse 6. He says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching. He who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality. He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy with cheerfulness. And so he begins to speak concerning that. He says, the body of Christ, unworthy as we are, have been given spiritual gifts of ministry. And every member of the body is intended to have a sharing ministry and is intended to do its share. According to Acts 1-8, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And that power is intended to equip us for works of service and we are to use those gifts. Now the Bible talks in various places concerning what are called Gifts of the Spirit. You see Paul mentioning it in 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14 in Ephesians chapter 4 and 1 Peter chapter 4. They all include lists of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now there is no actual number, exact number of gifts listed in this particular portion of scripture. But Paul gives to us seven gifts. And we're going to be looking at these seven gifts as we go through this portion of Romans 12. He begins by speaking concerning prophecy. Notice what he says in verse 6. He says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, prophecy. In the Old Testament, prophecy normally is used to speak concerning one of those whom God has called to communicate events that were to take place in the future. The gift of prophecy was the revealing of the mind of God to man. The book of Amos chapter 3 verse 7 says, the Lord does nothing without revealing His plans to His servants the prophets. And so in the Old Testament, a prophetic word very often spoke concerning a future event. In the New Testament, a prophetic word can refer to the future, but it can also speak of what would be called forth telling or proclaiming the mind of God, explaining God's intentions. When Paul was speaking concerning the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14 verses 3 and 4, he said, he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. So he says this prophetic gift when exercised in church is for edification, which speaks of building up the body of Christ. He says it's for exhortation, which encourages us in our walk with Jesus Christ. It speaks of comfort, which reminds us that God is concerned about us. This gift can be exercised in a variety of fashions. It can be exercised from the pulpit during teaching where this prophetic methodology occurs where a word of comfort, edification, encouragement comes to people. And it's not something that the individual who's exercising it normally or necessarily has to acknowledge. There have been times I've seen somebody giving what would be called a prophetic word where they stand still for a moment and they begin to clear their throat and then they change the manner in which they speak and the cadence of their speech. And sometimes they've even gone into King James in English. My little children thus saith the Lord. And it just becomes odd. It just becomes bizarre. When the Lord is speaking through a prophetic word, it comes off very often in a very natural sense, but it's edifying, it's encouraging, it's comforting people. So you don't have to suddenly become weird. You don't have to start quivering. You don't have to start sweating. You don't have to pull out a handkerchief and dab your forehead or crawl across the stage. When you're speaking and forth the word of God in such a way, you're revealing the heart of God to man. You're revealing his concern for you, your forth telling. And very often it takes place during teaching. In 1 Corinthians 14-5, Paul tells us that when this gift is being exercised, it edifies the body of Christ. In chapter 14 verse 9 of 1 Corinthians, he says these words are easy to understand. So prophecy is to the point, and it's not intended to be something mysterious. It's intended to communicate to you what God's mind would be at that moment. So he speaks of prophecy. Next in Romans 12-7, he speaks of ministry. That word ministry, diaconia, speaks of service to the body. It's similar to the gift of helps that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-28. You see, when somebody has this particular gift, that person notices that there are things to be done. There are people in need. And so the one gifted with this ministry, this gift of ministry is the one who has a spiritual gift who wants to meet those needs. You see a need and you want to go out and you want to meet that need. Now all Christians are exhorted and instructed to serve, but this ministry gift makes a sensitive to other people's needs. A person who has this particular gift enjoys meeting practical needs. They get involved in ministry to serve in that way. They'll get into a helps ministry in their church, or they'll begin a ministry of their own to reach people. They don't do it for an outward crown. They do it because of the inward joy. Ask yourself whether you're a person who likes to see people's needs met. It may be that you have the gift of ministry. Verse 7, he speaks of the gift of teaching. The gift of teaching is the ability to explain and to encourage practical application. Teaching appeals to the intellect. It stimulates a person to listen as well as to do that which they're called to do. So when a person is a teacher of the word of God, they're able to explain God's word. They're able to communicate it clearly. And as they do so, they're able not only to explain it, but actually call people to practice, to put it into practice to do something. But teaching reaches the mind. It reaches the intellect. But he says, exhortation, that's another gift that very often goes along with teaching. That actually appeals to the will. Now exhortation is a word that means encouragement or comfort. It very often is exercised in biblical counsel. When you're speaking to somebody and they've got a problem and you begin to minister to them and you begin to share with them from the word of God, but God's heart on that matter may be. And as you do so, you're appealing to their will. Now, for the sake of illustration, one of the gifts that I have is a gift of exhortation. That's one of my gifts. And if I weren't a pastor, I probably would have been a coach. I would have enjoyed it. I would have liked to have been there saying, okay, we can do it. Guys, come on. We can do this. We can win this game. We can run this race and do the best that we can. That's what I'm like. That's what I'm like as a person. And if you and I had friendship, you would see that eventually in me, that that's what I'm like when I'm with people. I like to see people do the best that they can do. I like to encourage people to do the best that they can. And so that word of encouragement, that word of exhortation is something that is a spiritual gift that comes from within me. Before I got saved, I like to knock people down. After I got saved, God gave me the gift of exhortation to encourage people to get up and to do better. And you can do this. We can make it. And there's no reason why you can't. What's keeping you from doing it? Who's stopping you? Who's lying to you? Who's telling you you can't do that? Where did you get the idea that you can't do that? You can do that. Why can't you do that? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me more than conqueror through Jesus Christ. I can do that. You can do that. We can do it. Let's go out and do it. That's me. That's my gift. You know, I actually tone down my messages. Think about that for a minute. I tone them down because I've got such a strong exhortive spirit because I want people to do well. I want them to succeed. I want them to do right with God. I want them to live for Jesus Christ. I want their lives blessed. And that's an exhorter. And the enemy has a tendency of lying to you, has a tendency of trying to undermine you, has a tendency of saying you can't do this. You haven't got any possibility of doing that. Should God open the windows of heaven? Should such a thing take place? There's no way. Look at you. Look what you've been. Look how you've failed. Look at your life. Look at where you've come from. What makes you think that you can do something? And you listen to it and you listen to it and you listen to it and you just program yourself negatively, constantly. I can't do that. Somebody else can do that. And we get this weird attitude, kind of like Eor. You guys remember Eor? No, I can't do that. It ain't going to happen. Why can't you do that? Why can't God use you? Why can't God work through you? What keeps God from moving in you? You can be used by Jesus Christ. Why not? And that's my heart. I see it. I believe it. If I'd have listened to the lies of the enemy, I wouldn't be standing here right now because he told me I was nothing. He told me I was a fool. He told me I was stupid. He called me a liar. He said, you're a thief. You're a drug addict. You're an alcoholic. You cannot be used. But God is greater than the enemy. And God said, that's a lie. He can be. And you can too. You can too. You can too, man. When I grew up out here, just hope this illustrates and doesn't come off weird. When I was growing up, I still am. When I was younger, growing up, somewhere I got in my head that I was stupid. I mean, stupid. Not just slow, stupid. And I felt that I was stupid. And I felt stupid for most of my teen years into the time I was 20 years old. That I had no intelligence. I had no capacity. I was just a loser. I heard that in my own heart, not by my parents. My parents never said anything like that to me. But I heard it. It was my own inner voice speaking to me. You can't amount to anything. Look at you. What a waste you are. Look at you. Into drugs, into alcohol. Look at you. You can't even keep a girlfriend. You are unloving and you are unlovable. You are just a flat out. You just lost and you are a loser. I believed that. I believed that. I acted on that. Then I got saved. And I went into the military. And I went in the army with a dear friend of mine whom I respected very much because he was a good student in school. And I always felt inferior to him in so many ways. And we started taking batteries of tests. Intelligence tests. Aptitude tests. And I have the sergeant approach me and he says to me, Rosales, he says you passed this particular test that qualifies you to be appointed to go to Monterey School of Languages. You have the capacity to learn languages. We'd like you to go to school to become a translator so that we can use your skills for the military. And I said, I'm in for two years. I don't want to go to school. Thank you very much. But he's telling me I have this capacity to learn language. And then he comes up to me again another day and he says, Rosales, he said you have been appointed to West Point. You have been given an appointment to the most prestigious military university in the world. You have qualified. We want to send you to West Point so that you can become a captain. And I said, I'm in for two years. Thank you because it would have been nine years that I had to stay in. I said, two years is long enough for me but I appreciate the encouragement. I felt stupid. And now it's being presented to me that you're not. Recently when I lost my memory I had to take a battery of tests. And the neuropsychologist who tested me said the reason that you aren't losing your memory is you test in the top 96% tile in the nation. And I'm not stupid but I thought it was. I thought it was for years. I thought I couldn't do it. I thought I was just dumb. The enemy has been lying to you too. You can be used by God. Why can't you? Why can't you? Tell the enemy he's a liar. He's a loser himself. But Jesus is the victor and the new and watch what God will say. I'm telling you. That's the gift of exhortation. That's what God has given to me. And there are others who have that gift. Prophecy, teaching, exhortation. These are gifts of the Spirit that the body of Christ are built up by. There's another gift he speaks of verse 8. The gift of giving. Now the gift of giving is a gift that not that you're simply generous or obedient in your giving. It's a gift of giving. It's a spontaneous, generous response to needs. There's a purity of heart and there's a simplicity. You're not looking for attention. You see generosity is actually to be the normal life of a believer. But this particular gift is a gift that God gives to you that actually motivates you to be a generous spirit. And it's normally because you see a need and you want to meet that need. I have friends who have this particular gift. They're great to hang around with, especially when you're eating together. They like to pay for the meal. But these people can be taken advantage of. I say that in a joking way. They can be taken advantage of because they are generous. They want to give because it's in their heart. And I've had friends that I know who have that. My son David Aaron has this particular gift. My son David is very, very generous. He's a very generous young man. He's the kind who will take the shirt off his back and give it to somebody if they have a need. It's a beautiful gift. And it's a gift that the Holy Spirit gives to us. The Bible in Proverbs 11.25 says generous soul will be made rich and he who waters will also be watered himself. Generosity is the normal life of a believer but there are those who have a spiritual gift. They see a need. It's a financial need and they want to dip into their own finances and they want to meet that need. There's the gift of leadership. When he speaks concerning this leadership gift, this administration when he speaks concerning that he's referring to one who can super intend. You see I presented my body for service but how does God direct me? Very often he does so through the gift of administration or the gift of governments. It's a leading kind of gift that God gives to some people. We know that spiritual leadership is not the same as secular leadership. We know that Jesus is the head of the church. He's the one who appoints leaders but this individual who is appointed is the one who ministers and does so with great diligence. He does it with a sense of not lording it over people and not getting lazy but he's committed or she's committed in their vision and the amount of work that they're willing to do. There are people who have this particular gift, a gift of leading and then he speaks concerning showing mercy. He says he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Mercy, showing concern and care for the sick and those in need. What a beautiful gift the gift of mercy is. It's that cheerful, spontaneous service to those who have a need and they actually those who have this particular gift they do it with a joy. Again in order to make illustration of this I have friends who have the gift of mercy and it's a beautiful gift. They're the ones who will be seated next to you when you're hurting and they will listen to you and they'll pray with you and they'll cry with you. Randy Wall's pastor of Calvary Chapel of Upland has a merciful heart. He's got a gift of mercy and he's the kind of guy who he just does that. I hadn't seen him for a while and he and I went out for dinner our wives and Randy and I hadn't seen him on a personal level for probably a month and a half or so and when we went out he tells me this we're sitting down in the time out seat where the girls were out there in one of the stores they all have time out seats for us, you know that and we kind of just sit there going well I don't know what I'm going to do what are you going to do, I don't know what I'm going to do so we kind of sit there doing nothing and holding on to our wallets because I don't have the gift of giving but anyway as as we were there talking he turns to me and he says so tell me how are you doing and I said what do you mean and he says with your mom going home and all David how are you doing and he's one of those guys who sincerely wants to know how are you really doing so he's somebody I can share with he's someone I can say well you know this is where I'm at I'm doing this is how I'm feeling and he just listens and and if there's a tear that comes to my eye he cries along with me, he's cried many times when I've gone through something and I've shared with my friend who has a gift of mercy and he just listens and he'll weep and that's you know he's no Job's comforter we'll just put it that way he's the kind of person the person who has this gift is the kind of person who bears the burdens of somebody else because they love them and they want to help them it is a beautiful gift in the body of Christ I mentioned seven gifts just now just touched them like I said we could have taken an hour for each gift and that would have been an introduction but as I went through these did you recognize any of them for yourself did you see yourself as someone who can teach or somebody who exhorts or somebody who has a heart to give or somebody who shows mercy did you see yourself in a leadership position like that if not then when you go home find some time ask the Lord what is it Lord that you want me to do for you I don't want to be one of these people who just basically sits on a bench and cheers other people I want to be in the game myself I want to do something too what have you given to me to do Lord because let me tell you something and I'll close with this thought we're living in a time when it seems that some people have have not understood what Jesus said when Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive and unfortunately what seems to be happening is there are so many people who think it's more blessed to receive than to give and what they begin to be are people who basically sit on the sidelines watching other people people play the game and then critiquing those who don't do it up to their standards and I discovered a long time ago that when you get into the game it's a lot different than being on the sideline everybody on the sidelines always has a better play it should have been done this way it could have been done that way everybody has a better play if they like the game and they've ever played it they always should have done this or they should have done that it's just different when you're in the game yourself when you're taking the heat when you're going through it when you're active serving the Lord it gives you less time to complain about others who are serving the Lord and so what God has called us to do and that's what Paul is saying here he is saying God has given to each one a measure of faith and each one has gifts exercise those gifts I'd encourage you go home ask the Lord what do you have what would you have me to do I want to do those things Lord I want to do them for you and for your glory and for your life when you release it to Him exercise your gifts God has given to you a measure of faith to exercise them exercise them and see what God will do through you