Trinity Church Spokane Valley
Romans 12:6-8
Good morning Trinity Church it's good to see you this morning and looking forward to spending more time with you hopefully if you're able to stay for our picnic this afternoon this is our first day first picnic of the summer we're gonna have a couple more of those as we go through the summer and so hopefully you have plans to join us and enjoy fellowship together if you're visiting with us this morning if you're not a member here at Trinity Church we invite you to the picnic as well and you didn't receive information about it we didn't email you information if you're a visitor because you're not a member of our church so we don't communicate with people who aren't members of our church in as clear of ways and so but you're still invited we love to have you and I'm sure people have food to share with you or you can run down to McDonald's and come back with a big Mac or something that'd be fine that's gonna be right after our service and so we're looking forward to that and because of that I'm sure that most of you are hoping I preach a short message today so we can get down to the picnic and today I'm gonna do my best I'm gonna do my best to be a little bit more brief believe it or not most of you aren't believing it again if you're visiting with us we have been in the book of Romans Romans chapter 12 particularly for the summer here at Trinity Church during the summer we like to memorize a passage of Scripture together and this helps us be unified throughout the summer as people go camping and go to the lake and all the different things that people do during the summer we can memorize a passage together and stay on the same page stay in tune with one another as we memorize and so this summer we are memorizing Romans chapter 12 the entire chapter and walking through this over the summer preaching through this text as well as we go through the course of the summer looking forward to next week next week I believe Dan Ferguson is preaching next week is that right Dan that's correct Dan Ferguson is gonna be preaching I gave him the passage on love being genuine because I'm wanting him to grow in that way and so we're looking forward we're looking forward to him preaching next week in fact throughout the summer we'll have a couple different people preaching this summer which will be a wonderful blessing to our body so again you enough time if you have found it please stand with me out of honor for God's word Romans chapter 12 I'm going to read the entire chapter Romans 12 starting verse 1 all the way through verse 21 I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect for 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 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 let us use them if prophecy and proportion to our faith if service in our serving the one who teaches in his teaching the one who exhorts in his exhortation the one who contributes in generosity the one who leads with zeal the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness let love be genuine abhor what is evil hold fast to what is good love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another in showing honor do not be slothful and zeal be fervent in spirit serve the Lord rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse them rejoice with those who rejoice weep with those who weep live in harmony with one another do not be haughty but associate with the lowly never be wise in your own sight repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the side of all if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him something to drink for by so doing you will keep burning coals on his head do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good this is the word of the Lord father we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity of your word the sufficiency of your word we thank you for the gift of grace that you have given to us in Jesus there is no more for you to give us you have given us everything in your son and we praise you for that gift of grace we thank you also for the gifts that accompany our salvation the gifts you have given your church for the building up of your church for the growth spiritually the maturing of your church for the meeting of needs the care the mutual care of one another I pray that you would help all of us in this text and with this sermon help all of us to see the point of of why you've given us gifts how we are to use them what the end is in mind and that all of this would be done for the name of your son for his exaltation and for your glory I pray that you would bring us humility that you would create in us faith to use these gifts that you would give us boldness creating us a selflessness that we would live and serve one another for your sake for this is what your community should look like we pray for those who are here who do not know you their creator God the true and living God they do not know you they do not worship you but they spend the life that you have given them on themselves and they realize or they realize that this is futile but they refuse to turn and repent and submit them themselves to Jesus I pray that this morning you would buy your spirit and buy your grace you would work in their hearts and minds to convince them of their need to convince them of the worth and value of Jesus and of his death on the cross and what it accomplished and of his resurrection and what it accomplishes and that today they would put their faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation and become part of your family become part of your body the body of Christ the church we pray all this for your sake and for the sake of your son amen you may be seated so set for the last couple of weeks Paul the apostle here in Romans 12 wants to change our thinking we need our thinking changed we are not to be conformed to this age but we are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind so that we may know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God we need to be changed when you came to Christ it was not just a matter of praying a prayer or asking Jesus to save you from hell when you came to Christ there was a change of mind that occurred there was a change of disposition there was we we use the word conversion was a change we are as his people as recipients of grace not to live as the world lives as this age lives we are not to think according to the thinking of this age and Paul the apostle after he has explained the gospel for 11 chapters wants us as God's people as the people who have received grace he wants us to live distinctly from the world in the way that we think the way that would behave and the context for that new thinking the context for that transformed behavior the context is the spiritual body the body of Christ it is of high importance of most importance how you live here in the context of the body of Christ in the church this is where we show that we have been converted this is where we show that we have been changed this is where we show that we've been transformed and are transforming in fact if you were to if you were to highlight what our purpose is here at Trinity Church it is to grow into maturity into Christ it is growing in maturity it is that transformational ministry that is to be taking place in our lives that's what our goals are together is to transform into the likeness of Christ together Romans chapter 12 on the heels of Paul the apostle giving us that vision that view of what our life is to be we are to give our lives a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service our spiritual worship not being conformed to the world but being transformed by the renewal of our mind on the heels of that he starts by telling us how we are to live in unity as the body this is his concern for us last week remember I said last week we were doing part one of really two a two part message last week in verse three through five we prepared the ground for what the apostle Paul is telling us in verse six through eight we prepared the ground remember here was the point last week as God's people as recipients of grace we are to think humbly which means we are to think sensibly about ourselves which means we are to think correctly regarding the role that God has assigned us in the church which means we are to value the body of Christ over ourselves we are to value others we are to value the body of Christ the church over our own lives that this is indeed much different than our culture thinks so verse six through eight which we're looking at today continues the point from last week and flesh is it out in our unique spiritual gifting now right here at the front we what we're not wanting to do today is a complete theology on spiritual gifts I've got to tell you this I hope you hear this in context talking about spiritual gifts is not my favorite topic this is not my favorite thing to talk about you say well why why pastor Paul is it not your favorite things to talk about well it's not because of what the Bible says I love what the Bible says about spiritual gifts it's not that the Bible is unclear the Bible is very clear about spiritual gifts it's actually more about what the Bible doesn't say about spiritual gifts and what a lot of people want to say about spiritual gifts it's like everybody has their opinion on what the spiritual gifts are you've all seen the the gift test the spiritual gift test that you're supposed to take to discern and find out what your spiritual gift is I just want to ask where do where do they get the criteria for those tests it's not on the Bible it's extra biblical spiritual gifts have become the Christian version of the personality test really spiritual gifts become a way for us to center and focus on ourselves what is God given me how am I gonna find my best life in the church this is not what the spiritual gifts are about also there is a lot of people who want to focus on what we call miraculous sign gifts so in in the Bible there really are two types of gifts okay two two types now in a minute I'm gonna talk about two categories that's different than the two types I'm talking about now right so two types of gifts there are in the Bible what we call miraculous sign gifts miraculous sign gifts which here at Trinity we are going to teach that the miraculous sign gifts are temporary and pertaining solely to the coming of Christ and the ensuing apostolic age so Christ comes there were many signs and wonders that a company Christ coming and then his apostles he commissions his apostles and in that early first church the apostolic age there were miraculous sign gifts given in the church these were meant to validate what God was doing what God was saying and revealing it was to validate that God was now working in and through his newly established church in the name of his son so to put it simply that was a change of program the people of God moved from being national Israel now to being focused in the church God's people are now the church and there was miraculous sign miraculous signs given in wonders given to validate that this is indeed the Messiah that has come what he speaks is truth and these men going out in his name they are his apostles given to build his church and so yes there were miraculous sign gifts in the establishing of this new program in this newly established church the these sign gifts then were simultaneously serving to validate the new revelation and express judgment against the Jewish people for their rejection of their Messiah that's why the miraculous sign gifts were there they were signs it's even in the name they were signs pointing to something they were unique in particular for a particular time and we're gonna teach here at Trinity church that they're no longer needed today the miraculous sign gifts are temporary they are no longer needed today now I'm gonna say this at the at the tale of that you could still be a faithful Bible believer an interpretive scripture and disagree with what I just said I don't hate you I disagree with you but that doesn't mean I hate you or dislike you or think that you're ungodly because you don't agree with me you can be a faithful Bible teacher and not have the same belief that we do here on miraculous sign gifts we're not going to teach it here at Trinity so let's move on past the miraculous sign gifts the list that we're looking at today here in Romans 12 are not a reference to the miraculous sign gifts these gifts in Romans 12 these gifts are those long term ongoing gifts that have been given to each and every believer for the sake of the church it is interesting that sometimes people want to focus on the miraculous sign gifts almost to the exclusion of these ongoing permanent long-term gifts that God has given at salvation for the benefit of His church and that is what Paul's point here is in Romans 12 talking about these gifts the point for Paul is that we are one body in Christ our oneness in Christ is more important than our individuality maybe I could say it this way it's not about us church is not a place where we come to be served we come instead to serve others our individual gifting is meant to serve the unified body so let me give you let me give you the point summarize here God has given all of us gifts when He saved us God has given all of us gifts gifts of grace God has given all of us gifts of grace to be used for the sake of Christ body the church and there was there was no one accepted from this there was no one exempt from this if you have received the grace that is in Jesus Christ along with that salvation Christ has given you a spiritual gift a spiritual role to be used for the sake of His church to be used for the sake of the body here in Romans 12 there are seven gifts listed this is not an exhaustive list but a representative one in other words this does not include all of the particular gifts but is meant to be representative what do I say that because there are other passages which reference other gifts primarily 1st Corinthians 12 really you could say chapters 12 13 and 14 and 1st Corinthians and Ephesians 4 those are the other two passages which speak of varying gifts 1st Peter 4 1st Peter chapter 4 also talks about the gifts and this is interesting now now we talked about the two types right we talked about the two miraculous sign gifts that are temporary and here are the spiritual gifts that God gives us at salvation for the sake of His church in these spiritual gifts that God has given at salvation for the sake of His church 1st Peter summarizes these gifts under two headings under two categories 1st Peter chapter 4 highlights two two different categories the speaking gifts and the serving gifts I really like the simplicity of that speaking the word and serving this particular list in Romans 12 the back to Romans 12 what we're looking at here in Romans 12 I think fits and divides very neatly into those same categories so that's how I'm going to approach it this morning now I know if you're if you got your Greek New Testament out right if you got your Greek New Testament out you're gonna you're gonna tell me that there are three different constructions here in this passage none of the commentators agree on what the point of those three different constructions are in the grammarians they don't agree nobody agrees on the significance of those constructions and so it seems to me that the easiest and most helpful way to approach this passage this morning for us is to categorize the list in Romans 12 these seven gifts underneath the two headings of speaking gifts and serving gifts let's let's walk through it okay so what I want to do is I want to walk through these seven gifts very quickly and then I want to offer you some instruction and some implication for us as we seek to use our gifts for the sake of the body there in verse 6 having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us let us use them if prophecy in proportion to our faith now some commentators believe that the gift of prophecy listed here is synonymous with preaching I think there is an overlap to be sure between the two however I think it too far to say that preaching and prophecy are synonymous a prophet is someone has always been someone who speaks God's word that is the revelation of God how how God has communicated the prophet stands on behalf of God with God's authority now again here at Trinity we're gonna teach that since we live in the days of a closed canon that is we don't need any more revelation we have all that God intends to give us in his word since we live in the days of a closed canon this would mean that anybody who says they have the gift of prophecy must speak in accordance with what God has already revealed there is not going to be new authoritative revelation we do not live in the day and age which where there is new and authoritative revelation he's given us all that we need in his word someone who promotes the idea that a person can have a word from God that is outside of what God has clearly said in his revealed scripture is undermining whether the realizers are not they are undermining the sufficiency of scripture in other words we believe that God has given us all that we need in his word he has given us all that we need for life and godliness it is it is interesting how often people want to to talk about God speaking to them in ways that do not find accordance with what God has clearly said God is not speaking in a way to contradict himself and so anybody that says well I have the gift of prophecy needs to make sure that they're speaking in accordance with what God has revealed I think prophecy the ministry of prophecy the gift of prophecy is simply today a ministry of speaking the truth of God's word someone with the gift of prophecy then is not speaking in their own authority but standing in the authority of God's revealed word as it's given in scripture and this person should always be using this gift in the context of the church there are many people that want to go out and speak in an authoritative word and speak for God and yet they don't want to submit to the life and authority of a church this is not healthy consider 1 Corinthians 12 we need to dip into 1 Corinthians 12 briefly in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul says that the gift of prophecy is to be desired over the other gifts but why because of its benefit to the church it's a benefit to the church now all the gifts all the gifts should be exercised in the context of love for the people of God for his body the phrase in proportion to our faith that's what it says verse six having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us let us use them if prophecy in proportion to our faith that phrase in proportion to our faith could mean one of two things it could mean that the one who prophesies should do so in accord with the faith as it has been handed down that is the analogy of faith that fits well with the Greek or it could mean as it seems to be implied in our section from last week as we heard last week there have been given different capacities for the use of the gifts God has not given the same measure or capacity to every believer this seems to fit better with the context as we see it so the idea is that one who has the gift of speaking the truth of God's word should do so in proportion to the capacity God has given to them in other words not to use the gift to puff themselves up or to make themselves bigger than they really are speak according to what you've been given in understanding and knowledge don't try to speak beyond what you've been given don't try to speak in matters that you don't understand speak the truth as he has given it to you and the capacity that he has given to you and measured to you I thought of a real clear example of seeing this and maybe you don't see this maybe it's not as readily apparent but I see this all the time I see this all the time in preaching how many of you love John Piper you love John Piper I love John Piper do you know what there you know how many John Piper's there on the world exactly one exactly one there's they're not more why because we don't need a whole bunch of John Piper's okay really need one but how often we see guys trying to be like John Piper trying to say things the way John Piper does why because they want to be big they want people to notice them I think Charles hadn't Spurgeon man pastors we make we make a celebrity of Charles hadn't Spurgeon a lot do you know how many Charles had Spurches there been in the world one and there is there's very little about his preaching that I can model why because God has not made us all the same God has given us different capacities he's given us different abilities he's given us different places to serve and to minister so so I don't need to spend my life trying to be somebody that I'm not God doesn't want me to be Charles hadn't Spurgeon he doesn't want me to be John Piper he wants me to use the gifts that he's given me for the ministry that he's placed right in front of me in first Corinthians 12 and I'll get off prophecy here in a moment but want to say this with this one more thing in first Corinthians 12 Paul says that all believers should desire this gift as I've already said because of its benefit to the growth and edification of the people of the church verse 3 of chapter 12 first Corinthians 12 says on the other hand Paul says the one who prophesies speaks to people for their up building and encouragement and consolation he goes on to say that the gathered church can have a prophetic ministry together later on he says but if all prophesy and he seems to think this is a good thing but if all prophesy and an unbeliever or outsider enters now hold on right there what does it say if all prophesy so that is all the people of God if all the people of God prophesy and an unbeliever or outsider enters do you see the very clear inside outside distinction there there are people from the outside who come in they are not part of the church they are not members of the church they are from the outside if all the members of the church prophesied then those who come in from the outside listen will be convicted by all so you've got somebody coming into the church they're an unbeliever they're an outsider but they come in and all the church is prophesying they are all speaking God's truth they're all speaking God's word what happens here's what he says he is convicted by all he is called to account by all the secrets of his heart are disclosed and so falling on his face he will worship God and declare that God is really among you Paul here in first Corinthians 12 paints a picture of the church it's not just one guy who has the prophetic word but he says all of us should seek to do this all of us should seek to speak God's word all of us should seek to minister this way and this is good here here in first Corinthians 12 he tells us how to evangelize he says the gathered church all speaking the word this is how we evangelize those who are coming in from the outside can I ask you a question very simply a question when you have people that come in to this place do you just assume that they're believers do you assume that they're here because they're a believer or do you even ask them we should we should be careful asking those who enter being ready to speak God's word to them calling them to repentance and faith the other two in this list of enrollments 12 the other two in this list that fit under the heading of speaking the word are found in the one who teaches and the one who exhorts you see that there in his teaching the the one who teaches and is teaching the one who exhorts in his exhortation teaching while not prophesying is closely related this gift does not necessarily entail a formal position or required that the person teaching is an elder an elder must be able to teach but a teacher does not have to be an elder this this gift is an ability to explain scripture and its consequent doctrine clearly exhortation then comes after teaching exhortation means either encouragement or consolation we just saw that prophecy has this effect as people are built up encouraged and consoled first Corinthians 12 the ministry of exhortation is the outflow of sound teaching and sound doctrine here it is very simply good teaching of the Bible and doctrine good teaching leads to exhortation to encouragement to comfort how are we supposed to live and think in light of what scripture teaches this is what the exhortor seeks to do to work it out to flesh it out what can we apply to our lives from what we've heard the exhortor seeks to apply the scripture that has been heard to their life and to the life of others so those are all speaking gifts serving then is the other side of the coin this is the same word used the word for serving here in this list is the same word used for the office of deacon although here it is not referring to that church appointed office indeed we should all be deaconing shouldn't we we should all be serving and there will be some appointed by the church to be deacons or to serve in the office of a deacon the New Testament office of deacon here at Trinity Church we have five deacons currently who fulfill the office of deacon that formal role yet what this passage is talking about the spiritual gifts are those who serve the practical financial material needs of the body and there are three gifts in this list that kind of fit again this is not an exhaustive list but a representative one there are three gifts here that fit under this serving heading you saw them there look at verse number eight halfway through the one who contributes in generosity the one who leads with zeal the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness the one who contributes refers to the financial and material provision made for others in the church the emphasis here as in the other two the emphasis seems to be on the attitude or spirit of the one who gives they are to do so with generosity they are to do so liberally they're there to do so without restraint they're to give generously not with the attitude of stinginess they're not miserly it seems that the one who contributes ought to do so with a readiness and a willingness to sacrifice in order to provide for the needs of others the one who leads the one who leads refers to those who lead others the word can refer to the office of elder although it is not exclusive to them i would say deacon as well both lead in their own way here where we teach the elders served by leading and deacons lead by serving the body the word is also used in the new testament of leading a household really it just means the leading of whatever sphere sphere you're given i think it would apply to anybody who's giving any leadership capacity here in the church in the body again the emphasis is on the attitude what is the attitude of the one who leads it is to be done with diligence it is to be done not lazily not half-heartedly but with zeal ready and willing to take up and sacrifice for the sake of the body and then the one who does acts of mercy this very clearly refers to taking care of those in need this seems to do with the practical and physical needs of members in the body these are the people that that walk around saying how can we help how can we help we want to help the one who does acts of mercy should should do so cheerfully that's the attitude this is not a burden to them or a cause for complaint with these last three this these these gifts of serving underneath all of all of these gifts here is this idea that we are to do this with sacrifice being willy willing and ready to give ourselves for the good of others so we need to have our thinking renewed our thinking needs to be changed let me give you some flushing out here of the teaching that we just very quickly walk through we need to have our thinking renewed in these following ways first we we need to remind ourselves that it's all of grace it's all of grace nothing we have been given is deserved nothing we have is anything that we are owed it's all of grace with this it's important for us to remind ourselves and remember that god has not given us all the same size and shape of grace he's not given us all the same size and shape he's not given us all the same role and responsibility but everything we have no matter its size and shape is given to us by grace so then how can we be jealous or discontent with what we have and i i say this lovingly i say this trying to encourage you your focus should not be on what you don't have but rather on how gracious god has been to you people waste a lot of their time worrying about what they don't have and they they believe that god has been unfair in his treatment of them but it's all of grace i thought of this illustration imagine a family sitting around the christmas tree on christmas morning if you don't celebrate christmas i'm sorry i'm not trying to offend you but a christmas tree with all the kids surrounding the christmas tree one of the kids gets a brand new bike one of the kids gets a brand new bike this is what they've been wanting their parents roll out a brand new bike every eight-year-olds dream their brother on the other hand gets a you know and you've seen them gets a bag full of socks what happens between the kid who gets the bike and the kids who get the the kid who gets the socks i mean would any would any parent do that i might just to see what would happen but that that thinking like one kid's gonna get a bike and the other one gets a pair of socks that's not fair well well hold on hold on stay with me for a second is it really not fair because it's a gift right they're gifts does he does either one of these kids deserve anything do you think your kids deserve anything yeah yes no yes no no everything i've given to them as their father is a gift of grace so if i if i choose to give one a bike and one a pair of socks right this is this is grace but we we look at that we go that is not right we wouldn't do that as parents would we there would be jealousy discontentment maybe maybe the kid with the bike starts thinking he i'm the favorite the kid with the socks i guess mom and dad don't love me very much and i think this is how some approach these gifts why why hasn't God given me what he's given them i wish i had more of what they have and their focus is on on what they didn't receive instead of the grace that god has given them god has given us gifts of grace the fact is my kids don't deserve anything if i if i give them a bag of socks that is grace what is their role then their role is to receive it with thankfulness and to use them appropriately so i don't like that illustration well it's not really like that is it i thought of a better illustration really and maybe you don't read this book like this book but lord of the rings you remember when they're in law thorian you remember when they're in law thorian and they're getting ready to go off on their journey and they glad real comes out and she gives them all gifts remember that and she doesn't give them all the same gift as i'm reading through that list i'm like that's a cool gift that's a lame gift you know but they all get different gifts why because she knows that each one is uniquely situated to contribute to the fellowship and and the point is not what they got or did not get the point is the mission and even beyond that and she understands that she's trying to equip them she's trying to give what they need for the journey and each one of them is thankful they're not looking at what others have received but they are thankful for being what were they thankful for they're thankful for being part of what's going on in any way shape or form since it is all of grace and these are gifts that have been given to us this this is what needs to change in our thinking since these are gifts of grace that makes us stewards of what we've been given i mentioned first peter four earlier listen to first peter four verse ten and eleven as each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace whoever speaks as one who speaks oils oracles of God whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever amen first peter four then tells us because we have received varied grace we are to steward what we've been given if speaking we are to speak as one who has the oracles of God if we are serving to serve by the strength that God supplies why so that in everything we are given glory to God and what we've been given let us then use our gifts let us then use our gifts we've got five attitudes here five attitudes of using our gifts and they all come right out of this text in the context if we are going to be good stewards of our gifts of these gifts of grace that God has given us if we are to be using these gifts as good stewards we are to use these gifts listen in community that's the context God has saved you and joined you to the body of Christ you've been given gifts of grace at salvation for the sake of Christ's body now while we treasure we treasure the truth that there is a global church a universal body of believers this is true the function and role that he has given you works itself out most often and most clearly in the visible local church if our unity is to be seen if our unity as the body is meant to be seen then it must be visible the universal body of Christ is not visible you can't see it this is very important he did not gift you he did not give you gifts of grace at salvation so that you can play the rogue Christian carrying about from one place to another without any accountability and recognizable identity with a local expression of Christ's body of the church he did not give you gifts of grace so that you just carry about as you would back and forth here and there kind of taking from this church when it when it suits you giving to this church when it suits you and just kind of working yourself around like a rogue Christian that's not the ideal the New Testament expectation is that you would join in a real way with a local expression of Christ's church that's how your gift is meant to be used I am restraining myself and not saying more on that our gifts are meant to be used as good stewards we're here to use them in community we also to be careful not to use them proudly these gifts are not intended to make you important or give you a place over people sometimes I hear guys who say they want to preach or teach and I don't think that they understand that the place of preacher or teacher has to be the place where the person dies to everything the place of the place of leading or the place of preaching publicly this is a place of death and complete service and sacrifice a lot of people want to preach a lot of people want to teach but not a lot of those people that want to preach and teach want to serve these gifts that have been given are not meant to make you important or give you a place these gifts are given for the benefit of the church so you can serve others therefore these gifts should not create pride or arrogance but humility and thankfulness these gifts are meant to be used in community they are meant to be used humbly not proudly they're meant to be used selflessly which goes along with what I just said man this is important what he has given you is not to be wasted on yourself or used to make much of yourself what he's given you is meant to grow the church build up the church protect the church minister to the body you have a real ministry here in this body members and not just a slot that fits into a ministry structure somewhere no no if you if you are serving in some ministry structure your ministry's more than that you're serving the body you're speaking truth you are here to minister to others not first and foremost to be ministered to and if this is your attitude if your attitude and disposition is that you want to minister to others first then guess what happens in a church like that everyone is ministered to the very thing that you think you you want and need that this is how the body supplies ministry to you for you think of a home imagine this what if you had a home with five kids right mom and a dad and five kids what what happens if each one of the member the seven members of that family what happens if each one of those people in that household decide hey you know what i'm going to live for everyone else in the household instead of myself i'm going to live for the sake of others instead of myself what happens to that household it's a blessed household and everybody gets ministered to in the house and in a house like that there are some for sure who will take advantage of it but you know what those people become very obvious and very plain i mean you ever had kids you ever you ever had a house right when one is seeking their own and everybody else everybody else is bought into what the family's doing but there's one who wants to be the holdout right no i'm not going on vacation no i'm not going there right they want to be the holdout guess what it becomes really obvious this person's not here for everyone else this person's not here in the church this person's not here for the sake of christ so who are you serving are you are you here to serve yourself how is the lord calling you where he's placed you how is the lord calling you to consider others more important than yourself or is it really hard for you to get past yourself the mark of a true christian community is that we serve others sacrificially preferring others before ourselves if we are to steward the gifts he has given us we must do in a community we must not be proud we must not be selfish and we must be devoted to what he's given us to do if he has given you the gift of teaching or exhortation give yourself to those not not to say now this is important not to say that you're never to do any anything else on the gift list right not to say that you're never to give or show mercy or an exhort if you're gift to something else but but what paul emphasizes here is that if he if the lord has given you a particular gift you want to give yourself to that for the sake of the body not be lazy not be hesitant and that leads to the last attitude which is we are to use the gifts that he's given us readily willingly wholeheartedly you could say gladly cheerfully faithfully i was a simple simply ask this are you approaching the fellowship of christ as drudgery this is a burden are you approaching the fellowship of the saints and the ministry of the saints to the saints to the body as a chore or is the church a place where you are a part of something glorious a part of manifesting his varied grace to and for his people for the name of his son i want you to hear this this is important we've been talking some of as deacons and elders i want you to hear this ministry true ministry in the church is never convenient it's never convenient it doesn't fit around your busy schedule ministry is never convenient it's never easy but the lord has given you gifts as he has saved you he has given you gifts of grace to be used sacrificially humbly selflessly devotedly readily for the sake of his church now i'm going to give you as we close this is this fills a lot more like teaching than preaching but as we as we close i'm going to give you four dangers with the spiritual gifts four dangers and then i'm going to finish with some anchoring truths just i'm going to read them as a list okay dangers dangers that we are to be aware of danger number one with the gifts gifts how the lord has gifted us our gifts are not to be used as excuses for sin or as an excuse for negligence of common Christian duty i hear people will say well i'm a prophet i see things black and white because i'm a prophet that doesn't give you an excuse to sin against people it also doesn't relieve you of the the duty of all christians your gifting should not be used as an excuse the man who wants to preach and teach but does not want to love his wife he's missing something he doesn't understand well this is my gift but that's not your calling your calling is to love your wife gifting danger number two gifting does not entitle you it does not entitle you to formal ministry or override biblical qualifications let me say it this way spiritual gifting does not equal spiritual character spiritual gifting does not equal spiritual character and the latter the spiritual character is essential if your gift is going to be effectively used danger number three this is one i alluded to earlier danger three gifts are not easily defined or described the lists in scripture are not exhaustive but representative be wary of those who want to stuff too much into the gift language they want to make too much out of this as if it's the point of the whole bible it's not wise to see gifting too rigidly or narrowly as i said earlier an emphasis on the spiritual gift tests and finding my gift is usually not helpful your spiritual gift is not determinative it's not the christian version of the personality test be be careful not to get duped and get caught up in really extra biblical teaching teaching outside of the bible and spiritual gifts number four gifts are not merely natural abilities or talents we all have natural abilities and talents but spiritual gifts are not natural abilities and talents spiritual gifts uniquely accompany salvation they are gifts of grace they are gifts of the spirit they have been given to you by god the god who saved you in the name of his son jesus christ in the blood of his cross in the power of his resurrection he has saved you and with that salvation jesus has given you gifts why to signal to communicate that he has been victorious the gifts that he's given to his people show that we partake in his victory so he's given each and every one of us gifts as salvation these are not just natural abilities or talents these gifts have been given to us as salvation for the growth of the body for the glory of god in the church so the foundation and emphasis of the spiritual gifts is unity it's for the sake of the body not for yourself the source of the spiritual gifts is our gracious god he gives as he sees fit and it's all of grace we are stewards of what we've been given the context of the spiritual gifts is a spiritual body the body of christ this is where gifts are to be used the purpose of the spiritual gifts is edification building up building the body and the test of spiritual gifts the test of the spiritual gifts is love which in first Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 and here Romans 12 Paul connects to these gifts this is what he's going to start talking about next week right Dan he's going to talk about love and how we are to live in love which is exactly what he does in first Corinthians 13 which is exactly what he does in Ephesians 5 we are to live in love that is the test of the spiritual gifts so let me close with this question when you think about spiritual gifting I don't think you need to go take a test let me let me just give you a better way maybe of thinking about it very very simply where has god in his sovereign plan where has god placed you right now for ministry what ministry has he placed right before you as you think about god's grace towards you in Jesus Christ as you think about god's grace towards you what does that make you want to do as you think about his grace and his goodness towards you what does that make you want to do believe it or not before this is my experience and I can't I can't force this on you before I before I came a believer before I was saved I didn't like talking to people I didn't want to talk to anybody when when god brought me to himself I couldn't shut up people are like I know like you can't shut up but that that is an experience again but I was so excited about telling other people when you consider god's grace towards you what do you get excited about what do you want to do what does that make you want to do how does it make you want to serve when you look at our church let's talk about Trinity Church when you look at our church what do you want to see more of in this church when you look around and say what we need to really grow in is this what do you want to do what do you want to see happen that that might be a good indication of where god has gifted you how god has suited you for ministry here in the body and then our others blessed by you our others blessed encouraged helped by you using your gift it's pretty important well my gift is but nobody's helped by you in that nobody's blessed by you in that how are you actively seeking to bless others and help others are you using your gift for the sake of Christ's body let's pray father thank you for Romans 12 really it's simplicity it's clarity I thank you that you have made it clear you've made it simple you've not made it complicated I pray that we would see our role and be excited about the grace you've given us you've given each and every one of your people a role to play for the sake of your church for the sake of your son Jesus I pray that we would be humble selfless we would seek unity we would seek the growth of the community of the body that we would be devoted and ready to sacrifice not just when it's convenient not just when it fits our schedule but that we would give ourselves for your glory as you have gifted us rejoice with thankfulness at what you have done and how you are making much of your son in our midst we pray all this for your sake for the sake of your son amen