We have just spent the last 12 weeks or so doing a in-depth study on the Holy Spirit. And over the past few weeks we have been looking at the various gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to the church for the profit of all. My prayer has been that through this study you may have a clear understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, His function in the world and in the church, and lastly, what the various gifts of the Spirit are all about.
But I truly don’t want it to end there with just a bunch of information. Yes, information is important. You need to understand the truth regarding the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. But to just gain head knowledge without application is empty. I don’t want you to leave here today thinking "Great study! What’s next?" I want you to seek what God has for your life. To understand, to know the gifts He has given you so that you may exercise them in your life which will profit not only the body of Christ but those who come in contact with you.
So in our final study, our focus as we conclude our study on the Holy Spirit, is discovering your gifts. But before we start let me tell you a story about a man who dreamed of taking a cruise. It was his life’s dream. And this man saved, and saved, and saved just so he could go. When he finally had all the money he needed, he bought his ticket and he was walking on air, realizing the dream he had was becoming a reality.
There really was only one problem. He had no extra money to buy food on this trip, on this cruise. So he decided that it didn’t matter, he was going to pack for himself a large portion of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat. At least he was able to go on this cruise, and that is all that really mattered to him. The food was not that important. Well that was true until the third or fourth day of hiding in his cabin and eating these sandwiches morning, noon and night!
Finally he couldn’t take it any longer and he went to one of the steward’s on the ship and asked him how much the meals were, the cheapest one he could get because he couldn’t take another peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As the steward listened to what this man had to say, he replied back, "Sir, all the meals are included on this trip!"
I think many Christians go through their Christian life not realizing that when you accepted Christ it was a packaged deal, all is included, including the spiritual gifts. And thus, since they don’t know what they have in Christ, they are not using their gifts. They may even see what God is doing in other peoples lives, how He is working in them, not even realizing that God has given these things to them also. As Paul said in Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."
When we, as Christians, appear before the judgment seat of Christ, or the Bema seat of Christ, I wonder if the Lord will ask us "What did you do with the gifts that I have given to you?" An interesting question for Paul said in II Corinthians 5:9-10, "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
The issue is not how big your ministry is, but how faithful you were in using the gifts that God has given to you. Too often Christians are burying their gifts, not using them, and that is not pleasing to the Lord. He wants us to take what He has given us and use it for His glory. If we do, then I believe when we appear before the Lord we will hear Him say to us "...‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’" Matthew 25:23.
Remember in John chapter 14, Jesus is telling His disciples that He is going away but when He goes He will not leave them alone, they will not be like orphans. Jesus was going to send them the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to be with them. And He said in John 14:12, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." Jesus was not talking about greater works, how much greater can you do than raise the dead? He was speaking greater in scope. You see, now all believers will be used to touch the lives of others. Jesus in His earthly ministry could only be in one place at a time, but now, through His disciples, He can touch the lives of others through them and us.
Now here is the problem. They spent 3 years with Jesus, learning from Him. They had all the information, they had all the tools, but the lacked the power to run those tools. And so we see Jesus say to His men before He was taken up into heaven, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." Luke 24:49.
And as they waited in Jerusalem, we see in Acts chapter 2 the fulfillment of that promise. The Holy Spirit came upon them and empowered them to be witnesses of Christ. Now all that information they had, all the tools they possessed, would be energized by the Spirit of God.
And in that we see another aspect that made Jesus, the True and Living God, tower above all the false gods that were out there and that are out there. All the false prophets that have come and gone pale in comparison. You see, most religions, if not all, tell people how to live, but that is where it ends. But Jesus not only told us how to live, He also gave us the power to live that kind of life, and that power comes form the Holy Spirit.
Now listen to what Paul has to say in I Corinthians chapter 12. He said "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all...But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." I Corinthians 12:7, 11. The Holy Spirit has given each of us gifts to use as He wills. And those gifts He gives us are to be used for the profit of all. They are to minister to people. And as I have said as we began looking at the gifts of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit takes His painters palate, in a sense, with all its primary colors, and He mixes together and blends the gifts He wants each of us to have, using them in a special way. And as the body of Christ functions, not doing things that God has not called them to do, a beautiful picture is emerging as we exercise these gifts in our lives.
We need to understand that God has not created us to be reservoirs to contain God, that is selfish. God has created us to be channels from which He can flow through and touch the lives of others. And so as a Christian, we need to exercise the gifts that God has given to us. We shouldn’t hide them or covet the gifts that other people have.
And I can tell you this from personal experience, there is great joy, tremendous blessing when you reach out and serve people. The Christian life is obviously very different than the worlds view of life. The Christian life finds its energy in serving as we use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given to us. On the other hand, the world desires to be served, and that is where they think true joy and satisfaction is going to be found. Maybe you have seen that commercial where kids are speaking of their future and they are saying things like, "When I grow up I want to be stuck in middle management". Or "When I grow up I want to make minimum wage". And the idea is don’t be stuck in a job where you have to serve others, but that others will serve you! Completely opposite of what the Christians life is all about.
Now if you are finding no joy in what you are doing, if everything seems to be a burden to you, then you better evaluate what you are doing because it is probably not where the Lord wants you. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Others are not finding that joy, that satisfaction because they are not using the gifts that God has given them. You, in a sense, are like an open circuit. You see, the Holy Spirit is not only flowing in you, but when that circuit is completed the Holy Spirit is flowing through you, and that happens when we are plugged into others, in a sense, using those gifts.
We have spent some 23 studies on the Holy Spirit, this being our 24th study, and we have taken in a lot of information. And as I have said, information is important. You need to know what is the truth. But we can let that become a bunch of dead information that is vegetating in our brains, or we can let that information, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to transform our lives. The Christian life is not just information, it is transformation. It is not just theological discussion or debate, it is experience!
What are your gifts? Have you identified them yet? When we started this study you may not have been aware of the various gifts, what they are all about, but now you have that information. And thus, we are responsible to take what we know and apply it to our lives, using the gifts that God has given us for the profit of all and for the glory of God.
With the remainder of our time we are going to focus on Romans chapter 12 so we can discover our gifts and then, that we might use them.
DISCOVERING YOUR GIFTS
1. CONSECRATION - ROMANS 12:1
How important this is in anything we do for God. It is the first step as we see ourselves as a living sacrifice, totally given to God. It is not 80% that we give to God, and 20% we keep for ourselves. We are to give all of ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him on a daily basis.
Paul, being schooled in the Law of God, being a Pharisee, was most likely taking an Old Testament idea and applying it to the New Testament life. I believe Paul was thinking of the burnt offering or the offering of consecration. This sacrifice was placed on the altar and totally given to God, completely burned up. The entire sacrifice was consumed. And every morning this sacrifice was offered. And if you remember the fire was to burn continually. Thus, the priest, every morning had to clean the old ashes out so they would not put out the fire.
That is an important lesson for all of us. Every morning we are to offer ourselves to God. We can’t look at past sacrifices that were made, the remains being ashes, for if we do the flame will go out. God is the great "I Am!" not the great "I Was!" or the great "I Will Be!". Of course He is pleased with our sacrifices, but we can’t live in the past, nor the future. Daily we must come before Him and consecrate ourselves to Him for His glory. Paul says that by doing this it is our "reasonable service" or our "spiritual worship". Remember, consecration is the first step in anything we do for God.
2. TRANSFORMATION - ROMANS 12:2
It is easy to be conformed to this world, don’t do anything, just absorb what it has for you. But to be transformed by God it is done as we renew our mind by digging into His Word. You see, if your mind is empty, what will rush in is the attitudes of this world and those attitudes will be manifested into action, the things we do.
That means we are to fill our minds with the things of God and as we do, then our actions will reflect that. I like what the Lord said to Joshua, for we too should apply it to our lives. In Joshua 1:8 we read "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." You see, it is as you read the Word of God that He reveals Himself, His will for your life. He will show you the gifts He has for you. Allow God to transform your life by His Word working in you and through you.
3. CONTEMPLATION - ROMANS 12:3
How important it is for us to contemplate what God is doing in us. It is easy to get puffed up when we begin to take our eyes off of God and place them upon ourselves, thinking we have done these great things. Be very careful, pride has placed many a people on the shelf, and thus, not being used by God.
Paul, in I Corinthians 1:26-31 said, "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’" You see, get a proper perspective and don’t let what God is doing go to your head and puff you up. Give Him the glory.
Also, in I Corinthians 4:6-7 Paul said, "Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"
Don’t glory in what you have, because you didn’t do it, God did! All that you have you have received from God! Keep things in perspective. Contemplate what we have in ourselves, NOTHING! And then contemplate what we have received from the Lord, EVERYTHING!
4. INFORMATION - ROMANS 12:4-6a
Paul speaks of information and then goes on to list how the information we take in is then manifested in our actions, the things we do. As James 1:22 says, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." In other words, put into practice what you have learned for the profit of the body of Christ.
I hope that I have showed you the various tools, the gifts that God has for you, and now you will take that information and use it for the glory of God. That you would use the tools properly, not abusing them or not using them. Take the information and use it in the things you do.
5. APPLICATION THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION - ROMANS 12:6-8
As I have said, use the gifts that God has given to you. That means you are going to have to take a step of faith. Where is your heart at? What are you burdened for? Maybe you have a real burden for those in prison, or maybe those that are in nursing homes. The gift of mercy may be the gift that God has given to you. Now we don’t have a prison ministry or a nursing home ministry. So what? If God has placed this upon your heart, if you have that burden, come and see me and we will see what we can do to help you get started. Yes, it is a step of faith, application through experimentation.
The thing I want you to take away from this study, is this. Where your heart is at is where your gift is at! Not too profound, but true. That means you need to take a step of faith, get your feet wet. If it doesn’t fit, don’t give up. See what doors God opens for you. If you take that step of faith God will confirm in your heart that what you are doing is right or wrong for you. And let me tell you that confirmation is important. It reassures you that what you are doing is right, and God will use people to also confirm this in your heart. Application through experimentation -take that step of faith!
6. EXHORTATION - ROMANS 12:9-15
As I have said so many times in our studies on the gifts of the Spirit, they are for the profit of all. You are to minister to others using the gifts and in doing so you will be blessed, satisfied, refreshed.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way when he said, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25. We should be looking at people, seeking how we can exhort them, build them up, spur them into action, get them back on track, and-so-on.
And our exhortation is that we are to be doing this more and more as the Lord’s return draws close. Why? Maybe because those days are going to be more and more difficult. Paul warned Timothy, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." II Timothy 3:1-4.
The problem comes when we develop an "I" problem. We are so focused on self and our needs, what we want that we are not looking how we can exhort others, but we are looking how others can help us. That is self-centeredness and it will keep you from serving and it will rob you of the joy that is found in serving. As one person has said, stewardship is the "use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals." Let’s keep that perspective and be others-centered instead of self-centered!
As I have said, this is our 24th study on the Holy Spirit, and you have received a lot of information. But our faith, our Christian life is not just information, it is application, it is experience. It is putting into practice these things we have learned. That is what this last study is all about, to wrap up all that we have learned and to point you in the direction so you may take that step of faith and use those gifts that God has given you.
Go out there and find an opportunity to serve, don’t wait for one to drop in your lap as your are sitting in your Lazy Boy recliner watching T.V. The ball is in your court now. You have the tools, and you have the power to use them. Use them for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ. Remember, we are not the Lone Ranger but part of the body of Christ. And as we are part of the body of Christ we are to serve, use our gifts, plug ourselves into a fellowship and instead of just drawing out, give back!
Listen to this story as we begin to wrap things up. The great violinist Nicolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to the city of Genoa, on just one condition. That condition was that this violin must never again be played upon. The problem was that while wood is being used it begins to wear down slightly as it is handled. But if the wood is left alone, discarded, it begins to decay. The lovely toned violin became worm eaten and useless because it was not used. It is only a reminder that a life withdrawn from service to others becomes quite useless!
I hope I have challenged you, informed you, and I hope you take it to the next level, you take that next step and put these things into practice. D.L. Moody, that great preacher from the late 1800's had a very wise and old Christian man challenge him when he was very young. This wise old Christian gentlemen said to Moody, "You know, Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him." Moody’s response was "I will try my utmost to be that man." I think he made it!
I think that is a challenge to all of us. You see, the world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the those who are fully and wholly consecrated to him. May our reply be, as Moody’s was, "I will try my utmost to be that man." As we read of what Hanani the seer said to king Asa, king of Judah, in II Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him..." Can you step forward and say, "Hear I am Lord, send me!"