Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

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Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

Speaker 3

Glad to study God's Word with you every day.

Speaker 2

This Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

God has imparted to each one of us a unique gift to use in the body of Christ.

When we exercise the gift God has given us in the ministry opportunity he has opened up to us, the Holy Spirit produces these miraculous effects in the lives of other people.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Have you ever felt like there's something special that you were created to do? The truth is, God has designed each believer with a unique spiritual gift for a divine purpose.

Unfortunately, many Christians never discover what that gift is. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress helps you discover and use your spiritual gift.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Speaker 2

Dr. Jeffress thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. From the beginning of May, we've been addressing one of the most exciting aspects of the Christian life. I'm referring to engaging the power that abides in anyone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that at the moment of our salvation we are indwelled by God's Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.

Well, this is the final week of studies on this topic. It's a series I've titled Experiencing the Power of the Holy Spirit. And over the remaining days of this week, I'm going to conduct a deep dive on what it means to express your God-given spiritual gift. In conjunction with this series, we're offering a book I've written about the Holy Spirit. The book is called I Want More. In my book, I explain how to unleash the power of the Spirit in your life. And in doing so, you will experience God's supernatural power.

While there's still time, you can request your copy of I Want More when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. It will arrive in your home with one of the most popular resources we've ever produced. It's the Jesus map, a multifolded brochure that identifies 52 major events described in the four Gospels of the Bible.

Well, I find that many Christian believers have yet to discover their God-given spiritual gift, and they're missing out on one of the most satisfying aspects of the Christian walk. So let's get started with today's study. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, I titled my message discovering and using your spiritual gift.

Speaker 3

Are you excited about being an American? Oh, now, come on. I'm not saying are you grateful that you're an American? Of course, we're all grateful to live in this great country. What I'm saying is when you wake up in the morning, is the first thing you do, jump out of bed, froth at the mouth and say, thank God, I'm an American? No, we don't do that. Nobody does that. You know why we don't do that? Because the fact is, as grateful as we are for living in this great country, there are about 300 million people just like us. See, the truth is there's nothing that special about being in America. We're grateful for it, but we look around, we see 300 million people who have exactly the same relationship with our nation as we do.

You know, I think that explains why some people really don't get that excited about being a Christian. When you think about it, you can look around and there are tens of millions of people around the world who have the same relationship with God that we do. So what is it that is unique? What is it that is special about being a Christian? Many times, a number of years ago, when I was a youth minister, there was a girl in our youth ministry. She was very popular, she was a cheerleader, she was on the student council. She had the respect of all of our youth people. And she came by to see me one day and she was explaining to me what was going on in her life. And she said, "Robert, I'm just not that excited about my Christian faith anymore." In fact, she went on to explain to me that there are times she even thought about taking her own life.

I shared with her for about 45 minutes the concept I'm going to share with you. And that is that God has given each one of us a unique spiritual gift, a unique purpose in life to fulfill. After about 45 minutes of sharing with her, she left with a new vibrancy, a new excitement about her Christian life that extended through her high school years. And tonight I want to begin talking to you about what I believe is the single most important truth that a Christian, after being saved, can understand. And that is God has imparted to each one of us a unique gift to use in the body of Christ.

I first heard this whole concept presented by a man who happened to be a member of our church many years ago. His name was Don Crosland. He helped Mrs. Criswell in her class, and he went on to become a pastor. He gave this material that he taught on spiritual gifts to Bill Gothard, who incorporated it as a part of his Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts seminar. So tonight, I want to share with you this information that I think is so critical to us individually as Christians. But I believe also it is unique in our church life, as we're talking about expanding not just our physical facilities, but the spiritual outreach of our church. It is important that we all understand this concept of spiritual gifts.

You see, I believe the single greatest problem in the church today, the single greatest problem in our church, First Baptist Church, Dallas, is an unemployment problem. The fact is, we have many Christians who are doing nothing more than sitting in the pews Sunday morning and Sunday night, and they are unemployed, uninvolved in God's Kingdom's work. What I hope as a result of tonight and the next several weeks is that most of us will get off the bench, out of the pew, and get involved in that unique ministry that God has for us.

Now, to give us an overview of this subject of spiritual gifts, I want to share with you four important truths about spiritual gifts. Take out your outline. Don't stare at me. I want you to write these down, okay? Because this is key for us to understand. First of all, truth number one: Every Christian has a unique spiritual gift. Everybody who is truly a believer has a unique spiritual gift. Turn, if you would, to Romans 12. When you were born physically into the world, you were born with certain natural abilities. Some with the gift of music, some with the gift of working with their hands, some with the gift of making money. People have natural abilities that are the result of their natural birth. But when you were born again into the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit brought into your life a unique spiritual gift. It came at the moment of your salvation, when you were indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God.

We've been talking about that on Sunday mornings. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, came a unique gift that the Spirit brought into your life. Look at Romans 12:4-6. Paul writes, "For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each of us exercise our gifts accordingly. If prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; if teaching, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, do so with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

You see, those are the gifts that are mentioned. As we'll see in just a moment, every one of you here tonight who is a Christian has one of those seven spiritual gifts. Many times I'll ask somebody, "What do you think your spiritual gift is?" Some people say, "Oh, I've been given the gift of speaking," or "I've been given the gift of singing," or "I've been given the gift of being able to make money." Those are all abilities, but they are not spiritual gifts. Let me give you this definition of a spiritual gift: A spiritual gift is the desire and power God gives you to fulfill his purpose.

First of all, notice a spiritual gift is a desire. If something is really your gift, you enjoy doing it. If your spiritual gift is serving, there is nothing you would rather do than meet the practical needs of people. If your gift is showing mercy, then you find real fulfillment in identifying with people who are in distress. If you have the gift of exhortation, you love to sit down with people and help them work through problems, giving them spiritual insight that will help them solve, in a practical way, problems they are facing. A spiritual gift is a desire, but notice also it is a power. It's an enablement. It is something that God uniquely empowers you to do.

Henry Thayer, in his Greek Lexicon, describes a spiritual gift this way: "Extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls through the Holy Spirit." When you have a spiritual gift, it's not only a desire you have; it is a unique power God gives you. It is something you do that God seems to bless above anything else that you do. Philippians 2:13 says, "It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." The Phillips paraphrase says it this way: "For it is God who is working in you, giving you both the desire and the power to achieve his purpose." A spiritual gift is both a desire and a power.

And notice what I said in that first truth: It is something that is given to each Christian. Every Christian has a gift. First Corinthians 12:7 says, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." While these gifts vary among believers, every Christian has one. Listen to 1 Peter 4:10. People have argued about this with me for years. They say, "Well, now, Pastor, I believe in spiritual gifts, but I think you have more than one of them. I think there are more than one gift that Christians have." Well, listen to what the Word of God says. The Word of God doesn't teach that at all. First Peter 4:10 says, "As each one of you has received a spiritual gift" (gift singular, charismaton), "let him employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

As we'll see in just a moment, some of the things people call spiritual gifts are really ministries. Sometimes they're manifestations of ministry. But there's really only one gift that God has given to you. Now, I'm going to say this several times: that doesn't mean we're only to do whatever our gift is. You know, if we have the gift of serving, when a special appeal comes or there's a need to give, we don't say, "Well, gee, I'd love to give to that project, but God hasn't given me the gift of giving." The fact is, we're to do all of the gifts. We're to exercise all of the gifts. But there is one special gift that you have that is a desire God has given you, and it's a unique power he's given you to connect to his purpose.

Now here's truth number two: True joy comes from using your spiritual gift. True joy comes from using your spiritual gift. Just like that girl I told you about, all of us have a desire to be a part of something truly meaningful in life. Now, when I say we have a desire to be part of something truly meaningful, I'm not saying we all want meaningful activities to be involved in. But we do want something that has true meaning and purpose in life. And what could have more lasting value than to spend your life connecting with God's eternal purpose? We've seen this over and over again. What is the one thing God is trying to do in the world today? What is his purpose? It is to save people from hell through Jesus Christ and transform them into disciples of Christ.

That's why our church purpose statement is to lead people to know Christ as Savior and transform them into obedient and reproducing disciples of Christ. That's what the Great Commission is. That is God's purpose. Now, why did he leave you here on earth rather than to rapture you to heaven the moment you were saved? You and I exist. We're here to fulfill not our purpose, but God's purpose. God has left us here to join him in this kingdom enterprise of reaching people with the gospel of Christ and transforming people into obedient and reproducing disciples of Christ.

Now, the organization that God created to fulfill that purpose is the church. The local church is God's planned organization to fulfill that purpose. And for the church to operate effectively and efficiently, every member of the church needs to be using the unique gift that God has given to him or to her. You know, it's interesting that the word for gift in 1 Peter 4:10 is "each one has received the gift." In Romans 12, the word there for the seven gifts is "charismaton." And that word, "charismaton," comes from two shorter words. One is the word that is transliterated "charis" (C, H, A, R, I, S). It's a word that means grace. And that word, "charis," can be broken down to a shorter word, "car" (C, H, A, R), which means joy.

Now stay with me on this. There is an inseparable link between joy, grace, and a gift. The Bible says when we receive the "charis," the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, with that grace comes a "charismaton," a spiritual gift. And when we exercise that "charismaton," that gift, we experience true "car," true joy, fulfillment in life. Here's principle number three about spiritual gifts: Spiritual gifts help perfect the body of Christ. God has given spiritual gifts to help perfect the body of Christ. Have you ever wondered why it is that we don't have all of the gifts? We don't, by the way. You don't, I don't. We only have one gift. Why did God give us all the gifts? The only person who ever lived who had all the gifts was Jesus Christ.

We don't have all the gifts. Why didn't God give us all the gifts? Because God's plan for the church is not that we operate as independent agents, but that we cooperate with one another. In fact, the most common image in the New Testament to describe what the church of Jesus Christ is is a body. He said, just as the human body has many parts but functions as one, so the body of Christ is many and yet one. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 12. Let me remind you here of a few verses that talk about how the church is to operate. First Corinthians 12:12 says, "For even as the human body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body also in Christ." Look at verse 18: "But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired."

Verse 19: "And if they were all one member, one part, what would the body be?" Remember we said, what would the body be like if it were one giant eyeball or one giant nostril, or, you know, one giant ear? I mean, it'd be unattractive and certainly inefficient. That's what he's saying. What would it be like if all the parts of our body were one? Verse 21: "For the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' or again, the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'" Verse 27: "But you are Christ's body, and you are individually members of it." The human body is many parts, but it functions as one. And when it's functioning correctly, it is really a model of cooperation.

When you think about it, last night, Amy and I went to a young adult Sunday school party. I had not eaten much for lunch, and so I walked into that Sunday school party and my stomach began to growl, signaling I was hungry; I needed food. So my stomach alerts me that I needed food. Fortunately, my eyes spotted some cheeseburgers that had just come off the grill over on the side. So my feet took me over to where the grill was, my hands grabbed two of those cheeseburgers. Well, I didn't actually grab the cheeseburgers; I grabbed the tongs that grabbed the cheeseburgers. In turn, I put them on a bun, doused them in mustard. The hands shoved that cheeseburger into my mouth. My mouth began to chew, the food went down to my stomach, and everything was all right with the world.

Now that's cooperation. That's efficiency. That's how the body works together to achieve one purpose. Now it's the same way in the body of Christ. The reason God didn't give us all of the gifts is so that we could learn to depend upon and cooperate with one another. Now remember what I said. Even though we only have one gift, God wants us to practice all of the gifts. He wants us all to be merciful. He wants all of us to be giving. He wants all of us to confront sin. He wants all of us to meet the practical needs of other people through serving. So how does he get us to do all of those things? How can he make us more merciful? Well, he can do it by putting us in contact with somebody who has the gift of mercy. How can he make us more organized? By putting us in contact with somebody who has the gift of organization.

You know, think about our church. I was thinking this afternoon about our different staff members and the different gifts that are represented on our staff. The fact is, the reason God puts us in contact with Christians with different gifts is so that we can learn how to exercise the gift that they have. You know, it's fascinating to me how knowing what somebody's spiritual gift is can really help you understand them better and to anticipate their responses. One side benefit of this three-week series I hope will be not only will you discover what your gift is, but you'll discover what your mate's gift is, perhaps what your children or grandchildren's gifts are, and to help them and encourage them to use that gift.

But when you know people's spiritual gifts, you can anticipate how they're going to respond in situations. Years ago, when I was a youth minister here, I noticed that one of the problems we had in our youth area was in our Sunday school area. We had a lot of people who had the spiritual gift of teaching. But what I noticed back then was there was very little practical application in the teaching. And so, as nicely as I could, I explained that yes, we need good Bible teaching, but we also need practical application. Well, the people in there who had the gift of teaching—and the gift of teaching is very content-oriented—wanted to make sure that everything is doctrinally right.

It's, you know, a lot of people, you know, who like to wonder about how many stones really were in that wall around Jerusalem that Nehemiah built. You know, that kind of information. Well, when I started talking about the need for application, man, you could see those people bow up with the gift of teaching. Man, they straightened up. We knew Jeffress was a heretic all along. You know, you could just see them seething back there. Well, you know, the people with the gift of exhortation, which is the gift of helping people gain practical insight from scripture into how to solve a problem, man, they were cheering me on. "That's right, Robert, we need more of that, more of that."

People in the room who had the gift of mercy, empathizing with the hurts of other people. People with the gift of mercy, like Amy, my wife, they were just afraid that I was hurting people's feelings by talking about that. And then the people who had the gift of serving, they were busy in the kitchen preparing the refreshments. They didn't hear any of it at all. You know, they wanted to meet the practical needs of people there. Well, who's right? What's really important? Is teaching important? Is practical application important? Is mercy important? Is serving refreshments important? The truth is, it's all important. The fact is we needed all of those gifts operating in order to produce mature high school and junior high students for Christ.

Speaker 2

Well, over the course of the week, we're praying that God will use these messages to help you identify your spiritual gift. Nothing will bring more satisfaction than exercising your God-given gift to the body of Christ. Along those lines, I'm pleased to offer my book to you as a means for deploying the supernatural power of God in your life. My book is titled *I Want More*.

In my book, I'm going to help you learn how to satisfy your spiritual hunger by embracing the power of the Holy Spirit. My book also addresses those habitual sins that haunt us and steal our joy. *I Want More* is my gift to you. When you give a much-needed gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, whatever amount you choose to give will be an investment in other people.

Yes, this daily program is produced right here in Dallas, but it would never leave the building without supportive friends like you. Your gift gives flight to this program so that the truth of the Bible is carried all across our country and around our world. Recently, I received a note from Byron in Georgia who wrote, "Pastor Jeffress, I started reading your book *I Want More* and I want to thank you for your refreshing study on the Holy Spirit. You have opened my eyes and heart to the importance of the Spirit's work in our lives today."

Isn't that great? God is using your generous gifts to help countless listeners deepen their walk with Christ and their understanding of God's word. Thanks so much for sending your gift today, and I look forward to providing my book, *I Want More*, with my thanks.

David.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. You're invited to request a copy of the book *I Want More* when you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift. To make your request, call 866-999-2965 or give online at ptv.org now. When your gift is $75 or more, we'll also send you the complete CD and DVD teaching set for this month's series called *Unleashed*. This offer does end on Friday, though, so if you've been meaning to request these resources, please reach out to us today. Again, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org if you'd rather write to us. Here's the mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us next time for part two of the message *Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gift*. That's coming up Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

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