Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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.

To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

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

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day. This Bible teaching program on today's edition.

Speaker 3

Of Pathway to Victory. Just as when you were born, you were born with natural abilities, when you were born again into the kingdom of God, God gave you a spiritual gift.

Now remember, all of the gifts are necessary for the proper functioning of the body of Christ. And most importantly, God wants us to exhibit each of the gifts.

Don't worry if you haven't yet identified your gift.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and Path doctor Robert Jeffress. You know, God has uniquely equipped each believer with a special ability to serve his kingdom. Do you know what your gift is?

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress carefully examines the seven gifts mentioned in Romans chapter 12. By the end of our time, you'll have a better understanding of how God has specifically wired you.

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

Speaker 2

Dr. Jeffress, thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Today's program marks the conclusion of our series on the Holy Spirit that began the first week in May. And so this is the final day to request the companion book I've written for you. It's titled *I Want More*.

Look, as a pastor for many decades, I often hear people confess their disillusionment with the Christian faith. It's often rooted in a sense of emptiness and sometimes it's caused by a habitual sin over which they seem to have no control. Well, in my book, *I Want More*, I've exposed some of the common spirit quenchers in our lives and how to defeat them. Plus, I've provided an actionable plan to overcome the spiritual battles we face. Let me send you a copy of my book, *I Want More*. Today is the very last day to request it. It's my thank you gift when you provide a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In addition, at the close of today's program, David will explain how you can receive the entire collection of messages from our month-long series called *Unleashed*. This collection has far more material than we've had time to present on the radio program. This series would make a great study for your small group Bible study or your Sunday school class.

But right now it's time to get started with the final message in our series. Our primary Bible passages today are found in Romans chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I titled today's message "Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gift."

Speaker 3

Spiritual gifts can be divided into three categories. Turn back over to 1 Corinthians 12 for just a moment. Notice in verse 4 he says, "There are a variety of gifts, but the same spirit. There are a variety of ministries, but the same Lord. There are a variety of effects, but the same God who works all things and all persons." Last time, we looked at that chart that shows the three different categories of spiritual gifts. There are the gifts; Romans 12 lists seven of them. This is the gift, the list of which you have one. Then there are ministries, opportunities for service through which to exercise your gift. And then there are effects. That's what the Holy Spirit does in other people's lives when you exercise your spiritual gift.

So when we talk about discovering your gift, we're talking about discovering which of those seven gifts in Romans chapter 12 is yours. Remember, 1 Peter 4:10 says you only have one; there is one basic desire and empowerment you have as "each one has received the gift." Peter said singular. Now let's turn over to Romans chapter 12 and let's look at each of these seven gifts briefly.

Now let's start with the first gift that is mentioned in verse 6 of Romans 12. "And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them accordingly. If prophecy, according to the proportion of our faith." The first gift Paul mentions is the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is not foretelling the future; it is forthtelling the truth of God. Here’s the definition: the gift of prophecy is presenting God's truth to convict people of sin and their need for a right relationship with God. That's the gift of prophecy.

The second gift that Paul mentions here in verse 7 is, "If your gift is service, do it in your serving." What is the gift of serving? It is meeting the practical needs of other people. The third gift that Paul mentions here is a gift that's often misunderstood, and that is the gift of teaching. In verse 7, he says, "He who teaches, in his teaching." The gift of teaching is the desire and the ability to present and clarify biblical truth. A person who has this gift is extremely content-oriented.

Every church needs people, and the body of Christ needs people with the gift of teaching—an important gift in the body of Christ. Now, the gift of exhortation. Paul says in verse 8, "Or he who exhorts, in his exhortation." Let's say you had a serious problem in your marriage or with one of your children; to whom would you go? If you wanted a lecture, you'd go to a person with the gift of prophecy. If you wanted somebody to empathize with you and sympathize with you, you would go to somebody with the gift of mercy. But if you wanted some practical help—how do I solve this problem according to God's Word?—you would go to somebody with the gift of exhortation. An exhorter is one who comes alongside another Christian and helps him solve problems using God's word and applying it to their situation. That's the gift of exhortation.

Now he says here in verse 8, "If your gift is giving, let him who gives give with liberality." This is a very interesting gift. The gift of giving is the desire and the ability to use personal assets to further the cause of Christ. A person with this gift may or may not be wealthy, but usually, they have the ability to handle money well. A person who has this gift prefers to give anonymously, and that's a real characteristic.

A third thing, and I want you to circle this: they do not like pressure appeals. Now, I'll have people sometimes in the church come to me and they'll represent this cause or that cause. "Oh, Pastor, we need some money for this or that or that or that." Now, you know some people in the church who have money. Can you go to them and just tell them that if we don't raise this money, children are going to go hungry, babies are going to die, people are going to go to hell if we don't raise this money? Will you go talk to these people for us? And I'll say, absolutely not. The reason is a person with a true gift of giving doesn't respond to that kind of pressure.

Instead, if they have the gift of giving, what they like is for you to honestly present a need to them and then give them the freedom to say yes or no to that need. That's how I have found to effectively work with people who have the gift of giving. I say, "Here's an opportunity. Would you pray whether or not God might lead you to be a part of it?" Sometimes they say yes; sometimes they politely say, "Well, yes, you know, that's not something I feel called to invest in at that time."

Fourthly, they want to motivate other people to give. One of their motivations in giving is to see other people discover the joy of giving as well. That's why sometimes they will enter into matching gift kind of programs in order to generate interest among other people. Someone who has the gift of giving said to me one time, "Sid, why do you preachers always insist on telling other people about our gift? I mean, why do you keep doing that? I like to give anonymously. Why do you keep doing that?"

I'll say, "Well, the reason we do it is because when people understand what you've done, it encourages other people to give." This person says, "Well, that's the same thing Dr. Crispel said to me, too." I said, "Well, he was right." People who have the gift of giving will only allow their names to be known if they really sense that it will encourage other people to give.

Now, there can be some dangers to that gift. One of them is to become prideful of your giving, to make an overemphasis on material needs, equating spirituality with material success. Falling into the trap of saying, "Well, you know, if this person doesn't have money, maybe they're not giving enough. Maybe they're not walking with the Lord, because, after all, they haven't been blessed this way." Again, that is a downside to the gift of giving.

How many of you here know somebody who has the gift of giving? Would you raise your hand? How many of you think you have the gift of giving? Raise your hand high, because we're going to take your name and license plate number down. It's a very important gift in the body of Christ. Now, remember, we're all to be givers, okay? It's not just the people with the gift of giving who are to carry the load, but this is their unique motivation to further the cause of Christ.

Sixth, he says, "Let him who leads lead with diligence." What does it mean to lead? Sometimes it's called the gift of organization. That is really not the right definition. It's the word leading; it has to do with being out front. Here’s a definition: coordinating activities of others to achieve a common goal. It's both the desire and the ability to coordinate the activities of other people to achieve a common goal. A person with the gift of leading has the ability to see the big picture.

Now, that's in contrast with somebody who has the gift of serving, who wants to meet immediate short-term needs. A person with the gift of leadership sees the big picture. They're very effective at delegation, giving people different tasks to get the big goal achieved. They're able to take a project and break it down into bite-sized pieces. When I think about somebody with the gift of leading in our church, I think about Anne Hood. For years, when there was a big project around here, a big program, she was the one who organized that program, that project. She had the gift, the ability to lead and to organize.

Now, there are some downsides if you've got this gift that you need to watch out for. That is the tendency to use people in order to achieve a common goal. The tendency to use people to achieve goals. The person with the gift of leading is looking at the best big picture, and sometimes they just see people in terms of how they'll help achieve that big common goal. Secondly, sometimes they can be pushy because, after all, they're pushing to try to get this goal or this program achieved. For that reason, they have to guard against being pushy.

Thirdly, they have to guard against the tendency to lose sight of the overall spiritual purpose of whatever their organizing is. Sometimes the emphasis is so much on the project that they forget the goal behind the project, which is, of course, our spiritual growth. The person of leading, the gift of leading—how many of you think you have the gift of leading? Say, "You know, I'm able to coordinate, see the big picture." Do that. Okay, very good.

The final gift here is, Paul mentions, is the gift of mercy. "Let him who shows mercy do so with cheerfulness." The gift of mercy is that gift, that desire, that power to identify with and comfort those who are hurting. It's the ability to come alongside somebody who's hurting—not to lecture them, not to ask them what sin they committed that caused them to hurt. It's not to even help them solve their problem; it's the desire to comfort those who are hurting.

You know, I was looking during the singing service. I saw Libby Daniels here and her daughter Diane. We're glad to have you all back tonight. Libby served here on our staff for a number of years. When I think of somebody who had the gift of mercy, Libby, I'm not sure that's your gift, but I kind of think of that as your gift—the ability to help those who are in distress. A person who has this gift has the ability to discern the mood of people. A person can walk into the room, and if there's somebody who's hurting, it's like their little radar goes off, and they go immediately to that person.

A person with this gift is sensitive to the words or actions of other people that might hurt others. They're very sensitive to anything somebody else does that might hurt other people. You know, sometimes when I come home Sundays after a message, I married somebody with the gift of mercy. Amy will say, "You know, did you ever think how what you said might affect so-and-so?" I say, "It never crossed my mind," because, I mean, that's not my spiritual gift, but it is her gift. Amy's gift helps make me more sensitive; at least that's the goal.

A person with the gift of mercy is very sensitive to any words or actions that might hurt other people, and they tend to react negatively to those people who are insensitive. They bristle when somebody acts in an insensitive way. Now, there are some downsides to this gift. One is they can fail to be firm when necessary. A person with this gift may not be firm when they need to, whether it's with another Christian, with their children, or whatever it is—a failure to be firm.

Secondly, they can be resentful of other people who lack the gift of mercy. They don't understand why everybody is not as merciful as they are. Third, and this is real important to note, if you've got this gift, you can easily be misunderstood by people of the opposite sex. If you're empathizing with somebody of the opposite sex, they may interpret that empathy in a way you never intended, so you need to be very careful about that.

The gift of mercy—how many of you tonight would say, "I know somebody who has the gift of mercy"? Okay, how many of you have the gift of mercy? Think, or at least think it may be one of your gifts. It may be one of the gifts you think you have. Okay? All right. Well, that's the gift of mercy.

Now, to summarize all of this, Bill Gothard years ago used this illustration. He said, "Imagine seven people around a dinner table having dinner together. The hostess walks in with the dessert tray, and she accidentally spills the tray. How would the seven people representing each of the seven gifts in Romans 12 respond to a spilled dessert?"

A person with the gift of prophecy would say, "That's what happens when you're not careful." See, his motivation is to convict people of their sin, what they did wrong. A person with the gift of serving might say, "Oh, let me help you clean it up." That's the desire to meet a practical need. A person with the gift of teaching might say, "The reason that tray fell is it was too heavy on this side. If you had balanced it more..." You know, that's the gift of teaching—clarifying truth.

A person with the gift of exhortation would say, "Next time, let's serve the dessert with the meal," trying to give a practical solution to the problem so it doesn't happen again. A person with the gift of giving would say, "Let me just buy a new dessert." They're going to use their personal assets to meet a practical need.

A person with the gift of mercy—how would they respond to the spilled dessert? They would say, "Don't feel badly; it could happen to anyone." They don't care about the dessert; they don't care about the seven people around the table. They're empathizing with that one person who is in distress at the time. The person with the gift of leading and organization—how would he respond to a spilled dessert? He would say, "Jim, would you get the mop? Sue, please help pick it up, and Mary, help pick some other dessert." That is the gift of leading.

Now remember, all of the gifts are necessary for the proper functioning of the body of Christ. Most importantly, God wants us to exhibit each of the gifts. Now, let me share with you three principles, parting truths I want you to remember about spiritual gifts.

First of all, don't worry if you haven't yet identified your gift. By the way, how many of you would say, "I'm pretty sure as of tonight, I know what my gift is"? You raise your hand. Okay. How many of you would say, "Okay, I've got it narrowed down to one of two, I think"? Okay, a few of you. Let me just say, don't worry if you have not yet identified your gift. It doesn't mean you don't have a gift. It doesn't mean you're not saved.

If you don't know what your gift is, there may be several reasons you can't pinpoint your spiritual gift. One reason may be a lack of involvement in ministry. I mean, if you're on the sidelines, not involved in ministry, you don't have an opportunity to know which ministries give you real fulfillment. Which ministries does God seem to bless in an unusual way? So a lack of involvement in ministry may be one reason you don't know what your gift is.

Sometimes it may be that you're trying to imitate somebody else's gift. You have a pastor or a teacher or a friend you admire, and you really want to have their gift. But the fact is you may not have their gift, and sometimes that causes confusion. Thirdly, comments by other people—maybe somebody has made a pronouncement about your gift that really isn't true.

Now remember last week I pointed out different people in the congregation who had different gifts. Well, I may or may not have been accurate about that, and I kind of hesitated to do that because I don't want people going home saying, "Well, you know, the pastor said I've got this gift. I guess I have this gift." Well, I don't know whether you really have it or not. For example, I may see somebody who's very tender-hearted toward those who are hurting, and I might conclude, "Well, he has the gift of mercy." But further examination shows the reason he is tender-hearted toward people is he's hurting so that he can come alongside those people and help them solve their problems. That's their real motivation, so they really have the gift of exhortation.

So first of all, don't worry if you don't know what your gift is yet. Remember, we're to all exercise all of the gifts anyway. Secondly, distinguish between your gift and your ministry. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. Remember, there is a difference between your gift and your ministry. For example, not every Sunday school teacher has the gift of teaching. Your motivation for teaching a class of 10th-grade boys may be exhortation to help them solve problems they're facing. It may be the gift of mercy to help those boys who are hurting or having family problems. It may be the gift of prophecy to help lead them to faith in Christ, convict them of their sin and a need for a right relationship with God.

Don't confuse your gift and your ministry. In fact, we're going to look at some different ministries in a minute that are available in our church. I cannot think of one ministry opportunity in our church that wouldn't be appropriate for every gift to be involved in.

Thirdly, and finally, remember the context for spiritual gifts is the local church. The context for spiritual gifts is the local church. God did not give these gifts to help the American Cancer Society, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, or the Republican Convention run more smoothly. He gave the gifts for the church. These are given so that the church can run as God intended it to run and achieve its purpose. That means the place for you to exercise your gift is the local church.

One of my mentors in seminary said the greatest problem in the church today is the unemployment problem. Too few people in the pews are employed in a place of ministry. God gave you a gift to use in this ministry at First Baptist Church, Dallas. We say it often: nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Remember, I've said throughout this series, real joy in life comes when you discover your gift and you start to use your gift. It helps you to realize that you're a part of something bigger than yourself. You are connecting to God's purpose. That's where real joy comes.

The root word for gift? Charismaton. The word call means joy, and so the real point of application is as a result of knowing your gift, where are you using that gift in the body of Christ?

Speaker 2

Over the course of this week, have you been able to identify the spiritual gift that belongs to you as your radio pastor and friend? I certainly hope so. Expressing and using your God-given gifts in the family of God will ignite your spiritual passion for Him.

To help you take your next steps toward a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit, I've written a bestselling book for you. I've titled the book *I Want More*. This is the perfect complement to our current teaching series on the Holy Spirit that concludes today.

It's possible, even likely, that you've come to dry patches in your spiritual life and you wonder why you're feeling unsatisfied with your walk with God. My book explains why God has given every single Christian a relentless spiritual hunger for something more. More importantly, my book explains how to draw upon the Holy Spirit to fill that void.

When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll be pleased to send you a copy of my book *I Want More*. Please don't underestimate the importance of your gifts. Your generosity empowers us to equip listeners like you while shining the bright light of God's Word into the dark recesses of our country and our world.

I can report to you that your gifts truly make a difference. Whether it's over the phone, through a letter, or an email to ptv.org, we're flooded with feedback from people in all walks of life who find Pathway to Victory to be their spiritual lifeline.

So thank you so much for your generous financial support as together we pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word.

David, thanks.

Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 1

You can request the book *I Want More* along with a copy of the Jesus Map. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, call us at 866-999-2965 or visit our website ptv.org. When your gift is $75 or more, you'll receive not only the book but also the unleashed teaching series on both CD and DVD. Now, this is the very last day I'll mention these resources, so be sure to get in touch with us right away. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or find us online at ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like. Here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

Now, one last thing. Dr. Jeffress is working on a new teaching series about miracles. If you have a story about God's supernatural intervention in your life, you can share it with Dr. Jeffress by emailing miracles@ptv.org. That's miracles@ptv.org. I'm David J. Mullins, wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week for the start of a new series called *Shine the Light*, right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.