Faithful in Ministry | Part 2

Do you believe God wants to know your spiritual gift? Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless messages of pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. When God saved us by His grace, He gave each of us spiritual gifts.

However, many don't understand how to use them. In part one of today's message, Pastor Rogers began sharing how to discover and develop our spiritual gifts. If you have your Bible, turn now to Ephesians chapter 4, we'll begin in verse 3.

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 7, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Now, if you don't mind marking your Bible, would you underscore for me every one? Now, did that include you? Well, indeed it did if you're a child of God. Are you part of every one of us?

Of course you are. Now, God has given to you, precious friend, a spiritual gift. What are these gifts? I would like for you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, would you please? Just turn to that. You turn left, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We'll find a list of gifts. And then in Romans chapter 12, we'll find another list. I want you to listen very carefully, because you're going to hear your name called in one of these gifts. You're going to discover one or more of these have been used in the Bible.

Your spiritual gift, I believe. Now, I began in verse 4, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. Now, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Now, it's the Holy Spirit who gives different gifts to the church. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. That is, everything is not always done the same way, but it's the Lord who's doing it. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the same manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all.

Now, what does that mean? In plain English, it means that God gave you a spiritual gift, not for your own enjoyment, but for your employment. Your spiritual gift is to bless the church, not to bless you.

It is a tool, not a toy. And then he says in verse 8, for by one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. Now, what is the word of wisdom? That is supernatural insight into the mind of God. He's not talking here about common sense.

He's talking about uncommon sense. People who have a word of wisdom make wonderful counselors. To another, the word of knowledge. This differs from wisdom in that it is the supernatural ability to know the things of God and apply the things of God. Knowledge puts wisdom to practical use. And there are people who have the gift of wisdom. Some will have the gift of knowledge.

Some have these gifts combined, and they make wonderful, wonderful leaders and counselors. Verse 9, to another, faith by the same Spirit. And then another, gifts of healing by the same Spirit. To another, prophecy.

To another, the discerning of spirits. To another, diverse kinds of tongues. The word tongues here simply means languages, the ability to speak a language that you have never learned in school to praise God. Tongues are not assigned to God's people. Tongues are not assigned to God's people. Tongues are not assigned to believers, but to unbelievers. Now, tongues are not primarily a private prayer language. They are a tool of witnessing, primarily to unsaved Jews.

How would the gift of tongues work today? Well, suppose in this particular service, a busload of Russian tourists were to stop out here. And let's suppose that they're Jewish, and they've never heard the Gospel. They don't know English, or maybe they do know English, but I don't know Russian.

They come and sit in this section right here. God gives me, supernaturally, the charismatic gift of tongues. And I begin to praise God in fluent Russian. And they hear in the language where they were born. They say, how does that man know Russian? I don't know Russian. God has supernaturally gifted me to speak to them in Russian. But most of you don't know Russian, so when I'm speaking in English, the Russians are not understanding. When I'm speaking in Russian, you're not understanding. So, if God gives me the gift of tongues so I can praise God in their language, He has to give somebody else the gift of interpretation so you can understand what I'm saying when I'm speaking in Russian. So, continue to read in verse 10 to another interpretation of languages. So, let's suppose that Brother Whitmire has the gift of interpretation. I am praising God to those Russians, saying that God is great, and God is glorious. They're being convinced, especially if they're Russian Jews. Brother Whitmire says to the rest of us, what the pastor is saying is this, and he interprets having never learned Russian either. Supernaturally, the gift of tongues so that nobody is in the dark.

Remember what we said, that every gift is given to the entire body to profit with all. Nobody is to come into service and sit there and say, I wonder what that meant. If he occupies the room of the unlearned and we're speaking in things he can't understand, the Bible says he'll think we're crazy.

He'll think we've gone mad. Everybody is to understand the Word of God. Now, that is a gift of God. Now, you say, Pastor Rogers, I don't believe you mentioned my gift yet. Well, just turn to Romans chapter 12, and let's look at another gift right here.

And maybe you're in this list. And just turn left to Romans chapter 12, and I begin again in verse 6. Let us minister. Now, what is ministry? That's acts of service. We could just call that general church work. Our ushers today have the gift of ministry.

Our secretaries, typing, ushering, coaching. Oh, here's a wonderful gift of ministry, working in the nursery today. Many of you ought to do that. And many of you have been gifted of God to change diapers.

I'm serious. You say, well, God didn't give me, God didn't give me any gifts. Why, if in the name of Jesus you can care for these little ones, you cannot even give a cup of cold water to one of these little babies in the name of the disciple and lose your reward.

This is a gift that is so greatly needed. He mentions ministry. And then He mentions teaching. People who have been, first of all, taught and anointed and gifted of God to teach the Bible, that's the spiritual gift of teaching. Maybe in missionary organization.

Maybe you don't teach a class, but you're a mother. And God anoints you to teach your children supernaturally. Then He mentions the gift of exhortation. What is the gift of exhortation? Those people who do visitation. Those people who do counseling that encourages. Many times they have the gift of exhortation. Is that your ability just to cheer people on?

Maybe you just have the ability to exhort your pastor and encourage me. I need it. I heard about a little boy who wanted to be in the school play. He had his heart set on it.

And his mother knew that he did not have the ability to be in that play, but she was afraid he'd be heartbroken if they didn't give him a part. When he came home, the mother asked him, how did it go? Did you get a part? Oh, he said, yes, I got a part.

She said, what is it? He said, they gave me the job of clapping and cheering. Well, I like that.

And he was so thrilled that that was his job to clap and to cheer. Maybe that is the gift that God has given you. And it is a needful gift. In a church like this, the gift of exhortation. Then he mentions the gift of giving right there.

What is that? That is the supernatural ability to make and give money sacrificially and wisely. We have those.

And then he mentions the gift of ruling. Those on our church staff. Those who head committees. Those in places of leadership.

Those who even coach teams. Then he mentions the gift of mercy. These are people who do hospital visitation. These are those, again, who counsel.

These are those who go to the rest homes and so forth. The gifts described. Now here's the third thing. Not only the gifts delivered and the gifts described, but think with me about the gifts developed. How is the gift developed? Well, turn back to Ephesians chapter 4, would you?

Right back where we were and let's find out how your gift is developed. I begin now in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.

That is the building up the developing of the body of Christ. Now, God also gives to the church spiritual leaders. And so he mentions some apostles and some prophets. Now we don't have apostles and prophets today in the biblical sense. There were 12 apostles and the prophets who wrote the Old Testament and so forth.

They're already in heaven. And he tells us in the second chapter that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Now we don't have prophets today and apostles except in the secondary sense. You see, as long as I preach what they preach, I have the authority that they have. And then he mentions evangelists.

These are the soul winners that bring people into the body to help the body to grow. And thank God that God gives to the church the evangelists, the soul winners that bring people to Christ. And then he mentions and some pastors and teachers. Not pastors and then teachers, but pastor teachers.

It's grouped together in the Greek language. The job of a pastor teacher is to guide and feed the flock. I believe that's the assignment that God has given to me. Here is God's job description for me. I am God's gift to you, like it or not.

You're stuck with me. I am the pastor teacher of this church. Now why does God give you a pastor teacher? Well, so the pastor teacher can do the work of the ministry.

Wrong. The pastor teacher is to help you to do the work of the ministry. Look at it. And some pastors and teachers for, verse 12, the perfecting, the maturing of the saints for the work of the ministry. The pastor teacher is to help you to be mature, to discover and develop your spiritual gift so you can do the work of the ministry. You say, pastor, that's your job. No, my job is to help you to do your job. My job is to help you to be mature so that you can find your spiritual gift and you can put your spiritual gift to work and God has a ministry for you. God has a job for you.

God did not save you to be a member of Bellevue Anonymous. God put you here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you've been called into the ministry.

It is my job to put you to work for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you say, well, I want God to use me. Well, do you really? Do you really?

Let me tell you something. If you want God to use you, you need to stop praying for God to use you and get usable and God will wear you out. I mean, you think that God doesn't want to use you.

He has set every member in the body as it has pleased him. God has given you a spiritual gift. Now how can you know your spiritual gift? Let me give you about five minutes of five principles to know your spiritual gift.

Number one, there's the principle of desire. What do you enjoy doing? I would be dishonest if I did not tell you I feel fitted for doing what I'm doing right now. I desire to do it. I love to do it.

I would be disappointed if I could not do it. What do you do naturally? What do you enjoy doing? What do you feel that you do well?

Secondly, the principle of discovery. You will discover your gift as you endeavor to do it. You know, you blessed me when you did that.

You've been such a comfort to me. You've given me such wisdom here. Or you have the ability to lead in this area. As Dr. Ironside used to say, it's a sad thing to hear a man who thinks he has the gift of preaching when no one else has the gift of listening. You will discover your spiritual gift and others will help you to discover it.

The third principle, the principle of desire, the principle of discovery, the principle of development. You need to stir up the gift of God. That's what Paul told Timothy. You need to study to show yourself approved unto God. You have a spiritual gift. No matter what it is, it's like a natural talent. Laurie Foster has the talent to sing, but she has to develop it. And you have a spiritual gift, but you have to develop it and study and work.

It's not just all honey and no bees. Now, next is the principle of dependence. Your spiritual gift must operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. Your gifts are supernatural and they operate with supernatural power, depend upon the Holy Spirit of God.

And then there's the principle of deployment. Put it to work. Go to work with other saints. Where do you understand your gift? In the body, in the church. Your gift is significant as it relates to other gifted people. It's in the fellowship of the church that you're going to discover your place in the body.

Now, here's the fourth thing and the final thing very quickly. I want you to think about the gifts displayed. What happens when all of us find our ministry? Look in verse 13. Look in verse 13.

First of all, you're going to be mature in stature. That means you're going to be like the Lord Jesus Christ unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. You can tell when the gifts are working in a church, when the church becomes like the Lord Jesus Christ. When the gifts are operating, we're becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus, mature in stature and mature in stability. Look in verse 13. Verse 14.

That we be henceforth no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men in cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. The false cults out there are getting Baptist and Evangelical Christians going door to door. They do not evangelize. They don't win souls.

What they do is corrupt and deceive people who are immature, who have not come to the measure of the stature of Christ. And people get blown about by every wind of doctrine. But when the body is healthy, when the gifts are operating, we become mature in stature. We become mature in stability. We're not blown about by every wind of doctrine.

Number three. We've become mature in speech. Look in verse 15, if you will. But speaking the truth in love may grow up. Now, we're to speak the truth in love. If you speak the truth without love, that's brutality. But if you speak in love without truth, that is hypocrisy. Immature people can be cannot blend the two. You have some people just already speaking the truth, but they have no love. Other people who talk about love, they have no truth. Truthless love and loveless truth are the signs of immature people.

But when the gifts are working, we're mature in stature, we're mature in stability, we are mature in speech, and we are mature in service. Look in verse 16. Here's how it all works together. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body into the edifying of itself in love. Now, what does that mean? It speaks of flexible harmony. He talks about every joint. My elbow is a joint.

You see that? It's flexible. Now, what holds my forearm to my upper arm? My elbow.

It's a joint. It enables me to bend this arm. It keeps me connected, but it's flexible, and that's the way the body is.

It is to be flexible harmony. My body works together because of the joints, and that's the way God put the body together. Every member has his ministry, and we're held together by all of these joints.

Now, you know what happens to some people? We get stiff. We get spiritual arthritis, and rather than having this flexibility, we get rigid and firm because the body is not healthy.

Oh, it's so wonderful to see a healthy body. All of the joints just working together in harmony. The Greek word joint is harmos. It's the word we get harmony from. Now, when I studied human anatomy and physiology, I found out in college that we have synovial fluid that lubricates these joints, and when the cartilage gets dry and the synovial fluid there is not there and it gets inflamed and swollen and it gets stiff and painful, then the body is not lubricated.

What is the synovial fluid? It is love. It is love. When we love one another, then we don't inflame one another. We don't get stiff. We don't get rigid. We all have our gifts of God, and we become mature in stature. We become like Christ. We become mature in stature. We become mature in stability.

We're not blown about. We become mature in speech. We know how to speak the truth in love, and we become mature, dear friend, in service. We serve one another, and the body works together. Don't you want to be a part of a church like that? Say amen. I know you do, and may God help us to find our place in the body.

I'm telling you, you are a gifted child, and don't you leave that thing framed and hanging on the wall. Find out what God wants you to do and get busy doing it. You say, Pastor, I just don't have any joy.

Well, what do you do? Well, Pastor, I come hear you preach. Do you think you've done God a wild favor when you've done that? Friend, if you're not serving, you won't have joy.

The Greek word karis means not only grace, but it also means joy. Would you pray that God will show you your ministry in this body? Will you accept yourself, discover yourself, be yourself, and give yourself for the glory of God? And those of you who have not yet been saved, remember you must be saved by grace before you can serve by grace. And you need to receive Jesus Christ now as your Lord and Savior. And if you've never truly been saved, this is a wonderful moment for you to be saved. God brought you here today to be saved. And if you're not certain of your salvation, I'm going to guide you in a little prayer, and right now you can pray and receive Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Pray like this if you want to be saved.

Dear God, I know that you love me, and I know that you want to save me. Jesus, I believe you paid for my sins with your blood on the cross. Thank you for paying my sin debt.

Thank you for taking my place. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you, Lord, for your agony on the cross. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your resurrection.

I believe that God raised you from the dead. Lord Jesus, you told me if I would trust you, you would save me. I do trust you, Lord Jesus.

Would you tell him that? I do trust you, Lord Jesus. I believe you into my life as my Lord and Savior.

Come into my life. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Save me, Lord Jesus.

Did you ask him? Save me, Lord Jesus. Then pray this way. I receive it by faith.

I don't look for a sign. I receive it by faith. I stand on your Word. You're now my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my friend.

Thank you for saving me. And now, Lord Jesus, by your grace I will make it public. I will not be ashamed of you.

You died for me. I will let it be known that I love you, and by your grace I will live for you because you died for me. In your holy name I pray.

Amen. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message, you can call 1-877-LOVE-GOD and mention the title, Faithful in Ministry. This message is also part of the Insightful Factors of Faithfulness series. For that complete collection, all seven powerful messages, call 877-LOVE-GOD or go online to order at www.lwa.gov.

or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. It's important to know your spiritual gift, discover and develop it, and allow God to be glorified as you serve others. Thanks for studying in God's Word with us today and tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. We recently received a message from a listener.

I want you to hear this. I thank our God for your zeal and tireless effort in getting the Gospel to the whole world. Our great God and Savior will surely reward you as you keep toiling on for His glory and honor. We are so encouraged by messages like this one, and we love sharing timeless resources to help you grow in your faith. To thank you for your generous support this month, we want to send you our Tapestry, Faith and Forgiveness Journal. This beautiful, flexible, leather-bound journal uses Dr. Rogers' five-step process for examining God's Word. It walks you through the vitality of forgiveness. Request Tapestry, Faith and Forgiveness when you're ready. Tapestry, Faith and Forgiveness when you call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD or give online at lwf.org slash radio. Again, thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.