Welcome to Leading the Way with pastor and author Dr. Michael Usak. The more I travel around, the more I realize how confused. A large segment of God's people are about spiritual warfare. I mean I heard all kinds of fantasies.
But I'm gonna tell you, the only place to go to is the Word of God. And that's what I did in this book, Winning the Invisible War. And you can do it. And I want you to get the book. Request your copy of Winning the Invisible War Today.
You can get all of the pre-ordering details from your Leading the Way Ministry representatives at 866-6666. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And of course, you can order online. And learn more about the life-shifting content when you go to ltw.org.
ltw.org. Many Christians long to use the gift that God has given them as a tool to reach their communities and the world. but they don't know where to start. Today, a pointed and encouraging teaching, looking at what it means to be an active, effective part. of the body of Christ.
Let's listen as Dr. Youssef begins. Today, as I conclude this series of messages, know your best friend. I want to focus our attention today on something that is of vital importance. And the question is, why on God's earth?
Did God, the Holy Spirit, give gifts to every spirit-indwelled believer? I want to talk to you about the purpose for which the Holy Spirit has given everyone at least one gift. Most people have more than one. I want to tell you why. Why in the world does the Holy Spirit give gifts?
To all of us. But before I answer this question, I need to tell you what the gifts of the Holy Spirit is not. A lot of people are confused about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Are they the same as talents and so forth? And I want to clarify all this, okay?
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are Human talents are not the same as human talents. And you could be a brilliant engineer, a brilliant doctor, a brilliant accountant, or brilliant whatever it is that are not the same as your. Human talents, they The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not Your innate ability. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not the highlighting or the emphasizing of your natural capacities. The Holy Spirit's gifts are not the enhancement of your powerful personality.
No. And that is why the Apostle Paul refers to them in First Corinthians chapter 12. as spiritual gifts. They are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They belong to Him.
They are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He owns them, they belong to him, and he gives them to every Holy Spirit-indwelled believer. And that is why they are called spiritual. They're not your normal talents or your natural abilities to do this or do the other thing.
So It's amazing to me how the Holy Spirit works. And how the spiritual gifts work. In the body. Because Sometimes you see that the Holy Spirit Takes A person Who is A reluctant person to be in front of people, a person who would rather be hiding somewhere else, a person who may not have been able to put two sentences together, the Holy Spirit gives that person a gift that is a public ministry gift. Teacher, preacher, whatever it may be.
And then he can take a high powered Type A personality. and a person who is on the top of his or her game. In the business world, and yet the Holy Spirit will give them serving gifts, behind-the-scenes gifts. Gifts may be ministering in the nursery or in the kitchen or serving tables. From the human perspective, and this is where we all really stumble.
From the human perspective, we fall in the horrible mistake of thinking that one is more important than the other. That one is to be more valued than the other. That is a terrible tragedy and a mistake that believers make. Because in God's eyes, Both are equal. In God's eyes, all He's looking for is obedience to that spiritual gift, to the exercise of these spiritual gifts.
In God's eyes, they both are going to receive the same reward for their faithfulness in exercising the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them. Why? Because they are gifts and they are given to us, and we had nothing to do with them. In fact, the word charisma, which we often use to describe somebody who's able to motivate people or move people, or give a good speech, and we say, oh, he's got charisma or she's got charisma. The word charismata.
Actually in the original means Grace! It means a divine endowment. It's a gift that is freely bestowed by the Holy Spirit on you and me. It might not be what you want, it might not be what you like, it might not be. Suits your personality.
It may not be even what people think you should be doing, and it might not. Show up in your personality tests that you do with the professionals. Why? Because that Gift has a divine origin. It has a divine purpose.
It has a divine giver. Because that gift has a divine goal that God wants to establish, that God wants to accomplish in His body, the church. Please listen carefully. I don't want you to misunderstand me. There are a lot of people who are running around saying the church is man's idea, it's not God's idea.
That the church has never been God's uh plan. That man is who divides the church. Let me tell you, in the words of the great All British theologian William Shakespeare. Hogwash. It is absolute bogus.
Jesus said, I Establish my church, and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. It is Jesus' idea. It's God's idea to have the church. When God put Adam and Eve together in the garden, that was the first church. It was God's idea to establish the church.
And that is why the Apostle Paul In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians verse 13, he said, We are baptized, sealed, indwelt. Use whatever terminology you want to use, mean the same thing. By the Holy Spirit, every believer is. Why? so that we may be one church.
And a whole reason why the Holy Spirit indwells us and why He longs for us to be filled day by day with the Holy Spirit. Is so that we may discover and use our gifts for the edification of the body. Why do you think the Holy Spirit has given us these gifts?
So that we may feel good about ourselves? God bless you.
So that we may enhance our self-esteem.
So that we may go around bragging about our gifts?
So that we may compare our gifts with one another.
So that we may be self-sufficient and do whatever we need to do.
So that we may be envious and jealous of other people's gifts.
So that we may scorn the gifts that we have and covet somebody else's gift.
So that we may use our gifts to our own advantage. Absolutely not. These gifts are given to each believer who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who is continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they may edify others. Others. has nothing to do with us.
so that we may encourage one another.
So that we may bless each other, so that we may serve each other, so that we may build each other up.
So that we may hold each other up, so that we may motivate each other, so that we may edify the body of Jesus Christ. Let me give you just few references. What, to show you from the scripture, you cannot live your Christian life in isolation. You cannot just come and be a spectator and go home Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. That is not the church of Jesus Christ.
That is not the purpose for which the church was established. That is not the heart of Jesus. In Romans 12, chapter 10, he said, be devoted to one another. Honor one another. In Romans 12, 16, he said, live in harmony with one another.
In 1 Corinthians 1:10, he says, agree with one another that you may. There may be no division among you. In Galatians 5:13, serve one another in love. In Ephesians 4.2, bear with one another. In Ephesians 4:32, be kind and compassionate with one another, forgiving one another as Christ forgave you.
In Ephesians 5:19, speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. How are you going to do this when you live your spiritual life in isolation? Ephesians 5.21. to one another out of reverence for God. In Colossians 3.16, admonish one another with all wisdom.
And in 1 Thessalonians 5.11, encourage one another and build up one another. And in Hebrews 3, 13, encourage one another daily. 1 Peter 1.22, love one another. 1 Peter 3.8, live in harmony and sympathize with one another. In 1 Peter 4, 9, offer hospitality to one another.
And in 1 John 1, verse 7, fellowship with one another. And in 1 John 3, 23, love one another. This is just a sample. I couldn't get them all in. That is the heart of God.
That is the heart of Jesus. That is the reason why the church of Jesus Christ exists. Whether it's in good times or bad times, in difficult times or easy times, it makes no difference. God, the Holy Spirit, has a will and his will is for every single individual whose spirit dwells to be an active member by receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit and using and exercising those gifts for the edification of the body. And the Apostle Paul, in trying to press this point home, and is trying to emphasize how How important it is.
Not to be a pure warmer and a spectator and come to be entertained. That is why he presses the point in the chapter 12. In his desire to press this point home and try to emphasize it and make it clear to us, he gives us an illustration of the human body. Let me tell you something about parables and illustrations in the Bible. They always have one point.
A lot of people get into parables and then they get entangled with the details of the parable and they miss the point. In the Semitic mind, a parable or an illustration has one purpose and that is to make one point clear. Spurgeon said, let's open the window and let the lights come in. That's really the purpose. And that is the purpose of the Apostle Paul's emphasis on the importance of the use of every spirit indwelled believer's gift.
In his desire to show us how How ludicrous it is to say, for any person to say, who belongs to the body of Christ, and feel, well, I'm not really necessary. Paul said it's ludicrous. For anyone would say, Oh, my gifts really don't matter. And that's why we have paralyzed churches all over the place. Crowds.
Spectators To be there, to be entertained. The audience. That is not the Church of Jesus Christ. And Paul says, nobody can say, I don't make a difference. You do.
You can never lower your own spiritual temperature without lowering the spiritual temperature of the body. And that is why he gives this illustration. of the human body. And he says, who? in his or her right mind, voluntarily would say I want to live without my legs.
No one. Who would voluntarily say, I want to live without my arms? Who would voluntarily say, I want to live without my eyes? Or I want to live without my ears? Nobody.
And that's really, I mean, this is a sense of humor here, but there's a ludicrous point he's trying to point to. And Paul's impassioned plea for the body of Christ, the church in Corinth, and with every one of us, is that on the one hand, do not minimize your gift and the use of your gift. On the other hand, do not exaggerate your gift. as the most important gift of all. He said, both are wrong.
Don't fall in these traps. Why? Because these gifts are not yours. They are given to you. They are given to me.
So that For the sake of the body of Christ. And that is why the Apostle Paul And if you flip from chapter 12, you go to 14, you know, chapter 12, end of he said, I want to show you the more excellent way. And then he gives us the famous chapter, Shear 13, about love. And then he goes on to chapter 14 to say that without love in your heart, the exercise of those gifts can be superfluous. It's very important.
It's very important. Any exercise of the gifts with that love, the Apostle Paul said. They will not edify people, it will not build up the body of Christ, it will not strengthen others. The real test, beloved friends, the real test of the validity of the exercising of your gifts is the love that you have in your heart.
Somebody sits back and says, Well, I'm not going to get involved, and I'm not going to give, and I'm not going to do that because I don't like what they're doing, and I like what they're. Listen. you are depriving yourself of the blessing. It has nothing to do. God will take care of his church.
God will provide. God will always, if you don't want to be used, he's going to bring somebody else in who'll be used. It's you who miss out on the blessing. And the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for each one of us to edify others. They are given to us for the sake of others, not for your sake.
They are given to us to use and to exercise in love. And the only way to have love in your heart is by abiding in Christ, as we saw in the last message. Without being continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, without continuously bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, your exercise of the gifts are going to come across as cold and as routine and as ineffective. When you exercise your gifts in a loving way. The body of Christ.
is going to be blessed. But when you try to exercise your gifts For a carnal reasons. The body of Christ will suffer. But let me assure you, you will suffer the most. You really will.
The only way, listen, beloved, the only way. for the Church of Jesus Christ to function. According to His will. Listen, the lot of churches are functioning. They have programs and they have this and they have that and they have the other thing, but they're not necessarily functioning according to the will of God.
The only way for a church to function according to the will of God, the only way that God can bless His Body. In good times and in bad. In fact, we shine when it is tough. Is for every believer to exercise his or her gift. lovingly.
And in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in your esteem. Listen. I know. What is like? when you try to minister and serve in your own esteem.
Don't even try it. It's a disaster. I know what I'm talking about. And the way to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is to abide in Christ.
moment by moment, If you are right now, regardless of your circumstances and what you're facing, but if you are right now, Discontented, and if you are dissatisfied in your life, if you feel frustrated. And you're spinning your wheels. There is a likely possibility. That either you are not exercising the gifts that God has given you. Or that you're exercising your gifts in your own power, not in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because listen to me, don't misunderstand me because. I'm telling you, I'm testifying to you what the Word of God said. The greatest source of fulfillment, the greatest source of contentment, the greatest source of personal satisfaction is to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He has given to you. In the power of the Holy Spirit. Even if you're a personally going through tough times, and listen, we all go through tough times.
In fact, I was telling a friend of mine this week that we minister far better to one another out of our brokenness when we are in trials than when everything is going well. Our greatest the impact. is when we minister out of our own trials. Why? Because it is only When you are a blessing to others, can you be truly blessed?
This, beloved, is the secret code. Everybody's running around trying to find a secret code. This is the secret code. to a life of joy and contentment. There's no what can I get out of it?
Oh Lord. What can I give? How can I give of myself? How can I minister? How can I serve, Lord?
Self-sufficiency. In the body of Christ is Satan's philosophy. I am the captain of my faith, and the master of my soul is not for the body of Christ and expresses a carnal spirit. And Paul tells us there are basically two primary reasons. Why Some Christians Either never get involved in ministry Or not minister.
In the power of the Holy Spirit. One, he said. Thinking that your gift is not worthwhile. that your gift is not really important. It is not what you want, it's not what you like.
And therefore you're going to sit back and pout. And salt. And murmur. and complain. The second Is that when you think that you are so highly qualified?
That you don't need the gifts of others. He said both are disaster. To the body of Christ. And that is why. Whether we go through tough times and whether we go through good times.
It makes no difference because we are a body. That is what Jesus intended. Whenever you exercise the Holy Spirit's gift that He has given to you, you will live a life. That is not fearful, is not anxious, no matter what happens. Why?
Because We are to minister to one another. We are there for one another. We Are there when somebody hurts, that we are there to comfort them. And when one is blessed, we rejoice with them. There is no disdain for one another, no rivalry, no competition, no envy, no malice, no inferiority, and no superiority.
Only serving. of one another. Challenging words from Dr. Michael Youssef on today's Leading the Way audio. Listen online, where you get your podcast.
through the Leading the Way app. on your favorite mobile device. with a smart home speaker or On the radio. Details and more ways to connect. at ltw.org.
In his newest book, Winning the Invisible War, Dr. Michael Youssep declares. Many people, including many Christians, pretend there is no war. They even try to deny that Satan exists because they can't detect his presence with their physical senses. But the invisible war is real.
It's raging every day all around us and within. In Dr. Michael Youssef's book, Winning the Invisible War, he offers timely hope for the battle worn. Dr. Youssef reminds you that victory is guaranteed in Christ.
As a Bible scholar and compassionate pastor, Dr. Youssef gives you the tools to stand strong in the strength of the Lord and be victorious in winning the invisible war. Pre-order your copy today and learn more about the content when you go to ltw.org. ltw.org Contact LeadingThe Way today at 866-2666. 626 four three five six or at ltw.org.
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