Spiritual Gifts | How to Use them for God’s Glory | Prophecy

Spiritual Gifts, Part I

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8
Review: Last week we saw that offering up our body involves sacrifice of the negative and the positive-
Verses 3-8 focus on the positive–our Spiritual gifts. This week it [the message] is about offering up the gifts God has given us for His glory!!

Often those who stay dedicated to a church are those who are serving in some way–they feel a part of the body!
Probably one of the most famous statements of Socrates is “Know Thyself.” Do you know how to know yourself? –DRINK DEEP OF the Word [the Bible]!

How to Use Your Spiritual Gifts for God’s Glory

I. Be REAL! SOBER —SOPHRANEO-…..right mind
Don’t get a big head!! Illustration: Have you ever complimented one of your children…..[and then told them not to get a big head about it?]
sober judgement–Realizing that it is a GIFT. BE REALISTIC

A self-worship type focus can cause you to look down on anyone who doesn’t respect your gift
Remain SOBER, HUMBLE… KNOW YOUR PLACE and KNOW YOURSELF.
PRIDE is intoxicating-• You become consumed with your own world & out of touch with reality

One of the more nauseating things in life is someone seeking to serve others and serve God by thinking that they are so much better than those they serve. AS IF
NOBODY SERVES AS THEY DO. Everyone owes them gratitude, praise, respect

II. [According to the]”MEASURE OF FAITH” means assess yourself spiritually. Some believe that they are not worthy to serve as a deacon or elder– this is sober judgement…. They could be right or they may just need more discipleship. This makes me want to bring them into leadership.
DO NOT allow your humility to keep you from serving; this is not what God wants!

[Think of the]story of Martha serving. It wasn’t that serving is wrong, it was that Martha needed to be with Jesus more so that her gift was used in the right way with the right heart behind it.
-Identify your gift and use it! -WE WILL GET INTO THAT NEXT WEEK!

Spiritual Gifts | Prophecy

What is with prophecy? Of all the GIFTS this can be powerfully GOOD OR BAD
[Illustrations]:

• Charles Spurgeon (a Calvinist) during a sermon pointed up at a man and said, Sir your gloves are not paid for.
• 8th-grade prophetic word given to me and Amy Gaul
• God impressed heavily on my heart to warn people always drunk in the park
• John Piper…your wife will die when she gives birth
• Testimony of Nat:

As a sophomore in college I was working at Wal-mart but I was on a break just walking through the store. I did not have on my nametag or my employee vest. A lady came up to me and asked,”Nat? Uh, Nathaniel?”I answered yes.She responded, God wanted me to tell you to pull your bootstraps up. He’s got great plans for you.Shocked, I told her thanks. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was dumbfounded. she then said, “I pray for you every day.” And then she left.

When I came to my senses I went to go find her. I have no idea who she was.

When I walked by my co-worker (who was also my best man in my weddingand my closest friend) wondered what was wrong with me. I was pale like l’d seen a ghost. I have no idea who that was, but I think about it often. At the time, I was dumped from a pretty serious relationship (marriage was in the air or so I thought). Later that summer I made a decision to be in some type of full-timeministry. Was my “experience’ why I decided that? No, but I wonder.

Has the gift of prophecy Ceased? Differing Views

1. It has Ceased…-Richard Gaffin and Paul Enns (Moody Handbook of Theology)-

“The gift of prophecy is no longer NEEDED because the foundation of the church has been laid and the Canon of scripture is complete.”
Ephesians 2:20 “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself
being the cornerstone”.
see also 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
EXODUS 33:11– Moses spoke to God face to face

Contrary Opinions:

John Macarthur would disagree with Paul Ens on Romans 12 that prophecy after the
completion of scripture is the same as preaching. “Paul Ens states that there is no clear
evidence in scripture that prophecy is a synonym for teaching.” Maybe not teaching BUT
PREACHING| Yet scripture does not separate foretelling and forthtelling. The word prophecy
encompasses BOTH.

2. Prophecy has not ceased-_Wayne Grudem and John Piper

See 1 Corinthians 14:1-4 .. this does not sound like it is just for the apostles but rather for the church
Also READ Acts 2:17
Furthermore it is difficult to rip this one gift out of the list presented in Romans 12, believing
all are still valuable today while one isn’t. the text just doesn’t seem to allow for it.
I Thessalonians 5:20 -“Do not despise prophecies, test everything.

John Piper: “Prophecy is a nonauthoritative, fallible, human report of something we sense God
has brought to our mind for the edification of God’s people which is to be tested by the
renewed mind of Romans 12:2. The church is led by Elders who are to test such prophecies.
It’s a very dangerous and valuable gift to the church.”

Pastor TJ: I disagree a bit–Prophecy is certainly to be tested by scripture and character as it is given by a fallible person. A true prophetic word is to be taken authoritatively for the edification,
discipline, or strengthening of the faith of the believer.
So if you are seeking this gift, recognize that it is not on par with scripture, but rather is in
submission to it.

Use prophecy in proportion to your faith

What does this mean??
1. Faith is always humble – The person recognizes that they are fallible, they know
their weaknesses, and they realize that prophetic words only come from God. They
want to get out of the way.
2. Use it to bring Glory to Christ! All Faith is for pleasing God and lifting up the name
of Christ!
….NOT for your own glory… It’s what God is stirring in your heart, it’s about Him!
I have met people who claim that they have the gift of prophecy and there is
something very unsettling -mainly because they are a controlling prideful
person.
Love Jesus more than the gift!
3. Ask God to give you some wisdom that will edify and build up, and believe
He will give it to youl COULD IT BE THAT WE DON’T HAVE MANY GOD CENTERED
PROPHETIC WORDS BECAUSE WE ARE NOT BEING TRANSFORMED AND ARE RATHER
BEING MORE CONFORMED?
4. Thus Saith the Lord must be backed with scripture that is tested!
WHY TEST WITH SCRIPTURE????
In proportion to your faith! If your faith has grown for many years then you will
be able to test and know what God’s will is by balancing out the whole of
scripture with one verse and therefore not pervert a verse in scripture.
5. FAITH must be combined with LOVE. 1 Corinthians 13:13

These are notes from Pastor TJ Hahn, used by permission and optimized for reading