Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / How to Develop Your Spiritual Gift for Kingdom Impact

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How to Develop Your Spiritual Gift for Kingdom Impact · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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God has deposited in you an amazing gift. Now,
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what if I told you that this gift has the power
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to give direction and purpose to your life? This
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gift can give you a sense of deep affirmation
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of God's own value of your life. And then what
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if I told you today you can take huge steps toward
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discovering this gift, your primary spiritual
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gift. God has deposited a supernatural gift inside
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you. And today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram
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gives us five compelling reasons why discovering
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and developing your spiritual gift isn't optional.
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It's serious business. He continues our series,
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You Were Made for More, by walking us through
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every New Testament gift, apostleship, prophecy,
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evangelism, pastor, teacher, and more. So you
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can start to see which arena God is calling you
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into. Before we get started, remember you can
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always revisit these lessons online at livingontheedge
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.org. Well, now here's Chip Ingram with today's
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message titled, How to Develop Your Spiritual
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Gift for Kingdom Impact. Spiritual gifts, you
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knowing your spiritual gift, you developing your
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spiritual gift, and then you using your spiritual
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gift is serious business. I'm going to say that
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for a couple of reasons, but I think what has
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happened is we view in the church, many times
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spiritual gifts is like a dessert bar. You know,
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the real meat and potatoes, you walk with God,
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you pray, you obey, you do the best you can.
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And then, yes, some people really know their
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gifts, but it's kind of like dessert. You don't
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really need it for the meal. It's a nice addition.
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And what I want you to know is that it's a part
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of the core of God's meal for growing His church.
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There's been an empirical study done worldwide
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over six continents. They did it in hundreds
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and hundreds of churches. They did it in multiple
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languages. They did it in every kind of church,
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a sociological study. This was not an opinion
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poll. It was an empirical study to find out what...
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caused churches, what were the core elements
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of churches, whether they were charismatic or
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non -charismatic, whether they were denominational
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or non -denominational, whether they were state
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-run, small, large, or mega. And they came back
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with about eight characteristics, biblical characteristics,
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that were common in all churches that were growing
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both qualitatively and quantitatively. One of
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those eight characteristics, in fact, one of
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the most important, was a gift -oriented ministry.
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Churches that trained people in their giftedness
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and then allowed them to serve in their giftedness.
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Christian Swartz in his book, Natural Church
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Growth, as a result of this study writes, when
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Christians serve in their area of giftedness,
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they generally function less in their own strength
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and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus,
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ordinary people can accomplish the extraordinary.
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And then he writes as a researcher, the interesting
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corollary result of our research was the discovery
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that probably no factor influences the contentedness
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of Christians more than where they're utilizing
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their gift. Our data demonstrated a highly significant
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relationship between gift orientation, my personal
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ministry involvement, matching my gifts and people's
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joy in living. None of the eight characteristics
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showed nearly as much influence on both the personal
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life of the believer or the impact of the church
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than gift -oriented ministry. I've got five reasons
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you need to develop your spiritual gift. Before
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we dig in, because I want to convince you. I
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want to take about four or five minutes and convince
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you. I don't want this to be a sheet of paper
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where you know more about gifts. I don't want
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you to even get a model or a paradigm where you
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can say, you know, I know there's motivational
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gifts. I know there's ministry gifts. And I know
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there's these manifestations. I don't want you
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just to get more educated. I want you to be willing
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to do the hard work, to do the research, to look
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inside your soul, to jump in the water of ministry,
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to do whatever it takes. to discover how God
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wired you because you are his workmanship. You
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have been created in Christ Jesus to do what?
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Good works. What good works? The works that he
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preordained that you should walk in them. And
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I want to tell you, you are that paintbrush.
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The grace of God using your gift. painting the
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spirit of God's work through the word of God
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and community to change people's lives. And you
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need to know what kind of paintbrush you are.
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Let me give you five reasons. And these are purely
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to just get you motivated. Reason number one
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is direction and purpose for your life. When
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you understand your gift clearly, your key motivational
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gift, and then the ministry gifts where it operates,
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it will give you direction and purpose for your
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life. Number two, freedom to embrace and enjoy
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who you are. Key word, freedom. You know, we're
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just people and we grow up and as you grow in
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the Lord, there's people that you associate with
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or you admire and we unconsciously try to be
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like them. You know how liberating it is to discover
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who God made you to be and just say, wow, I don't
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have to be like anybody else. I don't have to
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talk like anyone else. What is holy and wonderful
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and winsome is the freedom to be the man or the
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woman God made me to be. Reason number three
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is joy. The joy that results from impacting lives.
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The joy when you meet needs by the good works
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God has called you to do. In fact, our word for
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gifts, charismata, You know, you have the word
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charis, which is the root word for grace. Well,
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guess if you keep making that word smaller, the
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word is joy. Joy. Gifts and grace all come from
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the same word. When you are in your giftedness,
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you can experience amazing joy. Reason number
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four is affirmation of your victory with Christ.
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This is a real theological one, but we covered
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Ephesians 4, 7. What does it mean that he ascended
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except he descended into the lower parts of the
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earth? Ephesians 4, 7. And that entire passage
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is talking about Christ's victory over sin, Christ's
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victory over death, Christ's victory over Satan.
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And the evidence is he gave gifts to men. When
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you operate and know your gift, each time you
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use it, you ought to get a sense of, you know,
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I have this gift because I am a co -victor with
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Christ. And it affirms your value to God. It
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affirms that you're on the winning team. It affirms
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that, you know, life is difficult. It is a fallen
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world, but I have a supernatural ability that
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reminds me Christ is the victor and I'm a co
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-heir with him. Reason number five is accountability
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as you will be held responsible for the stewardship
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of your gift. The first four were kind of exciting.
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Rah, go. I mean, man, you can't afford not to
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miss it. But number five is there is a day, When
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I will stand before what's called the Bema seat
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or the judgment seat of Christ, and I will be
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judged. And this is not a judgment for salvation.
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That's taken care of at the cross when I trust
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in Christ. But I will be judged as a believer
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for my rewards. And the stewardship will be not
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did I do as much as Billy Graham or not that
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I do as much as this pastor or that missionary
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or some great layman. God will ask me, Chip.
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What did you do with what I gave you? I entrusted
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you with X amount of time on the earth, X amount
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of wealth, X amount of energy, and these spiritual
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gifts. What did you do with what I gave you?
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And I don't know about you, I don't want to look
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up at the Lord and say, could you go over the
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gifts part one more time? Because I never really
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quite figured out what mine was. And I think
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the Lord's going to say, Chip, it was right there
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in my word. Now, are you motivated? Are you willing?
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Because when we get to the end of this, I'm gonna
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give some specific applications that are gonna
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take you out of your comfort zone. It's gonna
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take some work. It's gonna take some energy.
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I mean, the last thing you need is one more colored
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notebook on a shelf that says, there's the spiritual
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gift one. I remember when I took that, you know.
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So with that said, for you to not just discover.
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But really develop your spiritual gift. I think
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three things need to happen. Number one is clarity.
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Developing your gifts begins with clarity. And
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this is a little review. There are three types
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of spiritual gifts. First, every believer has
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one primary motivational gift, Romans 12, six
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to eight. We are to concentrate on discovering
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and developing this gift. Remember our little
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story about the waiter and he dropped the tray.
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One of those seven motivational gifts, I believe
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every one of us in this room has. It's our primary
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motivation. Second, that motivational gift, that
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drive, that ability can express itself through
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a variety of ministry gifts. And we looked at
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that second column in Ephesians chapter four
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and first Corinthians 12, 28. Third, when we
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exercise our motivational gift through our ministry
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gifts, the Holy Spirit determines what manifestations
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or effects will most benefit people. So as we
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understand, here's my core motivation. And then
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I'm going to minister in these ministry gifts.
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God chooses as he wills to manifest gifts and
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impact in lives of people. Now you say, where
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do you get that? First Corinthians 12. Four to
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six, we get the paradigm. It says, there are
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many different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit.
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There are different kinds of service, but the
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same Lord. And there are different kinds of workings,
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but the same God who works all of them and all
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men. And remember, this isn't from Mount Sinai.
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This is from Chip, okay? And I've studied and
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I've looked at this. When I look at 1 Peter 4
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and it says, let every person exercise the gift,
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singular, that they have. When I look at Romans
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chapter 12, if you have the gift of teaching,
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singular, exercise it. Exhortation, singular,
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let them exercise it. I think there's good biblical
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evidence. But what we know is there's a broad
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base of teaching on spiritual gifts. But what
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you have is all these gifts. What we have, these
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three columns you have is one way, I think an
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effective way, one way, a model, a paradigm to
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break down the gifts in such a way that help
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us put them into practice. Now, let me give you
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an example of how this works in reality. I have
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a friend who is a business person. He's kind
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of high up in a corporation. He's got leadership
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gift, natural ability and leadership, and he
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is in a financial area. So guess where they put
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him in every church? They want to make him a
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member of the board, right? They want to put
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him on the finance committee and they want him
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to make all the decisions removed from people.
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And so he did that for years and years and years.
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Good godly man, gets up, reads his Bible, prays,
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you know, wants to be the man, the husband God
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wants him to be. Didn't know anything about spiritual
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gifts. He always, you know, he was the kind of
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guy always buying an extra commentary and reading
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and looking and digging in and asking questions
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that made people crazy because that's what people
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with the gift of teaching do. They care about
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those things. But all the while, people kept
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putting him in his natural abilities. Then he
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learned about gifts. And he realized that his
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motivation is the gift of teaching. He also realized
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that he's best in a teaching environment, not
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even pastoring. And he got in a large Sunday
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school class. He got out of his board responsibilities
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because you can only do so much, right? He said,
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yeah, you know what? I do run a big company and
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I do understand financials and P &L statements.
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But you know, when I come to church, that's about
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the most boring, uninteresting, non -motivating
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thing you could ever ask me to do. Am I good
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at it? Yes. Do I want to do it? No. And he began
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to free himself up from church activities and
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teach. And then he teamed up and realized he
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needed a team of people because that's the way
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gifts work. And he began to build one of the
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largest Sunday school classes with multiple small
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groups. And he began to teach God's word. And
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he said, the joy I experienced. And then the
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manifestation. What began to happen is, wow,
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people were getting wisdom and knowledge and
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understanding and marriages were being healed
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because they got the knowledge of what God's
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word said about it. And business people would
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come because he had high respect in the business
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community. And people would get their finances
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in order because what? He would teach on finances,
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but God gave him a platform. Do you see how once
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you understand your gifts, it really begins to
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give you direction, focus, purpose, joy, affirmation
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from God. And that there's these three categories.
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And then notice, I love this last verse. First
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Corinthians 12, seven says, now to each one.
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The manifestation of the spirit is given for
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the common good. Let's remember, I mean, like
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ultra remember, this is not about a little inward
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quarry of kind of looking down in your spiritual
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navel and saying, oh God, oh God, oh God, show
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me my gift, show me my gift, show me my gift.
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It's a grace gift. What's the goal of the gift?
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God has deposited a supernatural enabling in
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you in order to serve. I like to think of it
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as a grace -giving gift, is that what you've
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been given is something that it's really no good
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unless you give it away. And the preoccupation
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is not all about you and what's my gift and how
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does it work and how many inventories and tests
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can I take? The real issue is, Lord, How can
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I understand how you made me? How can I understand
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the environment or ministries that I best can
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be used so that more people or in deeper ways
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can experience Jesus at a fresh and new level?
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Do you get it? So I think number one is clarity.
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You got to get clear on that. And by the way,
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if it's still a little bit foggy, you know how
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it really works. It happens in real life. We're
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going to go over this in just a little bit, but
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this is the cognitive side. really discovering,
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developing, and deploying your gift, you're gonna
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have to get in on the game. You gotta be involved
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in a ministry. You're gonna have to be involved
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in relationships. And God will show you as you
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are in that process. First is clarity. But the
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second thing I think needs to happen is this.
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To develop your gifts, it demands a basic understanding
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of the New Testament gifts. And so if you will
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sort of fasten your spiritual safety belt, And
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some people have said that I talk fast. This
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could possibly be true. But you have not heard
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me talk fast until you see me go through all
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these gifts. But here's what I want you to do.
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It's in print. What I want to do is I want to,
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as best I can, give you a quick snapshot of these.
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Because what will happen, I'm praying that even
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in this room, the Spirit of God, as you begin
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to narrow down your motivational gift to maybe
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the top two, then you'll begin to see, as I describe
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some of these, maybe this is an arena for my
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ministry gift. Maybe this is why these certain
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effects happen. So with that, are you ready?
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And some of them, by the way, are controversial.
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I want you to know, you know, I've done a word
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study on all these. I've done a lot of research,
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but my name is Chip. It's not Moses. It's not
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Jesus. This is my very best understanding. And
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there are very godly people who've done also
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a lot of work and may look at these things just
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a little bit differently. My prayer is that you
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will be more noble than the Thessalonians. And
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like the Bereans, you will examine the scriptures
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daily to see whether what I'm saying is in fact
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so. If you have the gift of teaching, I know
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you'll do that. It's those other people I worry
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about. So are you ready? Are you ready? Apostleship,
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definition. It's the divine enablement to start
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churches or other ministries and oversee their
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development. It's the ability to minister cross
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-culturally with the goal of planning churches.
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Now, note the distinction between the office
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of apostle and the gift of apostle. Ephesians
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4, 11 says, okay, Jesus gave, he gave some as
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apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists
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and some as pastor teachers. He gives four offices
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and they are also gifts. That's Ephesians 4.
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Move the camera back to Ephesians chapter two.
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And he's talking about the birth of the church.
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And he says, now the foundation was laid by whom?
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The apostles and the prophets, Jesus being the
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chief cornerstone. Testament apostle to hold
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the office, you had to be with Jesus from his
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baptism, and you had to be an eyewitness of the
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resurrection. Now, unless you are very, very,
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very old, you are not a New Testament office
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apostle, okay? However, the word apostle literally
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means messenger. It just means messenger. And
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it means someone who's going to fulfill something.
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And there are other places in the New Testament
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where people are called a messenger or an apostle,
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and it's clear they're not one of the 12. Now,
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what we know is from Jesus, these 12 are going
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to have a moral responsibility and there's going
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to be judgment that they have. But I believe
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that the gift of apostleship currently is here,
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but the office of apostleship, because it's gone.
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Because what did the apostles and the early prophets
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do? They brought new revelation. When the church
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was birthed, there was no first Corinthians.
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There was no Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You
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know, there was no revelation. But when we get
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to the end of revelation, what's very clear?
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If any man or any woman adds to this book, all
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the curses in this book will be upon them. So
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the foundation is what you lay of the church.
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And once you lay the foundation, then those gifts
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of offices of giving new revelation are done.
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But this gift of apostleship, I like to think
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of these people as the spiritual entrepreneurs
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of the church. These are the people that launch
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things, start things. These are the people that
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see what could happen. They plant churches. They
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see what's happening in the life of the church
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and something in them looks at, okay, there's
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ministry to kids, ministry to children, ministry
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to the elderly. We have an outreach program.
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And they look at all that and they say, that's
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great. but I want to launch a ministry to unwed
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mothers. That's great, but I want to launch a
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ministry to the Hispanic community. That's great,
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but I want to start Bible studies all over. Do
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you resonate with that? Could that be one of
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your ministry gifts? The second gift here is
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prophecy, the divine enablement to proclaim God's
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truth with power and clarity in a timely and
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culturally sensitive fashion. Notice the focus
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for correction, repentance, or edification. It's
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the ability to reveal God's word accurately.
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Now notice this can also be a motivational gift.
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This can be a primary motivation, but you could
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have the motivation of exhortation or you could
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have the motivation of even mercy. I know a worship
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pastor whose primary motivation is mercy. His
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heart just goes out to people, his compassion.
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He's always helping the underprivileged and the
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hurting people and the people that are out there
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on the fringe, kind of the real artistic types.
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But when he puts together a worship set and he's
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also an artist when he paints, He wants to, with
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power, prophesy and proclaim. This is who Christ
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is. And he wants to create this environment,
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this event. It's his ministry gift. Now, the
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office of prophet, like apostle, is gone. I mean,
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we're not getting new revelation. You know, we
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don't have like second revelation and third revelation.
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We don't have third Corinthians. But as a ministry
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to proclaim. This is still very, very much around.
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Evangelism is the third gift. It's the ability
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to be unusually effective instrument in leading
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unbelievers to a saving knowledge of Christ.
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Some with this gift are most effective in personal
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evangelism, while others are more used by God
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in group evangelism or cross -cultural evangelism.
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These people are motivated and they're empowered
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to share their faith in such a way that two things
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happen. Lost people come to Christ and they want
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to help all the rest of the church become better
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evangelists. Many of you do not have the gift
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in evangelism, but if you get around an evangelist,
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two things will happen. One, your spiritual temperature
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and concern for lost people will go up. It really
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will. I remember being in Spain. I have a good
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buddy I went to seminary with. His name's Manny
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Fernandez. And he started this evangelistic church
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planning ministry first in Spain and now around
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the world. And a buddy of mine, we went to Madrid
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and we wanted to see his ministry. And as a church,
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we were supporting it. And there was this open,
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huge open, I don't know what. Quadrangle, that's
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all I can think of it. And there were buildings
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all around and people and fountains. And Manny
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was walking across it like this and he stopped
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me like this in an archway. And I mean, there
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were thousands of people. And he looked at me,
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he said, Chip, look, just look. And I'm thinking,
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there's people. I mean, is it okay? And look,
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no, look. And I'm thinking, my eyes are open.
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I can't look any harder than I'm looking. And
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he said, do you realize less than one and a half
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percent of those people know Jesus. It's true
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all over Spain. And I mean, tears just started
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coming down his eyes. And I mean, when I was
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with him, I mean, I think he was gonna share
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his faith with statues, you know, just in case,
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you know. Lost people matter to people with the
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gift of evangelism. I remember they interviewed
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Billy Graham and they asked him, you know, they
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looked back on his life and said, I mean. How
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do you explain, of course it's God, how do you
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explain this massive, amazing impact that God
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has allowed you to have on the world? And you're
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there expecting, well, it was my training or
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it was my parents or I had this wonderful spiritual
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experience. And I'll never forget his answer.
22:25
Kind of tilted his head and he said, well, I
22:27
don't know that I can really explain it other
22:30
than maybe one thing. He said, I feel like God
22:34
has a love for people that don't know him. I
22:37
think God has a passionate, deep love for people
22:39
that don't know him. And I just feel like God
22:41
took his love for those people that don't know
22:44
him and he just placed it in my heart. I just
22:47
love him. I just love him. And by the way, this
22:52
is a good example too of some gifts. Imagine
22:55
a gift rather than as the color blue or this
22:58
gift the color red. Imagine a gift as the color
23:01
blue but with a variety of shades of blue. So
23:05
dark blue might be mass evangelism, big groups,
23:08
and real light blue might be personal evangelism.
23:10
One of the greatest evangelists I ever met was
23:12
a guy named John Saville. John came to Christ
23:15
late 50s, maybe early 60s, had a CPA firm in
23:19
Dallas, very shy man, except the supernatural
23:22
gift of evangelism. And John would go into prisons
23:26
once a month or more. with Bill Glass and go
23:29
to death row and share Christ. But John shared
23:31
Christ everywhere. I'd go to meet with him at
23:33
lunch. I still remember we get on the elevator.
23:35
I mean, you know, I don't know, 45 floors and
23:38
glass buildings and real nice, very sophisticated
23:40
people in their business suits and, you know,
23:43
really looking cool. And John turns to this nice
23:46
young lady. Hi, how you doing? And she goes,
23:49
fine, thank you very much. And he just, he had
23:52
this smile. I mean, you know, it was just, you
23:53
know, contagious. And he's an older guy, so,
23:56
you know, she knew there was, you know, he wasn't
23:58
coming on to her. And then he looks at her. He
24:04
said, do you know that Jesus loves you? And I'm
24:07
thinking, oh, John. There's a way to do this,
24:12
and this is not seeker sensitive. Oh, I'm thinking,
24:14
John, what are you doing? And, you know, I'm
24:16
waiting for her to take her purse and whack him
24:18
or something. And he turned to her and said,
24:21
you know something, I just have to tell you,
24:24
I wasted most of my life. I mean, we got less
24:26
than two minutes on the elevator and Jesus has
24:29
made all the difference. And I just can't help
24:31
believe that he just wants you to know how much
24:34
you matter to him. If you ever want to talk about
24:37
Jesus, you know what? Here's a business card
24:39
and our company's up on the something, something
24:41
floor. And I'm expecting her to take it, throw
24:43
it on the ground. I don't know anybody who could
24:46
do this. She melts in his presence. looks at
24:49
him, takes the card and says, you know, you have
24:52
no idea what I'm going through right now. Thank
24:55
you, Mr. Saville. Would it really be okay to
24:56
come and talk? And you know what? It's called
24:59
the gift of evangelism. It doesn't have to be
25:02
in a big group, but this is a gift that God gives
25:05
people to care and to reach out to lost people.
25:08
Maybe that's you. Notice as we move on, next
25:11
gift. is pastor -teacher. It's the only dual
25:15
gift in the New Testament. He gave some as apostles,
25:18
some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some
25:21
as, there's only a singular article. It's not
25:23
some as pastors and some as teachers. Literally,
25:26
it's some as, you know, singular article, the
25:28
pastor slash teachers. Let's find out what it
25:31
is. Pastor -teacher is a person with this spiritual
25:34
gift has the ability to lead, nourish, protect,
25:37
and personally care for the needs of a flock
25:39
of believers. Not all people, listen carefully,
25:42
with the office of pastor or even an elder or
25:45
overseer have a need for the gift. In other words,
25:48
you don't have to have the gift of pastor teacher
25:50
to be a pastor. You can pastor that office out
25:53
of an exhortational gift. For me, it was a prophecy
25:55
gift. And then notice it goes on. And many with
25:59
this gift do not need or have the office. In
26:03
other words, you've met some people who pastor
26:05
and shepherd and love people and they love being
26:07
small group leaders or some of those Sunday school
26:09
classes where they kind of have teams. This is
26:12
the person that is always wondering, well, I
26:13
wonder how Betty is. She's not here. I wonder
26:16
how Bob is. Hey, Bob, how are things going? Last
26:19
week you shared, they shepherd. That's what this
26:22
word means. The word pastor, it comes from the
26:24
root word to shepherd. It means to give oversight.
26:27
This is the ability to promote spiritual growth.
26:31
It's a dual gift. It not only has a caring, it
26:36
means you can nurture, care. And what does a
26:38
shepherd do for sheep? A shepherd protects, leads,
26:42
guides, and feeds. And this person has that mix
26:46
and also the ability to teach God's word in such
26:49
a way to help the person grow spiritually. And
26:53
this does not have to be, I think this has not
26:55
been taught. A lot of people with this gift get
26:58
lost in the body of Christ because they think,
27:00
you know, I'm not called. I don't have any calling
27:03
from God to go to seminary or Bible school and
27:05
be a pastor, but I want to shepherd people. And
27:08
by the way, this is not gender specific. You
27:10
know, the spiritual gifts, see, we have gotten
27:12
so used to the office of pastor, we think of
27:14
the pastor as a role or office. This is a gift.
27:19
I'll give you a quick example. When my daughter
27:21
was in fifth or sixth grade, there was a woman
27:23
teaching the fifth and sixth grade class. They
27:25
had about 60 or 70 fifth and sixth graders. And
27:28
she had the gift of pastor teacher. And pastor
27:31
teachers see people with potential as well. And
27:34
she began to shepherd my daughter, just love
27:36
her and care for her. And pretty soon she saw
27:38
some gifts. And so she went into, once she got
27:41
out of fifth and sixth, she kept the relationship
27:42
and she had Annie come and help with the third
27:45
and fourth grade. She was involved in children's
27:47
ministry. Then a year later, she had her come
27:49
and help with the fifth and sixth graders. I'll
27:51
never forget, they were gonna go on a snow retreat.
27:53
My family's musical, but Annie only knew three
27:55
chords on the... on the guitar and couldn't change
27:58
very fast. I mean, she played the piano, but
28:01
all her brothers are musicians and stuff. And
28:03
so she said, Annie, I want you to lead worship.
28:05
These three chords that you know, here's about
28:08
10 songs with just those three chords. And so
28:10
she goes up for the first time. Well, guess what?
28:12
My daughter is very good at now. She leads worship,
28:15
plays guitar, but she developed my daughter.
28:18
My daughter, by the time she was in about ninth
28:21
or 10th grade, she led a small group. She shepherded
28:24
people. She taught, she led worship. This woman
28:27
who pastored her and taught her developed her
28:30
to be a young woman of God. And so guess what
28:32
happened when we left California? Trish came
28:35
by and Trish said, Annie, I have a gift for you.
28:39
Because see, they always want to develop, nurture
28:41
spiritual growth. Here's a brand new guitar.
28:45
I think God has a great ministry for you in Atlanta
28:47
and maybe you need a nice guitar to do it. How
28:50
about you? Are you a shepherd? You a teacher?
28:54
The gift of teaching, the divine enablement to
28:56
understand and give detailed explanation of biblical
28:58
truth. It's the ability to search out and validate
29:01
truth, which has been presented. Notice this
29:04
is a motivational gift, but it's also a ministry
29:07
gift. And so we won't go into a lot of explanation
29:10
other than when I think of this one, especially
29:12
in this country. If you listen on the radio to
29:15
what I think are some really quality teachers,
29:17
if you listen carefully, their ministry gift
29:20
is teaching, but they teach out of different
29:23
motivational gifts. For example, when I hear
29:25
Chuck Swindoll, I can tell you right now, his
29:27
primary gift is probably exhorter. Don't you
29:30
hear him? Even as he talks, he puts his arm around
29:33
you and gives you very specific practical ways
29:35
to teach. I think of another fellow on the West
29:38
Coast who is very clear, very accurate, but he's
29:41
very dogmatic. This is the way it is. I mean,
29:44
there's not a gray area when he teaches. I'll
29:46
guarantee he teaches out of the gift of prophecy.
29:48
And so you can listen to different people teach,
29:52
and you need to realize maybe you have a ministry
29:55
gift you want to teach, but you think, well,
29:56
I don't see myself as a teacher. Well, maybe
29:59
you're going to teach out of a different gift.
30:01
Because when you teach out of an exhortational
30:03
gift, you're going to be like counseling a whole
30:05
group of people. A prophetic gift, you're going
30:07
to call people to repentance and to really grow.
30:09
Miracles, 1 Corinthians 12, 10, and 28, it's
30:13
the ability to serve as an instrument through
30:15
which God accomplishes acts that manifest supernatural
30:18
power. Miracles bear witness to the presence
30:21
of God and the truth of his proclaimed word and
30:24
appear to occur most frequently in association
30:27
with missionary activity. The gospel message
30:31
carries its own authority, but God sometimes
30:33
graciously uses miracles to authenticate and
30:37
open doors for the proclamation of forgiveness
30:39
and life in Christ. Jot down in the corner Hebrews
30:43
1, 2 -4. It talks about signs and wonders, and
30:46
we'll touch on it in a minute. But imagine when
30:48
the early church... And especially in countries
30:51
where there's competing worldviews, where people
30:54
really wonder, I mean, should I believe in this
30:56
religion or that religion? Or imagine being an
30:58
early apostle and walking to downtown Ephesus
31:01
or Corinth, and there's a God on every single
31:03
corner, and you're going out to tell people,
31:05
Jesus is the Messiah. God has visited the planet.
31:08
He's raised from the dead. I'm an eyewitness.
31:10
And people are going, yeah, right. And so God
31:13
says, well, I think we need to do some things
31:16
to authenticate that these are my messengers.
31:18
And we need to do some things to authenticate
31:20
that this really is my word. And so that's why
31:23
you see the three major periods of miracles in
31:26
Old and New Testament. You have Moses giving
31:27
of new truth. You have Elisha, Elijah giving
31:30
of restoring new truth. And you have the early
31:32
apostles. But this is a gift God on occasion.
31:35
And it seems especially overseas where the need
31:39
for authentication and verification is greater.
31:41
He'll do miracles. He'll choose to go outside
31:44
the bounds of what we call natural laws and do
31:47
a miracle. Notice healing, 1 Corinthians 12,
31:49
9, 28, and then 30. It's the ability to serve
31:52
as a human instrument through which God cures
31:54
illnesses and restores health. The possessor
31:57
of this gift is not the source, but the vessel
32:00
who can heal only those diseases the Lord chooses
32:03
to heal. I mean, we all know there's times where
32:05
people are healed and times when they're not.
32:08
This spiritual gift should not be confused with
32:10
signs and wonders performed by Jesus and the
32:12
apostles, and it should not be discredited because
32:15
of the abuses of grandstanding and faith healers.
32:19
See, the early apostles, I mean, Jesus raised
32:21
people from the dead. Paul raised people from
32:24
the dead. I mean, they took handkerchiefs off
32:26
Paul. Peter's shadow. I mean, there were signs
32:29
and wonders that were unique to authenticate
32:30
the first century church. That's not this. But
32:36
the other thing is, I think we get to the point
32:37
where we think God never does any of this. I
32:40
mean, we have a command in James chapter five,
32:42
when someone is physically ill, anoint them with
32:44
oil, pray. And I will tell you as a pastor over
32:46
the years, we have in faith prayed, anointed
32:49
people with oil, and then I've watched him die
32:52
of cancer. I can also tell you that we have anointed
32:55
people with oil, prayed, and I can tell you a
32:57
lady who had a brain tumor this big, and she
33:00
went back to the checkup two weeks later, and
33:02
it was completely gone. How and why, I do not
33:04
understand. God chooses to heal. And I'm gonna,
33:08
he does it in response to what he's doing in
33:10
people's lives. And there are times where that's
33:13
his manifestation, to bring glory and honor to
33:16
himself. And I mean, in China, you think of what's
33:20
going on there, the lack of the scriptures. They
33:22
went from about a million or maybe two believers
33:25
in the 1940s to probably well over 100 million
33:27
now. God has done miraculous things in the church
33:31
where there's little education. Little of his
33:34
word, little training to authenticate his work.
33:37
God chooses to do what he wants to do when he
33:40
wants to do it. Administration slash leadership.
33:43
This word, different from the word in leadership,
33:45
appears only once in the New Testament and is
33:48
used outside of scripture for the helmsman who
33:51
steers a ship to its destination. This suggests...
33:54
That the spiritual gift of administration is
33:56
the ability to steer a church or Christian organization
33:59
toward the fulfillment of its goals by managing
34:03
its affairs and implementing necessary plans.
34:06
A person may have the gift of leadership without
34:09
the gift of administration. I am a living example
34:12
of this. The gift of administration is the enablement
34:17
to understand what an organization needs to run
34:19
efficiently and effectively, and then the spiritual
34:22
ability to plan, execute, achieve, and produce
34:25
the organizational's ability to work through
34:29
people to accomplish its God -given goals. And
34:32
you know, some of you, it is just, you know how
34:34
to organize, you know how to orchestrate, you
34:36
know how to implement. In fact, when things are
34:38
not well organized, it just makes you nuts. You
34:41
just can't believe that people can't see it.
34:43
By the way, that's one of the indications of
34:45
your spiritual gift. It is so natural. It's so
34:49
much the lens that God has you see through. Often
34:52
your spiritual gift is most realized in your
34:54
reactions to things instead of your actions.
34:57
Because you react because you can't understand
34:59
why this isn't being taken care of because it
35:01
is so easy for you to see. Gift of administration.
35:05
The gift of leadership often asks the what question.
35:08
What is it we need to do? The gift of administration
35:11
answers, How do we need to do it? And what do
35:14
we need to do to get there? The gift of wisdom,
35:17
it's the ability to apply the principles of God's
35:19
word in a practical way to specific situations
35:22
and then to recommend the best course of action
35:25
at the best time. The exercise of this gift skillfully
35:28
distills insight and discernment into excellent
35:32
advice. These are people that are saturated in
35:35
the scriptures. They have a gift of wisdom. There
35:38
is one thing to know the Bible. It's another
35:41
thing to see the chaos and problems and struggles
35:43
in life or problems. It is the gift of wisdom
35:47
that takes the truth and the insight of God's
35:49
word, the struggles, challenges, problems, or
35:51
opportunities, and bring these things together
35:54
and to understand how this word and insight given
35:57
by the Holy Spirit can address out of this truth
36:00
those situations. As a young pastor, there was
36:02
a guy named Bill Carter. And he traveled a lot
36:06
and had the gift of teaching. I learned probably
36:08
more from him than I did at any seminary class.
36:11
He would study sometimes six or seven hours a
36:13
night on the road. And often I would come with
36:17
just my, have you ever felt like your life is
36:19
like a ball of twine that's gotten just totally
36:22
all messed up and no matter what you do, you
36:24
just can't unwind it? I would take my ball of
36:26
twine issues, issues in my marriage, issues in
36:29
parenting, issues in the ministry, and I would
36:31
bring them to Bill. And I would just lay out
36:35
all this junk. I don't know what to do. And I
36:37
know part is my attitude and maybe it's the season.
36:39
And I, you know, whine, whine, whine, moan, moan,
36:42
moan. And it was a godly older man. And he said,
36:47
Chip, it would seem to me. And he would just
36:49
open the word and say. you know, there's a timeless
36:52
principle here. And then he would describe it.
36:54
And he said, there's, you know, as you think
36:56
through this, and then little by little, about
36:59
45 minutes later, he'd taken my ball of string
37:02
and he would deliver six pieces of string, nicely
37:05
laid out about what to do, why to do it, God's
37:09
character, issues in my life, how to respond.
37:12
And it was just like, some of you have that gift.
37:16
Some of you have that gift. And Prof, as we call
37:20
him, is 81 years old. And so I said, Prof, do
37:22
you have plans for breakfast? He said, no. I
37:24
said, could I eat with you? He said, well, sure.
37:26
And so we made a time. And so we ate breakfast.
37:29
And he's a very direct guy. So we did a little
37:31
small talk for about 45 seconds. And then I basically,
37:36
I thought of, you know, how many times will I
37:38
get this? And I laid out, here's my season of
37:40
marriage and grown kids and this is different
37:42
and I know these are my insecurities and you
37:44
know me for 25 years and blop. And here's this
37:47
other really big issue that I don't know what
37:48
to do with. And man, I'll tell you what, then
37:51
I eat my eggs. And I came back and told Teresa
37:55
what he shared about how you love grown kids
37:58
and in -law issues and what happens in your 50s
38:00
and what happens in your 60s and what you need
38:02
to do now so you finish well. And Teresa said,
38:05
Chip, you better go write that down. And so I
38:08
did. It's the gift of wisdom. Knowledge, the
38:12
ability to discover and analyze and systemize
38:15
truth for the benefit of others. Just amazing
38:18
knowledge. With this gift, one speaks with understanding
38:21
and penetration. But the word of knowledge can
38:24
also involve supernatural perception and discernment
38:27
for the purpose of ministering to others. This
38:29
is when God reveals something to someone that
38:32
they couldn't know in a natural way. And by the
38:34
way, this is one of the most abused gifts in
38:36
the body of Christ. You know, turn on the TV
38:38
and you'll see how not to do this. But Peter,
38:42
right? Ananias and Sapphira come up. Peter doesn't
38:46
know anything. And he says, hey, we sold the
38:49
field for this amount of money. And Peter goes,
38:53
Ananias, why have you conspired to lie to the
38:57
Holy Spirit? He knew exactly what was happening.
39:00
He knew his heart. He knew the situation. Well,
39:03
how? He got a word of knowledge. God sometimes,
39:07
to prepare you for ministry, may give you insight
39:10
into things that you couldn't know. Now, okay,
39:13
I'm going to go out on a little limb here. Some
39:15
of you need to either relax, and some of you
39:16
don't get too excited, depending on your background.
39:19
All right? But, you know... This is really abused
39:24
when people get all this, God revealed that you're
39:27
supposed to divorce your wife, take this job,
39:29
do this, do that. You know what? If God wants
39:31
to speak to you, he probably will call you on
39:33
your phone instead of on someone else's. And
39:36
when it's used in these vague, I know somewhere,
39:39
somehow, someone, someday in some part of America
39:43
has this issue and God's healing it right now.
39:47
I mean, I'm looking at that and going, hello.
39:50
But, you know, sometimes we throw out the baby
39:52
with the bathwater. What if God needs to prepare
39:55
you for ministry? It doesn't violate scripture.
39:58
It equips you to do what God wants you to do.
40:01
And I think this is kind of rare. I don't understand
40:03
this gift. By the way, a lot of these gifts,
40:05
I don't understand. I mean, I'm giving you my
40:07
best explanation. Some of them are just a mystery.
40:09
But I can tell you before I ever heard anything
40:12
about gifts, I was a Christian about three years
40:14
old in the Lord. And I'm down on spring break
40:17
my senior year. Went down with a couple buddies.
40:20
And since I was a believer, I just played outdoor
40:22
basketball every day and really thought I had
40:24
a good time and went to Florida to do it and
40:26
then jumped in the water. And then we spent some
40:29
time, I remember being on the beach, completely
40:30
clear, just reading my Bible, the sun's going
40:33
down. And I don't know about you, but I wish
40:35
that every time I prayed, I had those sweet,
40:37
intimate times with God, but I don't. But that
40:39
was one of those times where it was just like
40:41
I could reach out and touch God. And the ocean
40:43
was there and the sun coming down. And I was
40:46
a growing Christian. I just sensed and felt his
40:48
presence. Far, far distance, just I looked like
40:51
a little stick man. He was really far away. A
40:53
guy was walking down the beach. And this thought
40:55
comes this clear in my mind. The guy walking
40:58
toward you is a homosexual. He's going to come
41:00
and sit down. I want you to tell him about me.
41:04
And I'm thinking, did I have enchiladas last
41:07
night? I mean, what's going on here? I'm thinking,
41:11
well, I'm making stuff up in my mind. So, you
41:14
know, I keep reading my Bible. He gets closer
41:16
and closer, and I look up at him again. The guy
41:19
walking up here is a homosexual. He's in desperate
41:21
need. I want you to tell him about my love. And
41:25
I'm going. Now, by the way, this has happened
41:28
to me very rarely. I'm just telling you. I don't
41:30
know why. Long story short, the guy walks, walks,
41:33
walks. He gets right to the edge. I'm thinking,
41:35
keep going. You know, keep going. And think about
41:40
30 years ago. And this guy turns and walks up.
41:46
And I'm going, you gotta be kidding me. And then
41:49
he sits down and you can tell his eyes are all
41:52
red and God prepared me. And he said, you know,
41:56
I just broke up with my life partner and I noticed
41:59
you had a Bible here and I just need somebody
42:02
to talk to. And 45 minutes later, we both prayed
42:05
and he received the Lord as a savior. All I'm
42:09
saying is, I don't know how God works all this,
42:11
but it's not for show. It's not to impress people.
42:14
It's not to say all the mystical stuff is really
42:17
way out there. Has that happened a lot to me
42:19
since? Not a whole lot. Now and then, I get a
42:21
prompting. You know, have you ever been driving
42:24
and, you know, just a couple, three, four weeks
42:26
ago, I had a prompting. There was a guy in the
42:28
rain walking. And, you know, in our day and age,
42:30
you think, I don't know if I want to pick up
42:31
this guy. He's probably an axe murderer or something,
42:33
you know. And, you know, I drive by him and I
42:35
get the strong prompting, picking up and taking
42:37
him where he needs to go. And I'm thinking, you
42:39
know, I've got a wife, I've got kids, Ingram,
42:41
slain, side of the road, not really a good, you
42:43
know, and I get to the next exit, pick him up,
42:47
okay. So I get the exit, turn around, go back,
42:49
pull in front of him, and he was a guy from a
42:52
totally different world and background than mine.
42:54
And I said, do you need a ride? And he looked
42:56
at me like, are you some weird guy that's gonna
42:58
kill me? And he got in and I took him and I'd
43:00
love to say, he prayed. All I did is, I thank
43:03
God, I did a good work that God prepared me for.
43:06
He didn't pray to receive Christ. He didn't say,
43:08
oh, Jesus is the answer to all my world. I just
43:11
got to love him in the name of Jesus. And there
43:12
happened to be a Bible there and I was listening
43:14
to something that I needed to listen to and he
43:16
got to hear five or 10 minutes of it. But a word
43:20
of knowledge, maybe something God does now and
43:22
then, but you always check it with scripture.
43:24
But I would say if you ever get what I call a
43:26
good nudge, a nudge to love someone, care, be
43:29
sacrificial, something that lifts someone up
43:33
and doesn't bring attention to yourself, something
43:35
that means a sacrifice, Christ's name is honored,
43:38
it's probably not from you. That's a pretty good
43:40
test that it's probably from the Lord. A gift
43:43
of faith, the ability to have a vision for what
43:45
God wants done and to believe confidently that
43:48
will be accomplished in spite of circumstances
43:50
and appearance. To the contrary, the gift of
43:52
faith transforms vision into reality. But by
43:55
the way, notice in those three columns, when
43:57
someone teaches or preaches motivationally here
44:00
out of a ministry gift, it could be pastor, teacher,
44:02
or prophet. As people are listening often, then
44:06
the gift of faith, bang, oh, I get it. There's
44:08
a lady listening on the radio. She was listening.
44:11
And at the very end, we prayed, you need to believe
44:14
God. God is sovereign. God is big. You need to
44:16
believe him. And it's a long story. Her name
44:19
is Brooke. She brought not only her brother,
44:21
her husband, her sister -in -law, all these witnesses.
44:24
And she said, nothing's ever happened like this.
44:26
I was listening to you on the radio. And at the
44:28
very end, it was on prayer. And you said, you
44:31
need to believe God. You need to ask him and
44:34
believe that the God is not the God of the past,
44:36
that he answers prayer. Great ones today. And
44:38
she taught about this long illness. She could
44:41
only take about six breaths and they couldn't
44:43
find a cure. And she had to quit her job as she
44:45
was home and going, you know, couldn't even get
44:47
up and move around. And she said, I heard that.
44:51
And it was like, God gave me faith to believe.
44:53
I prayed. I went to the doctor the next day.
44:56
All my symptoms were gone. Now, are we in a healing
44:59
ministry? Are you kidding me? How that happened?
45:01
I don't have a clue. It's a manifestation. See,
45:04
when you are using your motivational gift in
45:07
the ministry he's called you to, when you minister,
45:10
someone will get a word of wisdom. This is what
45:12
to do. Or knowledge about, oh, you mean you're
45:14
supposed to give the first portion of your money
45:16
to God? I didn't know that. And get your priorities
45:18
aligned? Yeah. Or someone gets a word of knowledge.
45:20
This is what I want you to do. Or someone gets,
45:23
like in this case, a manifestation. She was healed.
45:26
Can't God do whatever? See, I think when we studied
45:29
all these gifts, we divide camps. This group
45:32
believes these are this way. This group believes
45:34
these are that way. This group gets over enamored
45:36
with these and dah, dah, dah. I think we missed
45:38
the point. I think you have a grace gift and
45:41
I think you're a paintbrush in the hand of God.
45:44
And I think you focus on the left column. What
45:47
are you motivated to do? And then you discern
45:49
the outlets of the ministry and you leave the
45:52
right column up to how God wants to work. Gift
45:55
of faith. Distinguishing of spirits or discernment,
45:57
1 Corinthians 12, 10. It's the ability to discern
46:00
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
46:02
With this gift, one may distinguish reality versus
46:05
counterfeits, the divine versus the demonic,
46:08
and true versus false teaching, in some cases,
46:10
spiritual versus carnal motives. God, as you
46:14
soak your mind in the scripture, as you're doing
46:16
what he wants you to do, will give some people
46:19
ability to discern. When you're in a group and
46:21
need to make big decisions for a ministry, for
46:24
a board, for a church, for a family, you want
46:26
this gift in the room. Discernment. Is this from
46:30
God? And these people, I mean, you know, you've
46:33
had it. Have you ever had that little, everything
46:35
seems right, but you had that little something
46:37
down deep in your gut that, you know, there's
46:39
something smells here, but I can't put my finger
46:41
on it. and then you find out later it really
46:44
stunk and you cannot put your finger on it, you
46:47
can put your whole hand on it, often that may
46:49
be God teaching you or wanting to find, hey,
46:51
there's some discernment here. Check that out.
46:54
Check that out. Here, the gift of tongues. It's
46:57
the ability to receive and impart spiritual message
46:59
in a language the recipient has never learned
47:01
for other members of the body to be edified.
47:05
This message must be interpreted either by the
47:08
recipient or by another person with the gift
47:10
of interpretation. Now, this is one that could
47:13
take people lots of directions. The word tongues,
47:15
glossolalia, it's used also as a dialect in Acts
47:18
2. It is a known language. You know, French,
47:22
Swahili, some known language. The second thing
47:25
is, is that much of the teaching and the confusion
47:27
about tongues is taking tongues, this gift, and
47:30
then mixing it with spiritual growth or holiness
47:33
or spiritual power. What I can tell you is the
47:37
gift of tongues is a known language. The gift
47:39
of tongues doesn't have anything to do with spiritual
47:41
growth or sanctification. It is a gift of a...
47:45
speaking a language you've never known. And of
47:47
course, then the gift of interpretation is someone
47:49
is speaking French or Swahili. And for some reason,
47:52
God is going to supernaturally intervene and
47:54
give you understanding to translate a language
47:56
that you haven't known. Now, can God do this?
47:59
Has it happened in new tribe missions and some
48:01
other situations? Sure. Did he do it in the early
48:03
church as a sign for unbelievers? There's a whole
48:06
teaching on tongues. Our purpose is let's define
48:08
what they are. With that, are you ready? Take
48:11
a deep breath. I did talk fast. If you're going
48:17
to develop your spiritual gift, one, you got
48:19
to get clear, really clear about the paradigm
48:22
and how it works. Second, you need to understand,
48:25
I think, a quick definition. And hopefully, you
48:29
know, there's more material and a lot that can
48:32
go under that. But I wanted to give you a quick
48:34
snapshot of each gift so you could at least say,
48:38
hmm. you know what, now I can do a little more
48:40
research on my own. But the third thing we need
48:43
to do to develop your spiritual gift, it demands
48:45
you exercise them by involvement. And let me
48:49
give you four areas of involvement, and then
48:51
we'll really develop these as we continue. First
48:54
of all, involvement in people's lives and needs.
48:58
If you really want to develop your spiritual
49:00
gift, everything we've done so far has been cognitive,
49:03
hasn't it? I mean, this is like watching videos
49:06
on swimming, right? This is like, okay, now we've
49:09
learned this is the freestyle. This is the backstroke.
49:12
This is the breaststroke. And you know what?
49:14
We have people that have videos on swimming and
49:17
they got books on swimming. What do we know?
49:20
You don't get wet. You don't learn to swim. Spiritual
49:23
gifts are about loving people. You have to get
49:26
involved in people's lives. What's that mean?
49:28
It means ministry. And even if you're not sure,
49:30
you know, even if you don't know, you don't have
49:32
to sign up for like five years or like until
49:34
Jesus comes back. Go to your church or find a
49:37
ministry and say, you know something, I'm not
49:39
sure what my gifts are, but I'll give you three
49:41
months in this area. At the end of three months,
49:43
I'm gonna pray, evaluate, and then you need to
49:45
know I have permission to step out of that ministry.
49:48
But you gotta get involved in people's lives
49:51
and needs. The second level of involvement is
49:53
a small group community. A small group community.
49:57
You know, authentic relationships. The gifts
50:00
are what? They're designed so that the presence
50:03
of Christ and the power of Christ and the love
50:05
of Christ that resides in you through your gift
50:08
and through the Spirit as He works through the
50:10
Word in you touches other people. That can't
50:14
happen if your, quote, Christian experience is,
50:16
yeah, I go to church on Sunday. I sit in row
50:18
73. I listen to that guy. He's really good. Listen,
50:22
listen, listen. Sing, sing, sing. Leave, leave,
50:24
leave. Then I come back next week. Listen, listen,
50:26
listen. Sing, sing, sing. Leave, leave, leave.
50:29
You know, I just don't understand why I don't
50:30
have joy in my life. I just don't understand
50:33
why God isn't using me. You have to be in some
50:37
community where people know you, you know them,
50:40
you understand one another, you share hearts,
50:43
you're vulnerable increasingly, or you know what?
50:45
You'll never know. The people that will recognize
50:47
your gift will be people who love you, who see
50:51
you in the context of community and ministry.
50:53
The third level of involvement is ongoing training
50:56
and education. Think of a gift is like a muscle.
50:59
God gives you the gift of the muscle, but there's
51:02
little muscles, medium -sized muscles, and big
51:05
muscles. And like any gift, like a muscle, how
51:08
does a muscle get stronger and better? By practice.
51:12
So you need to have ongoing training and ongoing
51:16
education, time, practice, maturity, feedback,
51:19
training. I mean, if you have the gift of teaching,
51:22
you know how you develop it? You teach, you read,
51:26
you study. I've gone for years. I'm almost never
51:29
in my car where I'm not listening sometime in
51:31
the week to teaching tapes of great teachers
51:33
that have profoundly impacted my life. And the
51:35
first thing as I'm in my car, it's like, wow,
51:38
God, how do you want me to respond? And then
51:40
the next is, what makes this guy so good? What
51:43
is it about how he shares or what he shares or
51:46
his preparation or his vulnerability or how he
51:48
delivers it? God, I want to get better. And the
51:51
only way I'm going to develop my gift is I want
51:53
to learn from other people. And so you dig in
51:56
and you figure out, you read books, you go to
51:58
training, you do whatever it takes because your
52:02
gift is serious business, right? It is to God.
52:06
It is to the church. Final thing is regular risk
52:10
-taking opportunities. You can look at all these
52:14
charts. You can go for coffee and say to others,
52:17
you know, I think mine is either probably teaching
52:19
or exhortation, but I'm not really not sure.
52:21
Why don't we sit around and talk over coffee
52:23
about what we might be someday, somehow, some
52:25
way. I'll tell you what, after you see what we
52:30
see, you need to go, okay, okay. I'm really nervous.
52:36
I'm really nervous. I'm really scared. What if
52:38
I fail? I'm really insecure like everybody else
52:39
in the whole world. Okay, but I think I got this
52:41
gift. Might not have this gift. People might
52:42
not think. And jump in the water. You just got
52:49
to flat jump in the water and say, I don't know
52:52
what gift for sure I have. I've done some study,
52:55
but I'm going to jump in the water of life and
52:58
people and need and ministry and I'm scared to
53:01
death. Oh God, help me. And just start loving
53:05
people. And start doing what you feel most passionate
53:08
about doing. And I'm gonna tell you something.
53:10
You'll not only get wet, you'll get strong. You'll
53:14
have joy. People will get loved. And I mean,
53:18
you will no longer be one of those Christians
53:21
who sit, sit, sing, sing, leave, leave. You will
53:25
be a paintbrush in the hand of the master, dipping
53:30
into the multicolors of grace. And in your spiritual
53:33
lineage, you see people's lives. This is the
53:36
before. This is the after. And you will be a
53:39
part of God's extreme makeover. And I'm telling
53:42
you, there's not enough letters behind your name.
53:45
There's not enough zeros at the end of your portfolio
53:47
that can ever match the joy and the fulfillment
53:51
that comes with doing what God made you to do,
53:55
to walk in the good works that he preordained
53:59
just for you. You're listening to Living on the
54:04
Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled, How
54:07
to Develop Your Spiritual Gift for Kingdom Impact.
54:10
Chip closed today with a clear action plan. Commit,
54:13
pray, study, get counsel, test the waters, examine
54:17
fulfillment, and watch for God's evident blessing.
54:21
That's clearly not a passive list. Instead, it's
54:24
an invitation to jump in. The people who discover
54:27
the double F, fulfillment and fruitfulness, are
54:30
the ones who stopped waiting for the perfect
54:32
moment and started moving now. A great first
54:35
step in doing that is taking our free online
54:37
assessment called The Real You, a biblically
54:40
grounded tool that helps you understand how God
54:43
has uniquely wired you. Your personality, your
54:46
strengths, your spiritual design. Take it free
54:49
by going to therealyou .org. And we want to say
54:54
a genuine thank you to everyone who supports
54:56
this ministry. Every broadcast, every free resource,
55:00
every message that reaches someone at just the
55:02
right moment, it's made possible by people who
55:04
believe this work matters. If God has used this
55:08
teaching in your life, we encourage you to start
55:10
giving today to help it reach someone else. You
55:13
can easily make your donation online at livingontheedge
55:17
.org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. You can also
55:23
write to us at Living on the Edge, P .O. Box
55:26
3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. And if you haven't
55:32
already, be sure to subscribe to the Living on
55:34
the Edge podcast or check out the full -length
55:36
versions of every message on the Chip Ingram
55:39
Sermon Podcast. Either way, we hope you'll like
55:42
and share these messages with friends and family.
55:45
Well, now here's Chip. You can become an expert
55:48
on each of the spiritual gifts, know what they
55:51
mean, give a definition, and absolutely nothing
55:54
will happen unless you jump into the deep end
55:58
and begin to test the waters. In other words,
56:01
You don't have to know for sure what your spiritual
56:03
gift or gifts are, but they don't do anything
56:07
unless you start to use them, unless you test
56:10
them out. And I would remind you and remind me,
56:13
your spiritual gift to serve, to love, to care,
56:16
to exhort, to call, to pray, to give, to lead,
56:20
all of those things can happen in your neighborhood
56:23
with believers and unbelievers. All of those
56:26
things can happen in a small group, and it may
56:28
be harder, but through Zoom. What I want you
56:32
to know is the real issue is are you willing
56:35
to take some time to explore what are my gifts?
56:39
And then are you willing to say, okay, Lord,
56:41
if it's exhortation, then I guess you want me
56:44
to encourage people. I'm going to call three
56:45
people today. Or if it's service, I'm going to
56:48
go door to door to three of my neighbors that
56:51
I don't know that well and say, I'm going to
56:53
the grocery store. What could I get for you?
56:55
Here's the deal. The Holy Spirit will show you
56:59
what to do. Here's my admonition. Jump in. Do
57:03
something today. You'll be glad you did. Spiritual
57:06
gift abuse is real. And next time, Chip Ingram
57:09
lays out the warning sign so you can recognize
57:11
it, avoid it, and keep your gifts operating in
57:14
the grace God intended. I'm Dave Drewy, and we'll
57:17
see you back here next time for Living on the
57:20
Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored
57:25
by Living on the Edge.