[0:00] Okay, I'm going to talk to you this morning about recognizing, whoops, start over, recognizing, regarding, and receiving the bodybuilding gifts, okay?
[0:14] The bodybuilding gifts. This is from Ephesians 4, 11, 16, all right, basically the five-fold ministry. We're on the front end of a church plant trying to build a church, co-labor with Christ.
[0:30] Obviously, Jesus builds his church, but we build with him. Paul was clear about that. He said, you know, he talked about the different labors and how you take care how you build. And so what we're trying to do right now is take care how we build, because beginnings are important with building, as you know.
[0:46] If you don't get the foundations right, everything is off. Actually, I have a friend who's a builder, and the first house they ever built, you know, they're new at all this stuff, but very knowledgeable what they're doing.
[1:00] But the guy that did the foundation for the first house they built, there were some things that were a little bit off. And the entire rest of the build, they were plagued with this one mistake, because the foundations affect everything above it.
[1:17] You know, it's like, oh, now the framing is different, because it's not totally the way it was supposed to be. And then because the framing is different, the drywall is different. And then because the drywall is different, this is, you know, it's just, the roof is different.
[1:30] It's just all kind of as it goes up. So these are important times for us to take care how we build, like the Bible says, right? Take care how you build in Ephesians 4.
[1:41] But then the other thing is, I think sometimes we overcomplicate church planting, and just the growing and multiplying of his church.
[1:52] I actually think that if the church would pay more attention to God's ways, it'd just be much simpler. But we've kind of made these kind of modes and operations that we try to do all this weird stuff.
[2:06] And at the end of the day, the Bible speaks very clearly about how to build. The Bible speaks very clearly about how churches multiply. The Bible speaks very clearly about what it looks like to be healthy.
[2:19] Like there's ways, there's certain things put in place. And unfortunately, so many problems are caused in the church by just ignoring those things. It's, I mean, it sounds overly simplistic, but, and some people might say, Josh, you're being overly simplistic.
[2:33] But I just want to submit to you that maybe I'm not. Maybe we've just made it way too complicated sometimes. Maybe we just get back to, you know, do the old Francis chant, I just don't see it in this book, you know?
[2:47] If we just get back to the book and just look at what's in there, it'd be a lot simpler, right? So, add those three things. These three things are important when it comes to all the gifts.
[3:01] But especially if we're talking about gifts that build up the body. Ephesians 4, 11 to 16, I'll read it for you. This is the text that we're getting all this from.
[3:12] It says, He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ.
[3:26] Okay? Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
[4:07] Do you see how simple it lays that out? Basically, it says, hey, if every part is doing its work, the body builds itself. We say, oh, we have to do all this. We have to make sure we do this and this and this.
[4:18] And we gotta, it's like, well, it actually, it builds itself up. Okay? It's a living organism almost because the church is alive with the people of God.
[4:33] And when each part as a body, a living body is doing its part, we just focus on, okay, what's my part? Am I doing it? And then we also focus on recognizing, receiving, and regarding the parts that were not.
[4:48] As each part's doing its work, it's gonna be built up. And if there's certain gifts that are given to equip others to do the work of the ministry, and there's certain gifts, these five are given as bodybuilding gifts to build up the body.
[5:01] Okay? They're the ones who are specifically gifted by God to the church to build up the church. And so, it's important we do these three things.
[5:12] First is to recognize them. Okay? If you're going to be equipped by these gifts, you have to first recognize, number one, that they exist. some people, and it's an atrocity that people actually believe that some of these gifts are not for today.
[5:28] I was at Midwestern Seminary for some conference or something once, and the president of the seminary was talking about what was giving us the spiel for Midwestern and why people should go there and support it and all that kind of stuff.
[5:41] And it's like, our mission is to raise up evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And I'm like, and then he kept going. I'm like, wait a second, he skipped two of them. What are you talking about?
[5:53] He just kept going. I was like, oh, I was so bothered. I wanted to stand up and be like, hey, you forgot to. It's like, this, it says, there's an until in this verse.
[6:04] So it tells us how long these gifts are in play. Okay? There's a shelf life on these gifts in this verse. And people like to say the shelf life is already done. Apostles and prophets, not for today.
[6:14] Okay. Well, this one says, until we all attain to the unity of the faith. Yeah, that's happened. I mean, there's no way that's happened, right? We got some work to do.
[6:24] Okay? Until we're to mature manhood. Has the church reached a point of mature manhood? I don't think so. Okay? Stature of the fullness of Christ, not there yet.
[6:35] We're working on it. We're getting there. So that we're no longer children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried away by every wind of doctrine. Clearly, that hasn't happened yet. These gifts are necessary.
[6:46] Okay? So, you have to recognize them, which you're not going to recognize them if you don't even believe they exist. So let's start there. You have to believe they exist. And then you got to be able to recognize them. And if you don't know what they are, how are you going to recognize them?
[6:59] It's like, hey, did you recognize, did you see so-and-star? Did you recognize them? And I'm like, I've never seen that person before. How would I know that it's them? Right? We've had people over before that we've never met, which is always a fun thing.
[7:12] You know, we meet someone, like maybe I meet someone or Gina meets someone and then we invite them over for dinner and it's like, oh, someone's coming over for dinner that I never met before. Or you go to a coffee shop and meet someone that you've never met before.
[7:24] They contacted you via text and it's like, I've done that before where I get there. I'm like, how am I going to know who the person is? I've never met, I'm not going to recognize them because I've never seen a picture of this person and I've never met them in person.
[7:36] If you don't know what you're looking for, how will you ever recognize these gifts? But it's absolutely important that you recognize these gifts because these gifts are given to build up the body. So you have to be able to recognize them.
[7:48] But recognizing them isn't enough. Okay? You also have to regard them. Meaning you have to value them. You have to, there has to be weight attributed to them because of their importance, because of their implications.
[8:02] And there are some people who recognize the gifts but they don't value the gifts. They recognize them but they don't regard them. They kind of dismiss them. They think, oh, that gift isn't important because I'm not gifted that way.
[8:13] Or that gift isn't important because that gift kind of annoys me. You know? And we have to not just recognize them but we have to regard them. Because that's something that you make effort or focus to do.
[8:26] Make sure you're recognizing how people are gifted according to the scriptures because the scriptures tells us how we can recognize them. We're going to look at that. Okay? But then do you regard them? Do you care?
[8:37] You think, oh, it's important for me to value these other gifts. Because essentially regarding them is you saying I need them. Disregarding them is you arrogantly saying I'm good.
[8:51] I don't need you. And the hand cannot say to, what is the, one of the other parts, whoever it says in 1 Corinthians 12, I don't need you. Right? One part of the body can't say to another part I don't need you.
[9:05] And yet, that's what we do sometimes. That's a disregarding of the body. And then lastly, we have to receive those people. Okay? You recognize them, you regard them, and then you receive them. Meaning, you're welcoming them.
[9:16] You're not just saying you value them, they're saying bear upon my church and upon my part of the body. I need your part. Like, I need to receive what your gifting brings.
[9:30] Even if what your gifting brings is sometimes uncomfortable for me. Yeah? Sometimes a prophet might bring a word that you're like, you don't want to hear. Okay? Sometimes, you know, a pastor, very lovingly and kind, because that's what pastors do, says a hard truth to you.
[9:47] And you're like, I don't want to hear that. Right? Okay? Whatever it may be, these different gifts. Sometimes an evangelist is like, you've got to get off your butt and get out there and start preaching the gospel.
[9:59] You're like, I don't want to preach the gospel. And so sometimes those things rub, but you have to receive those things. We need those people. And sometimes you look at it, you're like an evangelist, and you're just thinking, what?
[10:11] Okay, you're like a one-trick pony. You're always talking about evangelism. It's like, can't you think about something else? And in one sense, no. That's how they're, that's the gift they are to us.
[10:22] Like, receive. Receive that gift. Don't be annoyed by that gift. Don't condescend that gift. Don't poo-poo that gift or disregard that gift. You have to embrace the gift, receive the gift, affirm the gift.
[10:37] Tell those people, hey, we value you. Okay? If you're talking to Zemir and he keeps talking about evangelism and you're just like, all right, I get it, all right. You just say, no, this is good.
[10:49] Our church needs guys like this. And then you say, I thank you, Zemir, for emphasizing this. I appreciate this part of the body. Okay? When Seth wants to blow up the whole church after we just got started, you just say, I love you, Seth.
[11:03] I appreciate that you see stuff's off. You know? I love that prophetic part of you. Okay? Do you understand what I'm saying? Like, you have to receive, and part of receiving is affirming.
[11:15] And I think the church doesn't do a good enough job affirming people in their gifts. Hey, you're gifted this way. I receive that. I appreciate that. I recognize it.
[11:27] Like, just speaking those three things out, like, I recognize that you have this gift. Being noticed, being seen in your gifting is encouraging because sometimes you wonder, like, do I really have this gift?
[11:39] And you better be sure the devil wants to tell you that when you do have a gift that you don't because he doesn't want you using it. So when you say, hey, I recognize you have this gift, that's encouraging.
[11:51] It's helpful. When you say, hey, I value your gift. I regard your gift. That's helpful. Because some people know they have a gift, but they don't feel like it's value.
[12:02] And then when you say, I receive what you're saying, I receive that. Like, just saying that phrase sometimes is helpful. Like, hey, just want you to know, I received the word you brought. I receive your input.
[12:14] I receive your gifting. It's valuable. We love it. We need it. I admit sometimes it rubs me the wrong way, but I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're a part of this church.
[12:25] Does that make sense? Do you follow me on that? So, just, can we remember, I think this is really important at the foundational level. We're building foundations into this church. Be careful how you build.
[12:36] Okay? And it's really important that hopefully you can build, again, the things you build now get into the culture and then what's, culture is caught.
[12:48] Okay? And that's, that's a really powerful thing. Eventually, you have to talk about things way less because it's just caught in the culture. What if we build a culture and we all have to work, any kind of cultural thing, we all have to contribute.
[13:01] What if the culture of our church is one of recognizing, regarding, and receiving the spiritual gifts in one another? Wouldn't that be awesome? And especially those five bodybuilding gifts to make sure that the church is built up and make sure that we're equipped to do the work of the ministry.
[13:16] Make sure we're not being tossed to and fro. Make sure that we reach the unity of the faith, the fullness of Christ. That's what it says in Ephesians 4. It's such an important verse when it comes to building God's church with him, collaborating with him.
[13:29] Okay? So, I want to look at these five gifts. Okay? I'm going to point, you guys, if you guys want to copy these notes, because I'm going to mention a lot of scriptures.
[13:41] Okay? So, I can get you a copy of the good one just to kind of look them up yourself. I'm not even going to read through all of them, but I'll reference them. I'm going to reference a lot of scriptures. A lot, the vast majority of this is going to be scriptures and then a little bit of it is going to be me, just my experience working with building the church and recognizing different people and what I've seen in some of these gifts that could be clues to help you recognize them.
[14:04] Basically, I'm trying to do the best I can to help us recognize, help us regard, and then help us receive these gifts because that's going to build up our church. Okay? So, first one, apostles.
[14:17] Definition of an apostle. Okay? An apostle is a father. 1 Corinthians 4.15. Okay? You have many, 10,000 boy leaders, boy instructors, but you have not many fathers.
[14:28] I became your father in the gospel. One of my favorite verses, 1 Corinthians 4.15. Okay? So, apostles are fathers who plant and water and or water churches.
[14:39] Okay? You know, I've planted, Paul said, Apollos watered, 1 Corinthians 3.5-7. So, they establish and nurture, they plant and water churches, and they possess supernatural skill and mastery to build people together.
[14:56] Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3.10 that as a skilled master builder. Okay? So, apostles have this unique ability to build like a supernatural gifting or ability to build people together.
[15:10] Okay? An apostle is called by God, 1 Corinthians 1.1. Sent by men, Acts 13.3. They laid their hands on them and sent them to specific people or places, Galatians 2.7-8.
[15:24] Paul said he was called to the uncircumcised and Peter was called to the circumcised, Gentiles, Jews. Okay? Apostles are male, Acts 1.22.
[15:35] When they had to choose, when they chose Matthias after Judas had died, one of their requirements was that he was a male. Okay? They're servants, multiple verses that talk about that, workers, 1 Corinthians 3.9, whom the church's foundation is built on along with prophets, Ephesians 2.20, the church is built from the foundation of apostles and prophets with Jesus the chief cornerstone.
[16:01] And for those of you might think that that's only the apostles and prophets at the beginning of the church, like at, you know, Pentecost, kind of that kind of time, read on later on in Ephesians and it clearly speaks that it's not referring to the prophets of old and the apostles then.
[16:19] It's speaking of a continual thing if you keep reading. So, the seal of their apostleship is the people they've built together as a church. 1 Corinthians 9.1-2, he says, the seal of my apostleship is you.
[16:34] That's what he says. The people are his seal. And they equip the saints for the work of the ministry, Ephesians 4.12. Okay, all these equip the saints. But that's an apostle.
[16:45] That's a kind of a hopefully more fully orbed definition. And then I want to just look at the distinctives. I'm going to do this with each one. I'm going to talk about, I want to talk about, I think it's helpful when you see what these different gifts, what their focus is, what they love, what they hate, and then what they see and what their weaknesses are.
[17:08] And I think it can help you discover if maybe you have this gift and it can help you recognize it in other people. Okay, some of this is right straight from the scriptures. Some of it is stuff I've just seen with people.
[17:20] You can make your own deductions. So, distinctives. Apostles, okay, I started. Apostles focus on the church. Okay, that's kind of their obsession.
[17:33] That's like their focus, right? What do they see? Apostles see the big picture and how everything and everyone fits together as a whole. You see this with Paul, like all over the New Testament epistles.
[17:44] He sees the big picture. He sees the kind of overarching plans of God and how things fit together and how the pieces fit together and has this anxiety for the churches, right?
[17:55] That's what you can say. That's what his focus is. Apostles love order. He told Titus, who I believe is an apostle, to put what remains in order and appoint elders. They love building something from nothing.
[18:08] That's what apostolic work is. You're starting from nothing. They love family, new frontiers, the macro, balance of appropriate emphasis, and how people and things fit together.
[18:21] Okay, you see Paul constantly talking about body, parts, things fitting together. apostles hate disorder, small unholistic vision, unbalanced emphasis, impersonal programmatic church, and devaluing the church.
[18:37] Okay? An apostle's weakness is missing the micro while focusing on the macro. Okay? Now, it's important to know their strengths and their weaknesses.
[18:48] Everyone has them. Okay? Because you have to be sensitive of that and sometimes you have to remind them of that. Hey, I love this about you. I appreciate this about you. Just remember, this maybe isn't as much your strength.
[19:02] Okay? You need to be sensitive to this. This is why you, apostle, need profit guy or profit woman because they see that micro. You're Mr. Macro and we need Mr. and Mrs. Micro here.
[19:15] It's very important. We can't just think macro. Okay? So that's apostles. Prophets. A prophet is one who speaks what they see and hear from God.
[19:29] Okay? You see that in 2 Chronicles 18, 13 that they, he says, I only speak the words God puts in my mouth. 2 Peter 1, 21, they spoke from God as they were carried along.
[19:40] Prophets spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Okay? A prophet is a person with supernatural ability to hear what God is saying and see what is naturally unseen.
[19:51] Okay? They see, they hear and they see. All right? And we're talking about things that aren't naturally seen. They see supernaturally. They see things other people don't see.
[20:04] They get vision. You know, these are the kind of people that are always seeing things and you're just like, I just don't see what you're saying. It's like, yeah, that's because that's the way they're gifted. They see things. It doesn't necessarily mean they can build what they see but they can see it very clearly.
[20:18] Prophets are servants, Amos 3 verse 7, whom the church's foundation is built upon along with apostles, Ephesians 2.20. They equip the saints for the work of ministry, Ephesians 4.12. Prophetic giftings include discernment or discerning of spirits, 1 Corinthians 12.10.
[20:34] Words of knowledge, 1 Corinthians 12.8. Basically knowing things you wouldn't know on your own. Seeing the future, dreams and visions, Numbers 12.6, Isaiah 30 verse 10.
[20:49] And then some prophets are called seers, S-E-E-R-S. Okay? So there's an element of prophetic that hears and there's an element of the prophetic that sees.
[21:01] And some prophets are called seers. You see that there's multiple verses that talk about these and even have verses where one is referred to as a seer, like Gad was referred to as David's seer and Nathan was referred to as a prophet.
[21:20] Okay? So the seer, there's some people that just, they see things and then there's some people who hear things. Okay? Distinctives. Prophets focus on God.
[21:31] Their orientation is on God. They're constantly just like comparing everything to this plumb line to God. If it's off, you're going to hear about it. Okay? Prophets see God.
[21:45] Isaiah is a perfect example. I saw the Lord high and lifted up. Right? That's what prophets do. They see right and wrong, black and white. They see the plumb line from heaven.
[21:55] They're constantly looking at that. They see small things others don't see and they see the future. Okay? Prophets love being alone with God.
[22:06] They love being true, seeing, hearing, discerning, inspecting, and dreaming. Okay? Prophets hate when people aren't focused on God.
[22:19] Prophets hate fleshly, independent ministry. Prophets hate when people or ministries aren't true. Prophets hate misrepresentation, exaggeration, deceit, and falsehood.
[22:33] Okay? They can't stand that stuff. That bugs them. A prophet's weakness is thinking that the micro is the macro and sometimes having a difficult time being with people.
[22:44] Okay? It's terrible. Oh, I forgot to give examples of apostles. Examples of apostles, Matthias, Paul and Barnabas, Apollos, Silvanus, and Timothy, Jesus.
[23:01] Examples of prophets. There's so many in the Bible, but Abraham was the first one mentioned. Moses was a prophet like none other, it says, in Exodus. I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 3410.
[23:14] In Antioch, it says there was prophets and teachers. Philip's daughters were referred to as prophets. Agabus was referred to as a prophet. And Jesus is referred to as a prophet.
[23:25] Okay? Okay. Thirdly, evangelists. All right, what's an evangelist? Definition of evangelist, is a gospel or good news proclaimer.
[23:36] All right? Possessing supernatural power and wisdom to win souls. Proverbs 11, verse 30 says, he who wins souls is wise. Evangelist has a boldness to go where lost people are and preach to them.
[23:51] They're always wanting to, this is where an evangelist and apostle are very similar. They're always wanting to go out into new territories. Evangelist is focused on winning souls and apostles are focused on establishing churches.
[24:07] Okay? But they're very much the more pioneer kind of people, apostles and evangelists. They're always wanting to go out. They equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
[24:17] Okay? It's important to realize that these, oftentimes we think that these gifts are the ones who do the ministry, which they do, obviously. But hear what it says and sometimes it just kind of goes right over our head and we glaze over.
[24:30] They equip the saints for ministry. So an evangelist, you may think, oh, an evangelist, they're the ones who do all the evangelism. No. Evangelists do evangelism, but they equip others to do evangelism.
[24:43] Okay? Apostles equip people to build the church. Prophets equip people to hear God and to recognize right and wrong. You know, teachers equip people to teach the word of God. Pastors equip people to care for the church and care for people.
[24:56] They don't just do the work, which they do, but they're equipping others. These are equipping gifts. Okay? So it's important. So, what are the distinctives of an evangelist? Evangelists focus on the lost.
[25:08] That's their kind of, their focus. It's what they think about, they obsess about. Evangelists, what they see is they see souls and they see harvest. Right?
[25:18] That's what they're constantly seeing. I see souls out there. I see harvest out there. We got to get out there. Okay? Evangelists love unbelievers, soul winning, preaching the gospel and new frontiers.
[25:32] Evangelists hate indifference to the lost. They hate people not hearing the gospel and they hate people not preaching the gospel. Okay? An evangelist's weakness is winning souls without value or regard for maturing or caring for souls after conversion.
[25:50] Okay? It's like, we just got to get, we just got to get souls. We just got to get souls. Well, you got to care for the souls too. You know? Again, it's just, these are good things to recognize. I appreciate this about you but let's recognize that this might be an area where you're not as strong.
[26:04] Okay? Examples in the Bible, Philip in Acts 21, he's referred to as an evangelist. Jesus is an evangelist constantly going around and preaching the good news of the kingdom.
[26:18] And there are only three verses in the Bible about evangelism. just three. Not a lot. Okay? So, not a lot of material there in one sense but we, there's other aspects of that, the meaning of that word that would lead us to help understand what it is.
[26:36] Like, evangelist is someone who proclaims good news, preaches the good news. We know that that's the definition. So, it's in Ephesians 4, 11. He gave someone to be evangelist. Acts 21, 8 when it talks about Philip the evangelist.
[26:47] And then 2 Timothy 4, 5 and Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. Okay? So, everyone has to do the work of an evangelist even if they're not evangelists. That's a work that we're all called to do because believers are all called to preach the gospel.
[27:01] But some have a unique gifting, a supernatural gifting to equip others to do it and to do it themselves. They have an uncanny, unnatural, supernatural ability to win souls.
[27:12] Okay? Pastors, shepherds, definition of a pastor, shepherd, a faithful steward, Titus 1, 7, a steward, someone who's responsible for people, an overseer of the flock of God, Acts 20, 28, 1 Peter 5, 2.
[27:29] Okay? They oversee the church. They oversee people. They care for people. They shepherd the people. They're a steward of the people. They have a supernatural ability to take care of people well.
[27:40] Okay? Acts 20, 28 talks about taking care of the flock that God has given you under your care. Okay? They're very good at caring for people. Pastor shepherds, the office of pastor shepherd, their fathers.
[27:55] Why? Because the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 5, and the qualifications for an elder shepherd. So, I would use pastor, shepherd, elder, overseer, all in the same, like, synonymous.
[28:09] Okay? I believe that's what the Bible is getting at. You know, the qualifications for pastor, shepherd, overseer, elder is that they must manage their own family well because if they can't manage their own family well, how will they take care of the church of God?
[28:24] Assuming, from the rest of Scripture and what it says, that the church is a family. So, if you can't take care of your family, how will you take care of God's family? And the people who take care of God's family, I mean, people who take care of a family are parents, fathers and mothers.
[28:42] Okay? So, and although the office of pastor, elder, overseer needs to be a man, we see it in the qualifications of an elder, but I definitely believe that there are women who have pastoral gifting, who have that motherly care and gifting.
[28:58] Okay? So, pastors, shepherds, and that office are fathers. They're teachers and instructors. It says they must be able to teach in Titus and Timothy.
[29:11] They're exemplars. 1 Peter 5, 3 talks about being an example to the flock. And so, not only do they care for them, but they're like an example of, hey, this is what you should aspire to.
[29:24] Okay? They have specific qualifications, 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1 speak of specific qualifications, which is almost totally explicitly character qualifications.
[29:38] Okay? So, they have to have a character. Why? Because they're exemplars. They're examples. And they are appointed by men. Paul encourages Titus, go appoint elders in every town.
[29:49] Titus chapter 1 verse 5. And they're made by the Holy Spirit. Acts 20, 28 says, the Holy Spirit who has made you overseers. So, made by the Holy Spirit, appointed by men.
[30:01] Okay? which is kind of similar to apostles where it's the God who calls them and then men who send them. Right? Which is kind of a cool way of looking at it.
[30:13] They are leaders who will give account for your souls. Hebrews 13, 7 says, remember your leaders, keep watch over you. Essentially, that's another word for overseer, right? Keep watch over you.
[30:24] They are caring for your souls as ones who will have to give an account. Okay? So, they're accountable for souls. They care about people because they know they're accountable to them. And lastly, they equip the saints for work and ministry.
[30:37] Ephesians chapter 4 verse 12. Distinctives. Pastors focus on Christians. Pastors focus on people. They're just, they're focused on the flock of God. Right? What do they see?
[30:49] They see individual needs for care, comfort, healing, and nurturing. That's a pastor's heart. What do pastors love? Pastors love caring, comforting, listening, counseling, and ministering to individual Christians.
[31:06] Okay? Pastors hate when people aren't cared for. That's what bugs them, right? They hate when people aren't treated fairly or aren't heard or understood. Okay?
[31:18] A pastor's weakness is caring for individuals at the expense of the whole church. Okay? Where they get so focused on the individual needs or needy people or the individual counseling needs or whatever that maybe they don't see the bigger picture whole.
[31:33] Right? But again, another very valuable gift to equip the saints. Examples are James in Acts 21, 17, Peter, 1 Peter 5, verse 1, Jesus, Jesus, the shepherd and overseer of our souls in 1 Peter 2, 25.
[31:49] Okay? Last one, teachers. Definition of a teacher, an authoritative, I love it, said of Jesus in Mark 1, 22, he didn't teach like the scribes of our day, he did what?
[32:01] He taught as one with authority. Okay? And that's the difference. Those scribes didn't have the power of God, they didn't have that anointing to speak with authority, that's what a teacher does.
[32:13] When you hear a teacher speak, you just kind of, you stick, you kind of tune your ear like, wow, this person has authority. And that's what they did with Jesus, right? They speak in a way, an authoritative way, a teacher is a communicator of truth, possessing supernatural ability in 1 Peter 3, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 2, all speak of one being able to teach, entrust to reliable men who are able to teach.
[32:43] They have, they're able, they have an ability and it's a supernatural ability given by God, it's a gift, okay? They are able to teach and to speak in ways that people understand, okay?
[32:55] A good example of someone who's a teacher is they take complex things and make them simple. Like when a teacher speaks, people understand things. If you're someone who says you're a teacher and people don't understand you, kind of like, eh, probably not.
[33:10] You know, that's kind of the distinguishing marker. You're able to speak in a supernatural way where people understand. Think of the teachers you like to listen to on podcasts or YouTube. They're people who make complex things simple.
[33:22] It's like, that's why I listen to them. They equip the saints for the work of the ministry, Ephesians 4, 12. Distinctives. Teachers focus on the truth. They focus, they're kind of obsessed with truth.
[33:34] Teachers see truth and lies. That's the way they see the world. It's true or it's not true. It's true or it's lie. Teachers love truth. They love good doctrine. They love reading books.
[33:45] They love listening to sermons. They love rigorous study and debate. Okay? They don't get weary with those things. That energizes the teacher.
[33:56] Right? Teachers hate lies. They hate bad doctrine. And they hate false teaching. Okay? Teachers weakness is caring more about being right than love for people.
[34:09] Okay? Which can be very easy to happen sometimes. Examples. In Antioch, there was teachers. Paul called himself a teacher and an apostle and a preacher.
[34:23] 2 Timothy 1.11. And Jesus clearly was a teacher. Again, Jesus possesses all these gifts. 1 Timothy 4.13 says, devote yourself to teaching.
[34:37] A teacher is devoted to teaching. It's something that they're passionate about. Okay? So that's a teacher. So, I think it's important like when you think about these things, especially when you just think of like the focus.
[34:50] You think, oh, okay, apostles are focused primarily on the church. Prophets are focused primarily on God. evangelists are focused primarily on the lost.
[35:01] Pastors, shepherds are focused primarily on people and Christians specifically. And then teachers are focused primarily on truth. When you see that in people, you can start to recognize, okay, I think I know how this person's gifted.
[35:14] Like, I see the way they're bent. I see what they're kind of obsessed about. I see what they just can't, you know, another way to put it is something, sometimes the way to determine how you're gifted or someone else is gifted is to think of what they can't not do.
[35:31] Like, I can't help but do this. That's the, like, if you've ever maybe thought you had a spiritual gift or one of these five gifts and then you're kind of like, ah, I'm done with this.
[35:43] I don't want to do this anymore because it's too much pain, too much trouble. And then you keep going back to the pain and the trouble, you may have the gift. I mean, Gene and I have said that many times we wanted to give up on the church and it's just like, just keep coming back.
[36:01] Keep going back to things that are difficult. And it's just like, yes, because, like, the way you're wired, you're bent, as much as you want to get away from it, it's like you can't because it's what God's gifted you.
[36:13] It's like, you know, you just think, you know, Chris and Stacey are very pastoral, extremely pastoral. You know, they might sometimes think, oh, I can't do this anymore. People are so, there's so much mess with people.
[36:27] And then they're like, I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm not going to counsel people on this anymore. And I guarantee you they'd be right back at it. There's no way I would believe that they would give up. They couldn't because that's how they're wired, right? I mean, we could go, there's so many different people in here, but it's good to affirm people and say, hey, this is how I recognize.
[36:44] I can see, this is kind of what you, like, when you look at the world, this is what you see, right? You see souls. You see truth. You see truth in laws.
[36:55] You see a plumb line from heaven. You see, like, how the church and how people fit together. You know, those, when you see those kind of things, those are clues, like, oh, that's how that person's gifted.
[37:07] Now remember, too, some people could have more than one of these gifts. So sometimes you think, well, I think they're this, but I think maybe, no, they're this. Well, they might be both, right? There's gift mixes.
[37:18] Some people have two, maybe three. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how that works. Some people have more. Some people have less. But at the end of the day, and some of you might not have any of these five-fold gifts, okay?
[37:30] That doesn't mean you're a lesser person. That doesn't mean you're a lesser Christian. It just means, again, you need those other ones for us to be built up, for the church to function as it is. But the other thing is, if you do have one of these gifts, you better use it.
[37:44] You gotta use it. You better get good at it. You better figure it out. You know, if you think you have one of these gifts, have you ever done a study on that gift in the Bible?
[37:56] If you think you have one of these gifts, have you ever looked at every verse on it? Say, I'm gifted pastorally. There's only one verse in the Bible that talked about a pastor. Good job. You're done. There's other verses on shepherding, too, okay?
[38:08] So you can use those as well. But do you study these things? Or are you just kind of, see, this is the problem. What I'm saying is, it's like, oh yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's how I'm gifted.
[38:19] Yeah, thanks, man. I feel like, I maybe, after hearing you, I'm maybe a little bit more tuned on that a little bit. Like, what are you gonna do with it? Study it. Dive into it.
[38:29] Figure it out. Read about it. Read other people who are gifted in it. Seek out other people who are gifted in it. Learn from them. Why wouldn't you? Because if you do, the church gets built up.
[38:41] We hear of all kinds of churches that are doing the opposite. They're getting what? Tore down. They're going away. That church didn't make it. That church has gone, you know, woke and weird and bad.
[38:55] And then, we talk about that all the time. What about the churches that are being built up? It's no mystery how that happens. You have to say, man, how come some churches do and some churches don't?
[39:09] How come that church didn't make it and this church did? It's not a mystery. It's all in the book. It's mostly in the second half of the book.
[39:20] It's mostly in the New Testament. Like, it's laid out there. It's not a mystery. You don't have to wonder. You can figure it out. And if we are obedient to Jesus and if we are valuing his ways, this church will be built up.
[39:37] Like, even certain verses, like, I might do this next time I preach here, but there's a verse in Acts that says that the church multiplied and it just gives two reasons why it multiplied.
[39:50] And some people, we have these church growth experts. They're studying and they're reading, writing all these books and they're just like, well, you got to do this and you got to do this and it's the global shed church movement. You know, like, we're figuring it out now.
[40:01] It's shed churches. You know, but that's what people do. They're like, no, it's house church. No, it's cell church. No, it's mega church. No, it's micro church. No, it's, it's just like, oh my gosh.
[40:11] Like, really? Do we need another model? And then you see in the Bible, it says, the church multiplied in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Oh, really? That's it?
[40:23] That's what it says. That's what it says. And then you think, how many churches care about the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit?
[40:34] How many churches do not hate evil and find their comfort in everything but the Holy Spirit? And then we wonder, why isn't this church multiplying? It's not complicated.
[40:46] It's not complicated. Now, there's other factors, okay? There are other factors, but God is so gracious. He's not, he's not like hiding this stuff from us. It's hidden in plain sight.
[40:57] It's right there. It's in the book. And we got to study it. So, all of us need to be zealous about these things and say, hey, I want to know how a body is built up. We all need to be bodybuilders in the church sense, okay?
[41:11] A bodybuilder knows how muscles are built. Bodybuilder knows what supplements to take, what food to eat, what exercises to do, okay? A bodybuilder knows what not to eat.
[41:21] A bodybuilder knows how to sleep. Like, nowadays, more than ever before, people are obsessive about this. There's experts, podcasts, all this stuff on how to build a muscular, healthy body, right?
[41:34] The Bible talks about bodybuilding when it comes to the church. You can know all kinds of things about the human body. What do you know about building up his body? What do you know about building up the church?
[41:46] You're part of a church plan. You're just going to sit back and let everything happen? You're going to sit back and watch other people do the work and build the church? Or are you going to dive in? Are you going to study?
[41:57] Are you going to be really good at recognizing these five full gifts, regarding them and receiving them, affirming them, pointing them out, seeking them yourself, asking God to give you these gifts, okay?
[42:12] You might say, well, I can do that? Yes. 1 Corinthians 14, 12 says, so with yourselves, since you're eager for manifestations of the Spirit, which he says, you should eagerly desire spiritual gifts.
[42:24] 1 Corinthians 14, right? He says, eagerly desire spiritual gifts. That's a command. It's not an option. But then he says, since you are eager for manifestation of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
[42:37] So it's okay to say, I want to excel in the gifts, period, but then I also want to excel in these five gifts that build up the church. Why not ask the Lord for these gifts?
[42:49] When's the last time you asked the Lord for a spiritual gift? Do you feel weird asking that? Do you feel like that's presumptuous? Why? What does it look like to be eager in your desire for spiritual gifts?
[43:03] Does it not look like asking? Does it not look like saying, God, we need these gifts? If there's gifts in this body you see that are missing, is anybody asking for them? Lord, either give them to us or bring someone else who's got them.
[43:17] Right? I remember doing this in the early days of Bellicose, praying for specific gifts to come in and then watching God do that. That's a fun thing to do.
[43:29] Right? Again, that's co-laboring with Christ. So, we're building this thing with Jesus. We're co-laboring with Christ. To what degree are you doing that? To what degree are you recognizing, regarding, and receiving these five bodybuilding gifts?
[43:46] Amen? Amen. Father, we just ask, we pray for Christ's church, Lord, that you'd build up this church. I pray that we'd be better recognizers of all the gifts, especially these five.
[43:59] I pray that we would regard the gifts, that people would feel valued in their gifts, and I pray that as a church, there would be a culture of receiving the gifts of the Spirit, Lord. That we would receive them, we'd welcome them, we'd celebrate them.
[44:12] And Lord, we pray for more gifts. Give us eager desire for gifts. And in our eager desire, we pray for more. We pray for greater anointing in the ones we have.
[44:23] We pray for you to bring people who have the gifts we don't have. And we pray that you would do what you said you'd do. We pray that you would build up your church, Lord. Help us each to do our work, Lord.
[44:35] I pray that we'd be skilled and masterful in the part that we play in building. In Jesus' name, amen. That's one of the challenges I want to leave you with just as a practical.
[44:46] You know, Paul said, I'm a skilled, I was a skilled master builder. Let me ask you that question. Are you skilled in your part of the building? Paul said he was.
[44:57] Is that just for Paul? Or is it for all of us? Right? You have skill in your area of building and have you then go a step further.
[45:07] Are you seeking for mastery? That's a different kind of skill, right? Like, you're going the extra mile and I'm not just skilled but I'm seeking mastery in it. We should all seek that.
[45:18] And if each part does their work, the church will be built up. Amen? Amen.