Mentoring Men for the Master

THE 5TH “I” IN RELATION TO ONE’S SPIRITUAL GIFTS

THE 5TH “I” IN RELATION TO ONE’S SPIRITUAL GIFTS

1 Peter 4:10

  1. What Is The 5th “I”?  It is Inter-relating with others to share our lives.  Question:  How do we share our lives?  Does this simply mean to be friendly, eat out, go to the movies together, even go on vacation with neighbors?  No – much more.  
  1. What Does It Then, Mean?  1 Peter 4:10 spells it out perfectly.  NASB – “As EVERYONE HAS RECEIVED A SPECIAL GIFT, A Charisma – EMPLOY IT IN SERVING ONE ANOTHER AS GOOD STEWARDS OF THE MANIFOLD GRACE OF GOD.”  
  1. What Are The Special Gifts He Speaks of?  When Jesus Christ saves us, He doesn’t just save us to go to heaven, but at the same time He equips us with special, supernatural abilities to minister to our brothers.  This began on the Day of Pentecost and continues to this day.  Why on the Day of Pentecost?  Because on that Day Jesus baptized for the first time believers into His body and gave them spiritual gifts (Acts 2:42 – “Fellowship”)  
  1. Why Is It Very Very Important We Know This Truth And Obey It in Our Lives?
    1. Simply this – unless we know and use our gifts, we are living out of the will of God – in reality, wasting our lives which will be “wood, hay and stubble at the Judgment Seat of Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11-13).  
  1. Permit Me to Share With You My Ignorance of Spiritual Gifts.  I only knew of two gifts: the gift of preaching and speaking in tongues until after I graduated.
    1. I got a taste of the joy of spiritual gifts after I graduated with honor from college.  Illus:  Teaching Sunday School.
    2. Proceeded to enter graduate school, pursuing a study of government and history.
    3. Then one day God showed me I was not using my real spiritual gift.
    4. I had to give up my scholarship and begin to develop my spiritual gift.
    5. 20 years later I was invited by Adrian Rogers to speak on Spiritual Gifts at his famous church.  For the first time I went to the New Testament to find out what spiritual gifts were.  Illus.  Persons in my class were amazed when I told them that each had a spiritual gift.  
  1. Finally, I Came to See That My Major Spiritual Gift Was Exhortation, which is the Greek word Paresis, meaning “to come alongside men” to encourage them to follow Jesus.

WHERE WOULD I BE TODAY IF I HAD NOT DISCOVERED, DEVELOPED AND DEPLOYED, MY SPIRITUAL GIFT?

WHERE ARE 90% of Church Members Today?

WHERE ARE YOU?   

HOW CAN YOU DISCOVER, DEVELOP, AND DEPLOY, YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT?

  1. Know The Meaning of Spiritual Gifts in Contrasts to Talents and the Fruit of the Spirit.
  2. The First Step in Discovering our Spiritual Gifts
  3. The Right and Wrong Attitude toward Spiritual Gifts
  4. The Biblical Names and Definitions of Spiritual Gifts.
  5. The First Step to Take if You Don’t Know Your Spiritual Gift

“We have but one life, twill soon be past,

ONLY WHAT WE DO FOR CHRIST WILL LAST!”