Gifts from Above: Understanding Your Spiritual Abilities

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical

words that have great significance to our faith.

The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where

once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are

familiar with in Scripture.

So come along with me.

Let's study the Word of the week.

Pastor Josh here.

The Word of the Week is gifts.

Again, we are studying the gifts that God gives us in our life

so that we may serve him to the best of our ability.

And we've been looking at that list in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

If you've been following along with this series, we've gone over

so far two different gifts that God has given us.

The first gift we talked about was the gift of prophecy or the gift

of proclaiming the truth of God to the world.

And that is done through preaching and through proclaiming

different elements of Scripture.

But we also looked at last week the gift of service.

And that's a broad category.

That's a category that we can see lived out in the church in many

different ways.

The Bible says to minister one to another, but then we get to Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, and we see the next gift that's given to believers

there for service.

And that is the gift of teaching.

It says there in verse number eight, he that teacheth on teaching.

And so the Bible clearly tells us that there is a spiritual gift

of teaching given to individuals to teach elements of

Scripture.

So there's the proclamation of the truth of God, and then there's

the teaching or the explanation of the truth of God.

And so there.

There is that need for proclamation, but there also is a

need for explanation.

And the Bible tells us that there is an importance to teaching

within the body of believers.

And some people are gifted in that way.

Some people are supernaturally gifted to explain Scripture and make

it very clear for individuals to understand how to apply these

truths of God.

And so we think about other passages of Scripture in the New

Testament that talk about teaching.

And one that would hopefully come to our minds is the passage

at the end of Matthew, Matthew, chapter 28, what we call

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

the Great Commission.

And the Great Commission tells us to do a few different things.

It's.

It's proclaiming the truth of God to a world that needs salvation.

But we also do know that there is that element of teaching included

there.

And so if you have your Bibles or if you have some sort of device

that you can follow along with me, I'D like you to turn there with

me to Matthew, chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Just as Jesus is about to ascend into heaven, he speaks to

the disciples about the power that's given to him.

And he then challenges his followers to go.

He says, go ye, therefore.

And then the next thing we see here is the word teach and teach

all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Ghost.

So what are we going to teach them?

What's, what's the need for teaching within the Church?

It says very clearly here, teaching them to observe all things

whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

And so what are we supposed to teach within the Church?

Teaching folks how to observe the things that have been commanded

to us in Scripture.

How to obey Christ, how to obey His Word, how to live out His

Word in the world.

And so the Bible does teach us in a few different passages in the

New Testament, the way that we prove our love for God is by obedience,

is by living out the things that are given to us in Scripture.

So somebody needs to understand that, to live it.

And so part of the teacher and part of the role of the teacher would

be to explain to people what it means to understand the Word and

what it means to live out the Word.

And Scripture is our source.

We don't take other sources outside of Scripture and use that

as our teaching material.

We use scripture.

Second Timothy 3, 16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration

of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,

for instruction in righteousness.

And so we know that the Scriptures are given to us to teach

us, that's the first thing, doctrine, what to believe.

But then you know, where we're wrong, how we can fix that, and really

where we can walk in the truth of God.

And so the Bible tells us to go, to preach the gospel, to teach

the gospel, but to teach how we can live out Scripture in our

lives.

And teaching is done in a few different manners.

Obviously, teaching can be done in a classroom.

It can be done in a setting where there's a group.

It's mostly done through what is said, how it's explained, but

also teaching can be done through lifestyle.

Teaching can be done through the way that we live our lives, because

it is a message that's heard a lot more when it comes to application,

when we walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

So, right, I can teach all day about the truth of God, but the application

is going to miss if I don't back it up with what I live by now.

Nobody's perfect in that.

But a teacher is a lot more effective when he or she can demonstrate

the truth that they're teaching, not just by word, but also.

Indeed.

And so there's a few other passages that talk about teaching,

obviously more than we could go over in this short amount of time.

But one that I really appreciate is a passage in second

Timothy.

Second Timothy, chapter two tells us another directive when it

comes to that area of teaching.

And so God gives us the example, God gives us the practice,

the practicality of this, and he gives us what the outcome should

look like within the church.

Second Timothy, chapter two, it says in verse one, thou, therefore,

my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Meaning Paul is talking to Timothy here, his son in the faith,

and he says, hey, as you pastor this church, as you minister,

you know, rely on the strength of God, the grace of God, and then

he says, and the things that thou has heard of me.

So, so Paul talks about what he has taught to Timothy.

So, so we see the element of the teacher teaching the student.

It says, and the things which thou has heard of me among many witnesses.

So there's not just Timothy here that's learned.

It's, it's the corporate group, the same commit thou to faithful

men, meaning as I have taught you, so you teach others.

And that's really the goal of teaching is it's not just to impart

knowledge upon someone's life, which that is an element of teaching,

but it's also to train people to teach the same things to other

people.

Right?

And that's how the discipleship process goes within

the church.

And so God has gifted certain individuals to teach within the church

so that those people who are learning can then turn around and

teach those other people that are in the church.

And there.

And there's more here.

So he says, I teach you so that you teach others.

And then he goes on to say, who shall be able to teach others

also?

And so we see that progression going down the line as one person

teaches another person, then that person teaches another person.

And it goes on and on and on.

And so that's what's been happening here for, for thousands

of years.

And that's what will continue to happen as the church moves forward,

is that God gives us his word and then teachers will teach his

words as people, and the people will understand that, believe

that.

And as I said there, that are faithful individuals, faithful people.

So people who believe in the teachings will then Turn around and

teach those to other people.

And that goes on and on and on.

So that's the importance of teaching within the church.

And so we need teachers.

Not everyone can be a teacher.

Not everyone is gifted in the area of teaching.

Now, some people might be able to teach whether they know that they

have the gift or not.

Maybe they don't have the gift of teaching, but yet still can teach

in certain elements and grow in that expertise, if you will, or

that, that discipline.

But what we're talking about when it comes to the spiritual gifts

is that there are going to be some people that are supernaturally

gifted to do it and have a desire to do it right.

And desire is always linked to the gift that is given.

And so for someone who has been given the gift of teaching,

there is going to be a strong desire to teach the Word, and there's

going to be a strong competency to teach the Word, a strong

ability.

Not that they're any more spiritual than anybody else, but

there is that ability to take a passage of Scripture and dig deep

into it and to pull out from it, application, to pull out from

it the, the ways in which we can learn and grow.

And the beautiful thing about Scripture is that every time we go

back to Scripture, we can pull something else out.

And that's what that passage in Second Timothy, chapter three

talked about is.

It's there to teach us what to believe, but also how to correct

us, how to guide us, instruction in, in righteousness.

And so that's the beauty of Scripture is that it's just a wealth

of, of.

Of blessing to us.

And so we can keep coming back to that well, and it never runs dry.

And so as a teacher, the goal is to obviously take the first fruits

for ourselves.

I mean, as a teacher, the teacher is the one who's learning

the lesson first and growing in that lesson first.

And then we take those lessons that we learn, hopefully as we're

teaching, and then turn that around and explain that to other

people.

And so it simplifies, simplify, simplify.

The more simple that we can make a concept, the more attainable

it can be for people that, that need that truth.

If we put all these theological truths on such a high

pedestal that nobody can really obtain them, then, then we're

not making it accessible for people.

Now, are there going to be some complex issues, topics, belief

systems that are going to be found in Scripture?

Of course.

But we try to simplify them the best that we can so that people

can take that and grow.

Because, you know, the, the greatest the greatest teaching is

only going to be as good as the person who is hearing it and

how they can receive it.

So, you know, obviously you have to know your audience.

You have to know who you're talking to.

I'm going to talk differently to a 5 year old than I am a 50 year

old.

I'm going to talk differently to someone who's been saved for five

years or someone who's been saved for five minutes.

And so there's going to be differences to the way that we teach,

but we don't compromise what we are teaching.

But we definitely need to go in and understand where we're at

when it comes to discerning our audience, so to speak, our students.

And so that's the third list there, or, excuse me, the third gift

there in that list in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

We'll come back next week and we'll look at our next gift.

But I do hope that you are understanding these gifts that are

given to us in the spirit listed there in Romans chapter 12

Romans 12 · chapter mention

and how we can utilize these gifts within the church.

Because if you remember back in First Peter, Chapter four, it

tells us that these gifts are given to us so that we can bring

glory to God, so that we can do that through Jesus Christ and

so that other people can be strengthened and encouraged in their

spiritual walk.

So I hope this has been a challenge for you as you've gone

through these spiritual gifts so far.

And I hope that you're able to discern where you are gifted and

so that you can serve where you are at the capacity that God

desires for you.

Not everyone's able to serve at the same capacity.

Not everyone's able to serve at the same area.

There's diversity to these gifts, but there is also that unity

of the gift that we all have a purpose and we're all serving in

these capacities.

And so hope that that's helpful for you here today.

I hope that you have a great New Year's as we're coming into this

new year, 2025.

Can't believe that we are here.

I hope that you have a fantastic year.

I hope that you have a, a wonderful time with friends and family.

And we would love to hear more from you at the podcast here.

You can always contact us.

You can contact me at Josh Massaro.

That's J O S H M as in Mary A S S a r o middletownbaptistchurch.org

you can let us know some ideas or topics that you'd like to be discussed

here this year in 2025.

We've had a wonderful time bringing these truths to you in this

year and we would love to also have you share our podcast with some

people that you might know.

If it's been beneficial to you, maybe you could share that with

some other people that you know and it could be beneficial for

them as well.

And so we really, really would appreciate that if you could do that

for us.

Well, we will talk to you next week when we come back with another

Word of the Week.

We hope that you have a wonderful week.

We will be praying for you.

If you have any needs, let us know.

We would love to pray for you specifically and we would love to

get to know you better through this podcast.

Well, God bless.

You have a wonderful rest of your week.

We will talk to you soon.

Hey, I really appreciate that you listen to the Word of the Week

podcast.

If you have any questions about the podcast or about our chur

Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us

on Facebook or YouTube or you can find the podcast on NBCPodcast.org

you can contact me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.org

stay tuned for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper

into words that impact our life according to scripture.

Thank you so much.

God bless.

We'll talk to you soon.