The Word of the Week: Unpacking the Meaning of 'Gift'

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 gift.

This will be our third installment of looking at the word

gift.

Last week we talked about the gifts that God gives us called the

spiritual gifts.

The Bible says that all believers, when a person trusts in

God, puts their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

The Holy Spirit indwells them, and God gifts them with a gift of

service.

First Peter, chapter 4, verse 10, says, as every man hath received

1 Peter 4:10

the gift, meaning all believers have received the gift,

even so minister the same one to another.

So the Bible says we're given a gift to serve one another as good

stewards of the manifold grace of God.

So we are stewards of God's gift.

And it says there the manifold grace of God, meaning that there's

reverence, there's differences in our gifts.

So there might be a person that's in my church that might have

a different gift than me.

All right, so the Bible says that there is diversity in the gifts.

And then in verse 11, it says, if any man speak, let him speak as

the oracles of God.

And so the Bible says that there are some of these ministering

gifts that we're going to look at here today that are public.

They're speaking, teaching, professing things before others in

a public manner.

But then it says if any man minister.

So the Bible says that there are some of these gifts that might

be behind the scenes, more on the avenue of, of private ministry.

Let that person do it as it says there, of the ability of God

which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified.

So ultimately, God is glorified through Christ Jesus.

And so that is the purpose of our gifts.

So what I would like to do here for the next few weeks is look

at these gifts, specifically the service gifts or the ministry

gifts listed in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

There are going to be many different passages of scripture that

speak of God's gifts to us.

And we know that every good gift comes from God.

But the list, the particular list that we're going to be studying

in this series is going to be found in Romans, chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And so I want you to go along there with me.

And we're going to break down this list for the next few weeks

and we're not going to cover all of it today, but we are going

to try to cover as much as we can today.

As we look at these gifts.

Now, Romans chapter 12 in context is talking about presenting

Romans 12 · chapter mention

our bodies, a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which

is our reasonable service.

And it talks about us not being conformed to this world, but

being transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we could

follow in the will of God.

And then the Bible goes on to say in verse 3 of Romans 12, for

I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among

you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.

So have a humble viewpoint of yourself.

Don't live with pride, but to think soberly.

And as it says, you know, with thinking soberly, this is being serious

minded about the things of God, according as God has dealt to

every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body and all members have not

the same office.

And so there's this analogy of me as a believer.

I am now just a part of the body of Christ.

And just as the body, the physical body has many different

members, so does the body of Christ.

And so there's, there's difference in our gifts.

Verse 5.

So we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one

of another.

So he says in verse six, having then gifts differing according

to the grace that is given to us.

And so he's setting up this list that he's about to give and

he's going to give some spiritual gifts that are used within

the church.

And then he also tells us how to properly exercise these gifts

within the local church, within the body of believers.

Now we're not going to have time to go through all of them here

today, but what I would like to do is go through each one of these.

And the purpose of this is to, number one, to identify what these

gifts are, number two, to see how we can live out these gifts within

our, our church, within our spiritual lives.

But I would also love for you to inspect this passage of scripture

and ultimately decide on which spiritual gift you believe that you

are gifted with.

Now I do want to give a disclaimer at the beginning of this.

If you are not naturally or supernaturally gifted in one of these

areas, it doesn't mean that we just throw it to the side.

So, so we're going to talk about the idea of exhortation we're

going to talk about the idea of showing mercy.

If you aren't naturally gifted in those areas, you have to still

say, you know what?

I'm going to grow in this.

Though I'm not gifted in this, I'm still going to try to grow in

this.

And so all of these areas to some degree are things that we can

do as believers, but some of us are just going to be naturally

or supernaturally gifted in these areas.

And so that way we can work effectively in the body of Christ.

That way we can work with more passion, more, more zeal for what

God has for us within various ministries within our church.

And so this, this group of gifts that are given Here, Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, are considered by many the ministering gifts.

And you go back to that passage in First Peter, chapter four.

The goal for these is for ministering unto those people around

us, ministering for the cause of the Gospel.

So we see here the very first gift that's listed.

It says whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion

of faith.

Now we see first and foremost the gift of prophecy.

Now, what is the gift of prophecy?

Well, when we hear the word prophecy, most of the time we equate

that with talking about the future, predicting events that are

to happen.

And though that is one element of prophecy, we certainly see that

in the Old Testament, prophesying things about Jesus, things

about the future, the nation of Israel.

We even see prophecy in the New Testament, certainly throughout

the New Testament.

And one book that is predominantly prophecy is the Book

of Revelation.

Some prophecies have been fulfilled, other prophecies have

not yet been fulfilled.

But that's just one element of that word, prophecy.

So the Greek word translated in prophecy or prophesying just essentially

means to speak forth, to speak forth truth.

And so though it can mean speaking forth the truth of God in

the future, it essentially just means speaking forth the truth

of God.

And so you, you could say it there, there is the idea of speaking

forward the truth of God, but really it's speaking forth the truth.

And so this idea of prophesying is the idea of preaching

the word of God, declaring the will of God to interpret the decisions

of God in accordance to his word.

I, I would say that this is a gift that pastors hold in, in the

concept of preaching forth the word of God, preaching the truth

of God, thus saith the Lord.

So, so while knowing the future can play into the idea of

prophecy, it's primarily a gift of proclamation, not so much

prediction.

So, so you can have the gift of Prophecy without the gift of prediction.

So, so there's forth telling and foretelling.

I would, the way that I teach this is that I would say predominantly

it's the gift of proclamation, forth telling.

And so, so a pastor or a preacher, someone who's going to

be getting up and speaking the truth of God to people, will declare

what the Bible says.

Hopefully that's what they are doing.

And the Bible says that someone with this gift is able to

do this with ease, or at least they're able to do this in, in a

natural sense.

They enjoy doing this.

And so with the, the completion of the New Testament,

prophesying change from declaring new revelations to now

proclaiming what has already been given us in the Word.

You know, obviously in, in the New Testament, in the Book of Acts

and other places, they did not have the complete canon of Scripture.

They did not have the complete revealed Word of God.

So therefore they had to prove things by prophesying and speaking

forth the truth of what's going to happen.

And those would happen.

But now the Word of God has been validated in the fact that we

have the complete canon of Scripture.

And so now the job of someone who was prophesying is to speak forth

the truth of God in accordance to His Word, not extra biblical revelations.

We know that in Scripture it warns us against adding or subtracting

from Scripture.

And we even know that the Bible says that there are going to

be false prophets.

So these are going to be people who are speaking forth not

the truth, but lies.

And so there can be true prophesying and there can be false

prophesying.

And so we know that as Christians today, there is an importance

to this within the local body of believers because we need to hear

the truth.

And so I, I would venture to say that most of us would want to

hear the truth of God.

If you're listening to this podcast, I hope that's your desire.

And so the way that the truth of God is presented today is through,

obviously you could read the scriptures on your own, but it is

given through preachers and, and evangelists and, and different

folks that are going to be prophesying in the name of God through

His Word.

And so if you enjoy reading the Word of God, studying the Word

of God and then sharing the Word of God in, in the context and

in the interpretation of Scripture.

I would say that, hey, you might be someone who has been gifted

with the gift of prophecy.

I, I would say that the gift of prophecy, and we're going to talk

about another gift here, a little bit later.

The gift of teaching, they're, they're simultaneously linked in

many ways because part of teaching is proclaiming the word

of God.

So thus saith the Lord.

So, so many times it's explaining what the truth of God

is and then explaining how we can grow in understanding of that

truth.

And so simply the gift of prophecy is the gift of speaking

forth the, the truth.

And so we, we see that there in Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter

Romans 12 · chapter mention Romans 12:6

12, verse 6.

If someone is gifted in the gift of prophecy, it says, let us

prophesy according to the proportion of faith.

Now that's an interesting concept to think about there, but

what is it saying?

Well, essentially what we're seeing here in this case is that

there is a proper way to proclaim the truth of God.

There is an appropriate way to proclaim the truth of God, and then

there also is a way of proclaiming the word of God in a

false manner.

And I think it's important for us to practice godly counsel, godly

guidance, and how we proclaim the truth of God.

So God might give us something to say as an individual that might

stretch out to the church body.

But, but it might even stretch our own faith if, if we cannot preach

in faith.

That means it basically as I'm proclaiming the word of God, if I'm

not doing it in trusting God, we shouldn't do it at all.

That's what he's saying here.

To do it in the proportion of faith, do it with faith.

So proclaim the truth of God as you believe it.

Don't, don't be preaching something that you don't believe,

even though it might be hard to believe.

It's going to stretch our faith.

And so we're reminded that preaching the, the word of God takes

faith.

And so this is the teaching for those folks that are gifted in

this area of prophecy.

I believe that Paul might be even cautioning folks that are, that

are preaching to, to get it together in their minds and in their

own hearts what they believe before they even bring it to the

folks that they are preaching to.

So, so other people take the proportion of faith to be, maybe

even in regards to the audience like, okay, so be careful

on who you're preaching to.

But I think personally the way that I interpret this passage is

that's talking about the one who's proclaiming this truth to have

faith in what they are saying, believe in what they are saying,

believe in the Lord, believe in that teaching, that, that proclamation

of the truth of God.

So that takes hard work.

That takes Study, that takes courage, that takes boldness.

And so I would encourage you to inspect your life, to say, you

know, is that me?

And this isn't just for preachers within the church.

I mean, you can preach in your workplace, you can preach in your

home, you can preach in the community.

So this isn't only in the formal setting of a church service

behind a pulpit, but I would encourage you to think about, you

know, is that something that God has given me in, in a desire?

Because I will say that most of the gifts that God gives us, he

also links a desire to that gift.

So if you desire to preach, you desire to proclaim the truth

of God, there might be a great chance that you are gifted in the

gift of prophecy.

And then the next step would be, am I going to do this in faith?

It's not performative.

It's not getting up in front of people and making sure that all

my intonations are right.

And it's very rehearsed.

No, there is this element of trusting in the Lord and believing

in what we are going to preach.

And so there is the gift of a prophecy.

Next week, we're going to look at the gift of ministry or service.

Some people are gifted in that area of serving others, and I would

encourage you to come back and listen to that one as well.

We're going to go through each one of these gifts here as we do

this study.

And I would encourage you to inspect your own life, expect your

desires, inspect your call, and see where God has you to fit

into your community, your church, your world.

So thank you again this week for following along with us.

We've studied the spiritual gifts and started with the gift of

prophecy, the gift of proclamation, the gift of preaching.

So looking forward to talking to you next week.

Looking forward to bringing forth another spiritual gift that

we can all understand and grow in in our lives.

Well, we hope that you have a great rest of your week.

We will talk to you next week.

Have a wonderful day.

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 church,

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.