Recognizing, Receiving, And Regarding The Body Building Gifts

Okay, I'm going to talk to you this morning about recognizing,

whoops, start over, recognizing, regarding, and receiving the bodybuilding gifts, okay?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But then the other thing is, I think sometimes we overcomplicate church planting,

and just the growing and multiplying of his church.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Paul said

he was called

to the uncircumcised

and Peter was called

to the circumcised,

Gentiles, Jews.

Okay?

Apostles are male,

Acts 1.22.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can make

your own deductions.

So,

distinctives.

Apostles,

okay,

I started.

Apostles focus

on the church.

Okay,

that's kind of their

obsession.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Prophets are servants,

Amos 3 verse 7,

Amos 3:7

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.

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.

Isaiah 30:10

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

They love being true,

seeing,

hearing,

discerning,

inspecting,

and dreaming.

Okay?

Prophets hate

when people

aren't focused on God.

Prophets hate

fleshly,

independent ministry.

Prophets hate

when people

or ministries

aren't true.

Prophets hate

misrepresentation,

exaggeration,

deceit,

and falsehood.

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.

Okay?

It's terrible.

Oh, I forgot

to give examples

of apostles.

Examples of apostles,

Matthias,

Paul and Barnabas,

Apollos,

Silvanus,

and Timothy,

Jesus.

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.

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.

Okay?

Okay.

Thirdly,

evangelists.

All right,

what's an evangelist?

Definition of evangelist,

is a gospel

or good news

proclaimer.

All right?

Possessing supernatural

power and wisdom

to win souls.

Proverbs 11,

Proverbs 11:30

verse 30 says,

he who wins souls

is wise.

Evangelist has a boldness

to go where lost people

are and preach to them.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why?

Because the Bible says

in 1 Timothy 3,

1 Timothy 3:5

verse 5,

and the qualifications

for an elder shepherd.

So,

I would use

pastor,

shepherd,

elder,

overseer,

all in the same,

like,

synonymous.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Okay?

They have specific

qualifications,

1 Timothy 3

and Titus chapter 1

Titus 1 · chapter mention

speak of specific

qualifications,

which is almost

totally explicitly

character qualifications.

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.

Titus chapter 1

Titus 1:5

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4:12

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?

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.

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?

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.

Right?

But again,

another very valuable gift

to equip the saints.

Examples are

James in Acts 21,

17,

Peter,

1 Peter 5,

1 Peter 5:1

verse 1,

Jesus,

Jesus,

the shepherd

and overseer

of our souls

in 1 Peter 2,

25.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

They love listening

to sermons.

They love rigorous

study and debate.

Okay?

They don't get weary

with those things.

That energizes

the teacher.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You think,

oh,

okay,

apostles are focused

primarily on the church.

Prophets are focused

primarily on God.

evangelists are focused

primarily on the lost.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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