Putting Holiness to Good Use
Notes
Transcript
Romans 12:6-8 ESV
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
In recent years I have become more and more of a fan of classical music. I especially like to listen to classical music when I’m studying, reading, or writing sermons. And in listening to classical music, I have come to learn some of the terms associated with it.
For example, I had never really thought about what the word “crescendo” had meant until I started to listen to classical music with regularity. The crescendo is defined as: “The loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound”.
In other words, the crescendo is something that you hear coming gradually, and as you hear the sound increasing more and more, you eagerly wait with anticipation to hear what the outcome of the buildup is going to be.
And because the buildup causes the listener to be brought into the music to hear what the outcome of the buildup is going to be, when the crescendo finally does come, it makes the listening experience all that much better.
This morning as we finish our series of messages from Romans chapter 12, verses 1 through 8, we come to the crescendo of this particular passage as we see what Paul the Apostle has been building up to in the six verses that precede our reading for today and that have been preparing us to hear what we will hear today.
As I hope we are all well aware of by now, Paul began this passage back in the first verse of this 12th chapter of his epistle to the Romans by exhorting the recipients of this letter to offer their bodies, that is, their entire selves as a living sacrifice to God. In other words, to offer every area of their lives to service to God.
Then in the second verse of this 12th chapter we read of how we become prepared to offer our entire selves to God as a living sacrifice by being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
In our third sermon of this series which exposited verse three, we spoke of humbly recognizing that everything that we have has been graciously given to us by God for the mutual edification of the church.
Then in our message last week, which covered verses four and five, we spoke of how each individual member of the church has a specific function, that we are as a body with each serving a specific and vital role as the different parts of our bodies have their own specific, vital roles that they play in the functioning of the body.
Now, in our reading for today, as we finish this series of messages, we will speak of some of the specific functions that we as individuals have for the mutual edification of the church. In other words, in our message today, we will answer a question that may have been brought forth in the first verse of this chapter as we discuss how we can offer our entire selves as a living sacrifice to God.
When we look to our text for today, we see, first of all, the exhortation given by Paul the Apostle to these Roman Christians in the first part of verse 6, when he says:
Romans 12:6a ESV
6a Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:
So, first of all, we see in the beginning of this verse how Paul acknowledges once again that every believer has received a gift from God. And here, he reinforces his earlier statement in verse 3 of this chapter where he spoke of the believer’s measure of faith being assigned by God when he speaks here of different gifts being assigned to different believers according to grace given to us.
Thus, in this first part of verse 6, Paul reinforces the fact that the gifts that we as believers possess, we possess because God has graciously given us these gifts.
Thus, he says that as we have been given varying gifts, the only proper response is to use them. And to not just use them, but to use them properly.
In the remainder of our reading, we see Paul list several gifts that God freely gives to His Church and the proper way of utilizing them. And the first gift that Paul speaks of is found in the second half of this 6thverse, the gift of prophecy, where Paul says:
Romans 12:6b ESV
6b if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
There has been much debate throughout the centuries concerning the place of the prophet in the New Testament Church, which includes the present day.
The section called: The Prophets and the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament canon include those books of the Bible in which God had spoken to certain prophets so that they may record what He had spoken to them in holy writ.
Well, the continuing revelation of holy writ has ceased, no more is to be added to the holy scriptures therefore God will not communicate with someone with the intent of adding to the canon of holy scriptures.
So, if that is not what is meant here concerning prophecy, then what does it mean?
Well, to speak a modern prophecy means to speak those things which edify and build one another up in the Lord. So, you might say that a properly written, truly God glorifying sermon might be considered to be a prophecy in that it intends to and accomplishes the purpose of teaching other believers the way of the orthodox faith and causes them to grow in their sanctification.
Paul says that if prophecy is your gift, then you need to prophesy in proportion to your faith, which essentially means to use the prophetic gift to pass along what is orthodox, agreeable to the holy scriptures, and to the glory of God. Many would consider orthodox, biblically sound preachers to be like prophets of sort in the modern day.
Then we see in the first part of verse 7, the next gift mentioned where Paul says:
Romans 12:7a ESV
7a if service, in our serving;
Service is a gift that God gives to particular believers. And for one to possess the God-given gift of service indicates that such a one has been blessed with tackling tasks that glorify God and assist others in an unusually effective way.
God calls everyone to serve others, but we know that there are certain people who are basically the first to volunteer every time that there is a need.
Sometimes these people will ask themselves, “Why am I always signing up for things?!” because more times than not, they are among the least appreciated in the church. But the reason why they always find themselves signing up for new ways to serve in the church is because they have been gifted in that area and thus, they are naturally drawn to serving others.
Thus, Paul says that if your gift is serving then you should act upon your God-given urge to serve when the opportunity to serve becomes available.
We see the next gift that Paul speaks of in the second half of verse 7, when he says:
Romans 12:7b ESV
7b the one who teaches, in his teaching;
Teaching is pretty self-explanatory; it indicates the art of passing along the knowledge of orthodox doctrine in a way that is agreeable to scripture in a convincing and moving way.
Thus, the gift of the teacher consists of the teacher not only possessing knowledge, but the teacher also being able to convey the knowledge that he has in a way that can be understood and that can change his students.
Therefore, Paul says that if this is your gift, you should be faithful to teach.
The next gift we see is in the beginning of verse 8, where we read:
Romans 12:8a ESV
8a the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;
Everybody loves one who exhorts, in fact, it seems like I always find myself gravitating towards exhorters, they’re some of my favorite people to be around, because to exhort means to bolster, console, or rally someone.
Someone whose gift is exhortation is the kind of person who you always want around because the one who exhorts always seems to have just the right words to say to make you feel like a million bucks. Even when you make the biggest mistake, someone who is a gifted exhorter will be there to tell you that you gave it a good shot and to get back on the saddle and give it another try.
The next gift, we see in the second part of verse 8, where we read:
Romans 12:8b ESV
8b the one who contributes, in generosity;
There are some people who have been given the gift of contributing. The one who has this gift is usually one who God has blessed financially and feels compelled by God to share for the sake of the needs of others and for the furtherance of the Gospel.
But sometimes people will contribute, or give with impure motives, maybe to feel superior to those who don’t have as much money as them or to gain more political capital in the church. For this reason, Paul commands those whose gift is to contribute to do so in generosity.
This means to contribute, to give with pure motives and free of improper designs, you contribute generously because you recognize that God has given you what He has given you so that you can utilize your gift for the good of others and for His glory.
We read of the next gift that Paul mentions in the next part of verse 8, where we read:
Romans 12:8c ESV
8c the one who leads, with zeal;
The next gift is the gift of leadership. The one who has received the gift of leadership seems to always find himself leading the charge in almost everything that he does, not because he just likes being in charge, but because he feels an urge from God to take the lead. He always takes on the most responsibility and is able to inspire others and organize them for the sake of a common goal.
Paul says that if God has gifted us in this area, we should lead with zeal that has proper, godly motives, and is pure.
Then finally, we see the last gift listed at the end of our reading where Paul says:
Romans 12:8d ESV
8d the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
This last gift that Paul mentions is doing acts of mercy. An act of mercy indicates caring for or ministering to one who cannot repay you in any way.
This means going out of your way to help and care for those who are sick, who are poor, and who you will never receive any recognition or praise for serving.
Possessing the gift of mercy means that God has given such a person the willingness to take on some of the aforementioned responsibilities, and to do so, as Paul says, with cheerfulness.
The temptation to become resentful is always there for those who have been gifted with performing acts of mercy. To become resentful towards others who have not been gifted in this way, thinking that they are shirking their duties, but in reality, they just haven’t been gifted in this way. The temptation to become resentful even applies to having resentment for the ones we are called to be merciful to.
Paul says that the one who has been gifted to perform acts of mercy should do so not bitterly or resentfully, but cheerfully, recognizing that what they have is a gift that not everyone receives.
Thus, we see the wide range of gifts that God has freely and graciously showered upon His Church. They are all gifts that differ, but they all serve to build up the body of Christ and to glorify God.
We all possess at least one of these gifts, and some of us possess multiples of these gifts. And every last one of them is necessary for the functioning of the body of Christ.
For example, let’s say that you have the gift of teaching while someone else has the gift of serving. You may be tempted to say that the one who serves is inferior or less than you and therefore is not needful. But you try to fill that person’s role when a need arises, and you will see just how needful those are who have the gift of serving.
This can be applied to any and every one of these gifts. What is important is that we recognize that these gifts have been given to us by God and that we use them for the glory of God and for the edification of His Church.
Beloved, in this way we will offer our entire selves to God as a living sacrifice.
Therefore, let us sacrifice our entire selves to God as a living sacrifice.
Amen?