chapter of the Book of Romans. We have been enjoying in the past week or two the person of the Holy Spirit and particularly the fact he is the divine teacher and the revealer of the truth of God. And I pray that you and I may never forget that all that we can and do learn from the Blessed Word of God We have a divine teacher, every one of us, dwelling within us, the Blessed Person of the Holy Spirit. And he is the perfect teacher, knowing all the truth. I thought tonight we would begin another series in relation to the Spirit, but in connection with the gifts that he gives to the people of God, to be used. for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus. Now let me make it very specific. There is a distinction between the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gifts, plural, that the Holy Spirit gives. Every believer, as we have noted from the Scriptures, possesses the Holy Spirit. But then we read from the Word of God that every believer has a gift from the Holy Spirit to be exercised in the service of the Lord. See, I repeated before we begin our reading. Every believer has a gift given to them by the Holy Spirit to be used in the service of the Lord to him. whether it be in the local assembly particularly, in the family, at school, at work, everywhere we go. We have a gift that can be used. But I'm beginning the reading in Romans twelve for the specific reason the writing of the Apostle Paul to the Roman Church does not particularly deal in detail with assembly or church truth. And yet it does in some little measure. But it does bring before us in chapter twelve. There are some spiritual gifts that are named that the members of the body of Christ can and may or do possess. So let me read from chapter twelve beginning at verse one. And I'm only going to read through verse eight. I beseech you therefore, brethren. by the message of God that ye present your body, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me, To every man and every one that is among you, Not to think of himself or herself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, accordingly, as God hath dealt to every man, the measure of faith. For as we are many members in one body, and all members of not the same office or service, So we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of things, or ministry, meaning service, Don't misunderstand the word ministry. It has nothing to do with a minister, as we often call such. But it really means service. Whatever form of service it may be that God calls one to, and it's not always in the pulpit. But let us wait on our ministry. Or he that teacheth on teaching. Or he that exhort us on exhortation. He that give us. Let him do it with simplicity or liberality. He that rules with diligence. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. From verses five through eight, particularly verse six down through verse eight, you have some of the gifts mentioned. But let's look at the introduction of the chapter first. It begins a great division in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. That is a great doctrinal truth. which you may read from chapter one going down through chapter eleven. Following those teachings by the beloved Apostle Paul and covering particularly God's great way of salvation to justify sinners and fill them with the Spirit and make them his own. And now we come to the portion where you can rightly say you have the responsibility of the believer having been saved. Note the opening words, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. And please let me know with you. Note it very carefully. Note the second word in the verse. I beseech you. Now this portion has to do with service and so on, and instruction in right living. as we go on through this epistle, as you would go through it. But notice, the apostle is writing, and God is writing, not demanding, but beseeching. In other words, voluntarily, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. And the mercies of God toward you and me, my fellow-believer, have been all included in the preceding chapters, revealing to us God's great salvation, our justification from sin, our identification with Christ over the power of sin, and ultimately our glorification in heaven, as you may read in chapter eight, when he comes to take us and redeems our bodies. And the apostle appeals on the basis of what God has done for us, and he calls them the mercies of God. Now what is our responsibility? So be carefully that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Do you recognize we cannot minimize it? It is an appeal to every believer to yield himself and herself, not as a dead sacrifice, But a living sacrifice presents your body. And he goes on to say, Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service. Now one can recognize, and beloved, we cannot emphasize it too greatly. We all need it, no matter how old we may be. The responsibility of gaining that body to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be used for him and for his glory, which is our intelligent service. Now you may notice particularly, and do notice it particularly, it's the yieldiness of the believer to the control of the Holy Spirit in his and her life and the Word of God. that the life may be so lived, holy, H-O-L-Y, in holiness, and as an acceptable sacrifice unto God. And note, a living sacrifice. In other words, it's your life and my life. And then at the end of the verse, he says, it's your reasonable service. I'm sure not one of us would deny the fact After all, the Lord has done for me. After all is he has done for each one of us. What a debt of love we owe him and devotion. And how can you express it? And denote it, except by and through the body. There is no question of doubt, my beloved fellow believer. It's in this present body the Lord is requesting us to yield our lives to be lived for his honor and glory. Now note verse two as he goes on. He gives very definite instruction regarding this. And be not conformed to this world. Don't be like the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let me pause for a few moments on that expression. Be not conformed to this world. In other words, The character of the world is not spiritual. As we saw last week in our studies, in the preceding study in First Corinthians two, there is the natural man who is unsaved. He knows nothing of the things of God, and neither can he. So that when we come to our responsibility here, we are not to be as the natural man, unheeding the word of God. and the things of God. Don't be conformed to the likeness of the world in that respect. But be ye transformed. It's a word that in the Greek language it's the word metamorpho which means going through a process of a change. You'll find the word in the Greek three times and all of it is always in reference to the changed life of the believer in Christ to be transformed. But note the next word. By the renewing of your mind. Now don't forget what we had last week in the preceding week. From First Corinthians chapter two. We have a teacher. And he has the mind of Christ. To reveal to us. And don't forget. The source of the revelation. is this blessed book. Things that the world cannot hear, nor the eye cannot see, nor even the heart of the man can understand it. But God reveals them to us by his Spirit. And remember at the end of that second chapter of Corinthians, Paul wrote, But we have the mind of Christ. Take it Let me give you the thought that one has written, I think it's J.N. Darby wrote these words. I never have forgotten them. We have the intelligent faculty of Christ. Take it in. The mind of Christ. All right, go back to our verse here. I know particularly how the transformation should be accomplished by the renewing of your mind. And my beloved, let me say again faithfully, for you as well as for myself, the renewing of the mind has to be done by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. There's no other natural source. It's divine in its source. And through the Word of God, our minds can be renewed and taught how we should be transformed. And then you will note what follows, that she may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I'm sure I'm not going too far to declare that God, by the Holy Spirit, has a purpose for your life and for mine. that we might be not only accessible but doing perfectly the will of God. In other words, the will of God. And my beloved, may I suggest to you, every one of us should be, no matter how our age may be, what it may be, and our portion in life, we should be confidently God wants us to know his will for our lives. in order that he may use us. In whatever place he would please him. Now know what the Apostle goes on to say, and he comes to it directly more personally. 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, but to think soberly according, as God has dealt to every man, the measure of faith. The first suggestion that he makes as he approaches the gifts that God has given to be used is the attitude of the heart and of the mind and of the soul and of the life in humility toward the service that shall be ours. My beloved, may I confess, readily confess, one of the great difficulties We can be proud of our service which is unfortunate and proud of ourselves when we're doing something for the Lord. Now Paul is warning us to be governed by humility for God has dealt to every man as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. Now he gives a suggestion, a blessed suggestion, God would control the measure of our service and our faith that we exercise in serving Him. And note in verse four, as it begins in verse four, and then goes down to enumerate some special gifts. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office or service. So we being many or one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. Now you have the Apostle bringing in the truth that we are, all of us, no matter how many we may be, we're in one body. And he calls it here, as you notice it, in verse five, we being many are one body in Christ. And everyone members. one of another. My beloved me, I give you the precious thought, I'm sure you read it there. The preciousness of the one body, and that one body, including all the members, not some of them, all of them. And I must confess that it takes in every member of the body of Christ upon the earth, Now when you go to the Epistle of Corinthians, which we may do next week, God willing, we'll see the local assembly particularly focused upon regarding the gifts. But here it is, the whole body of Christ. And gifts are mentioned, they can be used toward the membership of that one body. Now may I note particularly with you, the gifts of the name, they are used for the body. As we read on as you may. So we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. Now when you go to the Corinthians in chapter twelve, God willing, if we do, we'll find the body of Christ likened to an organism, the human body. But it's not likened that here. But it's in its unity, in its fullness, in its completeness. But there are gifts. Now know verse six, beginning where the gifts are, commanding. Having them gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Lately I emphasize the difference of the gifts. Gifts that differ. We cannot all have the same gifts. There are some that have the same gifts, no doubt. But here you have the Apostle said, there's a variety of gifts. God willing, if we get the first set, first Corinthians twelve, we'll see the many varieties of the gifts in the one body, and particularly the local body of the assembly. But they differ. And those that are enumerated here can be used toward the whole body. Particularly, and note, it goes on to name the gifts. First of all, in the beginning of the middle of verse six, Weather prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Now may I emphasize the truth of the meaning of prophesying here? It means preaching the word. It means preaching the word. You may remember as you have it in your New Testament, God gave some apostles and prophets. Now what did the prophets do in the beginning of the church? They preached the word. And that was the meaning of prophecy. And Paul lands in First Corinthians chapter fourteen. I'd rather speak five words that are understood in prophecy, meaning the word of God. Then ten thousand words in tone. The importance of preaching the word of God. And beloved, within the whole Church of God. Thank God for every match. Tonight we were praying and I thank God the missionaries were mentioned in their ministry as they're out in the world seeking to preach the Word of God and the Gospel. Now that's the gift. Let me frankly say you better prove your gift before you think you've got it. Don't think you've got the gift before you even showed it. I remember when I first was burdened to go out in the works of the Lord. I was kneeling by my bed reading my Bible in the book of Proverbs and praying to the Lord for guidance after my future path to serve him. And I came across a verse, I think it's in Proverbs make us room for him. I looked at that verse and I said, Lord, I believe you're telling me, I'm no business trying to make room for my gifts. If I have a gift, Lord, you'll make room for me. You get the thought? In other words, make sure. You have the gifts. And if you want to know some of the ways that I made sure, I preached on the street corner, many a time. And in the rescue mission, many a time. Wherever I could, even in some homes, to put the benefit of developing my gifts. Long before I went out fully giving my time to that particular work. preaching the word of God. But Paul mentions this gift here. I'm glad he puts it in that particular location. It's the first one he mentions. But then there's another one he mentions. And then let's note this exhortation. Let us prophesy according to the proportion of saints. And of course, if God develops your gift and God recognizes and acknowledges and shows your gift, and particularly the fruit of it, in leading souls to Christ, that certainly builds up your faith too. Then go to verse seven, all ministry, meaning serving. Let me say again, this includes all forms of service that you may be doing, whether in and to the local assembly or outside, for that matter, for the sake of showing to the members of the body of Christ your testimony for the Lord. Let us wait on our ministry. And there again you can recognize. Don't go too fast in trying to display your gifts. Do you remember the exhortation in verse three? To have the humbleness of mind and spirit and thus to do things as God has dealt with every man according to the proportion of faith in humility. And then you have going on. or he the teacher. Now here's the servant of God, there undoubtedly, he's the teacher. There are various gifts, as you well know. There's not only the evangelist, there's not only the pastor or the shepherd, and the teacher. There's the teacher. And he touches upon that teaching ministry. And he says, or he the teacher, on teaching. Beloved, there is no question. Let me say it again to my own heart, to your soul. The importance of being humble and making sure whatever you are able to do, God has given you the gift to do it. And then you go on further. He that exhorts. And this is a person that speaks encouraging words on exhortation, encouraging. You may remember that in chapter eleven of the book of the Acts, the disciples of the early church were driven two hundred miles away from Jerusalem to Antioch. They preached. And some were Greeks who had been saved. And they preached the word. And then the Jewish believers of Jerusalem heard about it. The revival going on at Antioch. And they sent Barnabas. And Barnabas wasn't the teacher. But at that time, he exhorted them to cleave unto the Lord when he saw what the Lord had done to save their souls in Antioch. And he was an exhorter. And to prove that he was just an exhorter, he knew his limitation. And he went to get Saul. Saul at that time, who was his father, to come and teach. Paul was a teacher and von Barnabas was an exorter. And he exhorted them to cleave to the Lord. He encouraged them. And beloved, you don't have to ask me, do we need encouraging? Yes, we certainly do. Of all that is around us and the surroundings that we're in, so contrary to the mind of God in this world, We need to encourage one another. That's one of the exhortations that Paul gave, even in Hebrews chapter ten, as he told us our responsibility to be exalting one another. And the more so, as the day, as it gets nearer to the coming of the Lord. May I say humbly and faithfully, I believe today I never have seen a day when Christians need more exhortations. And the word means encouragement. We need it. You've got everything going around you that can be scourged. And so when it comes to exhortation, what a responsibility to do it. And then it's the person that gives it. He's a man or a woman that is able to minister the material things for the Lord's service. Let him do it with simplicity. I like the word simplicity. Don't blow your horns. As you remember, the Lord Jesus said of the Pharisees, be not like those hypocrites when they give money to blow the horn and everybody know what they've done. But when you... Let me give you the thought from my own experience. I could lead you to more than one man, but I think of one particular brother in the Lord that I knew for many, many years is with the Lord now. He never could preach. He never could teach. But I tell you one thing. His ministry was giving. God blessed him unusually. Even though he had to go through severe trials to get where the business was prosperous. But he honored the Lord in all his life. In giving. He knew he couldn't preach. He knew he couldn't teach. But he knew there were missionaries, there were other servants of God, and worked for God being done. And he was generous in his giving. I'll just give you one clue to the greatness of his giving. He called me on the phone one night, one day, and he said, Brother John, I've got a problem. I said, what's your problem, Brother John? That was his name. He said, well, he said, you know that my ministry is in giving. And he said, I've been giving to the Lord's people and to the Lord's work and to missionaries particularly for years. But he said, very recently, I find that the missionary is not always staying in the field, it's coming back home, even in a year, one or two years. And some of them are not going back again. And he says, and I've been giving to the missionary work. And he says, I don't know what to do. And this is what he told me. He said, I have five hundred thousand dollars to eight hundred thousand a year to give. And he said, I don't know anymore where to give it. I said, John, I got the same trouble, but not as big as yours, though. Naturally. But there was a brother. I could tell you many a story of what he did, led by the Spirit of the Lord, which benefited. and proved to be the Lord's hand in the way he gave. As the Spirit of God led him, he gave. He gave. That was the ministry, his service for the Lord. And he did it with simplicity, or if you want to put the word, with liberality. And then let's read on. He that ruled it, that is another that ruled, let him do it with diligence. In other words, be faithful and diligent in his responsibility to lead. In other words, this is the man that leads the assembly. He that leads the assembly. Let him do it with diligence, watching out for the same. And then, last of all, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. He that showeth mercy. He that, showeth mercy. He that, but that toward the body of Christ, Follow them, you may be able to carry out yourself. You may have this gift. And you can find it out. All you've got to find it out, try to do it. And if you're successful doing it, you know you've got the gift. But the joy of knowing is all to the body of Christ. And God, by the Spirit, gives the gift. Now let me just raise the question. We'll see more about the gift, God willing next week. But may I raise the question? Do you ever consider and think about what gift you have? Whether sister or brother, sister or brother, gifts of service, gifts of service. And one can recognize, take home this truth, every believer can serve the Lord if he or she will. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you for thy precious words, a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path. Blessed Father, here in thy word today we have read, How thou must lead us into service. Help us most of all, and first of all, to yield ourselves to thy Lordship and authority, in whatever way it pleases thee, to develop and give gifts that we can use for thy glory. And we ask it particularly, Father, for our dear little assembly. Lord, we pray that our brothers and sisters that are not here will also become concerned about yielding their bodies to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He chose them. We ask it for everyone in the assembly for the glory of our Savior. Dismiss us with thy blessing, we pray, in our Savior's worthy name. Amen.