01 - Prophecy & Serving By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

He answered, “Very little. A professional football game is a happening where thousands of spectators, desperately needing exercise, sit in the stands watching 22 men on the field desperately needing rest.”

That pretty much describes the typical church today—A host of spectators and a handful of participants.

This is not how Jesus views the local church. Paul wrote, we (the church) are to “speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”—Eph 4:15-16

This is why it’s important that we all understand the spiritual gifts the Lord has bestowed upon each of us. So that each person can contribute his or her own special work!

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So let’s do a quick recap of what we’ve learned so far about spiritual gifts.

*The word for spiritual gifts in the Greek is charisma, which means “gift of grace.” The spiritual gifts proceed from the grace of God.

*Second, every Christian has a spiritual gift: Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “...each man has his own gift from God” (1 Cor. 7:7) And the Apostle Peter wrote, “As each one has received a gift (charisma), minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet 4:10).

*There are a variety of gifts: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.” (12:4)

*And there are different outlets for the gifts: “There are differences of ministries (outlets for service), but the same Lord.”

*The gifts of the Spirit are given to help others: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:“ (12:7)

*The Spirit chooses which gift/gifts we get. “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have” (1 Cor. 12:11).

*When our gift is properly exercised, it perfects and builds up the Body of Christ.

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Now, spiritual gifts can be placed in two categories: Ministry gifts and Motivational gifts.

We first studied the 9 Ministry gifts listed in 1 Cor 12 which are themselves divided into 3 categories:

Revelation gifts: Wisdom, knowledge, discernment.

Power gifts: Faith, healings, miracles.

Utterance gifts: Prophecy, tongues, interpretation.

This time we want to look at the MOTIVATIONAL GIFTS, which are listed in Romans:

Romans 12:6-8 “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (7 gifts)

What is a MOTIVATIONAL GIFT?

A MOTIVATIONAL GIFT is a supernatural, God-given gift accompanied with a strong inner desire to use it.

We might call it a “divine want to do and supernatural ability to do.”

The Apostle Paul wrote: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”—Phil 2:13 NLT

A Motivational Gift is God working through a believer to give divine unction, strength and power to accomplish His will in the believer’s life so that, as a channel of God’s grace, the church is healthy and grows.

Knowing your motivational spiritual gift will help you to:

1. Know God’s will for your life

2. Discover your spiritual “job description”

3. Take your appropriate place in the Body of Christ

4. Begin to see yourself as a channel of God’s grace

5. Avoid over-commitment and burn-out

6. Become more appreciative of what others are called and anointed to do.

7. Be a part of maintaining the health and growth of the Body of Christ.

Understanding your motivational spiritual gift is so important to the effective and joyful living of your Christian life. It brings fulfillment and joy to your life.

One reason is the root of the word for spiritual gift, charis, is “char” which means joy!

So let’s give a brief description of what each of the 7 gifts mean:

l. Prophecy—the motivation to proclaim truth and expose sin.

2. Ministry (servant)—the motivation to serve others; a doer; to meet practical needs.

3. Teaching—the motivation to research and communicate truth. Researcher; clarifies truth.

4. Exhortation—the motivation to encourage others to live a victorious life. These are the extremely positive people that stimulate faith and promote spiritual growth.

5. Giving—the motivation to give time, talent, energy, and finances to benefit others and advance the gospel.

6. Leading—the motivation to administrate, to organize, lead, or direct. A facilitator that plans ahead and completes tasks.

7. Mercy—the motivation to show compassion, love, and care to the hurting. These individuals gravitate to homeless ministry, jail ministry, hospital visitation, etc.

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Let’s unpack the first 2 motivational gifts. First, the motivational GIFT OF PROPHECY.

Now, we see in Scripture that the OT prophets predicted the future, usually (but not always) regarding coming judgments for sin. They would FORETELL future events. And they were also used to FORTH TELL a message from God for the current time. They spoke directly to the people of their day, generally to repent and get right with God before judgment fell.

While God may use someone today to FORETELL something future, the motivation of today’s prophet is generally to use Scripture to FORTH TELL and expose unrighteous motives and actions in the lives of God’s people.

Prophetic people also encourage them with what God will do once repentance has occurred.

II. Some Characteristics of the Motivational Gift of Prophecy

The Greek word for Prophet is “propheteia” (prof-ay-ti'-ah) which means, “the gift of communicating and enforcing revealed truth.”

The prominent idea is the inspired delivery of warning, exhortation, instruction, judging and making manifest the secrets of the heart.

So in the context of motivational gifts it refers to one who is especially sensitive to perceiving the will of God and then proclaiming it.

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Those with the motivational gift of prophecy:

1. Need to express themselves

This person needs to express their thoughts and ideas verbally, especially when matters of right and wrong are involved. They feel a responsibility to correct those who do wrong. Peter spoke more often than any other disciple and also became the spokesman for the early church, and Peter’s primary motivational gift was prophecy.

2. Get quick impressions of people

Prophets tend to make quick judgments on what they hear and see. They can quickly discern a person’s character. They accurately identify good and evil and they hate evil. They usually view people or situations as either in or out of the will of God. They are bold and outspoken. They tend to express their views before others speak. In fact, Peter speaks first more than any other disciple.

3. Alertness to Dishonesty

This person has an amazing ability to sense when someone or something is not what it appears to be. They react strongly to any form of deception or dishonesty, separate themselves from those who refuse to repent of evil, and see everything as either black or white; no gray areas.

4. Open about their own faults

They are open about their own failures just as they want others to be about theirs, are quick to judge themselves when they fail.

5. Wholehearted involvement

Once committed to a cause, they wholeheartedly become involved in it. The are “all in” people. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he asked Jesus to let him do the same.

6. Loyalty to truth vs. people

Prophets are loyal to truth even if it means cutting off relationships. When Jesus asked the disciples if they were also going to leave him, Peter replied that he would stay because Christ had the words of eternal life (John 6: 67-69). They’re willing to do right even if it means suffering alone for it.

7. Willingness to suffer for right

Prophetic people are willing to suffer when it comes to standing for the truth or doing what is right. They view the Bible as the basis for truth, belief, action and authority (which we should all do). They have strict personal standards and strong opinions and convictions.

Do you hear the Holy Spirit say “that’s you?”

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Next is the MOTIVATIONAL GIFT of:

MINISTRY (serving)

“The KJV translates the word for serving as “ministry.” The NIV, as well as most other modern versions use the word “serving.” Now, the Greek word is “diakonia” which means “to do service.” It conveys the idea of doing practical things in order to be of service to others. That’s where we get our word deacon.

The person who personifies the profile of a server is Timothy. Timothy was Paul’s son in the ministry. And as a server heart, Timothy needed a Paul in his life because a server needs someone in authority over them. This is because a server receives joy in helping, assisting people, carrying out instructions and just being of use in a wide variety of ways. So let’s look at:

The Characteristics of the Gift of Serving

1. See and meet practical needs

The server has an ability to see practical needs in people’s lives and has a desire to meet those needs. They’re “Johnny on the spot.”

Important needs that would seem insignificant to others catch the eye and attention of the server. They can spot a need a mile away. Now these needs are usually physical; however, the server knows that by meeting those needs they will bring encouragement and strength to those who receive help.

Sometimes their quickness in meeting needs may cause a server to appear “pushy or intrusive.” A server will put extra touches to jobs. They’ll go the second mile and do more than is expected.

2. Frees others to achieve

The joy of the server is not just in initiating tasks, but knowing that through their service they’re bringing a peace of mind to another person which will allow that person to be more productive in the tasks which God has called them to do. In other words, it gives them pleasure to free others to do more important things. Timothy served Paul so that Paul could carry out his ministry.

3. Disregard for weariness

Because the server sees the importance of the tasks which they’ve begun, they’ll freely use up their own personal assets of time, money and strength. They’ll work beyond physical limits sometimes resulting in physical problems. They’ll just go and go and go, like the “energizer bunny.”

And in doing so, the server has a tendency to overlook personal health and comfort in serving others. Their focus is not on oneself, but rather on the completion of the tasks which they know will benefit the individual and bring joy to themselves. Their disregard for personal needs may even extend to their own family’s needs.

4. Difficulty saying “no.”

Those with the motivational gift of serving tend to get involved in too many things. As the server effectively meets one need, others may ask for similar help, not realizing the inner motivation of the server.

However, requests for help are difficult to turn down because they represent needs and the server feels obligated at having been asked. A server is good at taking care of everybody else, except themselves. And as a result of saying “yes” and getting over-involved or over-committed they have a tendency to burn out. Paul had to tell Timothy, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”—2 Tim. 1:6

5. Alert to likes and dislikes

Those with the gift of serving have an amazing ability to find out and remember the special interests of the people they serve. Birthdays and anniversaries are special occasions for them. They can often recall favorite foods, special colors, types of home furnishings and favorite activities. They use this knowledge in making occasions special. Timothy was instructed to bring Paul his cloak, books and especially the parchments” (2 Tim. 4:3).

6. Need for appreciation

It’s not that servers serve in order to be praised, but appreciation assures them they’ve done well. It confirms to the server that their work is necessary and is being blessed by the Lord. Timothy was given more instruction and praise by Paul than any other assistant.

7. Like Short-range projects

The tasks which attract a server are usually immediate needs. So they prefer short-term projects. Therefore, the server often becomes frustrated with long-range responsibilities or a continuous task which seems to have no immediate or visible progress. Timothy was always being encouraged by Paul to maintain the endurance of a soldier and continue in the calling that he was given (1 Timothy 4:16).