God Gives Special Gifts To Each Member
God Gives Special Gifts To Each Member • Sermon • Submitted
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• Need to validate information
When a teacher hears
important statements, whether
given privately or publicly, he will
desire to verify them. His motivation
is to confirm that the statements
are true and accurate and would,
therefore, have the authority to
bring spiritual freedom. Luke
wrote his Gospel to Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
The details are factual,
Teachers will look things up
Spelling was wrong on a powerpoint
• Verify other teachers
A person with the gift of
teaching will be very alert to false
teachers. He will want to find out
their background before listening
to them. He will also assume that
others want to know his qualifications; thus, he will tend to give
these before speaking. Luke
began his Gospel by affirming
that he was an eyewitness and that he had perfect understanding of all things from the
very first.
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
• Rely on established resources
A teacher has a need to go
to primary sources to validate
truth. He will also use accepted
works of recognized authorities
to further confirm statements
which others make. Luke praised
the Bereans for daily checking
out Paul's statements against the
Old Testament Scriptures. (See
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
We need teachers that
There are warnings all through scripture to false teachers
Luke also related
his writings to the other Gospel
accounts and to the Old
Testament.
• Present truth systematically
Teachers tend to feel more comfortable
when material is laid out in an orderly sequence.
The teacher wants to know the events in the
order in which they occurred. Luke emphasized
the chronological structure of his Gospel when
he explained that his approach was "…. to write
unto thee in order.
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
Luke also penned the book of Acts
• Gather many facts
Those with the gift of teaching often have
a greater delight in researching facts than they
do in teaching them. When they do speak or
write, they feel constrained to give as many facts
as possible. Luke's Gospel is the longest of the
four; he includes information left out by other
writers, and he emphasizes the completeness of
his account. (See Acts 1:1
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
God used a teacher to write
• Require thoroughness
A teacher enjoys giving details which are
not noticed or mentioned by others. Luke gives
precise descriptions of events, conversations,
circumstances and physical conditions. He
detailed more names, titles, cities, dates, events,
and sidelights than any other Gospel writer.
Luke was a doctor - God used a doctor to teach
Look at the details of the healings
the crucifixion
• Uneasy with subjective truth
A teacher is concerned that truth be
presented in balance. He recognizes the danger
of using personal experience as a foundation
for truth. He wants to go from Scripture to
experience, rather than from experience to a
proof text in Scripture. A teacher tends to remain
silent until information has been heard, observed,
and verified. Luke's silence is conspicuous in
the New Testament; none of his own statements
are recorded.
Exhorters use personal experience
Teachers want the details
Truth is not subjective
Teachers see beyond experience to the underlying truth
• Persevere with accepted teachers
A teacher tends to remain loyal to a
mentor or a school as long as any truth remains
and does what he can to promote the truth.
Luke demonstrated amazing loyalty to Paul
and his message in prison, even after others left
him.
... Only Luke is with me ..
" (I Timothy 4:11
11 These things command and teach.
• Clarify misunderstandings
If a teacher learns that his facts are wrong,
he will not simply accept the conclusion but will
want to retrace his own investigation to determine
at what point he got off the track. He will desire
to use the same procedure in helping others
who have strayed from the truth.
Misuses
• Becoming proud of knowledge
With the teacher's thorough-
ness in checking out facts, he will
acquire much knowledge. Since
. knowledge puffeth up.
(I Corinthians 8:1 it is very easy
1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
for him to become proud. He
may also appear prideful by giving
far more information than is
needed to prove a point. Further
pride can be communicated by
the attitude "It isn't right until I
check it out and say that it is
right."
• Despising lack of
credentials
Many teachers attempt to
control misinformation by requiring approved courses of instruction.
By depending only
on these courses, credentials can
be overemphasized.
and the practical wisdom of those whom
teachers consider uneducated
can be despised or minimized. In
such cases, teachers make the
mistake of concentrating on
intellectual knowledge rather
than spiritual perception.
Depending on Human reasoning
Since he is able to use
scholarly resources, a teacher can easily give the impression
that he is the only source of truth
and that his gift is more important
than the other gifts. The teacher
may also react to the need to
bring his intellect under the
control of the Holy Spirit,
thus putting his scholarship
ahead of the spiritual insight that
comes through meditating on
Scripture.
• Criticizing practical applications
A teacher's motivation to verify all statements
by the authority of Scripture may hinder him in
making wider Scriptural application. As he
focuses on textual studies, he may miss the
underlying principles that tie all Scripture
together'
"for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness"
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
• Showing off research skills
When a Christian with the gift of teaching
shares a conclusion, he feels obligated to explain
how he arrived at it. He often assumes, wrongly,
that because he enjoyed the research so much,
others will also. Concentration on research
may also cause a teacher to live in an unreal
world which he has created by his exclusion of
other people.
• Rejecting Scriptural presuppositions
If a teacher fails to subject his intellect to
the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, he will
need to reexamine the "foundational truths of
Scripture." These are to be understood by faith.
His theology will become the reorganization of
Scripture around a philosophical base.
• Putting mind above the Holy Spirit
The most effective way for anyone to
keep his intellect under the control of the Holy
Spirit is to meditate upon God's Word day and
night. Neither the inspiration or the true meaning
of Scripture will be understood intellectually,
but will be discerned spiritually. If a teacher fails
to become mighty in Spirit, he will tend to
become trusting of his own intellect.
• Taking teachings to extremes
Truth out of balance leads to heresy.
Imbalance begins by studying a doctrine out of
its moral setting (i.e., the second coming without
its purifying hope; communion without self-
examination). Argumentation and division
result. Imbalance also occurs by separating
related truths (i.e., mercy without justice, grace
without law).
• Arguing over minor points
If a teacher leans on his own understanding,
it is easy for him to reject an important spiritual
truth because he detects a minor flaw in the
presentation of it. He may further reject this
truth because he is being asked to intellectually
accept a conclusion without knowing how the
other person arrived at it.