Communication Gifts: Prophecy, Teaching, Encouragement

The church today needs believers who understand and exercise the communication gifts God has placed within His body. These three gifts - prophecy, teaching, and encouragement - serve as the voice of the church, working alongside the power gifts to create a complete and effective ministry.

The prophetic gift involves forthtelling God's truth into present situations, providing spiritual discernment that sees beneath surface appearances, and communicating with directness and boldness. This gift serves to edify, exhort, and comfort people, acting as the church's spiritual foghorn to warn of danger and call believers back to holiness. The teaching gift goes beyond mere information transfer, providing the supernatural ability to understand Scripture accurately and explain it clearly in ways that transform both mind and life. Teachers carry great responsibility because their words shape what people believe, which in turn shapes how they live.

The encouragement gift, rooted in the Greek word paraklesis, functions as a vessel of the Holy Spirit's comfort and strength. This isn't mere positivity but a supernatural ability to come alongside discouraged people and speak God's truth until something in them rises up. Like Barnabas, who changed Christian history through his encouragement of Paul, John Mark, and the Antioch church, those with this gift see potential in others and refuse to let them quit. Every believer should identify which gift they possess and actively use it to build up the body of Christ, creating a powerful force for kingdom advancement.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Like you, I was born destined for death because of sin. Sin is anything that goes against God, who is perfectly just and good. We've all sinned, and the result is separation from God. That is true death. God desires restoration. He sent Jesus, who is both God and man, perfect in every way. Being perfect, Jesus died for my sins, paying the debt I couldn't pay, repairing the separation between me and God. By his death, I am made clean. I am a new creation. The unbearable weight of my sin is gone, and I can begin a new life free from sin and true death. This is only the beginning. Because of who Jesus is and what he's done for me, I choose to follow him. My outward self is washed as a display of my inward faith. I eagerly give him my obedience, declaring this gift to the world. God refuses to leave me scarred by sin. His desire is for me to have the humility, kindness, and love of Jesus. To fight the temptation, pride, and laziness of my old self. Knowing this world is still broken, I cling to the hope that is coming. When I'm with God, finally home. And this hope I have in a future with Jesus brings me great joy. This is what God has done. I deserve death. Jesus died in my place. I am made clean. In obedience I follow him. I grow in faith. And my future hope brings new life. This is amazing grace. This is the gospel.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

So today we continue with our study that will be on in the month of May. And how many of you believe the May has already come to an end already? It's just, I don't know what's going on this year. And every year we say that. And the scary part of it as all is that as the years, days run through the weeks, and the weeks run through the months, and the months run through the years, we're getting close to the return of Jesus. And it's about time that the church understands this and we got act together and begin to appreciate the way Messiah expected us to pray when he left and gave us an instruction. One of the things he's said in is whether we should occupy till he returns. And we want to ask ourselves this morning whether we are actually occupying until he returns. And so our subject of this matter today, which has been for the rest of the month of May, it's a gift for service. Amen. And over the weeks, one of the things that we've dealt with is that every single believer, whether you're in person or you're online this morning, has a gift. When you got saved, God gave you a gift. And the gift is supposed to be used for the benefit of all. Amen? And so if you have a gift and God gave you a gift, and all gifts are different, we'll be studying all this. And again, to those of you who perhaps have not been joining us every week through this month of May, and we come to, we're coming to the end of this particular series. You have resources available to you. You can always, always, if you haven't yet subscribed to Live Chat Podcast, please subscribe to that. Search for it. It's Spotify or Apple Podcast and subscribe to it. Also, if you have the church app, which is the easiest way to get connected to the church, the link is always in the church app that you can always click on it and listen to the podcast over the previous months or the service we've been dealing with. And also, again, the church app, we have a link to the weekly devotions that uh the devotions are actually made developed from the Sunday service. So throughout the whole week, you have uh not just the Sunday service or the audio or the video of the Sunday service, but you have devotions portioned daily throughout the whole week. And then there is also a blog on the church shop that you can access from the Sunday service. So it's great resources. So again, I say this to tell you that if you're kind of lost where we are today, you just need to spend some time and go back and just revisit the subjects again. Um, and then so that at least you are blessed with what we are teaching. Those in person, you have your participating guides. Those online, I apologize, I forgot to put the link there today. But the link for today will be up there tonight, okay? It's just a matter of just connecting the link and I forgot to do it. I had too much to do. So tonight you can go in the church up and you see on the one of the tabs on the church says a weekly participation downloads. If you download that right now, it's the last week's download, but the download will be available tonight for you to download. So take some notes. Uh again, we we just didn't come to church, we came to Bible School. So take some notes and then you can compare your notes to the message and to the handouts when you download them and you spend some time in studying. So I want to begin today with just a quick illustration. It's anyone here played a trumpet before. So anyone here online, you played a trumpet before. Isaiah, when did you play the trumpet, son? He did. Oh, you played a trumpet. Interesting. Okay. So that well, we live and learn, okay? So I didn't know that. A trumpet, anyone who plays a trumpet knows that there's a piece of there's a part called the mouth piece. Yes. Right? Okay. Now, it doesn't matter. I mean, if uh what's it called? What's his name? Uh Miles Davis walked in this place today, and uh uh Ray Braun, or you know, these uh, you know, jazz artists walked in this place today, or uh what's what's his name? Uh uh Bubba James or whatever their names are, or George Duke, all of these guys walked in here today, and I handed them a trumpet without a mat piece. That would have been useless. It doesn't matter how well crafted the bells are, it doesn't matter how well tuned the valves are tuned, it doesn't matter how well polished the brass is, without a mat piece, the instrument is completely silent. Now, it may be beautiful to look at, but it's one thing that it will not be able to do is to fulfill the purpose of which it was made. A trumpet without a mouthpiece is never going to fulfill the purpose which was made. The church is no different. God has placed mouthpieces in this body for both men and women, specifically gifted to speak his word with power, precision, and compassion. So today we will meet these gifts that God has placed in this church. Now, last week, if you recall, we discovered a particular gift called the seven gifts. This is what we talked about we spoke about the power of helps. Now, the way you want to look at what the message from last week or this, the this the the uh the discussion we had last week, the way you want to look at it is that the hands, the the power gifts are the hands and feet of the body of Christ. Okay. Working faithfully and often quietly behind the scenes. You know, the gifts we were about to talk about today are what we call the communication gifts, if you look in the hand notes. The power gifts or the ministry of health is really behind the scenes. Nobody really, really sees those guys that actually move the needle, as it were, when it comes to the functioning of the church. And last week we took some time looking at this seven deacons, how they shifted the move of the growth of the church when the apostles finally decided to uh what's it called, uh, anoint those seven people to take on the demonstrative work of the church so that they could spend time in prayer and in the study of God's word. So what happens is when everybody's function, especially in the Ministry of Health, it releases the vision-bearers to be able to do what they are supposed to do. But when the apostles were smart, when they realized that if we're going to spend time to serve tables, which unfortunately it's what we expect from our pastors today, we expect our pastors to be the administrators, we expect our pastors to be the church growers, we expect our pastors to do the marketing strategy, we expect our pastors to be accountants, we expect them to do all that. That is literally in the terminology of the apostles serving tables. And if they do that, there is very little time to spend in fasting and praying, the study of God's word to be able to bring a message directly from the throne of God. And last week I think I shared with you guys about the Tamaracle of David, how that time in the history of Israel were the most prosperous times. You know why? Because there was a constant presence of worship in the land of Israel. And when God is present with his people, there is an anointing and grace that comes forward that enables people to do what they're supposed to do. So the true work of a pastor is not to manage a church. There has to be people that manage the church. Before I just came online, before we just came uh to start a service today, I was in a car back there talking to Brother Quedro, who is the treasure of the church. And you know, we're going through some budgets and uh you were asking some questions about why do we need why do we not tell you this? Unfortunately, it's become a one-man show. And these are the resources that I need, basically, to be able to move the church forward. And I spent so much time doing those things that it's it's, you know, God never designed it to be that way. And so if you are in the body of Christ, you have a corporate job, you are working on the job, and you're using your gifts to work and to build corporate jobs. Hey, it's about time you extend some time into the house of the Lord and help build the house of the Lord. And somebody say amen to that. And so those gifts, the gifts of power, these are the power gifts that we look at is the gifts of help, or the power of helps. We do last week, are really what we call the feet and the body of Jesus Christ, okay? And again, they work faithfully and often quietly behind the scenes. You are never gonna know those that are working effectively to make sure that the service goes on every single way. But today we move from the hands and the feet and we're gonna discover the voice of the church, okay? Because a church, now listen carefully, a church that serves without speaking. You're not hearing me. A church that serves without witnessing, a church that serves without the ministry of health, that church, I tell you, is walking only in half in half of their calling. It's about half a week to the calling that God gave them. Because the truth is that without the prophetic utterance in the church, okay? Without the prophetic utterance, without we witnessing, okay, we expect growth. At the same time, you come to church and you look at the face of people and you think, okay, the reason my question for you is that how many people did you invite this week to come to church? And how well did you follow up with them to make sure they were going to come to church on Sunday morning? And so when you woke up Sunday morning and you dress up and you rush to work, were you expecting the place to be full? Because you did not do what you were supposed to do. And so if you're not putting in the work and supposed to do what we're supposed to do, we don't expect a different outcome. And so a church that does not witness, it's not gonna grow. A church that does not have the prophetic offerings, a church that does not have a solid ministry of health, it's only walking in the half-calling. Okay? Now the blueprint is very simple. We're gonna start today from Romans chapter 12, verse 6 to 8. I'm gonna look at the blueprint where we're gonna, it's gonna be really the center focus of our study today. Um, you know, anyway. So Romans 12, 6 to 8 says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. Testament so use them. There is no need to have a gift without using it. Okay, and remember the gifts that God gave the church was to benefit every single person. So then Paul goes on, if prophecy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or ministry, let us use it in ministering. He who teaches in teaching, he who exalts in exaltation, he who gives liberally, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with with cheerfulness. Now, in here, the apostle Paul lifts gifts, but then he only doesn't lift the gifts, he immediately connects the gift to his function. Okay, and so there is the gift, but then there is also the function of the gift. Now, today we're gonna focus on what I'm calling the communication gifts. And what are these gifts? It's the gift of prophecy, the gifts of teaching, and the gift of encouragement. Now, before we go any further, let me kind of have this clear distinction. The gifts were about, there's a difference between these gifts and the office. Okay, the gift of prophecy, if somebody has a gift of prophecy, does not necessarily make the person a prophet. Exactly. Because those, if you look at it, we're gonna make a reference to it in Ephesians chapter 4. The Bible says that he that ascended, descended first, and gave gifts unto man. And he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some evangelists, some teachers, some pastors, some teachers. What about last secrets? And he says, for the edification of the body. Okay? So we're gonna take a look at that scripture in the in the in a little while. But that scripture has to do with the ministerial offices of these people. And again, in 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with it again. He talks about that first of all, it talks about a hierarchy, first apostles, then prophets, then evangelists, then ministry, what's called the other things that he lists. So those are offices, okay? So an office is not a title. In other words, these days when there's somebody in the congregation, there's someone in the church, and the person is a gift of prophecy, it is very quickly for us to put a prophet on him or a prophetess on them, and it becomes their title. That is so wrong because that gift doesn't define your office. God defines that office. It's clear? Okay. Now, these three gifts that we're going about to study today shapes how God speaks through his people with conviction, with clarity, and with compassion. Now, there are three questions that is gonna anchor our study today. The first question will be, has God given you a prophetic voice? The second question will be, has God given you a teaching gift? The third question, has God given you the gifts of encouragement? Now, I promise you, by the time we finish today, you are going to know exactly which of these belong to you and exactly what to do with them. All right, you are not going to leave here confused, you're gonna leave here with clarity of which of these things we're studying today that if you have these gifts that how to identify and how to put it in practice. Now, so we we start with the section one, which is the gift of prophecy. Now, before we go ahead with this gift, let me basically deal with the elephant in the room immediately. When many people hear about this word prophecy, the first thing that comes to their mind is that somebody's about to do a prediction. Okay, they think that a person is standing on this stage making some dramatic declarations about the future. And so if you have the gift of prophecy and it's accompanied by the dramatic aspect of ministry, most people refuse to exercise the gifts that God has given them because they looked at the way somebody else is addressing those who are approaching those thinking, I am not like that. Now, the reason why I was preparing this week, this was this came to mind many years ago when I was saved, many years ago. And we talked about, you know, speaking in the tongues. You know, that's one thing that Pentecostals do. We like to speak in tongues. And so I prayed to God for the baptism of tongues and I received it. And but the way I spoke my tongues was a bit weird. And so when I listened to other people speak tongues, I thought, no, this is something I'm making up. It wasn't dramatic enough. Okay? And so for many months, I wouldn't speak in, I wouldn't pray in tongues because I thought it wasn't dramatic enough. You see, we put a lot of dramatization on the gifts of God. And when you don't, when you are not operating with that type of dramatic things, people, you might think that, oh, my gift is not really a gift, it's me making it up. And so my goal today is to kind of really kind of structure these in such a way that you have a clear understanding, especially this gift of prophecy. But that is not the primary definition. Well, if you study Romans chapter 12, you understand that the primary definition of the gift of prophecy is not what we've been seeing in our churches today. Okay? It's not the way people go about calling and said prophets and the way they address things. Okay? And so this is a huge subject. It's really a huge subject, and I pray that after you've you've heard me teach on this, you probably take some of the notes and you address with other people and teach other people because the church is actually struggling because of unfortunately this particular gift. But then again, also God gave it to the church, and that we church that doesn't have a prophetic voice, you know, there's certain things, and you I'll explain. Let's go with 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 3, very quickly. And let's begin from there. He says, But he who prophesies speaks. Listen carefully. The main purpose of the gift of prophecy or the main intent of the gift of prophecy is this it's not about me being so dramatic telling that I saw two chickens under your bed yesterday, and maybe so dramatic telling that I see God giving the three children and every one of them is going to be born naked. It's not me being dramatic telling you that you know I said 20 witches. Oh, praise God. Oh, help me, Lord. The main purpose of that gift, precious, the main purpose of that gift is to edify, it's for edification, it is for exaltation, and it's to comfort man. Now, these are three profound words. These give us the oppression definition of the prophetic gift in a local church. So watch this now. The three critical words here, it's edification. This is not uh teaching by August that this is according to the person who wrote it, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that a gift of prophecy is to edify. What is edifying? The word edify, wherever you see in the Bible, it means to build something up. Okay? Not to tear down. Some of these guys, you listen to prophecy and you run, it's like, who's my enemy here? It's to build something up. And so the first intent of prophecy is to build your gift of prophecy build you up. Number two, Paul says that is to exalt. What is exaltation? Exaltation means to edge forward. Okay? So things are so difficult, things are so challenging, but the word of the word from the prophet, it's supposed to edge you forward. That in spite of the challenges that are going on, God has got your power. Does it make sense? And then the comfort aspect of it is interesting. It's drawing alongside in pain. Now, watch this now. The word of prophecy does not mean that you're going through pain, God is going to remove the pain. Literally, the word of prophecy that Paul is saying is to bring comfort, means that in spite of whatever you're going through, God is going to draw near to you and come alongside you and then help you to move forward. Does it make sense? Okay. So the prophetic word, listen carefully, the prophetic gift is the God given ability to speak his word. Listen carefully, in present reality with spiritual clarity, spiritual and it's Spiritual anointed impact. The prophetic gift is God's given ability to speak his word into a present reality. Okay? With a spiritual clarity and spirit anointed impact. Now there are three dimensions of this gift. The first dimension is forthelling. Forthelling that you know. It's not about merely foretelling by forth telling. Now, if you notice in the Old Testament, the prophet will come up and say, That says the Lord. And whenever the prophet said that says the Lord, the prophet was dealing with the current situation that Israel was going through. Okay? It wasn't about telling them what is about to happen. So whenever the word, the prophet used the word notum, that says the Lord, he was dealing with the current condition. They spent very little time in predicting the future. But current so foretelling, listen carefully, is declaring the word of God into the present moment with divine authority. In other words, it's a current situation, and God releases a prophetic word in the congregation, right? The prophetic word is supposed to speak in the present. Does it make sense? And that word comes with divine clarity and authority. So this is what a prophetic word says. This is what God is saying is happening right now. Okay? This is what God says must change. And this is what God says is true. It deals with current situations. Okay? So that's the first dimension. Fourth telling. They tell, in other words, they speak the truth. All right. Dimension number two is about discernment. Now, this is so critical. And so this it's so critical. The prophetic gifted person sees beneath the surface. This is so critical. Watch this. They have an insight, have a heightened spiritual perception of what is actually happening in a situation versus what merely appears to be happening. Here is when the prophetic gift is in oppression. In the natural, things may look like this is a natural thing going on here. But somebody with a prophetic grace and understanding knows that there's other things happening underneath it. So what is happening in the physical is not always something that is happening physical. They have this spiritual dynamics that they're able to walk into situations and know that there are deeper things going on underneath the surface. Amen. A prophetic gift sends dynamics that others walk right past. They know when someone is wrong before, when something is wrong before, they can fully articulate why. Make sense, they have discernment. The third dimension of a prophetic gift is directness. The prophetic gifted person communicates with clarity and boldness. Now, honestly, most people that operate with these gifts, especially those that occupy the prophetic office, should not really be pastors because of this directness. They resist sugarcoating. They will say what they need, what needs to be said, even when the room goes quiet. You know, people don't want to be called out. And one of the dimensions of a prophet is calling people out in spite of it being uncomfortable for them. They do not calibrate their message to the comfort of the audience, they're calibrated to the truth of God's word. A prophet or a prophetic, somebody in a prophetic grace, it's never going to preach a message that is going to be comfortable for people. Why? Because everything they do is calibrated to God's word. So let's take a look at some characteristics of those that carry this gift. They tend to see situations in black and white. In the prophetic realms, in the prophetic, you know, someone will pray in a prophetic gift, there is no gray area. You know, a pastor will understand that there's a gray area somewhere. Okay, perhaps it's not all that bad. There is no a prophet doesn't see gray areas. It's either black or white, period. It's either right or wrong, it's either truth or error, obedience or compromise. They don't kind of, you know, told the in-between line sort of thing. And so, because of that directness and because of the way they perceive things, people most of the time, unless they're highly announced, feel very uncomfortable around prophets. Because a pastor will take you through a discussion and counseling and understands where you're coming from, and perhaps you can change. A prophet will tell them that's wrong. And because of that, many people perceive that gift as being harsh. They carry a deep, almost restless burden for holiness and spiritual integrity in the church. They are bold and direct in confronting sin, compromise, and spiritual deception. They are sometimes perceived as harsh or critical. Have I ever heard that before? Which is why the gift must always be governed by love balanced with mercy. I can't tell you how many times I've been told, I'm not saying I'm a prophet, but I can't tell how many times I've been told I'm harsh. But the point is that you have to understand that it's the way God made that office of God made the person who operates in that gift. Now, there's an example in the Bible that's interesting. John the Baptist, if you look at Mark chapter 6, verse 18, John the Baptist went ahead and confronted Herod, the most feared person at the time. And you know how he confronted him? He told him point blank, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And what happened to him? He got his head cut off for that. He did not soften it, he did not reframe it, reframe it. He he said what God said to the person who needed to hear it in the moment it needed to be said. He said what God wanted to be said to the person who needed to hear it in the moment, not tomorrow, that it needed to be said. This, people, is a prophetic gift and operation. If you look at Acts chapter 2, verse 22, the door of Pentacles, Peter came against the Sahindri man. This is now you gotta understand the dynamics of what's going on here. A few hours before Pentecost came, before the Holy Ghost came, these guys were running for their lives. Okay? They were being hunted. The Jewish Saindri wanted to kill them. And all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit comes and boldness comes, and Peter gumps on the street and confronts these people. And he confronts them, he says, that you have taken by lawful hands and crucified and put him to death, the Lord of glory. This was a confrontation. And as a result of that confrontation, 3,000 people gave their lives to Christ. So a prophet who is spiritually anointed, in the spirit anointed, truth saturated directness is one of the most powerful forces in the kingdom of God. And that is why we need that gift. Because when the voice of a prophet is present, there is correction. There is correction like no other. And most of the time when that correction comes, it's so anointed, it's so truth, such as truth, and so direct that people come into repentance as a result of that. So the main office of a prophet, and we're not been talking about gifts of prophecy, and about an office of a prophet, the main job is really to turn the hearts of people back to God. And whenever a prophet is present, it's like whatever they do, it's about again edification, again, encouragement, again, bringing all those things out. But the main job of a prophet is to tend to get us to repentance so that we can commit our lives properly to God. Does it make sense? And if you look at the Old Testament, that's all they did. So because of the gift, because of the gift, and because it's been so much abused in the church now, if we really study the New Testament, Paul put some safeguards in place, okay? Because of the tendency of this gift being accompanied with pride. And there are so many people that will pray in this gift of prophecy that it's it's pride that's really taking the roots of it and it's really kind of damaging the church instead of actually building the church. And so many times God is smile and God put safeguards in place for this gift. So if you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 29, Paul put this safeguard in place and said, Let two of the two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. In other words, in the church of Corinth, they had so many people there, right? And everybody called himself a prophet. Everybody was, you know, their pastors, preachers, someone was standing prophesying. And Paul says, Okay, man, let's let's put this in check. Okay? The gift is here. But then to put this in order, let at least two or three people speak. And everyone who calls himself a prophet, let him judge what the person just spoke, whether it's from the Spirit of God or from themselves. So the prophetic gift, when operating outside accountability, can be something so dangerous. And this is what we are facing in our churches today. What is happening is our pride masquerading as boldness, personal opinions dressed up as that says the Lord, harshness without love. You know, one of the things that everybody seems to say, God told me, God told me, God told me. Everybody has a veto on what God was selling them. How do we know? Oh, you're not hearing me. Every prophetic utterance must be accountable, must be tested, and submitted to the body of Christ. Every prophetic utterance. And when these safeguards are put in place, and when the prophet is operating in love and in submission to authority, and it's not about show boasting, but it's really in line with the Holy Spirit. This is a powerful gift that the body of Christ needs. When the prophetic gift is governed by humility and love, it is one of the most powerful voices in a local church. But you know, Satan knows that. And so what does Satan do? Satan always, always, always. Most of these guys that are preaching this gift, the next thing that happens to them is pride. They know submission, pride, and the gift that's supposed to bless everybody else becomes something totally different. Now, a four horn is not beautiful. When it sounds in a thick morning fog over a harbor, no one says, What a pleasant sound. Sailor's winch, but they are deeply grateful for it because it is loud, directional, warning keeps ships from smashing against a rock that are invisible of the fog. The way the church needs to understand the prophetic gifted believer is the fog horn of the body of Christ. Not always comfortable to hear, not always welcomes in the moment, but absolutely necessary to keep the check from invisible spiritual danger. That is the prophetic gift for you, people. It is critical. We need it. Every church needs to have a prophetic voice of praying. Why? Because of all the things that I've listed and all the things you have in your notes. There are things that naturally we take, we have a natural approach to, but it's a complex supernatural approach underneath it. And many of us just walk in, just thinking that, oh, this is just natural. But that gift, God placed that gift in the body of Christ to be able to descend what is spiritually going on so that they can go deep or the church can awaken the church to what the church needs to do to dismantle the things that are happening spiritually. Does it make sense? So it's not about show boasting at all. And God never placed one of these gifts in the church so that people, individual people, capture the show boast. It is all about really helping and moving his work forward. Amen? Okay. So let's talk about the gift of teaching now. So that's the gift of prophecy, the gift of teaching. If the prophetic gift is a voice that warns and comforts, the teaching gift is a voice that bails and establishes. Now let's go back to Romans chapter 12, verse 7 quickly. And I read again from the new King James Version. And this is where Paul puts it a very, very brief, profound statement. It says, Paul says, Our ministry, let use it in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching. Period. Now to have a clear understanding of again this gift and this office, let's go back as promised to Ephesians chapter 4, and then read from verse 11 and 12. Okay? And so this year, what we're about to read is the offices that God gave the body of Christ. God calls for the gift. Okay? And this uh what's it called text here makes the purpose unmistakenly clear about a teacher's job. He said he and he himself, we're talking about Jesus now, gave some to be apostles, he gave some to be prophets, he gave some to be evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. He says, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for edifying of the body of Christ. So watch this now. A teaching gift is the God-given ability to understand the word of God accurately, explain it clearly, and apply it in ways that transform both the mind and the life. Everybody can teach. Every preacher man can preach, it's not every preacher man has a gift or preach in a teaching office. Does it make sense? This office is the ability to understand God's word in such a way. There are certain times I listen to certain profound men. I'm sure everybody knows the mass morrow. And some great teachers. And I listened to the way they take God's word and the way they explain and expand on God's word. It's just beautiful. There was a guy that was in the study, and he's dead and gone now. One of the greats uh British guys called Derek Prince. Derek Prince was was an amazing teacher of God's word. To me, right now, I I really I look for people. I look for people that can teach me God's word. Amen. Now, a teacher understands God's word with such accuracy, it's able to explain it clearly, it's able to apply it in ways that transform both the mind and life. It is not merely lecturing, we are not investing. It is not about religious information transfer, okay? It is a supernatural capacity to take the deep things of God and make them accessible, transferable, and life-changing in the hands of ordinary people. So, what are the characteristics of carrying this gift? Number one, these people have such an unsatiable love for steady and personal research in God's word. A teacher reads not because he must, but because he cannot stop reading. They have the ability to organize complex truth in logical, step-by-step progression that others can follow and retain. An almost compulsive commitment to clarity. They will rework and explain things five times until it lands right. They have a deep patience in explaining the explanation. The teacher does not rush past confusion. He stays with the student until light comes on. There is a fierce devotion to accuracy. They cannot let a biblical error pass unchallenged. Even when challenging, it's it's uh socially uncomfortable for people. Do you know somebody like that? Let's go to Acts chapter 18, verse 24 to 20 quickly. Now, there's an example in the Bible, and I always have to make reference to examples. Now, the Bible says that now a certain name, a certain Jewish name, Apollos of Alexander, an eloquent man, mighty in scriptures, he came to Ephesus. Verse 25 says, This man had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. And when Aquila and Priscilla had him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of the Lord more accurately. And when he desired to cry to cross to Arcadia, the brethren wrote and ex and exalted the disciples to receive him, and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. 28 says, For he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Now, this is interesting. April and Priscilla, and it's actually believed that April and Priscilla is the one that started the church in Rome. You know, there is thing that the church in Rome was said by Peter. That's incorrect, theologically incorrect. Peter went to Rome when the church already was established. And so it's actually believed that Aquill and Priscilla were the ones that established the church in Rome. Okay? Now they had this guy preach. Now, if you look at the text, this guy was very eloquent, very bold. But there was a gap in his theology. And the gap in his theology was that he only knew the baptism of John. He didn't know the baptism of Grace and whatever. So he was boldly, what's it called, uh, defending his faith by what he knew. So I call him Priscilla, heard this guy preach, know that there was a gap in his theology. They did not embarrass him publicly. They took him aside and explained to him the word of God more accurately. What we learned from this is a teacher recognizing a teacher and both submitted to correction. Okay? That is the teacher's gift in its highest expression. A teacher is always looking out to bring people into accuracy in doctrine. They always are looking out that, you know, people, there's so many people that will quote scriptures out of context, not understand the contextual reason for scripture, you know, and they kind of kind of bring it in and then they have their own narrative and that sort of thing. Somebody who has a teaching grace is always, always, always clued up to accuracy in the Bible. And therefore, when they see that kind of error, something in them jumps up and they want to correct it. If you are here and you have that desire, I submit to you today that perhaps God has placed the teaching gift in you. Now there's a critical distinction between preaching and teaching. It is a clear critical distinction. There is an important difference between the two. Why? But every communicator needs to understand this. A teaching, what teaching really does is that it emphasizes explanations. Okay? It promptly addresses their mind. And so when you are in service and you are in a teaching ministry and your pastor's teaching, or somebody who's gifted to teach, what it's actually trying to do is to emphasize and explain the bullet points so that it addresses the way your mind thinks and the way your mind relates to that scripture. And so a teacher will ask, What does this text represent? Or what does it mean? What is the accurate interpretation of this text? What is the historical and theological context? Okay. Some teachers can be boring, but they certain times that remember where they're coming from. They want you to get it and get it, okay? They don't want you to quote scriptures out of context. They need you to understand the accuracy and interpretation of the scripture reading. Because most people, unfortunately, will take scripture for a different place and address issues that are not supposed to be addressed out of context. Script, all scriptures given by inspiration of God, but every scripture is meant to address something different. Does it make sense? But what a preacher man will do is that a preacher man will emphasize the application of it. It is promptly to address the will. So a preacher man will say, What must I do for you to understand this? What must change, okay? What response does this truth demand from you? And so the main difference between preaching and what's it called teaching is that the teacher is always kind of focused on your mind, trying to, you know, the Bible says a man thinks in his always, trying to correct your thinking. All right. The preacher man is trying to just encourage you. And even though it's the same thing, but let me tell you, the most effective ministers of the word, they do both. They teach and they preach. They communicate both. All right. And those who teach, or especially those who really lean in on the teaching, do it through and naturally towards the depth, the accuracy, and the clarity of explaining as their primary mood. In other words, it is difficult that sometimes like the great communicators they preach and they teach at the same time, right? But if somebody's appreciated in the gift of teaching, you will understand that the depth of that scripture. In other words, it's just not going to say something in consciousness and move on, in positive, move on. He's trying to explain. So a teacher, a teacher never finishes message. You know, listen to me. Because they always want to be accurate, they want to have a clear explanation of what they are trying to do so that you get it. Amen? Whereas a preacher man is just trying to encourage you and just pump you up so that you can go home. Okay? So they said, but there's a sobriing warning. I came across this verse. Sobrime warning. If you look at James chapter 3, verse 1, James says something that everyone should pause and take a critical look at. He said, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. You see, these days, everybody wants to carry a Bible and everybody wants to open the Bible and teaching people. But when you read this text, it must say James is saying that discouraging people from teaching. But that's not what it means. What James means is that the teacher's gift carry a greater accountability. Do you know why? Because what a teacher declares shapes what people believe. And so you are a pastor, you are people listening to you every Sunday. You are people depending on spiritual depth, you are people depending on spiritual maturity. And everything that you say shapes the way and the things they believe. And what people believe shape the way they live. And so Paul says that I know James says this, but Paul says that study to show yourself approved unto God. He said that work by not being ashamed, rightfully, divine in the word of truth. It is great to teach, but remember that what you're teaching, if it's not accurate, is shaping the belief system in the lives of people. And so Paul says that because of that, James said, because of that, you're going to be held accountable. So not many people should rush and say, hey, I want to be a teacher, I want to be a pastor. Because one day God is going to ask you, study to show yourself approval to God. A workman not being ashamed. Rightfully, not wrongfully, rightfully, there is no room for mistakes. Why? Because people hear you and their lives depend on what you're saying. At least the spiritual life depends on what you're teaching them. So this gift is not a platform, it's a steward. Now, watch this now. I remember many years ago, I used to live in a place in London called Wortham Abbey. I moved as far as I could for the family. And then uh before Gloria moved to London, we bought a new property in a place called Witham. Now, before GPS, like everybody now has a GPS in their phone, there's something called A to Z in London. You have to read them up. And at the time of Bandla Property, the uh GPS started coming up with the Pampilot. I don't even remember my Pampilot. You had to put a software on that. Yeah. So that's what I had. And without the GPS I had, there was no way that I could have driven to Witham to look at the property and banner property. GPS, it's so profound. You see, when you're trying to reach a destination, you you need GPS these days. It's invaluable. It's not because it tells you the destination, it's you already know that, but because it gives you a clear, precise, step-by-step direction in the right sequence at exactly the right moment. And it's calibrated to where you are right now. So let's say I want to go to the city of Chicago right now. And without GPS, man, many years ago I would never go to the city. It would tell, especially Lower Waka. Oh, lower walker, lower walker, lower walker. Whoever desired that is a dangerous man. So, what you have to understand is that this is the teacher in the body of Christ. Our destination, as I put the image down, please. Our destination is Christ-likeness. The teacher did not invent the route, the scripture did. But the teacher takes the map of God's word and shows it to you tan by time. Exactly how to get from where you are to where God is calling you to be. Does it make sense? This is why this gift is so critical in the body of Christ. Let's go to section three and let's look at the gift of encouragement. Let's go back to Romans chapter 12, verse 8. He says, He who exalts in exaltation, he who gives will liberally, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Now, the Greek word used here for exaltation or to exalt is a Greek word. Where's my Greek color today? Paraclesis. Okay. The Greek word I'm going to try. Please don't show me. It's paraclistis. And it is paraclysis. Okay. Now that word should perk your ears right now. You know why? Because that word paraclysis comes from a root word palaclete. And every believer here should know that word. The palaclete is the name that Jesus gave the Holy Spirit. He said the Holy Spirit, Jesus called me a palaclate. That's a word that was used for him. And that word means the one that comes alongside. Okay? So here it's how critical the gift of exhortation is. When a person exercises this gift of encouragement, they are functioning as a vessel of the Holy Spirit comfort, strength, and the life in the lives of others. In other words, whenever that gift is exercised, the way Paul looks at it, it's as if the Holy Spirit is exercising the gift through you because he's using you to come alongside that person to encourage that person in perhaps a very difficult situation. So this is not just being cheerful, this is not just being positive. This is a supernatural, spirit-empowered ability to come alongside a person who is discouraged, who is deflated, who is defeated, and speak God's truth over them until something in them rises up. So what are the characteristics of this gift? They see potential in people that people themselves cannot see. They look at rough stones and see the sculpture inside them. You know, when I was preparing for today and I was looking through this and I was writing these things down, there was one person in this place that came to mind. I'm not going to say it for me, you guys think about it yourself. Almost every single person I've encountered him. And I'm telling you, man, this guy operates in the gift of encouragement. They are supernaturally and consistently optimistic. Not what's it called, naively, but faithfully. They find possibilities inside situations that others have declared impossible. They speak life and faith when others are speaking fear and doubt. Not because they are out of touch with reality, but because they are in touch with a higher reality. They build genuine confidence in others through truth-anched affirmation. Not flattery, not empty prizes, but specific spirit-led declarations of what God says is true about a person. In the Bible, in the New Testament, there's a gentleman who embodied this gift, and his name was Banabas. They called him the son of encouragement. The most powerful example in the New Testament is from a man whose very name changed to reflect how consistent he operated in it. Interesting, man. Acts chapter 4, verse 36. It begins this way, and Jose, who's also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite from the country of Cyprus. So this guy's best name was Josseus. But the apostles named him after his gift, Barnabas. Okay, with the son of encouragement. The apostles saw something so consistent, so defining, so characteristic in how he operated that they renamed him such. Now think about this. His encouragement gift was so evident, so deployed, so transformative that it became his identity. Can you imagine that? That you are renamed because of your identity. Now there are three specific moments where Barnabas encouraged encouragement gift changed the course of Christian history. Can you just imagine? Somebody just being himself and just doing what he knows how to do and it changes the course of history. Let's look at moment number one. How many of you know that Paul, we know the conversion of Paul and wrote it to Damascus, right? When Paul got converted, as Paul is, he picked up his Bible straight away, wanted to go and preach. And when he got to town, none of the disciples were listening to him. They were afraid of him. They thought that it was Paul's strategy to infiltrate and destroy the church. Everyone kept his distance. Everyone except Barnabas. Barnabas stepped forward, he vouched for Saul and brought him into fellowship. Without that one act of encouragement, okay? The apostle might have never been integrated in the way he did in the early church. The man who wrote half of the New Testament needed somebody to believe in him first. And I wonder. I wonder. Somebody has wronged you, somebody's past. Probably defines who he is. And I wonder if you have the ability to vouch for that person. Moment number two, John Mark. If you know your Bible, you know that on the first missionary journey, Paul, after Band of us had helped him, they paired up and they went out on the first missionary journey. They took a young guy whose name was John Mark. Okay. Now, scripture has it that your mark, the the missionary journey was so fierce that your mark abandoned them and he left. And Paul was very furious. And so on the second missionary journey, Barnabas and Paul, Barnabas wanted to take your mark along. And the Bible says that if you read Acts 15, the Bible says that there was such a fierce context between the two of them that they parted ways. Because Barnabas wasn't going to give up on John Mark. Okay? Barnabas took your mark and invested in him. He refused to write him off, refused to let one field define who he was. So he stood with him and he vouched for him. Now guess what? How did that affect Christian history? The same John Mark later on was the one that wrote the Gospel of Mark that we have today. So just imagine that if one mistake that John Mark made with Apostle Paul, he was written off, and that none of the apostles would get close to him because he abandoned on missionary journey. We would have had three gospels, not four. But because Barnabas refused to give up on him, picked him up, trained him, and encouraged him. It's actually believed that John Mark was actually who wrote the book of Peter, actually. So he not only just writes the gospel of Mark, he wrote the epistle of Peter as well. That is what the gift of encouragement does. Moment number three. When the church began in Antioch, with this John and uh Paul and Barnabas, the Bible says that the church was young, it was finding its feet. And so what did Jerusalem church do? James and Peter and the rest of them, they sent Barnabas to assist them. Let's catch the story from Acts chapter 11, verse 23. It says, when he came and heard and seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them, all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. So watch this now. The church in Antioch became the launching pad for world missions. The first missionary people was sent from Antioch. It was Barnabas who told them. Okay? So Barnabas was involved in the first. Dr. Gogo is out on the mission field today because 2,000 years ago, Barnabas and Paul were the ones that began the first missionary journey. And so somebody he told the church, don't stop. He said, don't waver. Hold on, and it should be okay. This is what a gift of encouragement does. So one man's encouragement gift changed the trajectory of Christian history. Three separate times. And the people he encouraged went on to impact millions. Just imagine how many people read the Gospel of Mark today? Billions of people. Because one man decided 2,000 years ago, I'm not going to give up on this young man. Somebody's not listening to me today. This is the gift of encouragement. This is what is able to do in a church when it's deployed properly. So there is an essential balance that must be established here. Encouragement must be truthful, not flattery. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 13. It said, Exalt one another daily whilst it is called day, least any of you be hardened through the deception of sin. Biblical encouragement is not telling people what they want to hear, it is speaking the truth of God to them in love or with love. Amen. Fluttery serves the flattery relationship. Encouragement serves the other person's destiny. Now, there's another illustration here. You say there's only three out there, okay? Now watch this now. How many of you here have a personal trainer? Or has ever had a personal trainer in the gym before? That's good. So you went to your personal training session and you were so tired. And so the trainer looks at you and says, Oh man, it's okay. Just stop. Come back tomorrow and do it again. No, they don't do that, do they? They'll look you in the face and then they'll tell him, Man, I see something else here. Man, is that all you got? I know you are capable of doing more. This is not just your limit. Go on, do not stop, go ahead. That is what a personal trainer does, encourages you to take on tasks that you're not able to do. This is a gift of encouragement. It's not comfortable, it doesn't comfortably agree with you where you are, no false affirmation or mediocre, but it's passionate, spirit-anchored conviction about what God is talking to you or God taking you and refuses to let you settle for less. This is what they do. Amen. So we are concluding. This month, we discover our gifts, and then we're going to deploy them. Not some of them, not the comfortable ones, all of them. In the proportion of our faith in service to the body of Christ. I'm going to leave you with three diagnostic questions today. Take this home with you. Take them to God in prayer this week. Diagnose question number one prophecy. Do you carry a burden for truth and holiness that you find almost impossible to stay silent about? Do you see spiritual realities? The real condition of situations, not the physical ones, but underneath it, the real direction of life, the real presence or absence of God in a circumstance that others seem to walk right paths. Do you have that discernment? Does the compromise of scripture make you physically reckless? If so, God may just have given you a prophetic voice. Use it caution humbly, lovingly, submissively, but use it. Diagnosis number two, teach it. Do you love digging deep into scripture? Not just reading it, but researching it. Many astology people don't read the Bible, study the Bible. Do you like to cross-reference it, understanding it, original meaning and context? Is that something that you are drawn to? When you discover biblical truth, do you feel almost urgently desired to explain it to someone else? Do you feel sometimes something like physical discomfort when you hear biblical errors taught without correction? If so, God may have just given you a teaching gift. Articulate it, get in the word, find someone you can teach. Okay. Diagnosis question number three. Do people naturally come to you when they are discouraged? Do you find yourself speaking possibilities and faith over people? Not because you are ignoring their problems, but because you are genuinely believe that God is bigger than their problems. Do you feel a pull, almost a compulsion, to come alongside people who are about to quit? If so, God has given you the gift of encouragement. Use it intentionally, truthfully, and relentlessly. So, your action step this week. Let's talk about a prophetic gift. What are you gonna do? Share a God-giving spiritual insight with somebody this week, humbly, lovingly, clearly. Don't dress it out. That says the Lord, or God told me about you. No, no, don't do that. You can say, I believe God has just been showing me something about you or your situation, and I would like to speak to you about it. Don't swallow what God has spoken or given you for somebody else. There's sometimes that you are in a service and there's an impression on your heart. And some of you, you might be, you might feel afraid or you might not have the courage or something to come up and say that. If you believe that God has placed something on your heart. You know, I always say to people, man, it's not what you say, it's how it's said. You know, people walk, somebody walk in and won't be so super spiritual, you know, like, let uh I need the room, man. It's not about that. You know, just humbly just say to the person, hey man, I believe that God has been showing me something about you. And perhaps take this and pray about it and see. You know, just but release it, man. Don't keep it yourself, okay? Teaching gift number two. Explain a biblical truth call of action to someone this week, okay? Your church children, your friend, a small group member, open the word, walk them through it, let the teacher in you practice this gift. What about encouragement? Deliberately and specifically build up three people this week with your truth-anchored word. Not a general phrase, specifically, faith-filled declarations of what God says is true about them. Change somebody's trajectory with your words this week. Now, watch this. Now, words are the most powerful force in the human relationship. The devil knows it. That is why he fills the world with words that discourage, that destroys, that demeans, that deceives people. And God knows this, which is why he has placed gifted voices inside his church. Voices that prophesy his truth, voices that teach his word, voices that encourage his people. Now, that voice may be yours. The church is waiting for what God has placed in you. Use it. Tell somebody say use it.

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Use it.

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When everything comes together, when you read the Bible and you see the way the Holy Spirit has laid things out, and if every single person was playing their part, the church would be an awesome place to be. Because when you come to church, you don't go home the same. Because there's somebody here that God has placed a prophetic word on their uh on their hearts, and that person comes and releases the prophetic word in humility. There's a situation here that somebody with a prophetic office descends that and comes and says, Hey, I think that the Lord is leading this direction. We need to do this. This is how we build the body of Christ. Amen? God is so smart that never plays one gift into one person. As we studied four or five weeks ago, he distributed it evenly. And the whole church coming together, everybody playing a part, lifts up God's people and lifts up God's word. Amen? Stand up, let's pray, please.