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October 14, 2007AM
Romans 12:1-6
The Predictor Predicament
The impression I have gained by studying the prophets is simple.
“Never be a prophet”!
If you value your life stay out of the prophecy profession!
Look at John the Baptist.
John was the prophet who paved the way for the Most High.
He was the forerunner of the Messiah.
We think it would be an honour to fill such a role.
It is an honour until we see John imprisoned.
And then at a party his head on a platter is the door prize.
In Mark 6:4 Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
That’s wonderful, except very rarely do we find a prophet outside his own country.
It is to his own people he is called to prophesy.
It is not an honourable position.
Jesus said in Matthew 23:34, “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.”
Jesus knew the treatment prophets had received in the past.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you” (Matthew 23:37)
Bounties were placed in the heads of prophets, those who still had one.
They were hunted and chased and stalked.
Elijah was a marked man.
He purged Israel of the false prophets of Baal.
That made the queen label him “Israel’s Most Wanted”.
She swore she would have him killed within 24 hours.
Joseph was plotted against by his own brothers.
He had told them things about their future they did not like.
They wanted him dead.
Eventually they sold him to some slave traders.
The writer to the Hebrews assesses this PREDICTOR PREDICAMENT.
“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill treated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
Anyone want to get in line for this gift?
This gift shows us some principles about the Spiritual Gifts.
We discover them clearly through the gift of prophecy.
I The first principle is now so obvious.
Do not look for GLAMOR in the gifts of the Spirit.
This is not unique to the gift of prophecy.
We have already looked at the gifts of contributing, giving aid and mercy.
There is nothing glamorous there at all.
That is what we would be tempted to call grunt work.
There isn’t a whole lot to show for these gifts.
And the gift of prophecy does not work out any better.
They all result in the same treatment at the hands of the world.
Look at Mary, the sister of Lazarus.
She was gifted with the gifts of giving and service.
She took costly ointment and poured it over Jesus’ feet.
Then she wiped His feet with her own hair.
It was a beautiful demonstration of giving and service.
Yet she was ridiculed.
She was called wasteful and silly.
Something as helpful and beneficial as giving was not accepted.
There is nothing GLAMOROUS about the gifts of the Spirit.
They do not lead to pomp and prestige.
Paul says in verse 3 “I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.”
The sin of pride considers the gifts to be glamorous.
Pride destroys God’s plan for the Church.
To consider the gifts glamorous can lead to exaggeration.
We will be tempted to claim more than what God has given.
We will be caught up in self-exaltation.
No gift is to be coveted.
Do not look for GLAMOR in the gifts of the Spirit.
II Secondly, do not look for GUARANTEES.
The gifts do not guarantee prosperity and success.
Paul says in verse 6, “As you have received a gift, use it!”
Have no regard for the consequences of using your gift.
Forget about looking for guarantees.
Recall the words of Jesus in John 15:20, 21, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘a servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me.”
Jesus is saying use your gift.
But don’t expect the world to appreciate your use of that gift.
If you have the gift of prophecy, then prophesy.
Use the gift of prophecy according to your faith.
Faithfully use the gift of prophecy.
Don’t worry about the consequences.
If we are afraid of our gift it will distort and destroy the body of
Christ.
God has given us our place in the body through the gifts.
We sin if we fail to, or refuse to, acknowledge God’s gifts.
There is no GLAMOUR in the gifts of the Spirit.
Nor do the gifts come with a GUARANTEE.
III So what is there in the spiritual gifts?
Look for GOD’S GRACE in the gifts.
Verse 6 gives us the answer.
“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Grace is the vital and living presence of God.
Grace is God at work in your life.
It is through your gift that God is able to touch the world around you.
To stifle that gift is to stifle the work of God.
To reject the gift is to reject God’s grace.
It is to reject everything God has done in you.
It is through the gifts, gifts that differ according to the grace
given, that God is able to bring renewal into our world.
That is why Paul begins this list of the gifts of the Spirit with prophecy.
All through the OT Scripture God’s grace was shown through the prophets.
They were His mouthpiece.
He was able to communicate with His lost people through the prophets.
It was through them He had contact with His lost and fallen world.
The prophets were sent to society to tell people what was on God’s mind.
If they were sinning, God told them through the prophets.
The prophets called the sinner to repentance.
The first words Matthew recorded from John the Baptist’s mouth were these.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)
He said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit that befits repentance” (Mt. 3:7,8)
This was not something enjoyable for the prophets.
Look at how Jonah ran from God.
He did not want to speak for God as His prophet.
Only after 3 days in the whale did He obey.
Elijah just wanted to curl up and die.
Isaiah could not see how God could possibly use him.
He was of unclean lips.
Amos was only a tree pruner.
David was only a shepherd boy.
Nehemiah was a cup bearer.
Moses tried for 80 years to not be God’s prophet.
But they all ended up being God’s instruments of grace.
They were God’s mouthpiece.
The gift of prophecy that Paul speaks of here was somewhat distinct.
Jesus brought an end to that Old Testament era.
The prophet in the New Testament church has a new word to speak.
Jesus is the “word” – the logos.
The Apostle John says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Jesus is the new Word, the Logos of God that the prophet speaks.
The prophet cannot speak with greater authority than Jesus.
But He does speak with the same authority which is given by God.
The prophet is not to withhold the truth spoken by God.
God has gifted the prophet today to keep the ministry of the church in
balance.
This will not always be popular with the people.
But mingled with the words spoken is God’s grace.
God’s grace will be able to touch the lives of those who hear.
When the prophet’s voice is heard God’s grace is poured out.
It is that touch that will bring change to our world.
The change that comes from the repentance from sin through Jesus.
Who wants to be a prophet?
Paul says no one should want to be a prophet.
But all of us, as servants of Jesus Christ, should be willing.
There is no GLAMOUR.
There is no GUARANTEE.
But GOD’S GRACE is at work in your life.
It is an awesome thing to be in the service of the Most High.
God still rises up His prophets to communicate to His people.
Might you be a person through whom He wants to communicate His love?
The prophet has always been the forerunner of God’s action.
Not all of us here will be, or should be a prophet.
But be aware that the Body of Christ does need a mouthpiece.
God empowers with the gift of His Spirit His prophets.
Might you be that mouthpiece?