(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I don't know. Alright, good evening everyone, let's go ahead and take our seats and find a hymnal. Go ahead and turn to song number 205. Song number 205, He Keeps Me Singing. Let's all stand together for this first song, if you're able. Song number 205, all together on that first verse. There's within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low. Fear not I if with thee please be still, In all of life's ebb and flow. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, Discord filled my heart with pain. Jesus swept across the broken strings, Stirred the slumbering chords again. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. Feasting on the riches of his grace, Resting neath his sheltering wing, Always looking on his smiling face, That is why I shout and sing. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. Though sometimes he leads through waters deep, Trials fall across the way. Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep, Seen his footprints all the way. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. Soon he's coming back to welcome me, Far beyond the starry sky. I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown, I shall reign with him on high. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. Thank you, Lord, for all the souls that were saved this afternoon. I just ask that you please bless his service, bless his singing, and bless the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Go ahead and turn to song number 87. Song number 87, Just When I Need Him Most. Song number 87, all together nice and strong in that first verse. Just when I need him, Jesus is near. Just when I falter, just when I fear, Ready to help me, ready to cheer. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him, Jesus is true. Never forsake, keep all the way through, Giving for burdens, pleasures anew. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him, Jesus is strong. Bearing my burdens all the day long, For all my sorrow, giving a song. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him, he is my all. Answering when upon him I call, Tenderly watching lest I should fall. Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Just when I need him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need him most. Just a closer walk with these, song number 319. Our services are as follows. Sunday morning is at 1030. Sunday evening is at 5pm. And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. And we will continue with the book of 1st John this coming Thursday. And you know the soul winning times, it's going to remain as usual. And so after church on Sunday at 1245 is when we dismiss. And then we're going to start soul winning prior to Thursday night service at 5pm. And then there will still be the regular Saturday soul winnings. That hasn't stopped. And so if you'd like to learn how to preach the gospel you can see me after the service to be placed on the team. And then please continue to pray for the list of expecting mothers. And we'll get you the bulletin. I have a bulletin but the other one is kind of printed kind of funny. So you just got to trust me. The information on here is correct. We had a married couples Valentine's activity yesterday. And that was great. We played a married couples activity. And it didn't turn out that good you know. No I'm just kidding. It was great. It was fun. It was fun for me because I didn't participate so I just got the referee. No it was good. And so we had a good time. Thank you for those of you who came. And then of course today is our official first Sunday in our building. And so it's been great. And the quiet time was great because this was closed and then the mother baby room was closed. But the fellowship hall was still open. And there's people fellowshipping in there. And I know they're getting loud but like I was in that office right there and I couldn't hear anybody. And so that was great and so it worked out. There's going to be a men's weekly prayer meeting at Brother Hikes house. And we'll have one this coming Tuesday at 630. Hope to see you there men. To pray there'll be a meal for you. We'll fellowship and we'll pray together. And then there's going to be an ushers training on Saturday February 27th at 11 a.m. And so 11 you can come and then we'll have lunch for you. And then there's going to be training for all the ushers. And so please see David if you're going to be a part of that. Brother David Rios. And then also on February 28th there'll be a baby shower for Miss Janelle. And so please see Miss Angela for details about that. And just as a reminder no food or drink in the auditorium except for water and coffee. And that's pretty much it for all of our announcements. Let's go ahead and take some soul winning numbers from this past week. Obviously we're getting back into regular schedule. And so let's get some soul winning numbers from Monday to Friday. Any salvations from Monday to Friday Brother Ulysses? Two. Let me just write it down here actually. All right anybody else? Two. Anybody else Monday to Friday? Okay how about Saturday? Sunday afternoon? One. One. Three. One. One all right. Anybody else? Oh one for Saturday okay. Anybody else for this afternoon? Five in total okay great. All right anybody else? Did I miss anybody? Okay keep up the great work on soul winning. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Three hundred and nineteen. Song number three hundred and nineteen. Just a closer walk with thee. Three hundred and nineteen in your song books. Lift it up together on that first verse. I am weak but thou art strong. Jesus keep me from all wrong. I'll be satisfied as long. As I walk let me walk close to thee. Just a closer walk with thee. Rented Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be dear Lord let it be. Through this world of toil and snares. If I falter Lord who cares? Who within my burden shares? None but thee dear Lord none but thee. Just a closer walk with thee. Rented Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be dear Lord let it be. When my feeble life is o'er. Time for me will be no more. Guide me gently safely o'er. To thy kingdom shore to thy shore. Just a closer walk with thee. Rented Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be dear Lord let it be. Great singing. Before the ushers take the offering I forgot to make one last announcement. Congratulations to Miss Sari and Brother Alex. I'm tired. Brother Alex they got engaged. Round of applause. This afternoon. And so man we got like four weddings that we're going to be having this year in this building. Let's get let's give it to five guys. Just one more. Go ahead and take your Bibles to Romans Chapter 12 if you would. Romans Chapter 12. And at this time the ushers are going to take the offering. And Brother Eric has an offer for us. We're going to be in Romans Chapter Number 12. Romans 12. Romans Chapter Number 12. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you 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 that is among you not to think of his self more highly than he ought to think. But to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office. 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 faith or ministry. Let us wait on our ministering or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorted on exhortation. He that giveth let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence. He that shoe with mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Aboard that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. Distributing to the necessity of saints given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. My not high things but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shall heap holes of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this time to hear your word, Lord. Just give people ears to hear, Lord. As your message is preached, just fill Pastor with your Holy Spirit as he preaches your word boldly. And bless the rest of the night. Bless this service. And bless the fellowship afterwards. And bless everyone here, Lord. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. Okay, we're in Romans chapter 12 this evening. And look down at your Bibles at verse number 3. It says, 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 hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, having then gifts deferring according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophesy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Now, on Sunday evenings, we're actually going to go through a series on spiritual gifts in the Bible. And this is actually a sermon or series that I actually preached to about eight years ago. But I was only able to cover the seven gifts that are found here in Romans chapter 12. But Lord willing, in this series, I'm not only going to cover these seven, but I'm also going to cover the other ones that are found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 as well. So in total, there's about 17 gifts that are found in the Bible that we're going to go over. And this evening, we're going to give an introduction to spiritual gifts and really expound upon the first of those 17 that are mentioned in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 as well. Now, let me start off by saying, let me start off by explaining what spiritual gifts are not, okay? Because obviously, you know, when we talk about spiritual gifts, you know, people have a tendency, especially if you're an independent fundamental Baptist, you have a knee-jerk reaction to that. You hear when we talk about spiritual gifts, you know, what are you talking about? And the reason people kind of react to that is because of the fact that the charismatic movement as well as the Pentecostals often have hijacked that term spiritual gift. And they'll say that, you know, well, you know, the special miracles and the miracles done by the apostles, these still exist today, right? You know, they can still raise people from the dead and speak with tongues and obviously, they have a different definition of what that is. And all these different miracles that the apostles were capable of doing, they'll say those still exist today. Now, those abilities, according to the Bible, are null and void, okay? They're null and void due to the fact that they were the signs of an apostle and apostles do not exist today. The apostles existed in the New Testament in order to establish New Testament churches and to confirm the message that they had. Now, go with me if you would to hold your place or go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, if you would, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I'm going to read to you. I'm sorry, go to Mark chapter 16. I'll read to you from 2 Corinthians 12. Go to Mark 16. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 12 says, truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you and all patience and in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. So the Bible specifically says that there were the signs of an apostle, not just of any regular prophet or church member or whatever it may be. This is saying that this is specifically designated for those who are referred to as apostles. Look at Mark 16 and verse number 17. It says, and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. So obviously when you read this, you see that's pretty unique. This is something that's special, you know. And, you know, a lot of false prophets and false teachers and these of those of the charismatic movement would like to say, well, yeah, you know, we can still speak with new tongues today and just, you know, the Spirit of God could come upon us. Cloven tongues like as a fire, holla shalapala and a six pack dolla type thing. And, you know, we can still resurrect people from the dead and heal people. But that's funny. I don't see anybody, you know, drinking any deadly thing, you know, seeing if they can survive that. I don't see any of these people, you know, trying to handle a black mamba. And that's what I want to get to these people. Oh, you're an apostle. OK, let's see how you do with this black mamba who you haven't frozen. You know what I mean? In the freezer, because that's what they do. These snake handlers, so-called, these people who try to use the scripture to say that they can still handle snakes. They will put these serpents inside a refrigerator, a freezer, bring them out. You know, they're all like, what's going on here? And then they're not the last thing they're thinking about biting anybody. They're just trying to survive. And then they handle them. And by the way, a lot of these people who do this practice of snake handling, they do get bit and they die. You know, because that's what happens when you handle like a cobra or something. That's what happens when you handle venomous snakes and you think, well, nothing's going to happen to me. And by the way, look, if they were really men of God and they really had these special miracles, they can get bitten and not die. Oh, like someone in the Bible. Who was that? Oh yeah, Paul. Where a serpent came, a viper came out of the bundle of sticks, bit him in the hand and he just shook it off and didn't die. Nothing happened to him. Why? Because he was an apostle who God gave him that ability to do so, to recover and have nothing happen to him. But why did God give the apostles this special ability? Well, it says in verse 20, and they went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. So the reason they had these abilities was to confirm the word of God that they were preaching. So that when people heard the word of God, they saw the miracles they knew and they were convinced these men are of God. This is obviously God doing this for no man can do these miracles except God be with them. Right. You know, they're raising the dead, they're healing people. And when it says that they're speaking with new tongues, this is a miraculous event that would take place where they just it was a language they didn't know beforehand. And all of a sudden they're able to speak. OK, now I can speak with tongues because I can speak in Spanish. I speak in English. I'm learning a new tongue called Greek. OK. But that requires, you know, diligence, discipline, study. This type of miracle that we see in the Bible is something that would just miraculously happen, you know, automatically where they didn't study that language prior to this. You know, obviously they knew Greek and they knew the language of the land at that time. But then automatically they were able to speak of languages from people of people of four nations. And so that is obviously a miracle. But that's not what I'm referring to tonight. When I'm talking about spiritual gifts, I'm not talking about that which is miraculous. OK. Handling serpents, drinking venomous poison, raising the dead. This is not what I'm referring to here. What am I talking about when I talk about spiritual gifts or what is the Bible referring to? Well, spiritual gift is an ability or a talent that God gives the members of the body of Christ. OK. So every single individual has one of these spiritual gifts. It's a talent or an ability that God imparts into that individual so they can be a blessing to others. OK. Go back to, turn with me if you would to, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians 12. I'm going to read to you again from Romans chapter 12 verse 3. It says, 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. For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, this is saying, you know, every person here is not a pastor, not a deacon, not an evangelist, but they do hold somewhat of an office, so to speak, because they're given a special gift from God, a manner in which they are wired in the ability of talent in order to profit the body of Christ. So we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. Having then gifts deferring according to the grace that is given to us. This is referring to those spiritual gifts. And the easy way to explain this is this, what you're naturally inclined to do. That which you're naturally talented with. And in Romans chapter 12, you see a list of seven spiritual gifts. OK. You have the gift of prophecy. You have the gift of ministry or service. You have the gift of exhortation. You have the gift of teaching. You know, the certain individuals that are just really good at putting the cookie on the bottom shelf and teaching a spiritual truth to others. OK. You have people who have the gift of ruling. These are like the organizers of the church. You know, these are the kind of people that you want to give an event to to organize because that's just how they operate. You have people who are mercies. Or they backslide and they come back to the church and they want to be restored. It's good to hand them over to the mercy. The mercy, you know, has a lot of empathy, sympathizes with that person, hurts with that person, et cetera. And these are gifts that people have a tendency to have that God gives to them in order to profit the local body of the local assembly of believers. Look at First Corinthians 12, verse four. It says, Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. So he's saying, look, the reason you have this gift is not so you can boast about it. It's not so you can exploit it. It's so you can be profitable to the local assembly. It's so you can be a blessing to others, to utilize it. Look at verse 24. For our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. So what he's basically saying here is this. You know, you have different spiritual gifts than I do and vice versa. And the reason God has placed us here in this local church is this so we can basically fit together. You know, I have strengths and weaknesses. You have strengths and weaknesses. Your strengths help my weaknesses and vice versa. You know, the people that are in this church who have strengths that you don't have are there to help you augment those strengths. You know, it's there to teach you how to do that. You know, it's there to teach you. You may run into someone in our church who is strong in a particular area. That's going to help you to learn that specific quality, that attribute, and make you a better Christian. That's why they're there. Okay. Look at Ephesians chapter 4, if you would. Ephesians chapter 4. So the purpose of it is to care for one another. It's to profit the church. It is to, look what it says in Ephesians chapter 4. Verse 8, it says, Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So he says, you know, these people are given to you so that you can mature spiritually. Okay. And it's for that reason that not everyone has the same spiritual gift. You know, if everyone was a prophet or if everyone was a teacher, if everyone was a mercy, you know, it wouldn't really help us much. You understand? And so, therefore, God has to put various different spiritual gifts within the church in order to help us to grow and become perfect or complete as the Bible would put it. Look at verse 15. But speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fully joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. So it builds up the congregation. It helps the ministry. It helps perfect those who are in the church. Now, the question is, are we limited to one gift? And really the purpose of this series is to teach you first and foremost what's your spiritual gift. And the reason you should know what your spiritual gift is, is because once you know what your spiritual gift is, once you know what your strength is, you can start using it in the church. You know, not only that, but you're not going to be frustrated trying to do something that maybe God didn't gift you with. You understand? But also it can show you where you're strong in and then it also shows you where you're weak in. Because here's the thing, you know, there's seven spiritual gifts found in Romans chapter 12 and all of us are inclined to do one of them, but it doesn't mean we're exempt from doing the others. It's like, well, you know, I'm a teacher, so I'm not going to, I don't need to be merciful to anybody. I don't need to be a giver. I don't need to be a teacher. No, we're supposed to have all those, right? Or at least work on developing those other gifts. But the Bible is just simply teaching us that all of us are inclined to do one of those naturally, okay? And in fact, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 28, And God had sent some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues, are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. Now go with me if you would to, go back to Romans chapter 12 if you would, where we started. So tonight we're going to go over the first gift mentioned in Romans chapter 12 which is the gift of prophecy, okay? Now if you come from an old IFB church, more than likely you've heard of these, okay? And more than likely you probably took a test, you know what I mean? You took a test and they showed you, they said you're a prophet or you're a mercy, you're a giver. And I'm not necessarily against that test because the reality is there is some truth to it. The only problem I have with that test is that you can't really match it up with the Bible, okay? A lot of what they say can't really be matched up with the word of God, but a lot of it is true, you know? A lot of it, you know, if we were to go down the characteristics of a prophet, a teacher, someone who's a servant, someone who's a ruler, and if you were to say, well yeah, that's what I am, I could probably point out to you, well this is probably what your strengths and weaknesses are, okay? But I'm not necessarily going over those attributes of a prophet according to that test that you may have taken. I'm actually just going to go over what the Bible says regarding that specific ability and talent. And the first one is the gift of prophecy, verse 6 says, having the then gifts deferring according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Now the first thing I want to point out is that in Romans chapter 12, you have seven spiritual gifts. Later on, in verse number 9, all the way to verse number 14 or verse 15, you actually have actions that that person with that spiritual gift should take, okay? Let me give you an example. In verse 9, that would match up with the gift of prophecy. It says, let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, plead to that which is good. So in order for a prophet or the person who has the gift of prophecy to be effective, they need to make sure they don't have fake love. And you can see how that would apply to today, right? You know, some pastor out there who has the gift of prophecy, you know, he's able to speak well, he's able to communicate well. If he's not careful, he can have a lot of fake love and not preach the word of God, not, you know, preach hard on sin, not call out certain things and say that it's in the name of love, okay? So he specifically says, don't let your love be without dissimulation. And in fact, he goes on to say, abhor that which is evil, plead to that which is good. A true prophet, someone who has the gift of prophecy needs to hate evil and needs to plead to that which is good, okay? So this person who has the spiritual gift of prophecy needs to make sure that they don't have fake love, a dissimulated love. They need to make sure that they abhor that which is evil and constantly work at that and to plead to that which is good. He says in verse number seven, or ministry, let us wait on our ministry. That would match up with verse 10 where it says, be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another. So a servant is someone who just kind of likes to work in the background and just, you know, doesn't mind sweeping, doesn't mind just taking care of the minuscule tasks, okay? And what that person needs to do is make sure that they're preferring others rather than themselves, right? He goes on to say, verse seven, O ministry, let us wait on our ministry. He that teacheth on teaching, that would go with verse 11, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Why is that? Well, because the teacher is just a well of information. They just know a lot of things, but if they're not careful, they know so much, they don't do anything. Right? They just kind of get lazy, they just think that all the work is up here. Whereas the Bible teaches us that we need to be doers of the work, right? Not hearers only, it's not just information they need to know. They need to make sure that they are not slothful in business, be fervent in spirit, they need to serve the Lord, okay? He says in verse eight, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, that would go with verse 12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. So someone who is an exhorter is an individual who builds you up. These are the encouraging people to talk to, okay? You know, you don't want to talk to a prophet when you're going through a hard time. Because the prophet will just tell you, well, it's only going to get worse. The prophet is just like, you think this is bad? Wait till the great tribulation comes. Then you get your head chopped off. You're like, this is not encouraging, okay? I'm a prophet, okay? But the exhorter is the one who rejoices in hope. This is an individual, no matter how bad of a day you have, you can go to this individual and they always, they just instill hope in you. Like, there's always hope, okay? And they're very patient in tribulation, they continue instant in prayer, that's what they need to do, okay? It says there in verse 8, Or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. Look what it says in verse 13. Distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. So you see how that matches up with the giver? So the giver is the individual who maybe God has blessed this individual with finances, with money, or they just, the way they express their love and their concern is by just giving of their resources, okay? Well, God says, hey, you need to distribute to the necessity of the saints and you need to be given to hospitality. Don't use money as a weapon against people to try to get them to do what you would want them to do. You need to make sure that you're a blessing to those who have need of things. He goes on to say in verse 8, he says, He that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence, that matches up with verse 14, bless them which persecute, bless and curse not. Now, you say, how would that match up with the ruler? Well, a ruler is an individual who just kind of likes things done the way they like it to be done, okay? And often they just kind of plow through people. They don't take anybody's advice. They're just like, this is how I want it done. And often that can cause people to not like them, okay? Because you think of an individual who just comes in hard and says, I want it this way. I don't want anybody's advice. I don't want anyone's, you know, recommendations. I don't want anybody to tell me what to do. That can cause people to kind of buck that. And so they need to make sure that they're flexible. And the last one there is, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Look what it says in verse 15, Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind, one toward another. Mind not hide things but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise and not in own conceits. So mercy needs to make sure that they rejoice with others and that they weep with others. So people who rejoice, hey, be excited when they get that promotion. Don't say, oh, that's all you got? That job is lame, man, you know? Or if they're weeping, they need to weep with them and not just kind of, well, why are you crying for? You know, that's not bad. Just because your family died, you know, it's not bad. They're going to heaven, right? No, they need to weep with them. And this is how you can strengthen that specific gift there. Now, as I mentioned, we're going to go over the gift of prophecy. Now, what is, how can we describe an individual who has the gift of prophecy? Well, the person with the gift of prophecy possesses the ability to speak in God's stead with accuracy, authority, and power. That is the individual who has the gift of prophecy. Now, you think of Jesus, for example. He spoke as one that had authority and not as the scribes. You think of Apollos, for example. Once he was shown the way of the Lord more perfectly, he mightily convinced the Jews, okay? In other words, man, he demanded attention. He demanded for people to listen to. He demanded an audience and people gave him that attention. And he was able to mightily convince them of what the word of God said. You think of, you know, the apostles when the Pharisees saw them, they saw their boldness and they knew, man, these guys have been with Jesus, okay? So these are individuals that when they preach the word of God, they proclaim God's word, they do it with authority, with accuracy, with boldness. That is what it means. Now, what is prophecy? Well, prophecy simply means this. We know this because we use it all the time. It just means to preach, right? It means to tell forth the word of God and simply means to preach God's word. Now, the general public, when they think of prophecy, what do they think? Predictions, you know, your, you know, Nostradamus was a prophet or whatever, and they see it as someone who has the ability to predict the future. It's true. That is what a prophet does. A biblical prophet, however, is an individual who's able to predict what's going to happen in the future based upon God's word. So it's not necessarily predicting it because it's a prediction out of their own heart. They're basically telling you what the book of Revelation says. Which is something that takes place in the future. Now, turn with me if you want to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. You know, when we get up and preach the book of Revelation, we are predicting what is going to take place in the future, right? The difference is we're just not pulling these prophecies out of thin air, you know, pulling them out of a hat. We're getting it from God's word. Now, that's important to note because you have a lot of people today who claim to be prophets. They claim to be able to prophesy. I mean, the charismatic and Pentecostal movement is filled with that. And in fact, right now, that charismatic movement is a lot of turmoil because every single one of them predicted that Trump was going to be president. I'm serious. You saw the articles and you're like, he's going to be president. God told me in a vision and it didn't happen. Well, you know, we can't speak with that type of certainty. We can surmise and say, yeah, I think he's going to be president. Yeah, I think he's going to take it. Yeah, I don't think he's going to go. But we can't say, well, this is what God says though. We can't say, well, this is what God told me, right? Because at that point, you become a false prophet, someone who prophesies falsely, okay? So that is the difference. But here's the thing. We have the ability to predict the future based upon God's word. And in fact, in the Old Testament, a prophet was also called before time a what? A seer. Because they were able, God gave them the ability to see in the future and make a judgment, talk about the judgment to come, the wrath of God to come. And that's why they were referred to as a seer. Revelation 1.3, you're in 2 Peter 1. Let me read to you from Revelation 1.3. It says, blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Folks, we need to make sure that we are careful about saying, well, God said this to me. And in fact, be so careful, just don't do it. Unless you said this is what God said in his word. You know, well, I had a dream. I had a vision that God said this to me. And look, I'm not saying that you can't have a dream that lines up with God's word, okay? But when you start giving extra biblical revelation that you don't see in the word of God, that's when you get into dangerous grounds. That's when you get into false prophecies. It's not true. Look what it says in, where did I have you turn? 2 Peter 1, right? 2 Peter 1 verse 19 says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. So look, why depend on your imaginations? Why depend on a dream when we have a more sure word of prophecy? And I guarantee you these Charismatics and Pentecostals out there who are making these predictions, having read the word of God cover to cover, they want to create all these extra biblical revelations when they're not even good stewards of the revelations that are already given, right? You see, we need to be good stewards of the word that has already been given because it's a more sure word of prophecy. We have also a more sure word of prophecy where until you do well, that you take heed, I see that hand, he's coming down the aisle. He's repenting of his, no, I'm just kidding. Where until you do well that you take heed as into a light that shineth in the dark place until the day dawn and the day star rise in your hearts. Knowing this first, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. So look folks, I don't have a private interpretation of God's word. I guarantee you when I'm preaching, people have preached for thousands of years. You know, John Nelson Darby had a private interpretation. The pre-tribulation rapture at one point was a private interpretation. Obviously, it's being interpreted that way by many now, but the pre-tribulation rapture started off as a private interpretation that came from a dream of a little girl. No prophecy of the scripture is given of any private interpretation. Verse 21, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were removed by the Holy Ghost. So what does that tell us of private interpretations? It stems from the will of man. It stems from their own heart. It stems from their own imagination, their own dreams. They're prophesying a vision of their own heart, as Jeremiah stated. Prophets prophesy of future events in the end times. They also prophesy of the effects of sin. Don't we do that? Don't we say, hey, if you do this, this is going to happen to you. Hey, if the nation continues going down this path, this is what's going to happen to that nation based upon what God says. So we look at the direction of an individual, of a nation, of a church, of a pastor, of a Christian, and we see their actions that they're taking and we say this is the end result of that. We predict they're in based upon their actions. Not because we're wise, not because we got a revelation, but because God's word says it. Go with me if you would to Jeremiah chapter 20. Jeremiah chapter 20. So yeah, prophets have the ability to predict the future, but not because they have some sort of revelation from God, divine revelation from God. It's because they have a divine book that states it. Now look, let me just say this is that in my experience, in my experience, people often, obviously they have at least one spiritual gift, but sometimes in my experience, I've seen people with at least two. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because we should obviously work on all of these. But let me just say this. There are certain people that are just not inclined to have this gift here of prophesying, preaching. There's people that want to force themselves to have this gift, but sometimes it's just not for them. And it's not wrong that they would want that gift because the Bible actually says to covet earnestly the best gifts and one of them is prophesying. He's like, you should desire to prophecy because that's a great gift to have. But not everyone can have that gift. And obviously if you're a pastor, you should have the gift of prophecy or develop that ability to do so because you're proclaiming God's word. Let me read to you from Ezekiel chapter 13. Number two, the ability to proclaim God's word to be a prophet, to have the gift of prophecy is the ability to proclaim God's word with boldness. The Bible says in Ezekiel chapter 13 in verse 17, Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy thou against them. So obviously we see here, this is not foretelling the future. He's just preaching against them. He's just saying, you're wicked, you're wrong, you're an abomination. This is what God says. That proves that prophesying is not only foretelling the future, sometimes it's just preaching God's word. Telling them, lifting up your voice like a trumpet, crying out loud, sparing not, showing the people their transgression. Look at Jeremiah chapter 20 verse number nine. Jeremiah was a prophet. Not because he foretold the coming destruction of Israel, but he just preached against Israel. Look what it says in verse number nine of Jeremiah 20. Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name, but his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay. So he got to a point where he just didn't want to preach God's word anymore because he's being persecuted, he's being slandered, but you know what? He had a natural desire within him to say, as much as I don't want to preach because I'm being persecuted, I can't shut up. I cannot but speak the things which I have seen and heard. Go to chapter 23. Chapter 23. And look, the person who has the gift of prophecy is not this skinny jean wearing, faggoty looking pastor. He's not a prophet. Oh, let me take that back. He's a false prophet. Because that is not the quality of a true man of God who's a prophet. Folks, when you compare the prophets of the Bible, you see they don't match up with Calvary Chapel. They don't match up with these liberal churches and these motivational speeches they like to give. They don't match up with the Mohawk and the torn up jeans. Look what it says in Jeremiah 23 verse 26. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, there are prophets of the deceit of their own hearts, which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophets that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. He said, look, the guy who says he has a dream, let him tell a stupid dream. But the one who has my word, let him faithfully preach that. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? Is not my word, look what it says, like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. So he's saying, what is the difference between the false, how do you tell, how do you distinguish the false prophet from the real prophet? Well I'll tell you this, the real prophet preaches like fire and like a hammer. He brings down the hammer, he breaks false doctrine in pieces, he breaks the false prophets in pieces, he burns them up. He just preaches a fiery sermon. The guy who preaches at a liberal church, he doesn't have a hammer. Or if he does, it's one of those little kitty hammers that he used to play with, the little plastic ones. He doesn't have a fire, he's watered down. So how do you know if someone has the gift of prophecy? Well, how hard is their preaching? And people are like, oh I don't really like that term, hard preaching. Well then we got a problem then, because the Bible says that his word is like a hammer. That breaketh the rock in pieces. Why is the hammer able to break the rock in pieces? Because it's hard. It's harder than the rock. And it's able to break the rock in pieces. There's a reason why God wants his prophets to preach hard. Because why? Because it catches the attention of many people. Do people really care about these false, limp-wristed, sissy prophets? To them, people who go to those churches, they don't go to learn something, they go to appease their conscience. That's why they go there. The people who come to our type of churches, they come because they want to hear the hard truth, the hard way, they know they're going to learn something, they know that the word is like fire, they know that the word is like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. So along with that, someone who has the gift of prophecy is dynamic, or can be dynamic. They can learn that, but they are sometimes naturally dynamic. Let me just say this, I've met a lot of prophets in my days, and I'm like, this person is dynamic. I think of Jack Hyles, for example. Pastor Hyles was a prophet, for sure. The guy was a fiery preacher. Now, he should have learned a little bit of the gift of teaching, because some of his stuff wasn't really deep doctrinally, but the guy would rip face. And I guarantee you, you could pop in a Jack Hyles sermon today and enjoy it thoroughly and say, man, that man is a spear-filled man who loves the Lord. He may not be doctrinally deep or anything like that, but you can hear something like that and be like, that word is like fire and like a hammer. And look, those are the ones that inspire man. No one goes to the liberal churches and say, man, I can't wait to be a pastor like this guy one day. No one looks at a liberal pastor and says, why can't I be as sissy as that guy? Why can't I be as soft-spoken and watered down as this? This guy is inspiring me to just pound the soy, right? He just makes me want to just up my estrogen levels to just be as soft as he is. No one says that. Folks, the men who actually produce preachers and hard preachers are hard preachers, right? You know, because men are attracted to men of God who are preaching hard, they are fiery, they're like a hammer, and it inspires them. And that's what a prophet is, okay? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, 1 Corinthians 13. They're dynamic, they're fiery. Now, let me say this, is that if the prophet does not work at it, he can become watered down. If he doesn't maintain his convictions, if he doesn't maintain his walk with God, if he allows himself to be influenced by the culture, they can become watered down and soft-spoken and not hard anymore. There's plenty of preachers today that we can point to. There are just soft preachers now who used to be hard. I mean, how many times have we heard that? Oh, yeah, that guy used to preach hard, right? They used to preach hard. What happened? I'll tell you what happened. They became compromised is what happened. And they stopped exercising that spiritual gift. They no longer abhor that which is evil, clinging to that which is good. And therefore, they became watered down, okay? You know, you got a guy like Jeff Owens, for example. And back in his day, he was a hard preacher. One of the hardest preachers the Independent Fundamental Baptist ever heard. Today, he like apologizes for everything he said. Today, he's such a watered down preacher that he even goes as far as to say like, I didn't believe all those things. That's how watered down he's become. I can name a lot of them that I want to name but that's outside of the scope of this sermon. So the person who has the gift of prophecy is able to foretell the future using God's word. They're able to preach with boldness, with courage. They're able to inspire. But they also have the ability, listen to this, to understand mysteries, okay? What do I mean by that? Look at 1 Corinthians 13 and verse number 1. It says, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. So according to verse 2, the person who has the gift of prophecy is an individual who is able to decipher dark sayings, okay, from God's word. And all of us know someone like that, someone who can take the dark sayings of the Bible, the things that are hard to be understood, and they're kind of able to decode those things, okay? That's what a prophet does. Go to Daniel chapter 5, if you will, Daniel chapter number 5. Now look, everyone should have or work on that ability to decipher the Bible, amen? There's things in the word of God that are easy to be understood. There are things that are very elementary. There are things that you can understand and run off the bat. But there's other times in the Bible where there are dark sayings, dark parables, things that are hard to be understood and it requires study. But look, I personally know people who I specifically call that I know they have the gift of prophecy because they're able to just decode dark sayings and hard passages in the Bible and they're just like, well, this is what I believe it means and let me show you why I believe it means this. And it's just like, whoa, that's pretty cool. All of us have heard a sermon from a pastor out there where it's just like they decoded a very dark saying. And it's just like, hey, that's pretty cool. How did you see that? Well, some of them are naturally inclined to just kind of dig into the scriptures and just see those things. Other times, it just requires study. But either way, you should be able to do it because the Bible says, to study to show thyself, approve them to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And just for some, it kind of comes natural to view the word of God in such a way that they're able to just kind of fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Okay. Look at Daniel chapter five, verse 16. And look, these people are needed in churches. Why? Because false prophets will come in the church to try to teach false doctrine, take scriptures out of context, and you need someone who knows what the Bible says to debunk those things. So that's not what it says. Look what it says in verse 16. And I have heard of thee, speaking of Daniel, that thou canst make interpretations, and I like what it says here, and dissolve doubts. That's an awesome phrase. Oh, man, I'm just doubting this. And it's just, they come and they just dissolve it. They just spit all the scriptures out and show you, look, this is what the Bible says. This is what it says about eternal security. This is what it says about the rapture. This is what it says about the resurrection. And it's just like the doubts just completely dissolve. That's needed. He says, dissolve doubts. Now, if thou canst read the writing, make known to me the interpretation thereof. Thou shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about thy neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. So Daniel had the ability to make interpretations. Now, obviously, he was even given some stuff that he was just not able to understand and to the point where his cogitations troubled him and he's just like, I can't sleep. And God's like, you're not going to understand these things. Sorry, I'm not going to give you an understanding of them or whatever. But there's times when he could and he was able to dissolve those doubts. Now, we should desire to, you know, increase our ability to do this, though. Right? To study God's word. And look, especially if you're going to be a pastor or if you're trained to be a pastor, you need to learn how to dissolve doubts. You need to learn how to go to the hard passages of the Bible and not be afraid of them. Go to hard passages of the Bible, be able to explain them and break it down. I mean, the Book of Revelation could be a dark saying. Right? The Book of Daniel could be a dark saying. There's certain stories in the Bible that could be dark. You need to be able to go in there, decipher it, explain it away, etc. Let me read to you from Proverbs 1, verse 5, it says, A wise man will hear and will increase in learning. And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel to understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings. So look, if you don't have the gift of prophecy, don't worry. You can increase in learning, read the Bible, attain unto wisdom and understanding and be able to decipher those dark sayings. But you can see why this is important in the church. You know, that's why it kind of bothers me when there's pastors out there who don't know how to do this. Just the most simplest portions of scripture. It's like, well, I don't know. I don't know about that. I'll have to get back to you on whether you can lose your salvation or not or something. What? What? And look, I know, obviously, I know that when it comes to end times, Bible prophecy and the timing of the rapture, that's a secondary doctrine. We shouldn't separate over those things. But I'll be honest with you and you agree with me. That frustrates us when pastors don't understand that. It's frustrating. Now, we don't want to make it a point of contention with people, but it is frustrating when a pastor who's supposed to be the man who's qualified to be able to dissolve doubts doesn't even know what they believe about that. Right? I mean, I knew an individual who was pre-trib, became post-trib, and I heard him, I was like, man, that's great. And I went to that person and I said, hey, so your post your pre-rath, huh? And he's like, I'm pantrib. Like, what? He says pantrib. He's like, I just think things will pan out in the end. What a weak answer. And this person has been saved for a long time. And look, I respected this individual. But my respect for that person just dropped just a little at that point. Pantrib? What? But you know, he's not the only one. There's plenty of pastors out there who don't decipher those things or choose to stay away from those things. Folks, as pastors, this is our job, is to know the scriptures and not be ashamed to pick it up and talk about it. Look, pastors shouldn't be afraid to talk about the Bible to anybody. These pastors who are against us for believing different on the rapture, just sit down with the Bible in hand. If they're a pastor, that's their occupation, that's their job. If they feel they can make a good case for the preacher of rapture, let's hear it. But the person who has the gift of prophecy is capable of dissolving doubts. They can clearly show from the Word of God. They're not afraid to open up the Bible, go to the passages, explain them. It doesn't cause them to fear. Look at 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And by the way, in Romans 12, when talking about the prophet, it says in Romans chapter 12 in verse number 6, having then gifts deferring according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, look what it says, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Now this is important, okay? You're in 1 Corinthians 14. Let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. So the individual, listen to this, who has the gift of prophecy should only talk about what they know about according to the proportion of faith. So look, when a person first gets saved, they got the gift of prophecy, they want to start preaching, they should only preach about things that they know about and not try to get into things that they don't understand, right? They should not preach on subjects and topics that they have no knowledge about. Why? Because the person, according to the Bible, who has the gift of prophecy should prophesy according to the proportion of faith, what they believe, what they know, what they can prove. And that's important, folks. It's important for the young man to understand this, to understand, hey, you should only get up and preach what you know to be true, what you know to be solid, what you know in your heart, what you know how to explain according to the proportion of faith. Now, as you grow in the Lord, your proportion of faith gets bigger. You start understanding more, etc. But not only that, the person who has the gift of prophecy has the ability to make proper judgments in the church. That's why, in my opinion, it's important that pastors all have this quality here. All pastors. And look, not everyone who has the gift of prophecy will be a pastor, but everyone who is a pastor should have or develop the gift of prophesying. Why? Because they're able to make judgments in the church. And let me say this, it's necessary to have strong leadership in the church to make those calls, even when it's not popular, you know, to make judgment calls to say, no, we're not doing that or this is what we're doing. It's called strong leadership. Look at 1 Corinthians 14 verse 22. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned and he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. And thus the secrets of his heart, of his heart made manifest. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth. So what does it say? It's telling us that the person who has the gift of prophecy is able to make judgment, proper judgment. Okay. Now, why is this important? Well, because you have something called church discipline. That God expects us to carry out. But the person who's a pastor who does not want to have the gift of prophecy or judge, they're going to let sin just go unfettered. Well, you know, we just need to give them a chance. I know they're fornicating and all these things, and I know that he's involved in drunkenness and stuff, but you know, we're not supposed to judge. What are you talking about? That's your area of jurisdiction. Oh, I just don't like to talk about those uncomfortable things that just sit down and shut up and let another man do it. Right? The individual who just doesn't want to get controversial behind the pulpit, they don't want to preach the whole counsel of God, they should just sit down and shut up, do something else, not be the pastor. Because the pastor is not a politician. The problem is a lot of pastors want to be a politician behind the pulpit. And just please both sides, please everyone, be everyone's pal, be everyone's friend, be popular with everyone in the church. You know, I'm not saying they can't get along with everyone, but there's going to be times when a pastor has to make a hard call. And get up and say, hey, we're throwing so-and-so out because of heresy, we're throwing someone out because of a railing, because of drunkenness, because of fornication, I'm not going to tolerate it, I'm just letting you know we're throwing them out. But you know, the individual who doesn't like that, they wouldn't do something like that. In fact, they wouldn't even... I mean, when's the last time you heard of a pastor doing any kind of church discipline? And if they do do church discipline, it's like behind closed doors, it's not public. Hey, they that sinned before all, the others may fear. You know, it's important to say these things in public. And look, I've heard this, well, prophets, you guys are just so mean-spirited. Haven't you heard that? Prophets are so mean-spirited, they just have a bad attitude. They just have a mean spirit and all these things. But what they're referring to is the way we preach. But that's how we're supposed to preach. With authority. Folks, the prophets in the Bible were mean-spirited. They were mean-spirited. They're like, you're all going to die, every single one of you, for disobeying God. You're a horse. You got a horse forehead. Right? You're an abomination. They're just letting it rip. Yeah, I don't think they should do that. Then you don't understand God's prophets then. They view God as just like, well, just let them be. Jesus loves me and everything's going to be okay. God is a God of justice and judgment. Obviously he's a God of love, obviously he's a God of mercy. But folks, it's important to have this type of leadership, because if not, you have these weak churches. And you know what happens when you have weak churches? You get persecution like that and they just disband. Right? I mean, I don't want to speak too soon, but I don't think we lost anybody throughout the whole persecution. We actually added people to our church. Why? Because they were inspired. That's why. They were inspired. They were emboldened. But you know what? If we didn't talk about persecution, if the hard preaching was absent, when the persecution came, we would have disbanded. So he says he is judged of all. It's beneficial for those in the church. Let me give you some final thoughts on the gift of prophecy. Let me give you some final thoughts. It is or should be the most coveted gift. Now, if you don't have the gift of prophecy, and you're like, I want to get the gift of prophecy because I want to be a pastor one day, OK, then develop your abilities. Now, we don't have preaching night in our church or preaching class. And once men start taking it serious, maybe we will have it one day. I cancel the preaching class. I'm like, we're not doing it because it's too many hit and miss. And sometimes they come, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they prophesy. Sometimes they have a psalm. Sometimes they have a doctrine. You know, they just kind of. And until the men are ready to say, hey, I'm ready. I'm willing to be. I want to be a pastor. I want to try. I want to take this thing serious. I'm not just trying to go to preaching class to get something off my chest. I actually want to learn. And at that point, we'll start taking it serious. OK. But the Bible says in First Corinthians 14 one, follow out the charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. Now, why is this why is he saying you should desire to prophesy? Because our world, our life revolves around preaching God's word. Right. Even if you're not a pastor. It will always revolve around you learning God's word and teaching God's word, whether to your family, to your wife, to your children, to others in the church. Look, ladies can have the gift of prophecy. OK. Hey, there's some ladies who know and explain the word of God very well. I'm sure there's husbands in here who can attest to that and say, my wife actually knows how to explain things really well in the Bible to our kids or to others, to their sister, to their cousin or whatever. They just have a way with explaining God's word. OK. It could be that they have the gift of prophecy. Doesn't mean they're going to be a pastor. It just means they have that gift to be able to do so. OK. Numbers 11, verse 27 says, And there ran a young man and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My Lord Moses forbid them. So it's just like, hey, these guys are preaching over there. Stop them. Moses said unto them, Envious thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them. He's like, man, I wish we had more prophets. And that's how I think. You know, I think I wish there was more pastors out there. I wish there was more men who are capable of preaching God's word, even if they're not going to be a pastor, they can still preach God's word with authority, rebuke sin, take a stand. What to God? Like, when are you guys going to start a church? When there's a guy who can do the job. Right? When are we going to, like, when are you going to start a church over here? When there's a guy who actually is qualified, who can preach, who's qualified according to First Timothy Chapter three. Then we'll talk. What to God that all God's people were prophets. So this should be or is the most coveted gift. And again, if you don't have the gift of prophecy, if you feel like, well, this isn't my gift. Well, that doesn't mean you can't develop it. Now, if you feel like, well, I don't have a desire to preach. I don't like really doing that. I like listening to preaching. I don't despise prophesying. Then, you know, you don't have to develop it. But I will say this, once you have a family, once you have a wife, you have children, you need to augment your ability to preach a little bit. Because at that point you have to teach the word of God to your family. Okay? Or how about this? Are you like, well, we don't have kids or, you know, whatever it may be. Okay. Then you have to augment your ability to preach because you have to teach other people who you're discipling. You have to be able to explain passages to people. Go with me if you went to Acts Chapter two. So the gift of prophecy is or should be the most coveted gift. Not only that, women can prophesy. They just can't be pastors. So I was like, oh, man, you're saying the ladies can like prophesy? They can preach? Yeah, ladies can preach. And I'm sure some ladies can preach. I'm sure there's some ladies out there that can just like preach. I don't want to say it, but I'm sure there's some that can preach. Maybe sometimes even better than some of the guys. I don't know. Maybe out there. I don't know. But here's the thing. We're not saying they can't preach. They just can't be pastors. And people automatically link the two and say, well, if they have the gift of prophecy, then they should be pastors. No, that's not true. It's just that they had that gift to be able to proclaim God's word and explain it, put the cookie on the bottom shelf, et cetera. Look at Acts Chapter two, verse 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And all my servants and all my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. Look, folks, what do you think we're doing when we go out sowing? We're preaching. So if anything, look, ladies, if you have the gift of prophecy, utilize it to be a better sowing to preach the word of God with boldness, with accuracy. With confidence, with courage, with, with understanding. Okay. And so ladies can also have the gift of prophecy. Doesn't mean they can't. They can. It's just that they can't be pastors, obviously. And then also the gift of prophecy doesn't qualify you to be a pastor. Okay. So don't think because you have the gift of prophecy, men, that automatically you're qualified to be a pastor. Now, this should be something that you have if you could potentially become qualified, but it doesn't mean, oh, just because they can preach automatically, they're in the door. Okay. And the reason I say this because I went to Bible college and I was surrounded by a group of men who knew how to preach. They had the gift of prophecy. They were able to preach dynamically, but folks, they knew nothing of the Bible. They were not qualified. Weren't serious about the things of God, you know, and, and they were just good speakers. Okay. And so the gift of prophecy doesn't mean that you're qualified to be a pastor. Look, you know, a person who's divorced can have a gift of prophecy. That person will never be a pastor. Things that have disqualified them, even if they have the, well, I have to get the prophecy though, man, can't let this thing go to waste. Sordain me. Okay. It just means you have the ability to break down hard passages. You can proclaim God's word with boldness. You can still be used just down in the office of a Bishop. Okay. So if you have the gift of prophecy, what should you utilize it to do? Well, number one, improve your soul winning. Improve it. Because prophets have an ability to word things a certain way. They have an ability to work things a certain way. And to create illustrations or explain things in a certain way that really is like practical. Okay. So improve your soul winning and help others to improve their soul winning. If you have the gift of prophecy, if you have to get the prophecy, utilize it to preach in your church. I hope after this sermon, some men will come up and say, Hey, I'm serious about learning how to preach again. And I'll make it to the preaching class. And I, you know, if we, if you have it on a consistent basis, I will do that. I will be there. I won't miss preaching your church. Okay. And, you know, take it serious. Okay. Take it serious. Preach in church, you know, or pre come into the preaching class so you can start preaching in church, but utilize it to be a blessing to others. If you're, if you have the gift of prophecy. If you're qualified, start training to be a pastor. Okay. If you have the gift of prophecy and you have a desire to be a Bishop, you know, why not train to be a pastor? There's a prepared place for a prepared person. Okay. And if you have the ability to proclaim God's word, you have that desire, you should start training to be a pastor, not just with your family, not just with your reputation in the church, but with your family. Not just with your reputation in the church, but even just the ability to teach God's word, proclaim it, lead, et cetera. If you're a mother who has the gift of prophecy, teach your children. My wife, in my opinion, she's, she has like the gift of, uh, she's a servant. Okay. She has the gift of ministry, but I see a little bit of prophecy in her, maybe because she's married to a prophet. But the reason I know that is because when I talk to my children, I see a little bit But the reason I know that is because when I talk to my son, because she's always teaching my son, Bruce, and teaching him the Bible, and sometimes I have conversations with him and I'm like, how does this guy know that about the Bible? You know? And then he just tells me like, mom taught me that. And sometimes I'll eavesdrop a little bit on that, on when she's teaching, just to make sure there's no heresy. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Probably she's not listening. You know, I'll eavesdrop and I'm like, Hey, that's a really good way to explain that. And if you think about it, children are the best, you know, people to basically practice in a sense, developing your prophesying skills. Why is that? Because with children, you really have to put the cookie on the bottom shelf and you got to put it in just very simple terms for a child to be able to understand. So that requires you to just calculate and just kind of say, okay, this is how I'm going to explain this. Because, you know, how do you explain certain deep doctrines to a child who's asking you about those deep doctrines? You have to be able to decipher, to dissolve doubts, to make that interpretation. Okay. And I've listened to my wife teach my son and it's just like, that's a good way to explain it. I'm going to use that. You know, she explained that to my son and then he understands. And so mothers, you know, teach your children. If you have the gift of prophecy, don't just say, well, you know, God just gave me a wrong gift or something. You know, I should have gotten a different gift. I'm never going to be a pastor unless, unless I get offended and get out of here and go to a Pentecostal church or something. Maybe at that point, I'm just joking. You know, maybe if you're like, man, I don't know what I'm going to use this. Well, God gave you that ability so you can expound the word of God and teach your children that. Okay. And look, you might raise a pastor one day. And so, you know, the gift of prophecy is a gift. And again, I want to, I want to emphasize this is that some people are just naturally inclined to have this gift. Others are not. You should try to develop it in order to be a better soul winner, to explain the word of God to your children, or to explain the word of God to other people in our church. Okay. But if you don't want to, okay. You know, that's, that's fine, but you'll become a more effective individual in the church if you're capable of doing those things. And look, the more our church grows and it's growing, the more it grows, the more we need prophets in the church, because one prophet can't do it all. Amen. You know, we need multiple prophets, multiple eyes, multiple judges, so to speak. Okay. Multiple people explain the word of God to new converts, putting the cookie on the bottom shelf to new believers, helping them to understand the dark sayings. We need more individuals to be able to do that. Not just the men, but also the way. Okay. And look, doesn't the Bible teach us in Titus that the elder lady should teach the younger that requires prophecy, that requires an ability to just say, well, you know, we just, we just wear skirts because that's just what Baptist do or something, you know, it's just, you know, this is nice to wear skirts. Why don't you explain from the Bible? Why? Right. That's right. That's good. We don't want them to just say, well, that's just what we do. You want to be able to open God's word and say, well, let me show you why this is what we do. Okay. That is the gift of prophecy. And so we're going to continue with this over the next couple of weeks and go through each and every one of those. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, thank you for the prophets in my life. I'm thankful for the prophets that you've placed in my life and preached to me and inspired me. I pray God that if there's an individual here who has the gift of prophecy, who is capable of doing these things, that they would utilize those gifts and use them to its fullest potential. And Lord, whether that's teaching a convert or teaching their wives, teaching their children, I pray, Father God, that you would use them greatly and help us to edify one another in this local assembly of believers. And Lord, I pray God that you'd open our understanding and help us to know what our spiritual gifts are so we can profit with law, so the church can be benefited, others can be benefited with it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.