The Heart of Christ Revealed: Mercy in Action

We are going to turn in our service here to Romans chapter 12.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Romans chapter 12.

And we're going to be in verse number eight here this morning.

This morning's message is entitled Moved with Compassion.

And we're looking at the very last gift that is listed here in Romans chapter 12.

We've been going through these gifts now for quite some time, and we've been looking at these unique gifts that God has graced us with to use within the body of Christ.

And the big idea is this, this morning that God gives the gift of mercy to reflect the compassionate heart of Christ by bringing comfort, hope and healing to those who are hurting.

Really, God gifts individuals with the gift of mercy, with the gift of compassion so that people can experience the type of love and hope and comfort and healing that God extends to us in his grace.

In Romans chapter 12, it says that those that are called to be gifted in the gift of mercy, it says, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

Throughout this series, we've been studying God's motivational gifts, and we've seen that some are called to proclaim truth.

We see that some are called to serve.

Behind the scenes we we see that some are called to teach, some are called to encourage.

Some are gifted to give generously, some are gifted to lead diligently.

And here we see that some are gifted to show mercy with cheerfulness.

Every one of these gifts are to be exercised with love.

But Paul intentionally here closes this section with the words with cheerfulness.

Why?

Because mercy should never be offered reluctantly, almost against our will, or done in such a way that causes bitterness in our own life.

But it should be offered joyfully, willingly, excited to see what God is going to do through this act of mercy.

And so we're going to study the topic of mercy here this morning.

Let's go ahead and open up with a word of prayer, and then we're going to dive right into the text here this morning.

Lord, we do thank you for this time that you've given us.

We're thankful for the opportunity to continue to study these gifts of service that you've called us to exercise, Lord, that you've given us to edify the church, to glorify you, Lord.

And I pray that through this study that each and every person who is a believer in you can understand what his or her gift is.

And to exercise that gift and to walk in the strength and the joy that that gift provides.

And so, Lord, we just thank you for your love and what you're going to do in the service.

I pray that if there's someone here today who does not know you as personal savior, that today can be the day of salvation.

I pray that you remove me out of the way.

Lord, I pray that your word can be seen clearly here this morning.

We ask all those things in Jesus name.

Amen.

So we see here at the end of verse eight, Paul saying, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

What is mercy?

Well, mercy is the God given motivation to compassionately identify with the suffering of others.

So this individual has the gift of God to identify people who are suffering and not only to identify them, but joyfully meet their emotional, physical and spiritual need.

So it's the person who is gifted by God to recognize that someone is hurting, to recognize that someone is struggling, and then meet them in that place and provide emotional, physical and spiritual support.

So it's not just about feeling sorry for someone.

Sometimes I'm driving and I see someone and I feel sorry for them.

I look and I go, wow, I really, really wish that their life would change or.

Or that they would be able to have that.

This gift is not just feeling sorry for someone.

It's more than that.

It is entering into a person's pain.

It's identifying their pain and saying, yes, I can see that pain, but yes, I'm also feeling that pain with them.

What's the motivation?

Well, the motivation is this.

The person with the gift of mercy is motivated to relieve the suffering and demonstrate God's love through compassionate action.

And I want you to think about that word, action, because the person who is gifted with compassion, their heart naturally notices hurting people.

It notices lonely people.

It notices forgotten people.

It notices broken people.

It notices people who are discouraged.

And so while others notice the crowd and.

And maybe notice activity, the person who is gifted in the gift of mercy notices the individual, notices their heart.

And so we're going to go to a text that I believe is a good example of an individual who exercises this type of compassion, this type of mercy.

And that's going to be found in Luke chapter 10.

Jesus is in the middle of his earthly ministry here in Luke chapter 10, and he is faced with a question.

And this question is coming from a certain lawyer.

And this isn't a lawyer of our day where he's a professional on the law of the land.

Well, I guess it would be kind of the law of the land, but it's really the law of God.

This would have been an individual who would have understood the Mosaic Law.

This would have been an individual who would have had it all memorized backwards and forwards.

And he comes to Jesus.

And Luke, chapter 10, verse 25.

And he asks Jesus a question.

And we know that this question was coming from probably a place of pride, coming from a place maybe of curiosity.

But really, at the end of the day, we do see that Jesus is addressing a problem in their midst.

Because we know that the religious people of Jesus's day were selfishly motivated to abuse and overlook people who are going through difficulties.

They were not focused on a relationship with God more.

It was about a relationship with money or power.

And here In Luke, chapter 10, verse 25, this lawyer comes, and we know that through this text there is a real temptation.

He's not coming with a heart of compassion.

He's not coming with a heart of faith.

He's coming as it says, they're tempting him, testing him.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

That's a loaded question, right?

If I was to come here this morning and say, what should I do to inherit eternal life?

Well, it's not about what I do, but it's about what I believe in.

But Jesus understood his question, and so he addresses him in the law that he understood.

And he answering, said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

Jesus basically tells this man, it's the love that you have.

Love God with everything that you are, and love your neighbor as yourself.

And we know that in other passages of scripture, like in the book of Matthew, it says on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The idea would be that if we love God with everything, and if we love our neighbor as ourself, we're going to obey God, right?

If I love God with all of my heart, I'm not going to commit idolatry.

Because if I love God with everything, I'm not going to allow anything else to steal my worship, to steal my love, to steal my attention.

We're not going to put any of the gods before him.

We're not.

We're not going to forget about what he has done for us.

No, we.

If we are in God's love and we are resting in his love, we're going to follow him with everything that we have in our life.

But then secondly, he says to love your neighbor as yourself.

If I love my neighbor with the type of biblical love that God has called me, to love in, then I'm not going to steal from them, I'm not going to hurt them, I'm not going to abuse them.

And so the Bible says here very clearly that everything that we do within our faith is wrapped up in loving God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, with all of our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourself.

And so let's see what the response of this man is.

And he said unto him, thou has answered right this do and thou shalt live.

And he but he willing to justify himself.

And so we see here, verse 29, that this individual is trying to justify himself.

He's trying to give excuses.

He says unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor?

I think that's sometimes what we do.

We go, yeah, I know I'm supposed to love my neighbor, but who's my neighbor?

Who do I really have to love?

Because I don't want to love this group over here.

I want to love people that are loving to me.

I want to show compassion to people who are showing compassion to me.

So this individual here says, this, this lawyer, he says, well, I get that I'm supposed to love my neighbor, but who's my neighbor?

He's trying to get himself out of it.

He's trying to get a loophole into the love that he's supposed to have.

And Jesus now is going to give this wonderful parable, this story about the Good Samaritan.

And Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves which stripped him of his raiment or his clothing and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.

This road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a well known road that would have been a dangerous road.

It would have been a road that most people would have not gone on with just themselves.

They would have gone with a larger group because they knew that there were thieves.

They knew that there were people trying to steal and to hurt them.

And so this individual that went on this road in this story would have been someone who was going and basically setting themselves up for a difficult situation.

But nonetheless, we see an individual who is hurt.

We see an individual who is left half dead, as it says here.

And all the individuals that would have been listening to the story that Jesus was telling would have understood this situation.

They probably had even heard of someone that had gone through this.

Verse 31, it says, and by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Now all the people that were listening to the story, would have thought that this priest was the one who would have helped, right?

He's religious, he's esteemed, he's.

He's lifted up in that community.

And so it would have made sense for the priest to identify this need and help.

But what does it say?

It says that he passed by on the other side, probably had some excuses.

He probably said, I got to get to the temple.

I've got to handle this.

Or maybe that guy is a thief himself.

Or he probably had all the justification of why not to help that person.

And let's see the next guy that comes along.

Verse 32, another religious figure and likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.

Same thing, comes up with a reason not to help this individual who is going through this type of pain and this type of loss.

You know, for.

For me, I look at the story often, and I think of myself as the good Samaritan, right?

Because I always want to paint myself in the light of the one who does the right thing.

But, folks, how many times have I.

And maybe you have been the Levite and the priest that have seen a need, but yet saw every reason not to help?

And I think sometimes we can come up with good excuses.

We can come up with great justification.

We can say, yeah, but maybe there's this or maybe there's that.

And the truth is, is that many of us are not naturally inclined to help that person in need.

The Bible tells us that all of these gifts that we see In Romans chapter 12, even though we might not be naturally gifted in them, we are all called to do them.

And so all of us are called to have the measure of compassion that this next individual has.

Look at it with me in this next verse.

Says, but a certain Samaritan.

Now, let's stop there.

This would have caused the people that were hearing this story to get a little bit uncomfortable.

Why?

Because the Jews did not like the Samaritans for many different reasons.

The Jews didn't like the Samaritans because they believed that the Samaritans, which truly they did, intermarried with Gentiles and therefore corrupted the pure bloodline.

Other reasons why they didn't like the Samaritans was for the most part, the Samaritans were worshiping with some sort of pagan idolatry blended in with their worship.

And therefore, the Jews despised the Samaritans.

And even in some cases, the Jews would call Samaritans dogs.

And really, on the other side of things, the Samaritans didn't like the Jews.

And so there was this conflict between them.

And so naturally, the Jews and the Samaritans would have never helped each other.

It would have been understandable for a Jewish person to help a Jewish person.

But for a Samaritan to help a Jew or a Jew to help a Samaritan was completely foreign in their minds.

Even in some cases, the Jewish people that were traveling would travel the long way around so that they wouldn't even have to step foot in the land of the Samaritans.

Now we know Jesus came with a different type of mindset.

You remember, in certain cases, Jesus says, I need to go through Samaria.

We even know that Jesus addressed the woman at the well, who was the Samaritan woman.

And so Jesus shows that there's a different type of compassion that crosses the different cultural norms that are seen back then.

And so what happens is that the Samaritan is the one who is going to do the thing that Jesus says is the good thing, and that is to exercise compassion.

So let's see point number one.

The good Samaritan saw the pain of the man who had been beaten and stolen from, says a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, here it is, he had compassion on him.

He's moved with compassion.

It's this understanding of, I see the need, I moved and I'm going to act.

Everyone else saw a problem, right?

The, the priest saw the problem, the Levite saw the problem, the Samaritan saw the problem.

The difference between those three would be that the Samaritan didn't just see a problem, but he saw a person.

And so compassion begins with seeing people the way that God sees them.

Sometimes I struggle with that.

Sometimes I see somebody as an obstacle, or I see someone as a commodity, or I see someone as a distraction.

But folks, when we're dealing with individuals, we have to look at them the way that God sees them.

As a soul who needs salvation, who needs help, who needs faith, who needs sanctification, who needs discipleship.

And so therefore this individual was different because he saw the need and he wanted to act upon it.

Mercy or compassion notices the things that everyone else overlooks.

And so the Samaritan saw the pain, he perceived it.

And in the spirit filled act of mercy, he noticed that hurting person and he saw that he could help.

We've looked at this in this study of how an individual can exercise the gift of mercy.

In the spirit and how one can exercise the gift in the flesh.

And that's really for all the gifts.

Well, one way that a person can act in spirit filled mercy is that a person can notice those who are hurting notice hurting people.

Another way that a person who is gifted in the gift of mercy can be spirit filled and acting in that is that they see needs that others miss and then they refuse to look away.

Sometimes I'm going to be honest this morning that I can see a need, I can feel what needs to be done, but I'm tempted just to look away and get distracted.

If I can just get my mind off of that and go somewhere else, I'll be okay.

But someone who is walking in the spirit with the gift of mercy or compassion refuses to look away.

Where a flesh filled person working in the gift of mercy can become emotionally overwhelmed, possibly even enable sinful behavior rather than helping people.

Biblically, someone, someone with the gift of compassion can, if working in the flesh, identify with someone's pain and try to love on them so much that they overlook the sin that might be causing some of that pain.

And though with good intentions, it can lead to enabling a person to continue on in the pain that's causing the, the pain over and over again in their life.

Sometimes a person that's flesh filled in the gift of mercy shows compassion without wisdom.

Well, I'm just going to help this person and give them everything that they want.

Well, no, that's not always the best thing to do because compassion is giving them what they need with godly wisdom.

So mercy without truth can become unhealthy.

Truth without mercy can become harsh.

And so Jesus tells us to merge those two together, Remember love and truth.

And so the Samaritan sees the need.

But then we see in verse 33 that he stops to help.

A certain Samaritan comes and it says that he was moved with compassion.

He had passion on him, verse 34, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

We see that he stops.

Compassion always moves towards suffering.

The priest passed the Levite pass, the Samaritan stopped.

The gift of mercy doesn't ask who deserves my help.

It asks, how can I help?

I think that's often what happens.

We think like, well, do they deserve my help?

Is that going to be a good investment?

Is that going to be something that's going to be worth my time?

Well, that's not acting in biblical compassion.

Because if we weigh out all the things, guess what?

Think about if God did that to us and his mercy to us, is that person going to be completely faithful to me?

Is that person going to do everything that I tell them to do?

Well, we know that God extends his mercy and grace to us regardless of our good works.

It's, it's because of his love for us.

And so a spirit filled mercy person is able to be interrupted.

A spirit filled mercy is going to be available, patient, gentle, kind.

I love the fact that one time, Pastor Spicer, some of you remember Pastor Spicer here.

I don't remember everyone's sermons.

I wish I could remember all the sermons that I listened to in my life.

I can't remember all of them.

I can only remember probably like 1% of all the sermons that I've heard.

But I do remember one sermon that Pastor Spicer preached here.

And he was preaching on God's interruptions.

And I identified with that because sometimes when God puts something in my life, I see it as an interruption.

I'm like, I've got a plan, I've got a list, I've got an agenda.

I've got to get this accomplished.

And this popping up in my way is not conducive to my schedule, to my plan.

And what he basically was saying was this, sometimes the best thing is that God interrupts us from doing what we thought we should be doing and brings us to a place of what we need to be doing, particularly by helping others in need.

And so instead of seeing someone as an interruption, see them as an opportunity to, for God's love to be seen through us.

So a spirit filled person acting in the gift of mercy will be willing to be interrupted.

They'll be gentle, they'll be patient, they'll be kind.

But a flesh filled person acting with the gift of mercy will neglect personal responsibilities, maybe becoming manipulated by others with emotions, or maybe finding even identity in rescuing people.

You ever found someone like that?

Like, they only find their value in rescuing people out of problems.

And even though rescuing people out of problems is a good thing, that's not where our identity is found.

Our identity is found in Christ.

And really, if we go back to all these gifts In Romans chapter 12, our identity can't be in any of those things.

Let's say, for example, I'm, I'm gifted in the area of teaching.

And I said, if I'm not teaching, I'm nobody.

If I'm not teaching, then I can't be a good servant of the Lord.

I I have all of my identity in this gift.

Well, folks, the truth is, is that our identity is not in our gift.

Our identity is in Christ.

The Bible tells us that over and over again.

The gift is something that God blesses us with as we identify with him.

And we use that to glorify him.

We use that to lead other people to Him.

We use that to strengthen others in the truth.

And so we see that the second step of this process is that he stopped.

But then we see number three that he sacrificed.

Catch it with me.

It says that he bound up his wounds pouring oil and wine.

He uses his resources to help this individual.

He doesn't say, well, hey buddy, do you have any oil and wine over here?

Do you have any bandages in your packet?

No.

That guy had nothing.

And he says, no, look, I'm going to give you what I have.

He sacrifices and mercy always costs something.

There's always a sacrifice.

And so he pours oil and wine.

This speaks of giving him medicine.

This.

This speaks of addressing his wounds.

And it says that he set him on his own beast.

He.

He gave this individual his own beast, and he brought him to an inn and took care of him.

And we're going to even see in verse 35 that he gave him his own money.

He says, on the morrow when he departed, he took out 2 pence and gave them to the host and said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever thou spend us more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

The Samaritan gave his time, his resources, his transportation, his money, his future commitment.

What we see here through this is that compassion that costs nothing usually isn't compassion right, because it's, it's not sacrificial.

But here the Samaritan was willing to sacrifice something for this person that he didn't know.

He was willing to sacrifice for this person who didn't earn it, who didn't do anything.

And we really know that in the greater picture of the story, Jesus is that Good Samaritan to us.

Even though we're called to be that Good Samaritan to other people.

We're the person in the ditch who has nothing.

We're the person who in the ditch is eventually going to die in our own sin.

But Jesus comes and extends that gift of mercy and compassion to us.

And he gives us his everything, his love, his forgiveness, our eternal life.

And so spirit filled mercy gives joyfully, serves humbly, and loves sacrificially.

Where flesh filled mercy becomes resentful, expects appreciation, and burns out.

Because we're working in our own strength and not the strength of the Lord.

So we see that he recognizes the problem.

He sees the problem, he stops to help and he sacrifices personally.

But really in the most ultimate way, he shows Christ like love.

Jesus then breaks out of the story and comes back to the individuals that he's addressing.

And he says this, which now of these three, remember the priest Levi and the Samaritan, which one of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

This is a pointed question.

He's.

He's asking the question to the lawyer, basically saying this, which one of these guys was a loving neighbor?

And it's hard for this person to admit that it's the Samaritan.

Actually, he doesn't even say the Samaritan.

He says this.

He says, and he said, he that showeth mercy on him.

He couldn't even say Samaritan.

He says, the one who showed mercy.

Right, right.

And that's really what it is.

When we are exercising in the power of God, it's the one who shows mercy that is proving that we're loving the Lord.

It's the one who shows mercy who is displaying that they have received mercy.

Then Jesus said unto him, go and do thou likewise.

We're all called to have the type of compassion and mercy that the Samaritan had.

But in a greater sense, we're all called to have the type of compassion and mercy that Jesus had.

Mercy isn't merely something we feel because if we're based off of our feelings, and sometimes the, the one who is gifted in the area of mercy is guided by their feelings.

Why?

Because mercy is all about that emotional connection.

Right?

I got to feel your emotions.

And though that's an important gift to be able to discern and perceive the emotions of somebody else and their pain and suffering, we can't be guided by our emotions.

Because what's going to happen is, is that if, if compassion is only an emotion, it'll stop there.

Well, I really feel for that person.

But what has changed?

Nothing.

So true compassion, true mercy, though, might start with an emotional appeal to someone who is in need, must be completely satisfied through action.

Right?

Compassion is action.

Think about it from that perspective.

I can have that emotional tied to somebody, but if it stops at an emotion, then it stops there and there's nothing done to help.

And so that emotion should stir that, that decision to walk in the truth and help that person in need.

And that's why all these gifts need to be utilized together.

Why?

Because if I have Mercy.

But I don't have resources.

What do I do?

Well, I'm attached to the person who does have resources.

They're the giver.

Hey, you know what?

I might not have what this person needs, but I'm able to bring this person or this person.

And the giver can help.

Or maybe they are in need of a spiritual teacher.

I can bring them to the person who's gifted in teaching.

Or maybe they need an exhorter, or maybe they just need someone who's able to serve them.

That's how all these gifts work together.

So the person who is gifted in the gift of mercy is able to identify with that person and then take action.

One commentator said it this way, compassion always has feet, meaning there's that emotional appeal, but now there's movement, there's action.

So spirit filled mercy extends forgiveness, offers hope, reflects Christ, and rejoices when others are restored to his fellowship.

Sometimes flesh filled mercy avoids difficult truth, confuses acceptance with approval.

What do I mean by that?

Well, they say, well, I love someone, I have to accept them and, and approve of everything that they're doing.

Folks, when you're exercising the gift of mercy, you're going to be exercising the gift of mercy with people who are broken.

And people who are broken don't need to stay broken.

Sometimes people that are broken are broken because of sins that they are committing in their life and things that they believe about what might be true.

But folks, just because I'm showing love and compassion to someone, that doesn't mean I need to approve and accept and celebrate what they are doing.

I can still speak the truth in love.

So all of you that are gifted in the area of mercy, don't sacrifice the truth along with your mercy.

You can show love.

And the world wants us to think that showing love and telling truth is actually not love.

It's hateful.

But that's actually the definition of biblical love.

And so Jesus is the greatest example of mercy because Jesus always extends compassion, but at the same time always extends mercy.

Where we see that happening is in Matthew chapter 9, verse 36.

It's where we started today and it's where we will Conclude Matthew chapter 9, verse 36.

We're going to see a time in which Jesus was moved with compassion.

There's many times in which Jesus is moved with compassion.

Ultimately, we know that Jesus was moved with compassion enough to go to the cross for us.

But here in Matthew chapter nine, earlier on in his earthly ministry, Jesus is healing people.

He's casting out demons, he's preaching the gospel all over.

And it says that he comes to a place and he sees the multitude.

And he could have a lot of different reactions to seeing the multitude, but he gives us the greatest example of what we should be seeing when we see the multitude.

Verse 35 of Matthew 9 says, and Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Do you see it in verse 35?

He's giving tender hearted mercies to people by healing them, by, by taking care of them.

But he's also preaching the Gospel.

He's also giving them the truth.

So as Jesus heals physically, he provides the spiritual healing in the Gospel.

As we help those who are physically hurting, we should also help in giving them the Gospel who can spiritually heal them.

Verse 36 it says, but when he saw the multitudes, he looks out and sees all the people.

He was, here's our phrase for the day, moved with compassion on them because they fainted.

They, they, they weren't focused.

They were, they were passing out, so to speak.

They were losing their vision, he says, and they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd.

He sees their need.

Their need is salvation.

Their need is faith in really Him.

In this case, faith in the Lord.

Then saith, he done to his disciples, the harvest truly is plenty as, but labors are few.

So what is Jesus response?

He says, we need more people to give them the message.

Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

Jesus was moved with compassion.

He.

He healed the lepers, he healed the sick, he fed the hungry, he comforted those who are grieving.

He forgave sinners, he welcomed children, he restored the broken.

But we know ultimately he preached the message of the truth.

The message of the truth is fulfilled in the fact that Jesus came to this earth.

He lived that perfect life.

He died on the cross for our sins.

He conquered death through the resurrection.

That's the greatest act of compassion and mercy.

Good works can't save us.

Religion can't save us.

The only one who can save us is Jesus Christ.

And when we trust in his mercy and his grace, when we trust in his sacrifice for us, we're able to experience that type of mercy and compassion and then extend that type of mercy and compassion to others around us.

Titus 3:5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done.

Nothing that we have in our life is because of what we have done.

When it comes to the Blessings and the grace of God, it says.

But according to his mercy, he saved us ultimately because of his mercy.

So everything that we have in our life is because of Him.

Therefore, we're able to really, in many cases, exhibit that type of mercy, not because we are the source of that mercy, but because of the mercy of God that's reflected from our lives.

So we look back to Romans chapter 12, and it says to exercise the gift of mercy or the gift of compassion with cheerfulness.

How many of you don't raise your hand, but how many of you have struggled in that area?

How many of you say, you know, I'm supposed to be compassionate to these people that are lost, but I'm not doing it cheerfully.

Well, I understand that.

I understand sometimes the hardship of seeing through the people's problems and getting to the deepest problem, and that is the problem of their hearts.

But really, all of us are called to see the multitudes and to be like Jesus, moved with compassion upon them because they don't have a shepherd, because they don't have a Savior.

The reason why we show mercy to people is not because they'll be nice to us when they're healed.

The Samaritan that helped that man didn't expect anything back.

So the type of mercy that we're called to have for people, the type of compassion we're supposed to have for people is not based out of a motive of selfish receiving.

It's about doing something for someone because Jesus Christ has done something for me.

And so Romans chapter 12, it says that we're supposed to do it with cheerfulness.

Well, why don't I have cheerfulness when I'm showing compassion?

Well, it might be, number one, that you're just not spiritually gifted in the area of mercy.

I can identify with that.

I can understand what it means not to be gifted in the area of mercy, because that's not one of the areas that God has supernaturally gifted me in.

But at the same time, even though I'm not supernaturally gifted in that area, I do need to grow in that area and learn from others who are gifted in that area and ultimately look to my Savior.

So it says we're to do it with cheerfulness.

So why don't I have cheerfulness?

Well, it might be, number one, that I'm not gifted in that area.

But number two, it might simply be that I'm moving and serving with the wrong motivations.

The right motivation must be to exalt Christ.

If it's about Christ and not about me, it's okay if I'm slighted, it's okay if I'm not recognized, it's okay if I'm overlooked at the end of the day.

As long as God sees it, as long as God is glorified, we are can be happy, we can be joyful, and we can celebrate what God is doing through us.

So we come to the end of this study, right?

Romans, chapter 12.

Over the last several weeks, we've discussed that every believer has uniquely been gifted.

Those that have been gifted in prophecy or perceiving speak God's truth boldly.

They recognize God's truth and they speak it boldly.

They proclaim it to the world.

Those that are gifted in the gift of serving are gifted to meet practical needs faithfully within the ministry, to help people serve as God has served them.

Those that have been gifted in teaching explain God's truth clearly.

Those who have been gifted in the gift of exhortation encourage people towards spiritual growth.

Those that have been given the gift of giving share resources generously to help the cause of the gospel.

Those that have been gifted with administration or leadership organized people in a diligent fashion.

And then we conclude today with those that are gifted with a gift of mercy.

They display God's compassion with a cheerful heart, and they're able to reflect the mercy of God in their daily walk.

Everyone has at least one of these gifts.

Every believer has at least one of these gifts.

And every gift matters within the church.

Every member matters.

And Pastor Ethan mentioned this a while ago.

Every member must be a minister.

Every one of us are called to exercise these gifts within the body of Christ.

Maybe some of you are gifted in more areas than others, but the reality is, is that all of us at four believers, and we're part of the body of Christ, were gifted in one area.

And God calls us to exercise those to the best of our ability the way that God has called us to exercise those, whether it be prophecy, teaching, exhortation, mercy, whatever it might be.

So I want to leave you with three challenges as we conclude here today with this series on the gifts.

First of all, I challenge you to discover your gift.

God didn't save you to sit.

God saved you to serve.

And so maybe you can ask this question, lord, have you given me a gift?

And the answer is always going to be yes.

If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, he's given you a gift.

But then you could ask the question, lord, now I know you've given me a gift.

How have you designed me to strengthen your church?

How have you designed me to further your gospel?

It might be through mercy, it might be through teaching.

It might be through giving.

But God has gifted you.

And so discover that gift.

We have booklets in the back Spiritual Gift Test.

And though those aren't 100% accurate in every single way, at least will allow you to get on the right track by answering some questions that can at least give you some clarity and understanding of where you're at in that process.

So discover your gift.

But number two, develop your gift.

Spiritual gifts mature through use to exercise.

Then some of you know how difficult it is sometimes to be disciplined.

So a little while back, Micah reminded me.

He says, dad, at the peach festival, we always do the 5K.

We always run.

I'm like, yeah, I know.

And I was trying to get out of it this year.

I didn't want him to tell him.

I was like, well, you can run it on your own.

He goes, no, Dad, I want to do it with you.

And I haven't been running recently.

I haven't been exercising as much.

And I'm like, oh, man, I'm gonna hurt myself.

But I went ahead and signed up for it anyway.

So if any of you guys want entertainment, come out.

Or if you need.

If you can help out with first aid, probably you might need to be out there.

But anytime someone is about to do something as a physical goal, there's got to be disciplines that are set about to get ready for that.

For example, if I was going to run, I needed to probably think about what I was doing about six months ago and.

And eat the right foods and exercise and all that kind of stuff.

I was telling someone in our Bible study this morning, there was a day where I was able to eat a whole pizza and ice cream and drink soda, then go out the next day and exercise and feel completely fine.

That's not today.

That's not.

I have to really, really be careful about that.

And so the idea would be that as a Christian, if we want to get to a place where our spiritual goals are honoring God and exercising our spiritual gift and living that life of boldness for him, there's spiritual disciplines that we have to take to get to that goal.

And those spiritual disciplines might be that I need to remove things from my life.

I need to remove elements that are distracting me from exercising, these gifts.

Or maybe I need to add something into my life.

I need to supplement my life with these areas like Bible study, like small groups like prayer that can infuse into my life and give me the strength to exercise These gifts.

And so doing that, we're able to have our gifts sharpened.

And we even know the Bible says that iron sharpens iron.

So if you see somebody that's gifted in an area that you think you're gifted in, guess what?

Get with them, sharpen that tool, be able to grow in that area, use them as an example, use them as a resource.

Ultimately submit yourself to the word of God and serve faithfully, and you're able to develop those gifts.

But then what I would say with that development comes number three, depending on the Holy Spirit.

The difference between the flesh and the Spirit isn't ability.

It's not about, well, he's more successful than this Christian.

No, the difference between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit is about surrender.

Am I going to surrender to the Spirit in my life, or am I going to give into my flesh?

The same gift can either build the church up or create division within the church.

So let's say there's someone gifted in the area of giving.

Let's say that someone that's exercising the gift of giving within the realm of the Spirit is going to only bring the church together and ultimately glorify God and strengthen the church.

But if someone is exercising their gift of giving or any other gift in the flesh and see that happening flowing out, that's going to eventually cause division, that's going to cause chaos, and that's going to cause weakness within the church.

And so the challenge would be to walk in the Spirit, to serve in love, to remain humble, and ultimately to give glory to God.

And So Romans chapter 12 teaches that every believer belongs to the body.

Now, we have different parts of the body, but every one of us are part of the body.

Every member is necessary.

You might think, well, my gift isn't as important as that person's gift, folks.

Your gift is important.

It's vital for the health of the church for you to exercise your gift to the best of your ability in the power of the Spirit, to edify other saints and to glorify the Lord.

The church is the healthiest.

When every believer discovers, develops, and deploys their spiritual gift within the church for God's glory.

That's when the church is thriving.

We're not going to be a healthy church if we all just try to do our own thing.

We're not going to be a healthy church if we're all trying to do what we want to do, regardless of what other people are doing.

Whatever.

Whatever they're doing is they're doing, they can do their thing Doing my thing.

That's great.

No, the whole idea is that we're working together.

That takes communication, that takes conviction, that.

That takes.

That takes biblical compassion.

And so the church is healthiest when we discover and develop and deploy our gifts.

And so I want to ask you a few questions here, and then we will conclude, number one, am I serving where God has gifted me?

Maybe we could go back another question and say, am I serving?

You know, what is spiritual growth?

Spiritual growth isn't serving because we know that we can serve without a heart of the Lord.

We could just be serving for ever.

Motivation we have.

But the question is, is, am I serving?

But number two, am I serving where God has gifted me?

Am I walking in the spirit, or am I walking in the flesh?

Am I strengthening Christ's body, or am I weakening and dividing the body of Christ?

Am I using my gift to point people to Jesus, or am I using my gift to point people to anything else?

The greatest gift that you possess is not your spiritual gift.

You might say, well, my identity is in my teaching, or my identity is in my compassion.

No, the greatest gift is the gift of salvation.

That's where we all start.

And if we're not in Christ, we're not able to experience these gifts and walk in accordance to the Spirit, in contrast to the flesh.

It's the Savior who gave us the gift.

He's the greatest gift.

His salvation that he extends to us is the greatest gift.

So we serve him faithfully until he comes.

We serve within the church.

We serve in our community.

God's not just concerned with what we do, but how we do it.

And so a gift exercised in the flesh can wound the body, but a gift exercised in the Spirit builds the church up and glorifies our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And so Romans chapter 12, particularly the first eight verses, are not just about identifying our gifts, even though that's part of it, but ultimately it's about what we saw back in verse number one.

It's about presenting ourselves, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.

And so it's allowing the Spirit of God to use our gifts for the purpose of giving ourselves over to Him.

And so, just as we started Romans chapter 12, verse 1, we'll end with at least this portion of Romans chapter 12 with verse 1.

Paul says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, I plead with you.

I beg you, by the mercies of God.

It starts with the mercies of God.

It starts with what we've received from him.

And he says, where you Start is understanding what God has given you.

He says, when you understand that, what do you do?

You present your bodies, your everything, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

That word reasonable is just logical.

It's the logical thing that we would do as Christians when we understand his mercy, his compassion, that we would respond in exercising these gifts for him to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may prove or demonstrate what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

When we are walking in the gifts that God has given us, we're walking in the will of God.

And when we're walking in the will of God, that's the safest, most rewarding, most fruitful place to be.

And my prayer for you as the church is not to be a church that's perfect.

None of us can be perfect.

That's the reality.

And we don't want to set a standard that isn't realistic.

But what I do want us to do is all of us to think and to pray and to strive to be in the will of God.

Because if we're all in the will of God, we're able to exercise in freedom, we're able to exercise in power, we're able to exercise in effective fruitfulness for the Lord.

Now, Pastor Ethan did an analogy on one Sunday evening service.

So I don't really want to give the same analogy, but the truth is, is that all of us could face one situation here.

Let's say, for example, let's use the Good Samaritan as an illustration.

And I was going to call Pastor Ethan up and use him as an illustration and have him lay on the ground as the.

As the guy.

But I'm not going to do that.

But just pretend like Pastor Ethan's up here on the steps and I walk by, right?

If I'm the person with the gift of teaching, I might be tempted to come alongside that guy and say, hey, man, if you would have just not come out here, you know, there was a better route to go around that you wouldn't have had to go from Jerusalem to Jericho.

That wouldn't be a smart route.

Or if I was a prophet, I could just walk by and tell him, hey, you should have never done this.

You got yourself in problems, right?

But that's exercising in the flesh.

All of these gifts are tied together with the very next verse of Romans, chapter 12, verse 9.

Love without dissimulation or love without hypocrisy.

So what I mean by that is this.

All of us could see that person lying in the ditch a different way because of our gift.

But all of the aspects of our gift being executed would be done in love.

So if I'm going to teach that person, I'm not going to make them feel bad and say, well, that's all of your problems here.

You should have went here, here, here.

I'm going to meet them in that need with love, and then bring them to a place where I can exercise.

Teaching.

Maybe the time to teach him is not when he's bleeding out on the side of the road.

Maybe the time to teach him is after he gets back to the hotel, after he gets a little bit stronger, say, hey, maybe next time he shouldn't be going that route.

Okay, maybe it would be a right thing for the prophet to let that person know that they were doing the wrong thing.

But at the same time as enact that type of love and patience and create a relationship with that person, maybe the giver would, hey, what if.

What if someone walked by the guy on the side of the road and just threw money at him, said, hey, figure it out.

Here's some money.

Well, that guy's not going to do very much with that money because he's not able to get up.

So the giver would have to equip that person to be able to receive that and to properly utilize that.

So I hope you understand what I'm saying here is that it's just because we're enacting the gift in a very particular way, we're supposed to tie it all together with love.

And so for the rest of this passage In Romans chapter 12, we're going to see how we live out all these gifts in a particular way and how we deal with other Christians.

Romans chapter 1 through 11 was all about what we believe about God.

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

The next part of Romans is all about how we live with others, how we live with the government, how we live with difficult Christians, how we live with all of our people within the world.

And that's what Romans 12 is going to start talking about.

Love without dissimulation, talks about forgiveness.

It talks about how we can be fervent in business serving the Lord.

There's all these different things that we're going to be talking about within Romans chapter 12.

But I think one of the hardest things to do within the church is to practically live out these spiritual truths with people that might not agree with what we're doing, who might have their own personality who might have a different gift.

And that's the hard part.

The hard part is, how do I love someone who doesn't see the situation the same way that I see it?

I, I, I, I could sit with someone who's a mercy, and we could go round and round, and I'd be like, yeah, but they should be doing this.

And oftentimes what happens is that people with differing gifts can have division if we're not exercising what Romans chapter 12 says for the rest of this passage.

So I encourage you to come back because we're going to look at really practical steps that we must take as Christians to walk in unison with people within the body of Christ.

And so I hope that this study has been helpful for you.

Again, I encourage you to make sure you grab one of those spiritual gift tests so that you can identify that gift, so that you can strengthen that gift, so that you can deploy that gift and maybe teach others about those gifts.

I know for me, it wasn't until someone sat down with me and walked me through this that I had a greater understanding of what the word of God has to say about my spiritual gift.

I just thought, you're supposed to serve wherever they call you.

And though that's an opportunity to do within the church, there is a very important reason why God lists these gifts so that we can identify them and properly utilize them and then teach others how to do that as well.

And so one of my goals at Middletown Baptist Church is not just to be the only teacher.

I want to teach you truths, not so that you can go, great, check that off the box.

Learn that now I'm going to go back home.

No, the whole idea for teaching within this church is so that you can learn, so that you can teach, so that they can learn, so that they can teach.

And that's the whole model.

We want to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

You're the saints.

There's the work of the ministry.

It's equipping you.

It's giving you every tool that you need.

So now all of us as a church can't say, well, I don't know what the spiritual gifts are.

You know what they are.

Okay, you can go back and look at the videos.

You can go look at these things and we can say, okay, now where do I fit in that?

Now how can I grab someone else in the church and say, hey, have you figured out your spiritual gift yet?

Well, no, I don't even know what that is.

Well, let me walk you through it that's the purpose of the spiritual life, to pass it on.

That's the hope.

That's discipleship, and that's what we want to do here at Middletown Baptist Church.

Well, I'm going to ask if you're able to just stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed.

We're going to have a time of invitation, time of response.

We've talked about a lot of things in this study.

We talked about a lot of different gifts.

We've talked about how we exercise those gifts.

But ultimately, I think if you've been here for all of them, you've seen a theme, that every one of these gifts are perfectly embodied in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It's impossible to live out these gifts without him.

It's impossible to be merciful in the way that Christ called us to be merciful without him.

It's impossible to be the way that God has called us to be without understanding who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

So it starts there.

Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Have you trusted in him?

Have you given everything over to him and said, lord, I know that I can't save myself, but I believe that you could save me, save me today.

If you have never done that, today is the day that you need to trust Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

And I can guarantee you this.

And it's not just my opinion, this is the word of God, that your life will be changed.

It will be transformed.

But if you trusted in Jesus Christ, but yet, as Second Peter says, you've lost sight.

You've been blinded by the goodness of what God has done for you.

Maybe you've lost sight of the compassion.

Maybe you've lost sight of all the things that the Lord has sacrificed for you.

Maybe today is just a reminder to go back to him and thank him for his mercies so that you can extend those mercies to others.

But maybe it's a broader message.

It's this.

The Lord, through this study, has revealed to me at least one area that I believe.

He has called me to live out in my life as way of a spiritual gift.

If he has called you to that, I encourage you to stand in that.

I encourage you to develop that gift.

I encourage you to deploy that gift and to teach others and to serve others and to lift up the body of Christ and to ultimately glorify Jesus through that spiritual gift that he has gifted you with.

Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, working hearts and lives.

I pray that you can lead us to your truth, help us to live in your truth and help us to lead others to that truth.

I pray that you lead those who this morning might need you as a Savior to come forward and to look into the word of God and see what it means to know you as Savior.

I pray that you lead other Christians who maybe have been struggling to come to you and to lean on you and to rest in your love and care and your compassion.

Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts and lives in Jesus name.

Amen.

As the music plays so we've already come Follow as the Lord leads here this morning.