Romans 12: 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, 6 but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, [d]in agreement with the faith;
8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with [f]generosity; he who [g]leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Corinthians 12:
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to someone else faith [d]by the same Spirit,
28 And God has [o]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then [p]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
Well, we are moving along with our study of the Spiritual Gifts today. And once again I want to encourage you to work to discover and use your gifts. Sometimes we come up with excuses for failing to serve. We may not see a place of service readily available that fits what we perceive our gifts to be. It may be that there is no ministry in our church in which we fit.
That’s why I said on a previous occasion that you need to find that place to live out your gifts, inside or outside the church. But that is also why after we do the gift survey, we are going to proceed to a second step. We are going to look at the results of our survey, and the people we have, and determine if there is a new ministry we can begin at our church that will fit our people, their spiritual gifts, and touch a need in our community. We’ll talk more about that in the next weeks.
But sometimes we can give ourselves excuses. Maybe there are already people at our church who do what you do. So, you can feel redundant. Let me illustrate that point with something that just recently happened. We had an older gentleman visit us who was a pianist. He played for us in one of our services. He didn’t continue with us. Now maybe he said, they already have a pianist. Maybe he said, the present pianist can do a better job at it than I can. But let me make a couple of points about that, that relate to spiritual gifts. Number 1: Responsibilities can be shared, and that is part of the body life of the church. Number 2: If God sends us a pianist, it is for a reason. Maybe they can help cover in an area of need. Maybe He has a new ministry in mind for our church.
Now, it may be possible to have too many pianists in one church. But, in regard to the Spiritual gifts, if God placed you here, there is no such thing as too much service, or giving, or exhortation.
prayer
Romans 12: 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, 6 but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, [d]in agreement with the faith;
8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with [f]generosity; he who [g]leads, with diligence;
(executive ability): Standing before people and inspiring followers by leading them aggressively but with care.
This gift of leadership, and the next one, administration are the first two of the service gifts. You might have thought that leadership would be a speaking gift, and undoubtedly leaders often have to speak. But, it is not their speaking ability that sets them apart as spiritually gifted here. It is their spiritually gifted ability to lead.
Now what exactly is the gift of leadership? The word is translated in other places, “to rule.” I looked at the other passages of Scripture that use the same Greek word and I came up with 3 principles of leadership.
1 Timothy 5:17 17 The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor [d]at preaching the word and teaching.
What we gather from that passage is that there are leaders who are not preachers and teachers. But that those who are, are to be doubly honored. That means that the Scripture should be highly prized and valued by the leader. They find the destination to which they are leading in the Word of God. They find the principles of management in the Word of God.
Now, not every leader is a prophet, or proclaimer of the Word. I think a good Old Testament example of that is the difference between Moses and Joshua. Moses led the children of Israel, and God used him to write down the first five books of the Bible. The Bible calls him a prophet.
Joshua also led the children of Israel, but we have no evidence that Joshua ever wrote a book or preached a sermon. But he was bound in his leadership to follow Scripture.
This is what God said to Joshua after Moses died.
Joshua 1: 2 “Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
7 Only be strong and very courageous to [c]be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, so that you may [d]be prosperous wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may [e]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful, and then you will [f]be prosperous.
1 Thessalonians 5: 12 But we ask of you, brothers, that you know those who labor among you, and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work.
To admonish means to give instruction, warning, and correction. A leader is not simply a cheerleader. Or maybe they are a cheerleader, but not like we think of. We think of a cheerleader as that person who stands in front of the crowd and tries to get us all enthused about our team. But there’s another side to cheerleader, especially from the standpoint of the cheer team captain or leader.
That person has directed the squad in their work on a routine. They have worked out routines and determined when each routine will be carried out. And if any cheer member gets out of step, the captain instructs that individual later to get them back to where they need to be.
Also, a good captain is there encouraging members to keep up the work and not to be discouraged if they mess up occasionally.
That is admonition. And a leader has to step be willing to give both positive and negative instruction.
Titus 3:8 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be intent to lead in good works.
The leader doesn’t just say, they do. The leader is to be someone that anyone can point to as an example of Christian virtue. They are an example in how they direct their families.
1 Timothy 3:12 12 Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, leading their children and their own households well.
So, those three things describe how the person who is gifted as a leader should lead; by Scripture, by instruction, positive and negative, and by example.
Those are some pretty general things. And I think they are purposely general because leadership manifests itself in all kinds of places. In the home, in the whole church, in small groups. I think a good example of leadership was among the disciples, when certain widows weren’t being fed.
6 Now in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number, there was grumbling from the [a]Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. 2 So the twelve summoned the [b]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not pleasing to God for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this need. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” 5 And this word pleased the whole [c]congregation, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a [d]proselyte from Antioch. 6 And these they stood before the apostles, and after praying, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God kept on spreading, and the number of the disciples continued to multiply greatly in Jerusalem,
Leadership meant seeing a problem and proposing a solution. It did not mean that the leaders themselves started distributing food to the widows. But they proposed a solution, found the people to implement the solution, and set up guidelines for the qualifications of those men.
“And by the way, he says do it with speed, do it with haste, do it with zeal, diligent, fast, that's the idea. Get on with it, get at it. I mean, the church can't function without that. God has designed the church to have leaders. Why do you think in Acts 6 the apostles said, "Look, we've got to take care of the prayer and we've got to take care of the ministry of the Word, so you better choose some men out from among you and put them over this business. You better get some guys that can feed these widows that aren't getting proper food, some guys that can organize, collect the food, distribute the food, some leadership."
The one with the gift of leadership is one who sees where we should go, and plans and implements accordingly. They are a person with vision.
Matthew Henry went to London, met a young lady of the nobility, who was also wealthy, and they fell in love. She went to ask her father if she could marry him and he said, "He's got no background, you don't know where he's come from." She said, "Yes, I know, but I know where he's going and I want to go with him."
Source Unknown.
28 And God has [o]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then [p]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
(legislative ability): Standing behind people to collect data, set policy, and develop plans which will guide a course of action with wisdom.
So next we are going to look at the spiritual gift of administration. How is administration different than leadership? Some commentators present them as two names for the same gift. But I want to draw a distinction between the two.
Notice that in my definition for leadership I put in parenthesis (executive ability) and in the definition for administration I put (legislative ability)
I am comparing it to the executive and legislative branch of government. The executive sets a direction, the legislative works on the legal details of that direction.
One commentator described administration this way.
“Most interesting, administration, the word here just means... to manage, to be in charge, to oversee.... It's just a simple idea. This is... the ability to organize, administrate, make something happen, cover all the details, get the people together, mobilize them, get them moving, accomplish the job.”
Leadership works on the vision side, administration on the implementation side. Leadership can be a one-time involvement, administration is an ongoing management.
Administration is a leadership gift. It is the word kubernts from which we get cybernetics. The word kubernts is the skill of piloting a ship, the skill of piloting a ship.”
And I think that is an appropriate analogy. Think of the pilot of the ship. No single person can pilot a ship all by themselves. You have to have someone who is thinking through and directing all of the component parts, and crew members to make sure you stay afloat, and continue on a prescribed course. I would call the captain the one with the gift of leadership, and the first mate the one with the gift of administration. Both have to be thoroughly acquainted with both the machinery and the people on the ship. But the captain gives the direction, and the first mate barks out the specific orders that will implement that direction. You know...
“Belay the yarn, thar she blows, baton down the hatches, give him a wide berth, lean starboard, two points abaft the port beam, all hands on deck, throw him in the brig, weigh Anchor matties,”
The captain says, we’re sailing to Barbados, the first mate hollers out specific orders.
Now, without doubt, many who have the gift of leadership, also have some degree of the gift of administration and vice versa. So, I can’t say, “Hey, by gift is leadership, I cast the vision, I’m not getting my hands dirty.” But the leader and administrator work together.
Now, how do you know if you have the spiritual gift of leadership or administration. Well, in general, a person with the gift of leadership can look at problems and see solutions. The person with the gift of administration, likes implementation. They are a direction follower and are detail oriented.
And the evidence that you have those gifts, I think, is effectiveness. You are effective in seeing the solution. And, I might add, you are effective in managing people. A captain and first mate are not effective if the whole crew mutinies 5 miles offshore. At the end of the day, the ideas you propose, work well. The administration you do, streamlines and simplifies the process.
Now, we are going to look at the gift of faith.
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to someone else faith [d]by the same Spirit,
Seeing through any problem to the Ultimate Resource.
I find it interesting that this listed as a Spiritual gift. It is one of the Christian virtues. That means that all Christians must have it. All Christians have faith. As it says in the book of Hebrews, “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
So why is it listed as a Spiritual gift? It says that you can receive a special gift of faith from God. Notice that it doesn’t say the same of hope, or love. It doesn’t say that some Christians have an extra dose of hope, or love, more than their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Well, I think this gets us back to a question we addressed early in this study. The question was, “Are all the Spiritual gifts listed in the Bible?” And I don’t think they are. I think the gifts that are listed are representative, and maybe also they are the ones that we need to have emphasized the most. We may have people who have “the gift of hope,” who have an extra dose of hope in the mix of their spiritual gifts from God.
But the Spirit considered it most important to emphasize the gift of faith.
And I think the reason goes to the definition I shared with you. The Spiritual gift of faith is “Seeing through any problem to the Ultimate Resource.” That means that someone with the gift of faith is not fixated on the problem. They are wearing God colored glasses. They see the Ultimate Resource, God, behind every problem. They have a special capacity to see God at work behind life’s struggles.
Jesus said that it is possible to have varying measures of faith.
Matthew 17:20 And He *said to them, “Because of your little faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith [a]the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Now, often when we read that passage, we think of miracles. We think, if I just believe hard enough, a miracle, that I desire, can happen. But we need to think of faith in a larger way. Faith is taking God at His Word. So, someone who has an extra gift of faith is someone who can walk through life’s circumstances and have the assurance that the things hoped for will come to pass, that unseen things that God has promised will result in real evidence.
And so, we don’t just have faith in miracles, do we? No, we have faith that there is a place prepared for us, a real heaven, the reward of those in Christ. We have faith that God works together all things for good to those called according to His purpose. We have faith that our Lord will never leave us or forsake us. We have faith that no temptation has overtaken us that there is not a way of escape. We have faith that God hears the prayers of the righteous.
And there are some people, and thank God for them, who are like the words of the Old Testament prophet Habbakuk
For the people to arise who will invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no produce on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields yield no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
We need those people don’t we? Because life is full of trouble, and we have an active spiritual enemy, and we have a weak flesh. We need people who are especially gifted at seeing the spiritual oasis behind the physical wasteland.
Pastor John MacArthur, who appeared frail, delivered a video message to the Shepherds Conference, expressing gratitude for ongoing support, while acknowledging that he is on his “last lap” as he continues to recover after seven weeks in the hospital.
In the video shared on social media, the 85-year-old pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, said he felt well, though his strength had diminished during his hospitalization.
“I want to say grace to you, all [of] you who are at the Shepherds Conference. For me, it’s the highlight of the year, so you have to know my disappointment in coming to you through video,” he told attendees of the conference held March 5-7.
“It really came down to being the only option. I haven’t had such a speedy recovery as I had hoped to have. I feel great; I just lost a lot of strength by being seven weeks in the hospital. ... I’m seeing a physical therapist, trainers, and trying to get back as soon as possible.”
MacArthur also thanked supporters for their prayers and faithfulness.
He added: “I realize I’m on the last lap. That takes on a new meaning when you know you’re on the short end of the candle. I am all thanks and praise to God for everything He’s allowed me to be a part of and everything He’s accomplished by His Word in these years of ministry. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ.”
The conference concluded Friday, and his address appeared online on Saturday. Complications from heart and lung surgeries have prolonged MacArthur's absence from church.
Last year, he underwent multiple procedures, including what he described in November as “three heart surgeries and surgery on my lungs in those last few months.” He also mentioned “stress” but expressed gratitude for remaining active.
Further medical complications led to extended time in the hospital, though he was briefly seen at church before returning to treatment. His prolonged hospitalization earlier this year followed breathing difficulties in January, leading to further treatment.
Phil Johnson, executive director of MacArthur’s Grace to You ministry, disclosed at the time that the pastor required ongoing tests and physical therapy, cautioning against speculation about palliative care. He indicated that only a small circle knew the full extent of MacArthur’s condition. Johnson also addressed erroneous rumors about MacArthur’s discharge dates.
By February, a church leader confirmed MacArthur’s release from the hospital and stated he was recuperating at home. Medical teams have been monitoring his progress, recommending regular therapy to rebuild strength.
MacArthur has led Grace Community Church since 1969. Over decades of ministry, he has delivered thousands of sermons, authored books and reached international audiences through broadcasts and online platforms. He maintained a consistent preaching schedule until hospital stays and surgeries disrupted his routine. Still, he resumed limited speaking opportunities when his health allowed.