Hospitality, exhortation, helps
Key Passage: Romans 12:6, 13; 1 Peter 4:9
Date: June 7, 2024
Would you turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 12 tonight? We are doing a study on spiritual gifts. We started last Sunday night. We are going to try for the next couple Sunday nights—of course, not next Sunday night—to cover three gifts a Sunday night. Now, that may be a mistake. Three may be pushing it. We will see what happens. But three may be a bit.
In fact, I give the verses to the PA booths online; they can give them out. Even they were like, “Man, that’s a lot of verses tonight.” I said, “I know. We will see what happens.” So we are planning on three. We may only get two in tonight. We will see what happens. All right? We are going to start off talking with the gift of hospitality, the gift of hospitality.
We are going to start in Romans chapter 12 in God’s Word. If you missed last Sunday night, I will encourage you to watch online and get caught up on spiritual gifts. We are in Romans 12, and we will start off in verse number 6. Would you stand, please, tonight? How about this? I will talk fast. You listen fast. We will get done. Well, not so fast. How about that? We will see what happens. Romans 12, verse number six of God’s Word. You are there tonight, amen? Amen. Good deal.
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us: whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.”
Now jump down to verse number 13. Just kind of want you to see the subject here. The context is about spiritual gifts. Look at verse number 13: “Distributing to the necessity of the saints; given to hospitality.”
Look, if you will, over in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter number 4, 1 Peter chapter number 4 and verse number 9. 1 Peter chapter number 4 and verse number 9 in the Bible. First Peter four verse number nine: “Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Now, just for a bit, we will start off on this gift of hospitality. Would you pray that the Lord would use it just to not just speak to our head but to our hearts and grow us as Christians as we study these gifts tonight?
I was going to mention the Bible to talk about a bishop. A bishop is an overseer of a church, a pastor, if you will. First Timothy 3:2 says, “given to hospitality.” Titus 1:5 told me to Bishop; he says, “a lover of hospitality.” Just the importance of this gift, by the way. We had someone here this morning. I, of course, would never say who it was. They are not a first-time visitor, but they are not a member of our church. But here recently they have spoken of just ending their life. And I say that to say, you realize you never know who is coming in these doors and the need for people to be loved and just welcomed here. So very, very important. By the way, I think they left encouraged this morning, and I thank the Lord for that.
This gift of hospitality is such an important thing in a church. It comes really from two Greek words: Philo or Philaeos—a little different tense of the word—and it has to do with brotherly love or being fond of. And another word, Greek word, is Xenox. And that word, Greek word, has to do with a foreigner or a guest or a visitor. It has to do with one who has a special love for visitors or new people: the gift of hospitality.
Let me give a couple of attributes of someone that I would think has the gift of hospitality. Someone that is very, very concerned; they are focused on how the visitors feel in a new organization, in a new church. We are doing a church setting here; they are very concerned about it. They are good at making people feel welcome and kind of putting people at ease. They are very good at—I think if we used to have a lady in our church who moved away, but she was from Vietnamese, I think it was—but she was just good. Every visitor, not everyone, but a lot of them, I go by and visit them later on at their house, and they would mention, “Who is that Asian lady? She is just a friendless lady.” And very often new people would comment on how she made them feel at home. She is very gifted in that area, very good at that area. By the way, she is in real estate now and doing very, very well and probably using that gift a little bit there. She is just good at it. And some people are gifted at that. They are very good at it. God has given them that gift. They are very concerned that new people are just taken care of.
I am not sure this family that visited us this morning—they were sitting down here—I am not sure who gave them the card. I mentioned it from the pulpit; someone had already given them one. Whoever gave them that probably has a gift of hospitality. They were focused on, “We have guests here. How do they feel? Have they been given a card? Have they been taken care of?” and on and on.
Not only is someone that has a gift of hospitality concerned about how the person feels the first time they come to the church, they are very concerned that those people get integrated into the church family, into the circle of the church. See, there is a difference between just shaking their hand, making them feel good one Sunday, or walking them into your circle of friends. A person that has a gift of hospitality does not like cliques. They do not like this little group here and this little group. They want everybody to be included in the group. They want someone just to fit in; they want them rather just become a part of the family. They are focused on that. They are concerned about that. They enjoy creating an environment where people feel valued and cared for, and they feel a part of the family.
And you say, “Well, I have the gift of hospitality.” Well, if you are always going out with the same people all the time and you are never including new people, maybe not. You know what I am saying? They are concerned about people not just the first time—yes, the first time—but that they get integrated into the church family and they feel at home; they are part of it. And that is a great, great gift. Every church needs that if we are going to be a church reaching people. We must, we must exercise it. Let me say this: I mentioned later on, even if you are not gifted in a certain area, it does not mean you cannot work at that area. God did not just give you that, but you can work at it.
Here is a little weakness. Most of these gifts, I will try to give their strength and their uses, and sometimes they have weaknesses. The weakness of someone that has a gift of hospitality is they can have a tough time setting boundaries in the relationship. If your kindness is appealing to someone’s sensual side, stop it. Turn it off. The weakness can be they hang around the wrong crowd trying to help them grow, trying to help them feel comfortable, but if their own crowd is just not growing, and they do not want to grow, then back off. How can two walk together except they be agreed? But it is such an important, such an important gift.
The early church in the Book of Acts was a growing church. I want you to see, look over in Acts chapter number two. I want you to see something that they did quite a bit in the early church. Acts chapter number two. See what they were doing a lot of in this early church. Acts two. Look in verse number 41. Acts 2 in verse number 41. By the way, the church was just growing—thousands and thousands—and they were growing. “Acts 2:41: Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Wow. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Look at verse number 46: “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”
Here is one good thing: they ate together a lot. I mean, they were just fellowshipping. Whether it was that crack or barrel, amen right there, or church fellowship, Sunday night, or whatever it is, or church picnic or having them over to your house or whatever—just, they were eating together. And they had fellowship. And that is so very, very important.
This is interesting. Jesus, after he had resurrected, he is there with his apostles. They knew him, but he was in a different form. They did not get who it was. Let me read for you what happens here. Luke 24:30: “And it came to pass, as they sat at meat with him, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”
Now here is what I am saying: They did not really recognize Jesus until right before the meal. Jesus stopped. “Let us pray.” And when he prayed, they said, “We know who he is. That is Jesus.” And here is the thing: They were with Jesus so often eating with him when he prayed before the meal; they knew who he was. I am just talking about the fellowship, how important it is. And people with the gift of hospitality are good at bringing people into the fellowship. Okay? From the first time they visit the church and beyond, just integrating them into the fellowship of the church. It is just crucial. It is so vital. People need that. They say when people start coming to church, within six weeks, they want relationships. They want to know someone. Praise the Lord, if they get to know me, I am glad to know them; I love them. But it cannot just be the preacher; it has to be everybody. And it is just key that they know everybody if we are going to be a growing church. And praise the Lord God’s blessing, we were. I have already mentioned, but on a sick day, I was very pleased with attendance. I was very pleased with that. But if we are going to be growing, we have got to have this gift, people using it and developing it and finding ways to put it into practice in our church. So very, very important.
There was a church, First Baptist Church, Hammond—a lot of you know of it. And a man visited it years and years ago. He was out of town; he had heard about the church. And so he visited the church. When he went to that church, someone at the end of the service said, “Hey, you’re a guest, aren’t you?” And he said, “Yes, I am from so-and-so.” And they said, “Well, can we have you over to our house to eat?” And he said, “Well, sure,” you know. Just the friendliness of those people inviting him over, welcoming him. By the way, those people did that; that was kind of one of their ministries: visitors in the church. They were trying to get them to feel welcome, and so they invited them over to their house to eat, whatnot. They had no idea who this guest in the church was, but the man visited, and he loved it; he enjoyed it. He found out that man was a multimillionaire and gave literally millions of dollars to that ministry. In fact, his name is Russell Henderson; he is in heaven now. That is how they get the name Henderson College. And the first time he visited the church, one thing that greatly spoke to him—just everything he liked it—but someone welcomed him in, integrated him into the church. They probably had the gift of hospitality. And that spoke to that millionaire. He said, “Well, this church has got people in here that make you feel at home.” And praise the Lord, he gave lots of dollars to the work of God there. So the gift of hospitality is so very, very important.
Man, praise the Lord, we have already covered one gift, and it is only 6:35. We are doing pretty good. Look over Romans chapter 12. Let us go to the gift of exhortation, the gift of exhortation. And many, when you say that, they will say encouragement, and it is part of it. But let us get a little bit more specific. Let us dive into this a little bit more than just that word. Romans chapter number 12.
Would you look at verse number eight as a way of introduction into this gift? Romans 12 and verse number eight: “Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; and he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” Just want you to get this gift of exhortation. The Greek word there is parakaleo. If you look it up in Strong’s Concordance—and I do not believe everything he says, but it is a good help—it will say “to call near, to invite.” This is someone that is good at calling someone near to themselves as they are following and growing in the Lord. They are encouraging people: “Let us grow for the Lord. Let us grow in the Lord.”
Look over in Acts chapter number 11, a couple examples of exhortation in the Bible, the early church. They sent Barnabas to Antioch. The gospel is getting spread down there, and God is working down there. Let us see what happens. Acts chapter 11, and look in verse number 21. Acts 11, verse number 21: “And the hand of the Lord was with him: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” People getting saved all over. “Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.”
Look in chapter 14, Acts 14. This is Paul and Barnabas again on the first missionary journey, Acts 14, and verse number 22. They are getting people saved; they are starting churches. Look at this, Acts 14:22: “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith.”
Someone who exhorts encourages someone; they call them near: “Let us grow in the Lord, let us live for the Lord, let us do something for God, let us become a disciple of Christ.” A good practical definition of this gift of an exhorter is someone gifted at calling others to join him or her in the cause of Christ, through encouragement, comfort, advice, or challenge.
Let me give you someone that you said has the gift of exhortation. What would be some attributes of someone like that? They leave people feeling motivated to be all God wants them to be. They are very focused on the growth of others in the Lord. They want others growing. They want everyone to be a Charles Atlas, spiritually, not physically. Amen. They tend to be good at showing practical truths in the Word of God in helping people integrate the Bible into their lives. They are good at confronting people with truth without offending them. They are good at coaching others to be all that can be for the Lord. It would be like at a ballgame—there is a difference between cheering at a ball game and going to a ball game where some people just say, “You are the sorriest guy! Get that ball!” They are almost ready to beat him over the head. And you are trying to cheer, and you are thinking, “You stink! Why could you not get that?” I remember we used to go to our kids’ ballgames, and I think of a man even now—if I were his son, I would think, “Dad, do not come to my ballgames,” you know. He just humiliated his son all the time. And then there are people at a ballgame—man, you want them cheering for you. They are just uplifting; they are encouraging. You want to do better because you know they are over there cheering for you. Now, that is an exhorter. There is a difference there. Someone has a gift of exhortation; they encourage people to grow in the Lord.
This is interesting. When someone has a problem in their life, remember, they are just focused on people growing. So they do not see that problem necessarily as bad always; they see it as an opportunity for that person to grow. Often when they pray for people going through their tough times, their prayers are, “Let them grow through this thing; bring good out of this thing.” The gift of exhortation. I think a lot of pastors have this gift. A lot of pastors that I have talked to about spiritual gifts will say, “Well, I think that is my gift.” Not always. It does not have to be like that. But I am surprised; when we get to the gift of a prophet, I am surprised how many pastors really are not. That is not necessarily their primary gift. But it is interesting, just these attributes of someone with the gift of exhortation.
Let us talk for just a minute about the importance of exhortation. Everyone wants and needs someone around them that has a gift of exhortation. Anybody I will tell you like that? Oh, man, my goodness. Everybody needs that? I thought about when I was—you have heard me mention—I was 12 years old, and a Christian school teacher said, “Paul, I think you would make a good preacher one day.” Never dreamed of that. Never dreamed of it. Not me. I am the loner, quiet guy in the corner somewhere. Not me. And I think she had the gift of prophecy. Oh, boy, she could be strict. But I think she was also gifted at exhortation. She knew how to encourage people to be what they ought to be for the Lord. And I think she is good, and I am thankful for that.
Look over in Hebrews 10:25. You know the verse. Many of you probably have it memorized, but there is something about this thing, the importance of the gift of exhortation. You will notice that this is the verse where typically you ought to go to church. Why? Because the Lord told you to go to church. Where is that found in the Bible? Hebrews 10:25. All right. I want you to see what specifically he says over here in Hebrews 10:25 in the Bible. Hebrews 10:25. When you are there, would you say amen? Amen. Look what he says there. He says, “Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” In some ways, we are all supposed to be exhorters. Now, some maybe are gifted more than others at that, but we are all supposed to be exhorting one another as part of church; that is part of the community of it. Praise the Lord, those people that are sick today, they can watch online, and that is good. That is better than nothing. And, you know, people are sick; they cannot help that. But that is what you are missing if somebody does not come to church. They cannot come to church, assemble, as the Bible says, and then be exhorting one another. See? Through preaching, yes, but through just fellowship, shaking hands and talking to one another, just showing up sometimes, and all that is very, very important.
Paul told the young preacher Timothy 4:13, he said, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” He is telling—teaching his younger preacher—“Man, you better give attention, you better watch, you better learn to give exhortation.” It is such an important thing. If people are going to reach their potential for the Lord, there must be around them people with the gift of exhortation. It is just key. It is just very, very key.
Now, we talk about weakness—the weakness of an exhorter or someone that is very gifted in the area of exhortation. With most all of these, the weakness I will use this word in it: pride. It is just part of it. Because when God uses you to encourage someone, that is a wonderful thing, praise the Lord for it. And they may even say thank you and encourage you back and all that. But it is easy to get a little proud then. And it is easy to be humble when you are at the bottom. Well, I know people at the bottom; they are still pretty proud. But God uses you a little bit, and then it can get into self-righteousness and pride, so that can be a weakness. By the way, when someone compliments you, whatnot, that is a good thing. That is not a bad thing. But here is what you do so you do not take that and get proud: You are right. Do not just take that and put it in your pocket. Somebody says, “You know what you said to me last week or that phone call or that text or that letter—that encouraged me.” All right, just man, look at me right there, right there, right there, you know. Do not do that. Take what they gave to you and then say, “Hey, Lord, you know what? Me and you both know who that belongs to. You are right. There is in me, in my flesh, no good thing, Lord. So I do not want to take the credit. I do not want to act like I am all that. Lord, that really belongs to you. Thank you, Lord, for using an old sinner like me.” You always take that and you pass it on to the Lord because if you take it and hold onto it, you get careful. Sometimes you get an appetite for that, and you are always looking for affirmation. You do not want that. Then you begin doing it for the glory of man and not for the Lord.
Proverbs 25:27: “It is not good to eat much honey.” Now, some honey is good. Amen, brother. That is exactly right. “It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to seek their own glory is not glory.” See? Let me just say a word about this: if we are not careful, we motivate others for the Lord with our own motives.
Look over in First Thessalonians chapter number two. It is an interesting verse about the gift of exhortation. First Thessalonians two, if you would, please. We are trying to hurry along because Brother Garrett has been dozing off a couple times already. No, he had not. He had not at all. But he had been talking to me. I am giving him a hard time tonight. I am teasing with him. I have been picking on Brother Frank all the time; I am trying to find somebody else, you know. And they are both wearing great tonight. So I love them both; they are both great men. First Thessalonians chapter number two, look in verse number three. First Thessalonians chapter number two, verse number three: “For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile.” So you can give exhortation with deceit or uncleanness or in guile, deceiving manipulation. And that is the sad thing—someone is trying to encourage, but they are doing it really out of manipulation to get a position or get someone to like them or to be the most popular person, all these things. No, no, no, no, no. It is very important that I am using these gifts with pure motives. If it is for selfish reasons, so others look at us—oh, no, no, no.
I remember a great preacher. I love him; he is in heaven, but he was one of my heroes, and I got to spend a couple of days with him. It is very interesting. We had a problem in our church years ago, and I began to tell him about the problem in our church, wanting to get his advice. All of a sudden, he started telling me about problems in his church. He had a very large church. Of course, his problems were like a mile long; mine was like a foot long, you know. At first, I thought, “What in the world is he doing? I am asking advice about our problems.” He is telling me all his problems. Very wise. By the end of it, I walked away thinking, “Well, our problems are not so bad after all.” He knew what he was doing. But one of the things he said was that he had a bus—they ran many, many buses up to the church. He said, “When that bus comes in, I know the number that bus captain gives me is not going to be accurate. He is always padding his numbers.” He said, “I have to have a man, if I can, I will have a man that counts how many are on that bus so I find out the true numbers.” He is just telling me the issues of a bit of passion, whatnot. But my thought was, how sad. That man bringing those boys and girls on that church bus to church—their motives were not right. And to be seen of men, the Bible says, you have no reward. You know, you got your rewards, somebody saw it, type thing. So be very careful with the gifts, the gift of exhortation, whatever it may be, that your motives are right.
I am talking about the weakness of exhortation. Sometimes someone with this gift can be easily discouraged when there is lack of growth among people. They just get discouraged when nobody is growing. If a church is to truly be helping people grow in the Lord, there must be exhortation going on—from the pulpit sometimes, and when the Lord leads—but amongst the people, it must be, it must be the gift of exhortation.
Now, we have covered the gifts of hospitality and we have already covered the gift of exhortation. Do you think we already tried to get the third one in there tonight or not? All right, good deal. Do not blame it on me; they said amen. It is their fault now. Okay. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter number 12 and just for a minute or two here. Let us talk about the gifts of helps, the gifts of helps in 1 Corinthians chapter number 12. And look down in verse number 27. First Corinthians 12 and verse number 27: “Gifts of helps” here for just a minute.
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular; and God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” By the way, some of those are the assigned gifts. But this gift of helps, just for a minute—what is the meaning? The word “helps” there—if I try to say the Greek word, I will not be helping you because I cannot pronounce it right. Well, this is what I think Strong’s Concordance says about that Greek word: it just means to relieve. The root word meaning, the root Greek word here, has to do with taking hold of something instead of them holding on. A very strict definition would be to relieve someone by taking hold of the object instead of them.
Look over Numbers chapter number 11. There is a good Bible illustration of it, Numbers chapter number 11, and maybe it will help kind of click in our minds. Numbers chapter number 11. Moses was just weary; he was tired. He was trying to lead all those millions of Jewish people—we have been talking about that a lot on Wednesday nights—and he just kind of wore out. In Numbers chapter 11, look at verse number 14: “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.” Remember the gift of help—someone to relieve the pressure, the weight. “If thou deal thus with me, I pray thee, kill me out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.” He said, “Take me home, Lord.” And the Lord said unto him, “Gather unto me seven men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.” That is the gift of help. Look at verse number 25: “And the Lord came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.”
Apostle Paul had many helpers: Aquila and Priscilla. Remember, they were tent makers, and they were just a husband and wife. They were very helpful with Paul and his ministry. Eventually, they had a church in their house. Let me read for you. I will just read it for you. Romans 16:3: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus.” Romans 16:9: “Salute Urbanus, our helper in Christ.”
Look, if you will, over in Philippians chapter number two. Philippians chapter number two. And just helpers. We will get to more practical examples and try to get some attributes of a helper here in just a moment, trying to get some Bible examples of this thing of a helper, the gifts of helps. Philippians chapter number two. And look down verse number 19, if you will. Philippians 2 and verse number 19: “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy unto you shortly, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”
Now, he does not use the word “helps” here, but this is what I am getting at. I think Timothy had the gift of helps. He was kind of the—Paul was his mentor, his trainer—and Paul wanted someone to go minister to these people. He said, “I really do not have anyone like-minded; I do not have anyone that would go and help this church like I would.” But Timothy had gotten it, and he knew how Paul worked, and he said, “He is like-minded like me, and he will go minister to you like I would minister to you.” Okay, I think Timothy had the gifts of helps.
Let me give you a practical definition of helps: One that easily grasps and catches the vision and heart of a leader and enjoys relieving the leader by doing all they can to see that it is accomplished. And this could be not necessarily a pastor. It could be a husband. It could be a Sunday school teacher at work. Maybe you could use it not spiritually per se, but with your boss, you know. But it is just someone that is gifted. They easily grasp and catch the vision of the leader, and they know how to relieve the leader by making that be accomplished by doing things for them.
A couple of attributes of someone that has a gift of help: They enjoy doing scenes or jobs in the shadow. They do not have to be out in the forefront; everybody is watching them. They are not concerned about that. They enjoy doing behind-the-scenes jobs. They are gifted at comprehending and following the mind and heart of the leader. I have already mentioned that. I remember my uncle, my uncle David, we were working on, I think, a lawnmower when I was a boy, and I just always remember this: He was needing a certain tool, and he said something like that. He said, “Paul,” he said, “a good helper knows what that man needs before he even says anything.” And I am like, “How do you do that?” But I always remember that. And I am not saying I am gifted in this, but I would watch for that. If I thought he needed that, whatnot, I was trying to get it even before he said it. Someone is just good at catching the vision and catching the weight and catching the burden, and they are good at relieving that. Someone has a gift of helps that can help a leader without competing with a leader. They are good at assisting, not taking over. A leader can trust them. They are a blessing to their leader. They make their leader feel relieved of duties. They like doing small, practical jobs to free up the leader, wherever that leader may be. They are just good at that. They are gifted at doing a task the way the leader wants it to be done. They enjoy that. They are focused on that.
I thought about Lee Robertson. How many know who Lee Robertson is? Pastor at Highland Park Baptist Church and started Tennessee Temple back in the day, Tennessee Temple University. God used them greatly. A lot of preachers came out of Tennessee Temple. Brother Dylan was out of Tennessee. My dad went to Tennessee Temple and others. But Dr. Robertson had an assistant named J.R. Faulkner. And he was just gifted at being able to kind of relieve the pastor of things. He was an assistant for years and years, and he was just talented at it. He was good at it. He was gifted at it. And I am sure he had the gifts of helps.
Now just for a minute here, the importance—the importance of the gifts of helps. If there is going to be synergy—you know what I mean by synergy? Well, you get two horses. One can pull 8,000 pounds. The other can pull 9,000 pounds. You say, “Well, they can pull 17,000 pounds.” But you put those two horses together, and they actually could pull 33,000 pounds. How does that work? Well, one is gifted in a certain area, another is gifted in a certain area, and another area, and you put those together. This one, his strength helps his weakness, and his strength helps his weakness, and you can pull much more weight together. You understand what I am talking about there? That is why a church—that is what God wants the church to be used greatly by him. Just the importance of the gifts. It helps with unity. If you get 10 different people trying to do their own agenda, you are going to have chaos. They are all trying to pull this way and that way; man, you are just going to have maybe a little bit of organized chaos, but for the most part, you have chaos. And so there is just such an important thing.
Now here is the weakness of the gifts. Someone that is gifted with the gifts of help sometimes can replace following God with following a man. That is not wrong to follow a man; that is biblical. First Corinthians 11:1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” That is part of it. But if you are following that man, replacing following the Lord, now there is a problem. The relationships are good, but they ought not to ever replace the relationship of you and the Lord. And if someone just gets so focused on helping a leader, wherever it may be, even in the home, that that is replacing the relationship and their follow to the Lord, now we have got a problem. And always, always, you want your relationship with the Lord to be the top thing and to be the main thing.
A witness of a helper: They can be easily bitter towards others that are not willing to be involved in a helping role. “Well, they are never helping anybody.” I understand, and you probably have some truth to it, but let God handle that. But they get bitter over that. Sometimes the weakness of a helper is they can be taken advantage of just because they have a hard time saying no. And it is wrong for someone to take advantage of that, but it can happen, and we are just talking about their weakness.
Now, let me say this about some of the gifts of helps: I think they will get a lot of rewards in heaven. They are not doing it to be seen of men. Matthew 6:1: “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 19:30: “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” I think these folks are just willing to get involved, and they do not like to be seen by everybody. They enjoy kind of doing things behind the scenes to relieve the leader, wherever that leader may be. They are going to have a lot of rewards because they are not doing it to be seen; they are doing it to be a help and get the job done.
Here is an interesting thought. We are going to close it out for tonight. Look over in Hebrews chapter number 13. Look in verse number five, if you would. Hebrews 13:5. And Hebrews 13, look in verse number five, if you would please. I want you to just see this. Now read another verse, and we are winding it down here, believe it or not. We have got three gifts in—wow, praise the Lord for that. We are kind of ending with this thing, the gifts of helps. And I want you to see something here. I think it is so very, very interesting. Hebrews 13, look at verse number five. He said, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” So that we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper.” Wow. It is amazing how humble and generous and giving God is. “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Psalm 54:4: “Behold, God is mine helper; the Lord is with him that upholdeth my soul.” Isn’t that amazing? We have a God that is our helper. Just amazing. I mean, we ought to be doing all we can for the Lord. And God says, “Hey, I will be your helper.” Pretty amazing.
Now, these gifts—we have talked about the gift of hospitality, the gift of exhortation, the gift of helps. If you are saved, if you are a born-again Christian, you are gifted in some way. Maybe we have not gotten to your gift. We are going to study 12 different gifts. I tend to think there may be more gifts than that, but we are going to study 12 of those. But if you are saved, when you got saved, God gifted you in some form—a spiritual gift, not physical gifts. We talked about that last Sunday night. God has gifted you spiritually for the Lord. And I want you to pray and be praying and be singing, “Lord, what is my gift? Because I want to use my gift for you.” You have heard it said, “Only one life, so soon will pass; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Brother Jim was talking about before service: “Hey, this is just the getting ready place. The big thing is eternity. This world is not my home; I am just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” Are you using your gifts for the Lord? “Show me my gifts, Lord, because I want to use those gifts for you.” It is so very, very important.
And then let me say this. All right, it may reveal, “You know what? I am very needy in this area right here.” Maybe the gift of exhortation or helps or the gift of hospitality, maybe. You said, “Man, I am just in the negative.” Just because you are not gifted in there, it does not mean you cannot work at that area. I think some people that are in a spiritual field are, in some ways, just empowered in every gift. Now, some people are just gifted with them, but you can work at those gifts. And maybe it has been revealed, “I need to work with these gifts here, there, yonder.”
There was a pastor years and years ago, and he went to a businessman in his church, a good man, but he was just busy—he was a businessman. And he said, “Pastor, we need a teacher for the second-grade boys. Would you teach that class?” And the businessman thought about it, whatnot, and he said, “Pastor, I do not want to take that. I am just too busy.” And the pastor said, “Okay, you know.” Ten years later, that businessman had contracted a disease; he was dying. The pastor went and visited. He said, “Man, I am so sorry, I want to pray for you and try to encourage you, whatnot.” And the businessman said this: “Pastor, I know I am dying.” He said, “I have missed 100 opportunities.” He said, “What do you mean? You missed 100 opportunities.” Do you remember? I think you forgot it, but Pastor, remember 10 years ago, you asked me to teach that class, and I said, “No, I am too busy.” And he said, “I have been thinking about that. Usually every year there are about 10 boys in that class. In 10 years, I figured I missed 100 opportunities.” I do not know what it is for you. And sometimes it is right if you just say no to the passion—I am not trying to push that—but I am saying, do not miss the opportunities. God has gifted you in a certain way; use it for the Lord. Look for ways to use it for the Lord. God has gifted us, and he said, “Hey, do not neglect that gift.” Let us use it for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - Hospitality, Exhortation, Helps - Sunday PM 02252024