Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
4. The lesson this morning is about
ministering the gift. 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 10. As every man hath received the
gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. As every man has received the
gift, what gift? That's the first thing we ought
to ask ourselves when we read this verse. What gift is he talking
about? He didn't say, as every man has
received a gift. He said, as every man has received
the gift. The gift. And there's only one
gift worthy to be called the gift, and that's the gift of
eternal life in Christ Jesus. Our Lord. Paul said to the Roman
church, he said, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God, the gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. And three times Paul emphasizes
this great truth in Romans chapter 5. He just keeps talking about
it because he's talking in the book of Romans, in the epistle
to the Romans, he's talking about justification by the free grace
of God through faith. And so he emphasizes this thing
of salvation as a gift. In Romans 5.15 he said, but not
as the offense, So also is the free gift, talking about Christ,
talking about salvation in Christ. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by
grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. In Romans 5, verse 17, He said,
For if by one man's offense death reign by one, Much more, they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. And then again, he says
it in verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift come upon all men
under justification of life. So the gift of God is eternal
life in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, if we don't
have that gift, the other gifts don't amount to much anyway.
Huh? Because you can minister those
gifts. We can minister these gifts of
intelligence. We have teachers right here in
the United States, good teachers, right here in Arkansas, good
teachers who don't know God. And they minister those gifts
to the children. And they minister those gifts
to a constantly changing number of children that come into their
classrooms. They minister that gift. But
that gift has nothing to do with this work of Christ or the grace
of God. You see what I'm saying? If we
don't have the gift, if we don't have eternal life in Christ,
all of these other gifts don't amount to much. What if I could
speak in tongues? It wouldn't do me any good. What
good would it do me? I run around here speaking in
tongues. What good would it do me if I don't have eternal life
in Christ? So these gifts that we're going
to get into here a little later, they all are dependent on the
gift, on the gift. And the gift of God is eternal
life in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Our Lord left
Judea. He was on His way north to Galilee,
and He passed through Samaria, a little place called Sychar.
Jacob's well was there. And he being weary with his journey,
he went up and sat down on the side of the well. Now, we had
an old dug well on my daddy's farm that he retired on. Had
an old dug well there. We had some even up in Ohio when
I was a little kid. But the one down on the farm
that he retired on, it had a bucket and a pulley, and you would let
that bucket down in the well, and you'd draw water up out of
it. And I can remember working up on grubbing those hillsides
and trying to clear pasture ground and stuff. And I can remember
being tired and coming down and sitting down on the edge of that
old well. And Daddy would draw up a big bucket full of water,
and we'd all drink from that well water. And Christ sat on
the edge of that well. And as he was sitting there,
this American woman came out at an odd hour. She didn't come
out when everybody else come out. to everybody else who got
their water, and she'd come out. She had good reason. She'd been
married three or four times, and the husband that she had
at the time wasn't her husband. And no doubt she was, you know,
kind of blackballed from the didn't want to hear all the comments
and rhetoric of the people. So she'd come out about that
time, and there was Christ sitting on the edge of the well, and
she came over to draw water. And when she got that bucket
drawed up to the top, the Lord said, give me to drink. And she said, how is it you being
a Jew ask of me for water? The Jews don't have any dealings
with the Samaritans. Why would you ask me for a drink
of water? And he said, if you knew the
gift of God and who it is that's asking you for a drink, you would
have asked of me, and I'd have given you water that would have
been a well of water in you springing up into everlasting life, if
you knew the gift of God. If you knew. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse
8, he calls faith the gift of God. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. And it's called the gift of God
because it's through faith that chosen sinners embrace Christ
and lay hold on Him whose life eternal. All right. Now, when the believer
receives Christ, who is the unspeakable gift of God, he's also the recipient
of all the spiritual blessings of God. When he receives Christ, he receives
all spiritual blessings. Isn't that what he says over
in Ephesians chapter 1? That our Father has blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
according as He's chosen us in Him before the foundation of
the world. He blessed us with all spiritual blessing. He holds
nothing back from the believer, nothing back from His elect.
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Everything
the believer needs in this world, he received in Christ before
the foundation of the world, so that those things that he
receives in times were purposed way back yonder in eternity.
And there's no way that he's not going to receive them. He's
going to receive them. He's an heir of these things. And believers, having received
the gift, they realize that all they have, and even their existence
in this world, are gifts of God. They're gifts of God. Speaking
of this very thing, Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, and
he's going to confirm himself as the minister of God. And he
said this, he said, God who separated me from my mother's womb. Huh? You mean God did that? You mean
God purposed his existence? You mean God was in that? That
old Pharisee when he was born? You mean God was in that act?
Exactly what Paul is saying. God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me,
that I might preach Him among the heathen. God's people are fellow laborers
with God in His kingdom. And whatever talents they have,
whatever gifts they possess, they're all obligated by love
and gratitude to minister to the children of God. in whatever
capacity that they can, whatever it is. They're all not going
to be preachers. They're all not going to be able to give
what some men are able to give. They're all not going to be able
to sing like some men sing. All not going to be able to play
instruments. They're all not going to be able to stand and
publicly address the people or publicly pray for the people. He distributes his talents among
his people, and they're obligated by love and gratitude, realizing
that everything they have is the gift of God. Now, I'll tell
you something. When you realize that your job,
that you work every day, is the gift of God, and you're stewards
of that, you're stewards of that, because what you're doing every
day affects God's kingdom. You represent Him out on that
job. And that income that you get,
you're obligated by love and so on to give and to support
the preaching of the gospel. You see what I'm saying? These
gifts. When we realize that our everyday life, everything in
it, all the gifts that He's given us, all of these things, they
all come because we've received the gift. And we're obligated
because we've received the gift. We're obligated by love and grace
and gratitude to minister those things to others. The more I know about Christ,
the more I'm inspired to give, to give of myself, to give of
my income, to give of my talents and my time. In doing so, we
become good stewards of the manifold grace of God. All right, let's
look back now to 1 Peter 4, verse 11. All of these gifts, all these
gifts that we have. Now, if any man speak, he's going
to single out some gifts. If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God. Boy, I tell you, you need to
read that about 8 or 10 times and think about it. I spent hours
in my study looking at this word, oracles, and what it means, if
any man speak. Let me show you a couple of things
here about the oracles of God. Let's begin over in Romans chapter
3. Turn over there with me for just a minute. You remember the last part of
Romans 2? He's talking to the Jews. He
talked about the Gentiles. and how they didn't want to retain
the knowledge of God. They didn't want to receive God's
witness in creation, and they didn't want to receive God's
witness in their conscience. They didn't want to retain God
in their knowledge, so God gave them over to themselves. That's
how come they're out there as idolaters and ignorant of God
and saying all that they say. And then he turns to the Jews
and he said, you've pretty much done the same thing, but you
did it on a different level. And he said, the Jews, he said,
a true Jew is not one who's the physical son of Abraham, but
he's inwardly a Jew. He's inwardly a Jew. He's a spiritual
Jew. God has a spiritual people. All
right. And then he tells us in Romans
chapter 3 verse 1, then what advantage then hath the Jew?
What profit is there in circumcision? Why did God form a nation out
of this man Abraham that was called Jews, that was called
Israel? Sons of Jacob, why did God do
this? What advantage was there to this? If as Paul had stated in the
last verses of chapter 2 that the true Jew is a spiritual Jew
and circumcision is that of the heart, not the cutting off of
the flesh, so why did God from this nation, why did he form
this nation and why did he preserve this nation? Verse 2, what advantage
had that? Much every way. Chiefly because
that under them were committed the oracles of God. Now the oracles
of God, what this thing oracle means, and you see this name
applied to people like Plato and philosophers, great philosophers
of the past and so on. The oracles of God is his spoken
word. That's oracles. That's what that
is. Paul said, God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets. That's His spoken Word. And that's
what Paul is telling these Jews there in Romans chapter 3. They
had great advantage because they had the spoken Word of God. God
inspired some men. He had some messengers that He
ordained, that He equipped, and He gave them His message, and
they spoke that message to the people. He had no private words
with Israel. He always spoke through His prophets. I know he spoke to Balaam through
an ass, and I know that he spoke to Lot through some angels and
so on. But the foundation of the Old
Testament saints' faith was based on the spoken word of God. Now,
you go through there and see if what I'm telling you is not
so. And the same is true in the New
Testament. God spoke to them through his
apostles. He said, we're built upon the
foundation of the prophets and apostles. Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. The oracles of God is the spoken
word of God. And these men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. God didn't write his words in
a book and somebody found it and tried to interpret it and
so on. I forgot what they are, where
old Joseph Smith, he supposedly found the word of God, and here
it was in a book. God wrote it, put it in a book,
and he found a book, and he was the only one that could interpret
the book. That's not what he's talking about here. He spoke
by chosen ambassadors who in turn spoke for God to men. So what in the world is Peter
talking when he says, if any man speak, let him speak as the
oracles of God? Is he saying that God still has
inspired men to speak for him whose words are infallibly true?
No, sir. That's not what he's saying.
The Pope claims that ability. He claims that the Whatever laws
he passes, whatever interpretations that he gives of the Holy Scriptures,
and they can change. He can change from one generation
to the next. That's up to him. He claims that. But that's not what Peter's talking
about. Some so-called Christian preachers
claim to have been given special revelations of things to build
schools and statues organizations and collect offerings and on
and on and on it goes. Is that what he's talking about?
No, sir. Not at all. Any man, now I want
you to hear what I'm telling you, any man who claims to have
something new of God is a liar. I don't care what it is. I don't
care how much impact it may have on the world. I don't care how
good it seems. Any man who stands before men
and says, I'm a messenger of God and I've got a new message
for you, you just get up and walk out the door because that
man is fixing to tell a lie. If he says, I got a new gospel,
Paul said, let him be accursed. If he says, I have a new vision,
let him be a curse. Somebody stands and said, there's
a new way. Oh, uh-uh. I'm gone. I'm gone. Paul told Timothy this. This young preacher, he's giving
him advice. He's going to stand and he's
going to speak for God. Paul was convinced of his calling.
I believe Timothy was convinced of his calling. But he knew that
he needed advice from his elder, and Paul gave him some. And he
told Timothy, he said, give yourself to the study and meditation of
the word. You give yourself to know this
book. Know what it says. At least in
your head, know what it says. And meditate on it. Ask God to
give you some understanding about what it says. He said, you give
yourself to that. Give yourself to the study and
meditation of the Word, to preach the Word. Isn't that what he
told Timothy? He said, preach the Word. Yes, I'm going to tell you what
this Word says. Yes, I am. But I'm going to show
it to you in the Word. I'm going to show it to you in
the Word. Preach the Word. Have it so ingrained
in your heart and mind as to be able in an instant to speak. You know what it says? Be instant. And he told Timothy, you be instant,
in season, out of season. Now, if you study and meditate
on the Word, you can be instant because you know what it says.
You know what it says. Be instant, in season, out of
season. To speak as of the oracles of God is to preach the word
of God and the testimony of that word, which is the gospel of
Jesus Christ. And to speak in a public pulpit
type of ministry is to speak for God to men. So in that sense,
if a man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. You preach it in just that way.
Paul said, now then, he went through 2 Corinthians chapter
5 and he said, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. Now listen
to this, as though God did beseech you by us. That's an awesome
statement. That's what it is to preach as
the oracles of God, is to believe in your heart, I believe that this morning as
I'm speaking to you. I believe God called me to this
ministry and given me the revelation of His Gospel. And that standing
here this morning, He brought you by His providence to this
place and He brought me by His providence to this place to give
you the message from Him. I believe that. I believe that. Our Lord sent out seventy Representatives,
70 preachers, he sent them out to go in all these cities where
he himself was getting ready to go. He told them this. He said, he that heareth you,
heareth me. Huh? Well, preacher, you're just putting
yourself way up on a pedestal. Oh, no. I can't put myself anywhere. If God doesn't do the work, if
God doesn't arrange His providence, if God hadn't put me here, then
this whole thing is just a bunch of baloney. Now, it's one or
the other. There are no gray areas. We do not speak as one with a
new directive or a new revelation, but as one who has the spoken
Word of God, that inspired spoken Word of God, as to the salvation
of sinners. John Gill said this. He said,
those who speak are mindful of whom they represent. They are
sin of God. Their message is of divine origin. They speak of eternal matters,
matters of great consequence, divine things, and their attitude
and conduct and mannerisms are to be complementary to that message. What they say must be in agreement
with the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ. And it's to
be spoken, because it is, dogmatically. Dogmatically. And uncompromisingly. And as one with the authority
of God to speak it. Isn't that what they said about
Christ, those Pharisees? They said, He don't speak like
those other guys. He speaks as one with authority.
That don't just have to do with Christ. He had all authority.
But those he sent had authority. And they're to speak with that
authority. Confidence in the God who sent them and with some
understanding of the consequences. He's to speak the whole counsel
of God. He's not to hold back anything.
And he's not to mix any of his own chaff. with it. I like how
Gil stated that, not to mix his own chaff in with it. Our Lord
said to the 70, he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that
despiseth you, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. And then James tells us where
this good and perfect gift come from. They come down from the
Father of lights. with whom is no variableness.
They're unchangeable. God's not going to repent of
these gifts. And they're irreversible. It's
the irreversible will of God, He said, to begat His sons with
the word of truth. And then He tells us in verse
19 of James chapter 1, Wherefore, beloved brethren, let every man
be swept ahead. Now, if this man stands to speak,
And he speaks as of the oracles of God. There are great consequences. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Isn't that what he says in the commission? Sure it is. Paul told those Jews. These were
I can't even describe to you the qualification that these
men had. They held master's degrees in
theology. They weren't stupid people. They weren't ignorant. They were
well-educated. They understood they had hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of years, thousands of years of
history behind them. And he said to those Jews who
wouldn't receive the gospel, he said, Seeing you judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, I turn from you to the Gentiles. There
were consequences in what Paul preached. And he knew it. So James says, let every man
be swift to hear and slow to speak and slow to write. If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God, sober. I ain't talking about sober from
alcohol. But let that man be sober. It's
not a joke. Not a joke. Everybody, when you
start to talk to them about the Lord, try to mix a bunch of humor
into it. Take the seriousness out of it.
Goddamn bastards don't. Sober, grave, temperate, compassionate,
patient, and yet tender and merciful in long-suffering. All right,
let's go back to verse 11 in 1 Peter chapter 4. If any man
speak, let him speak as of the oracles of God. If any man minister,
minister what? Whatever he has. You want to
minister your time? You want to minister your money? You're going to minister yourself. Sometimes yourself is what's
needed. Not call somebody on the phone
like he tells us over in the book of James. You see a man
in trouble and you say, well, Lord bless you, and go on your
way. No. Sometimes yourself is needed. Sometimes just showing up, being
there, ready to give. that he may minister, let him
do so as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and
dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now how is Christ glorified? in these small things, in these
small gifts. How is he glorified in that?
It says here that this ability which God giveth, that God in
all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Well, all of these things pertain
to him, don't they, in the kingdom of God? What is there in the
kingdom of God that doesn't pertain to Christ? Everything does. And that's where religion just
totally ignores that. But Christ is Lord. He's the
one mediator between God and man. He's the only one. Salvation's
in him. None other name given among men
whereby we must be saved. Everything that happens down
here pertains to him. And everything that happens down
here has been granted by him. And so we have great privileges
given to us. And all of this ministering that
we do, is a privilege. At the church in Ashland, there
was just so many kind and generous people, and also there in Danville
at Brother Don's, people ready to help. They were ready to help,
ready to assist, ready to give wherever it was needed. And we're
all not gifted to the same degree or in the same things, physically,
mentally, monetarily, affectionately, so
that whether we pray or sing or give or witness or wait on
tables or relieve the poor and the sick, we're to do it without
complaining. Huh? Oh, I tell you, I'm world
worse. We're to do these things without
complaining, willingly, out of love and gratitude to God. knowing that all these things
pertain unto that unspeakable gift of God, which is Christ.
And then he says this, to whom be praise and dominion forever
and ever. You know, those who know God,
praise God. A man says, I know God, and then
he goes through all these shenanigans at church and sings all these
ungodly hymns and dances around and makes a fool out of himself
and calls it worship. He doesn't praise God. Those
who know God praise God. They praise Him. Let me read something for you.
This is the very last psalm, the 150th psalm. Listen to this. Praise ye the Lord. That's what
David said. Praise Him. Praise God in His
sanctuary. Praise Him in the firmament of
His power. You know what that word firmament
is? You remember that from my study in Genesis? That's the
environment. We live in an environment of
grace. Praise Him in His environment,
in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts.
My soul, He created the world. He found us dead, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins, and sent to us His Sovereign
Spirit, and we're born of God. Praise Him for His mighty acts.
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. My soul, when you
start to study and think about God, it overwhelms you, don't
it? There are several places in the
book of Romans where Paul just gets so overwhelmed, he just
goes and starts talking about God and His glory. Praise Him according to His excellent
greatness. Praise Him with the sound of
the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery in the heart. Praise
Him with the timbrel. Praise Him in the dance. Praise
Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the
loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high-sounding
cymbals. Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. And then He tells us one more
time, praise ye. to whom be praise and dominion
forever and ever.