Hello and welcome to our broadcast. We're dealing with the subject of why people react the way they do. Stay tuned for our program. We're in Romans chapter 12, and we're looking at seven gifts that are listed here. Verse 6 says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, number one, let us prophesy, number two, ministry, let us wait on our ministry, number three, he that teacheth on teaching, 4. He that exhorteth on exhortation. 5. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. 6. He that ruleth with diligence. 7. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. And with each gift, whichever one that you happen to have, you have a motivation that comes with that gift. That is, there is a basic inner desire. The gifts equal a motivation, and the motivation equals a response or a reaction, which means that we will respond in any given situation or any event. in direct relationship with our gift. Now, our series is why people act or react the way they do. And so the prophet is listed here in verse number six, and then the corresponding verse to that one is verse number nine, which gives us his motivation, and that is to abhor that which is evil and to cleave to that which is good. Now, the prophet is motivated to preach or to teach or to speak about what is evil and what is good. He just wants that to happen. If he's preaching, of course, he's a pastor. If he's teaching, it could be any teacher, but he would be one who instructs. And what he's going to speak about, whether it's in a teaching situation or a preaching situation, is it's going to be sound doctrine. Peter was a perfect example of a prophet, and in 1 Peter 4 and verse number 11, Peter said, if any man speak, let him speak the oracles of God. Another example in 2 Peter 2 and verse number 18, he gives a warning there about those who will speak great swelling words of vanity. Now if we look into the life of Peter, we'll find that he was motivated to express his thoughts about what was right and wrong. He spoke more than any other disciple. He became the spokesman of the early church. We read verses like Peter lifted up his voice and then he preached a sermon and Peter looked and he said, why look ye so earnestly on us? Peter was a prophet. He also was one who would make quick judgments, sometimes making them too quickly, which can be one of the weaknesses of the prophet, but he spoke first more than any other disciple. He said to the Lord, bid me come to thee on the water. He said to the Lord, declare unto us this parable. He said, the Lord, the Christ, the Son of the living God, He said, let's build three tabernacles here, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Christ. He said, we have forsaken all and followed thee. And then he also said, I will never be offended. He said, Lord, to whom will we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And then at the supper, he said, thou shalt never wash my feet. He was always very quick to speak and say what was on his mind. The prophet has the ability to spot hypocrisy and usually reacts pretty harshly to it, such as the story of Ananias and Sapphira. He says, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost? And three hours later, he said to his wife, how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Holy Ghost? very quick to spot the hypocrisy and very quick to do something about it. The prophet was also very quick to reject those who offend until things have been straightened out and everybody's been warned. It was Peter that says, should I forgive my brother seven times? And then they're openly honest about their own faults. He said, Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. They are impulsive and wholeheartedly involved in whatever is being done. It was Peter who walked on the water. It was Peter who said, you're not going to wash my feet. And the Lord said, well, then you don't have any part of me. And he said, well, then wash my hands and my head. It was Peter that ran right on into the tomb, very, very wholeheartedly involved in whatever is going on. Then they will give open evidence of loyalty and commitment to the Lord. It was Peter that cut off the ear. of the high priest's servant. They're willing to suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ. The Bible says they came rejoicing, counting themselves worthy to suffer shame. And they're very persuasive in their speech. We see his message on the day of Pentecost. Sometimes we can figure out what our gift is by looking at the weaknesses of the gift. For instance, the prophet, sometimes he's busy correcting people he's not responsible for, and they feel very responsible for everyone, and they find it very difficult to keep quiet when something's going wrong, but sometimes they just need to keep quiet. But they think, and they're right when they say silence gives consent. However, sometimes they will correct people they're not responsible to correct. They can be very quick to jump to conclusions without too many facts. They can come up with quick conclusions about something and then look for evidence to support their conclusions. Sometimes judging is more important to them than restoring a Christian. It's easier for a prophet to point out the problem than it is to come up with a solution. And of course, that's what the exhorter will do. He will come up with a solution once the prophet has pointed out the problem. Sometimes the Prophet can be too quick to reject people who fail and persuade other people to reject them also. With them, it's either friend or foe. Why? Because the cause is at stake. And so they say, well, you know, this has got to be done. And sometimes they jump too quickly. The prophet has to be careful about focusing on the negative all of the time. Because they are very sensitive to the evil, they can spot deception, they can spot hypocrisy immediately, and it can turn out that the prophet is against more than they're for, and if something is partly wrong, then it's all wrong, which of course is not the case. Sometimes there's a lack of tact in expressing the opinion. They are driven by a desire for honesty. They just say what they think they need to say, and sometimes they say it without all the facts, even if it's not their responsibility to say anything at all. The prophet will demand a positive response to a harsh rebuke, walking an aisle after a church service was invented by prophets, and because they want immediate repentance, and they'll magnify failures in order to promote the repentance. And we need to understand about this new nonsense that comes into our, well, it's a damnable heresy is what it is, let's call it what it is, that says you don't have to repent in order to be saved. That was not invented by a prophet. They will condemn themselves when they fail. They're extremely self-critical. They feel worthless when they fail. And they will accuse others of deception if they don't reveal faults. For instance, if they're selling a used car, they'll point out everything that's wrong with that car to the person that's buying it. And that's not a weakness. That's a good thing. But the Prophet has to be honest about everything that he's doing, or at least he wants to be. Well, let's do a little bit of a test here and see if you can figure out if you're a prophet or not. If you are, you're motivated due to the following reactions. You see actions of people as either right or wrong. There's no gray area. Everything is black and white. You react strongly to people who are not what they appear to be. If you're a prophet, you are motivated to detect when something is not what it appears to be, and you can quickly discern a person's character. You feel responsible to correct those who do wrong. You separate yourselves from those who refuse to repent of evil. You'll explain what is wrong with an item before you sell it, as I said. You will let people know how you feel about important issues, whether they want to hear it or not. You'll enjoy people who are completely honest with you. Even if it hurts, you want the honesty. You're quick to judge yourself when you fail, and you're willing to do right even if it means you're going to suffer all alone for doing it. Well, there are the motivations. of the Prophet. Now, once again, this series is to try and figure out why people act the way they do, because the Prophet, this is the way he's going to respond. And so it'll help you, if you're a prophet, to understand why you respond, and also why other people respond in these ways, because they're motivated to do it. Well, we look at the week weaknesses of the prophet, and we say, well, I'm a prophet. I just can't help it. I'm doing all this stuff. No, no, no. The whole thing, no matter what the gift is, is we need to determine to be led by the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit have control of us as we are used of the Lord to serve Him in His work with the gift that He has given us to serve with. Well, our goal in this series is to try to figure out why people act the way they do, and there's seven different responses here in any given situation. And today we've looked at the responses of a prophet. Maybe you've wondered, why do I react the way I do? Well, if you're a prophet, that's why you're motivated to do that. Make sure that you do what you do under the power of the Holy Spirit. But as we look at other people and we see how they're reacting in any given situation, if they're a prophet, this is how they're going to react. And that's again, we need to make sure the Holy Spirit has control so that we can be used in a way that would be honoring to the Lord. Well that's the first one in the list of the gifts here and in our next program we're going to jump down to the last one because it's totally opposite and that is the mercy shore and we're going to see why they respond the way they respond in any given situation. Be sure and tune in for our program.