What’s next…Part 2
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
This verse is the key to what’s next
As I mentioned last week, we don’t have the spirit of this world which is fear and timidity….instead we have been given a Spirit of power, love and self discipline.
Why have we been given this Spirit…Acts 1:8 tells us so we can impact the lives of others the whole world
Power
I touched on some of the power gifts two weeks ago and I know to most they are a little overwhelming but they can start in very practical ways and the Lord can show you how to take them deeper as you begin small….Jesus said He who is faithful with little will be entrusted with much…I will share with you how to do this next week.
In Romans 12:6-8 there are a list of gifts that Paul tells us are from the Father. These are gifts of authority and personality. In Ephesians 4:11-16 these are gifts that Jesus gives to bring oversight to the church.
The Corinthian church was primarily non-Jews and they were hungry for the Holy Spirit. It was a church that was alive, the church was engaged in the community, the worship was dynamic, it was a church that was a mix racially, economically, status in the community, and every way imaginable. They flowed in the gifts of the Holy Spirit to not only build each other up but to impact the community.
How did they do that?
The Holy Spirit is with us always. He is there to…
Guide,
Speak truth
Convict
Empower
Cause us to remember
Cause us to understand
Just to name a few
These are powerful gifts but if they are spooky they will not impact people but instead turn them off and to jump right into using a power gift is something that doesn’t happen often but God does allow us to learn how to trust the Holy Spirit with bigger things as we are faithful with little.
Today I want to give you some insight into how the Lord may begin using some of these gifts in you…as you learn to distinguish you from the Holy Spirit…he will trust you more with greater authority and power.
At the end of these notes and on our website I go into greater detail about the gifts but for today’s purpose, this is to give you a start into launching recognizing the Holy Spirit giving gifts to you to help you to change the world.
Most of these gifts will start working in your life with close friends, family, and our church…safe places for you to learn to discern what the Holy Spirit is doing and saying
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills
Part of the reason the gifts generally start more gently is they are given to any Christian regardless of the level of maturity…always be aware just because someone has a particular gift doesn’t mean they are mature, that was part of the problem in the early church but hopefully, it encourages you to not be afraid to be open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit because you are “not mature enough”
Always remember if someone is saying they have a gift but their love is lacking they are either extremely immature in their gift or don’t really have the gift at all…God is love and love is the basis the power of God
You can flow in the gifts immediately with full power but more often people don’t think they received the gift because it doesn’t look like what they think it should look like. Today I want to share with you about some (not all that would take too long) of the gifts can look like as you are first using them
Word of wisdom –
1 Corinthians 12:8 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit”
1) Wisdom insight into something unknown
2) The right application of truth.
3) Divine direction.
4) Seeing the world through God’s perspective.
5) Supernatural perspective to ascertain the divine means of accomplishing God’s will.
This gift helps you to answer life’s questions and give others insight but one very practical thing that will start is a person’s life if they have this gift is a respect and awe of the Lord with wisdom comes a respect for what God is saying and honoring of all He is doing…you know when you are in his presence and you look forward to Him being with you
But you may also begin to understand God’s word easier, be able to share it more plainly and at the same time you may begin to give answers to people when they have life questions and will have the answers to your questions more easily….this is only the beginning
Gifts of healing (1 Cor. 12:9, 28; Acts 28:1-10)
1 Corinthians 12:9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.
The spiritual gift of healing found in 1 Corinthians 12:9 is actually plural in the Greek.
Charismata iamaton – is literally translated “gifts of healings.”
This gift is interesting in that there is no guarantee that a person will always be able to heal anyone he or she desires. It is subject to the sovereign will of God, as all spiritual gifts are.
One of the ways this gift begins to show up in a person’s life is they will begin to have a great heart of compassion for the sick and hurting, you may even want to start seeking people out who are sick and hurting going to hospitals look forward to being able to pray for people who are broken
You will also begin to share compassionate words and time with people. As you begin to pray for the sick, they will actually begin to be healed…you are not the healer God is but he will honor and reward your compassion and love It was out of Jesus great compassion that he raised the dead, fed the masses, and healed the sick Matthew 14:14
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick”
The last gift I want to talk about today is discerning of spirits
Discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10; Luke 8:29, Hebrews 5:14)
1 Corinthians 12:9 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.
The spiritual gift of discernment is also known as the gift of “discernment of spirits” or “distinguishing between spirits.”
The Greek word for the gift of discernment is Diakrisis. The word describes being able to distinguish, discern, judge or appraise a person, statement, situation, or environment.
In the New Testament it describes the ability to distinguish between spirits as in 1 Corinthians 12:10, and to discern good and evil as in Hebrews 5:14.
OK, you might be saying I don’t see any guys running around with pitched forks and horns….the problem is the devil doesn’t actually look that way…you have already seen him at work and just didn’t know it. This gift starts out helping you to be sensitive to what is going on around you. Your heart begins to break as you see how the enemy or the flesh have cause someone to end up in a mess or the clerk or customer who is chewing you out, you now see them through Jesus’ eyes and you can begin to understand what is really happening. You can see someone that the Lord really wants to show himself to, you just naturally know this. You can see if someone is demonized and the Lord will give you little glimpses of how to give them hope.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to impact the world, to show them, Jesus, to give them hope, freedom, and a real relationship with a God who sent His son to die for them because of his love.
The gifts of the Spirit should always accentuate that purpose. They grow stronger and more powerful with use and they honor the Lord more the more powerful they become. They always push people to the Father, or the Son so the people can come into relationship with them.
Our job, hopefully in light of this today is to help you acknowledge and grow in the gifts as the Lord is using them through you.
As you grow, you become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His leading and your heart breaks for the things that break God’s heart and with that, he molds you into a vessel he can use even more powerfully…just don’t deny the Holy Spirit’s work in you.
We would like to allow our ministry team to exercise their gifts today by praying for you
NOT FOR PROPRESENTER JUST FOR THE NOTES
Gifts of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills
These are gifts given by the Holy Spirit, they are not necessarily given to mature Christians, the gifts themselves can be matured but God grants these freely
They are gifts given for the benefit of everyone.
Please remember the Apostle Paul was stressing that these gifts were active among the members of the church in Corinth. These were more than the Apostles these we all the believers in the church in that city.They were out of order in their flow and function so Paul wrote this portion of the letter to clarify the order and function of the gifts.
Also in between the teaching of the functionality of the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 is chapter 13 the love chapter. That was placed there because apart from love these gifts are useless to honor God they will honor the flesh but certainly not God.
The first two are logos “word” gifts
These are words of truth made know through the Holy Spirit, since the spirit is the Spirit of Truth John 14:17
1 Word of wisdom –
1 Cor. 12:8 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit”
1) Wisdom insight into something unknown
2) Right application of truth.
3) Divine direction.
4) Seeing the world through God’s perspective.
5) Supernatural perspective to ascertain the divine means for accomplishing God’s will.
The one who uses this gift and the one who is benefited by this gift begin to have a healthy understanding of awe or fear of the Lord (fear, awe of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom – Proverbs 1:7)
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 1 Corinthians 2: 6,7
In 1st Corinthians 1:17 Paul says “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” In other words he came with divine words or words of wisdom to preach the Gospel
Someone who speaks with this gift will help others understand the Lord’s will and purpose
Word of wisdom takes the next gift word of knowledge and knows how to apply the divine knowledge given
- Gifts of healing (1 Cor. 12:9, 28; Acts 28:1-10)
The spiritual gift of healing found in 1 Corinthians 12:9 is actually plural in the Greek.
Charismata iamaton – is literally translated “gifts of healings.”
This spiritual gift is closely related to the gifts of faith and miracles. All spiritual gifts are to be exercised in faith, but gifts of healings involve a special measure of it. This gift is interesting in that there is no guarantee that a person will always be able to heal anyone he or she desires. It is subject to the sovereign will of God, as all spiritual gifts are.
The Disciples were given authority to heal and cast out demons, but they were not always successful. The Apostle Paul was not able to heal himself and was told that God’s grace was sufficient to carry him through his infirmity without removing it from him (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
This gift is given at various times and places to reveal the God of heaven to the sick and tormented. If healing is not granted, then we can conclude that God has greater plans for letting the person go through the illness or infirmity.
Those who have this gift are:
– compassionate toward the sick and pray over them regularly.
– have great faith and trust that God can and will heal some and are not deterred when He chooses not to.
– motivated knowing that God’s revealed power will draw people to faith in Jesus.
– their ultimate concern is the spiritual well-being of those being healed and their relationship with Jesus.
– they yearn for the day that there will be no more pain and suffering, and sin will no longer wreak havoc on the people of God.
- Discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10; Luke 8:29)
The spiritual gift of discernment is also known as the gift of “discernment of spirits” or “distinguishing between spirits.”
The Greek word for the gift of discernment is Diakrisis. The word describes being able to distinguish, discern, judge or appraise a person, statement, situation, or environment.
In the New Testament it describes the ability to distinguish between spirits as in 1 Corinthians 12:10, and to discern good and evil as in Hebrews 5:14.
The Holy Spirit gives the gift of discernment to enable certain Christians to clearly recognize and distinguish between the influence of God, Satan, the world, and the flesh in a given situation. The church needs those with this gift to warn believers in times of danger or keep them from being led astray by false teaching. See also I Corinthians 12:10, Acts 5:3-6; 16:16-18; 1 John 4:1.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”