Don’t Be Ignorant

Ignorance is not bliss, but it is a choice. The Apostle Paul exhorted the church at Corinth NOT to be ignorant of the gifts of the spirit. He went on to explain what they were and why we all, as the Body of Christ, need to value these gifts and embrace their workings in our lives. Two thousand years later, much of the Church is still choosing to be ignorant of these gifts, missing out on the fullness of the Christian walk intended to be ours. Meditate on these scriptures and study this lesson… more importantly, DON’T BE IGNORANT!!

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led…There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 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. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” ~1 Corinthians 12:1-12 NKJV

The Nine Gifts Of The Spirit can be divided into 3 categories: to know supernaturally, to speak supernaturally, and to act supernaturally.

To Know Supernaturally

1. The Word Of Wisdom

The Bible does not talk about the gift of wisdom, but rather the “Word Of Wisdom”.

The Word Of Wisdom is a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit, and exists on a plane far above natural wisdom. Sometimes an answer we need will not come by human wisdom, but God gives a specific Word Of Wisdom at a particular time for a particular situation.

The Word Of Wisdom implies a thought or utterance through a direct operation of the Holy Spirit at a given moment rather than an abiding deposit of supernatural wisdom.

The church has a constant need for wise leadership. Problems will occur, and delicate situations arise among the most spiritual believers. The Word Of Wisdom can be vital in meeting these needs.

Examples of the Word Of Wisdom.

* The Apostles deal with the controversy over the daily assistance to widows. (Acts 6:1-7)

* Paul’s insight and advice concerning his shipwreck. (Acts 27:10, 31, 34)

2. The Word Of Knowledge

Every Christian must endeavor to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord” (II Peter 3:18). The Word Of Knowledge is a portion of supernaturally imparted knowledge to meet a particular need. The Bible does not speak of a gift of knowledge, but rather the “Word Of Knowledge”.

All knowledge ultimately rests with the Lord, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). It is therefore reasonable to believe that God can impart any part of the divine knowledge at any time, as He wills.

The Word Of Knowledge includes facts from God about people, places, things, and events that a person could not possibly know unless God revealed them to him.

An example of the Word Of Knowledge

* Peter’s supernatural knowledge of the secret sin of Ananias and Sapphira. (Acts 5:1-10)

3. Discerning Of Spirits

The Bible does not state that there is a gift of discernment, but rather it speaks of “Discerning Of Spirits”. The Discerning Of Spirits is the ability on a particular occasion to ascertain whether a spirit or an action is of God, of the devil, or of the human nature.

I John 4:1 admonishes us to “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God”. The purpose of this gift is to detect what is true and what is false.

The gift of Discerning Of Spirits is not only defensive in the sense that once an evil spirit is detected as operating through some human channel, that channel can then be delivered through the power of the name of Jesus Christ.

Examples of Discerning Of Spirits

* Peter’s denunciation of Simon the sorcerer based upon discernment of the intent of his heart. (Acts 8:23)

* Paul’s rebuke of a spirit possessing a girl at Philipi. (Acts 16:16-18)

To Act Supernaturally

4. Faith

The “Spiritual Gift Of Faith” is to be distinguished from saving faith or the daily faith without which it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

The Gift Of Faith is a measure of faith above the faith that all of us have as children of God. It is a special faith imparted to us by the Holy Spirit of God, as are the other gifts of the Spirit, to meet a particular need. The Gift Of Faith surpasses all reason, looks impossibilities in the face, and turns them into miracles.

Examples of the Gift Of Faith

* The faith of Peter and Paul for the lame man. (Acts 9:40)

* Paul’s supernatural faith during his shipwreck. (Acts 27:25)

5. Working Of Miracles

The Working Of Miracles is a suprenatural release of God’s power through a person’s life to effect an immediate, supernatural event. It is a sign or wonder that humans cannot explain by an appeal to “natural laws”. It can be a miraculous “coincidence” effected by God when we pray.

Examples of Working Of Miracles

* Raising of Dorcas back to life. (Acts 9:40)

* Raising of Eutychus back to life. (Acts 20:10)

* Miracles in Paul’s ministry at Ephesus. (Acts 19:11-12)

6. Gifts Of Healing

The Gifts Of Healing are plural. They refer to special healings of various types performed by God. All believers in the Lord Jesus Christ can lay hands upon the sick for their recovery. (Mark 16:18), and all elders in the church can anoint with oil for healing (James 5:14) Nevertheless, it appears that on certain occasions God operates in a special way to heal miraculously.

When the Gifts Of Healing are in operation, God removes the cause of the disease or affliction and healing ensues.

Some of the many examples

* Acts 5:16

* Acts 8:7

* Acts 9:33-34

 

To Speak Supernaturally

7. Prophecy

In general, Prophecy is an anointed utterance from God. It can consist of foretelling or forthtelling. The Gift Of Prophecy is a specific message from God to the hearers in their own language.

True Prophecy will always be in harmony with God’s Word. Prophecy will never replace the Bible or diminish its worth. Prophecy must always agree with the Bible.

A prophet may prophesy, but not everyone who exercises the Gift Of Prophecy fulfills the office or ministry of a prophet. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

The Gift Of Prophecy brings edification, exhortation, and comfort to the church (I Corinthians 14:3-5). Prophesying does not serve them that believe not, but serves them which do believe (I Corinthians 14:22). Prophecy does not replace or supercede doctrinal teaching or spiritual leadership.

8. Tongues

Speaking with tongues means speaking miraculously in a language unknown to the speaker. There are different kinds of tongues.

The Bible reveals four different purposes or uses of speaking with tongues.

* The first use is the initial evidence when someone is baptized with the Holy Ghost

(Acts 2:4, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 19:6).

* The second use is addressing the church, coupled with interpretation (I Corinthians 14:28)

* The third use is tongues for intercession (Romans 8:14)

*The fourth use is speaking to God in personal prayer (I Corinthians 14:2, 14, 15). The believer can speak in tongues in private devotion or in corporate worship when everyone is praying individually. In such a case there is no need for interpretation (I Corinthians 14:28).

9. Interpretation Of Tongues

By this gift a person does not merly translate but interprets the meaning of a message in tongues for the church. When a person brings a message to the church through the Gift Of Tongues, The Gift Of The Interpretation Of Tongues is used to edify the church (I Corinthians 14:12). “Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret” (I Corinthians 14:13).

If there is no interpreter, the one speaking in the unknown tongue should keep silence in the church, although he can continue to pray in tongues personally (I Corinthians 14:28).

These gifts can be a tremendous blessing in the life of the believer and in the working of the local church. Of course, without proper direction and accountability, a lot of Christians get really flaky and weird when they try to manifest the gifts of the spirit apart from Holy Ghost. It is important to have accountability to spiritual authority and your fellow believers. After all, it’s always good to have someone around to keep you from being ignorant AND stupid!!

What’s Separating You?

I had a dream this morning that went something like this… lots of people from my church were all in one building that I knew to be our “house.” I was walking through this house with Apostle David, and we were looking for a place in it where we could all come together to meet at one time, but all of the rooms were too small.

Some rooms were appointed with comfortable leather couches, but the couches were jammed so closely together that only a couple of people could sit on them at a time. Another room looked like a kitchen area, but you couldn’t get to the food in the pantries because there was a lot of furniture in the way, blocking all the cabinets. There was one rather large table in this same room that looked as though many people could sit around it, but it was crammed into such a small space that one whole side of the table was inefficient, and no one could sit there. Apostle David said to me, “Now, this table worked when it was in the other room, so why isn’t it working here?” We looked at the lay-out and realized the table was designed to be in a big open room, but it had been taken and crammed into this already cluttered room, so the functionality of the table was lost.  I replied to him, “This table wasn’t built to go in this room. It’s supposed to be somewhere else.”

As we left that room, we entered an upstairs hallway in which a handful of people were standing, crowded along a railing or banister. They said to us, “If you see so-and-so as you walk on through this house, will you give them a message from us?” I asked them why they didn’t just go give them the message themselves, and they replied, “We tried to go tell them, but there wasn’t enough room for us where they are. We tried to fix that by sending these messages over the rail to them, but we don’t think they can understand the message.” Suddenly, I realized each of these people had a golf club and were whacking golf balls over the rail. When I leaned over the rail, I saw that the balls were hitting the people down below in the head. I couldn’t hear what the people below were saying, but it was apparent that the balls were hurting them and they thought the people upstairs were attacking them with the balls. I turned to one of the people with the club and said, ‘They can’t hear what you’re saying, and the way you are launching this message at them makes them think you are attacking them, hurting them on purpose.” The people with the clubs said, “We know that. That’s why you need to tell them that isn’t what we mean. If they would just open up the balls when they land on them, they will be able to see the message.” I looked at Apostle David and said, “The rooms in the house are too small, and the people cannot communicate from one room to the next. There is confusion in the house because of the separation. People are hurting others by the way they’re trying to communicate. What should we do?”

Just then, it was like I was looking down at my box of Christmas ornaments with all of the little cardboard dividers in it meant to keep the ornaments from bunching into each other. Instead of a box of ornaments, however, it was our “house” with each little box separated from all the others like cubicles in an office. I was thinking, “Well, that’s not good. No wonder they cannot communicate… they are cut off from each other.” Just then, a giant hand reached down past us and lifted up the cardboard dividers, causing all of the cubicles to be one large, open space. When that happened, I woke up and the Lord told me there has been a spirit of confusion and separation keeping us all from being able to communicate and work and live together, and that the spirit was empowered by the separation each of us has between ourselves and Him.

When I got to church this morning for prayer, these verses came to me from Romans…

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? (Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:35-39 (NLT)

I believe this vision is for my own local church, but I also believe it is for the Body of Christ as a whole. There is a lot that can be learned from the dream, but I believe the most important thing is this: Walls of separation are put in place by religious, controlling spirits that come to divide and confuse. God has said that nothing can separate us from His love that is revealed IN CHRIST. We are THE BODY OF CHRIST, and His love is to be revealed in and through us. We can jump up and down and scream and holler at the devil and his religious spirits all day long, but they are empowered by the fact that we, as a body… as THE BODY… do not reveal the love of GOD through us. When that love is revealed through us, when we truly see it, then nothing can separate us from that same love… from that same love that is found IN HIS BODY.

It’s time we tore down the walls of separation between ourselves and our God. Only then can we destroy the walls of separation keeping us from effectively being ONE BODY.

Signs & Billboards, pt 4

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that people can be completely ignorant and still operate in the Spirit. I once worked for a great man of God. He loved Jesus and wanted to live right before Him. One time he was in the hospital with pneumonia and had a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ walking up a hill with His back beaten and bloody. He recounted this vision to me with such detail, recalling even the sharp contrast in the red blood against the green grass. I have no doubt that it was a true vision from God. The problem was that he was ignorant in how to interpret the vision. He thought that it meant that since Jesus was willing to suffer that much for him, then he should be willing to suffer pneumonia for Jesus. How sad! He was given a vision showing that Jesus had already carried his sickness and healed all his diseases to strengthen his faith, but because he lacked understanding, this man got it all wrong!

I’ve known other folks who genuinely loved God, but got distracted by the bright billboard strategies of satan. These good people wanted to experience a mighty move of God so badly that they got caught up in the flakiness of whatever the current “revival” was doing. I have watched many get excited about “something new” and then disappointed (and sometimes deeply wounded) over the outcome. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen plenty of these people who became so deceived by the trickery that they completely lost touch with God’s plan for their lives. Consider William Branham, the great healing evangelist of the 1940’s. He started off pursuing God, but then started experiencing visitations from angels. He became so deceived that he started to think he was Elijah the prophet. Because of his deception, many other believers began to doubt that God really wanted them healed. Now that is exactly what the enemy intends; to discredit God’s reality, destroy ministries, and turn people away from the Faith.

Any text that we take out of context is a pretext. The same goes for any sign. Any sign taken out of the context that it was received (good or bad) is a pretext and can get us into trouble. That’s the problem with living by signs. They can be interpreted incorrectly. They can come from the wrong people. We can build a temple and worship at the sign, never making it to our God-purposed destination. We MUST learn to walk by faith after the spirit. We must understand how to discern signs and compare them to our instruction manual. We must keep our focus on where God is taking us and not get caught up in the supernatural things around us on the way.

~End

(First published 07.06.08)

Signs & Billboards, pt 3

The New Testament not only tells us which signs are from God, it even lays out which signs are used in which situations. There are signs that follow believers (Mark 16:17), there are signs to the unbeliever (1 Cor. 14:22), and there are gifts of the Spirit that are operations of the government and power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12, and Ephesians 4).

Signs come from different sources and serve different purposes. Some are road signs that regulate driving, some are billboards that advertise, and some are identifiers that tell what and where things are located. All of these signs are legitimate, but they aren’t all from the same people. In the supernatural, there are all kinds of signs but they aren’t all from God. How do you know the difference between a legitimate sign from God and just a billboard?

One Sunday as I was preaching in my church, just as I pointed at one of the ceiling fans someone happened to turn the fan on. Now I know people who would take it as a sign that the “wind of the spirit is moving.” No, it was just a coincidence. I call these “Santa Claus signs” because it’s like a young kid that convinces himself Santa is real because the milk and the cookies are gone the next morning when he wakes up. When you want something badly enough, circumstances can always line up to support your hopes that it is true. If you’re looking for a sign, the devil will make sure you see one. I absolutely believe in prophetic and supernatural signs, but I also know how to measure them against my born-again spirit.

I’ve known family members and friends – good people, many of whom sincerely loved Jesus – who visited psychics. Those psychics were able to tell them why they were there, what they were looking for and what the outcome of a situation would be, and it all came true. Does that mean you should visit a psychic? By all means NO! Psychics operate with the help of demonic, familiar spirits, not the Holy Spirit. Demonic power can be real, not just a powerless imitation.

Nowhere in scripture do we find signs of jewels appearing, gold dust falling, people being led to act like animals, stigmatas (blood or oil from peoples hands like the wounds of Christ), odd “friendships” with angels, or special angels that carry special anointings.  These are “billboard” signs that have been put up by other supernatural powers but don’t fit into God’s reality. The important thing to understand is that these false signs are just as real as the other signs. Have you ever followed billboard signs, looking for a certain restaurant or café, only to get there and find that the location doesn’t exist? Just because a sign is real, doesn’t mean it’s from God or that it’s pointing you to God. Many signs point you to dead ends. It’s important to remember that there is a real spiritual world out there, and God isn’t the only one putting signs up on your spiritual road.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen God do some very interesting things. I’ve seen people healed, delivered, and set free. I’ve seen miracles that simply cannot be explained. However, there is one common element to everything God does… His Word. God’s response is always in line with His Word. And His Word will bring real transformation in the lives of His people.

End Part 3

Signs & Billboards, pt 2

In our media-sensitive world, we have billboards everywhere and they can distract us from our real focus. If we’re looking too intently at a billboard, we could miss a signal from another driver and cause a wreck. When the sign becomes the focus, we lose sight of the true destination.

In the Old Testament, people had to live by signs. They didn’t have a born-again spirit from God to give them direction through an inner witness (Eph. 3:16). They needed outward signs from God in order to know where to go and what to do. Moses followed a cloud of fire and Gideon set out fleeces; they needed a supernatural occurrence from without in order to know what God’s plan was. In Proverbs, David prophetically writes that the spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord and searches all the inward parts of the belly. Now, he didn’t have a born again spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet come. But God used him to write about the way Christ’s followers should live and act and respond to the spirit after Jesus died so that we might be born again. As New Testament Christians with the nature and spirit of God resident inside us, we don’t have to look for outward signs. We can simply know in our “knower.” We are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), meaning we follow the leadings and promptings of our born again spirit that dwells in us, not a supernatural sign.

End pt. 2

Signs and Billboards, pt 1

What is God doing today? People run here and yon, saying “God is doing this” in such and such location, or “God is really moving” in so and so church. But God is busy building and establishing His Kingdom, and He’s not pressured into doing this by using media hype and hocus-pocus. No, He’s doing it His way, according to His Word. His Word says He builds His church on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and that is just what He’s doing.

God is setting apostolic governing churches in territories to build His Church. You’ve got all kinds of folks out there calling themselves apostles and prophets. You’ve got guys who are prophesying over folks and barking like dogs. Is that really the direction the church is going? Is God doing THAT? Well, one function of true apostles and prophets is to expose the counterfeit operations of Satan that try to slip in and subvert the credibility of the Word. If Satan can discredit the quality of a move of God by sending the false, he is able to successfully restrict and limit the effectiveness of the true move as it happens. In this season, it is vital that we build everything we do upon the foundation of the Word of God. I’m not trying to criticize any particular move of God from the past or the present. My goal today is to equip you with knowledge and understanding to help identify a true move of God.

Imagine you are driving to your favorite vacation spot. When you get about 30 miles from your destination, you see the first road sign with the city’s name. Do you slam on your brakes, slide across the median and jump out at the sign? I would hope not! Yet, in the body of Christ, it seems we have become sign hunters. At the first sign of a “miracle” or the “supernatural,” we bring everything to a screeching halt so that we can take pictures of the sign, dance around the sign, and even build churches to the sign. How foolish we have become! The sign’s purpose is to reveal location. Spiritual signs are no different. When you see a spiritual sign, it is not advertising itself, it is merely pointing the way to where God wants you to go.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:39, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Jesus didn’t say they were “slightly in error.” He called them EVIL and ADULTEROUS! What He is saying is that if you are seeking after a sign, you are showing love for the sign rather than the One who gives the sign. You are actually cheating on the truth. You are adulterous, looking for benefits from something that you don’t have real relationship with.

How many churches and “revivals” have become so “sign” minded that they have become adulterers to the Truth?

End Part 1

Who Are You?

 

Identity is important. People are killed and imprisoned over cases of mistaken identity. Identity indicates a person’s purpose and role and sets the expectations of others. When someone’s identity is not clear, the outcome is often embarrassment, confusion, frustration, or disappointment.

In the Body of Christ, it is important that we know our identity. As believers, we need to know we are sons of God. We cannot understand our purpose until we know our identity. Much of the church today suffers from mistaken identity.

Paul spoke much about his own identity and the identity of the church. He taught in 1 Corinthians 12 that we are members of the Body of Christ.  It is not enough to know that we need the other members; we must understand how we fit together with them. We must give and receive from one another. In order to give and receive correctly, we need to know our identity within the Body and be able to recognize the other members of the Body as well.

It is especially important that we identify the five ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:12. Paul said all five gifts – apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist and teacher – were given for the maturing and perfecting of the Body of Christ. For believers to be mature, we need to recognize and draw from all five of those gifts. If we cannot identify these gifts, we will expect things from them that they are not capable of giving. It would be like expecting your big toe to throw a baseball. Your toe is a part of your body, sure. But it’s not equipped to throw a ball. It is equipped to bring balance to your body, so that you don’t fall over when you throw a ball with your hand and arm. In the same manner, we need all of the ministry gifts, and we need to know what the purpose of each gift is to the Body of Christ as a whole.

I have several friends who are apostles or prophets. It seems that every time I talk to them, they are frustrated because many of the people they minister to only recognize pastors, teachers, or evangelists. Therefore, the apostles and prophets only flow in a measure of their anointing when they minister, leaving them with a sense of frustration.  Not only that, but the Body is unbalanced, not receiving the benefit of all five of the ministry gifts.

When the Lord sent me to Carnesville to pioneer a church, I knew very little about the ministry of the apostle. I certainly did not think He would ever deal with me about being one. I knew God had called me to start our church, but I was different from the other pastors I knew. It seemed my people expected things of me I could not produce. They wanted me to throw the ball when I was trying to bring balance. They wanted me to act like Jesus cradling a little lamb; I needed to portray Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. One is a quality of a pastor; the other is a quality of an apostle.

The revelation of the ministry of the apostle gave me liberty to be what God called me to be. My frustrated ended when I began to understand my role in the Body of Christ. Soon, others began to appreciate the role of the apostle as different from the role of the pastor, so they stopped expecting me to act like someone I wasn’t. Not only that, but it helped us all to see the value of those around us who truly have the gift of pastor. Their frustration was ended, too, as they identified and entered into their role in the Body.

Don’t be a victim of mistaken identity. Allow the Lord to show you what role you have in the Body. Learn to identify the gifts around you. God is revealing his five ministry gifts so we can identify them and receive from them. Don’t let a case of mistaken identity keep you from the gifts God has for you!

Q: Do you KNOW who you are? Do you KNOW your purpose?