Gifts Of The Holy Spirit Part 2

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 16th 2022  by Navaz D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – PART 2 – 

1. INTRODUCTION

Last week, Colin took us through some points on what our attitude ought to be with regards to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and how we need to respond.

In brief – we are all called to eagerly desire the gifts, not just one gift. We need to find out our gifts and then fan them into flame and be faithful in using them to see fruit from it.

Today we are going to further expand our general understanding and approach towards the gifts of the Spirit.

Think about all the superheroes – Superman, Captain America etc. Their story is that they encountered this power or forces that made them superhuman. They are just regular guys with a normal day job but when the need arises, they are able to tap into this superpower and do extraordinary things.

Does this sound familiar? One day we encountered the power and might of the creator of the universe and we were changed. He came to live in us and baptize us with His power. So while we look and talk the same and have regular lives with regular jobs we get to tap into this divine power/gift anytime we need it.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[c] in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 

 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

John 16: 7 -⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 

¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

1. We looked at the Kingdom lifestyle through the Beatitudes. Living in the power of the Holy Spirit is also a part of Kingdom culture.

2. Understand the high privilege and honour it is that God chooses to use you and I. (Eph 2:9-10) Please don’t think that you have earned it because you are living a righteous life or are more holy than others. These are pure grace gifts

3. To understand the gifts better get to know the giver of the gifts. Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always seeks to glorify Jesus.

4. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are also what the Holy Spirit Himself does.

5. Our goal as Christ-followers is to become more like Jesus.

Becoming like Jesus is what Kingdom lifestyle is. That we reflect Jesus in our lives more and more.

 

2.         FELLOWSHIP BEFORE FUNCTION To function well, you need to know the Holy Spirit well. This comes through fellowship. 2 Cor 13:14

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Paul encourages us to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The Greek word used is:

fellowship of intimate communion or partnership. Get to know the Holy Spirit if are going to partner with Him.

Learn to recognize His voice so you can filter out all the other voices. It is unnatural for a Christ-follower not to hear the voice of God. Why do I say this? A relationship involves communion – talking and listening. You need to ask yourself what other voices I need to dial down so I will be able to hear the voice of God.

The partnership means knowing each other’s moves, intentions, habits, etc. If you are playing doubles in badminton – you must play with your partner often to understand how they play and communicate well in order that the shuttlecock does not fall between the two of you because each thought the other will take the shot.

Intimacy –Fellowship is like hanging out and learning to make conversation. Intimacy takes the conversation to deep heart issues where you are open, vulnerable, transparent, and honest.

Remember the onus is on us to get to know Him. He already knows us completely.

 

3. PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS

God’s method has always been to function through people. He used Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua etc.

As I said in the beginning it is an honour to be a channel of His grace and blessings to the nations. This is for ALL of us and not a select few. The devil has dulled our thinking and tricked us into a clergy-laity divide rendering most of God’s people useless. It’s time to reclaim our call and commission.

It is God’s nature to give and bless. So, the purpose of the gifts is to be a blessing.

Knowing that everyone can function in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit helps make my Christian calling clear i.e., the unique part I play in the body of Christ.

So, the gifts are given not for our benefit but for building up and strengthening the Body of Christ. (1 Cor 14: 26)

Do not seek the gifts so that you will become famous – Simon the sorcerer (Act 8:9-25) did that.

 

4. WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

We live in a special time – post-resurrection. We live in the age of the priesthood of all believers. 1 Pet 2:9-10. We are all Christ’s ambassadors.

In the Old Testament – God used specific people for a specific task for a specific time. The Holy Spirit would come upon them for that time and then depart.

So, the Old Testament had a visitation of the Holy Spirit. We have the habitation of the Holy Spirit. He lives in us 24/7.

Joes prophesied that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28) that all would prophesy, see visions, dream dreams. This came to pass on Pentecost.

When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us – because the Trinity cannot be separated. However, we need to be then baptized in the Holy Spirit as well.

5. CHARACTER AND CHARISMA

Both Holy Spirit gifts and natural talent come from God. Natural talent is a common grace given to every human being. Holy Spirit gifts are given to Christ-followers who eagerly desire them.

God may or may not use our natural talents but often they do complement our spiritual gifts.

·       These gifts are grace gifts – not a reward for good behaviour.

·       They are given despite our humanity- our weaknesses

·       God is the giver of gifts, and HE gives as He sees fit All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 1Cor 12:11

·       Just because someone is gifted it does not mean that everything, they do is right or that their character is above reproach.

·       Because the gifts are for the benefit of others it makes us interdependent and deals with our pride and cultivates humility in us.

·       All gifts will test our willingness to serve others. This is not about self-promotion.

 

Stewardship

 

We need to work on our character, our sanctification so that the gift given to us will not be discredited.

The Gifts primarily function with the context of a local church even if it has a trans-local influence.

In even the NT very few had a trans-local gift. Be faithful in your local church.

We must walk in humility and accountability. Be accountable and submit to your pastor and leadership. This is for your safety.

 

We all need to watch out. The devil prowls around waiting to see who he can devour, and he is patient. He won’t get you when you are unknown. He will aim to discredit you when the impact of your fall has a domino effect on others.

 

If we do not grow up into maturity and Christ-likeness we will blow up because we did not steward the gift well. That is why there is a season of preparation.

 

Grieving the Holy Spirit

What does this mean? It means to make Him sad. It saddens His heart because He is a person, not an “it”. To have pure communication with the Holy Spirit we need to get rid of whatever will block that communication, block you hearing God: unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, sexual sins, addictions.

All addictions are idolatry – it says that whatever I am addicted to is able to satisfy my need more than God can.

Do I need to be without sin to serve God? No – then it would not be a grace gift. Timothy was encouraged to fan into flame the gifts given him, and he was also encouraged to watch his life and his doctrine.

So, while God graciously uses us just as we are, we continue to work out our salvation.

6.  CONCLUSION

Therefore, we have a responsibility to step out and step into the gifts to grow.

So, get to know the person of the Holy Spirit so that you can partner with Him.

Remember the gift is not for your benefit but for others.

Watch your character growth so it does not become a hindrance to your calling

Don’t compare your gift to someone else.

The gifts are best used within a local church context where there is accountability.

God is about great work, and He wants all His sons and daughter to rise to their full potential – to be his image-bearers, to be salt and light; to bring Kingdom life here on earth as it is in heaven.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

Gifts Of The Holy Spirit - Part 1

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 16th 2022  by Colin D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - An introduction

 

Have you met a person without hands? We had a neighbour without hands. How does he drink his coffee? With his feet. Thank God our bodies are well.

When we think of the church- the church is like our human body

Rom12:4-6

You and I are different parts of the body with different functions. When we come together, we come together as the body of Christ.

Now when we come together it can be that you have a role to play and do not play it. Then it is like that man without hands

My role is to help you see that you have a role and that is it important and that you play it well.

What is this role? These are called Spiritual Gifts.

We may have heard about this. This morning is teaching to understand what God’s word has to say about this. It would be a tragedy if we have members of the body not doing what they are supposed to do.

We love to watch a gymnast – but that gymnast can do all those beautiful moves because his full body is in sync and every limb in his body is doing its part.

I attended a John Wimber seminar 35 years ago when in college. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and became aware of the gifts.

And in the days that followed, we used to seek God in our house groups. And we practised the gifts and sought God for the gifts.

God told me that I had the gift of preaching, teaching, leading. And the leader confirmed it. And in the years on we have seen that it has come to pass. The same thing can happen to you.

 

WHAT IS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GIFTS? What does the Bible say?

1. Do not be ignorant – I Cor 12:1

2. Do not neglect your gift….1 Tim4:14 –

3. We are called to develop the gift and use it.

How did timothy get this gift – through a prophetic message when the Elders laid hands on him.

There is an impartation.

4. Eagerly desire the greater gifts 1Cor 12:31 –

Do we desire the greater gifts? That is something we must do.

1Cor. 14:1 – Follow the way of love --- especially the gift of prophecy. Wasn’t it wonderful to see the prophetic flow this morning?

So don’t be ignorant – study about the gifts. If you don’t have a gift, ask for someone to lay hands on you so that you may get the gifts.

 

II – CHARACTERISTICS

Diff gifts but the same spirit. 1Cor 12:4 –They are diverse. The analogy is the body is made up of diff parts.

These gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the common good.

It is a gift you have to steward 1Cor 12:7. The gift is for someone else's good or benefit – that the church of Jesus would be blessed, and the kingdom will advance.

In Acts we see the word of God come and then the power of God accompanies it

The whole Trinity is involved in the gifts 1Cor 12:6 – Diff gifts, diff service, diff working but one God.

Gifts- HS

Service – Jesus

Working – God

 

The HS gives us these gifts 1 Cor 12:11. He gives it to us as he determines

 

III – WHAT ARE THE DIFF GIFTS

There are 3 main passages

1Cor 12:8-10 Wisdom, knowledge faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy…….

This section lists 9 gifts – these are gifts of revelation, vocal, power gifts.

1Cor 12:27 – 30 lists more gifts.

Eph. 4:11-13 – Christ gives these gifts APEST. V12 – to equip people to works of service so that the whole body will be built up

Rom 12:3-8

One body with many members. Many in Christ we form one body.

Acts 2:17 – I will pour out my Spirit

Prophecy, dreams, visions.

There are a whole variety of gifts that we can develop for the common good.

 

HOW DO THESE GIFTS WORK IN THE CHURCH?

We know the Holy Spirit gives the gifts.

We are one body 1Cor 12:12 –. The hand does not say I am great. It is great only when it is connected to the body. In a football team no matter how gifted a player he needs a team.

How did we become one body? 1Cor 12:13 –When we are baptized in the Spirit we become one body. At water baptized you are baptized by a person in the water. Here you are bap by the HS and immersed into the body of Christ.

You are the body of Christ 1 Cor 12: 27 - and each part does its part.

God has uniquely arranged us V18 – just as He wanted them to be. Your role is unique. You may think your role is small. It is unique and necessary. God has placed you there and you need to value it.

David says I would rather be a doorkeeper…

WE need one another 1 Cor 12:21 – The head cannot say to the eye I don’t need you. We need one another – you are important. Maybe you are the hands at WOG and you are not on the scene. WOG is losing out.

We are interconnected – You know that when you have a toothache you cannot think of anything else but that.

1Cor 12:24-25. If one part suffers all suffer. If one part is honoured all are honoured.

We are distinct individuals but interconnected. Are you interconnected with the body or are you living separated and isolated?

The Gyms are a great way to stay connected. There is a great diff bet a pile of bricks and bricks arranged and cemented together to form a wall. There is great strength in that.

This happens through the community where our lives are connected to one another. Together we are strong

WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS?

FIND your gift- Ignorance is not bliss. Read through these lists and ask God. You can have more than one gift.

If you desire something, ask God. One way to find out your gift is by asking your leader what they have observed about you. Sometimes we think we have a gift, but we don’t. Ask people who know you and will be honest with you.

FAN into flame 2 Tim1:6 Paul is telling Timothy to fan into flame. Develop it. I have the gift of preaching and teaching. I read and study a lot about it. How can you take it to the next level?

FAITHFUL – when you know what your gift is you need to exercise it faithfully. We will have workshops and activation sessions. We will teach on it and prophecy.

FRUITFUL – As we fan it into flame, God will use us greatly to be a blessing to many others. WE want to see our Sunday meetings full of the gifts of the Spirit.

 

You are privileged to be a part of the body of Christ. ARE you hindering the body by not playing your part? It is your responsibility to play your part. AT WOG we want to see each one grow. But it is your desire.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go For Growth

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 9th 2022  by Colin D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

them.

In life, everything living grows. The tables and chairs don’t grow. Jesus also grew. In Luke 2: 6 “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born”. In verse 21 “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus,” verse 40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him”.

Verse 42 “When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom” Here we see Jesus’ growth. In verse 52 “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”. We see that Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually and relationally.

 

Jesus is a perfect 10. We are all at a 5. If we want to grow, there is something we need to do. What can we do to move from a 5-6?

 

IMPRESS

 

P – Physically

Physical growth is important. 1 Cor 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” Jesus places a high emphasis

 

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We need to take care of our bodies. We can make jokes about dieting etc.

 

1.      Each of us needs to exercise. What can you do to keep God’s temple in good shape?

2.      We need to diet! Be careful what you ingest. Eat veggies protein and fats

3.      Fasting! Apart from spiritual benefits it has physical benefits.  Fasting is very healthy as well

 

commit to do these things to take me from 5-6

 

M - Mentally

 

There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Leaders are readers. We need to grow that muscle. When was the last time you read a book? As we read, we grow in our God given capacity to think

Fill our mind with Knowledge, learn something new. Find something to learn and grow your mind. We also need to fill our mind with God’s word. 2 Chr 1:7-12 “That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

Let’s be a people who ask for wisdom. Commit to doing something to grow your mind.

S- Spiritually

God has made us to have a relationship with him. We grow spiritually is by knowing about God and knowing God.

Acts 19:11-16 “¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”

Let’s desire to be like Jesus and Paul and make a name for ourselves in the spiritual realm. The way to foster is through spiritual disciplines – spending time in prayer, feeding ourselves the word of God etc.

Commit to doing something to grow spiritually.

R – Relational

We are relational beings created by a relational God. Examine the relationships in your life. Leadership is influence. We need to get along to go along. The foundation of leadership is to love people.

Relationships are where we demonstrate our love one for another. We have relationships all around us. Relationships need to be transformational. Look to build relationships all the time.  Jesus grew in favour with God but he also grew in favour with man.

What is one thing you can do over the next 30 days to grow in your relationship with someone in your life?

E- Emotionally

Emotional growth is important because feelings are important. We need to have self awareness and self management when it comes to feelings. Most major decisions we make are made based on feelings. People get married, buy a house, join or leave a church etc. based on feelings. We need to know how other people are experiencing us. Feelings control our relationships.

When Jesus was at Lazarus’ tomb, he wept. Mark 1:14 “14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus controlled his emotions and pressed on in the kingdom pursuit.

S- Succession

We are not going to live on this earth forever. So when we move on who can I pass things on to in whatever you are doing.

2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others”

The kingdom is all about succession. The very sad thing is we pass away without passing on. So think about who you can invest in to pass on whatever you do.

What can you pass on? Who can you pass on to?

I – Income & Finance

Jesus spoke more about money than he spoke about heaven or hell. How can we grow in managing our income, expenditure, saving, Insurance and giving.

Make sure that you have a life insurance and term insurance.

Giving – plan out your giving just as you plan to save. Aim to be generous. God’s blessing just flows into our lives as we give. Give generously and abundantly.

Put down things you can do to get more healthy in your finances.

We have looked at 7 dimensions of our blueprint for 2022. Let’s put that in practice.

Let’s pray. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.