Classroom: Spiritual Gifts 03-21-07
An important note that I discovered: When people from the Middle East (and sometimes Europe) say “Pentecostal” – what they really mean is Assembly church.
03-21-07
Spiritual Gifts
If you are not open to the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit – this lecture is going to be boring for you. And I want to tell you the truth, as I said the first day and I want to say it again – I am not charismatic, I am not Pentecostal, I just don’t like to be under any title. I just want to be Biblical – according to the Word of God. Pentecostal, charismatic – these are names that men gave.
I shared with you about receiving the Holy Spirit the first day. And I am amazed that not one of you came to me after this session to tell me that “you are wrong” or “you are right” or “I need help” or “I want to learn this” or “I am facing something and I want to receive this!” – only you may think “God bless you. Just finish and go.” Okay, I will finish and go.
Today, I want to bless you. I want you to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You are in need of the gifts of the Spirit! Just like the Apostles needed the releasing of the Holy Spirit! Once again, there is a chance today and tomorrow.
Romans 12:6-8
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
Rom 12:7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
Rom 12:8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The Holy Spirit give us gifts. Natural gifts and supernatural gifts.
In Ephesians 4:11 we find four gifts, and actually they aren’t gifts but offices. These have been given by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus gave them to the church. Today we will concentrate on the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit. And I want to tell you that these gifts will not make a change in your character – but what will make a change in your character is the works of the Holy Spirit. Using these gifts, bearing fruit, and doing works for the Lord. The work will change me and how much I allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life.
The other thing, some people think that when I speak in tongues and act in the gift of the Spirit that I’ve already reached the top! No, sir, I’ve just started.
So in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 I’m going to read some verses and I want you to notice something. First he spoke of the gifts of the Spirit, and he says we receive the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the same source. The one who gives to us is the same God. You will see same, same, same, same, same – the same source. The same God. You can receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit – but they are not yours. They are gifts. And the Lord doesn’t give you these gifts because you are holy – but He gives them to you because you are His children.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
How many gifts of the Spirit do you see here? 9. And today we’re going to talk about the gifts as though they are 9.
Gifts of Revelation:
Word of Wisdom
Word of Knowledge
Discerning of spirits
Gift of Faith
Work of Miracles
Gifts [note the plural] of healing
Gifts of utterances
Prophesy
Different kinds of tongues
Interpretation of tongues
In 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31, he says to earnestly desire the gifts. Do you know what earnestly means? It means desire it with all your hearts! So in chapter 12 we see that the gifts are good. When we look at chapter 13, we will see that he is saying even if you have ALL the gifts, if you don’t have love they are nothing! So we will see that we need to practice the gifts through love.
I’m going to talk about prophesy later because I want to go into more detail about it. So I’m going to start with speaking in tongues. And don’t come to me and say, “I don’t want it. I don’t need it.” Sure. If the apostle Paul says he speaks in tongues more than anybody, and the Word of God teaches us that it is good – why wouldn’t you? Don’t deny the Holy Spirit. Accept the gifts.
There are two kinds of tongues. There are tongues given as a sign or a seal that we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and there are tongues that have been given to use in ministry.
Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 19
Every believer has the ability to speak in a different tongue than his own mother tongue. It’s the language of the Holy Spirit. And day after day you will pray to the Lord to give you more vocabulary – and then it will come that you can speak this language as you speak a language you know. You know it. It’s a language and you know it – and then you can receive this kind of intimacy with the Lord.
Melissa: Does this mean that when I speak in tongues that I’m speaking in a known language on this earth even if I don’t know it? Like for example – Korean?
No, when we speak generally about tongues, it’s a heavenly language. It’s not here on the earth. But sometimes when we speak in tongues – we speak with a known language that exists. This is the exception, when God uses us somewhere to deliver a message to somebody.
The problem with our questions sometimes, our ignorance, is that we don’t know the word of God – and I am here just to help you; to understand and help you know what the word of God says about this.
Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 14 and we’ll get something for you.
1 Corinthians 14:1-2
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
When you speak in tongues, you speak to the Lord. You speak mysteries. I don’t understand it. The devil doesn’t understand it, but it’s spoken in the spiritual realm. And as much as I speak in the tongues, I speak in mysteries –and mysteries means that God is revealing something new in the earth, or something new in my life – or something new in the life of others. Guys you don’t know the power of speaking in tongues. We are just releasing mysteries. This is just a weapon in spiritual warfare.
When we speak in the mysteries of God, this is the weapon that the devil does not understand. This is a code, and the code, the enemy doesn’t understand the code. He has been living on this earth for thousands of years. When I pray in tongues of this earth, the devil can understand and reply.
When we speak in tongues we:
1. Speak to the Lord
2. Release mysteries
3. Build yourself
4. ??? (I missed this one)
5. Pray to praise and glorify God
6. Intercede
He who speaks in tongues edifies himself. He who prophesies edifies the church. How can I put this in words? When I speak in tongues I build myself up? When you charge your cell phone, the battery works for a few hours. And as much as I understand this – when I speak in tongues I charge myself. I charge myself to be lifted up.
Jude 1:20
But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Ephesians 6:18
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Acts 2:11
Acts 20:46
John 10:44
When you pray in the Spirit, it doesn’t mean that you are enthusiastic. It means pray in the Spirit – in the language of the Spirit.
We pray to glorify the Lord and lift up His name.
Ephesians 6:17
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Here when he says the “word of God” – He is not talking about the Bible or scripture. That word is “logos” – here the word is different. It means revelation. It says you should take this, the word and prayer of the Spirit, praying with all supplication in the Spirit. We speak with tongues we speak with language. And we discover through experiences that the evil spirits, they cannot understand tongues. They don’t know what we are speaking. It’s hidden from them. God gives this to the church to make the battle against the enemy.
When we speak in tongues, as we walk with the Lord, day after day, we pray that this word will interpret or be translated. And you can discern between the tongue of different things. When you pray to the Lord, you do so softly. And sometimes I pray in a different way when I’m praying with somebody. I pray with pain as I intercede with a need. And sometimes it will come with love and joy and praise.
1 Corinthians 12:39
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
So we need to practice it – with love – and don’t hurt others. And another things – the Lord will give it to us to interpret what we are saying.
The second gift in the gift of utterance is the gift of interpretation of tongues.
In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul is wondering – does everyone speak in tongues? Does everyone heal? We discovered in the last 100 years that the Lord is still revealing Himself. That when He gives us the Holy Spirit, he gives us all the gifts. We are specialized in some gifts and we practice those gifts, but we don’t use all the gifts.
I’ve realized that demons travel in groups! Did you notice? Like rejection goes with hatred, and they go with bitterness…
This gift of interpretation of tongues – we cannot take it far away from the speaking in tongues, because you’re not going to stand in the midst of the people and say “I’m going to interpret.” Suppose somebody is speaking in tongues? And the word here is not translation – it is interpretation. And interpretation gives meaning. This is a kind of supernatural. We are given supernatural gifts.
Verse 13 says, “whoever speaks in tongues, let them pray for an interpreter.” How do we ask for an interpreter? The same way we ask to speak in tongues! And if this is according to the will of God, then the Lord will give it to me.
Let me tell you my testimony.
I grew up in a very conservative church; and I went to seminary. And after I graduated – I was conservative one way, but I had a lot of friends who were “open” to speaking in tongues and blah, blah, blah. But they talked to me in seminary – that these gifts have been deceased. They aren’t anymore. After we received the full word of God – we don’t need these. But one day I was praying with four or five friends from the church. Our church was a missions church. We were sending people in the fields and when we were praying, I found myself speaking in a different kind of language. And there was a voice inside of me saying, “oh you are copying so and so!” And I thought okay, that’s fine. And then the Lord gave me words for every four or five one of them. And I knew at once that this was a prophesy. And I said these things in a lot of details. And everyone was amazed. I spoke things and I knew nothing about what was going on in their life. And we finished and went down – and we finished loading the car. We sent them on their way and I said to them, “shhhh!!! Don’t tell anybody!” Why? Because I was afraid of my denomination. I was looking for a job at a church. So I forgot about it and said, “okay. That’s fine” Years later, I was in a very difficult situation – and I was serving. My brother worked at that time as a full time registrar. And I found myself sitting there; I was crying; I was hurting; and I couldn’t speak a word. Have you felt this sometimes? You can’t find the word to express what you’re feeling. And I found myself speaking another language – I didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like another language. It was just sounds. But years after that – I didn’t believe what I had received. I rejected it, and I started to teach against it. I was very famous in my denomination when I started to teach against it. I became known as “the man of the Word.” They told me just speak against it! But one day I was alone. I was at my desk. I was sick, I had a stick. I was praying at that time. “Lord, why am I like this? Why am I sick” And the Lord told me, “you never asked me for healing!” But my theology replied, “He is God. He knows what to do. If He loves you He has allowed this to happen to you. He loves you. If He has given you pain, it is right.” And I didn’t ask the Lord for healing. And I used to share this with you when I used to talk about the gifts of healings. But I wanted to share this with you as I talk about the gift of tongues. And the Lord started to say to me, “I gave you – but your unbelief rejected the gift. You put your theology above my word. But if you want, come and humble yourself before me.” At that time I had a girlfriend. The Lord gave her a lot of gifts. At that time she came once a week. She would serve and cook for me. One day, she was just sitting on the sofa. And I was saying to the Lord, “Lord give me, please give me this gift again.” And I heard the Lord tell me, “If you want it, go over there and bow before her feet and I will give it to you again.” And I thought to myself, “I am the pastor. How can I do this!” So I started to rebuke this in Jesus! Again and again and again! But the voice came again. So I did it. She didn’t see me because she was in one side of the sofa and I was on the other. She was lifting her hands in the air and speaking slowly and softly in tongues. And when I finally knelt, as soon as my knees hit the floor the Spirit gushed out of me! And I made a sound and she opened her eyes and said “Hallelujah!” A lot of people say that we don’t speak in tongues now! Or that the Lord is doing something different! But in Ephesians, and in Romans 8 – he is writing to everybody to pray in the Spirit! This means that He wants everyone to pray in the Spirit! So it came to me to encourage the Body of Christ – to overcome the fear and the doubts! To use these gifts in ministry and in life. You will not understand everything.
Claude: Why in the church do we practice more prophesy than speaking in tongues and interpretation.
I think because as the church practices spiritual gifts (the church in general) we discover that the prophesy is building the body – the church, more than speaking in tongues; because speaking in tongues is just building yourself.
As a church, my church, we used to use tongues – especially in worship, and other times when we intercede. The third time is when we have spiritual warfare – when something is holding us and we don’t know what it is, we just bring the intercessors and pray in the spirit for one hours or two hours. When we are in the Spirit – all of us can release the gifts when we have a humble heart and believe.
Not everyone has to prophesy like me. I prophesy like a gun – boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You can prophesy in different ways.
Chris: You know there are a lot of righteous, God fearing men, smart Bible scholars that you support as brothers in Christ and who are also doing God's work - and they disagree with you on what you are teaching about speaking in tongues. The reason they disagree isn't because they don't know the scriptures; so I'm just wondering what you would say the reason is that they disagree with you?
I wanted to go simple, you can receive it and release it. I didn’t want to spend a lot of energy and time defending the teaching. From the two camps – after a while, I discovered that the differences just came from a lack of experiences. The teaching was not complete, and I just didn’t have a clear practice or way to do it. And I went and just studied the scriptures – the passages, the Lord started to work through me. I read the scriptures again, and I started to see it in a different way. The scriptures and teaching were very simple and very practical. And in the first camp of thinking it’s just not very practical. It’s not simple. There are a lot of things in this world that the Lord is doing – the Lord is moving. And He’s doing things in ways that we don’t even know. God is doing His work in the Word.
Thank you for your honest questions. Sorry for my poor answers. I just wanted to give you honest answers, and let God challenge you and help you and open you up to new things.
Prophesy
Prophesy is revelation of the Spirit about the things God says to us. To whom the prophesy is given regarding the time and the place. It brings stuff from the past – present and future. In 1 Corinthians 14 it says to pursue love and Spiritual gifts, but especially pursue prophesy.
Prophesy builds you up, encourages you, and gives you rest.
The prophesy that we speak with revelation. It’s a word for somebody in a period of time that the Lord released something from His heart and His mind for this person or situation or group of people. We have the word of God; and Jesus said in John 16, when the Spirit comes, when the Helper comes, He will let you know something that will come in the future – and still this is the Spirit of prophesy. That God, releasing His heart, is saying what the Spirit says to the church today. The Spirit still speaks to the church today. It still speaks to the nations. You can turn your TV on and there are many channels with false prophets. You can call 1-800. And they will tell you what to do and what’s going to happen, fortune tellers. But, we have the genuine one! The Spirit of God! The prophetic Spirit! That He wants to heal us and touch us!
The Spirit of prophesy
1. it builds the church as we see in 1 Corinthians 14:3-4 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
2. it releases the gifts. It reveals new gifts to people in the church. 1 Timothy 4:14 - Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophesy
3. It encourages our hearts when we do Spiritual warfare. 1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
Listen, the Bible is full of prophesies – from the first page to the last page. These prophesies are unconditional. But, our prophesies are conditional. If you don’t do certain things – one, two, three, four – they will not come to pass. My life has been changed through words of prophesies! Some people here know that. The word of prophesies will give us direction. They will give us answers to our questions. They will encourage us and give us confirmation of the words that are spoken to our hearts!
Every prophesy goes through four stages.
Revelation – the Lord will reveal His thoughts and hopes
Transformation – until this word will come, there are a lot of things that need to be changed, in my own life and in the circumstances around me. They will not happen suddenly – SOMETIMES they will happen suddenly. But in general a lot of things need to change around me.
Confrontation – A lot of things need to be confronted. My thinking, my way of acting with others. Confronting the enemy. Why? Wherever the word of prophesy will be – you will find spiritual warfare. You will find resistance – because the enemy will put another plan, to stop the plan of God in your life. And unfortunately, most of the believers give up along the way, and they wonder WHY the word of prophesy didn’t come to pass.
A prophesy may have many parts that come to pass over time and in different ways.
How can I prophesy? When you prophesy it’s easier because you’re using your own words and you’ll find that your mind is just connected with your Spirit a little bit. Okay, I’m going to prophesy over somebody, and I just make my heart ready to receive from the Lord. And maybe I’ll hear a word – maybe it’ll be His name. Then I’ll wait maybe a half an hour for another word… (just joking) – okay no. When you prophesy you’re going to describe a word or a picture or something that you’re getting. And what happens when you’re done? You’ll get another one, and when you’re finished describing this – you’ll get another. And you can keep doing this until the whole thing is revealed. And sometimes it will flow out so smoothly you just don’t stop talking because more is revealed to you at just the right time! And you might be like a gun.
Okay, I’m going to go to Miled, and I don’t have to say, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” I’m just going to say, Miled, the Lord wants me to tell you… “blah, blah, blah” – and after this, there may be a second “blah, blah, blah.”
Everyone can prophesy but not everyone is a prophet. There is a big difference. This is not my time to tell you about the prophet. But the prophet is one of two that the church has been established on.
Ephesians 2:20
We have been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
This is not what we need to go through right now. Let’s go more through the protocol of prophesy. I will give you a lot of information, maybe you are not ready for it now, but just write it down and maybe you’ll use it later.
1. When you prophesy, not at any time, not at any place.
1 Corinthians 14:32
and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
Okay – you have to know what’s the best time and what’s the best place.
2. It has to be under authority. Because the authority is to protect the people – and the authority will judge whether this is correct or not.
I can see that many people in the Body of Christ just prophesy without the authority present and they miss a lot of things.
3. Without any negative attitude or condemnation. “We know that you are crooked. If you do not repent! The judgment of God will come upon you!” Now come on, we know what the purpose of prophesy is for. It’s to build up and encourage and console.
Don’t allow anyone to talk to you about any special calling in your life. For these things, the Lord will speak to the person personally about these things. Sometimes I will get these things in prophesy and I will not reveal it. That is the Lord’s job. So why do I get it? Just to intercede. Just to pray for them.
So what stops a prophesy from coming to pass? 1. Spirit of unbelief of the one who receives. No one can prophesy without the faith because prophesy is according to faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good
Sometimes you’re going to hear a prophesy – and some of it is good and okay. Some of it you’re going to think and feel, “mmm, no it is not okay.” Don’t ignore all of it. But keep what is good and pray about the rest. But don’t despise prophesies.
When the Lord releases a prophesy, this is a little seed. He is looking for good soil to put this seed inside, and is waiting for the right time. It’s a good atmosphere to grow with this word. Now, this means that you have to have the good soil for this word to grow. And you will be shaped and changed along the way until it comes to pass. Everyone who have received prophesies before knows what I’m talking about. It changes a lot of things but you have to keep holding on. Okay, you can go and read Habakkuk 2:1-3 but you have to write down the prophesy and write down the vision until it comes to pass.
Three, you don’t understand the directions. As I shared with you before about the four stages of prophesy. The revelation – the transformation – the confrontation – the fulfillment. You have to go through these stages. The prophesy is like a puzzle. Sometimes you’ll receive a word from here, and you’ll receive a word from the other side, and you’ll have to put them together.
Four, that you stop fighting with it. Because when God gives you this word, He says, “It’s yours, brother.” You go by your sword. You conquer and defeat your enemy and you go into the land – and then the word of God will come to us. This is what it’s like to fight to get there. We have a responsibility.
Okay, the last thing. Sometimes in the last point I just shared, you feel that everything has come against the word of God. Don’t hold back. Go for it. Keep going and fighting. 1 Timothy 1:18
Last thing (for real?) – how do I judge two prophesies from false prophets or false prophesies? A general passage is
Matthew 7:15-23
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
Does it go with the word of God, or not? God will not give you anything that goes against the word of God. He will not come to you one day, someone who is a believer, and say “Go and marry an unbeliever.”
It gives glory to Jesus. It has to release you and set you free. Romans 8:13
John 16:
Does your spirit testify or witness to this prophesy. Say “yes, yes Lord. My spirit says yes.”
Hebrews 5:14
Mat
Is there a difference between a prophesy that doesn’t come to pass and a false prophesy?
Yes, there is. Sometimes there are people that are using prophesies and words to control others as they like. And if you hear at any time – the one who prophesies saying, “The Lord is telling you that if you don’t do this the curse will come upon you and will destroy blah, blah, blah.” – and if you hear this, rebuke it in Jesus name. This is not a prophesy. This is a curse. Rebuke it, and say you don’t receive it.
Sometimes it will not come to pass, not because of the person who prophesied – but because of me (the receiver). I don’t believe it and I just throw it away and I fight with it.
I have heard a lot of things while prophesying for people. Many times when I pray for people I say “the Lord will give you more money.” And two or three years pass and nothing. And I ask a question, “brother, do you tithe?” And they say, “uhhh, actually…. Uhhh, actually…” and when they say this I know. HOW DO YOU EXPECT HARVEST WITHOUT THE SEED??? The Lord will show you that He wants to bless you! But you have to do your homework! But you have to tithe! Do your homework. We have to be responsible.
Question: Do you have to give an effort to say, “I want to prophesy, I want to prophesy!” What is the difference between prophesy and vision? We’ve heard lots of people have gotten a prophesy who are not believers and then they became a believer (???)
Vision comes even without the prophetic Spirit. Okay? And vision can be a part of the prophesy. While I’m prophesying I can see a vision. And the Lord will tell me what it means. And I will interpret.
Question: How can a prophesy or vision come to the unbeliever?
I didn’t say that the unbeliever can prophesy. But the unbeliever can see a vision. This has happened to many people.
Question: Do I have to make an effort to prophesy?
No. You don’t have to make an effort. You need to have faith in the Lord day after day and trust what He has given you.
There are many people suffering that they cannot hear God’s voice!
As much as you relax and train yourself to hear what God has given you. It comes sometimes like an impression. The Lord speaks in many different ways for every one of us. It’s easy for me to hear the word of god while I’m prophesying for many people – even groups of people or nations. Sometimes it’s hard for me to hear God talking to me. Because I cannot hear it clearly. The Lord is silent right now and wants me to discover it in another way. It’s not magic when the Lord is telling me “blah, blah, blah, blah.” What you are talking about is that our relationship with God and how to hear the voice of God – this is to build a relationship with the Lord. And I know that the Lord can speak to me not only on impressions – I can put circumstances together and say, “ah, yes, the Lord wants to take me in this direction!”
God is sharing with us what He wants us to do in the Word.
Amos 9 says something… ?
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 Peter 1 – when Jesus went to the mount for transfiguration… in Hebrews it’s talking about the Son ship and uniqueness of the Son of God in the plan of salvation. The Lord doesn’t need anybody anymore – to say what John the Baptist said. “This is the lamb of God!” No, this is finished. The Lord has been talking to you many times, in many ways – there are no more prophets to talk about this subject again.
This is the Spirit of Prophesy that is released from God’s heart concerning His people. It comes through the gifts that have been given to the Son of God.
God does not give us gifts and then, when we are finished using them at a particular time or for an occasion, take them back. “thank you!”
To everyone, I pray for the release of the gift of prophesy. Then we can begin the prophesying.
03-21-07
Spiritual Gifts
If you are not open to the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit – this lecture is going to be boring for you. And I want to tell you the truth, as I said the first day and I want to say it again – I am not charismatic, I am not Pentecostal, I just don’t like to be under any title. I just want to be Biblical – according to the Word of God. Pentecostal, charismatic – these are names that men gave.
I shared with you about receiving the Holy Spirit the first day. And I am amazed that not one of you came to me after this session to tell me that “you are wrong” or “you are right” or “I need help” or “I want to learn this” or “I am facing something and I want to receive this!” – only you may think “God bless you. Just finish and go.” Okay, I will finish and go.
Today, I want to bless you. I want you to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You are in need of the gifts of the Spirit! Just like the Apostles needed the releasing of the Holy Spirit! Once again, there is a chance today and tomorrow.
Romans 12:6-8
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
Rom 12:7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
Rom 12:8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The Holy Spirit give us gifts. Natural gifts and supernatural gifts.
In Ephesians 4:11 we find four gifts, and actually they aren’t gifts but offices. These have been given by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus gave them to the church. Today we will concentrate on the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit. And I want to tell you that these gifts will not make a change in your character – but what will make a change in your character is the works of the Holy Spirit. Using these gifts, bearing fruit, and doing works for the Lord. The work will change me and how much I allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life.
The other thing, some people think that when I speak in tongues and act in the gift of the Spirit that I’ve already reached the top! No, sir, I’ve just started.
So in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 I’m going to read some verses and I want you to notice something. First he spoke of the gifts of the Spirit, and he says we receive the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the same source. The one who gives to us is the same God. You will see same, same, same, same, same – the same source. The same God. You can receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit – but they are not yours. They are gifts. And the Lord doesn’t give you these gifts because you are holy – but He gives them to you because you are His children.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
How many gifts of the Spirit do you see here? 9. And today we’re going to talk about the gifts as though they are 9.
Gifts of Revelation:
Word of Wisdom
Word of Knowledge
Discerning of spirits
Gift of Faith
Work of Miracles
Gifts [note the plural] of healing
Gifts of utterances
Prophesy
Different kinds of tongues
Interpretation of tongues
In 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31, he says to earnestly desire the gifts. Do you know what earnestly means? It means desire it with all your hearts! So in chapter 12 we see that the gifts are good. When we look at chapter 13, we will see that he is saying even if you have ALL the gifts, if you don’t have love they are nothing! So we will see that we need to practice the gifts through love.
I’m going to talk about prophesy later because I want to go into more detail about it. So I’m going to start with speaking in tongues. And don’t come to me and say, “I don’t want it. I don’t need it.” Sure. If the apostle Paul says he speaks in tongues more than anybody, and the Word of God teaches us that it is good – why wouldn’t you? Don’t deny the Holy Spirit. Accept the gifts.
There are two kinds of tongues. There are tongues given as a sign or a seal that we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and there are tongues that have been given to use in ministry.
Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 19
Every believer has the ability to speak in a different tongue than his own mother tongue. It’s the language of the Holy Spirit. And day after day you will pray to the Lord to give you more vocabulary – and then it will come that you can speak this language as you speak a language you know. You know it. It’s a language and you know it – and then you can receive this kind of intimacy with the Lord.
Melissa: Does this mean that when I speak in tongues that I’m speaking in a known language on this earth even if I don’t know it? Like for example – Korean?
No, when we speak generally about tongues, it’s a heavenly language. It’s not here on the earth. But sometimes when we speak in tongues – we speak with a known language that exists. This is the exception, when God uses us somewhere to deliver a message to somebody.
The problem with our questions sometimes, our ignorance, is that we don’t know the word of God – and I am here just to help you; to understand and help you know what the word of God says about this.
Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 14 and we’ll get something for you.
1 Corinthians 14:1-2
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
When you speak in tongues, you speak to the Lord. You speak mysteries. I don’t understand it. The devil doesn’t understand it, but it’s spoken in the spiritual realm. And as much as I speak in the tongues, I speak in mysteries –and mysteries means that God is revealing something new in the earth, or something new in my life – or something new in the life of others. Guys you don’t know the power of speaking in tongues. We are just releasing mysteries. This is just a weapon in spiritual warfare.
When we speak in the mysteries of God, this is the weapon that the devil does not understand. This is a code, and the code, the enemy doesn’t understand the code. He has been living on this earth for thousands of years. When I pray in tongues of this earth, the devil can understand and reply.
When we speak in tongues we:
1. Speak to the Lord
2. Release mysteries
3. Build yourself
4. ??? (I missed this one)
5. Pray to praise and glorify God
6. Intercede
He who speaks in tongues edifies himself. He who prophesies edifies the church. How can I put this in words? When I speak in tongues I build myself up? When you charge your cell phone, the battery works for a few hours. And as much as I understand this – when I speak in tongues I charge myself. I charge myself to be lifted up.
Jude 1:20
But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Ephesians 6:18
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Acts 2:11
Acts 20:46
John 10:44
When you pray in the Spirit, it doesn’t mean that you are enthusiastic. It means pray in the Spirit – in the language of the Spirit.
We pray to glorify the Lord and lift up His name.
Ephesians 6:17
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Here when he says the “word of God” – He is not talking about the Bible or scripture. That word is “logos” – here the word is different. It means revelation. It says you should take this, the word and prayer of the Spirit, praying with all supplication in the Spirit. We speak with tongues we speak with language. And we discover through experiences that the evil spirits, they cannot understand tongues. They don’t know what we are speaking. It’s hidden from them. God gives this to the church to make the battle against the enemy.
When we speak in tongues, as we walk with the Lord, day after day, we pray that this word will interpret or be translated. And you can discern between the tongue of different things. When you pray to the Lord, you do so softly. And sometimes I pray in a different way when I’m praying with somebody. I pray with pain as I intercede with a need. And sometimes it will come with love and joy and praise.
1 Corinthians 12:39
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
So we need to practice it – with love – and don’t hurt others. And another things – the Lord will give it to us to interpret what we are saying.
The second gift in the gift of utterance is the gift of interpretation of tongues.
In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul is wondering – does everyone speak in tongues? Does everyone heal? We discovered in the last 100 years that the Lord is still revealing Himself. That when He gives us the Holy Spirit, he gives us all the gifts. We are specialized in some gifts and we practice those gifts, but we don’t use all the gifts.
I’ve realized that demons travel in groups! Did you notice? Like rejection goes with hatred, and they go with bitterness…
This gift of interpretation of tongues – we cannot take it far away from the speaking in tongues, because you’re not going to stand in the midst of the people and say “I’m going to interpret.” Suppose somebody is speaking in tongues? And the word here is not translation – it is interpretation. And interpretation gives meaning. This is a kind of supernatural. We are given supernatural gifts.
Verse 13 says, “whoever speaks in tongues, let them pray for an interpreter.” How do we ask for an interpreter? The same way we ask to speak in tongues! And if this is according to the will of God, then the Lord will give it to me.
Let me tell you my testimony.
I grew up in a very conservative church; and I went to seminary. And after I graduated – I was conservative one way, but I had a lot of friends who were “open” to speaking in tongues and blah, blah, blah. But they talked to me in seminary – that these gifts have been deceased. They aren’t anymore. After we received the full word of God – we don’t need these. But one day I was praying with four or five friends from the church. Our church was a missions church. We were sending people in the fields and when we were praying, I found myself speaking in a different kind of language. And there was a voice inside of me saying, “oh you are copying so and so!” And I thought okay, that’s fine. And then the Lord gave me words for every four or five one of them. And I knew at once that this was a prophesy. And I said these things in a lot of details. And everyone was amazed. I spoke things and I knew nothing about what was going on in their life. And we finished and went down – and we finished loading the car. We sent them on their way and I said to them, “shhhh!!! Don’t tell anybody!” Why? Because I was afraid of my denomination. I was looking for a job at a church. So I forgot about it and said, “okay. That’s fine” Years later, I was in a very difficult situation – and I was serving. My brother worked at that time as a full time registrar. And I found myself sitting there; I was crying; I was hurting; and I couldn’t speak a word. Have you felt this sometimes? You can’t find the word to express what you’re feeling. And I found myself speaking another language – I didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like another language. It was just sounds. But years after that – I didn’t believe what I had received. I rejected it, and I started to teach against it. I was very famous in my denomination when I started to teach against it. I became known as “the man of the Word.” They told me just speak against it! But one day I was alone. I was at my desk. I was sick, I had a stick. I was praying at that time. “Lord, why am I like this? Why am I sick” And the Lord told me, “you never asked me for healing!” But my theology replied, “He is God. He knows what to do. If He loves you He has allowed this to happen to you. He loves you. If He has given you pain, it is right.” And I didn’t ask the Lord for healing. And I used to share this with you when I used to talk about the gifts of healings. But I wanted to share this with you as I talk about the gift of tongues. And the Lord started to say to me, “I gave you – but your unbelief rejected the gift. You put your theology above my word. But if you want, come and humble yourself before me.” At that time I had a girlfriend. The Lord gave her a lot of gifts. At that time she came once a week. She would serve and cook for me. One day, she was just sitting on the sofa. And I was saying to the Lord, “Lord give me, please give me this gift again.” And I heard the Lord tell me, “If you want it, go over there and bow before her feet and I will give it to you again.” And I thought to myself, “I am the pastor. How can I do this!” So I started to rebuke this in Jesus! Again and again and again! But the voice came again. So I did it. She didn’t see me because she was in one side of the sofa and I was on the other. She was lifting her hands in the air and speaking slowly and softly in tongues. And when I finally knelt, as soon as my knees hit the floor the Spirit gushed out of me! And I made a sound and she opened her eyes and said “Hallelujah!” A lot of people say that we don’t speak in tongues now! Or that the Lord is doing something different! But in Ephesians, and in Romans 8 – he is writing to everybody to pray in the Spirit! This means that He wants everyone to pray in the Spirit! So it came to me to encourage the Body of Christ – to overcome the fear and the doubts! To use these gifts in ministry and in life. You will not understand everything.
Claude: Why in the church do we practice more prophesy than speaking in tongues and interpretation.
I think because as the church practices spiritual gifts (the church in general) we discover that the prophesy is building the body – the church, more than speaking in tongues; because speaking in tongues is just building yourself.
As a church, my church, we used to use tongues – especially in worship, and other times when we intercede. The third time is when we have spiritual warfare – when something is holding us and we don’t know what it is, we just bring the intercessors and pray in the spirit for one hours or two hours. When we are in the Spirit – all of us can release the gifts when we have a humble heart and believe.
Not everyone has to prophesy like me. I prophesy like a gun – boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You can prophesy in different ways.
Chris: You know there are a lot of righteous, God fearing men, smart Bible scholars that you support as brothers in Christ and who are also doing God's work - and they disagree with you on what you are teaching about speaking in tongues. The reason they disagree isn't because they don't know the scriptures; so I'm just wondering what you would say the reason is that they disagree with you?
I wanted to go simple, you can receive it and release it. I didn’t want to spend a lot of energy and time defending the teaching. From the two camps – after a while, I discovered that the differences just came from a lack of experiences. The teaching was not complete, and I just didn’t have a clear practice or way to do it. And I went and just studied the scriptures – the passages, the Lord started to work through me. I read the scriptures again, and I started to see it in a different way. The scriptures and teaching were very simple and very practical. And in the first camp of thinking it’s just not very practical. It’s not simple. There are a lot of things in this world that the Lord is doing – the Lord is moving. And He’s doing things in ways that we don’t even know. God is doing His work in the Word.
Thank you for your honest questions. Sorry for my poor answers. I just wanted to give you honest answers, and let God challenge you and help you and open you up to new things.
Prophesy
Prophesy is revelation of the Spirit about the things God says to us. To whom the prophesy is given regarding the time and the place. It brings stuff from the past – present and future. In 1 Corinthians 14 it says to pursue love and Spiritual gifts, but especially pursue prophesy.
Prophesy builds you up, encourages you, and gives you rest.
The prophesy that we speak with revelation. It’s a word for somebody in a period of time that the Lord released something from His heart and His mind for this person or situation or group of people. We have the word of God; and Jesus said in John 16, when the Spirit comes, when the Helper comes, He will let you know something that will come in the future – and still this is the Spirit of prophesy. That God, releasing His heart, is saying what the Spirit says to the church today. The Spirit still speaks to the church today. It still speaks to the nations. You can turn your TV on and there are many channels with false prophets. You can call 1-800. And they will tell you what to do and what’s going to happen, fortune tellers. But, we have the genuine one! The Spirit of God! The prophetic Spirit! That He wants to heal us and touch us!
The Spirit of prophesy
1. it builds the church as we see in 1 Corinthians 14:3-4 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
2. it releases the gifts. It reveals new gifts to people in the church. 1 Timothy 4:14 - Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophesy
3. It encourages our hearts when we do Spiritual warfare. 1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
Listen, the Bible is full of prophesies – from the first page to the last page. These prophesies are unconditional. But, our prophesies are conditional. If you don’t do certain things – one, two, three, four – they will not come to pass. My life has been changed through words of prophesies! Some people here know that. The word of prophesies will give us direction. They will give us answers to our questions. They will encourage us and give us confirmation of the words that are spoken to our hearts!
Every prophesy goes through four stages.
Revelation – the Lord will reveal His thoughts and hopes
Transformation – until this word will come, there are a lot of things that need to be changed, in my own life and in the circumstances around me. They will not happen suddenly – SOMETIMES they will happen suddenly. But in general a lot of things need to change around me.
Confrontation – A lot of things need to be confronted. My thinking, my way of acting with others. Confronting the enemy. Why? Wherever the word of prophesy will be – you will find spiritual warfare. You will find resistance – because the enemy will put another plan, to stop the plan of God in your life. And unfortunately, most of the believers give up along the way, and they wonder WHY the word of prophesy didn’t come to pass.
A prophesy may have many parts that come to pass over time and in different ways.
How can I prophesy? When you prophesy it’s easier because you’re using your own words and you’ll find that your mind is just connected with your Spirit a little bit. Okay, I’m going to prophesy over somebody, and I just make my heart ready to receive from the Lord. And maybe I’ll hear a word – maybe it’ll be His name. Then I’ll wait maybe a half an hour for another word… (just joking) – okay no. When you prophesy you’re going to describe a word or a picture or something that you’re getting. And what happens when you’re done? You’ll get another one, and when you’re finished describing this – you’ll get another. And you can keep doing this until the whole thing is revealed. And sometimes it will flow out so smoothly you just don’t stop talking because more is revealed to you at just the right time! And you might be like a gun.
Okay, I’m going to go to Miled, and I don’t have to say, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” I’m just going to say, Miled, the Lord wants me to tell you… “blah, blah, blah” – and after this, there may be a second “blah, blah, blah.”
Everyone can prophesy but not everyone is a prophet. There is a big difference. This is not my time to tell you about the prophet. But the prophet is one of two that the church has been established on.
Ephesians 2:20
We have been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
This is not what we need to go through right now. Let’s go more through the protocol of prophesy. I will give you a lot of information, maybe you are not ready for it now, but just write it down and maybe you’ll use it later.
1. When you prophesy, not at any time, not at any place.
1 Corinthians 14:32
and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
Okay – you have to know what’s the best time and what’s the best place.
2. It has to be under authority. Because the authority is to protect the people – and the authority will judge whether this is correct or not.
I can see that many people in the Body of Christ just prophesy without the authority present and they miss a lot of things.
3. Without any negative attitude or condemnation. “We know that you are crooked. If you do not repent! The judgment of God will come upon you!” Now come on, we know what the purpose of prophesy is for. It’s to build up and encourage and console.
Don’t allow anyone to talk to you about any special calling in your life. For these things, the Lord will speak to the person personally about these things. Sometimes I will get these things in prophesy and I will not reveal it. That is the Lord’s job. So why do I get it? Just to intercede. Just to pray for them.
So what stops a prophesy from coming to pass? 1. Spirit of unbelief of the one who receives. No one can prophesy without the faith because prophesy is according to faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good
Sometimes you’re going to hear a prophesy – and some of it is good and okay. Some of it you’re going to think and feel, “mmm, no it is not okay.” Don’t ignore all of it. But keep what is good and pray about the rest. But don’t despise prophesies.
When the Lord releases a prophesy, this is a little seed. He is looking for good soil to put this seed inside, and is waiting for the right time. It’s a good atmosphere to grow with this word. Now, this means that you have to have the good soil for this word to grow. And you will be shaped and changed along the way until it comes to pass. Everyone who have received prophesies before knows what I’m talking about. It changes a lot of things but you have to keep holding on. Okay, you can go and read Habakkuk 2:1-3 but you have to write down the prophesy and write down the vision until it comes to pass.
Three, you don’t understand the directions. As I shared with you before about the four stages of prophesy. The revelation – the transformation – the confrontation – the fulfillment. You have to go through these stages. The prophesy is like a puzzle. Sometimes you’ll receive a word from here, and you’ll receive a word from the other side, and you’ll have to put them together.
Four, that you stop fighting with it. Because when God gives you this word, He says, “It’s yours, brother.” You go by your sword. You conquer and defeat your enemy and you go into the land – and then the word of God will come to us. This is what it’s like to fight to get there. We have a responsibility.
Okay, the last thing. Sometimes in the last point I just shared, you feel that everything has come against the word of God. Don’t hold back. Go for it. Keep going and fighting. 1 Timothy 1:18
Last thing (for real?) – how do I judge two prophesies from false prophets or false prophesies? A general passage is
Matthew 7:15-23
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
Does it go with the word of God, or not? God will not give you anything that goes against the word of God. He will not come to you one day, someone who is a believer, and say “Go and marry an unbeliever.”
It gives glory to Jesus. It has to release you and set you free. Romans 8:13
John 16:
Does your spirit testify or witness to this prophesy. Say “yes, yes Lord. My spirit says yes.”
Hebrews 5:14
Mat
Is there a difference between a prophesy that doesn’t come to pass and a false prophesy?
Yes, there is. Sometimes there are people that are using prophesies and words to control others as they like. And if you hear at any time – the one who prophesies saying, “The Lord is telling you that if you don’t do this the curse will come upon you and will destroy blah, blah, blah.” – and if you hear this, rebuke it in Jesus name. This is not a prophesy. This is a curse. Rebuke it, and say you don’t receive it.
Sometimes it will not come to pass, not because of the person who prophesied – but because of me (the receiver). I don’t believe it and I just throw it away and I fight with it.
I have heard a lot of things while prophesying for people. Many times when I pray for people I say “the Lord will give you more money.” And two or three years pass and nothing. And I ask a question, “brother, do you tithe?” And they say, “uhhh, actually…. Uhhh, actually…” and when they say this I know. HOW DO YOU EXPECT HARVEST WITHOUT THE SEED??? The Lord will show you that He wants to bless you! But you have to do your homework! But you have to tithe! Do your homework. We have to be responsible.
Question: Do you have to give an effort to say, “I want to prophesy, I want to prophesy!” What is the difference between prophesy and vision? We’ve heard lots of people have gotten a prophesy who are not believers and then they became a believer (???)
Vision comes even without the prophetic Spirit. Okay? And vision can be a part of the prophesy. While I’m prophesying I can see a vision. And the Lord will tell me what it means. And I will interpret.
Question: How can a prophesy or vision come to the unbeliever?
I didn’t say that the unbeliever can prophesy. But the unbeliever can see a vision. This has happened to many people.
Question: Do I have to make an effort to prophesy?
No. You don’t have to make an effort. You need to have faith in the Lord day after day and trust what He has given you.
There are many people suffering that they cannot hear God’s voice!
As much as you relax and train yourself to hear what God has given you. It comes sometimes like an impression. The Lord speaks in many different ways for every one of us. It’s easy for me to hear the word of god while I’m prophesying for many people – even groups of people or nations. Sometimes it’s hard for me to hear God talking to me. Because I cannot hear it clearly. The Lord is silent right now and wants me to discover it in another way. It’s not magic when the Lord is telling me “blah, blah, blah, blah.” What you are talking about is that our relationship with God and how to hear the voice of God – this is to build a relationship with the Lord. And I know that the Lord can speak to me not only on impressions – I can put circumstances together and say, “ah, yes, the Lord wants to take me in this direction!”
God is sharing with us what He wants us to do in the Word.
Amos 9 says something… ?
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 Peter 1 – when Jesus went to the mount for transfiguration… in Hebrews it’s talking about the Son ship and uniqueness of the Son of God in the plan of salvation. The Lord doesn’t need anybody anymore – to say what John the Baptist said. “This is the lamb of God!” No, this is finished. The Lord has been talking to you many times, in many ways – there are no more prophets to talk about this subject again.
This is the Spirit of Prophesy that is released from God’s heart concerning His people. It comes through the gifts that have been given to the Son of God.
God does not give us gifts and then, when we are finished using them at a particular time or for an occasion, take them back. “thank you!”
To everyone, I pray for the release of the gift of prophesy. Then we can begin the prophesying.
posted by CarbonChris at 1:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home