The Pwer Gifts part f The Gifts f the Spirit Elder Ricard (Rick) Pina Faith Outreach Christian Life Center Bible Study (7pm), May 7 th, 2008 Intrductin: Bishp has been teaching n Spiritual Gifts and my assignment is t fcus n the Pwer Gifts (faith, miracles, and healing). Let me remind yu up frnt that the purpse f ALL the gifts are t edify (t build up) the church, nt the individual; and their distributin within the bdy is dependent upn Hly Spirit, nt man (1 Cr 12:11). The Wrd f Gd implies that it is in rder t seek specific gifts, hwever, ne's mtive must be fr the building up f the church, nt ne s self. The Hly Spirit, thrugh Paul, taught us t keep ur pririties in rder in 1 st Crinthians 14:12. Let me read it t yu frm several translatins: (KJV) Even s ye, frasmuch as ye are zealus f spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel t the edifying f the church. (Gd s Wrd Translatin) In the same way, since yu're eager t have spiritual gifts, try t excel in them s that yu help the church grw. (BBE) S if yu are desiring the things which the Spirit gives, let yur minds be turned first t the things which are fr the gd f the church. There is a difference between the gifts f the Spirit and the fruit f the Spirit. Gifts are the Spirit's manifestatin thrugh a vessel, fr the edificatin f the church. But fruit are the result f ne's develpment in Spiritual character. Fruit are abut persnal grwth and develpment. Gifts are abut crprate grwth and develpment. And finally, if there is anything that yu shuld pursue, it is grwing in lve. Lve is NOT an attribute that Gd pssesses, Lve is WHO Gd IS! (1 st Jhn 4:8). Paul clses ut chapter 12 and begins the fremst pursuit f lve. "Pursue lve, and desire spiritual gifts," (1 Cr. 14:1). Backgrund: (1 st Cr 12:1-11 KJV) Nw cncerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I wuld nt have yu ignrant. (v.2) Ye knw that ye were Gentiles, carried away unt these dumb idls, even as ye were led. (v.3) Wherefre I give yu t understand, that n man speaking by the Spirit f Gd calleth Jesus accursed: and that n man can say that Jesus is the Lrd, but by the Hly Ghst. (v.4) Nw there are diversities f gifts, but the same Spirit. (v.5) And there are differences f administratins, but the same Lrd. (v.6) And there are diversities f peratins, but it is the same Gd which wrketh all in all. (v.7) But the manifestatin f the Spirit is given t every man t prfit withal. 1
The Revelatry Gifts: (v.8) Fr t ne is given by the Spirit the wrd f wisdm; t anther the wrd f knwledge by the same Spirit; The Pwer Gifts: (v.9) T anther faith by the same Spirit; t anther the gifts f healing by the same Spirit; (v.10) T anther the wrking f miracles; t anther prphecy; t anther discerning f spirits; t anther divers kinds f tngues; t anther the interpretatin f tngues: The Gift f Faith What is Faith? Faith is an expressin f yur cnfidence in Gd and His Wrd. What is the Gift f Faith? First f all, let s be clear what it is NOT: 1. It is nt mere cnfidence. Anyne can have cnfidence/curage; even unbelievers. 2. It is nt saving faith. All believers are saved by grace, thrugh faith (Eph 2:8,9), but nt all believers perate in the gift f faith. 3. It is nt hping smething will happen. Hpe is pen ended. Hpe is nt tied t a prmise. That s why faith adds substance t ur hpe (Heb 11:1). Thse that perate in the Gift f Faith came t Gd with saving faith, they must express cnfidence, and it all starts with their hpe. But fr this t be a gift f the Spirit it must: 1. Cme frm the Spirit. 2. Be fr the edificatin f the church. The gift f faith is a Hly Spirit empwerment t supernaturally act upn Gd s prmises with a steadfast cnfidence that will nt waiver. Sme Biblical Examples: Elijah: He declared that it wuld nt rain until he said s. He walked away knw that the rain wuld nt cme until he declared rain back n the land. It tk 3 ½ years. He std befre the prphets f Baal at the penalty f death and called dwn fire frm heaven. If the fire had nt cme he wuld have been killed. Paul: He did NOT d this fr His edificatin He did it fr the natin f Israel! After battling a terrible strm at sea and it lks like ALL wuld be lst, Paul said, Men, yu shuld have taken my advice nt t sail frm Crete; then yu wuld have spared yurselves this damage and lss. But nw I urge yu t keep up yur curage, because nt ne f yu will be lst; nly the ship will be destryed. Last night an angel f the Gd whse I am and whm I serve std beside me and said, 'D nt be afraid, Paul. Yu must stand trial befre Caesar; and Gd has graciusly given yu the lives f all wh sail with yu.' S keep up yur curage, men, fr I have faith in Gd that it will happen just as he tld me. 2
Nevertheless, we must run agrund n sme island." (Acts 27:21-26 NIV). Ntice that Paul was n a ship when he tld them that he had received a Wrd frm the Lrd. He had faith in that Wrd, even thugh it meant that they were ging t have t crash int land first. They were ging t have t endure the destructin n the entire ship, while they were n it, but he still had the faith that NOT ONE persn wuld die. Nw, Paul was nt ding this fr his wn benefit. He did nt have this kind f faith s he culd break ut f prisn. He had faith that he wuld make it thrugh this, just t g and stand trail in Rme, because this was part f his assignment t the Bdy f Christ. Oral Rberts Started ff as a Pastr, like his father. In 1947 he resigned his pastrate t enter an evangelistic ministry t pray fr the healing f the whle man. He has cnducted ver 300 evangelistic and healing crusades n six cntinents. After a successful healing ministry, the Lrd led Oral t establish a University. After being a Healing Minister n crusades fr almst 20 years, Oral sld everything he and his wife wned t start the University the Lrd tld him t start. He did it and nw Oral Rberts University has 22 majr buildings n ver 400 acres, and is valued at mre than $250 millin. Over 5,300 students are enrlled in 66 undergraduate cncentratins and 16 graduate level prgrams in business, educatin, and thelgy. There is a University Village, a retirement cmplex fr 450 residents. The Prayer Twer, lcated at the center f the University's campus, huses the Abundant Life Prayer Grup, which perates twenty-fur hurs a day, seven days a week, receiving thusands f calls each day frm arund the wrld Gd is getting the glry and this was dne by the Gift f Faith! Applicatin: We are all called t live by faith. That kind f faith is a chice. We can either chse faith r fear; that chice is made daily and the chice is urs t make. What we are talking abut here is the Gift f Faith. This is a supernatural endwment frm the Hly Spirit t believe and act upn things that Gd wants t d in the earth that will serve as pwerful testimnies fr Him and fr His glry! Gd uses this gift t empwer peple in the earth t d His explits in ways that the average Christian will might never experience. The Gift f Healing (v.9) T anther faith by the same Spirit; t anther the gifts f healing by the same Spirit; What is Healing? T restre t health; t vercme a malady caused by a disease, virus, bacteria, germ, malfrmatin, etc. What is the Gift f Healing? First f all, let s be clear what it is NOT: 1. It is nt medical science. Medical science has it s place. Peple that are sick shuld g and see a medical dctr. Gd has aninted many peple t perate 3
by way f medicine and we shuld nt neglect its purpse and its abilities. Hwever, there are situatins that exceed the ablity f medical science. Let me say there are NO situatins that exceed the healing pwer f Gd. There is nthing t hard fr Gd. 2. It is nt a temprary psychlgical cure. There are times where a persn can experience smething and they feel better fr a shrt perid f time, but then their ailment cmes back. The sul (psyche) has limited pwer that can be manifested physically, fr shrt amunts f time, making ne feel better, but this is nt healing. The gift f healing is an endwment frm the Hly Spirit upn a human t bring abut miraculus healing and deliverance frm disease and infirmities whether functinal, rganic, cellular, nervus, r etc. It is the pwer f Gd being made manifest thrugh a human t destry the wrks f the devil in a human bdy. Sme Biblical Examples: Naaman: Naaman had an incurable disease (leprsy). Medical science culd nt d anything abut his physical ailment. There was nthing that man culd d. The Prphet Elisha tld Naaman t g and wash 7 times in the Jrdan River. When Naaman cmplied, the Lrd healed him. This brught glry t Gd and helped further validate Elisha s ministry. Paul: In Acts 28:1-7 Luke gives the accunt f he and Paul n the island f Melitus. The chief man f the island was named Publius. Publius was with them and Publius father became very sick with a fever and dysentery. Dysentery is a disease that causes severe diarrhea with passage f mucus and bld and is usually caused by an infectin. S this man was passing bld and mucus, he had diarrhea, and a fever. Luke was there. Luke was a Dctr. But it was Paul wh laid hands n him and thrugh the gift f healing this man was restred t health. This brught glry t Gd and many ther sick were brught t Paul fr healing. Luke s medicine kit was nt used; it was the pwer f Gd. Oral Rberts Oral Rberts has been used f Gd t heal cuntless peple f all srts f diseases and illnesses. This has brught glry t Gd ver the years and cntinues t d s. The gift was nt given t him fr his glry, but rather fr the edificatin f the Bdy f Christ. Applicatin: It is nt Gd s will that we be sick. It is clear that Jesus came t destry the wrks f the devil (1 st Jhn 3:8). We knw that Jesus was used t heal many peple. If Gd made them sick, then why wuld Jesus turn arund and destry what Gd was ding? Gd wants us t be healthy, nt just healed. He has placed peple in the Bdy that have an assignment that requires healing. He bestws this gift upn them s that suls can be saved, s that the Wrd can be cnfirmed, and s that He can get the glry here in the earth. Physical healing serves the persn being healed and thse that need t see smething t believe. 4
The Gift f Miracles (v.9) T anther faith by the same Spirit; t anther the gifts f healing by the same Spirit; What is Healing? T restre t health; t vercme a malady caused by a disease, virus, bacteria, germ, malfrmatin, etc. What is the Gift f Healing? First f all, let s be clear what it is NOT: 3. It is nt medical science. Medical science has it s place. Peple that are sick shuld g and see a medical dctr. Gd has aninted many peple t perate by way f medicine and we shuld nt neglect its purpse and its abilities. Hwever, there are situatins that exceed the ablity f medical science. Let me say there are NO situatins that exceed the healing pwer f Gd. There is nthing t hard fr Gd. 4. It is nt a temprary psychlgical cure. There are times where a persn can experience smething and they feel better fr a shrt perid f time, but then their ailment cmes back. The sul (psyche) has limited pwer that can be manifested physically, fr shrt amunts f time, making ne feel better, but this is nt healing. The gift f healing is an endwment frm the Hly Spirit upn a human t bring abut miraculus healing and deliverance frm disease and infirmities whether functinal, rganic, cellular, nervus, r etc. It is the pwer f Gd being made manifest thrugh a human t destry the wrks f the devil in a human bdy. Sme Biblical Examples: Naaman: Naaman had an incurable disease (leprsy). Medical science culd nt d anything abut his physical ailment. There was nthing that man culd d. The Prphet Elisha tld Naaman t g and wash 7 times in the Jrdan River. When Naaman cmplied, the Lrd healed him. This brught glry t Gd and helped further validate Elisha s ministry. Paul: In Acts 28:1-7 Luke gives the accunt f he and Paul n the island f Melitus. The chief man f the island was named Publius. Publius was with them and Publius father became very sick with a fever and dysentery. Dysentery is a disease that causes severe diarrhea with passage f mucus and bld and is usually caused by an infectin. S this man was passing bld and mucus, he had diarrhea, and a fever. Luke was there. Luke was a Dctr. But it was Paul wh laid hands n him and thrugh the gift f healing this man was restred t health. This brught glry t Gd and many ther sick were brught t Paul fr healing. Luke s medicine kit was nt used; it was the pwer f Gd. Oral Rberts Oral Rberts has been used f Gd t heal cuntless peple f all srts f diseases and illnesses. This has brught glry t Gd ver the years and cntinues t d s. 5
The gift was nt given t him fr his glry, but rather fr the edificatin f the Bdy f Christ. Applicatin: It is nt Gd s will that we be sick. It is clear that Jesus came t destry the wrks f the devil (1 st Jhn 3:8). We knw that Jesus was used t heal many peple. If Gd made them sick, then why wuld Jesus turn arund and destry what Gd was ding? Gd wants us t be healthy, nt just healed. He has placed peple in the Bdy that have an assignment that requires healing. He bestws this gift upn them s that suls can be saved, s that the Wrd can be cnfirmed, and s that He can get the glry here in the earth. Physical healing serves the persn being healed and thse that need t see smething t believe. (v.11) But all these wrketh that ne and the selfsame Spirit, dividing t every man severally as he will.??? Clsing Cnfessin: 6