August 6, 2005
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Hope you are having a great Saturday. Seems we will have a great day today.
Pastor Don’s Bible study of 7/5/05 continued. Check out In His Name Ministry’s site (see the link). There are some soundbites of some of Pastor Don’s teachings, and a whole lot of tapes on topics that may be of interest to you. Here is the rest of the study:
Every letter Paul wrote closes with Grace unto you. If Grace is unmerited favor, you only need the unmerited favor once to accept salvation for all eternity. After that God gives you His power to begin to learn to walk in His ways.
1 Cor 12:6-7 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all the manifestation of Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.
Grace is the influence upon the heart as impressed or demonstrated in life. Grace is the empowerment of God.
Jesus at the cross was filled with grace. He died and was buried and raised up from the dead.
Eph. 4:8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
He, himself, the Lamb of God gave us gifts for the Equipping of the Saints. Gifts without limit, full of truth and justice.
We do not need these gifts in heaven (for in Heaven, under God’s rule there will be peace, and no need to battle satan). There is no death, no lost, no hurts in Heaven. So the gifts are for us to use here on Earth.
Christ came back down to earth for 40 days, after he was resurrected, then he told the disciples to meet and tarry in the upper room.
It was there that they received the rain of the Holy Spirit. The disciples received the gifts from Christ, then when the Holy Spirit came upon them they were able to know how to use these gifts.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
Matthew 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loss on earth will be loosed in heaven. (the keys are the gifts of the Spirit.)
Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The gifts that we are given are not for us, for our glory, but that they are used to help the Body of Christ, and they are used with Christ clearly being the Head and giving directions to their use. What is awesome is that God deigns to use us at all. God could have killed Goliath without the help of David. Instead, God let David be His instrument to free the Israelites. We are so blessed that God includes us in His work.
How we must use the gifts that God gives us is with love, for the growth of the Body.
Heather
Comments (6)
Amen. He has given us ‘grace upon grace’ and we are compelled to use everything He has given us for His glory and the greater good of others. There’s just nothing more satisfying than when He includes us. Peace to you.
hey! we read from Ephesians 4 for our devotionals during ywam. it was an awesome time of sharing. one of the things that we kinda got stuck on was the gift of prophecy. so like we know that almost all that the old prophets foresaw has already happened…does this mean this gift is now obsolete? many churches seems to stay away from this particular gifting…i dont know. just a thought.
Hi, the gift of prophesy is not obsolete, it is ongoing. In a few future Bible Studies Pastor Don actually talks about prophesy. As with all gifts, you have to use spiritual discernment. Many of the prophets today can tell you prophesies that please your ego, but if a prophesy comes your way that matches up with the Bible, brings you closer to God, helps you to do what God is leading you to do, and confirms what the Holy Spirit is speaking in your heart, then you can trust it. Pastor Don has told us that he will listen to a prophesy, write it down, but not believe it necessarily.
Sometimes people prophesy before the right time. They get the right prophesy, but do not follow God’s direction regarding whether to speak the prophesy to another or not. Sometimes, for example, someone might tell a person that they see a particular ministry in the person’s life. If the person receiving the prophesy drops everything and pursues that ministry, they may be missing God’s best for them. Sometimes there is a need to prepare before a prophesy is acted on. One of the best examples is Moses, who knew he was to save his people, but he had to cool his heels in the desert and learn shepherding with sheep, before he could lead Israel to freedom. When he acted out of turn, he missed God’s best.
It says in Acts 2:17-18 And it shall come to pass in the last days says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.
Reading the above which is a prophesy from Joel 2:28-32 you see that even the disciples fortold that this would come to pass. We are in the end days. And what is cool is that it is poured out on ALL flesh (not some flesh). And it is not just sons, and menservants, but also daughters and maidservants.
I don’t know how churches can say that these things are obsolete, when it is still prophesied to come to pass in these times.
It is exciting. I think that one of my favorite books is Ephesians, a close second after Romans and Hebrews. Actually all the books are good, and it is hard to pick a favorite.
I just think that when it comes to prophesy, that there are a few things to keep in mind. Number 1, not all prophesies are for real. In the Old days, a prophet who gave a false prophesy was stoned. I suspect some of the televangelist prophets would have met that untimely death. And the other thing is that if you receive a prophesy in a vision or a dream or in your spirit, don’t forget to ask God if you are to share it or not. Some prophesies are FYI, and others are to be shared.
And test every prophesy spoken over you, some prophesies could actually interfere with what God wants for you. If a prophesy is true, you will see confirmation from many sources, God, your spirit, The Holy Spirit, the Wod of God, and maybe a prophet.
Sorry for the long winded comment, but it is a great question.
Heather
Hey Heather, no time online left…just stopped by kuz I saw ur comment on bygrace…just wanted to let you know I’m praying you feel better about things, to let you know that you are loved.
God bless you!!!!
Atoy
heather, thank you for your response. that was a very thorough response. im gonna have to chew on that for a bit. but i guess what also sparked my question is that a neighbor of mine tells me she has the gift of prophecy. she even goes as far as to say she can read people’s minds sometimes, which kinda freaks me out(no offense). im not exasctly how biblical she is. but what i want to know is how to discern a false prophet from a true prophet. it is kinda tricky i think, because this spiritual gift deals alot with emotions…and dare i say, psychology? i dont know. just a thought. but yeah, still working through this question..
Dear joy, having been in the occult for years before I became a Christian, I can tell you that people in the occult and new age also can prophesy, can read minds, etc. Anything that God can do, satan will imitate to pull people away. The surest way to tell a true prophet from a false prophet is who you end up admiring after the prophesy. If you are wowed by the person and what the person is doing, false prophet. If what the person prophesies brings you to worship God and Jesus, and helps you to come closer to Them, then it is a greater chance of being a true prophet.
When Jesus did His healings on earth, the people left Him praising God. Do you leave a prophet praising God?
I think that if you keep your focus on God, then the rest will follow.
Heather