Month: February 2012

  • Prophesy taught by Katherine Briggs and Pastor Don

    Bible study of 9/16/11 – Katherine Briggs (whom we dearly miss at Friday Bible studies) taught a wonderful class on Prophesy.  Unless other wise stated, Bible passages are from the New King James Bible. Kathy began the Bible study with Scriptures and then Pastor Don added further comments.

    KATHERINE BRIGGS

    According to Webster’s Dictionary, prophesy means: the foretelling or prediction of something to come.  The Scriptures are a book of prophesy. Preaching to the public the interpretation of Scripture. To utter as if by divine inspiration.

    It is a spiritual gift:

    1 Corinthians 12:10A – …to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy,…

    Parents prophesy over their children:

    Proverbs 31:1 (King James) The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 

    To be effective and useful, prophecy must be done in love or it profits nothing:

    1 Corinthians 13:1-3  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

    Words of God can speak life into a situation. Ezekiel was instructed to speak to the dry bones.

    Ezekiel 37:4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

    Prophecy can illuminate and inspire. It is an anointing of God to enter into a situation to preach, announce, instruct, protect, deliver, or change a situation. It can show what will come, and even the one speaking the prophecy may not know what or when.  For example, Daniel foretelling about the birth of Jesus.

    As we saw above, it is a gift of the spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10)  and

    2 Peter 1:19-21 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

    Man does not prophesy, it is holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit. Prophesy in Scripture is for the Body of Christ.

    When we receive a word of prophesy from another, we must test it to make sure that it lines up with the Word of God. If it doesn’t line up with what the Bible teaches it is not from God.  We also need to make sure that the prophesy edifies and lifts us up.  

    Matthew 7:20-23 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

    1 John 4:1-6 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

    Prophecy and other gifts of the Spirit flow through God’s power. They are hindered or stopped by doubt. We can hinder a prophesy by stating – IF it will happen. The if sheds doubt.

    COMMENTS BY PASTOR DON MOORE

    When God speaks in the prophetic, unless God states that it is unconditional, it is conditional.

    For example: God sent Jonah to prophesy to the Ninevites. He was going to destroy their land unless they repented.  When they repented and changed their ways, God did not destroy the land.

    If God says He will do it, He will.  God does not lie. 

    When Hezekiah was told to put his house in order, he turned to the wall and prayed, asking God for more time.  God honored that prayer and Hezekiah lived for fifteen more years. (Sadly, that was not good for Israel. Hezekiah, during those fifteen years, had a son born to him who brought down the destruction of Israel through his evil ways)

    Our country, America, is trying to stand on prophesy, but is not meeting the conditions. We are pulling way from being united UNDER GOD. Unless we pull back in line with God’s word, we can pray, and that does not mean God will come and heal our land. His healing of our land is conditional to our obedience to His Word.

    Sometimes we want God to change the results of our disobedience, but God does not.  For example, the first child that David had with Bathsheba  (a child conceived in sin) died, even though David prayed that God would spare the child’s life.

    Some prophesies are set in stone, others are conditional.

    When prophesy comes, we need to have discernment – We can’t always listen to the voice of the prophet – unless the prophet is speaking the Words of God and those words line up with the Bible. If the prophet is saying something contrary to God, it is not a true prophesy and God will not honor a false prophesy.

    Personal prophesy is always conditional unless God terminates the conditions.

    The prophet may only be able to speak about the condition, but the outcome is between the recipient of the prophesy and God. 

    God always looks for someone to stand in the gap until the final judgement comes. There are conditions and ramifications to be paid.

    The love of God is not separate from the judgment of God.

    Prophesy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we are born again we receive the Holy Spirit within us, but it is not the same as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes with the spiritual gifts. When we are born again we receive an infilling of the Holy Spirit, but the Baptism of the Holy Spirit endues us with Power and the Grace of God. Still, we can have this infilling of the Holy Spirit and do nothing with it. We are to diligently seek the gifts of the Spirit. We need to step forward, in faith, and do what the Lord wants us to do.

    When the Holy Spirit fell on the people gathered in the Upper Room, observers thought the people were drunk, but really what was happening was the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32 – which Peter quotes in the following.

    Acts 2:14-21 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.  For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘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. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

    Notice that not only men, but women will prophesy.

    We need to seek what God has for us.  We want spiritual gifts to be activated and to operate in the five-fold ministry.

    1 Corinthians 12:7-11 details the spiritual gifts.   There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

    The gift of word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues.  Notice that through all these gifts is the SAME SPIRIT – the HOLY SPIRIT operating.

    The five-fold ministry – Ephesians 4:11-12 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,

    The Five-fold ministry are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers –  and all the spiritual gifts and the five-fold ministry are to be used for the equipping of the saints. 

    There are other gifts mentioned in the Bible.  

    1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Areall teachers? Are all workers of miracles?  Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?  But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

    The gifts are manifested in works of administration and helps.  Never underestimate the kinds of works and help that you do. What happens in the kitchen ministry is important and vital to the Church.  No area of helps is unimportant.

    All of the ministries are edified by Christ and to be used for edifying the Body of Christ.

    Why did He do it?  Ephesians 4:9-10 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

    Jesus, when he walked on earth as man, had to get His power from the Holy Spirit the same way we do. That gives us the courage to act and operate in these gifts and ministries. If Jesus had been born as God on earth, we would have no hope to operate in these giftings, but we can do what Jesus did. Jesus showed us it was possible to do these things He did.

    Jesus is raised up to His rightful place in Heaven and soon He will come down to rule and reign and establish His Kingdom on earth.  Jesus defeated the enemy, and we have been given the power and authority to carry out His plans on the earth. 

    Jesus, the second Adam, defeated sickness, sin, and death. While He walked on earth, fully man, he did the very things that we are instructed to do. He did them with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not through His Godhood.  Because He was able to do these things as a man, so should we be able to do them.  When He died and was resurrected, He defeated satan, and then gave us authority over satan and his minions. The devil is defeated, but we still give him power over our lives.  It is a choice. We can either walk in victory over satan or let the enemy hold power over us.

    When Jesus was met near the tomb, He told Mary Magdalene not to cling to him because He had to ascend to Heaven and present the perfect blood sacrifice to the Father.  We know God said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  We want Jesus to say that to us as well.

    Ephesians 4:7-10  But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

    During the time in the tomb, Jesus went to hell and led captivity captive, satan was unable to hold him in death because Jesus was sinless. He paid the ransom for our sins and those in Abraham’s Bosom were brought to Heaven.  He preached to those in Sheol, then rose to Heaven.  Jesus paid the price for all our sins: past, present, and future.
    Jesus came and opened the prison doors. It is up to us to walk out of that prison. Many of us, even though the prison door is open, choose to stay in the cell.  It isn’t only our fault, at times the clergy wants to keep us bound.
    Philippians 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 

    Jesus MADE HIMSELF of no reputation. He could have come down as God, but instead He came down as a bondservant, in the likeness of men. He came down as a doulos, a servant.

    Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

    He was obedient to the point of death on the cross. Man, in Jesus’ day, had figured out the most cruel death possible – the death on the Cross. Every second on that Cross was agony. If he wanted to breathe, Jesus had to push himself up on his nail-pierced feet to gulp a breath of air, then He lowered Himself, causing the nerves and tendons in the arm to give agonizing pain. The death was to take a long time (sometimes up to a week people suffered on the Cross) full of suffering, but Jesus was even the master over death – HE gave up HIS spirit – death did not take it from Him.  Jesus gave up His spirit when His work was finished – not before and not later.
    Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    Jesus left his deity in Heaven, came down to earth, died, descended, then ascended, then rose, then ascended.

    Because Jesus of Nazareth was a man, not an all-powerful God, it means that we can do what He did. Most of His time on earth, He called Himself, “Son of Man.”  But a few times He also called Himself, “Son of God.”  As a man, Jesus derived His power from the same place we get ours, from the Holy Spirit.

    There are different forms of prophesy – dreams, visions, trances, gifts of the Spirit. 

    Our dreams could be just natural, or a spiritual dream that is meant for guidance – ours or others.
    Visions that are spiritual give revelation knowledge from our spirits.
    Trances can be physical or they can show us something from the realm of the Spirit.

    Acts 10:10-18 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.  And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”  This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.

     Peter was up on the roof, physically hungry.  He fell into a trance and saw a vision that included food (hunger) but this vision showed Peter a higher spiritual meaning, that he was to preach to the Gentiles and be able to eat what they ate. This vision showed Peter what was to come and gave Him the courage to go with Cornelius and minister to him.

    Acts 22:17-18 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance, and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ 

    There are different kinds of visions.  An OPEN VISION is the highest form – it it we are in our full physical capacity (eyes open) but we are seeing in the realm of heaven.  We can see, touch.  For example, John in the book of Revelation.

    Pastor Don told us, if you have not done so, ask the Lord about your spiritual gifts. The gifts of the Spirit are a good starting point. Every gift we have comes from the Holy Spirit, and is meant for us to use to give God the glory. It is not meant to elevate our status or our ego. They are meant to build and edify the Body of Christ.
     
    Acts 14:1-7 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.  And they were preaching the gospel there.

    We need to be obedient, to preach the Word of God, be receptive to the Spirit, and if the Spirit tells us to move elsewhere do that.  Our goal is to be obedient to God and the Spirit.

    Have a blessed day.
    Heather
     

  • Matthew 25/Revelation 20- judging, dividing sheep from goats by Pastor Don Moore

    Pastor Don taught this Bible study on September 10, 2011 – this was taught after Hurricane Irene, and a question was raised by someone about helping others.  We need to help the brethren first. – We can help others, but we need to make sure that it is done with the goal of reaching others for the Kingdom of God. But we also need to make sure our brethren in need are taken care of.

    Matthew 25:41  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels

    The left hand is the place of rejection, cursed. These people did not have a personal relationship with the King and neglected the brethren.

    We have to be obedient to the Lord, and be careful how we help others, not wanting to go against the grain of the Lord. We don’t want to be unequally yoked. 

    If we are doing what we think we should be doing according to the flesh, we may be disobedient to what God wants. 

    Matthew 25:31-40 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

     There are goat nations and sheep nations. Goats do not follow the Lord, they rebel.  There are times when sheep follow goats and that can be to their detriment.

    Goats are stubborn and can’t be led. They have a short memory. 

    Pastor Don said that there are times when we sin years earlier, and then something bad happens – we forget the seeds of the sin that we had sown years ago and blame God for the disaster, forgetting that we are reaping what we have sown. We need to pray that there is a crop failure for seeds of sin sown much earlier.

    There are two kinds of fire – there is a purging fire to cleanse and restore and there is a fire for punishment that lasts forever. 

    We need to have faith through the purging fires.  Purging fires hurt, but if we maintain or faith and are obedient, we come out the other side purged. 

    Pastor gave an example of David and the census – he said that when David disobeyed God, a plague hit the nation.  God offered David a chance to be punished by men or punished by Him. David asked God to mete out the punishment for he knew that he would fare better with God’s punishment.  God removed his hand of protection and the satan caused a plague to hit the nation.  David said that he accepted the responsibility for his disobedience.  At the right time, God stopped the plague.

    But, even though God stayed the punishment, for the rest of David’s life, there was a constant state of war in Israel 

    God can mitigate in our favor or against us.

    Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

    Notice – the least of these (the brethren). They fed and clothed someone – but did they neglect the brethren? The brethren are fellow believers, and we all have a relationship with the Lord. God is going to ask:  How did you treat the brethren.

    1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

    John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. 

    We are to do what we do to the glory of Christ. The glory should come back to God

    Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

    There will be a judgment.  Pastor asked, would God have us do something if there was no purpose in it? 

    Those who, during the tribulation, lived right and held to the Word of God will be given the honor to rule and reign with Christ for one thousand years.  What happened to others?

    Some are the Bride of Christ and they were with Jesus at the wedding feast during the tribulation time. They will come back with Him to conquer.

    These are the ones who did not get raptured, who are are on earth during the reign of the antichrist and who do not worship the beast or take the mark of the beast.  They will be beheaded for their faith.

    Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

    The thousand years is the millennial reign of Christ – The Bride of Christ are already on thrones. Those who died in faith, are already with Christ, but they won’t be reunited with their resurrection bodies until this millennial reign is finished.

    Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years

    This is the best way to be – to be in the rapture, to be the Bride of Christ. Next best, to be in faith, not take the mark of the beast, and resist the antichrist, and they won’t have to face the second death = the second death will have no power over them.

    Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

    Death, Hades and those who are not found written in the book of life will face the second death – the lake of fire 

    Those who die in faith, not taking taking the mark will rule and reign with Jesus for 1000 years as priests of God and Christ.

    The culmination of Matthew 25 goats and sheep is fulfilled in Revelation 20.

    Joel and Amos speak of the Bride who comes as an obedient and powerful army. 

    The end of the story is we win, satan loses.

    Praying your day is blessed 

    Heather