THE HOLY SPIRIT ADVANTAGE SERIES PART 7 THE SPIRIT GIFTS YOU FOR LIFE2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

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Date: 2010-11-20

Title: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 7 The Spirit Gifts You For Life

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2010 The Holy Spirit Advantage Series

Teaching Transcript: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 7 The Spirit Gifts You For Life

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Well, as we're here in John chapter 16, here in verse 7, Jesus is talking to his disciples. He's been preparing them because he's getting ready to go away. He's getting ready to be crucified. He's trying to prepare his disciples for that. And he knows that after his crucifixion and resurrection, that he's going to ascend to the Father and they are going to be left here on earth to continue the ministry that he began and to continue the work that he started.

And so he's giving them some words of comfort that they don't quite understand as he's giving it to them, but that they come to understand later as the Holy Spirit comes upon them. And so Jesus tells them in John chapter 16, verse 7, he says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you.

And so there had to be, it's kind of like a tag team, right? There had to be one leaving so that the other could come. Jesus says, it's better for you if I leave, if I depart and go to the Father, that's to your benefit. It's to your advantage. Because when I go to the Father, then I will send the Holy Spirit.

The crucifixion and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ was what was necessary for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and to be a part of our lives the way that God wanted Him to be a part of our lives. Before the death of Jesus Christ and resurrection of Jesus, before the day of Pentecost when He sent the Holy Spirit upon the church,

The Holy Spirit had a very different role in people's lives. As you look through the Old Testament, you see examples of the Spirit working, but it was not the same experience that we have today as believers. There's a new experience that was opened up by the death experience.

Resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. And that He was able to send the Spirit upon all believers. And He is able to send the Spirit upon all believers because we have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so the things that we read about in the Old Testament, here and there the Spirit was gifting certain people.

But what God has for us, as we've been studying this entire week, is a very incredible and powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so it's to our advantage that Jesus has ascended to the Father because he has now sent us the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit for us as believers indwells within us. That is that He has a permanent residence within our hearts. Jesus said in John chapter 14 that He would abide with us forever.

It's a permanent condition. Always, forever, no matter what. Whether you're in a good mood or a bad mood, the Holy Spirit is indwelling within you if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. If you woke up on the wrong side of the bed...

and you're a believer in Jesus, you're a little bit grumpy, but you're still a Christian, the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. If you have been backsliding, and you've been even dabbling in sin, and kind of messing around and doing things that, well, the Holy Spirit's been convicting you because He is dwelling within you.

It's a permanent condition for believers in Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. And we saw the very first session, nine advantages that we have because the Spirit dwells within us. And we learned then that to receive those advantages, we need to ask God.

And then we need to walk. We need to ask God to give us the Spirit and to work in our lives by His Spirit. And then we need to walk in obedience and in the things that He has called us to. And the Spirit will be at work as we get to work. The Spirit works alongside of us. Well, then we also saw the fruit of the Spirit. It's not up to us. It's not up to our own resources to become Christ-like.

The Holy Spirit is doing that work in our lives. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that the Spirit is conforming us into His image.

And in doing so, he's producing fruit in our lives, qualities and characteristics of God and of Jesus. And that's the fruit of the Spirit that we saw there in Galatians chapter 5. And so it's not up to us to finish the work that God began in us. He's going to finish the work. And part of the way that he does that is by the Holy Spirit producing the spiritual fruits in our lives or spiritual fruit in our lives.

And so we saw the nine things that the Holy Spirit produces in us, and we learned that in order to have those things produced in us, we need to cultivate ourselves spiritually and to dig into the things of God and invest into the things of God that the Holy Spirit would have the resources to be able to produce the fruit in us that He desires to produce.

Well, we also saw the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And we looked at the book of Acts and the examples there of the Holy Spirit coming upon the church and coming upon believers. And Jesus promised in Acts 1, verse 8, that the result of the Spirit coming upon us would be that we would receive power to be witnesses to Him. We would be expert witnesses or authorized agents to tell people about Jesus, that we are empowered to

to declare who He is and what He has done. We saw five results then of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and how that impacts the world around us because the Holy Spirit has come upon us in power.

And to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we saw again, we need to ask and then walk. We need to ask for God to fill us with His Spirit, and then we need to walk in faith, believing that God has, because He says that He will give the Spirit to those who ask. And so believing that we are filled with the Spirit and doing the work that He has set before us in the power of the Spirit.

Well, the past few studies now we've been looking at the gifts of the Spirit. We saw in the body of Christ that Jesus has given the body of Christ leadership. And those are apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastor, teachers. Those in Ephesians chapter 4 that Paul talks about are Jesus' gifts to the body, that authority and that leadership within the body of Christ.

We didn't focus a whole lot on that. We just kind of mentioned it briefly. We won't be really talking about that in this series. But what we did focus on is the next one, and that is that God gives membership to the body of Christ.

And that is about you and I as believers having a role, a function, an operation within the body of Christ. God has given us the privilege of being part of the body of Christ, being part of His work, being a part of the things that He wants to accomplish.

And so we saw seven examples of the operations or roles in the body of Christ. And we learned that in order to find out our role and fulfill our role, we need to present ourselves and we also need to prove the perfect will of God. To present and to prove. We present ourselves to God and we

serve in any opportunity or capacity that He opens up to us, and then we prove whether or not, okay, we test it out, we try it out, we serve in that capacity, and we see what good comes from it. We see what God does through it in order to determine, Lord, where do You want me to be and what is my role within the body of Christ?

Well, then we saw that not only does Jesus give us leadership and God give us membership, then the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts. And these spiritual gifts are for the specific purpose of helping us to fulfill our role that we've been given. God has made us a member of the body of Christ and given us a specific role. And then the Holy Spirit gives us the gifts necessary to fulfill our role.

And so we've been looking at those gifts of the Spirit for the past couple of nights. We saw the gifts of the Spirit specifically in the context of fellowship.

That as you and I come in contact with one another as believers, whether it be here at church or on the phone or somewhere else out and about, that we run into each other, we have an occasion to talk and to share, that there's the gifts of the Spirit that have been given to us to enable us to fellowship, to have this connection and to be able to minister to one another.

Well, then last night we looked at the gifts of the Spirit, specifically in the context of serving at church. There's a lot of different ministries and activities that go on here and in other churches around the world. And the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts specifically for those activities that we do in ministering to one another in that way.

And so we looked at the gifts of the Spirit in the context of the things that go on here in the children's ministry, the youth ministry, the Spanish ministry, home Bible studies, prayer groups, all of those types of things that go on need to be powered and gifted by the Holy Spirit as we serve in those areas.

And so tonight we're continuing this subject of the gifts of the Spirit, understanding that God gives us membership, that God gives us a role within His body. And as we saw last night, I believe every church needs all of those roles that are listed there in Revelation. I'm sorry, not Revelation, Romans chapter 12. We talked about that last night. Every ministry needs all of those roles.

that we need those who are the givers, we need those who are the prophets, we need those who are able to come in and to serve in these capacities in order for a ministry to be healthy.

And so once again, I would encourage you and challenge you, what is your role? And if you need a little bit of a refresher, there's a green flyer on the back table that has the roles within the body of Christ on one side and then the gifts of the Spirit on the other side to give you a good refresher on what those roles are and what capacities that God may have given to you in your service within the body of Christ.

So what is your role within this church or within whatever church that God has called you to be a part of?

Now, the gifts of the Spirit are the tools that the Holy Spirit gives us to fulfill our role. So if you've been called to prophesy in the children's ministry, that is to bring the heart of God and share the message of God to the children, then what are the gifts that the Holy Spirit will give you to enable you to fulfill that role that He's given to you? And so on and so forth. Now, as we talk about the spiritual gifts today, though, we want to look at the context of the rest of life.

You have a role within the body, but you also have many different roles outside of the things that happen on this property. There's a lot of different things that you're involved in. And you and I as believers need the gifts of the Spirit for those things too.

You have the role of a spouse, perhaps, or the role of a parent or a grandparent. You have the role of an employee, or perhaps you have the role of a boss. You're a boss or you supervise other employees.

You have the role of neighbor or friend, child, sibling, customer, being an expert witness to Jesus as a witness to the Lord wherever you go. You're an example of what Christians ought to be. And so we have these roles and these different parts that we play in all aspects of our life. And the Holy Spirit gifts us for those as well.

If you think about it this way, let's just say the average Christian comes to church on a Sunday and a Wednesday. And that's probably not accurate, but let's just say hypothetically, right? So Sunday and Wednesday, the average Christian goes to church. So you add that up. Maybe that's four hours a week that the average Christian is at church. Now, four hours a week.

is not very much. If you consider 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that's 168 hours per week. If you take out 8 hours a day for sleeping, that leaves you with 112 hours for a whole week, okay? 112 waking hours throughout the week. Now, if 4 of those hours are spent at church, that makes it about 3.5% of your week is at church. Now, 3.5% of your week is at church.

Do you think that's the percentage of your life that the Holy Spirit wants to work in you and through you?

That he's satisfied with, yeah, three and a half percent, man, I'm excited. That's great. That's what I want to gift you. I want to empower you for three and a half percent of the time that you're awake. No. You see, the Holy Spirit is upon us. Remember, he's indwelling us permanently, forever, for always. It's a constant and continual thing. And the Holy Spirit desires to gift us and to empower us, not just for the things that go on in this property.

But for every aspect and for all parts of our life. And so that's why, once again, we're looking at the gifts of the Spirit. I know we've talked about them twice already, but there's just this routine that we get into and we start to build our boxes, don't we? And we fit God into these boxes and we think, well, this is the limit of what God can do and the way that He works.

And so we, you know, spend time ministering to one another on Wednesday nights. And we don't think about, many times, the gifts of the Spirit beyond that. You know, we talk about the gifts of the Spirit and what immediately happens in our minds is we envision the afterglow service, you know, the thing that takes place. And those are awesome and those are wonderful and those are necessary and they're a good part of what God is doing in our midst. However,

Again, comparison to the rest of your waking hours, it's a very small percentage. And so the Holy Spirit is giving you spiritual gifts, not just for that little tiny piece of your life, but for the rest of your life. If the gifts of the Spirit are only a part of your life while you're at church, that's a tiny fraction of what God wants to do.

Now, as we've been talking about the gifts of the Spirit, we've been learning that in order to receive the gifts of the Spirit, Paul says, you know, that we should desire the gifts of the Spirit, desire for the Holy Spirit to gift us. And the emphasis, I think, that I'll be sharing tonight, that I want to pass on to you this evening, is that we are to desire the gifts of the Spirit all the time.

All the time, not just for church-related things, but in all contexts and all things that we face. Because the reality is that nothing of eternal value can be accomplished without the power of the Holy Spirit. We need the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and not just in the times that we're at church. But we need the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us.

in our homes and at our workplaces and at the grocery store, with our neighbors and wherever we might be. We need the Holy Spirit to be working. If you remember and you go back to the understanding that the disciples were to go into all the world and make disciples, that is not limited to planting churches or to, you know what I mean? I think sometimes we need to kind of just, let's just knock down the walls of the church.

And maybe that would help us extend our vision and realize that being a Christian and walking with God is not just about coming to church. But that as we leave this place, that's when the real work begins. This is kind of like the refueling station. We come back to get charged up and refreshed and renewed and we spend time worshiping God so that we can go out and get to work.

But not to, you know, get to work with things that don't belong to God, but to get to doing God's work and to get to doing the things that God has called us to do. And the Holy Spirit gifts us for that work outside of these walls. So we need to be powered by the Holy Spirit because there's a great work that needs to be done. There's a world that needs to be reached. There's disciples that need to be made.

And so the Holy Spirit gifts us for that work. So what are these gifts of the Spirit? Turn with me again to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, looking again at verses 7 through 11.

The gifts of the Spirit that we've looked at the past couple of days, but again, having the specific focus of what do these look like and how does the Spirit want to gift me for the things that take place off of this property, the other roles and aspects that God has in store for us. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7 says, 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, and to another, the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. So here once again we see Paul listing out for us the manifestations of the Spirit, or the gifts of the Spirit. He makes it very clear that each one of us

Personally, individually, each one of us are candidates for any of these manifestations. That God could gift you, the Holy Spirit could manifest Himself in any of these ways in any of our lives. None of these gifts are limited to certain roles. So that only this type of person is able to have that gift. Or only that type of person is able to have that gift.

No, these manifestations are tools that the Holy Spirit can give us anytime that He chooses. In that sense, we all have the same toolbox. And the Holy Spirit can pull out each of those tools and hand them to us at any moment, at any time. Now, some gifts that are listed here for sure go very well with the role that you've been given within the body of Christ.

And so it's common, it's normal for you to receive that gift for the Spirit to manifest Himself that way repeatedly and regularly as you fulfill that role that you've been given within the body of Christ. But then don't limit yourself and think, well, that's just it, that's what I have. No, the Holy Spirit can manifest Himself in any of the other gifts as well in your life and as you're about your Father's business.

And so we need to be desiring these gifts and open for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives in that way. Also, again, I think it's important to remember that each of these manifestations, each of these gifts is equally easy for the Holy Spirit to give us.

We, because we're limited by our natural minds and by our physical bodies, we think, you know, the gifts of healing, well, that's a lot more difficult for the Spirit to give me that than it is for Him to give me the gift of tongues.

Or maybe you think, yeah, the gift of tongues, I don't think I'll ever get that one, but word of wisdom, that one, that's pretty easy. But the reality is it's the same level of difficulty, which is not difficult at all for the Holy Spirit to give us any of these gifts and manifest Himself in our lives in this way. And so these are gifts that the Holy Spirit can use in our lives to accomplish the purposes of God. And so how do we receive these gifts and how do we operate in these gifts?

Well, again, there in chapter 12, verse 11, it says that the Holy Spirit distributes to each one individually as He wills.

And so the first thing we need to understand is none of these are our own gift and we can call on it whenever that we want. These are gifts of the Spirit and He gives them whenever He wants to. And I've used the example of the doctor for the past couple of nights. I think it's a good one. So if there's a surgeon who's in the middle of surgery,

And he's needing an instrument for the surgery that he's performing. He holds out his hand and he tells his assistant which instrument, which tool that he needs in order to continue the surgery that he's performing. Well, you and I, we're out performing surgery. We're out doing the work of God and impacting people's hearts and lives.

But we are not like the doctor in the sense that we don't know what tool we need. We are looking on the outside. We're wanting to minister, but the Lord really knows what's going on in the heart. And so our job then is to hold out our hand and not say, Lord, give me a word of wisdom. Or, Lord, give me a word of prophecy. Or, Lord, give me the gift of tongues. Or, Lord, give me the gift of healings. We can ask, but the reality is the Spirit doesn't.

gives them to us individually as He wills. And so instead we hold out our hand and we say, Lord, give me what is necessary, what You desire for this situation that I'm in, for this conversation that I'm having. Our job is to hold out an empty hand and say, whatever You want to do, God, I'm here and I'm ready to be used by You and to serve You in this way. Well, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14.1 to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.

And so understanding that the Holy Spirit gives the spiritual gifts as He wills, then our job, our responsibility is to pursue love, number one, and that is to follow after, to chase after, and to press towards love, agape love, perfect, selfless, unconditional love, love that does what is best for people.

what is necessary for them, what is needful for them, not necessarily what people want, but what they need, like God did for us, right? We didn't really want a Savior, but God knew what we needed, and He sent a Savior so that we could be forgiven. In the same way, we minister to the people around us in love by ministering in the need and not exactly or necessarily what the wants may be.

So we're to pursue love, to desire God's best for people in regards to spiritual gifts. Now, I think that's important key because James chapter 4 verse 3 tells us, You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Sometimes our prayers and in the things that we ask of God, we do not receive because, well, our motives are not right. And when it comes to spiritual gifts, Paul tells us to desire spiritual gifts, but sometimes we ask and do not receive because

Because we ask amiss. And so we're asking with ulterior motives. We're asking with, instead of love being the heart and the motive for our asking, there's something else going on. And so sometimes when we do not receive the gift that we ask for, that is the root and that is the reason.

But Paul tells us to desire spiritual gifts, that is to burn with zeal, to strive for it, to desire earnestly, to have a passionate desire. Now, when you woke up this morning, did you have a passionate desire, a zeal to be gifted by the Holy Spirit, to do the things that God has for you today?

That's the idea here, to have that continual burning desire to be used by God. And again, as we're talking about this outside of the context of church, it's one thing to come here and be praying on the way here like, Lord, however you want to use me in conversation and ministering to people and however you want to speak to me, to have that burning desire is good, but what about the rest of life?

Do you drive to work with a burning desire, with a passion, with a zeal, saying, Lord, give me spiritual gifts?

But that I could impact the workplace, that I could impact those that I come in contact with, that I can make a difference today. We need to pursue love, that God's best interest for the people that we're in contact with is our primary goal and it's our heart's desire. And then we need to desire spiritual gifts so that we would be able then to perform the will of God and to do God's work in the hearts of people.

When you desire God's best for people, and then you also desire to be used by God to minister to them, then you're in the place where the Holy Spirit can gift you to do so. And so we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. And again, looking specifically at the rest of life, not just what takes place here, but we're to desire spiritual gifts all the time, seeking for God's help in everything.

Again, nothing of eternal value can be done without the power of the Holy Spirit. So pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. Well, let's walk through these gifts that are listed here in 1 Corinthians 12. The first one that Paul talks about is the word of wisdom.

Now, I went through, I'm a little bit confused and foggy on the days. So, two nights ago, today's Saturday, that would be Thursday. Thursday, we went through the gifts of the Spirit, and I kind of spent a little bit more time on them and showing some...

examples from the book of Acts and talking about what they mean a little bit more. And so if you weren't there for that, you want to dig in a little bit more, then I would encourage you to check out that teaching and you can dig into those things. As we talk about them tonight, I'm just going to kind of share the final summary that we came to in talking about the gifts. And so the word of wisdom is when God gives you the solution to a dilemma or problem that

guidance or direction. When God gives you the solution to a situation, when He gives you guidance or direction, that is a word of wisdom. When the Holy Spirit gives you this word that helps resolve the situation or helps you know which direction that God wants you to go, that's a gift of the word of wisdom.

Maybe you could relate it to Acts 8, verse 29, where it tells us that the Spirit says to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot. You remember that story that took place, that account in Acts 8. But notice in Acts 8, what's interesting about that, the Spirit spoke to him and said, Go near and overtake the chariot. Notice where that was. It was out in the wilderness. It wasn't at church.

It wasn't in the church parking lot that he said, hey, go overtake that chariot. Now, I was in the church parking lot one day and the Lord said, hey, stop that car and get that girl out and introduce her to some people. And of course, that was Kim. And that was the first night that I really talked to her. And then the next night, the Lord told me I was going to marry her. And so the Lord told me to overtake her chariot. But that was here on the context of this property. But God tells Philip to go out in the wilderness and there on the wilderness, he says, go overtake that chariot.

Again, the point here is that the gifts of the Spirit are not just for this place. And so wherever you are, we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. I think personally, we need to desire spiritual

And ask God for words of wisdom when it comes to things like, who am I supposed to marry? Where do you want me to work? When am I to move from this place and move on to somewhere else? That we need God's direction. It's a perfect opportunity for us to desire spiritual gifts and for the Holy Spirit to give us a word of wisdom. That sometimes a word of wisdom is something that we are able to deliver to resolve someone else's situation.

But don't discount that God wants to work in your life and help you resolve your own situations. And you have your own need for direction. You have your own need for help in the problems and the difficulties that you face. And it's very easy for us to go run and ask Mario, Hey Mario, what do you think I should do? But I think even though counsel is good, the first place we need to run is to the Lord and ask,

And we need to pray and desire. Lord, would you give me a word of wisdom to help me resolve the situation? To give me the guidance on where you want me to go? Would you speak to me by your spirit? You know, maybe as a husband or a wife, there's some things going on. You need to resolve a situation. Maybe there's an argument that's going on and you're like, how do I fix this? Can any guy relate to that? How do I resolve this? Lord, what do you want? We need to

to receive a word of wisdom. We need a word from the Lord for the Holy Spirit to speak to us and to show us what to do in that situation. Maybe as a parent, you know, you really need some help, some direction in raising your kids. Maybe you really need some help and direction in resolving some type of discipline situation or problem. Maybe you need some direction on, you know, where should they go to school? As a parent, you need the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

And you need the word of wisdom from the Holy Spirit to be able to give the right direction and to go the right direction, to raise those children in the ways of God. Or there you are in the workplace and there's some difficult ethical situations that you're facing. How do you deal with those? How do you handle those? The Holy Spirit may give you a word of wisdom to help you navigate those things.

Maybe the Holy Spirit will give you a word of wisdom to help you solve a client's problem, to help you fix that issue. Don't think that these gifts of the Spirit are only for use on this place and for only within a very limited context and only if you're able to give the salvation message is it a word of wisdom. No, listen, the Holy Spirit is going to be working in your life. That's what is described throughout the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is the working of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of God's people. And it wasn't limited to what took place on Sundays at the church service. It was something that God was doing wherever they went. And He was working powerfully through their lives. And so we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and specifically the word of wisdom, that God would give us the direction, the resolution that we need.

Now, I would encourage you as we talk about these things and consider these gifts, make sure that you give credit where credit is due though, okay? So the Holy Spirit will give you words of wisdom when He desires, when He wills, and it's going to be brilliant, it's going to be awesome, it's going to work out, God's going to do some cool things. So make sure then that you don't say, well, yeah, you know, I've been praying, or I did really good, didn't I? Yeah, oh yeah, I wish you would have asked me a long time ago, you know, I would have given you the answer. No, no, no.

Consider like Daniel did, right? He was there. The king says, "Hey, I hear you can interpret dreams." "Oh, not me. It's not in me. It's the God of heaven. He's the one." Joseph did the same thing, didn't he? Pharaoh said, "Hey, I hear you can interpret dreams." "Well, no, it's not me. It's the God of heaven. He's the one." And so when the Holy Spirit does give you a word of wisdom,

Make sure that you give credit where credit is due. And so in the workplace, that glory is going to God. And there in the home, that glory is going to God. Wherever you might be, that the glory is going to God. So pursue love. Desire what's best for people. Desire God's best. Pursue the love of God that you would serve and honor God and desire spiritual gifts. Ask God to give you gifts, to enable you and to empower you supernaturally.

To live the Christian life the way that He's called you. Well, then the next thing we see here is the word of knowledge. The word of knowledge is when God gives you information that you could not know naturally. Information that you could not know naturally. You didn't study it. You didn't look it up online. It's information that was supernaturally given to you. A word from the Lord. Insight about a thing or a situation. I think a good example of this in the workplace is in Daniel chapter 2.

Remember when King Nebuchadnezzar, he had the dream and he called his magicians in and he says, OK, I want you to interpret my dream. But before you interpret my dream, I want you to tell me my dream. And they said, there's no way we can't do that. No king has ever asked that of anybody. So Daniel goes, he talks to his friends, he says, let's pray. They pray. And then God gives Daniel a word of knowledge and he tells him what the dream was. And then he tells him the interpretation or the meaning of the dream.

Well, consider and understand, this was Daniel's workplace. That's where he worked. He worked in the palace. That was his job. It would be as if your boss came in in the morning and said, Hey guys, I had a dream. Now, if your boss came in in the morning and said, I had a dream last night. I can't remember it. I wonder what it meant. How many would...

Go back to his friends and say, well, let's pray, you know. There was a little bit of urgency, of course. You know, they were being threatened with death in Daniel's situation. But the context, again, it's not at the synagogue. It's in the palace. And you and I as believers, wherever God sends us, in the workplace or whatever situation it might be, we need for the Holy Spirit to give us words of knowledge at the right time.

Now again, Daniel is a good example because he gives all glory to God. And so the king, as a result, knows about God. And see, again, that's the point of the manifestation of the Spirit. I like that concept, the manifestation of the Spirit. That someone else looks on and they see the Holy Spirit being revealed in your life. That people understand the Spirit of God is in you. And so the Holy Spirit will give you these gifts...

as He wills, as the situation allows, so that others can recognize that you are a child of God. So that others can know who to turn to when they need prayer, when they need some help, when they need to find out how to get to God, they can talk to you. So that you can be a witness in the workplace or wherever you might be, the Holy Spirit will give you these gifts.

Maybe you're a parent, and again, maybe you need a word of wisdom, or a word of knowledge rather. I remember, and I don't remember the exact story, so please forgive me for that, but I was listening one time while the ladies were doing their Bible study, and Cheryl Broderson was sharing about her kids, and how her kids were surprised. Actually, I forget. It might have been her as a kid, or that it was her kids. But either way, the kid was surprised because the mom knew what they'd been doing.

And the kid was like, how did you know? How did you find out? And the Lord had shown the parents. And so that's how the mom knew what was going on. And so then the mom used that occasion to say, see, if you do things wrong, if you don't go do things you're not supposed to be doing, God's going to show me. And so you need to be faithful and to be obedient. And so God may use a word of knowledge to really help the situation that's going on with your children. He can do that.

to raise them in His ways, that their kids would learn that they can't get away with stuff, that God's watching them, that God knows what's going on. So the word of knowledge is, well, it's something that the Holy Spirit can give us in the workplace, in the home, in the neighborhood, wherever we might be. Again, we need to make sure to give credit where credit is due. And don't say, well, because I'm so smart, that's how I knew that. No, because the Holy Spirit spoke to me. God gave me the insight into that information.

Remember what James said, sometimes you ask and you don't receive because you ask amiss. And so if you're there, the gas station, praying for a word of knowledge so that you can pick your lottery numbers, don't expect God to give you that. You're asking amiss. No, pursue love. Desire God's best for people. Desire to do the work of God and be a part of the work of God. And the Holy Spirit will gift you accordingly. Well, the third thing we see is faith. Now, faith...

is when God gives you the faith, or the Holy Spirit gives you the faith to say or do something special and specific. Have you ever had something on your heart that you know God's put it upon your heart, but it's something that was really hard, something you really had to believe Him for, you really had to, okay Lord, are you sure? I don't like that idea. That sounds really tough, something that was really hard for you to do, and you really had to trust Him.

Well, that is one situation where the Holy Spirit can give you the gift of faith to really believe God for those hard things, for those tough things, for those things that don't make sense. I think one of the great examples of faith and the gift of faith

throughout history is a guy by the name of George Mueller, missionary. He had an orphanage and he has just incredible accounts of how God provided and how he determined that he was just going to trust God, that they were just going to have faith in God. They weren't going to tell everybody all their needs, but they were just going to trust that God would provide their needs.

One of the accounts that he shares about, or shared about him rather, is that they were sitting down at the table there in the orphanage and there was no food. They didn't have anything to give the kids. And so they're sitting down at the table, even though there's no food, and he prays. And he gives thanks, just like he would as if there was a meal there. And he gives thanks for the food that they're about to receive. Even though there's no food on the table, there's no food in the cupboards.

And so he prays for the food that they're about to receive, total faith, knowing that God's going to provide. Well, there just happened to be a knock at the door after he finished praying. And he goes to the door and it's the milk delivery guy. And the wagon wheel was busted right there in front of the orphanage. And so rather than let all of the produce spoil, he gave it to the orphanage. And then the children were able to eat and have food for that evening.

That's a gift of faith, you know, praying for the food we're about to receive when there's no food in sight. And so sometimes God calls us to do that. He calls us. He puts things upon our hearts. He says for us to do certain things and to go certain directions, and we don't see how there's going to be provision. We need to pray. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to give us the gift of faith, to really trust God and believe God in those hard things.

Now, again, make sure that you give credit where credit is due. So on the other side, when everybody's like, wow, I can't believe you did that. I mean, that took, unless it took faith, you're like, yeah, you know, I've been really working hard on that faith, you know, building it up. And no, make sure that you give credit where credit is due. You know, God, God gave me the faith to do the thing that he put upon my heart. And so we need to pursue love, to desire God's best and to desire to serve God with our best.

and desire spiritual gifts, to have that burning passion and zeal for the gifts of the Spirit to bring glory to God. Well, the next two I'm going to group together, the gifts of healings and the working of miracles. The gifts of healings and the working of miracles. The gifts of healing is when the Holy Spirit gives you the supernatural ability to heal a person. And then the working of miracles is when God gives you the supernatural ability to do something that's contrary to natural laws.

And I group them together because as we look throughout the book of Acts, we see them hand in hand. They're kind of in tandem together. That miracles and miraculous signs were going on as the gospel is being presented. These are gifts that the Holy Spirit can give us whenever he chooses and whenever he wants. It's up to him. It's not up to us. We can't say, all right, I'm going to heal this person. But we can say,

Lord, do you want to give me the gift of healing? Do you want me to be a part of this work that you want to do? Lord, do you want to work miraculously in this way? We need to have a pursuit of love and a desire for spiritual gifts. Believe God for those big things. Believe God to work in those ways. Many times when we think about, you know, healings and miracles, again, it's limited to the context of this place. But I would encourage you to consider Acts chapter 3.

In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are on their way to the temple. They're going to go there to pray. And they see that man who is lame and they lock eyes and they say, hey, we don't have silver and gold, but what we do have, here's what we give to you. In the name of Jesus, stand up and walk. Great healing took place. It was miraculous. And the guy went running and leaping and praising God. Credit was going to the one who did the work.

but it was on the way to the temple. Now consider that for just a second. Tomorrow's Sunday morning, right? What if the thing that God wants to do tomorrow is on the way to church, not at church for you? What if God's plan for you tomorrow is something that's on the way here, not actually here? There's so many times, I'm sure you could understand this as I could understand it, there's so many times that we...

fly past opportunities, fly past needs, because we're trying to get to our destination. And Peter and John could have just, you know, had their eyes fixed on the temple and just, you know, marched right in. But on the way, the Holy Spirit wanted to do a work. And He gives Peter and John here a gift of healing to bring health to this lame man. I would encourage you and I would challenge you to consider that.

Again, it's not just what takes place here. God's going to do great work here and the Holy Spirit's going to work in the ministries and the activities and the things and we need to trust Him for that. But we should not, we must not limit His working and our availability for Him to work to this place. So that wherever we're at, if we're on the way somewhere or we're on the way here, we're hanging out with family, we're over there with our co-workers, we can be praying.

We can be pursuing love, desiring God's best for people, and then desiring spiritual gifts, having a burning passion and a zeal. God, use me however you want. Fill me with your Spirit and give me the gifts that you desire so that I can accomplish your purposes and your work in these situations. Well, the next thing we see, number six, is prophecy. Prophecy is when the Holy Spirit gives you a message that edifies, exhorts, and comforts.

The Holy Spirit will sometimes give us a word that edifies, exhorts, and comforts. I think prophecy is one of those gifts that is very important. Paul says several times throughout chapter 12, 13, and 14 to desire spiritual gifts, but he says specifically, desire that you would prophesy. Prophecy is, well, we often think about it of, you know, foretelling the future, right?

And that is an aspect of prophecy. But what prophecy really is, is speaking forth on behalf of God. The word just means to speak forth on behalf of someone else. Of course, in spiritual context, prophecy is really speaking forth on behalf of God. Now, since God knows the future, it's very easy for him to speak forth through us the future. And so he can tell us those things to come.

So sometimes it's matters of the future, those things that have not yet taken place. But a lot of times the gift of prophecy is God's message to an individual. It's God speaking directly to someone through you. That's what the gift of prophecy is all about. And sometimes the Holy Spirit will use you to bring forth a message from God to really penetrate into the heart of a person.

To really break through. It's not about logic. It's not about reasoning. It's not about arguments. It's that perfect word that really hits home. That word that really reaches the heart. And that's not a gift that is in operation only here in this place. Yes, it does take place here at church. And it does take place as the word is being brought forth. But it needs to take place while you're talking to your boss. Yes.

And it needs to take place while you're talking to your co-workers. And it needs to take place while you're talking with your family. It needs to take place while we're out and about. We need to be gifted by the Holy Spirit to speak forth God's Word into people's hearts and lives. So we need to pursue love, to desire God's best for people, and then desire spiritual gifts, to have that passion and zeal to be used by God. Lord, would you use me?

to share your word with this person, with this individual. Would you use me to reach them, to minister to their hearts? Prophecy, again, it edifies, exhorts, and comforts. There is a great need in this world for people to be built up and comforted. And God wants to use us. He's placed us strategically in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods, in our homes, everywhere.

The things that we may be considering random occurrences, you know, we're just kind of like happen to be at the right place at the right time. So we need to desire spiritual gifts that we could bring forth words of prophecy to really reach people's hearts in those situations. Well, then number seven, we have the discerning of spirits. And discerning of spirits is when the Holy Spirit gives you knowledge of the spirits that are behind an activity or behavior.

The Holy Spirit gives you insight into the source of something that is going on. This is another key one for us, I believe, as Christians. Because we have these bodies, we very quickly rely upon what we see. And we forget what Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 6. You remember there? He says, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Now, in the conflicts and the things that take place in our lives...

We so often get focused on the flesh and blood and we forget that we don't really wrestle against flesh and blood. The reality is that there's spiritual battles going on, but we forget. And so we're fighting these physical battles and we're frustrated and we're fighting or yelling or punching or whatever may take place. And we're stressed out, we're angry.

Because there's these physical conflicts and confrontations going on. Because we've forgotten that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. And so we need the discerning of spirits. We need the Holy Spirit to give us insight and remind us and show us it's not about the person. There's a spiritual battle that is waging. There's a spiritual battle that is going on. And that's the fight that you need to be involved in. Not the physical one, but the spiritual one. So we need to pursue love.

Now listen, if we want God's best for people, we're not going to get it by involving ourselves in the flesh and fighting that physical battle. But God's best for people can be accomplished by the Holy Spirit giving us discernment, giving us insight, teaching us how to pray and how to fight that battle. For you and I personally, we need the discerning of spirit so that we aren't deceived

by the physical things, so that we aren't deceived by false teachers and false winds of doctrine that go through the church. Again, maybe as a parent, you need a discerning of spirits in regards to what's going on in your child's life. Maybe discerning of spirits in regards to some of the friends that are coming into the scene, coming into the picture. In the workplace, you need the discerning of spirits to know what's going on with that co-worker or in that situation or over there, that client. We need the Holy Spirit

to give us discernment, to give us understanding, to know what's going on, what's the source of the situation. And again, make sure you give credit where credit is due. And so when you address the situation, when it works out the way that God desires for it to work, that you don't just say, well, yeah, I had a feeling, I had this intuition. No, make sure you say, this is what God showed me. God gave me discernment.

So we need to pursue love and desire these gifts. Well, finally, the last two gifts, again, I'll group them together. The kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. The gift of tongues is when the Holy Spirit gives you the ability to pray in a language that you do not know. And then the interpretation of tongues is when the Holy Spirit gives you understanding of a prayer that has been expressed in an unknown tongue or an unknown language.

And so the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues, they work hand in hand. And the interpretation of tongues is very kind of specifically used in the context of an afterglow service that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And so it has a little bit of a specific purpose, although it can be used outside of that context. That is where it's primarily used.

The gift of tongues, however, is rarely used in church, according to 1 Corinthians 14, but is commonly used everywhere else. And so the gift of tongues is when God gives you, when the Holy Spirit empowers you to pray in a language that you do not know. I think it's important to understand and realize this is a real spiritual gift.

It still exists today. It's not just something that God did in the book of Acts, but that the Holy Spirit still today empowers people to pray in an unknown tongue. It's not a language that they've studied. It's not something that they've learned. This gift has its place specifically in a person's personal relationship with God.

It's not a gift, you know, that really happens on the stage or in front of others. It's a gift that takes place one-on-one with God. Now, again, it can take place within the context of an afterglow as described in 1 Corinthians 14. But the primary use of this gift is between you and God. If the Holy Spirit has given you the gift of tongues, could I encourage you to exercise that gift, to be faithful, to spend time with the Lord,

To be in prayer and to use the gift that God has given to you. It's interesting because all of the other gifts really are focusing on others. You know, you're able to bring forth the word of wisdom and it resolves and it benefits others. Although God also uses those things in our own lives. But the gift of tongues is really the only one that's used exclusively for our own benefit.

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 14 that whenever a person speaks in tongues, they edify themselves. That's the purpose of the gift. That's what it's to be used for. And so we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. We need to want God's best for people and understand that if God has given you the gift of tongues, if the Holy Spirit is gifting you in that way, well, it's in the best interest of everyone around you that you exercise that gift.

Because the reality is, they need you to be, we need you to be, the person that God has called you to be. The Holy Spirit is not going to give you the gift of tongues unless you need it. Remember, He distributes individually as He wills. And if it's His will, if it's His desire, then exercise the gift. Now, the reason why I'm giving this exhortation and sharing that with you is that, well, I've heard many times that,

People who have been given the gift of tongues share, you know, I don't know why I don't exercise the gift very much. And I've heard them share about how God has reminded them to exercise the gift. And so let this be a reminder to you. If you've been given the gift of tongues and the Holy Spirit wants to work in your life in this way, that it's for a reason and you need it and we need it. And so if you love us, if you want what's best for us, then spend that time with God and be edified and be built up.

Be strengthened and spend that time in prayer and praise of God so that you can be the Christian that God has called you to be. The best thing that you can do for your family or for your co-workers or for your neighbors is to be right with God and to be built up in the faith. And so pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. These are gifts that God has given to us to accomplish His work and His purposes.

As you look at the book of Acts, you see that powerful, that dynamic working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers. And that is still the way that God desires to work in us, to work powerfully in the world that we live in. The Lord put this message on my heart, this series on my heart for us to remember the advantage that we have in the Holy Spirit, but this specific one to help us remember to knock down the walls.

and to not limit the working of the Holy Spirit and our availability to the Spirit within these walls. But that as we're out and about, as we're going through life, as we're going to the workplace, as we're with our families, as we're shopping, as we're, you know, going to the sports game or whatever, that we would be continually and constantly recognizing that God wants to work and being open and available, desiring spiritual gifts.

that God could use us wherever, whenever, however He chooses. Think about it this way. Joseph. Joseph went through some crazy things. But you know, God used him powerfully. And He gifted Joseph so that wherever he went, remember it says the Lord was with him? Wherever he went, the Lord was with him and he was blessed. And everything that was entrusted to him was blessed. And the Lord worked in his life in that way to accomplish his own purposes.

to bring that family down to Egypt, to establish them as a nation. He was doing some incredible things and he was glorified through it all. In the same way, God desires to work in us. He desires to pour out his spirit upon us and to gift us, to work miracles, to perform healings, to bring forth words of prophecy, to be built up with the gift of tongues, to step out in steps of faith, to have those words of wisdom, those words of knowledge.

The Holy Spirit desires to work powerfully in our lives because all of those things working in our lives are used by God to accomplish His purposes. So this evening, I want to encourage you to live all of your life in the power of the Spirit so that God's will can be accomplished and so that people can know that God is real, that He is alive, that Jesus loves them so that they can receive Him as Savior and Lord and that they can know who to look to when they need to find Jesus.

So that God will be glorified through your life. So as we consider these things this evening, I think it would be wonderful and appropriate for us to finish off the evening with a time of prayer. And what I'd like to ask you to do is to pray. As the Lord leads, as the Lord puts it upon your heart, pray out loud for all of us. We can agree with you. Pray for someone in here as the Lord leads.

Pray for yourself as the Lord leads. Pray for these gifts as the Lord leads. Let's just spend some time right now finishing it out in prayer, asking God to do a new, fresh, and powerful work in us to be glorified through our lives. So go ahead, be bold, and pray as the Spirit pumps your heart.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.