The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

More documents

Recommendations

Info

220 Discovering, developing and using our gifts is our responsibility. God simply has not given us the right not to discover, develop and use our gifts. A healthy, biblical understanding of who God is and what He is like is crucial to an appreciation for the gifts and a confidence in their use. God, the Giver of spiritual gifts, has not given us His unmerited gifts to scare, overwhelm and intimidate us. They have been given lovingly and graciously by a heavenly Father who trusts His children with His resources. FEAR OF OURSELVES Low self-esteem makes us fearful of our efforts at anything. It makes us feel inadequate, unimportant, worthless and useless. In our timidity we have forgotten Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (II Tim. 1:7). A cowardly reluctance in the use of our giftedness definitely is not from God. The Spirit—the Holy Spirit—given by God is a Spirit of power and boldness. Power (dunamis) in Greek means among other things “the ability to do.” It is the Spirit of God who gives us the power we need to overcome our timidity and do what God has called us to do. Paul also points out in this verse that God’s Spirit is a spirit of love. Love will guard us against pride. Paul warned: “For by grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom. 12:3). Love, which by its very nature is humble (I Cor. 13:4), will keep us from valuing ourselves higher than we ought and it will also help us in not valuing ourselves lower than we ought. Love centers on God who gave us value, dignity and significance. By focusing on Him we are freed from excessive examination of our own value or worth. The contribution we make to the body of Christ with our gifts is not seen in terms of our greatness but in terms of God’s gracious love which has enabled us to share our giftedness with others. This sharing results in mutual upbuilding. Self-discipline is the third evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in our lives according to Paul’s exhortation for Timothy. Paul similarly said to the Christians at Rome:
221 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:15-16). Assurance of our sonship frees us from the bondage and enslavement to fear. Fear makes us timid as we focus on ourselves—our weaknesses, inabilities, sins. We end up in negativism which saps us of our energies. Either we try to fight our feelings of worthlessness and uselessness by proving to God, ourselves and others that we have some worth, or we give in to despair. Either way, our focus is on ourselves. Assurance that we are God’s children frees us from having to prove anything since all we have to do is accept our sonship as a free gift. This enables us to focus on the God who has so graciously accepted us into His family and give our energies to opportunities for ministry which He opens up as we live in communion with our heavenly Father. As our minds are disciplined by the Spirit we have no time for thoughts that are self-condemning and despairing. The Spirit keeps us in tune to Himself. Paul had the proper perspective witnessed by his address to the Christians at Corinth: “Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant— not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life . . . But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (II Cor. 3:4-6; 4:7). When we see ourselves as “jars of clay” whose confidence, competence and power comes from God we are freed to minister in humility and love. FEAR OF OTHERS Fear is such a normal human emotion that there are more than thirty Greek and Hebrew words for it in the Bible. While there are some fears that are positive and necessary, most are negative and unnecessary. Although Scripture exhorts us to show a healthy fear (respect) to those in authority over us whether in the realm of politics, vocation or religion (Rom. 13:1-3; I Pet. 2:18; Heb. 13:17), we are not to be intimidated or slavishly fearful of anyone. The Bible is replete with warnings about the fear of man. Solomon pointed out that it is a real trap. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” (Prov. 29:25)
Page 1 and 2:
1 The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: God
Page 3 and 4:
3 IV. MINISTRIES AND OFFICES 35-70
Page 5 and 6:
5 • The Fruit of the Spirit—To
Page 7 and 8:
7 WHY STUDY SPIRITUAL GIFTS? YOU ar
Page 9 and 10:
9 This study can be effective and f
Page 11 and 12:
11 THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Page 13 and 14:
11 II. THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Page 15 and 16:
11 JOY—Inner assurance of God’s
Page 17 and 18:
11 Adam Clarke described faithfulne
Page 19 and 20:
11 It is one thing to overcome the
Page 21 and 22:
22 It is no coincidence that Paul w
Page 23 and 24:
22 The proper approach to all gifts
Page 25 and 26:
22 “Talents have to do with techn
Page 27 and 28:
22 Humility is a sober evaluation o
Page 29 and 30:
22 2. The body contains many member
Page 31 and 32:
33 13. Discerning of Spirits 14. Gi
Page 33 and 34:
33 10. Leadership. The gift of lead
Page 35 and 36:
33 IV. MINISTRIES & OFFICES
Page 37 and 38:
33 Qualifications for the Twelve 1.
Page 39 and 40:
33 reaching out to others with the
Page 41 and 42:
44 The Giftedness of Others—Quest
Page 43 and 44:
44 Female Prophets: Miriam (Ex. 15:
Page 45 and 46:
44 • False prophets teach sexual
Page 47 and 48:
44 2. Prophecy was not intended to
Page 49 and 50:
44 It is God’s purpose to reveal
Page 51 and 52:
55 2. The ‘spiritual gift of disc
Page 53 and 54:
55 PROPHET (PROPHECY) Proclaims God
Page 55 and 56:
55 Purpose: Salvation of the Lost T
Page 57 and 58:
55 have any one gift. The spiritual
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
66 2. To Feed—A shepherd’s main
Page 63 and 64:
66 PASTORING (SHEPHERDING) Has a he
Page 65 and 66:
66 THE GIFT OF THE TEACHER (Eph. 4:
Page 67 and 68:
66 all as Sunday School teachers. O
Page 69 and 70:
66 TEACHING A strong desire to stud
Page 71 and 72:
77 V. SERVING GIFTS
Page 73 and 74:
77 Some identify this gift with the
Page 75 and 76:
77 CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WITH TH
Page 77 and 78:
77 THE GIFT OF EXHORTATION (Rom. 12
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
88 Purpose: Advancement of God’s
Page 83 and 84:
88 R. G. LeTourneau, the Texas indu
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
88 Other qualifications (in the cas
Page 89 and 90:
88 15. “Not self-willed” (Titus
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
99 THE GIFT OF MERCY (Rom. 12:8) Pu
Page 95 and 96:
99 Bridge and Phypers warn: “He o
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
99 A person with this gift is easil
Page 101 and 102:
111 The Giftedness of Others—Ques
Page 103 and 104:
111 found hospices, by this time ru
Page 105 and 106:
111 Finds deep satisfaction in maki
Page 107 and 108:
111
Page 109 and 110:
111 “In 1973 a church on Route 46
Page 111 and 112:
111 MINISTRIES Boards & Committees
Page 113 and 114:
111 VI. ARE “SUPERNATURAL” GIFT
Page 115 and 116:
111 The cessation theory is based o
Page 117 and 118:
111 The conditional temporal “whe
Page 119 and 120:
111 God said His name is "I am," no
Page 121 and 122:
121 In a world where people accepte
Page 123 and 124:
123 Many church leaders, however, c
Page 125 and 126:
125 A visionary element marked the
Page 127 and 128:
127 1. In the first one hundred yea
Page 129 and 130:
129 Donald Bridge and David Phypers
Page 131 and 132:
131 VII. “SUPERNATURAL GIFTS”
Page 133 and 134:
133 HOW “WORDS OF WISDOM” ARE E
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
137 Examples John Wimber, who is th
Page 139 and 140:
139 12. Sometimes a person in the t
Page 141 and 142:
141 The Giftedness of Others--Quest
Page 143 and 144:
143 The Greek word “savior” (so
Page 145 and 146:
145 Since suffering is so prevalent
Page 147 and 148:
147 In Scripture there is also a ca
Page 149 and 150:
149 Kinds of Approaches to Healing
Page 151 and 152:
151 3. We check that the armor of G
Page 153 and 154:
153 towards me. I remember thinking
Page 155 and 156:
155 6. Loved ones or friends may be
Page 157 and 158:
157 5. When anointing with oil is c
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
161 4. RAISING THE DEAD—Jesus was
Page 163 and 164:
163 As Pytches points out, “Sickn
Page 165 and 166:
165 “In the name of Jesus, I comm
Page 167 and 168:
167 Strongholds These result from a
Page 169 and 170: 169 10. Severely demonized persons
Page 171 and 172: 171 to, usually vocalizing such thi
Page 173 and 174: 173 MINISTERING DELIVERANCE 1. It i
Page 175 and 176: 175 23. Spirits get wary and fearfu
Page 177 and 178: 177 11. If it is clear that there i
Page 179 and 180: 179 It would be verbally impossible
Page 181 and 182: 181 By the authority of the Lord Je
Page 183 and 184: 183 Satan, I command you, in the na
Page 185 and 186: 185 Heavenly Father, I pray that Yo
Page 187 and 188: 187 Renounce In the Renounce step,
Page 189 and 190: 189 8. Speaks and acts with great a
Page 191 and 192: 191 This spiritual warfare will bec
Page 193 and 194: 193 attention is deflected toward G
Page 195 and 196: 195 We must be careful that we do n
Page 197 and 198: 197 The Giftedness of Others—Ques
Page 199 and 200: 199 4. A continuing gift—repeated
Page 201 and 202: 201 gift of tongues in the context
Page 203 and 204: 203 THE GIFT OF THE INTERPRETATION
Page 205 and 206: 205 MINISTRIES Worship Service Vari
Page 207 and 208: 207 I. FAITH The first step in find
Page 209 and 210: 209 What was Peter's reaction? "Pet
Page 211 and 212: 211 VI. MUTUAL MINISTRY (IMPARTATIO
Page 213 and 214: 213 VIII. EVALUATE YOUR EFFECTIVENE
Page 215 and 216: 215 Some Christians who used their
Page 217 and 218: 217 IX. AN ATMOSPHERE FOR PRACTICE
Page 219: 219 Errors in doctrine or simple do
Page 223 and 224: As we prayerfully seek God’s will
Page 225 and 226: 0 1 2 3 28. Likes to give material
Page 227 and 228: 0 1 2 3 91. Ability to wisely selec
Page 229 and 230: 229 0 1 2 3 149. Enjoys exercising
Page 231 and 232: 0 1 2 3 214. Serious student of God
Page 233 and 234: 0 1 2 3 271. Ability to know what c
Page 235 and 236: 235 Continue on this page as you di
Page 237 and 238: 237 9 David Allan Hubbard, Unwrappi
Page 239 and 240: 239 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 31 Wagner, Yo
Page 241 and 242: 241 19 Ibid. 20 Gene Getz, Sharpeni
Page 243 and 244: 243 15 T. B. Falls, The Fathers of
Page 245 and 246: 245 16 Pytches, Spiritual Gifts in
Page 247 and 248: 247 131. 54 Pytches, Spiritual Gift
Page 249 and 250: 249 92 Ibid., 235. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid
Page 251 and 252: 251 Fee, Gordon. The First Epistle
Page 253: 253
show all

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?