The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

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22 STEWARDSHIP OF GIFTS: DANGERS AND DELIGHTS The Bible tells us clearly and directly that Christians are stewards of their spiritual gifts (I Pet. 4:10). Stewardship, in the New Testament sense, is an awesome responsibility. It is awesome because it carries with it an important dimension of accountability. According to I Corinthians 4:2, “It is required in stewards, that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” The meaning of stewardship is clearly shown in the account of The Parable of the Talents (Mt. 25:14-30). Here we see that faithfulness was directly related to success. Every spiritual gift we have is a resource that we must use and for which we will be held accountable at the judgment. Some will have one, some two, and some five, etc. The quantity to begin with does not matter. Stewards are responsible for what the master has chosen to give them. But the resource that we do have must be used to accomplish the Master’s purpose. There is not a better time than now to begin to prepare to answer that question which each of us eventually is going to hear from our Lord: “What did you do with spiritual gift(s) I gave you?” EQUAL DANGERS There are many ways that spiritual gifts can be abused. The two equally extreme and dangerous positions are “charisphobia” and “charismania.” “Charisphobia” is fear of spiritual gifts (especially the “supernatural” or “spectacular” gifts because of their potential counterfeit). Jesus warned against counterfeit leaders and gifts (Mt. 24:24; 7:22-23). Satan can counterfeit gifts because he is a supernatural being and he has supernatural powers. His power was shown in a spectacular way in Egypt when Pharaoh’s magicians could match practically all the works that God did through Moses (Ex. 7,8). However, Satan’s power is limited and controlled (Job). As Robert Tuttle put it, “Satan is on a tether. If, however, we slip within reach or range of this tether, yielding to some particular temptation, he’ll have us for breakfast.” 2 The word “counterfeit” by definition means that there must be the real. “Charisphobia” is the attitude of leaving gifts alone because of their potential abuse. It is throwing out the baby with the bathwater. This is probably why Paul warned: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt . . . be eager to prophesy . . .” (I Thess. 5:19-20; I Cor. 14:39).
22 The proper approach to all gifts is “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (I Thess. 5:21-22). Balance is key. Paul not only warned about the misuse and abuse of the gift of tongues; he also warned against forbidding its practice. He put it, “. . . and do not forbid speaking in tongues” (I Cor. 14:39). A. B. Simpson, the founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, warned against seeking the gift of tongues more than other gifts, but he also warned against forbidding its practice. Thus his position was expressed with the formula: “Seek Not, Forbid Not.” 3 Martin Luther was once asked if Thomas Munzer, a young enthusiast, had the Holy Spirit. “Yes, Luther replied, “Munzer has the Holy Spirit; he has eaten him, feathers and all.” Many socalled “Spirit-filled” Christians seem to have “eaten Him, feathers and all.” Such people are often guilty of “charismania” where they place undue importance on the gifts of the Spirit. It is the fruit of the Spirit that is the test of our spiritual growth in Christ. Gifts are merely tools, though important tools, to be used for the work of the Kingdom. Fruit shows our growth in Christian character by God’s sanctifying work of grace (Gal. 5:22-23). The gifts and fruit of the Spirit, however, are related. A person who does not show interest in the gifts obviously is living in disobedience to God for they are his equipment to do God’s will. Paul ties together God’s will, God’s grace and God’s gifts (Rom. 12:1-8). It is by God’s grace that we are enabled to exercise God’s intention for His people—His servants. COMMITMENT Spiritual gifts has to do with commitment since the practical result of knowing what our gifts are is responsibility and sacrifice in using them to the benefit of the church family. Elizabeth O’Connor put it: “The identifying of gifts brings to the fore . . . the issue of commitment. Somehow if I name my gift and it is confirmed, I cannot “hang loose” in the same way. I would rather be committed to God in the abstract than be committed to Him at the point of my gifts . . . .
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: 22 It is no coincidence that Paul w
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: 55 The Giftedness of Others—Quest
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
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77 Some identify this gift with the
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77 CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WITH TH
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77 THE GIFT OF EXHORTATION (Rom. 12
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88 Purpose: Advancement of God’s
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88 R. G. LeTourneau, the Texas indu
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88 The Giftedness of Others—Quest
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88 Other qualifications (in the cas
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88 15. “Not self-willed” (Titus
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99 THE GIFT OF MERCY (Rom. 12:8) Pu
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99 Bridge and Phypers warn: “He o
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99 The Giftedness of Others—Quest
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99 A person with this gift is easil
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111 The Giftedness of Others—Ques
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111 found hospices, by this time ru
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111 Finds deep satisfaction in maki
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111
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111 “In 1973 a church on Route 46
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111 MINISTRIES Boards & Committees
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111 VI. ARE “SUPERNATURAL” GIFT
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111 The cessation theory is based o
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111 The conditional temporal “whe
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111 God said His name is "I am," no
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121 In a world where people accepte
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123 Many church leaders, however, c
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125 A visionary element marked the
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127 1. In the first one hundred yea
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129 Donald Bridge and David Phypers
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131 VII. “SUPERNATURAL GIFTS”
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133 HOW “WORDS OF WISDOM” ARE E
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137 Examples John Wimber, who is th
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139 12. Sometimes a person in the t
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141 The Giftedness of Others--Quest
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143 The Greek word “savior” (so
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145 Since suffering is so prevalent
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147 In Scripture there is also a ca
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149 Kinds of Approaches to Healing
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151 3. We check that the armor of G
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153 towards me. I remember thinking
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155 6. Loved ones or friends may be
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157 5. When anointing with oil is c
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161 4. RAISING THE DEAD—Jesus was
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163 As Pytches points out, “Sickn
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165 “In the name of Jesus, I comm
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167 Strongholds These result from a
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169 10. Severely demonized persons
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171 to, usually vocalizing such thi
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173 MINISTERING DELIVERANCE 1. It i
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175 23. Spirits get wary and fearfu
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177 11. If it is clear that there i
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179 It would be verbally impossible
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181 By the authority of the Lord Je
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183 Satan, I command you, in the na
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185 Heavenly Father, I pray that Yo
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187 Renounce In the Renounce step,
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189 8. Speaks and acts with great a
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191 This spiritual warfare will bec
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193 attention is deflected toward G
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195 We must be careful that we do n
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199 4. A continuing gift—repeated
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201 gift of tongues in the context
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203 THE GIFT OF THE INTERPRETATION
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205 MINISTRIES Worship Service Vari
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207 I. FAITH The first step in find
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209 What was Peter's reaction? "Pet
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211 VI. MUTUAL MINISTRY (IMPARTATIO
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213 VIII. EVALUATE YOUR EFFECTIVENE
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215 Some Christians who used their
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217 IX. AN ATMOSPHERE FOR PRACTICE
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219 Errors in doctrine or simple do
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221 “For you did not receive a sp
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As we prayerfully seek God’s will
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0 1 2 3 28. Likes to give material
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0 1 2 3 91. Ability to wisely selec
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229 0 1 2 3 149. Enjoys exercising
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0 1 2 3 214. Serious student of God
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0 1 2 3 271. Ability to know what c
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235 Continue on this page as you di
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237 9 David Allan Hubbard, Unwrappi
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239 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 31 Wagner, Yo
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241 19 Ibid. 20 Gene Getz, Sharpeni
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243 15 T. B. Falls, The Fathers of
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245 16 Pytches, Spiritual Gifts in
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247 131. 54 Pytches, Spiritual Gift
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249 92 Ibid., 235. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid
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251 Fee, Gordon. The First Epistle
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253
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