The Work of the Word

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not….." (John 1:4-5)

"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11)

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name…" (John 1:12)

The Word restores life to us (and more importantly WITH us) as God intended before man allowed sin to destroy that life, as man is inclined to do still today. It is restoration of all that was lost in the garden. This work of restoration is not an instantaneous process or Jesus would not have had to live 33 years in the flesh and walk for the last three of those years in extremely close living relationship with the 12 disciples. There was indeed a process, all of which was about revealing God to man. It's about removing the deception that man had fallen prey to in the garden; that Eve, specifically, succumbed to. To restore what was lost, the truth had to be brought to light and man needed to be convinced of that truth. That conviction of truth is called FAITH.

"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (from Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome: Romans 10:8-10)

That's what all the miracles were about including the one by which the Father raised Jesus from the dead, as He, the Father, promises He will do for us….at least for those of us, the Word says, who have FAITH in HIM….faith enough to "confess our faith" in Him. Oops, there's the rub, as Shakespeare would have said, well, maybe he wouldn't have said "oops" but you get my meaning, right? The rub, or the problem here, is that one must confess with one's mouth what one believes in one's heart; for "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" must mean that if confession by the mouth is NOT made (n other words, not spoken) then salvation is not obtained.

Why could we not just believe in our hearts and keep it to ourselves? Because the very action (or lack of, I should say) itself "speaks" of denial of the truth. After all, we are speaking about a divine revelation here. The truth that God is restoring us to Himself. GOD is restoring US to HIMSELF! If we have been convinced of that most remarkable of truths, why would we NOT speak it? It could only be because we are not convinced of its value and merit towards mankind. We are not convicted of the TRUTH. We have NOT faith.

But just as the Word walked among man producing faith over 2000 years ago, so still today, does the Word continue to produce faith. Faith is produced every time the Word of God is spoken, or heard, or preached, as Paul preached it. And, in our country today, it can still be spoken, it can still be heard. And will continue to be heard until "the night cometh" that the Word has prophesied will come; when darkness will reign instead of the light.

"I [Jesus] must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." John 9:4

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Spoken by the "Bread of Life" Himself, Jesus Christ, the Word of God. TO YOU.

 

 

The Word in the Triune God

Let's look at John, chapter 1, for a moment:

"In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (v. 1)

Who or what is John speaking about by use of "the Word"?

"The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (v. 2 - 3)

We have already seen in the "and God said" statements of Genesis chapter 1, that whatever God "said" was followed by "and it was so". In other words, the word that God spoke caused things to be created. He spoke the Word and something came into being. And the Word, John says, was WITH God and WAS God.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (v. 14)

When you put together chapter 1 of Genesis with chapter 1 of John, what we see is that the Word that God spoke (that was WITH God and WAS God) at some point, became flesh. And John, the disciple of Jesus Christ, tells us that another John, the Baptist, bore witness of the Word that became flesh (v. 15-17).

The name of the Word? JESUS

Simply, yet mysteriously, by some means that is way beyond our limited understanding, Jesus is the very word of God that was spoken (in the beginning) by which all things were created, and without whom nothing was created. The Word of God became flesh (through the virgin Mary, conceived of the Holy Spirit of God). Put that together with the fact that it is by the word of God that we are saved, sanctified, and given life everlasting, and these passages are tremendously exciting for us! God is revealing to us that mystery that is G-D.

Let's recap a bit:

Truth #1: Everything that was created was created by the Word of God. [God Himself was not created, as He WAS IN the beginning…already there in other words];

Truth #2: Just as God was there already before creation, so was the Word of God there before creation;

Truth #3: John says "and the Word WAS God"; what WAS GOD still IS GOD, for GOD has no beginning and no end;

Truth #4: The same Word of God (by which everything was created) was made flesh, took on human flesh and human frailties, while at the same time retaining that which was GOD;

Truth #5: The Word is called by the name of Jesus.

Now that we have established the identity of The Word and that He is God, there is more to be added to our knowledge of who God is.

Back to the scene of creation: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2b)

Do you see this? First we have the" Word" of God, now we have the "Spirit" of God. If the Word is one part of God, then the Spirit is another recognizable part of God.

Need more proof? Genesis 1: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…" (US and OUR?) And suddenly, you have God Who is THREE even while He is only ONE. There is God, there is the Word of God, and there is the Spirit of God. Yet the last two are part of the whole which is the first part. This is confirmed over and over again throughout the Bible. And what is also confirmed over and over again is that the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son (The Word) Who Himself glorifies the Father. Three parts of ONE GOD.

Have you seen those multi-level chess boards made out of plexiglass or glass so that you can see through all the levels from top to bottom? The mystery that is God is similar: there are levels that are difficult for our minds to wrap around, and yet God is good enough to allow us to "see" through the layers by revealing some of Himself to us through: THE WORD. Because that is what the Word was intended to do: bring glory to God. Does not the creation itself bring glory to God? It was the Word by which creation was created; that which we stand in awe of; and by which we KNOW that there IS God. What the Word did in the beginning, the Word still does today, and will continue to do….all because the Father wills it to be so. He has willed us, his creations, to KNOW HIM. He has not left us alone and clueless. He is revealing Himself to us through the Word. I know I am sounding redundant, but it is worth repeating. It is a wonderful, awesome gift that God has provided us, that gift which we neglect because we don't understand the power, and the mystery, and the inexpressible value of the Word of God.

Let's look at more of the tri-unity of God:

Isaiah 6:8: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (I and US in the same statement.)

Matthew 3:16-17: "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (At one time and place, evidence of God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: two parts confirming the other part which was the Word in the flesh.)

John 14:26: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my [Jesus} name [because Jesus asked in John 14:16 and God answered in Acts 2]…" (Again the three working in concerted effort together, as One, because they are One. The Word asks the Father, the Father sends the Spirit, the Spirit comforts man.)

Acts 5:3-4: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost….thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." (Peter confirms that the Holy Ghost is God and that Ananias has lied not to man but to God by lying to the Holy Spirit.)

Ephesians 4:4-6: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism; One God and Father of all…." (Paul confirms the unity of Holy Spirit, the Lord [Jesus Christ] and the One God and Father.)

Truth #6: God the Father, Jesus the Son (The Word), and the Holy Spirit are three entities in ONE GOD. Really we must say three PERSONS because all of them, including the Holy Spirit, are not referred to as IT but as HE. Therefore, the ONE TRUE GOD is made up of THREE PERSONS.

Question to those of you who doubt that God raised Jesus from the dead: Do you not now see WHY He WOULD?

The Word of the Father

In Genesis, chapter 1, are the "and God said" statements, most of which are followed shortly thereafter by "and it was so," or some equivalent. In other words, things came into existence when God spoke. The word of God gave life.

I love these statements. I think it is because God's power is so evident in them….and so simply stated. God spoke. Suddenly there was light where there once was darkness. God spoke. Universes were created. God spoke. There was life. All simply created by the power of the word of God; or should that be all simply created by the power of THE WORD of God? Do you see that? Do you understand what kind of power there was in the WORD of God? What power and energy there was that brought things from absolutely nothing into existence? Can we even comprehend that kind of power? Not really.

Often, what men cannot comprehend, men reject. Sometimes men reject God on the basis that He doesn't fit into their limited field of vision and understanding. This is called trusting in our own understanding. What we don't understand, we don't trust. If we DO understand it, we will trust it. But only if it makes sense to US!

And as God falls into the category of what we don't understand, then we don't trust Him. We might not admit that openly, but it will show in our actions and our words.

To me, that is the silliest (and most dangerous) thing anyone could think! Of course, we cannot comprehend God, for we are not God ourselves. Only God could fully comprehend God.

Yet, our God, calls Himself our Father (to those of us who are His children and trust in Him just as a young child does his Dad), and cares about us enough to reveal bits of Himself to us. His Word tells us so much about Him. That's what His Word was meant to do: to reveal God to man, to reveal the Father to the sons. The Word is an amazing gift from a loving Father to His sons. He is not a distant, unreachable Father. We may be children who do not comprehend ALL that our parents comprehend, but we can tell anyone what our parents are like. We know their character. We know whether they are honorable or not. We know what angers them and what makes them happy. Our parents, if normal at all, are not unreachable to us.

How much more reachable is the Father who created us; Who Himself gave us life and breath?

Yet many reject Him. They reject the Father, and they reject the Son whom the Father sent. What tremendous pride is required for man to reject God, or anything of God. The pride of logical thinking, the pride of intelligent minds, pride that sets itself above God, all the while disclaiming that it does. For pride blinds the logical mind from seeing TRUTH.

Am I saying that we have to be illogical to trust in God? No, there is nothing illogical in God, or in trusting God. But the things of God MUST be beyond our limited powers of logic and reasoning or else we ourselves would be God. But we are not God, and yet some won't accept the vast difference between us and God.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)

This is what God tells man through His prophet Isaiah. And just before He spoke those words, He spoke this:

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 55:7-8)

Now, one would think that this would be enough. To hear from God Himself that we are not to lean towards our own understanding for this is only unrighteousness in action; and that we are to turn towards God and His ways instead. Yet, there are those who still reject what makes no sense to them; sadly, even to their death-bed.

Hear the words of Jesus, just prior to His arrest and crucifixion, as He speaks to the Father:

"I have manifested thy name [the name of God the Father] unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world [the 12 disicples]: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me." (John 17:6-8)

Many intelligent people reject Jesus, saying that Jesus detracts from God the Father, and yet, these words, and so many others in the Bible, tell us that Jesus spoke only the words that He heard from His Father: GOD. He came to glorify God, to reveal the Father to men. But men reject ted Him. They rejected His words. They rejected THE WORD OF GOD; and in doing so, they reject God the Father as well.

It is an amazing thing that 12 unlearned men, mostly poor fishermen, men that the world would look down upon as not being educated enough, or intelligent enough, or successful enough….are the ones that God, creator of the universes, giver of life to every living thing on earth, chose to spread HIS WORD around the world. All because they believed what other intelligent men would call foolishness: that Jesus Christ WAS the Messiah, WAS the Son of God, and therefore sent from God Himself, and that the power of God (the same power that created everything by merely speaking THE WORD!) raised Jesus from the dead.

They received THE WORD of the Father. And for that they have received the promise of THE WORD….life everlasting.

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (I Corinthians 1:18)

The Word

Two of the most thought-provoking, mysterious, and, to me, most fascinating words of the entire Bible are these: THE WORD.

The Bible tells us that the power to comprehend the meaning of these two little words comes not from ourselves, but from God. Of course, it could be no other way knowing that the Bible was inspired of God or "God-breathed". And yet, do we even comprehend it? God-breathed-words-of-God being written down by human hands?

We can comprehend, but only if we remember of Whom we speak when we say: GOD.

The Jews understand it enough to know that even writing His name is a fearsome thing for frail man to do for such a mighty God, and so they write His name as such: G-D. I believe we Gentiles could learn from them.

Oh, that's right! We HAVE learned from them! For without all of the God-breathed words that the hands of Jews have written through the ages, we would have no basis for the New Testament. The New Testament is but a fulfilling of the prophecies written of in what we call the Old Testament. Better said is that the Old Covenant is fulfilled by the New Covenant.

Some Jews recognized this immediately the fulfilling of those prophecies about the coming Messiah: they were called the 12 disciples, Jewish followers of Jesus Christ, Himself also born of a Jewish mother....and of God the Father. These 12 Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ helped other Jews recognize the Messiah, and eventually we Gentiles were helped to recognize the Messiah. And all who recognize Him, do so only by the power of God….for He enables those whose hearts recognize, in the most basic of ways, that HE IS GOD, and we are not.

Just as it was the power of God by which Jesus was conceived by a virgin, just as it was the power of God that raised the brutally murdered Christ back to life after three days....it is by that same power of God that we can somewhat begin to comprehend all that is meant by THE WORD, for there is so much there that I think we will have to wait for ALL understanding of it until we are standing in the very presence of the One who is called THE WORD: Jesus Christ. If we CAN stand in His presence, that is.

There are four chapters of the Bible (chapters, mind you, not books) that speak to me so tremendously of THE WORD. They are:

Genesis, chapter 1

John, chapter 1

John, chapter 15

John, chapter 16

I'd like to talk about some details of these chapters in this blog, but it would be much more beneficial if you would read these chapters for yourself first. In hopes that you will, I will hold out til Monday to continue this posting.

On Monday, Lord willing, God will help us all to better know the fullness of the meaning of THE WORD.

Words for Food

"Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." (Psalm 25:4-5)

It would seem that King David, the writer of the passage above, and Mary of Bethany had this in common: the desire to wait on the Lord and to receive from Him all that He would impart to them. Even when Mary's sister, Martha, berated Mary (Luke 10:4) in front of Jesus and the disciples for her lack of "table waiting" in a sense (for Martha wanted Mary's help in preparing and serving the food), still Mary "waited" instead on the words of Jesus: real food for her hungry heart.

Waiting on the Lord is indeed an indication of a hungry heart; something that is to be found in all of those who value "the pearl of great price" (Matthew 13:46) and recognize Him to be Jesus Christ, the Son of God, risen from the dead and currently seated at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are put under His footstool (John 2:22; Matthew 22:44).

It is the hungry heart that draws us to sit at the feet of Jesus, waiting expectantly for the next word, and the word after that, and the word after that; each word only whetting the appetite of the hungry heart for more of Jesus. Each word restoring our souls, imparting spiritual nourishment to hearts that often don't even know what it is they are hungry for.

Just as the physical body can only go so long without food or it will die, so will our spiritual man also weaken and eventually die, if it is not fed; but the food it requires is "bread from heaven". So, what exactly is this food that our spiritual man, the new creation in Christ, needs to survive? The 6^th chapter of the gospel of John tells us.

One day, the "great multitude" followed Jesus and his disciples across the Sea of Galilee questioning how Jesus had come across from Tiberias to Capernaum (on the other side of the sea) without a boat; at least, they hadn't seen him get in the boat with his disciples, so how did He get there exactly?

Jesus responded with this:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. "

Then the crowd said: "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat."

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven: but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world…
I AM THAT BREAD OF LIFE. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

The 12 disciples who were there in the crowd gathered in the synagogue at Capernaum were puzzled by these words. The Jews even more so, for they asked among themselves "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Even for us today, it is only because the Holy Spirit resides within us who call Jesus Christ Lord, that we are able to understand these words. (Remember, the disciples did not yet have the gift of the Holy Spirit, for He did not arrive until Jesus had bodily ascended into heaven.)

Jesus continued with this:

"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth
in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he
that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever."

Is it clear enough yet?

Mary knew.

"…the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63b)

"And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live." (Deut. 8:3)

The "bread from heaven" – that which will give us everlasting life if we will eat it - must be "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."

But there is more, much more….

….as we will see in the next posting.

At the Feet of Jesus

Which biblical woman comes to mind when you picture a woman sitting at the feet of Jesus? Mary of Bethany, of course, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And, after many weeks of blogging that ranged from church history to founding fathers to gifts of the Spirit, I feel the need to just sit at the feet of Jesus for awhile, in the same way that Mary did.

So, for the next several postings, we'll explore this little-known yet famous Mary as a model for us:

1. a model of one who easily recognizes the true worth of our Savior;
   
2. a model of how such a one worships Jesus Christ;
   
3. a model of gifted giving;
   
4. a model of a spiritually hungry heart feasting on every spoken word of our Lord and Savior;
   
5. a model of one who was loved so by the Lord that her tears brought on his own tears;
   
6. a model of one who "has chosen the better part" (Matthew 26:7-13).
   

I'd like to know more about that "better part."

Matthew tell us this about Mary of Bethany:

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when the disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily, I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." (Matthew 26:6-13)

And with that simple act, Mary of Bethany gained lasting fame, for just as Jesus had prophesied, her name would be included in the gospels; the "good news of Jesus Christ" that was (and continues to be) preached in the whole world.

Before we study this action of Mary's a bit further, take a look at what immediately followed her action:

"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." Matthew (26:14-16)

Interestingly, ALL of the disciples were upset at the waste, but even more interestingly, one of them was SO bothered by it, that it drove him to sell out Jesus to his enemies. John tells us that Judas Iscariot was the keeper of the communal purse amongst Jesus and the apostles and that he stole from it for his own use (John 12:6). We can't help but wonder, then, what thoughts went through his head when Mary did this thing that must have been beyond comprehension to one such as he who was obviously "controlled' by his love of money. Was his decision to betray Jesus arrived at as a solution to cease this kind of waste? Did he think he would still have control of the purse if Jesus were removed from the scene altogether? I mean, after all, what was the purse for, except to provide for the needs of Jesus and the twelve men with him? And what did Judas expect would happen to the group once Jesus had been forcibly removed? Did he believe that the group had some sort of existence of its own outside of Jesus? Or was it just that his love of money caused him to so "hate" seeing such a waste, that he was blinded to the thing that he did, and saw only the "rightness" (in his thinking) of stopping the waste?

He obviously saw Mary's actions as a terrible thing that should not have been allowed; a terrible mis-use of money that was not to be tolerated (for the ointment had to have been very expensive to cause such indignation, a fact which John confirms in John 12:3). And by a woman, of all things! For women had no high place in society then; something that the good news of Jesus Christ soon rectified, placing all, whether Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female, onto equal footing with each other in Christ (Galatians 3:23). Perhaps that, also, played a part in the decision of Judas.

And so he sought to remove the One who allowed (and even gave approval to) such travesties. Well, that's my theory, at least.

My KJV Bible, published in 1985, did a modern day exchange rate on those thirty pieces of silver and came up with approximately $3,840.00. Just as that's a lot of money to most of us today, it was a lot of money to Judas back then. But beware the fine print! It was the hidden "fees" that were attached to that thirty pieces of silver that later drove Judas to hang himself!

Today, more than 2,000 years later, it takes very little worship of Jesus Christ to provoke outrage and sometimes even actions of prosecution (aka persecution). That's because the motivating factors are the same today as they were then: to believers, Jesus Christ is priceless - worthy of expensive ointments.

To the unbelieving, he's only worth about $3,840.00.

 

 

Ministries & Manifestations, Part 4

Miracles – otherwise known as "signs and wonders." This manifestation seems to appear most often with missionary activity. In foreign countries where there are many "gods" to deal with, God can graciously provide what is needed to help convince non-believers that He really is THE ONE TRUE GOD. There appears to be three major time frames through the ages, where miracles were necessary: the time of Moses, the time of Elijah, and the time of Jesus and the early church. In all cases, His mighty power was needed to authenticate His purposes and to confirm that He had sent the men He chose to proclaim Him. This does not mean that miracles don't happen in this day and age as well or that none of us can be used in this gift ever. We can be used in this gift. But it will be just as the other manifestations are used, in God's timing and for His specific purposes. But the bible also warns us that false miracles will be done by those who do not want to bring glory to God but to themselves, and we are to be aware of this most certain eventuality. I believe this is already something that we are witnesses to, at times, today and because of which, the Spirit graces us with the much needed manifestation of "discernment" as well.

Prophecy: By now you should have a pretty clear idea of what prophecy is. This manifestation is one in which that same "speaking of God's Word" is given suddenly to one who normally doesn't function in that gift primarily. God is no respecter of persons. He will use whomever He chooses, in whatever gift or manifestation He chooses to use. In this case, it is a manifestation that comes upon one suddenly, as it did with the men Paul laid hands on in Acts 19:6 who began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. In this spontaneity, it is different than the divine enablement of prophecy which is with the one gifted for the remainder of his life, as all the seven "gifts" are irrefutable. (Romans 11:29)

Discernment – The manifestation of the Spirit that the church needs perhaps most of all at these end times is that of discernment. Paul spoke of false teachers entering in the church even while he was still alive. How much more is this gift of discernment needed, and frequently, today? Discernment is being able to determine whether what is being said or done is true or a lie, whether it is divine or demonic, spiritual or carnal. At critical moments, God will supply one in our midst whom He will use to discern in order to protect His Word, and I believe, to protect His church. Perhaps this is what happened with Paul when he called out the spirit of divination from the girl following him and Barnabas while they were in Phillipi (Acts 16:16-18). It is interesting that the Word says Paul "being grieved" turned towards her and spoke to the spirit within her. I think this is part of discernment as well. It is through the Holy Spirit within us that evil is recognized and through the Holy Spirit that we are grieved by it as well.

Tongues – There is no getting around the fact, whether you choose to believe it or not, that tongues is the ability to speak a language that is foreign or undecipherable to the one speaking it. Some argue that it is a divine language, others that is a language that is just foreign to us. In other words, perhaps you are speaking Swahili and just don't know it, as that is not your native tongue. In either case, God is glorified and we are not to "shun" this manifestation any more than we would "shun" any of the other manifestations. God forbid that we do so!

The most misunderstood and abused manifestation of the Spirit in the church today must be tongues, so I will spend a little more time on this subject than I have on the others. The abuse lies in the fact that many within the church have made tongues a "confirming sign" of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. From my studies, I believe this is a biblical error, and a grievous one as it lays a heavy burden on new believers that is unbiblical and unnecessary. Somewhere along the line, "experiences" became more important within the church than the sound doctrine of the Word. This should never have been so. But then again, it should never have been so that the church had become so cold towards God that the "fire" had to be re-ignited in it from time to time, known as "revival." I am not talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is biblical and necessary to us all, and should happen soon after our conversion to Christ. I am talking about those special ignitings of fire that must be brought about by the Holy Spirit because we have grown cold towards God; one of which was Azusa Street in the early 1900's after which tongues became, sadly, a "popular" manifestation. Revivals are a re-lighting of the passion of the church by the Holy Spirit, with the intention, as is always the case with the Holy Spirit, of glorifying Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Problems comes about when spiritually immature Christians, such as the Corinthians were, begin to place more emphasis on the manifestations of the Spirit, or in this case, ONE manifestation of the Spirit – tongues – rather than on ALL gifts and ALL manifestations of the Spirit, and that those who do this tend to neglect the Word, which is Who this is all about anyway. Tongues is given even more emphasis in the body, by the spiritually immature, than the seven gifts of the Spirit (the divine enablements we have studied) the most important of which, to Paul's thinking, is prophecy: speaking forth the Word of God so that many may be encouraged and comforted by the sound doctrine of the Word (1 Cor. 14:1-3).

In addition, the same people who insist that tongues is a manifestation of the Spirit that MUST appear if one has been truly baptized in the Holy Spirit, seem to disregard the scripture in which Paul lays hands on twelve men who immediately are filled with the spirit and begin to speak not only in tongues, but to also prophesy. Why is not prophesying therefore a "confirming sign" as well? The truth is, neither should be a confirming sign. The Spirit will use whom He chooses to use in whatever manifestation He chooses to reveal the power of God through.

To my understanding, there is a very distinct difference between the long-term divine enablement "in us" of the first seven "gifts" that we began this study with, and the spontaneous action or "manifestation" of the Spirit "through us" that tongues is, along with all the other manifestations that make up Paul's list of nine in 1 Corinthian 12:7-10. I think it is important that we view it in this way, so that we will not over-empasize one that is at the occasional and spontaneous bidding of the Holy Spirit, to the neglect of the other that is placed within us specifically for service to the Lord and is to be used primarily and most often.

Additionally, there is the scripture in which Paul says that "if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful." (1 Cor. 14:14) This seems to indicate that tongues is a prayer as well as a speaking-out manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Paul mentions speaking with "the tongues of men and of angels" (1 Cor. 13:1), thereby causing us to believe that there is a "heavenly" language; perhaps this is when it is a prayer.

Paul also goes on to say that in a gathering of believers and non-believers, it is important that this manifestation of tongues be followed by one who can "interpret" the tongues that are spoken (1 Cor.14:27). He tells the Corinthians: "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret" - to desire the ability to interpret themselves, as well as desiring the tongues. Perhaps this is the "speaking out" side of it, rather than the "prayer" side of it. But then he adds: "if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (1 Cor. 14:28) which takes it from being a "speaking out" language back to a subdued or even internal "prayer" language.

But what was it that happened on the Day of Pentecost? Foreigners heard the disciples speaking in a language that was foreign to the disciples but not foreign to the ones listening because "every man heard them speak in his own language" (Acts 2:6). No interpreter was needed. So, is it a spontaneous speaking manifestation, or a prayer language? Or can it be both? While I tend to think that it is both, there is much debate about this particular manifestation within the church. It is important, however, to know that our lack of complete comprehension of this manifestation does not by any means discredit the manifestation, for it is of God, not of us, therefore NOT something we should be able to comprehend completely. What we can be sure of is that this manifestation is a "sign to unbelievers" of the glory of God. (1 Cor. 14:22). [Tongues is mentioned only in Acts and in 1 Corinthians 12-14, so if you wish to study it further, there are only a few chapters that you will need to focus on to do so.]

Interpretation of Tongues - As described above, and by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28, when the manifestation of tongues is used in a gathering where there are believers and unbelievers both, there should also be an interpreter of those tongues. In other words, there will be someone in the church who is given sudden understanding of those tongues, and can then speak it out in the language that is native to him and also to those gathered there, so that all will receive the blessing of God through His message, especially unbelievers. Often the one who spoke the tongues is also the one who interprets, but not always. I have seen less and less manifestation of this gift within the church. I believe this is due to a combination of lack of understanding of the nature of the manifestation as well as to a lack of courage to speak out in church (also due to a modern day biblical error, as in the early church all were free to speak out – with the exception of the women of the church of Corinth who were doing things that were highly irregular and out of order - results of the pagan culture they were surrounded by in which women were given dominance over men - and so they had to be stopped from speaking out in the church.)

When our churches decide to function less according to traditions of men, and more according to the traditions of the Word of God, there will be more freedom within the church, and it will all be organized by God Himself.

Ministries & Manifestations, Part 3

"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;
to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit;
to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit;
to another the working of miracles;
to another prophecy;
to another discerning of spirits;
to another diverse kinds of tongues;
to another the interpretation of tongues." (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

These manifestations of the Spirit (meaning "made readily clear or evident to the eye or understanding") are just that: something the Spirit does in a way that you, and everyone else around you, KNOWS it was a manifestation of GOD! It isn't, therefore, an enablement as much as it is an instantaneous evidence or display of the Holy Spirit given for that moment in time. Now, it might happen to you more than once, or even often, but it is the Holy Spirit working directly through us, rather than enabling us. It's sort of like the difference between playing in a baseball game, or being a bystander who happens to catch a ball that suddenly comes out of the field into the stands right where they are sitting. Sometimes we catch a ball that we didn't even know was heading our way, because the Holy Spirit didn't necessarily let us in on His plans until the last second. It's not about faith or lack of faith; it's just about His timing and His purposes towards each of us.

Word of Wisdom – Have you ever had someone come up to you with a need, perhaps distraught at something happening in their lives at that moment, and you suddenly have THE scripture or the biblical answer to the problem? It is so right on that the person you are talking to sees something immediately that they never saw before. They have had a word of wisdom change their life. And afterwards, you stand there wondering "Where did I pull that from?" You didn't. The Holy Spirit did and He did it through you. Many folks know scripture, but the gift of wisdom is applying that scripture in a specific way that changes someone's thinking instantly and therefore changes their life. In James 1:5 we are asked to pray for wisdom, but this gift is a special wisdom meant for a specific moment and a specific purpose. The wisdom Solomon had with the two women who were both claiming to be the mother of the same infant (1 Kings 3:16-28) is an example of the wisdom of God on display, even though Solomon's time was long before the promise of the Spirit was given to believers, still God blessed him "full-time" with the same wisdom that works in us through this gift. "And all Israel…saw that the wisdom of God was in him…" God displaying Himself to man His own glory.

Word of Knowledge – Peter was given a word of knowledge regarding Ananias and Sapphira when they lied about the sale price of their lands (Acts 5:1-11). A word of knowledge is when you suddenly know something that you would have no way to know other than God just revealed it to you through this gift. I have experienced this one time in my life when the Lord revealed instantaneously to me directly into my thought processes, not through any other person, knowledge about a tragic event in my family; and I thank Him that along with it came that supernatural peace I was going to need to help get me and my family through it. I've never experienced it before nor since; it was just what God wanted me to know at that moment, for His purposes towards us. Just as it says, the word of knowledge is when you suddenly "know" facts about a person or a situation that you have no way of knowing other than through God. There were a few times when Jesus or the disciples are said to have "perceived" something, which means "to know." Because of the situations in which this word is used, I suspect that is a Word of Knowledge in action. Jesus "perceived" the thoughts of the Scribes and Pharisees in Luke 5:22. When Paul "perceived" that he was speaking to a group that was part Pharisees and part Saducees, he was able to use that knowledge to his immediate advantage (Acts 23:6).

Faith – I feel a George Muller moment coming on. I have read his diaries. He struggled with faith just like you and I do. Yet, at really critical moments (critical to him and a thousand orphans – that's pretty critical!) he had faith that sustained them all; faith that God responded to, even though it was the eleventh hour. This gift of faith believes that something will be accomplished in spite of the circumstances. And the circumstance are monumentally enormous! But they don't waver for a moment! That's the gift of faith that comes suddenly and results in extraordinary events. The next day, however, with something small, faith might become an issue again. That's because in that instance, you have not been gifted with Faith. This gift is a special manifestation given for a special purpose that leaves you wondering where that particular strength of faith came from.... and then you realize…. it was just God being God!

Healing –After Pentecost, the disciples were given such gifts that people were healed even by Peter's shadow falling on them (Acts 5:15) or by touching Paul's handkerchief (Acts 19:11-12). That's different than this gift. Those healings were meant to be "signs and wonders" that authenticated and verified that Peter, Paul and the disciples were sent by God to an unbelieving world that had never heard the Good News before. But that doesn't mean God doesn't heal today. He still does. And in foreign countries that have been devoid of Christianity for centuries, missionaries report "signs and wonders" happening still at times. But you, yourself, might not necessarily have folks lining up for you to lay hands on them. This gift of healing is a special display of the Spirit that God chooses to do (through us) in response to what he is doing in other folks' lives. And that is what causes this to happen sometimes, but not all times. It's God's choice. He can manifest Himself through our weaknesses as well, so sometimes, no matter how great our faith, He chooses not to heal someone….just then. I have experienced this only one time to my knowledge; but believe me, when you experience this gift, you will have no doubt about what just happened. I had just left my daughter's house and was on my way out of town to where I live, and the Lord just told me as clear as day to turn around and go back 15 miles and lay hands on her and pray for her healing. I had left her in terrible pain from a neck issue of some sort. There were terrible spasms. I had gone to help her however I could, but I had not actually prayed for her. But I did as God instructed, turned back to her house, went in and told her what God had told me to do, and then I layed hands on her and prayed. And in an instant she KNEW she had been healed as the spasms were gone and she began jumping up and down with absolute glee, praising the Lord! And after my momentary shock, so was I! Neither of us had ever experienced such a display of the working of the Holy Spirit, at least not since that time of the Word of Knowledge I told you about earlier. Since then I've prayed for others for their healing; but I've not seen a manifestation like that since. God's timing and God's purposes.

Tomorrow we'll pick up with Miracles.

Ministries & Manifestations, Part 2

Judging by his paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as well as by his sculpting of The Pieta, I would have to say that Michelangelo was utilizing a gift of prophecy; for certainly, the things of God were proclaimed therein.

And, with that intro, I hope you will try to set aside, for just a moment, the more traditional ministries with which we have seen the "gifts" utilized in the church through the past centuries, and begin to see ministry as just any available outlet that God grants to each of us individually, with which to reveal more of Himself, and of Jesus Christ, to others. Maybe then we will be more apt to be "led" of God, rather than "driven" by the particular gifts or by tradition.

So, with this in mind and focusing on women foremost, see if you can determine what ministry opportunities and gifts could be utilized in the following non-traditional type ministry activities (I'll give you the first one and I'll give you an extra clue - each item has more than one answer):

-Babysitting (serving – perhaps the parents can listen to the teachings or sermons without distraction, thereby growing spiritually because you chose to babysit their children during church or perhaps, you are babysitting to allow them to utilize their gifts in service at a soup kitchen; mercy – especially if you are -babysitting for a single mom perhaps as she goes off to work, knowing that her children are in good Christian hands; pastoring/teaching - depending on the age of the children and your continued involvement with them, you can be used to help develop them spiritually.)

-Writing;

-Helping a child with homework;

-Music;

-Cooking;

-Housekeeping;

-Sewing;

-Visiting a neighbor;

-Blogging (my personal favorite!)

Do you see how God can use your gifts in even non-traditional areas of ministry? Once you have grasped that, then it is easy to step into the ministry that the Lord is calling you to, whether it be traditional OR non-traditional. (There is nothing wrong with traditional ministries as long as they are "biblical" as well as traditional.)

For a list of the traditional ministries for women in the church, it's best to check with your church. If you think you have a gift in a certain area, but still aren't sure, there's nothing wrong with giving a short-term commitment to a ministry, to confirm the matter. Especially if that ministry has others involved in it from whom you can learn how best to exercise your gift. Just make sure your church is OK with giving short-term commitments, say of three months or so. Let them know that at the end of three months, you will want to evaluate and then make a decision whether to stay in that ministry or leave it, and that you will want to be free to do that when the time comes. Surely they will agree to that. It's better than not committing at all just because of uncertainty.

Do you also see how you can be used in more gifts than one? This doesn't take away from a primary gifting in which you might devote most of your time, but even then, we have to be careful to not let the activity of that primary gifting keep us from heeding God's call to minister in other areas momentarily.

Paul is an excellent example of one who was used in many gifts:

-preacher (herald or proclaimer of the divine word, God's ambassador), apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles (1 Timothy 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:11);

-performed miracles and healings (Acts 19:11-12);

-was a prophet and evangelist (Eph 3:1-13);and spoke in tongues (1 Cor. 14:18).

He was a non-stop traveling missionary evangelist (one or two-years at most in any one place) who would, I think, agree with another missionary, C.T. Studd, who wrote a poem that clearly describes the mind-set of most missionaries or evangelists:

"Some want to live within the sound

of church or chapel bell.

I want to run a rescue ship

within a yard of hell."

Tomorrow, we'll look at how God "reveals" Himself through us to one another and to non-believers as well.

Ministries & Manifestations, Part 1

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God that worketh all in all.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

Diversities (Greek diairesis: distribution, division);
gifts (Greek charisma: divine grace, favour with which one receives without any merit of his own);
administrations (Greek diakonia: service, ministering);
operations (Greek energema: thing wrought, working );
worketh (Greek energeo: put forth power, to aid one or enable one);
manifestation ( Greek phanerosis: manifestation, synonymous with unveiling or laying bare, in this case, "seeing" that which is of God);
given (Greek didomi: given, furnished, bestowed upon);
profit withal (Greek symphero: to bear or bring together).

In other words:

The graces (gifts) which we have received by the Holy Spirit through no merit of our own have been distributed or divided up amongst the members of the church.

These gifts are administered to the body through various ministries or services for the purpose of serving our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Head of the body that we serve.

These operations or "workings" of these ministries (the results or "things wrought" from the gifts being administered through the ministries) come not from the power of man but from the power of God, and taking various forms, are the unveiling or revealing of God to man and are furnished to every man (or woman) in Christ in order to bring the members of the body of Christ together in unity.

Apostles [Greek apostolos: messenger, delegate, one sent forth with orders] Paul refers to himself, Timothy and Silvanus as "the apostles of Christ" in 1 Thessalonians 2:6. This scripture alone should be enough to let us know that this is not speaking of an office, but of a ministry, for neither Timothy nor Silvanus were given their orders directly by Jesus Christ as both Paul and the twelve were. Paul, therefore, must be referring to the ministry of apostles, or of those who have been delegated to establish a new work that aids the church, whether the apostles in this modern day and age are men or women. (More on this later.)

[JAS Note: I think confusion comes into the church because we try to assign "offices" to these gifts of ministry, rather than just keeping them as ministries. Scotland's Presbyterian pastor, Edward Irving, who first came up with the "five-fold ministry" teaching in 1824, probably had no idea what trouble would be stirred up in the church as a result of that teaching which has carried on into this modern day and age. It has done much to encourage the clergy/laity divide that I, in my perhaps limited understanding, find to be unbiblical. But until that debate is finally settled once and for all, I think we would do best by taking Paul's words in Ephesians 4:11 as just a continuation of the gifts.]

Prophets [Greek prophetes: speaks forth] The daughters of Philip prophesied (Acts 281:8-9). Judas and Silas were called "prophets" (Acts 16:32). The meaning of the word "prophet" used in the OT is the same for the word "prophet" used in the NT. As a ministry, this would be any activity in which the Word of God (Jesus Christ) is proclaimed and, as evidenced by Philip's daughters, is not limited to men, but includes women also. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul states that women can both pray and prophesy when the church comes together.

Evangelists [Greek euaggelistes: messenger of good] Philip was called "the evangelist" (Acts 21:8). As he traveled from city to city, he preached, spreading the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:40). The evangelist will be where the lost are, bringing them into the local church to be discipled. He or she will not leave them stranded on a street corner.

Pastors [Greek poimen: herdsmen or shepherds] and Teachers [Greek didaskolos: a teacher, one who teaches the things of God] Many scholars believe this to be a dual gift or dual ministry. I believe that is because those with this ministry gift must teach others the things of God and man's responsibilities toward God as a part of discipling, nurturing and protecting the sheep. Men and women both are called to pastor and teach others within the body; only women will not pastor/teach men.

This is just a briefing on these ministry gifts. We will discuss in more detail tomorrow while looking at the practical application of these ministries.

Recognizing the Call

Christians are called by many names: believers, the elect, disciples of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. And we are called "the church" which means "called out."

First we are "called out" from the world unto salvation, and made a special people unto God.

Then through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are called to bond with and edify the body of Christ (His body being all of us who are the "called out" ones with Jesus as the Head.)

Then we are given callings which are better known as "ministries" or "serving the Lord".

Finally, one day in the future, we will be called home to be with the Lord.

Thus our life is about being called. What is important to this study of Spiritual Gifts, is that we learn how to be attentive to and able to recognize the voice that is calling us, so that the purposes of God can be accomplished in us who have been given salvation, gifts, ministries, and life everlasting. Just as sheep "hear" and "recognize" the sound of their shepherd, so we are to "hear" and "recognize" the voice of the Lord as He speaks to us through His Holy Spirit. In this way, we are to be led by the Lord in everything that we do.

I mention this just before we move on to the ministries, because we must see that even though the entire body of Christ, and we individually, receive blessings from the gifts we have been given by God, still we are not to be led by our gifts, or by our ministries, but by the Spirit of God. Let me give an example of being led by gifts versus being led by the Spirit of God.

The fledgling church at Corinth struggled with carnality versus spirituality (Read 1 Corinthians), leading Paul to resolve several issues in the church concerning: division between the brethren, immorality, marriage and divorce, the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, Christian liberty, the Lord's Supper, and finally their selfish use of spiritual gifts. The Corinthians were getting rather puffed up about their gifts (thus the reminder in 13:4); placing too much emphasis on certain gifts above others (12:12-31) and using the gifts just to be seen and heard (14:26), rather than at the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit. (Did you even realize that the gifts could be used selfishly versus spiritually? Perhaps that is what lies behind the passage in Matthew 7:21-23.)

I recently read a book that defines the term "charismata" (gifts) not as supernatural enablements, but as supernatural "graces". Supernatural grace is very difficult to be "owned" individually as it flows forth from God to us, and so we cannot even begin to get out of line and take credit for it or boast about it; God alone can take the credit and the glory for those graces. Thus, perhaps we should remember that these gifts are "grace" provided by God to us who are frail, so that we will not become "puffed up" as the Corinthians were.

So now let's get back to the "voice" of our Shepherd. No matter who I have talked to, those who are used by the Holy Spirit in their spiritual gifts, speak of a "compelling" that occurs. This "compelling" is the "call" of the Holy Spirit to move us into action using whatever gift in us He desires to use at that moment. Paul says the Lord doesn't always use our spiritual gifts, sometimes He uses our human weakness, using the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,a nd the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor.1:27-28). In either case, there is no cause for boasting except in Christ (1 Cor.1:29-31 and 1 Cor. 3:21-23)., as God is doing the work and God is glorified.

When we become aware of that "compelling", we are simply to do as we are being "compelled" to do. The more we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the more sensitive we become to His call.

Now, in case you are wondering how you can know that it is the Holy Spirit compelling you and not yourself, there are some ways to confirm that it is the Holy Spirit. The first and most important is that He would never compel you to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. For example, if you feel a strong compelling to retaliate against someone who has done you wrong, I would check again, for that it is not the Holy Spirit, but your flesh, whose voice you hear.

The second thing is to confirm that whatever is spoken or whatever action is taken edifies (or builds up rather than tears down) the members of the body of Christ.

And, finally, when you have confirmed the two things above, and yet you find that you are hesitant to perform the action, or hesitant to begin the ministry, that too is a sign that it is the Holy Spirit, and not yourself. The flesh cowers in fear, but the Spirit will move us beyond our fears if we will allow Him to.

Let's take Peter and John, for example. In Acts, chapter 2, they and the remainder of the 120 disciples gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began proclaiming the gospel boldly to the crowds. They even miraculously healed the man who was lame from birth. The Sanhedrin pulled them aside and warned them to cease; to which the disciples replied in Acts 4:19-20 "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." In other words, they were "compelled" to speak, they could not resist that compulsion, even though they knew they would be arrested if they continued. Now, right about there the flesh was saying, "NO! I don't like jail! The floors are hard and cold! The food is atrocious! NO! Don't do it!" Yet, they did it anyway. And they do it because the compelling, as will happen with compellings, becomes more compelling as the minutes or days pass, until finally, it breaks past our fears and is accomplished in us.

Fortunately, the more we practice responding appropriately to His call, the less the compelling is needed, as we become more pliable and receptive to whatever the Holy Spirit would have us do. And even willing and eager to do so. Soon, we will know our Shepherd's voice, and hear it, even though it is small and still (I Kings 19:12).

And even if our "delivery" of the gift or ministry is, at first, rough and uneven, again, with practice, if we do not give way to self-condemnation (which is sin), it will become smooth and flowing with the" grace" of God in time.

Meanwhile, the Lord will see to it that those needing the ministry of the gifts, will receive the blessings regardless of our unskilled "delivery".

The important thing is that, as the "called out" ones, we heed the call.

An Artful Deflection

This posting is another of those interruptions that come along from time to time; where I just have to get something off my mind and onto this blog. This particular something has been bothering me for several weeks, ever since the posting I wrote about the founding fathers in answer to a question about them. But before I get into that I want to tell you a little secret about me: I LOVE TO DRIVE.

And while I drive, especially when I am alone, I listen to talk radio….all of it on a Christian station. I love to hear Christian teachers speak about the things of God. I'd rather talk about God or His Word more than anything else, which makes me a rather dull conversationalist when I'm around people who don't want to talk only about God or His Word as I don't do well at small talk.

All of which brings us, finally, back to the subject of this posting, which is about the things that deflect away from God.

The seeker-sensitive churches are an example of this type of deflection, for the thing that Jesus said the church was to be about was "making disciples of all nations". Disciples are unbelievers who have repented of their unbelief, and now believe in and trust completely in God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ, His Son, who died for them. But repentance is not taught in seeker-sensitive churches. Look for the word repentance in their teachings. You will seldom, if ever, find it. What you will find is a lot of "positive" speaking, and reminding men of their sin and of their need for repentance just doesn't fit in with the "positive" crowd. You will find a lot of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" talk. You will find a lot of "the power of your mind" talk, or the "power of you" talk, but you won't hear much about repentance from sin or the power of God. There is a reason for this. No one can come to a saving knowledge of Christ without repentance. But seeker-sensitive churches "birth" a different breed of "Christians"…."Christians" born by the power of man, rather than by the power of God.

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:1-5) These "Christians" will look like Christians and will act morally like Christians, having a "form of godliness." But the big distinguishing factor is that they will "deny the power of God," replacing God's power with that of their own, because after all, they love themselves (and comfort and pleasure) more than they love God.

You see, the Good News that the churches should be preaching is that Jesus Christ is the Messiah (the Anointed One of Luke 4:18), the son of God (Matthew 17:5), conceived of God (Luke 1:30-33) and therefore God in the flesh (John 1:1-14), who Himself became the ultimate sacrifice for sin before a Holy God (John 3:16), who took the place of each of us who deserved the wages of sin which is death (Romans 6:23), and suffered that penalty on the cross for us (Luke 22:19). That Jesus Christ, died (Mark 15:33-39), and was buried in the tomb (Mark 15:42-46), but miraculously and by the power of God alone (Luke 24:6-7), was bodily resurrected from the dead (Luke 24:36-43) and is alive still today, seated at the right hand of the Almighty God (Ephesians 1:20), the One True God (whose name is not Allah). Jesus is the first fruits (1 Cor. 15:20) of all of us who will one day also be physically resurrected from the dead (1 Thess. 4:17) and who are meanwhile, "born-again" (John 3:3), spiritually resurrected with Jesus Christ (Romans 6:5), our Lord and Savior, by the power of God through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11), BECAUSE we have recognized that we are sinners (I John 1:8), and in need of a Savior (Romans 7:24), and that the Savior is Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25), and we have fallen on our knees before God (Romans 14:11) in fear (Hebrews 4:1)and trembling (Eph 6:5) and have repented of our sin of unbelief, and asked for His forgiveness (I John 1:9), received His forgiveness by faith through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1), are saved (Acts 2:21) and now are living witnesses of the power of GOD within our own lives that have been transformed (Romans 12:2), and are STILL being transformed, not by the power or will of man and positive thinking, BUT BY GOD!

And ANYTHING that deflects us away from that truth is a ploy of Satan, the artful deflector of truth…and his goal is death to us all: keeping us all spiritually dead (not born-again, but unbelieving and ungrateful, proud and arrogant as Satan himself is) so that we will join him (Satan) in the "second death" (Rev. 20:13-15).

But this deflection from truth is not just in seeker-sensitive churches. It is in the world at large; the world that the Word says is temporarily in the hands of Satan.

The ploy of Satan in recent years has been "political-correctness". This is where we substitute the name of God with "a higher power", this is where we don't even speak the name of Jesus Christ without being labeled a "fanatic". This is where preachers and other Christians can be jailed for speaking the Truth of the Word. But as the church has gotten somewhat wise to this tactic, "political-correctness" has had to evolve to remain an effective deflection away from God. And so the new tactic, being used only here in America, a nation under attack from more things than just terrorists, is "Constitutionalism". I just did a posting on the founding fathers recently, and it grieves me to say this, but it must be said.

America has not heeded the words of Godly preachers and teachers who have called for "repentance". And so, the Godly preachers and teachers are being reduced in number, as new preachers and teachers are now approaching the situation from a different angle: patriotism and constitutionalism - such as the founding fathers had. After all, they are the ones who founded this great country, and this country was founded on God. They created the Constitution, an amazing tool of government, based on biblical precepts. Indeed, the Constitution is a great tool and basis of government. Yes, the founding fathers did their best, as many of us do today, to serve God in all that they did, and they did some of those things far better than we Christians do today. And yes, America became a great country because it was founded on the precepts of God and for so many other reasons, all having to do with God. All of this is true.

But evil deflection takes truth itself and uses it for its own purposes.

So that now, on my Christian talk radio, I hear more about "constitutionalism" and more about the "founding fathers", than I do about repentance. Christians are spending much more time crying "unconstitutional", when they should be crying "repent and be saved." There was even a newspaper article this week in which the author of the article stated that his only bible was the Constitution. I think the Constitution has become the politically-correct Bible of our times. The Constitution has a little of God in it, but not too much, making it politically correct even though those who have nothing of God in them are doing their best to take even that bit of God out of our country. It isn't that there is anything wrong with the Constitution. It isn't that we should disregard the Constitution. But do you see the deflection? Do you see the detour signs, taking us off the main road of Christian discipleship, and onto side roads of democracy, founding fathers, constitutionalism – all "good" things that appear to be leading in the right direction, but really are not, because the only right road, for our country and for us as individuals, is the one that leads to Jesus Christ?

America is a great country founded on God. But the fact is that America today is being manipulated by artful deflection to turn her back on God. America is looking to the Constitution and the founding fathers for its safety and shelter, rather than looking to God alone (Prov. 21:31). It is a very subtle deflection. Made more subtle by the fact that the things being used to deflect from God are based on Godly precepts. But they are not God. And, America, especially the Christians of America, must be careful to see these things for what they are: documents of government made by Godly men based on the WISDOM of scripture, BUT NOT SCRIPTURE, NOT GOD AND NOT HIS WORD. There is no politically correct substitute for God and His Word and never will be. And fear of prosecution in this country has re-routed the Gospel of the Good News into just a different politically-correct approach and attempt to bring God back into America. But it won't work. It is not intended to work. It is just another artful deflection of the Truth…the Truth that so desperately needs to be heard. Jesus Christ is the Truth of God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14: 6)

I am thankful that God has placed lawyers and politicians in this country who fight for our rights; but Christians have a primary task that lies before them: and that is to teach men to become disciples of Jesus Christ, including the lawyers and politicians that are fighting for our rights based on the Constitution. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15-16). If we Christians will spend more time doing that, standing up and speaking the truth of the Word of God, we might see more in this country become Christ-like, and change in our country will come as more and more people are changed by the power of God, until one day maybe we won't even need a governing document like the Constitution, because the courts will be using the Word of God itself! But if we Christians will not do it, but will instead keep to political correctness, then Jesus Himself will take care of the matter when He returns. He WILL establish His kingdom on this earth, and is preparing it even now with that remnant who are not afraid of being politically IN-correct.

Let's not get on the political or constitutional band-wagons; let's get on the "Jesus Christ is Lord" band-wagon. It's the band-wagon that is traveling down the road we have been commissioned to drive on.

Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), and will allow no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3): not the god of nationalism, not the god of constitutionalism, not the god of patriotism, not even the god of creationism. And all of these good things become evil gods when they begin to deflect from "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38-39).

 

The Gift of Leadership

We come now to the last remaining gift of the Spirit: LEADERSHIP.

Leadership is the divine enablement to:

1. understand what needs to be done and how best to do it;
   
2. clearly define what the goal or target is, so that others can comprehend it as well;
   
3. motivate people who are best suited to accomplish that goal;
   
4. coordinate it all the way to completion for the edification of the church and the glory of the Lord.
   

And at the end of the day, no matter how difficult it has been to reach the goal, the people still love the one with the gift of leadership; unlike what happens with people who attempt to lead WITHOUT the gifting.

That last is an important clue to understanding whether or not you have been "gifted" with leadership.

And it is important to be able to differentiate between "natural" leadership ability and "spiritual" leadership ability. The difference, of course, being that a "natural" leader tends to lead others along the course he has plotted, whereas one who is gifted in spiritual leadership, will lead others along the course that the Lord has plotted, as he himself is first led by the Lord

Gifted leaders have the ability to give vision and direction. They can mobilize others to follow them as they stand in front, leading. They know how to delegate. They want to take charge. They enjoy the responsibility, no matter how heavy the task might seem to the rest of us, it does not appear to be burdensome to them. They are not fearful about failing, they just want that opportunity to give it their best shot, because they believe they can get the thing done that most needs to be done. When nothing is happening at all, that is their cue to get up and get into action. They have a vision. And they will see strengths in others that the others might not even have known they had; strengths that can then be utilized in getting the job done and the goal reached.

I am going to attempt to give an example by using a quarterback; I say "attempt" because I probably know less about football than anyone else out there. But my daughter just recently explained to me some of the positions on a football team, and this morning the Lord brought our discussion back to my memory and showed me how it applies here. I think He probably wants me to use it. So here goes.

My daughter, explaining to me what the role of a quarterback is, said that one of the most important qualities of a quarterback is having "field vision". This is the ability to "see" everyone on the field and instantly know who is in the best position to receive the ball that he is about to throw or pass to them. This is what makes good quarterbacks such an important part of a football game (but then y'all probably knew that already!) Now, if the quarterback is a really short guy in the midst of really tall guys, he's gonna have a problem being able to "see" at all; but even if he is as tall or taller than the others, where he can actually "see" the field, he still must be a quick thinker, because the decision about whom to pass the ball to has to be made instantaneously or he will be caught (tackled) with the ball still in his hands and no gain made in terms of moving the ball closer to the goal.

But the team does not consist of only quarterback and receiver. There needs to be many other offensive and defensive positions as well, in order to get the ball both quickly and efficiently to the goal, even though everyone does not have the ball in their own hands, for there is after all, only one ball. In my rather feeble way, I am trying to say that just as the quarterback is important, so is the team that rallies around the actions of the quarterback. The quarterback will utilize the strengths of everyone on the team and the goals will be reached because he has made good choices. But if the quarterback is a proud and arrogant one-man show, trying to do it all by himself, or just not gifted at all as a leader, there is less chance that the ball will make it to the end zone, and more chance that the team will lose the game. And you will find that this particular quarterback is not loved by one and all. He was given a position to which he is not best suited. He is not a leader: he does not have vision, he does not know how to delegate, and his attitude does not motivate others to follow him to the goal. They would just as soon see him fall flat on his face and get it over with, so that the coach will bring in a better quarterback. The sooner the better!

Just as you can have an ill-fitted quarterback, so also can we in the church have ill-fitted leaders. But God knows who His leaders are, for He has gifted them to be so. And the church will recognize them as leaders. This is how elders are chosen. Elders will have the primary gift of leadership, and they will have the secondary gift of teaching as well, according to the bible.

Who were some biblical examples? And what was it they did for the people of God because of their God-enabled leadership skills?

Well, there's Moses. And even though this was before the "church" age, still Moses is a good example of a man being used by God in the area of leadership. And who out there wants a job like Moses had? I don't! But then I'm not gifted in leadership either! Even Moses himself tried to persuade the Lord to choose someone else. But the Lord "gifted" Moses with leadership. It's true that occasionally the burden seemed greater than Moses could bear; but those moments were few and far between compared to the total number of years they were in the desert. And even in those moments, Moses knew to turn to God for help. And God did help, every time. Perhaps it was this dependence upon God, rather than upon himself, that caused God to choose Moses as the leader of the Israelites in the first place. Certainly leaders of the church today should be examples to us of how to depend on God. And even though Moses, like David after him, sinned and was kept from entering the Promised Land (or in David's case, kept from building the Temple), still he led the people of God toward the goal. And they loved him. They had to go on without him, but go on they did.

Miriam, the sister of Moses, had leadership abilities even though her primary gift must have been prophecy, since she was first and foremost known as "the prophetess". In Exodus 15:20-21, she led the women into worship of the Lord with timbrels (a type of tambourine) and dancing. Through this exercise of leadership, Miriam glorified God and edified the Israelites by encouraging or exhorting them to worship the Lord with thanksgivng for all that He had done for them. Miriam was the first Jewish worship leader, you might say.

But how about in the church, since we are talking about gifts that are intended to edify the church?

Well, I'd say all twelve disciples had the "gift" of leadership, which by the way took the ministry form of "apostleship" among other things (which we will look at later). We see them selecting men to act as deacons in Acts 6, in order to deal with an issue that had arisen (we discussed that in the last posting.) They saw the need, they delegated the tasks to motivated people with strengths suited to the need, and the need was met, while they (the twelve) went on doing what they were gifted to do: lead.

James, the brother of Jesus, proved his gifted leadership during a meeting of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Acts 15), at which time James stood up and clarified what the ruling should be concerning whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised or at all bound to the law of Moses. Prior to this there had been much debate, after which Peter gave testimony concerning the problem, as did Paul and Barnabas who chiefly labored among the Gentiles; but when James stood up and pronounced what he thought should be done, all agreed, and it was done. James was obviously a leader in the church at Jerusalem, a spiritually-gifted leader. He had vision and could make the decisions needed. Immediately, the letters went out to the Gentiles telling them of the decision of the council at Jerusalem, which gave them cause to rejoice (Acts 15:31).

Paul, obviously had the primary "gift" of leadership, which was evidenced in his "ministry" of apostleship. He leads us on even today by his writings that the Lord has mercifully preserved for our edification and for His glory; his writings being the result of his secondary gift of teaching. But he was an apostle first and foremost, evidenced by all of his missionary travel, without which the church would not have expanded to the Gentiles as quickly as it did.

If you see things within the local body of Christ that you belong to, that need to be done and aren't being done, and you are unafraid of taking the risks, eager to get things organized and going, knowing there are folks around you who have strengths that are not being utilized and you know just how to do that because the Lord has plotted the course for you….if you recognize these traits in you, then you probably have the spiritual gift of leadership. Don't be put off by the fact that you are a woman and I haven't provided female counterparts to the twelve disciples and Paul. The Lord has areas within His church that are perfectly suited to women leaders as well (they just won't be in areas where women teach over men, as is biblically commanded) and if He has gifted you with leadership, He will also show you the specific ministry designed for your specific gift.

So, if you look back at the seven gifts we've covered here (prophecy, teaching, exhortation, mercy, giving, serving, leadership) which one resonates the most with you? Remember, we all will minister at times in all the gifts, and so you will see signs of other giftings as well. But the objective here is to find the one you will function in primarily; the one you have been best fitted to spend the largest amount of time doing within the body of Christ (your local church). Once you have recognized your primary gift, the next step is to understand its application, better known as "ministry".

We will go next to a better understanding of how "ministries" tie into the gifts, and from there we will see how "manifestations of the Spirit" tie into "ministries." I do hope you will try to see this study through to the end; otherwise, you will not have the complete picture. The completed picture that I would like to bring us all to see is the one of a Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-led church where we all know what our gifts are, how to minister those gifts to and for the edification of the body of Christ, and how to draw others to the Lord by the "manifestations of the Spirit" that He will display through us all, as we faithfully follow the truth of the Word of God.

The Gift of Serving

The GIFT OF SERVING is the divine enablement to attach spiritual value to accomplishment of physical tasks within the body of Christ (quoted from Chip Ingram's "Your Divine Design".)

That may be easily said, but it is not easily done. Yet without gifted servers doing the more physical tasks, very little spiritual ministry would be done. Thus, supernatural intervention is required to "gift" the body of Christ with servers who are divinely enabled to see the spiritual value of their work, no matter how tedious or repetitive. Believe me, those who ARE gifted in this area, know who they are, even this far into the posting!

They are the ones who have "gotten" that they are serving the Lord in every little thing that they do. They are not spiritually dysfunctional, by the way. They can be even more "spiritual" than others of us, but they are behind the scenes folks, not up on center stage folks. They are not the Peters of the world; they are the Stephens – the first martyr of the new church. Most of us remember that Stephen was one of the first deacons and was also the first martyr. But what do we remember about his spirituality?

If you read Acts chapter 6, you will see that Stephen was chosen to be a deacon because he was "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost". A little further down in that same chapter, you will find some Jews of the synagogue disputed with Stephen "and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." So they falsely accused him and had him stoned to death. None of those descriptions of Stephen make me think of someone inferior to any of the saints in any way. In fact, being gifted as a server in the body of Christ probably requires more spirituality BECAUSE these are the folks least seen or noticed in the body. They are the oil in the engine of the car. The car is visible, the oil is not. You don't even realize how important the oil is until the car stops running for lack of it! Just as the car will not "go" without oil, so also the church will not "grow" without gifted servers.

This is not only where the deacons come in, but many others who don't have that title. Remember Phoebe, the deaconess, who began this study? Perhaps the errand that carried her to Rome was given to her to save the leaders of the church at Cenchrea all the travel time that it took to run that particular errand, time which could instead be focused on getting people saved. But in that same church or others like it, might have been someone who fed people (Simon Peter's mother and Martha), or sewed clothing for those in need (Dorcas), or invited folks into their homes to hear the Word of God (Cornelius), or provided lodging for the saints (Lydia), or took care of others when they were physically unable to take care of themselves, like the Greek widows of Acts chapter 6 who were assigned to the care of Stephen, Phillip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (all deacons) allowing the twelve disciples to continue in "prayer and to the ministry of the word."

People with this gift demonstrate love FOR GOD and FOR THE BRETHREN by meeting practical needs that sometimes involve performing menial tasks; work that often frees up other Christians in the church to do the ministry of the giftings they were given. People with the gift of serving prefer physical tasks to speaking tasks. This doesn't stop them from preaching the gospel, but in many ways, their preaching of the gospel is done less by speaking and more by action. They might not be gifted communicators in the same way as a prophet or exhorter or teacher are, but they have a quiet passion for the work of the Lord and for people, so that all that they do they are able to do "as unto the Lord". And they might even display great wisdom as Stephen did.

Others don't see the spiritual value attached to physical tasks as clearly as these gifted people are able to do. It is definitely a Spirit-enabled gift and ministry. They are diligent in their assigned tasks, performing it to the best of their God-given abilities. They are very sensitive to practical personal needs. For example, they might visit your home one time only and later bring you a gift that they saw you needed. You might not have even realized you needed it, but they did. They will overlook their own personal discomfort to meet people's needs. They will often use their own money to make things happen.

They don't need a lot of public recognition, but a little appreciation can go a long way. Without that appreciation, they can become vulnerable to bitterness; they must maintain a close walk with the Lord in all that they do. Unfortunately, because they are not in the spotlight, it behooves the church as a whole to make special effort towards showing proper appreciation for these "unseen" workers.

Here are some examples of areas of work being done "behind the scenes" by gifted servers in today's modern churches. Again, these could be tasks assigned to the deacons or to many others within the church without the title of deacon:

• audio/visual, yard maintenance, building repairs, janitorial or housekeeping, bookkeeping, newsletters/bulletins, secretarial duties, mass mailings, setting up (and taking down) chairs and tables, kitchen help/food servers, nursery workers
  

I know there are many tasks that I have overlooked, but the point is that these folks are just spiritually-geared to do these physical tasks with joy and fulfillment!

Let me try another example to help clarify. I myself am not "gifted" primarily as a server. My primary gifting lies elsewhere. But I am experienced in accounting and financial work, having done it most of my adult life. You might think then that I would be perfect for the job of accounting for the church, but even though I am naturally able to do so, it would be one of the most unfulfilling and unfruitful things I could do. My heart would not be in it, because my heart is in the gift that the Holy Spirit has given me, which I believe is teaching. Now, I could "teach" about accounting, I could "teach" others how to handle their finances better, and be fulfilled in that work, not because it has to do with accounting or finances, but because the focus is "teaching". It is vitally important for us all to see that the area in which the Holy Spirit has gifted us must be properly utilized, regardless of our natural abilities. Let the Lord incorporate our natural abilities into the spiritual abilities He has provided us, rather than jump to that ourselves.

The biggest clue I can give you about whether you are functioning in your gift or not is this: Lack of joy and lack of fruit in a ministry is a sure sign that someone is NOT moving in the areas for which they have been gifted. The worst possible thing for the body of Christ, and for those who don't yet know Christ, would be to have someone doing one of these tasks in the church without being GIFTED to do so! They will be grouchy, spiritually unfulfilled, and just all around not pleasant to be around! We have all seen this happen in churches! It's a terrible thing to see! It reminds me of the scene from the movie "Pollyanna" where the preacher's hell-fire and brimstone preaching on Sundays gives everyone a "sour" stomach that ruins their Sunday meal! People working primarily in areas for which they have not been gifted can create "sourness" in the church as well! And that can turn people away from wanting more of what Jesus has to offer them! It can even send people looking for another church! It is critical that we function primarily in our gifts!

On the other hand, to witness someone doing the simplest tasks with joy because of the gifting of the Holy Spirit, becomes a real blessing and a God-ly model to the body of Christ.

Brother Lawrence, who lived most of his life in a Carmelite monastery as a lay-brother rather than a religious cleric (because he lacked a proper education), is a very famous example of a gifted server. This information comes from an article about him in Wikipedia:

"He was assigned to the monastery kitchen where, amidst the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors, he developed his rule of spirituality and work. In his Maxims, Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?" For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do…we can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as it there were no one save God and me in the world." All that he did, whether cooking meals, running errands, or scrubbing pots, he felt that he did alongside God. (Encouragement for many of us house-wives!) Despite his lowly position in life and in the monastery, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God. "We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God; who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. " Thus spoke Brother Lawrence."

This is exactly the kind of thinking that one with the Gift of Serving will have. If you don't have it, don't do it.

Again, just as the biggest blessing can come from someone who has this gift, the reverse is also true; when one does the tasks without the blessing of the Holy Spirit to do so, well, I can think of many comparisons, but none that are edifying to the body of Christ OR glorifying to God.

As for the rest of us, we're not off the hook just because we are not "gifted" as Servers. Remember, while we all have a primary gift, we are all called to minister in ALL the gifts at some time or another! When that time arrives, we can only be helped by remembering the attitude of Brother Lawrence, as well as those gifted servers among us; making sure that our HEARTS, like theirs, are up to the task!to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.

The Gift of Giving

Romans 12:8 "He that giveth, let him give with simplicity."

MONEY: just mention it in a church service and most people stiffen up. Especially those that don't have the GIFT OF GIVING: the divinely enabled ability to not only very simply and cheerfully give money, but to also be such wise stewards of money, that these Spirit-led Givers have much more money to do what they enjoy doing the most: putting it to work in the service of the Lord. In every way, they look at themselves as being only stewards of the things the Lord has blessed them with, as being entrusted with property that is owned by the Lord and not themselves. "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" (Luke 16: 11-12) They have grasped this passage of scripture much better and much more quickly than some of the rest of us.

Many people act as though they have to hold on tight to their money and safeguard it. Remember the steward who was foolish with his handling of the money (Luke 19:12-27)? He hid his money to keep it safe, rather than utilizing it (this parable refers not only to money but to all the gifts and resources the Lord provides us with). Anyway, the foolish steward didn't see a return of investment on his money because he didn't invest it. It was actually his flawed view of the character of God that caused him to fearfully hide the money, rather than joyfully manage it for the Lord's benefit. There are a lot of people like him, who act as though the most important thing is "just hanging on" to their money. Which is silly at the least since we all know that we can't take it with us….

….or can we?

Erwin W. Lutzer, author and pastor, tells this story about how we CAN take our money and possessions with us when we die and how it is done:

"There is a story told of a European princess, a fervent Christian, who was burdened to start an orphanage for street children. She did not have money of her own, so she told her husband she wanted to sell the jewels he had given her so that she could help the orphans. Of course he was reluctant. "Don't you appreciate the jewels?" he would ask. "Of course," she would reply. "But there are homeless children we could help." Eventually he gave in. She sold the jewels for many thousands of dollars and was able to build the orphanage. The children came and were fed and shown love. They memorized verses of Scripture and sang songs. One day the princess returned to her husband, "I found my jewels today!" she said through tears of joy. "I found my jewels, the bright happy eyes of the children who were rescued from the streets. I found my jewels!" Smart woman! She beat the system! All of our lives we are told that we "cannot take it with us." We are told that we have to leave it all behind. Of course, we cannot take dollars and jewels with us, but if we transmute these into heavenly values, we can meet our money in another life. The princess found a way to get her jewels on the other side of eternity, she took them all the way to heaven. Forever."

People with the gift of giving have figured out how to beat the system also. The trick is to see things from an eternal perspective; fortunately this is something that comes along with all of the gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Without the ability to see everything from an "eternal" perspective, we would quickly become discouraged in all of our service to the Lord.

But back to giving….remember the scriptures that talk about giving a tenth as a tithe (Malachi 3:8)? Well, people with the gift of giving use the tenth as the STARTING point of their giving (as we all are to do, by the way. The tithe was a part of the law, we are no longer under the law, but under the Spirit of God; in all that we do, including giving, it should be directed by the Holy Spirit, not by the law and not by us! When led by the Holy Spirit, giving will be a privilege for which we are grateful and we will give at every opportunity possible!)

Gifted givers, strong in faith, have been known to give as much as 100% of their possessions and money to the Lord's work. And they have found that the Lord is faithful to His promises and returns to them a hundred-fold more (Mark 10:29-31). And so they easily turn around and give it all away again.

There is a man named Robert Morris who wrote a book entitled "Blessed Life", in which he talks about giving things like homes and cars away, just to have the Lord give them right back to him! His is a good book to give to anyone who doesn't understand that tithing is just the "first-fruits" of the provisions that God has given to us all; giving beyond the "first-fruits" leads to a very "Blessed Life" indeed. Both Robert Morris and my old friend, George Muller, whom you've heard me speak of many times, are living testimonies to the blessedness of living by the faith of knowing that God ALWAYS provides, as He has promised to do for those of us who love and serve Him.

You don't have to be wealthy to be a gifted giver. As with all the gifts, faith is a big part of serving the Lord. The widow who had only two mites left to her name (Luke 21:2-4), obviously had a gift of giving; she gave 100% of the money she had, something she could not have done if she didn't have great faith to trust the Lord for her every need. This great faith is a "manifestation" of the Spirit when one ministers in their primary gifting; the primary gift is the "motivational" gift, while faith is the "manifestation" of that gift through the "ministry" opportunities provided to gifted givers.

If you have the primary gift of giving the first thing that will come to your mind when seeing needs within the church, is: What can I "give" to meet the needs? Not "What can I "say"; not "what can I "do"; just "what can I "give".

Some characteristics of a gifted giver are:

1. whether it is money or possessions or something else altogether, people with this gift are generous;
   
2. they do not like the limelight. They prefer to remain anonymous. There are a few reasons for their anonymity: a) so that they will receive their reward from the Lord rather than from men; b) so that they are not treated any differently from anyone else, c) so that they won't be manipulated. People with the gift of giving, who have God-given instincts regarding the handling of money, can see manipulation or high-pressure tactics coming from a mile away. They give because they WANT to give and they are grateful for the opportunity to give to the Lord. But when someone tries to turn that opportunity into an obligation, they turn and run the other way, because it reeks of manipulation; they enjoy the freedom in the Lord to do as He would have them do. They see opportunities to give long before the rest of us do; they need no coercion to give;
   
3. they have the ability to see what the best use of money is; if they don't see good results they will put the money elsewhere next time. They look for a high return on their investment; after all they are accountable to God for their faithful stewardship of his resources;
   
4. they have to guard against judging others by their use or mis-use of money. Good handling of money comes easily to them because of their spiritual gifting, and they forget that not all others have the same gifting. They can get irritated by mis-management of financial resources. They shudder at the word "debt"; and loans are to be utilized ONLY when the interest on the loan is much lower than the interest that their cash is earning in the bank; paying interest with God's money is to be avoided wherever possible. If they do opt for that rare loan, they will have funds necessary to pay it off immediately if the interest rates go bottom up. They don't understand why others don't get the "evil" of high-interest debt, especially concerning credit cards. They take seriously that command of the Lord to "owe no man anything" (Romans 13:8); they look at going into debt as a lack of faith, a lack of trusting in God to provide; as living beyond one's means (worldliness) and not what God intended for them;
   
5. if not careful, they can overemphasize material needs to the exclusion of spiritual needs.
   

Even though they avoid the limelight in terms of their own giving, Spirit-enabled givers can be recognized by their efforts to motivate others within the church to become equally good stewards of all that God has provided. Thus they are a blessing to the church in more ways than one.