November 14 , 2009

An Overview of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

What is a spiritual gift?

• A divinely enabled attribute that is empowered by the Spirit of God.

• A skill or ability imparted by the grace of God.

Rom 12:6 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” NIV

Why should we study spiritual gifts?

• God doesn’t want us to be ignorant! The scriptures make it our responsibility to study, seek and practice the development of our spiritual gifts. He desires that we understand them and pursue them.

1 Cor 12:1-2 “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” NIV

• God eagerly desires us to have the gifts! The idea of gifts is not just a novelty with the Father. He eagerly desires that we would pursue the gifts

• Because we are told to eagerly desire these gifts.

1 Cor 14:1 “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” NIV

Why does God give spiritual gifts to men?

• To reveal the love of a Father. Every time someone is touched by the power of the Holy Spirit through the operation of the gifts it is God saying “I love you!” We must remember that when we serve God by the power of the Holy Spirit we are God’s revelation of Himself in the same way that Jesus said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

James 1:16-17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” NIV

• To confirm God’s word. Throughout all of the gospels Jesus related to supernatural signs as the Father’s means of confirming the preached message that Jesus was bringing. The gifts are heaven’s way of saying “Amen!”

Heb 2:3-4 “…how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” NIV

John 5:36-37 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.” NIV

• To confirm His messenger. (This is not the only test.) Acts. 2:22 The gifts of the Holy Spirit are one of God’s methods of confirming a vessel as chosen of him. In the life of Christ it was said by some of those trying to confirm his authenticity that no man could do the things Christ was doing if he wasn’t the Messiah.

Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” NIV

• To make us strong. It brings glory to God when His church is bold, strong and walking in power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit build us up for that purpose.

Rom 1:11 “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-“ NIV

• To reveal himself to unbelievers. When God reveals the secrets of a man’s heart it draws that man towards God.

1 Cor 14:22-25 “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" NIV

• To inspire awe and bring glory to God. Acts 2:43

Acts 2:43 “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” NIV

• To establish our faith on a right foundation. Christianity is not an earthly philosophy to be studied by intellect alone. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are one of the means that God uses to point the heart of men towards the reality of the Spirit and a life of faith in God’s power rather than in man’s wisdom,

1 Cor 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.” NIV

• To express his compassion for the suffering of others. When the Lord releases the power of His Holy Spirit into situations of need it reveals His tender compassion towards their trials.

Matt 14:14 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” NIV

• To set people free from captivity to oppression. We were created to be worshippers of God and deliverers of men.

Luke 10:8-10; 17-20 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you…” “17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” NIV

November 13, 2009

WAR IN THE HEAVENLIES

There is a great war going on in the earth between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. The church is being used by the Lord as agents of war against the kingdom of Satan, and one of the chief spiritual weapons that God is using to confront the enemy (whose power is based on lies and deception) is the release of prophetic truth into the earth to break the power of the enemy’s lies.

Rev. 12:17 tells us that the dragon is at war against those who hold to the testimony of Jesus (the Spirit of Prophecy).

“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” NIV

This war is against three levels of this testimony:

Christ Specific Words

Throughout the scriptures the word of God declares prophetically both the first and second coming of Christ as well as His role in the life of the church during the period between His two advents. Satan despises Christ and every word that declares Christ’s dominion and authority is a word that also implies Satan’s defeat and final judgment. For Christ to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords Satan must be removed and Satan is at war against this. Because this is true every prophetic declaration is a weapon against him that he is actively resisting. It is his agenda to draw the attention of all mankind away from these truths and to rob the church and the earth of the testimony of Jesus. He is at work in both the world and the church to accomplish this mission.

The Governmental Words of the Lord

Isaiah prophesied of the coming of the Lord and of His kingdom. He declared in Isa 9:7 “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom…” NIV Every sphere of life is subject to the king of kings. He told His disciples in Matt 28:18 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” NIV Because this is true every sphere into which Christ speaks is an expression of Him exercising the authority of His government in opposition to Satan. He speaks into spheres of society and He speaks within the structure of the body of Christ to bring forth His purposes and further the manifestation of His kingdom reign. This area is also greatly resisted by Satan. Every time that the word is spoken the strength of Satan’s kingdom is threatened and/or diminished. God is calling His people to speak forth the truth of Christ’s dominion and by this to expose the lies of the enemy that hold our cities and churches in captivity.

The Personal Destiny Words

The Christ specific words are found mostly within the pages of scripture. The governmental words of the Lord are spoken mostly by seasoned prophetic ministries though they can be at times revealed through less experienced members of the Body of Christ but personal prophecy is widely experienced and can flow freely out of both a seasoned prophet and a novice Christian. Personal Destiny Words are those prophetic words that speak into the life of the individual instead of the wider sphere. Every person is in a personal battle between the person that Satan would like to influence them to be and the person that God says they were created to be. Prophecy is powerful on a personal level because of its ability to awaken faith in a person to accept what God says about them instead of the other voices of influence that commonly tear down rather than build a person up. When our hearts align in faith with what God says about us power and confidence is added to our life.

Rev. 12:11 says “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” NIV One of our great weapons against the enemy is the testimony of Jesus as it manifests itself in through Spirit of Prophecy. When we speak by the testimony of Jesus, this Spirit of Prophecy, we are actually speaking creatively in partnership with God. We are actively releasing the power of God’s creative life into those things that Satan has sought to destroy. When an individual places their heart in agreement with the spoken word of God now our faith is working with God’s living seed that he has planted within us and we begin a process of supernatural transformation. Through this principle the words spoken into us are actually creating God life within us in the same manner that the worlds were created.

This principle is clearly demonstrated in Ez. 37 when God has Ezekiel prophecy over the dry bones. This prophetic ministry comes forth in stages to release the work of God progressively. He is told to prophecy to that which is not as if it were, because the words actually release the life of God!!! This demonstration is then directly related to the power of the prophetic to influence the children of God.

Paul gives Timothy a N.T. application of this principle in 1 Tim 1:18 when he writes “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.” NIV

November 12, 2009

GOD’S WORDS ARE SPIRIT AND LIFE

In Jn 6:62-63 Jesus taught his disciples “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life.” The power and the purpose of the prophetic is found in this essential truth; the words that are being spoken are Spirit and they give life! When we prophecy it is Jesus speaking through us by His Spirit and through this process He is releasing life into whatever person or situation we are speaking forth into. 1 Jn. 5:9-11 says that when we believe the words we actually have the witness of them living inside of us.

1 John 5:9-10 “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.” NKJV

This principle that is revealed about the inner witness in particular to Christ applies in essence to all of the work of prophetic ministry because the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. It is the same principles at work when the prophetic word is spoken as it was when Jesus walked the earth and spoke into the lives of His people. Ro. 10:17 illustrates this principle when it declares that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The word is spoken forth and releases faith and faith releases the activity of God.

This principle is transferred onto the saints in 1 Peter 4:11 that exhorts the saints “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” NIV The apostle Paul goes as far as establishing the gift of prophecy as the preeminent gift in 1 Cor 14:1 where he writes “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” NIV

November 11, 2009

You are enjoying another passage of Pastor Dan Lee's Study Guide "A Revelation Generation. To order the complete guide, please visit our new website and look under "Resources"!

The Spirit of Prophecy

God is raising up His church in these last days to be his mouthpiece into the earth. We as His representatives have been chosen by the Lord as His vessels of restoration and reconciliation and He is accomplishing this through the means of the Spirit of Prophecy. This goal of this section is to look at the dynamics of the Spirit of Prophecy to better understand what is taking place in the earth and what is taking place when we encounter and participate in prophetic ministry.

Pr. 18:21 declares that the tongue holds the power of life and death. I believe that this is the key principle behind the Spirit of Prophecy.

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” NIV

The very world itself and all that is in it was created in Ge. 1, and is still being held together according to He. 1:3: by the power of the words that flow forth from the mouth of God. I believe that this is the principle that is at work behind the prophetic ministry.

Heb 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” NIV

Rev. 19:10 says that “the testimony of Jesus IS the Spirit of Prophecy.” In simple terms the definition of testimony is the word evidence, and the meaning of the word prophecy is prediction. In this context there is an implied principle that one of the primary functions of the prophetic or predictive ministry of the Holy Spirit is to provide evidence of the reality of Jesus Christ.

November 10, 2009

Types of communication in dreams and visions

· Numbers

· Symbolic images

· Literal images

· Angelic Instruction/Invitation

· Angelic and/or Holy Spirit escort to spiritual places

· Sentences in the night

· Riddles, or dark sayings

· The word of the Lord comes

Sources of dreams

· God

· Ourselves. Job speaks of the cares of life causing dreams

· The enemy. Demonic interference

The issue of perplexity

Peter and Daniel were both perplexed after the spiritual encounters that they had experienced. We must settle the issue that God speaks in ways that perplex us and require us to search out understanding from Him. Daniel was actually sick for days after one of his visitation experiences.

Areas That Cause Perplexity

· The images that we see

· The timing of the revelation’s fulfillment or intended message

· The unremembered dream (I believe that many times this is God sowing into your spirit)

· Revelations that are locked up until an appointed time such as in Daniel and Rev. 5

Purposes of Revelation

· Personal Edification

o A restored spiritual truth

o A psychological revelation – insight into an area of brokenness in yourself; a personality flaw or a personal sin.

o Personal guidance for the future

o Direction

o Warning

· Ministry to others

o Information to guide intercession

o Information to release ministry

o Personal prayer ministry

o A prophetic word or counsel

o Prophetic evangelism

· Corporate Revelation

o Guidance for the local body

o Direction

o Intercession

o Revelation for the body of Christ in a region, nation, etc

Some categories of symbols:

· Biblical Symbols = Those symbols where a pattern is set for the interpretation of the symbol through the scriptures.

· Cultural Symbols = God will at times choose symbols that are general to most people in a given culture that is current for today; modern symbols rather than historic

· Personal Symbols = God will also use images that are directly relevant to the individual and relate to meaningful things in that person’s individual history that speaks directly to some point of identification.

November 9, 2009

Symbolic Language, Parables and Other Forms of Spiritual Revelation in Dreams, Visions and Trances

From the earliest days of scripture God has been speaking through dreams, visions and trances. As Joel 2 says, in the last days God will increase the frequency of these things in the earth. Because of this it will be necessary to increase our skill in handling revelation of this nature.

Joel 2:28-29 'And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” NIV

This section of teaching is by no means comprehensive but is simply an introduction to some of the main elements in these areas of spiritual life.

· Jeremiah was schooled by the Lord in the process of development as a prophetic person. In Jeremiah 1 Jeremiah developed his understanding through a series of lessons from the Lord as God taught Jeremiah concerning His voice. It is in this process of development that we can clearly see three stages of handling revelation

o Revelation – What is it that you saw or heard?

o Interpretation – What did these things mean?

o Application – What does the Lord want me to do with this information?

· The life of Jesus reveals the whole nature of symbolic language. The stories that Jesus used to teach principles were often times symbolic stories where the people and images used were actually figurative of something or someone else.

· The three primary arenas where revelation of this nature occurs are:

o Dreams = Joseph had a dream warning him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Daniel had dreams about the end times. Dreams are the language of our sleep.

o Visions = Visions can occur either in prayer or as we are going. A vision that comes during prayer is most often seen through the eyes of the Spirit while we have our natural eyes closed. A vision seen while we are out doing things is most often received as either an impression or an open vision where we see into both the natural realm and the spiritual realm at the same time. In extreme cases a vision of greater intensity can come that will override what we are doing in the natural such as Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus in Acts 2

o Trances = Trances are most often occurring while in prayer and are similar to sleep but are a spiritual state where we enter the spiritual realm with our spirit. A detachment from the natural state of consciousness occurs where the individual is not sleeping but rather drawn into the spirit realm while still awake as in Acts 10.

November 8, 2009

HOW DO I KNOW THAT IT IS GOD SPEAKING???

· Start by placing yourself at rest in God’s presence. Quiet anxiety and distracting thoughts. Consider fasting and prayer as a means to increase your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Too much food makes you sluggish and sleepy.

· Divine desire. Ask God to place his desires in you and to sanctify your desires. Ps 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” NIV Do not react to the first desire that appears but wait patiently and test the nature of your desires over time God’s desire will win out in your heart as you rest in Him.

· Scriptural screening: The third test for discerning the voice of God is to ask yourself the question; does this desire pass the test of scripture? If scripture does not endorse the impression you are considering then it is most likely not God. The Holy Spirit will not contradict God’s word.

· Beckoning circumstances: Once these other issues have come forth begin to expect beckoning signs from your circumstances. God will release tokens into your circumstances that will signal to you His will and His timing.

· Divine timing: At this point it is time to look for divine timing. We must patiently wait for the will of God to unfold. Rest is the key issue during this time.

· Peace: The abiding sense of peace throughout this process is the final test in our hearing from the Lord. If at any time the peace of God leaves us we must first examine our thinking and address any inner issues that would hinder, i.e. Fear, unbelief, etc. If our heart is healthy then the lack of peace should be interpreted as a no or a not yet!!!