TEXT::Numbers11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! CONTEXT:1Corinthians 14 (turn to) INTRODUCTION: INTRO: TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT:
1.DEFINITION: 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Paul makes it clear that it is a good thing, but exactly what is this gift of prophecy? There is a definition in ICor14:3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. First thing necessary, is that your house is in order. Love must, must, must be the reason you seek these gifts. Never, never, never seek gifts for the gift itself, or any other reason. It is not noble to God to see you gifted and lack the reason for it, which is to bless one another in love! Mt 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Ga 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Say it with me: “Love, Love, Love one another” Corinthians is a warning as much as a teching on gifts. Please don’t fall into the pit of the Corinthians and some Charismatics , - “Love, Love, Love one another” FIRST. The freedom to move in and walk after the spirit and overcome the flesh will not come by our strength in gifts, but our love for one another! Love before the gift,and the gift so we can love better! Lord hear this prayer. Love is the reason for all gifts! A good definition for all gifts is “a tool for divine love and door to divine love”. The first step to finding and using your gifts is to ask yourself “Am I strongly in love with my church?” (Repeat). This will have to dealt with first, for the gifts are not made for any other context. I want to start by clarifying a couple of things about the with the gift of prophecy. 1) It is not only for pastors, or some kind of elite. Some may say that what I do each Sunday is an example of prophecy. It can be. The primary job of the pastor, both in Corinth and Fox Creek is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and disciple, - teach Christians the truth which is found in both the Bible. I am to share what God has already revealed to us in His Word. That is my job. The prophetic part, however, does more than just repeat what the Bible says. It is receiving insights from the Lord which we are to share with the church or refreshing something that is old it will always compliment each other. You do not need to go to College to attain any gift. Also those with the gift of prophecy are not Old Testament prophets. When the Old Testament prophets spoke, they spoke for God. They would preface their message with the phrase, "thus saith the Lord." The syllables that came out of their mouths were not just their words, but were also God’s words. Their words carried equal weight with what was written in the Bible. Their words carried the same authority as if they had come directly from the mouth of God. They were truly God’s spokesmen, they never made mistakes. If they did they were killed! They only spoke what was true. The words coming from God were pure, but because the New Testament prophet is more fallible than the O.T. Prophet; the Lord, by some means, protected the Old Testament prophets from that and enabled them to speak 100% pure truth. We probably speak from 0%-99.9% truth. Depending on your growth and teaching in your gifting. Which is partly why I am speaking on this, we need teaching. Those with the gift of prophecy at Corinth and in other New Testament churches never had that type of authority. Their words did not have the same weight as that of Scripture and could not be labeled as "God’s words." Yes, I believe God indeed speaks to prophets, but the words we speak to the people are not necessarily identical to the words that God had spoken. The prophet may not understand exactly what the Lord had revealed to him. Or perhaps he understood but was unable to articulate precisely what the truth was. I don’t think He did that in the New Testament. For O.T. prophets were not given it as a helpful gift, it was their entire calling and office! In the N.T. it is a different kind of intimacy, where we get to commune with God as the O.T. prophets did, but He allows us to bless each other with our own way and words! It may seem less cool than speaking infallibly, but both are awsome. For when we speak prophecy we share our heart as well as God’s words; the O.T. prophet simply spoke. Nu 11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! How familiar are you with God’s gifts? Are you open to using them? Do you desire spiritual gifts? Are you in love with your church? 2.STIR-UP: 2Ti 1:6 Wherefore I put you in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. ”; That is another reason I preach this today - Reminder and stiiring along with teaching in your gifting. Some of you know your gift and are frustrated in growing in it. Some of you have it and don’t know it. I believe the Lord is cleaning out our church. I believe He is calling us to rid the wickedness and clean out our hiding places. So we can properly arm ourselves and prepare battle plans. And prophets can be helpful in this. A part of the edification, encouraging and comforting of prophets is admonishment, even correction! So, as a Pastor, I need your gifting like i need all the gifts, but I don’t get them all, we all get our share! As a church, we need each others gifts.Several years ago, two students graduated from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man named Overton and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, Kaspryzak. They had met one another in school when the armless Mr. Kaspryzak had guided the blind Mr. Overton down a flight of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of interdependence. The blind man carried the books which the armless man read aloud in their common study, and thus the individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other. After their graduation, they planned to practice law together. We need your gifts!!! And their could be hiding!! Nu 11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! As our text relates, we should be provoking each other to grow in love and good works, gifts are a part of this. Without God’s supernatural gifting, we cannot attain His supernatural love to fulfill unity and outreach! Like the O.T. Kings of Israel, I could use the confirmation of prophets, like I need the arms of servants, and minds of administrators as well as the eyes and prayers of intercessors, and hands of healers, and so on! How beautiful is God’s church as it is meant to be! How wonderful is the plan He has as . . .the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Eph 4:16 Is that not a great pipe dream . . ! No, it is not impossible, it is expected! Notice Timothy’s gift came from “the laying on of hands”. It takes humbleness and faith to be prayed for and to pray for others. We must remove fear of different blessings, and gifts. We must lose any envy of one anothers giftings or calling. Following verse of stirring up Tim’s gifts --> 2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. THis verse follwing the one about gifting is no mistake. Often we are afraid of the supernatural, even God’s! Often it is abused and used wrong or by being mimicked by selfish people to do selfish things and say it is God. How has your spirit been? It matters not how many gifts you have, it matters how faithful you are to bless God’s church with it! We need to fight against fear/bitterness/envy in prayer and action! Nu 11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! Do you embrace the good differences in others? Their blessings and gifting? Or do you close up in fear or envy?Are you willing to stir up the gifts God has in you? 3.ORDER: ICor14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should judge what is said. What does it mean to "judge"? Well, I think it means to "decide if what has been said is true." - Discern! Another Gift Needed!! Now, when the Old Testament prophets spoke, no one was supposed to weigh their prophecy. They spoke for God. No one was in any position to decide if what they said was right. Unless it failed, then the rocks flew! But when a New Testament prophet spoke, that prophecy had to be tested and evaluated, accountability is of much importance. I believe that is the job of the elders, the spiritual leaders in the congregation as well as those who are proven and mature in the gift. Instead of prefacing their prophecy with "thus saith the Lord," the New Testament prophets use phrases like, "I believe the Lord is telling me this," or "I think this is what God is saying to us." When people in the church heard a prophecy, they did not rush to write it down and insert it in their Bibles. I also don’t believe that the essence of New Testament prophecy was a new revelation from God. I think the focus of the message that prophets receive and share are reminding, and confirming people of the truth which God had already revealed in the Bible. Many prophecies focus on reminding people of God’s promises or on warning them what would happen if they turned away from the Lord. There are important question to consider when evaluating prophecy or any gift: 1.) Is it umifying? 2.) Is it adding to worship and the service? 3.) Is it comforting or edifying or exhorting? 4.) Is it motivated for the good of others/God? etc. The prophets in the N.T. do not share words OF the Lord, they share words FROM the Lord. 1Co 14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. The point is . . . Order, so as to keep an atmosphere of encouraging, comforting and edification. How should the gift of prophecy be used today? First of all it doesn’t have to be spontaneously in the service. Though it should be common, for the service should be a good breeding ground for hearing God! We often think it comes now, say it now! God will grow you in this confidence and wisdom of timing. Verse 32 tells us that we still have our self control, so we can be wise in our words and timing! You are never forced by the Holy Spirit to holaar or move, one of the fruit of the spirit is SELF control! If you are forced, it is either your self or a different spirit! Perhaps it won’t be in a service. Perhaps you come up to me over coffee, during the week and say, "Pastor, I really believe the Lord has been telling me . . ." Any supposed message from the Lord needs to be weighed and evaluated. It would also be a mistake to rush in with it or to just brush this claim aside. When someone claims to have a message from the Lord, it should not be blindly accepted, nor automatically dismissed. 1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. It needs to be weighed. How is that done? Depends. Always Pray, asking God for wisdom and discernment. Always, open your Bibles and seek to determine how the message fits with what God has said in the Word. Perhaps we’ll need to call together leaders, and ask them to help evaluate the message. Look for confirmation. An important part, overall, is to set up a structure to encourage the gifts and order. If at all possible, we want a consensus. Re 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. God wants us to hear! Are we? Are you truly open to hear all He has? Are you willing to change to keep up? If you believe that the Lord gives you a message concerning our congregation or about an individual decision you need to make, I encourage you to share that and find confirmation with a leader / mature Christian. We must not compromise the authority of Scripture. But, often times, many Christians seem fascinated by these things. Chesterton said that the problem with modern man is not that he refuses to believe the truth, but that he is willing to believe so much that is false. So if you feel you are gifted, you need to do 2 big things: 1.) Understand submission to your authority. God’s biggest concern, like Paul’s, and should be a Pastor’s biggest concern when it comes to gifts, is chaos, as it happened in Corinth. The entire context of I cor 14 is Order, for Chaos ensues when people use their gifts without an appreciation of authority. 2.) Grow in an obvious warm love for the church, shown in consistant consideration and action. Cold love is a trick of the enemy that undermines the church with repetitive actions of love while being guarded, untrusting and distant. Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. In Bible study I asked the question, why doesn’t Jesus mention loving the world here? eVer wonder that? Because you cannot love the world if you cannot love your own Christian family/body. If you think you are you fool yourself. God’s Church needs trust and transparency. Only then can we, in turn, bring true love to our community. We get comfortable with, and like the, status quo. Nu 11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! (EXPOUND) Joshua thought only the elite, only the mature should be gifted, Moses was thrilled for the more we desrire what God has for us the more we are unified, and fulfilling our call as His people/Church! Moses was essentially saying - If only are hearts were open to what God wants for us! When we build trusting, open love with one another it is easier to rejoice in one anothers blessings instead of envying. It is also easier to embrace one another’s gifts instead of fear them. Oh, there are many voices in the world that we need to ignore, but when God speaks, we’d better listen.We need to be open to God & trusting of each other to accept how God wants grow & move in our church and lives. Gifts are meant to unite, but often they divide.We need to desire all God’s gifts FOR all God’s people! We need a Gifted Desire! Nu 11:29 And Moses said to him, Are you envious on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them! Do I desire spiritual gifts? Am I strongly in love with my church? Will I encourage the gifts in others? Will I desire to prophecy? I want to see you pray/prophecy with at least one person. Pray that God will give you that. Pray against envie/fear. Pray for stirred up warm love/gifts (Alter) |
