Getting to Know the Holy Spirit Part 18: Your Role in the Body

Welcome back friends to the Line of Fire classes and session. We are here to infuse you with faith, and truth, and courage.

We are closing up our series on getting to know the Holy Spirit, talking today about the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit as described in Scripture, and asking about their application today. If you missed any of the broadcasts, because we are almost a month in now, they are all archived on the Courage and the Line of Fire Podcast. It is a free podcast, so just check it out.

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Ring the bell and then all the information will be there. As the moment we do a new video, release it, you will know about it. All right, so as we read through in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul makes clear it is the Holy Spirit who distributes as he wills, as he determines. Then he says, look, the body of Messiah, the body of Christ is like a human body.

It is diverse. The ear cannot say, I do not need the eye. The mouth cannot say, I do not need the ear.

The hand cannot say, I do not need the foot. We need each other. I want to make a heartfelt appeal to my brothers and sisters on all sides of doctrinal divides and things like that.

I want to make a heartfelt appeal. We need each other desperately. I need you and you need me. Together, we are much more powerful. I have strengths you do not have. You have strengths I do not have. I have weaknesses you do not have. You have weaknesses I do not have. I have experience you do not have.

You have experience I do not have. Whatever we can do to honor each other in the Lord and work together, let us do it. Some years back, over a decade now, there was a major conference that was going to be very negative on the charismatic Pentecostal movement. I know many people deeply sincere in it, love the Lord. That was their heartfelt position.

Certainly, and certainly there are enough extremes we call Charismania that we understand why people would react negatively. But I reached out to the key leader and I said, look, we can help each other. There is so much you can offer our charismatic Pentecostal preachers, helping them to preach in an expository way, just going through books and chapters and opening them up and preaching like that. We can help bring certain spiritual vitality. Together, together friends, we can really make a difference. In the midst of our differences, let us walk in love towards each other.

We can disagree, as it has been said, without being disagreeable. We need one another and you cannot judge your value in the body compared to someone else. Let us just say you think hands are beautiful and you are calling us to be a foot. Well, feet are ugly. Well, if that person tries to walk on their hands, the whole body collapses.

Feet are needed. And someone could say, well, what am I? I am an eyebrow. What does an eyebrow do? What is the significance of an eyebrow? Come on, you are a mouth.

You are speaking to the whole world. I am an eyebrow. God put each part in the body in a way that suits best, fits best. And Paul says the parts that seem to be the most delicate, that is what we cover up. That is what we hide. So, sometimes the most valuable members of the body are not the strongest, not the loudest, not the richest, not the most outwardly gifted.

They are the ones that nobody sees with a tender heart before the Lord who loves other people. So, let me say it again. Do not compare yourself to someone else and say, Lord, you made me and fashioned me a certain way. I give myself to your calling and purpose. As you do, you will be blessed.

So, Paul then, after teaching this, he says this. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. So, you have a toothache, your whole body suffers. You have a headache, your whole body suffers.

You have a kidney stone, your whole body suffers. Conversely, when there is health in one part, the whole body rejoices. That is how we should be with one another, not trying to tear each other down, but rejoicing in God's work in our lives. Now, he says, you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12, 27. And God is placed in the church, first of all, apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance and of different kinds of tongues, of all apostles, of all prophets, of all teachers. Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing?

Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret, now eagerly, desire the greatest gifts, the greater gifts? And I will show you the most excellent way, which is now the way of love. And then, after that, how does he start? 1 Corinthians 14, verse 1.

After talking about the way of love, what does he say? Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. So, this is a now word.

God never took this back anywhere in the Bible. This is a now word from the Lord. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy, because the gifts are the manifestation of the love of God. The gifts are not some carnival show. The gifts are not some fundraising gimmick.

The gifts are an expression of the love of God and the Holy Spirit working to bless people. The great majority of people that I know, who have a real burden to see the sick healed and whom God has used in healing, have tremendous compassion. I know leaders, I know one brother that he did two 40-day fasts a year, for many years. Actually, it wrecked his health. But he was so desperate to see more sick people heal.

Why? Because they are suffering. They are in pain. You watch a little child withering away of cancer. You watch a husband who cannot do anything for his wife, who is in agony 24-7. You see a whole family being dragged down by sickness and pain.

It is not, well, let us see some miracles. No, it is, oh God, they are suffering, they are hurting. And we know you are good and we are going to trust you in the pain. We are going to worship you in the pain. We are going to worship you whether we are healed or not. We are going to know that you are good and confess that you are good. At the same time, Lord, Lord, we know, we know that Jesus was often moved with compassion and healed.

Use us to heal the sick. It is not some carnival sideshow. When I have seen prophetic ministry in operation, it has been beautiful. It has been wonderful.

Can I give you an example? I was going through the worst spiritual attack of my entire life. It was overwhelming.

I would pray for hours and hours and hours and could not get free from under it. The weight of lies and false accusations and just demonic powers sailing me from every angle. There was a colleague of mine, I have not known him long, but we had begun working together closely. I had just told him without any details that I was under spiritual attack. That is all I had told him. I was under spiritual attack.

Very intense. So, one particular day I was going through a very hard time and I said, Lord, Lord, have you shown anything to this brother for me? Have you spoken anything to him?

Within a minute, maybe two at the outset, but I think within a minute, a text comes in on my phone from this brother. He had been driving his car on the way to an appointment when suddenly his heart began to pound. He was going to attend a water baptism, someone he knew was getting baptized. His heart began to pound and he knew he had to send me a message. God had shown him some things while praying for me.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road, took out his phone. It was a lengthy message. He texted to me with a number of verses, sent it to me.

So, as he's writing it out, obviously, I don't know any of this. It was out of the blue. I said, Lord, have you shown anything to him?

Within a minute, two at the outset, but I think closer to a minute, a text came in from him with the most amazing prophetic word maybe I've ever received. With detailed words of encouragement from the Lord based on the exact situation I was going through. And it brought me to tears about the goodness and the reality of God.

This is not some carnival show. This is not, look at how powerful I am and what I can do. This is an expression of the love of God for his people. And I would simply encourage you to say, Lord, however you want to use me, gift me. Paul lists elsewhere, Romans 12, as we said, showing mercy, giving extravagantly. Here he speaks of gifts of administration, helps. He gifts us in many, many different ways. And there are also these supernatural manifestations that come through us. It is for his glory and it's for the good of his people.

It's also powerful in outreach. So I hope you take this as an invitation. And I would encourage you to pray a prayer that I think every one of us should be able to pray and say, Lord, whatever you want to do in me, however you want to use me, however you want to gift me, may it be for your glory and the good of your people. And I will be your obedient servant and vessel.

I don't see how any of us could argue with that. And then let God decide what's for today and what's not. I'm convinced as to what the scriptures say, but let God decide as to what is and is not for today.

How's that? All right. So I want to dig a little deeper and get back into 1 Corinthians 12, and then we'll talk about this a bit more. And I want to end the week by talking about aspects of what the Holy Spirit does in our relationship with him.

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He commends them. But then he says, things are out of order. They're out of order here, here, here.

And when it comes to the gifts, you're out of order. You're just all speaking tongues together at the same time in a public meeting and people don't know what's going on. Remember, this is a house meeting. Maybe you got 20 people sitting there. You come in as a stranger.

You don't know any of this. And everyone's speaking tongues together. It's one thing if you're at a worship service with 3000 people and the worship team is playing and singing and everyone is praying and worshiping together.

You don't even hear what's going on around you. If someone's praising God in English or in their native language or in a tongue, but here you're in a meeting, it would be like the pastor gets up and he makes the announcements speaking in tongues. Like, what are the announcements? And then someone gets up and they're going to receive an offering, but then they just speak in tongues.

It's like, what is this? That's what he's addressing. So he talks about these things to make sure we have the right order. So despite the church dealing with a number of issues, including immorality, license in the flesh, misrepresentation of a misconception about the resurrection, the exaltation of tongues, and the abuse of the Lord's Supper, Paul commends them that they're not lacking in any spiritual gift in 1 Corinthians 1-7. So many people have written off Pentecostals Charismatics today because of problems and issues, but Paul didn't write off the Corinthians, nor did he tell them the gifts weren't real.

He just said you got all kinds of other problems. Thankfully, Jesus doesn't write the church off today because of our many failings across the board. In all circles, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Charismatic, whatever group, Evangelical, non-Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, the believers among us, thankfully, he doesn't just write us off because of our shortcomings. If God is working, then we should thank God for what he's doing, and then we bring any correction that may be needed and learn to come into God's proper order.

In other words, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Thank God for what he's doing, and then we bring correction in proper order. So 1 Corinthians 12 1, the Greek word translated spiritual gifts could be translated as spiritual men, but it's understood in the context to be referring to spiritual gifts. When he says I don't want you to be ignorant, in verses 1 and 2 of 1 Corinthians 12, before they were saved they had spiritual experiences with idols that were demonic in their nature. Now Paul does not want to be ignorant of the genuine correct moving of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't say, well, you had negative demonic experiences, so throw the whole thing out. He says, no, no, distinguish between the negative counterfeit spirituality and the true working of the Spirit.

Under demonic influence, some may say Jesus be cursed, and perhaps Paul is saying some of them had experienced that very thing before being saved. So a big issue, friends, is motivation. The Spirit speaks.

Why? To exalt Jesus. John 16 14. The Spirit's goal is always to exalt Jesus. The gifts are to draw attention to Jesus, not to us. If our desire can be to exalt Jesus, we will be more aligned with what the Spirit is wanting to do. The working of the Spirit is to continue what Jesus began. The Spirit working through us gives evidence that Jesus really did do these things, that he rose from the dead, and that he sent the Spirit to equip and empower us. As the world sees us doing what Jesus did, now he didn't call us all to walk on the water, he didn't say do as I have done in that regard, but in terms of healing and miracles, he sent us to do what he did by the power of the Spirit as God wills and desires. According to 1 Corinthians 12 4-11, God is wanting to work through each member of the body. Our motivation must be upward, wanting to give God glory, and outward to bring life, healing, and benefit to others.

If that's our foremost desire, then God will bless that. And you have to ask yourself, why do I want to be used? Why do I want to receive the gifts? Is it ultimately to give evidence to the death and resurrection of Jesus? Then you're on the right track.

Then you're on the right track. The gifts are God's method for touching sick, hurting, and broken people. Can I say that again? The gifts are God's method for touching sick, hurting, and broken people. The Spirit wants to set people free.

The Spirit wants to set people free. That's why Jesus was anointed. Isaiah 61, Ruach, Adonai, Elohim, Alayah, and Mashach, Adonai, Atila, Vaseren, Avim.

Shlachani, lachabosh, l'nishb'rev. I could go on quoting, but it wouldn't. I'll get edified, but you won't be edified just hearing the Hebrew. Sometimes people are just because they love the Hebrew and feel it's the power of Scripture untranslated. But Jesus is saying there, as quoted then in Luke 4, the Spirit of the Lord is on me. He wanted me to preach good news to the meek, to the poor.

He sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the prisoner. That's why the Spirit anoints us and works through us. One touch of the Spirit can change someone's life.

I've seen people, you argue with them, you try to convince them, you say that over and over and over and over and over and over and over without any good result. And then the Holy Spirit just touches them and everything changes. In the midst of speaking about the gifts, Paul speaks about love, 1 Corinthians 13. We must follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts. And God has no desire to back our man-centered gospel enterprise. We must be motivated by God's glory and compassion for others. God is jealous for his reputation and honor. Let me say it again, the gifts are not to exalt us, they're to exalt Jesus. The gifts are not to make us somebody big, the gifts are to minister grace and help and love to others. The belief in the cessation of the gifts of the Spirit gives people a limited view of God and what he wants to do. In other words, it says that he's no longer working actively in these different ways and he's no longer speaking to us in personal intimate ways.

It does limit aspects of his character. It says that the compassion by which he healed in biblical times is no longer working in the same way today. People will generally learn about God to the extent that we bring God to those people. God works through people. And while our motivation is not self-edification, if God is moving through us and lives are being changed, we will be edified.

We will get excited and blessed. The whole key to effectiveness is that the Spirit does his work through us, but it is the Spirit's work. The whole key to effectiveness is that the Spirit does his work through us, but it is the Spirit's work. I want to read to you from 1 Corinthians 14 and then I want to give you one closing illustration. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. As Paul is coming to the conclusion of his whole teaching, what does he say?

This is his final word. As he gives a final exhortation and encouragement, therefore my brothers and sisters be eager to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. Nowhere in the Bible is that rescinded. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that was only for that day. So this is an ongoing exhortation from God to all of us.

Therefore my brothers and sisters be eager to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. I am not primarily used by God to heal the sick, but it has happened at times when God's used me to heal the sick in ways. No, I don't mean someone born blind, their eyes open. I haven't seen that in my own life or ministry. I have colleagues who've seen miraculous healings of the blind. That has not been how he's used me, but I have seen times where I've laid hands on someone and they felt something supernatural happened to them. They felt heat.

I felt heat as I touched them and felt like they were burning and they felt heat and they were instantly healed. Of the sickness. Or in one case, I prayed for a woman. I remember her as an old woman, but that was in the 80s for me. So she may have been my age now, but I remember she was an old woman and she had stomach cancer. She had a tumor in her stomach and was scheduled to go in for surgery.

And when I touched her, I felt the power of God come out of me. She fell to the ground. She collapsed. And then the pastor called me to say, Mike, she went in for surgery. Then she went in for surgery.

They opened her up and the tumor was gone. So I have had those things happen. But here's the deal. All I did was touch the person. I didn't do anything. It was not, whoa, what's in your hand?

I did nothing. It was the same hand with which I scratched my head. It was the same hand with which I pick up a bottle to have a drink of water. It's the same hand I use to stick my knife into my fork, into my salad and eat. The same hand that I shake hands with someone.

The same hand I type on my computer. It is nothing about me. It was God.

And that's what we have to remember. It's not how smart you are, how gifted you are, how powerful you are. It's the Holy Spirit working through us. And I don't know that God has too many servants that are denser than me or make more mistakes than me. So if he can work through me, he can work through any of us. He can work through all of us. So make yourself available and say, Lord, here I am. Send me, use me.

Here I am. I know there's more that you could do. Let it be for the glory of Jesus' name. Let it draw people to him.

Let it be for the edification of your body. And I will rejoice in your goodness and your love and your grace. What an amazing God we serve. Okay, my daily reminder, if you're not getting our digital free life changing frontline newsletter comes out once a month, it's free. Go to thelineoffire.org, click subscribe.

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