Published by admin on 23 Dec 2011 at 05:36 pm
BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW
The LORD has given many gifts to the Body of Christ to enable His church to grow. Some people put so much emphasis on the gifts that they forget all about the Giver of the gifts. We are told what the spiritual gifts are, according to 1 Corinthians 12:4-10
1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
I’ve been to many churches where they teach about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I seldom see them in action. Oh, they preach, holler, shake, prophesy, call upon heaven to open and pour out the gifts upon them, but….well, as they say, talk is cheap. I want to SEE the gifts in action, don’t you? There must be something missing, else the gifts would be in manifestation. After all, we worship the same Christ Jesus as the early church did. And we know He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Something must be wrong, then. What could it be?
Maybe the walls of the church are the wrong color, or maybe the carpet or the chairs are the wrong color. Maybe it’s the sound system? Oh, I know, the people aren’t putting enough in the offering plate; yeah, that’s got to be it; they aren’t sowing enough to be able to reap the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Well, we can rule out what color the church walls are, because the early church mostly met in homes, and as near as I can tell, the Gifts operated even where there was only a dirt floor, even outdoors, whether there were chairs or carpet or not. I can see where Simon the sorcerer tried to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit and he couldn’t, so it must not be a money thing, or “sowing” as they put it. There must be another reason the Gifts of the Holy Spirit aren’t seen working more than we see them.
The answer was revealed by the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew 24:9-12:
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Let’s have a closer look: oooooh, here’s one: And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. What do you see going on? People not getting their own way, so they get offended and not only don’t LOVE one another, but actually HATE one another. That’s a Holy Spirit gift stopper if I ever saw one! And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. OK, what’s going on HERE? People preaching the old “Burger King” mentality, you can have God any way you want, you can get the Holy Spirit gifts to work, any old way you want, you can be selfish, stiff-necked, hateful, you have a RIGHT to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and God said He would give you those gifts, right? False prophets tell people that because of “grace” they can continue living in sin, and God is ok with it. WRONG!! Now look at this: And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. There you have it, the real reason you don’t see more manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: sin abounding and the love of many has waxed cold. The Lord Jesus made a play on words here, “wax cold”. Warm wax is pliable and moldable. Cold wax is stiff and hard and unmoldable. We say, LORD, make me and mold me into YOUR image? But our love is waxed cold? Then don’t expect the gifts of the Holy Spirit to work if your love is waxed cold. The gifts work by WHAT? Building a big, fine church building? Shouting? Praying and shaking? Prophesying? No, they work by LOVE.
The process of elimination makes it simple; if there’s no love, there can be no gifts of the Holy Spirit working. All the preaching, praying, and prophesying in the world won’t make up for a lack of love. I don’t care how good the preaching is or how good the music is, the only way people will know we are disciples of Christ Jesus, is if we have love for one another. That’s what it took in the early church to operate in miracles and power, and that’s what it takes now. New day, but the same old rules apply. It is written in Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. So how do we discern the difference between the counterfeit “believers” and the genuine? Simple, look how they love and serve one another. The Lord Jesus summed it up like this in John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Terry G Warman on 24 Dec 2011 at 12:11 pm #
Thank you Brother for your Ministry to others and for all that are thirsting for the “TRUTH”!
For that is what they are getting here.
I am Blessed to even know Jesus and to have Him watch over me and my Family.
I ask God Almighty to Bless you continually with a Triple Portion from Him ,as He continues to guide you.
Pray His Angels camp all around you to protect you,And His Spirit never leave you.
Thank you again,and as always..I Love you My Brother……Terry
James LeBlanc on 24 Dec 2011 at 5:06 pm #
Timely word in a timely season and not meaning the Christmas season. We are in a season of awakening and many slumber and the Holy Spirit is poking our hearts to awake and hear His voice. A sister shared with me the other morning that we need to travel the straight and narrow path and may are off course and have lost the way. Having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof is where most of the church world is. Brother keep challenging us in the faith because truth is what we need to shake us up!
God Bless You Bro Jerry
Robbee on 25 Dec 2011 at 3:07 pm #
Have a blessed Christmas