Latest / Wave Point St Francis / Gifts of The Holy Spirit
Transcript
- 0:02Hey podcast fam, CJ Hansen, the pastor of WavePoint
- 0:05Church. Thank you so much for joining us today.
- 0:08We love you and we pray that this message will
- 0:10build your faith and empower you to share the
- 0:12message of Jesus to the world. Enjoy. She laid
- 0:17a foundation that every believer is gifted without
- 0:21exception. Why? Because 1 Corinthians 12 verse
- 0:247 says, a spiritual gift is given to each of
- 0:28us so we can help each other. I love that. I
- 0:32love that. I think for some of us, our experiences
- 0:35when it comes to the Holy Spirit and comes to
- 0:37the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it's sometimes
- 0:39so self -centered in a way. Because it was always
- 0:43about an individual standing in the front, the
- 0:45man of God or the woman of God. And it's all
- 0:48about that person and it's not really about others.
- 0:51The gifts that God has given each and every single
- 0:54one of you here this morning, it's not for myself.
- 0:56It's not that I can glory in myself, but it's
- 0:58for other people. It's so that I can serve people,
- 1:02amen? And he says, the gifts are not chosen by
- 1:06us. The spirit, he gives as he wills. And these
- 1:12gifts are irrevocable. God does not take back
- 1:15what he gives. No gift is superior to the other.
- 1:20The body needs every part equally. And then she
- 1:23spoke about talent. A talent produces admiration.
- 1:27I mean, we've got talented people in South Africa,
- 1:29amen? There's probably a lot of talented people
- 1:31here this morning. But if we're really honest,
- 1:33if we are not careful, pride can easily creep
- 1:36in when we are talented. Why? Because it kind
- 1:39of exalts us in a way. Does it make sense? Right?
- 1:43But the gift, what does it do? It produces transformation.
- 1:48Which means that, again, the gift that God has
- 1:50given me is not about myself, but it's about
- 1:52people. And she mentioned that there are three
- 1:56categories when it comes to the gifts of the
- 1:59Spirit. And that's what we're going to look at
- 2:00today. So this is an invitation. It's an invitation
- 2:03to ask the Spirit, what have you placed in me?
- 2:07And who around me needs what I am carrying? That's
- 2:12beautiful. That shifts everything. That doesn't
- 2:14make it about me. Say, God, whatever you placed
- 2:16in me, I don't need a microphone. I don't need
- 2:18a stage or platform. I just want to get to the
- 2:22place of knowing what God has placed in me and
- 2:24how can I use it for the people around me. Because
- 2:28honestly, tomorrow is Monday and that's really
- 2:30when the gifts are needed. Tuesday's coming.
- 2:33That's when the gifts are needed. When you're
- 2:35sitting in your office and there's a lady there
- 2:36that's got a bit of a gloom look over her face
- 2:39and you don't know what's going on, that's when
- 2:40you need the gift of the Spirit to begin to operate
- 2:43on the inside of you so that you can speak to
- 2:45that person, that you can give them a word, that
- 2:47you can find a scripture sensitive to what God
- 2:50is saying to speak into their lives. That's what
- 2:53the gifts of the Holy Spirit is there for. Amen.
- 2:55So today we're going to unpack those three categories
- 2:58in full. And then we're going to ask that question
- 3:00that every believer needs to answer. Now that
- 3:03I know what I'm carrying, what am I going to
- 3:07do with it? Now that I know what I'm carrying,
- 3:11what am I going to do with it? Amen. So I want
- 3:15us to go to 1 Corinthians 12 from verse 8 to
- 3:1810. And Paul says, Can we go to verse 1? Sorry,
- 3:28I want to go to verse 1. I know we can break
- 3:30it down there. Do you have your Bible? If you
- 3:32don't have it, the screen. It says, Now concerning
- 3:35spiritual gifts, brethren and sistren, I do not
- 3:40want you to be ignorant. You know that you were
- 3:44Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols however
- 3:48you were led. I was one of those dumb guys in
- 3:52my previous life. Therefore, That's very important.
- 4:07No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the
- 4:10Holy Spirit. Amen. Verse 4. Lord. And there are
- 4:26diversities of activities, but it's the same
- 4:29God who works all in all. But the manifestation
- 4:33of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit
- 4:37of all. There it is again, Paul says, it's given
- 4:41to the profit of all. And sometimes the prophets
- 4:45are not profiting for all, they're profiting
- 4:48for themselves. But it's a different discussion
- 4:51on a different day. Hallelujah. So here we go.
- 4:53Verse 8. For to one, this is now the gifts. For
- 4:58to one is given the word of wisdom through the
- 5:02Spirit. To another, the word of knowledge through
- 5:07the same Spirit. To another, faith by the same
- 5:11Spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the same
- 5:14Spirit. To another, the working of miracles.
- 5:18To another, prophecy. To another, discerning
- 5:21of spirits. To another, different kinds of tongues.
- 5:24To another, the interpretation of tongues. But
- 5:28one in the same spirit works all things, all
- 5:31these things, distributing to each one individually
- 5:34as he wills. So that first category or that first
- 5:39list is the manifestation gifts. That's what
- 5:42we find in Corinthians. So these are manifestation
- 5:45gifts. And I want to go through them all this
- 5:49morning so that we can have an understanding
- 5:50of what that means. And as we go through these
- 5:53gifts, I want you to do a little bit of some
- 5:56soul searching this morning and say, that's the
- 5:59gift that's been operating in my life. You want
- 6:02to ask that question and identify why so that
- 6:05it can benefit others. Amen. All right, so that
- 6:09first one is the word of wisdom. What is it?
- 6:11The word of wisdom is supernatural insight into
- 6:14how to apply God's truth to a specific situation.
- 6:19I just want to quickly check, Bram, are we recording?
- 6:23We are recording. Okay, great. I don't want to
- 6:25get in trouble again, you know. So supernatural
- 6:28insight into how to apply God's truth to a specific
- 6:33situation. Not human wisdom accumulated over
- 6:36time. but Spirit -given clarity for a particular
- 6:40need in a particular moment. Think about that,
- 6:44a word of wisdom. A word of wisdom can change
- 6:46somebody's life in an instant. Just by you tapping
- 6:49into that gift that God's given you, it can change
- 6:52somebody's life. Number two, the word of knowledge.
- 6:56The word of knowledge is supernaturally revealed
- 7:00information about a person or a situation that
- 7:04could not be known naturally. God disclosing
- 7:08what is hidden to bring healing, restoration,
- 7:12or breakthrough. Doesn't say anything about shame.
- 7:18I've been in too many meetings where the gift,
- 7:20the word of knowledge is flowing, but it's more
- 7:23sometimes to bring shame and to call out that
- 7:26person. And God will never do that. He'll never
- 7:29get you to come up here and expose your whole
- 7:31entire life in front of a congregation. He'll
- 7:33never do that. It is for healing, restoration,
- 7:37and breakthrough the gift of faith it is a sudden
- 7:42extraordinary search of trust in God that far
- 7:46exceeds ordinary saving faith it's important
- 7:49to understand saving faith when we put our faith
- 7:52in Jesus when we heard when we have heard the
- 7:55gospel being preached we put our faith In Jesus.
- 7:58But the gift of faith, it's something extraordinary
- 8:02surge that happens and it exceeds our ordinary
- 8:05faith. For example, sometimes you will hear somebody
- 8:09trusting God for something and they have so much
- 8:11faith for it, but it just doesn't resonate with
- 8:13you. Ever had that? And sometimes you are so
- 8:16surprised by other people's faith and you're
- 8:18like, oh, you believe in God for that? You trust
- 8:20in God for that? It's the gift of faith within
- 8:23that person that they can just believe for things
- 8:25just on another level. It is the ability to believe
- 8:30God for the impossible in a specific situation
- 8:32without doubt or wavering. That's the gift of
- 8:36faith. Then we have the gift of healings. Note
- 8:40that it says not the gift of healing, the gift
- 8:42of healings. It's different gifts for different
- 8:47conditions. It flows through different people
- 8:50in different moments. No single person carries
- 8:53every healing gift. Then we have the working
- 8:58of miracles. The working of miracles is supernatural
- 9:02interventions that transcends the natural order.
- 9:07The working of miracles. God is overriding or
- 9:10suspending the created world to demonstrate that
- 9:13the kingdom has come near. That is those things
- 9:17that you can't explain. It's like somebody had
- 9:19cancer and the cancer just disappeared. You know,
- 9:23it's like supernaturally, just a miracle. I remember
- 9:26when we, when Josh was, I think he was six or
- 9:29seven months old and we drove down to Jeffries
- 9:31Bay on a holiday and we, the tire burst and the
- 9:35car rolled from the one side of the road to the
- 9:37other side, hit something on the right side and
- 9:40rolled back over to the other side again. And
- 9:42supernaturally, like a miracle, Josh was in the
- 9:46back of the car and he probably just had a little
- 9:48scratch on his head. That was a miracle. That
- 9:51was where God comes and He intervenes into time
- 9:54and space, right? And He just comes and takes
- 9:56him out of that car and puts him on the side
- 9:59of the road. That's the miracle working power
- 10:02of God. Amen? Then the gift of prophecy. I think
- 10:06this is the one that's a little bit, you know,
- 10:09misunderstood or causes a bit of drama. It's
- 10:12this one and tongues. So we're going to talk
- 10:14about those two a little bit later. Hallelujah.
- 10:16I have your attention, I can see. All right,
- 10:19prophecy. What is prophecy? It's speaking under
- 10:23the Spirit's direction. Sorry, speaking under
- 10:27the Spirit's direct inspiration to bring edification,
- 10:31exhortation, and comfort to specific people or
- 10:35a gathered church. There it is again, not to
- 10:39bring your stuff to the front, not to shame you,
- 10:41not to bring anything over you, but to edify
- 10:43you, to comfort you, and to exhort you. That's
- 10:47the gift of prophecy. That's what it's about.
- 10:49And you can discern every prophetic word that
- 10:51somebody gives you. You can discern it out of
- 10:54those three things. Is it comforting? Is it exhorting?
- 10:57Is it edifying my spirit? And then we have the
- 11:02discerning of spirits. The discerning of spirits
- 11:06is the ability to perceive the true spiritual
- 11:09source behind words, actions, or atmospheres.
- 11:13Whether divine, human, or demonic. protecting
- 11:16the body from deception. I think this is so key
- 11:21that we need in the hour we're in right now.
- 11:24Because the Bible says that many will be deceived
- 11:26in the last days. He says even the elite, even
- 11:30those that know God, they will be deceived. And
- 11:33we need this gift so much more prevalent within
- 11:36the church. We need this gift in our homes. We
- 11:38need this gift of our children. We need this
- 11:42gift in our marriages. We need this gift in our
- 11:44families. To be able to discern when people come
- 11:46to you and say something, you need to discern
- 11:49what spirit is operating behind it. You know,
- 11:53sometimes when you walk into a room and you can
- 11:54just feel, it's a sin. Right? And then we just
- 11:59brush it off with, oh, I'm getting a bad feeling.
- 12:02No. Maybe that's the gift that God has placed
- 12:05in you. And that gift is needed. Why? Because
- 12:07it's going to protect somebody. How many times
- 12:10have you shared something with your child? How
- 12:13many times have you phoned your son in the night
- 12:14and said, hey, you don't go there? Why? Because
- 12:17that gift begins to kick in to discern. It's
- 12:21so, so important. You know, and I look at this
- 12:23gift. I'm so grateful that God is giving us these
- 12:26gifts. The Holy Spirit, Jesus didn't just leave
- 12:29us here by ourselves and he went on to heaven.
- 12:31He sent his Holy Spirit and his Spirit comes
- 12:34with these gifts in us. Why? To help us, to lead
- 12:38us and to guide us. Amen. Then this gives the
- 12:43different kinds of tongues. What is that? It
- 12:46is speaking in languages not learned by a speaker,
- 12:49used in personal prayer for self -edification
- 12:53or corporately when accompanied by interpretation.
- 12:57We're going to get to this one. Don't worry,
- 12:59we're going to get to this one. Then the interpretation
- 13:02of tongues. It is the supernatural ability to
- 13:06render a tongue. in the language of the hearers,
- 13:09so the whole church may be built up by what the
- 13:12Spirit is communicating. So somebody comes into
- 13:16a gathering like this and they release a tongue,
- 13:18then somebody is required to come and interpret
- 13:21what that person is saying. But I don't want
- 13:25to get ahead of myself, so we'll get there. All
- 13:27right, so in our list, the first ones we have
- 13:30is the manifestation gifts. The word of wisdom,
- 13:33word of knowledge, gift of faith, sorry, gift
- 13:36of healings. Gift of working of miracles, the
- 13:39gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits, different
- 13:41kind of tongues, interpreting of tongues. And
- 13:45then in our second list of gifts, we have the
- 13:47motivational gifts. And we find these gifts in
- 13:51Romans 12 from verse 6 to 8. Let's read it together.
- 13:58Romans 12, 6 to 8. There we go. And Paul says,
- 14:05differing according to the grace that is given
- 14:07to us. Let us use them. If prophecy, let's prophesy
- 14:12in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let
- 14:16us use it in our ministering. He who teaches
- 14:19in teaching. He who exhorts in exhortation. He
- 14:24who gives with liberty. He who leads with diligence.
- 14:29And he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Is
- 14:33that it? So number one, we see this motivational
- 14:36gift is prophecy. And here in the sense of foretelling,
- 14:41declaring God's truth with clarity, directness,
- 14:45and conviction. The person with this gift sees
- 14:48and says what others hesitate to name. Then we
- 14:52see the gift of service. It is a spirit -empowered
- 14:55drive to meet practical needs. Don't you just
- 14:58love those people? They have that gift of serving.
- 15:01They just... They serve above and beyond. They
- 15:04get hurt by people while they're serving, but
- 15:06they still go back to serve. And everyone else
- 15:09is saying, I don't understand why you keep doing
- 15:11it. Why? Because it's a gift that God's given
- 15:13them. The gift of serving. The gift of seeing
- 15:18what needs to be done, and they do it. Often
- 15:21without being asked, without recognition, and
- 15:23without resentment. The gift of teaching. It
- 15:27is the ability to explain and apply God's word
- 15:30in ways that produce genuine understanding and
- 15:33lasting life change. Not just information conveyed,
- 15:37but truth that lands and it transforms. That's
- 15:41a gift. It takes a gift. Exhortation. It is the
- 15:46gift of coming alongside people to encourage,
- 15:49to challenge, and stir them towards growth and
- 15:53action. This person leaves people feeling both
- 15:56deeply seen and propelled forward. So you got
- 16:00to do some searching this morning and say, which
- 16:03one of these gifts has the Holy Spirit given
- 16:06me? Which one of them? And this one personally
- 16:09for me, exhortation. This is a gift for me that
- 16:13I know that Holy Spirit has graciously given
- 16:16me. Why? Because I want to encourage people.
- 16:19I want to challenge people. I want to stir them
- 16:21toward. That, hey, you can grow. God's called
- 16:24you for deeper things. God has called you for
- 16:26more. And what does it do? It propels those people
- 16:29forward. And I want to develop and grow that
- 16:32gift more and more within my life. Then the gift
- 16:35of giving. This is a spirit -given generosity
- 16:38that goes beyond what is ordinary or comfortable.
- 16:42The ability and desire to give liberally, joyfully,
- 16:46and strategically for kingdom purposes. Wow,
- 16:50what a gift. And what a gift I feel all of us
- 16:54should desire. That God, I don't want this to
- 16:57be for some, but I want to have the gift of giving.
- 17:01Why? Because that gift of giving wants to advance
- 17:04the kingdom of God. They use every resource,
- 17:08everything that they have, is why? To advance
- 17:10the kingdom of God. You know, this week I was
- 17:13sitting with somebody in J -Bay, and they were
- 17:17asking me some questions, and it was... on this
- 17:19topic, and one of them were on giving. One of
- 17:23them were on tithing, and this young man says
- 17:25to me, well, why does God need my money? And
- 17:29I was like, whoa, bro. God doesn't need your
- 17:31money. But what He does want is your heart. That's
- 17:37it. He wants your heart. I grew up in a small
- 17:40town here just across the bay. And I grew up
- 17:44with a single mom and I stayed in a shack and
- 17:46I grew up poor. I know what it is to have nothing
- 17:50and come from nothing. But within that poverty
- 17:53or in that state that we were staying in, there
- 17:56was also a spirit of poverty that was in operation.
- 17:59There was something that the enemy has left in
- 18:02that area that we started operating under. And
- 18:05it was only as I was growing older and sitting
- 18:07under the Word of God, beginning to realize that
- 18:09God wants CJ to be blessed. God wants to bless
- 18:13me. He wants to add to my life. And people were
- 18:15saying, well, to be poor is more holy. And it's
- 18:19to be more closer to the Lord. Hallelujah. Right?
- 18:23And people believe. They believe that. They sit
- 18:25within that. And I began to realize when I started
- 18:28being generous, when I started giving, when God
- 18:31started testing my heart in terms of my finances,
- 18:36that that 100 grand that He gave me, that He's
- 18:40given it to me anyway. And he's testing where
- 18:42my heart is in relation to my finances. Amen.
- 18:46And then this gift comes on top of that. And
- 18:50this is the gift that says, I want to give joyfully.
- 18:52I want to advance the kingdom of God. Amen. And
- 18:55as God blessed me in my business or whatever
- 18:57adventure I go into is that it's always for the
- 19:00kingdom of God. Hallelujah. Then the gift of
- 19:02leadership. It is the ability to see where God
- 19:05is going. To inspire others to move in that direction
- 19:09and govern both diligence and genuine care for
- 19:14the people being led. I never believed or I never
- 19:19saw that this gift was on my life. And again,
- 19:24it was because of how I grew up. You know, I
- 19:27didn't have a dad that was leading me. Because
- 19:29you know, the father brings out that leader in
- 19:32you. And I never had that. And years later, as
- 19:35I lived up in Johannesburg, I was involved in
- 19:37a church. It was probably about 12 years ago,
- 19:40maybe even a bit more. And this pastor that I
- 19:43was serving under, he saw this gift of leadership
- 19:47in my life. And the first thing he said to me,
- 19:49he said, son, call me son. He said, son, God's
- 19:53called you to be a leader. And he says, I know
- 19:56that you can't see it right now, but I'm going
- 19:58to give you a group of people that I want you
- 20:00to look after. And I said, for me, I can't. And
- 20:03he gave me the creative team because I'm a creative
- 20:05and photography, videography, videos, that's
- 20:08what I was doing. And he said to me, I want you
- 20:10to take this group of people and I want you to
- 20:13lead them. I want you to speak into their lives,
- 20:15journey and walk a road with them. There was
- 20:17about probably 10 of them at the time. And honest
- 20:20truth, within a matter of three months, that
- 20:2310 group grew into 70 people in that team. And
- 20:27he saw what I couldn't see. at the time, that
- 20:30the gift of leadership, the gift of encouragement
- 20:32to lead people, to see what God sees and to be
- 20:35able to lead people into it was always that the
- 20:38Spirit of God put on my life. Maybe you are here
- 20:41this morning and that gift God has put on your
- 20:43life. Maybe God's placed it on you and you're
- 20:45not quite believing it this morning. You're still
- 20:48measuring yourself up with how you grew up. You're
- 20:52still measuring yourself up maybe what that teacher
- 20:54said when you were in high school. You know,
- 20:56my teacher said to me, Mr. Jansen, yeah. And
- 21:01those things, they stick. And when we come into
- 21:04the house of God and we learn about that God
- 21:06has got a gift for us, we rather don't want to
- 21:08receive the gift. It can't be for me. But I want
- 21:10to break that this morning over your life. And
- 21:13I want to tell you that these gifts are in you
- 21:15and every single one of you this morning. And
- 21:17the world that you interact with every single
- 21:19day needs these gifts to come forth through your
- 21:22life. Why? Because it changes people's lives.
- 21:25Look what God has done just with my gift. What
- 21:30can God do with your gift? Think about it. The
- 21:36gift of mercy. It is a supernatural capacity
- 21:40for compassion. The ability to enter deeply into
- 21:44the pain of others. To be fully present in suffering
- 21:48without being overwhelmed or burning out. the
- 21:52gift of mercy. I've seen this gift operate within
- 21:56my mom's life growing up. You can go to Palstras,
- 22:00the area that I grew up in. When people ask you
- 22:03and speak about Auntie Julia, they'll know, oh,
- 22:05that's CJ's mom. And my mom, she wakes up every
- 22:09morning, she'd wake up five o 'clock and she
- 22:12would go and knock on people's doors that were
- 22:14sick. Literally, she'd go to every house, she'd
- 22:16go pray for them, love on them. And God just
- 22:20gave us such a gift of mercy to have compassion
- 22:22with those that were hurting and stuff. And she
- 22:26would, I remember taking me with her in the mornings
- 22:28to these people's houses. And I'm talking about
- 22:30where people's legs are getting ready to be amputated
- 22:33and the stuff is flowing out and people are being
- 22:36hurt. You know, like hard things. And she would
- 22:40sit there and just have so much mercy and compassion
- 22:42over people. Never got a stage. Never got a microphone
- 22:48in her hand. Never. One's got somebody tapped
- 22:51on the back. Never. Just the gift of mercy that
- 22:53was operation in our life. Wow. I think we need
- 22:58more of that in the town we're living in right
- 23:00now. You know, this afternoon we, from three
- 23:04to four, I think, from three to four, we are
- 23:07praying. There's a prayer meeting happening on
- 23:09Main Beach in Jeffries Bay. And we're not praying
- 23:11for the church. We're not praying for us. We're
- 23:13actually praying for the shutdown that's happening
- 23:15this week. And all we're saying is, God, that
- 23:17you would intervene. God, that you would move
- 23:19on behalf of a people. Just for us to have mercy
- 23:22on those that are going through quite a bit of
- 23:25a tough time right now. I know that legally we
- 23:27can argue a lot of things that people are not
- 23:29supposed to be here. They're supposed to go back
- 23:31to their countries and their nations. But hey,
- 23:33they're still God's people. And I need to feel
- 23:36what God feels for those people. Does it make
- 23:39sense? And that we don't just live our lives,
- 23:41just be so oblivious to what's happening around
- 23:43us. But that when we begin to activate the gifts
- 23:46of the Spirit within us, that we can walk into
- 23:48spa here and say, God, I'm here to buy bread,
- 23:51but I want to be attentive to what's happening
- 23:53in this aisle. Who's here? Who do I see every
- 23:56day sit at the till? There's so many people in
- 23:59St. Francis that God already made you aware of
- 24:01and you haven't taken the step. God is already
- 24:03unctioning you. He's already putting something
- 24:05in you for that person. And I'm telling you now,
- 24:08when you begin to activate these gifts, it will
- 24:10just begin to flow out of you. It will change
- 24:13somebody. It can change somebody's life. Amen.
- 24:17All right, so that was the motivational gifts.
- 24:21And now we have the ministry gift. And we see
- 24:24these in Ephesians 4 from verse 11 to 13. This
- 24:28is the ministry gifts. Verse 11 says, and he
- 24:36himself, which is Jesus, gave some to be apostles,
- 24:39some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors,
- 24:44and some teachers. So these are the fivefold
- 24:48ministry gifts. I want to quickly go through
- 24:51them. Number one gift is the apostle. What does
- 24:55that mean? It is one that is sent out to establish
- 24:59new works. It's one that plants churches. and
- 25:03pioneers new gospel territory. That's the apostolic
- 25:09gift on somebody. That person carries a spirit
- 25:12or initiative and the capacity to build where
- 25:15nothing yet exists. That is that apostolic gift.
- 25:21Number two, the prophet. He's the one who speaks
- 25:25with revelation and brings the church into alignment
- 25:28with the heart and the mind of God for a specific
- 25:31moment. In history. That's the prophet. And then
- 25:36the evangelist. He's the one that's supernaturally
- 25:39gifted to communicate the gospel in ways that
- 25:43move people from unbelief to belief. From unbelief
- 25:48to faith. They create an atmosphere of conviction
- 25:51and divine opportunity surrounds them. Who knows
- 25:55Reiner Bonnke? What an evangelist. What the gift
- 25:59of evangelism is on his, it was just on his life,
- 26:02amen? Then the pastor. The pastor is the one
- 26:07who shepherds, he protects, he feeds, he cares
- 26:12for the flock with a father's heart and a shepherd's
- 26:15patience. Always oriented toward the long -term
- 26:19health of people. I take my hat off for the pastors.
- 26:24Oh, man. It's like all the other gifts here,
- 26:28you know, like the ministry gift, sometimes they
- 26:30come and go. They come into a church and they
- 26:32leave. But it's ultimately the pastor and the
- 26:35teacher that stays behind. Because they are the
- 26:37ones that walk a road with the people. They're
- 26:39for the long term. Amen. And then we have the
- 26:42teacher, the gift of the teacher. This is the
- 26:45one who unpacks the truth of Scripture with depth,
- 26:48accuracy, and clarity. Building the church in
- 26:52understanding and conviction, not merely delivering
- 26:55information. Very important. It builds the church
- 27:00in understanding and in conviction. Maybe you're
- 27:03sitting here this morning and maybe these gifts,
- 27:06you've seen some of them already active in your
- 27:09life. Before somebody told me that I was a pastor,
- 27:13I only realized this later on, I was already
- 27:15pastoring. Because throughout my high school
- 27:18life, Whenever I was with people, I was always
- 27:21the one that was shepherding. Always shepherding.
- 27:24Always calling people together. Always want to
- 27:27love on people. Bring the best out of people.
- 27:29Which means that the gift God has already placed
- 27:31in you. And you would have seen this gift already
- 27:34happening in your life. When we look at the apostolic
- 27:39gift, again, it's not the guru that stands in
- 27:42the front with a jacket. That's not what it's
- 27:45about. And the thing is, it's become that. So
- 27:48what do we do? I never want to be a pastor. I
- 27:51was one of those guys that says, if that's what
- 27:53pastors are, then I don't want to be a pastor.
- 27:55They just gave the wrong picture of what it is
- 27:57to be a pastor. That's it. If you look at the
- 28:01apostolic gift on somebody's life, what is it?
- 28:05It is to establish something. Some of you guys
- 28:07here have established businesses and you don't
- 28:09even realize that you have an apostolic gift
- 28:10on your life. Some of you went to places where
- 28:14there was nothing, nothing existed before, and
- 28:16you were able to start something from nothing.
- 28:18And you don't even realize that is an apostolic
- 28:20gift on your life. Mr. B, that is an apostolic
- 28:24gift on your life, to take something from nothing,
- 28:27to see what others don't see, to be able to take
- 28:30it and make it happen into what it is today.
- 28:33That's an apostolic gift. And Mr. B, God has
- 28:37given you that gift in the natural. Yes, it's
- 28:39working itself out. But I believe, sir, it's
- 28:43the season that you are stepping into that spiritual
- 28:45gift. That spiritual gift of establishing. Like
- 28:49this morning, we walked to back here. There's
- 28:51a little, just, there's nothing there. You walk
- 28:54there and you're like, what is this? And he walked
- 28:56in and he could immediately begin to see this.
- 29:01That's the gift that's in operation with us.
- 29:03And I think sometimes we are, we're so oblivious
- 29:05to it or we're not aware of it. We just carry
- 29:07on with our lives and say, wow, that's a gift
- 29:09at God's place. Place it on me. Every single
- 29:11one of us here are gifted. Every single one of
- 29:14us. I could probably spend a week with you and
- 29:17I'll be able to start figuring out already what
- 29:19gift is in operation on your life. Yeah. That
- 29:24young man that's sitting over there with the
- 29:26glasses on, he came and spoke about giving a
- 29:30while back. Remember that Charles came and spoke?
- 29:33Everyone's looking for the young man, Charles.
- 29:36Everyone's like, where's this young man, you
- 29:38know? And I'm not meaning to call out people,
- 29:42but I am very aware when I'm with people. I listen.
- 29:45I take notes. I'm very observant of what's going
- 29:49on. And I could sense that there's that gift
- 29:52of giving on Charles' life. There's that gift
- 29:54of teaching on his life, wanting to understand.
- 29:58You know what I mean? And we need to develop
- 30:00those gifts. Lisa, you need to develop those
- 30:02gifts. She says to me this morning, I downloaded
- 30:05this Logos app and I'm digging into the scriptures
- 30:08and I'm commentaries. Maybe there's something
- 30:11that God is putting in you that maybe that gift
- 30:13of the teacher is there and it needs to be developed.
- 30:16Why? Not for myself, for others. I want to be
- 30:19a blessing to other people. Amen? Ephesians 4
- 30:22says to equip, this is why the fire -filled gift
- 30:26is to equip the saints, That's beautiful. These
- 30:41ministry gifts, they don't exist not so that
- 30:44a small number of gifted people can do all ministry
- 30:47while the congregation watches. These gifts exist
- 30:52for every single one of you. Every believer,
- 30:55everyone here has a gift on their lives. The
- 30:58pastor, the teacher, the apostle, they are trainers.
- 31:01The congregation is the workforce. So we see
- 31:05in the gifts, we see one spirit. Remember Paul
- 31:09immediately, he keeps saying the Holy Spirit,
- 31:11the Holy Spirit. One spirit, we see three lists.
- 31:15And the one is those gifts, the manifestation
- 31:18gifts. The ministry gifts and the motivational
- 31:21gifts. So how do we get these gifts? What do
- 31:29we do? We have to receive it. That's it. You
- 31:34don't have to work for it. You just have to receive
- 31:37it. One of the most liberating truths about the
- 31:40gifts of the Spirit is this. They are not a reward
- 31:42for spiritual performance. They are not unlocked
- 31:48by reaching a certain level of maturity, accumulating
- 31:51enough Bible knowledge, or spending enough years
- 31:54in church, and then I can become that thing,
- 31:57or then that gift will happen. These gifts, they
- 32:00are received. They are received by grace, through
- 32:04faith, by a spirit who gives to whom he chooses.
- 32:08I want to touch on this apostolic gift again.
- 32:11For some of us here, if we go back to our children
- 32:13when they were smaller, we can see some of these
- 32:15gifts already in operation. in their lives, if
- 32:18we're honest. But the thing is that we were never
- 32:22taught that at that age, we're already supposed
- 32:25to develop that gift within them. We are taught
- 32:28that they need to go to school, they need to
- 32:29go learn, they need to study and all this stuff
- 32:32and become successful. And those things are all
- 32:34important, but never focus on the spiritual side
- 32:37of that individual. And if you think about it,
- 32:40if we begin to focus on our children with the
- 32:42gift that God's placed in them, I believe that
- 32:45they will become even better individuals. In
- 32:47the world out there. Hello. Not everybody is
- 32:50maybe called to full time ministry. But everyone
- 32:52is called to ministry. And in order for you to
- 32:55function within ministry. In the secular world
- 32:57out there. You need the gifts of the Holy Spirit
- 33:00to be evident. Within your life. Hallelujah.
- 33:03These gifts they are received by grace. Through
- 33:06faith. By the Spirit who gives to him. To whom
- 33:09he chooses. I love this quote of Vlad. He says.
- 33:14The gifts of the Spirit are received, not achieved.
- 33:17God is not looking for the most qualified vessel.
- 33:20He's looking for the most available one. At every
- 33:24intersection or every point of my life where
- 33:27things have shifted, I see now tracking back
- 33:30that the common denominator there was me always
- 33:33saying yes. I never understood it. I just said
- 33:36yes. I come out of a background of doing Christian
- 33:39music, Christian hip -hop music. And I'm sitting
- 33:42in an office with a man of God one day and he
- 33:44says to me, CJ, the Lord has not just called
- 33:46you to rap, but he's called you to sing. And
- 33:49at that time, I wasn't singing. I wasn't a worship
- 33:52singer at all. But that day I said yes. That's
- 33:56it. I said, yes, Lord, if that's what you want
- 33:58me to do. And then I started seeing that gift
- 34:00develop. What I shared earlier about leadership,
- 34:03I'm glad that day I just said yes. And as I kept
- 34:06saying yes and being open, those gifts started
- 34:09being developed within me. Amen. So it's not
- 34:13what you do, it's about what you're receiving.
- 34:16And this dismantles one of the most paralyzing
- 34:19lies the enemy has used against believers. You
- 34:22are not ready. You are not qualified. You are
- 34:26not spiritually enough yet. I first need to go
- 34:30study. I first need to go do. Me, pastor, there's
- 34:33no way God can use me. That's a lie from the
- 34:35enemy. That gift is already within you. And Paul
- 34:39does not write to a spiritually elite church
- 34:41in Corinthians. That's what we need to understand.
- 34:44These gifts, he writes it to the church in Corinth.
- 34:47He writes it to the church in Rome. And he writes
- 34:49it to the church in Ephesus. Three different
- 34:51churches that were different places within their
- 34:54lives. Especially the church in Corinth. I mean,
- 34:56they were a crazy bunch of Christians. Like literally.
- 35:00And he writes to them and he says, God has given
- 35:02you a gift. He writes to a church that is divided.
- 35:06They were immature. They were dealing with serious
- 35:08sin. And He tells them, all of them, that the
- 35:11Spirit has gifted each one for the common good.
- 35:15How amazing is that? The gifts are not given
- 35:18because you have arrived. They are given because
- 35:21the Spirit has a purpose and He needs a willing
- 35:25vessel to carry it through. God has a purpose
- 35:29and He's choosing to use every single one of
- 35:31us to see His purposes fulfilled. Amen. So what
- 35:35activates the gift in your life? Availability.
- 35:41That's it. Not ability, just availability. The
- 35:45Holy Spirit works with open hands and open hearts.
- 35:48Not impressive ones, just normal people. Normal
- 35:54people. I forget your name. Next to you, Cara.
- 36:00Jasmine. Normal people, Jasmine. For too long
- 36:05you've been sitting in meetings like this and
- 36:08you've always, that can't be for me. That's for
- 36:11the person next. And God is saying this morning,
- 36:13no, Jasmine, it's for you. It's for you. Just
- 36:16be available. Just be available. Don't wait for
- 36:18the perfect day. Don't wait for the perfect time.
- 36:21It's coming, it's coming. No, the time is right
- 36:23now. God has put things inside of you that people
- 36:26need around you, but you need to make yourself
- 36:28available. Amen? Boldness. You're going to have
- 36:34to be bold. You're going to have to, when you
- 36:36have that unction and feeling on the inside to
- 36:39say something to somebody, you're going to have
- 36:40to be bold to step out and say, hey, I'm so sorry,
- 36:42ma 'am, but I don't really know you, but I just
- 36:45felt I wanted to share this with you. And at
- 36:49some point you might be rejected. Some point
- 36:52people, this guy's crazy. But what if that day
- 36:54when you do step out boldly, it was what that
- 36:57person needed in that moment? Isn't it the best
- 37:00feeling to hear when somebody says, Man, I was
- 37:03going through the same thing and you just said
- 37:04it now. Right? And it's not for me to get a tap
- 37:08on my shoulder, but I want to be so sensitive
- 37:10of what the Holy Spirit is doing because it can
- 37:12impact somebody's life in a powerful way. Amen?
- 37:16Number three, what activates the gift? Intimacy.
- 37:21Intimacy. Building that relationship with Him,
- 37:24with the person of the Holy Spirit. Intimacy
- 37:27with Him. The gifts flow from a relationship
- 37:30with the giver. Hello? You cannot separate the
- 37:37gift from the person who gives it. I have to
- 37:41build intimacy and I build a relationship with
- 37:44the giver. Number four, how do I activate the
- 37:47gift? Humility. Humility. A vessel that takes
- 37:51credit for what the Spirit does quickly becomes
- 37:53a vessel that can no longer be used. Just humility.
- 38:01You don't have to be perfect to be used. You
- 38:04just have to be available. God uses crack pots.
- 38:08That's how the light gets through. Amen. I love
- 38:12that quote. That's how the light gets through.
- 38:16Wow, I'm so like, I'm so amazed at this. That
- 38:22God would use just a little CJ. Not even the,
- 38:27I'm the least qualified. Literally, the least.
- 38:31The guy came to me and I'm in Bible school and
- 38:33this guy prophesies over me. He says to me, young
- 38:35man, he says, God has called you, but he called
- 38:38somebody else. And that person said, no. So you
- 38:42are his second choice. Right? I don't know. Maybe
- 38:49in a different world, it's somebody else that's
- 38:51standing in front of you. In a different world,
- 38:53it's maybe somebody else that's starting a church
- 38:55in Jeffries Bay. But hey, thank God in my world
- 38:59that I said yes. And he chose to use just a vessel
- 39:02that got some cracks in it and whatever. But
- 39:06hey, thank God the light is shining through.
- 39:08Hallelujah. Praise God. So yeah, I love that
- 39:11David says, who am I that you are mindful of
- 39:13me? Who am I that you are mindful? God is so
- 39:17mindful. He's so aware of every single one of
- 39:19us this morning. Every one of us. He's mindful
- 39:22of you. He's got a plan for you. He's got a purpose
- 39:24for you. He wants to use you so badly. And all
- 39:26you need to do is say, God, I'm going to be bold.
- 39:30I'm going to be bold. I'm going to be humble.
- 39:33I'm going to seek intimacy with the Father. And
- 39:36I'm going to put my hand up and just say, yes,
- 39:38Lord. Amen? So these gifts that we're talking
- 39:45about, it's not an event. You know, sometimes
- 39:49we think that the gifts of the Holy Spirit is
- 39:51only for the event on Sunday. You know? We're
- 39:55going to go to a conference or go to a place
- 39:57and the gifts will be there on that event. But
- 39:59no, these gifts are supposed to be a lifestyle.
- 40:03Lifestyle. It must be a lifestyle. There's a
- 40:06common misunderstanding in the Pentecostal and
- 40:08charismatic circles that the gifts are for special
- 40:11occasions. Something that happens on a Sunday
- 40:14morning when the atmosphere is right and the
- 40:16music is right and the feeling is right, the
- 40:17worship is built up and now the gifts are going
- 40:19to happen. We treat the gifts like a special
- 40:23occasion suit that comes out for church and we
- 40:26put it back for the rest of the week. Isn't that
- 40:29true? We just kind of carry on with our daily
- 40:32lives and Sunday we'll be back or Wednesday night
- 40:34we'll be back and we'll be spiritual again. Isn't
- 40:37it? But no, it's not supposed to be like that,
- 40:40guys. It is supposed to be a lifestyle. A lifestyle.
- 40:44I love what Pam says. He says, the gifts are
- 40:46not a Sunday experience. They are a Monday morning
- 40:50lifestyle. The word of knowledge is not just
- 40:52for the platform. It is for the petrol station,
- 40:54the office, the school pickup, the neighbor at
- 40:57the fence. How amazing is that? It's not just
- 41:01for Sunday. It's for when you're standing in
- 41:03line at spa. It's when you buy that coffee here
- 41:06at Seattle and you see that person sitting there
- 41:08and they don't have a coffee yet and you buy
- 41:10the coffee. It's for that person that stands
- 41:13in the queue with you at spa and you just feel
- 41:15like I need to pay for their bill. I need to
- 41:18pay for their groceries or I need to do something.
- 41:20It's for that person. And the more and more you
- 41:23do it, the more and more you step out on it,
- 41:25the more and more it begins to operate and flow
- 41:26through your lives. Amen. The gifts, particularly
- 41:30the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom and
- 41:33prophecy are meant to operate in the everyday
- 41:36ordinary moments of life. A believer filled with
- 41:39the spirit that is attentive to his voice should
- 41:42be carrying a word for someone everywhere. A
- 41:46prompting for your colleague at work. You know,
- 41:51somebody that you start praying, just feeling
- 41:53to pray for a stranger. That gift is operation
- 41:55in your work, not just on a Sunday service. Think
- 42:01about it. How can this neighborhood or this town
- 42:04can be transformed by just Christians living
- 42:07on mission? That's it. Just exercising our gifts.
- 42:11Not from our works, just our gifts. God, what
- 42:13gift have you given me in this week? I want to
- 42:15live and I want to operate within that gifting.
- 42:18Amen. The gifts are not given to make Sundays
- 42:22more exciting. They are given to make Mondays
- 42:24more supernatural. So what does the lifestyle
- 42:29of giving, of gifting looks like? What does it
- 42:32look like? We need to stay attentive. We need
- 42:36to be leaning into the Spirit of God. And we
- 42:40need to be acting in love. And it starts small.
- 42:45Small things. Just little things tomorrow, Monday,
- 42:48Tuesday. Little things. The people that come
- 42:51in contact with, Lord, just give me a scripture
- 42:52for that person. Lord, so -and -so shared about
- 42:56their child that was going through XYZ. Lord,
- 42:59what do I say to that person? What do I speak
- 43:00into it? Little by little by little. And before
- 43:03you know it, God is using you in a mighty way.
- 43:05Hallelujah. Come on, who wants to be used by
- 43:07God? I want to be used by God. I want God to
- 43:10use my gifting. You know? So we're almost there.
- 43:17So quick one. So we see that in Corinthians 12,
- 43:22Paul writes about these gifts. Then in Corinthians
- 43:2713, he writes about the love. Remember that?
- 43:30What love is. And then in 14, he takes two of
- 43:34the gifts and he highlights them through a whole
- 43:36chapter. He highlights the gift of speaking in
- 43:39tongues and he highlights the gift of prophecy.
- 43:42That's what I want us to just for a moment to
- 43:44look at how Paul is highlighting those two gifting.
- 43:47But I want us to note this one thing. It's almost
- 43:50like that he's placed strategically that one
- 43:53chapter within the middle. Is that none of these
- 43:56things can operate without a place from a place
- 43:59of love. We have to have love. It has to be the
- 44:02motivation factor for the gifts of the Spirit
- 44:05to flow within us. Amen. So 1 Corinthians 14
- 44:10verse 18. This is what Paul says. He says, I
- 44:12thank God that I speak in tongues more than all
- 44:15of you. Think about that. The gift of speaking
- 44:18in tongues. He says, I thank God that I speak
- 44:21in tongues more than all of you. This is the
- 44:26apostle Paul, the man who received more revelation
- 44:28from heaven than perhaps anyone in the New Testament,
- 44:31who wrote two -thirds of the New Testament, who
- 44:35was caught up to the third heaven, and he says
- 44:37he prays in tongues more than everyone. It's
- 44:42probably the most debated gift for the second
- 44:45one within the church. Do we speak in tongues?
- 44:48Don't we speak in tongues? If somebody speaks
- 44:50in tongues, I get offended or I leave. Hello?
- 44:54Is this me? Okay. Hallelujah. All right. So what
- 45:02does the Bible say about tongues? We got to look
- 45:06at it. It says 1 Corinthians 14. This is the
- 45:08amplified version. He says, For one who speaks
- 45:10in an unknown tongue does not speak to people,
- 45:13but to God. Right? For no one understands him
- 45:20or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he
- 45:23speaks mysteries, secret truths, hidden things.
- 45:30The message version says, If you praise him in
- 45:33a private language or tongue, God understands
- 45:35you, but no one else does. For you are sharing
- 45:38test intimacies just between you and Him. Which
- 45:43means that when I operate in this gift of tongues,
- 45:46what is it? I'm speaking to the Father. I'm speaking
- 45:50mysteries. My mind cannot understand. I can't
- 45:53make sense of it in my natural mind. It is my
- 45:56spirit connecting to spirit. The Bible says,
- 45:58there's a scripture that says, deep calls unto
- 46:00deep. Amen. And I want to say this to every single
- 46:04one of us this morning, that the gift of speaking
- 46:07in tongues, that heavenly language is available
- 46:10for everyone. It's for everyone. Maybe some of
- 46:13you don't have that gift yet. It's not operating
- 46:15in your life yet, but God desires that for you.
- 46:19The Holy Spirit desires that for you if you want
- 46:22it. Cool? And let me say this about the speaking
- 46:27in tongues is that The gift of speaking in tongues
- 46:30is not the only solidifying factor that you have
- 46:34the Holy Spirit. Is that okay? I can testify
- 46:42about that personally. I grew up Pentecostal.
- 46:46Hello? Right? It's hectic. It's like, it's kerk.
- 46:56Oh no, kerk. And there was the expression of
- 46:59the gift of speaking in tongues within the church
- 47:01or within prayer meetings or wherever I found
- 47:03myself with believers, people were speaking in
- 47:06a heavenly language. And I wasn't able to speak
- 47:09in a heavenly language. And I gave my life to
- 47:12the Lord when I was 10 years old. So for almost
- 47:15eight years of being a Christian, I wasn't speaking
- 47:18in tongues. And you know how bad it got? That
- 47:22people started finding out that I wasn't speaking
- 47:25in tongues. And they said there was something
- 47:28wrong with me. And they would embarrass me in
- 47:32front of people and start casting out demons
- 47:34over me. Because you're not speaking in tongues
- 47:37and you don't have the Holy Spirit. And I began
- 47:40to believe it. And in meetings like this or whenever
- 47:43the Spirit was moving, I would move into the
- 47:45background because I don't want to be embarrassed.
- 47:47And it was taught that the evidence of speaking
- 47:50in tongues is the only evidence of you having
- 47:52the Holy Spirit. But remember the scripture that
- 47:54I read earlier. It is only through the Holy Spirit
- 47:57that I can come to know Jesus. So that 10 -year
- 48:01-old boy that received Jesus Christ that evening
- 48:03in that little community center, when he said
- 48:07yes to Jesus, immediately he was filled with
- 48:10the Spirit of God. And I remember when they prayed
- 48:13for me afterwards in that little small building,
- 48:15this person laid their hands on me, and the next
- 48:18moment I couldn't stand. I just fell under the
- 48:20power of God. And that was actually my moment
- 48:23where the Spirit was poured out on me. I received
- 48:26the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And you know
- 48:31what? At the age of 18 years old, I'm sitting
- 48:35in a friend's room and this friend of mine knew
- 48:37that I desired the gift because Paul says, I
- 48:40want you to desire. I desired it because I wanted
- 48:42to have that gift. If God has it for me, I wanted
- 48:46it. And after years and years of praying, years
- 48:49of prayer meeting, years of... Rodney Howard
- 48:53Brown meetings and all this stuff. Saturday morning
- 48:57in my friend's room. And he said to me, CJ, do
- 49:01you want the gift of speaking in tongues? I said,
- 49:03yes, my friend, you know that I want it. He said,
- 49:05let me pray for you. And he said a simple prayer
- 49:08that morning. And in that moment, the Lord gave
- 49:11me that gift. It wasn't a lot of words. It was
- 49:15just a few little sentences, a few this and that.
- 49:18But he gave me that gift. And my friend said
- 49:21to me, when you go into the car, because we were
- 49:23going to see all of our mates, he said, I want
- 49:25you to tell them that you speak in tongues. I
- 49:27was like, are you sure? He says, you tell them
- 49:29you speak in tongues. As I got into the car,
- 49:32I told them, hey, I speak in tongues. And they
- 49:34said to me, come speak for us. Speak for us.
- 49:37Talk to us. And I think I had like one little
- 49:40whatever it was. But I chose to not let my mind
- 49:47get in the way. Why? Because this is a gift that
- 49:50God had for me. And I wanted that gift. And church,
- 49:54you don't understand how this is, what is added
- 50:00to my life as a believer. You know, it's amazing.
- 50:05And where it speaks about that we pray mysteries
- 50:07to God. Only our spirit knows what we are praying.
- 50:10Paul says we can pray the perfect will of the
- 50:13Father over a situation. Perfect. I can pray
- 50:16for my children. I can pray for them in that
- 50:18understanding and I can ask God for things. But
- 50:21there's moments where I just switch over and
- 50:22begin to speak in a heavenly language over them.
- 50:25And I know that my spirit is praying the will
- 50:26of the Father concerning my children. Literally.
- 50:30There was one testimony. I was in Bible school
- 50:33and I got a call that my mom was, she was in
- 50:37a hospital. And she got this virus, Gilliam.
- 50:44That one, that one. And they phoned me. The doctor
- 50:47said that your mom is in hospital and she's paralyzed.
- 50:50And it was just so weird for me because, you
- 50:53know, like you just think the worst. Like I'm
- 50:55thinking, how can my mom be paralyzed? How can
- 50:56she be? Because I remember there was a prophecy
- 50:58spoken over my mom's life that we were going
- 51:01to be together in ministry one day. We're going
- 51:02to serve God together one day. And I knew that
- 51:05word. And that day, my immediate response was
- 51:09not phoning the hospital back, speaking to my
- 51:11mom. I straight went into the garage. I had a
- 51:13little prayer section area there. And I started
- 51:15praying. I started praying in the understanding,
- 51:18praying in the understanding, praying in the
- 51:19understanding. And the next moment, I started
- 51:20praying in the spirit. I started praying with
- 51:22my heavenly language. I prayed and I prayed and
- 51:24I prayed. I prayed. And the next, as I'm praying
- 51:27in the spirit, the Lord shows me this demonic
- 51:29face. And in an instant, I knew what was attacking
- 51:34my mom. And I began to go after that thing in
- 51:37the spirit. That spirit. That's the thing that
- 51:40wants to just kill my mom. It wants to destroy
- 51:42my mom. It wants to take out the plan that God
- 51:45has for us to serve him in ministry one day.
- 51:47That's what it wants to do. I began to pray against
- 51:49it. And a day or two later, I came down to Port
- 51:53Elizabeth to come and see my mom in the hospital.
- 51:55Got there. My mom was still lying in bed. And
- 51:57we started talking. And I was telling her about
- 51:59this thing that I saw in the spirit. And we prayed.
- 52:02And literally that afternoon when I left the
- 52:04hospital, my mom walked me to the door of the
- 52:06hospital. Yeah. And I thank God for this gift
- 52:11of the Spirit because I could pray in it and
- 52:13God could show me what I needed to fight against.
- 52:17And you know what? It wasn't the last thing that
- 52:18the enemy did with my mom. We moved 2019 to Jeffreys
- 52:22Bay and we're busy getting ready to plant the
- 52:24church there. And the one Saturday we have a
- 52:27little gathering where we were trying to attract
- 52:29people, you know, to team and share the vision
- 52:31of WavePoint. And I get a call and they tell
- 52:33me, your mom is in hospital. Frachtach, he tries
- 52:37to do it again. My mom had another stroke. I
- 52:41get to the hospital. She's sitting in a wheelchair,
- 52:43literally sitting like this, completely almost
- 52:47paralyzed to one side. But what did I know? It
- 52:51was that same spirit. And I wasn't panicking.
- 52:55I wasn't freaking out. I knew exactly what I'm
- 52:57dealing with. And I could go into my prayer closet
- 52:59and I could pray again and say, I see you. I
- 53:03see what you're trying to do. I see what you're
- 53:05trying to stop. with my mom and stuff. And I
- 53:08said, I come against you in the name of Jesus.
- 53:10I take authority over you in the name of Jesus.
- 53:14And if you've ever been at Wave Point in Jeffries
- 53:16Bay, there will be a short auntie that stands
- 53:18by the door and she will greet you. She's smiling.
- 53:21She's happy. There's nothing wrong with her.
- 53:24She's serving in ministry with me today. God
- 53:29is faithful. The gift of God in operation. The
- 53:33gift of God. Not resisting the gift. Not because
- 53:36of a bad history that I had with tongues and
- 53:38I don't want to have. No, no. I want the gift
- 53:41that God has for me. Why? Because it literally
- 53:43saved my mom's life. Saved my mom's life. Operating
- 53:47within that gift. Hallelujah. So when we read
- 53:51it, and I want you to go home and read 1 Corinthians,
- 53:53Paul gives us all the guidelines when it comes
- 53:56to speaking in tongues. He says, Romans 8 says,
- 54:04Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness,
- 54:07for we do not know what to pray for as we ought,
- 54:10but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with
- 54:13groanings too deep for words. And he who searches
- 54:17hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit,
- 54:20because the Spirit intercedes for the saints
- 54:22according to the will of God. When you go and
- 54:27look at 1 Corinthians 14, Paul gives some guidelines
- 54:30when speaking in the Spirit. He says that, that
- 54:32in a gathering as a church like this, whenever
- 54:36somebody comes and takes the mic and releases
- 54:39a tongue or heavenly language, that somebody
- 54:41has to come and interpret their tongue. Hello?
- 54:46So in this church, in this house, we want to
- 54:49follow what the scriptures are saying. Is that
- 54:51okay? And then when you come to the end of chapter
- 54:5314, Paul does never say, he doesn't diminish
- 54:58speaking in tongues. He actually encourages that
- 55:01we need to, Speak in tongues. And all he's saying
- 55:04is that it needs to happen in an orderly fashion.
- 55:08Does it make sense? So when you're going to come
- 55:11to our prayer meeting, we pray first Saturday,
- 55:13which is this coming Saturday. We're praying
- 55:16together. Amen. And when you come to our prayer
- 55:19meeting, you will hear believers praying in the
- 55:23spirit. And in that meeting, I don't read it
- 55:25in the scripture where Paul is asking for somebody
- 55:28to come and interpret their tongue. But it is
- 55:30us as the believers praying together, interceding
- 55:34on something, behalf of the city of St. Francis.
- 55:37Maybe we're praying for a loved one. We're interceding
- 55:40in the Spirit. Amen? Does that make sense? All
- 55:43right. And also, here's another thing. At WavePoint,
- 55:46we're never going to have weird and wonderful
- 55:47things happen, rolling around on the floor necessarily
- 55:50and weird things. Why? Because the Bible says
- 55:54that that Spirit is subject to the one that has
- 55:58it. Which means that even the spirit of prophecy,
- 56:00Paul says, the one that wants to prophesy, he's
- 56:03in control with that prophecy. Which means that
- 56:05when you come to me and you give me a word and
- 56:07you say, Pastor, I feel the Lord is saying this,
- 56:09you need to be okay with me saying, I don't think
- 56:11that word is for right now. Okay? Which means
- 56:17that when the spirit comes on you, something
- 56:20happens, you can still be in control of how that
- 56:24happens. But here's the thing, when he comes,
- 56:27you might not be able to stand and that's okay.
- 56:30When he comes, you might be able to feeling a
- 56:32bit, oh, the fire of God is all over me. I don't
- 56:34know what's going on. When he comes, you might
- 56:37start clapping your hands a little bit louder
- 56:38and you might shout a little bit more louder.
- 56:41That's, I'm okay. I'm okay with that. But I go
- 56:44with what Paul says that we want to do it in
- 56:46an orderly manner and an orderly fashion. Is
- 56:49this okay, Yela? All right. Hallelujah. This
- 56:53is a bit of a heavy one, but you know, it's good.
- 56:56So I want to encourage you to go and read 1 Corinthians
- 56:5814 for yourself. And when we get to small group,
- 57:02the first belong group we're going to have, we're
- 57:04probably going to talk on this. So you've got
- 57:05three weeks to sit with us with the Holy Spirit.
- 57:09So what is the benefits of praying in tongues?
- 57:12Number one, self -edification. When we pray in
- 57:16the Spirit, it edifies yourself. You build yourself
- 57:19up in your most holy faith. Number two, it is
- 57:23a Spirit -directed prayer. Not something that
- 57:26the mind can comprehend. It's a Spirit -directed
- 57:30prayer. You pray beyond the limitation of your
- 57:32own knowledge and understanding. Number three,
- 57:34what is the benefit? It's spiritual warfare.
- 57:38Remember I said God showed me that thing? I could
- 57:41do spiritual warfare by praying in the Spirit.
- 57:45And number four, it is for intimacy with God.
- 57:49There is a communion in tongues that transcends
- 57:52what ordinary language. Vlad says, tongues is
- 57:58not the sign that you have arrived spiritually.
- 58:00It is the provision that keeps you going spiritually.
- 58:04It is a fuel line, not a finish line. How amazing
- 58:08is that? It's a fuel line, not a finish line.
- 58:12It is the provision that keeps you going spiritually.
- 58:17So Paul says, he says, I pray in tongues more
- 58:20than all of you. And then he says in that same
- 58:24chapter, he says, but I'll rather say five things.
- 58:28Just five things. He says, I don't want to speak
- 58:31a lot. Just five things. But I pray. When I do
- 58:34pray in the spirit, I pray in the spirit more
- 58:36than all of you. Why? Because when I do pray,
- 58:38it edifies me. It's a direct prayer to God. I
- 58:43can do spiritual warfare in my tongue and I can
- 58:46have intimacy with God. Amen. So I don't know
- 58:49how it's going to happen for you. It happened
- 58:51for me in a room. It's a small room. A couple
- 58:54of weeks ago in the church in Jeffreys Bay, it
- 58:56happened for a young teenage girl in the service.
- 59:00After the service, she went to her dad and said,
- 59:02Dad, you won't believe this. I received my heavenly
- 59:04language. What a beautiful moment. You know,
- 59:07it could happen here for you in the brewery.
- 59:10You know, your testimony. I went to a brewery
- 59:11and then the Spirit of God came on me and there
- 59:13I go speaking in tongues. Paul speaks about being
- 59:17drunk in the Spirit. Amen. Continually being
- 59:20filled. I don't know how it will happen for you,
- 59:23but I want you to desire that gift. Every single
- 59:27one of us, I want us to desire that gift and
- 59:29praying in the Spirit. And as you begin to receive
- 59:32that gift, that you would tell the other believers,
- 59:34hey, I pray in the Spirit. I speak in tongues.
- 59:38I'm a tongue -talking believer. Hallelujah. Amen.
- 59:41And like I said, within the house of God, that
- 59:43we will do it in an orderly fashion and manner.
- 59:46Hallelujah.