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You, Unleashed - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: In September of 2005, the entire nation watched in horror
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  Speaker 1: as Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans. Who
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  Speaker 1: would have ever thought we would hear news like this
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  Speaker 1: on the news report? Today, about 25,000 refugees were moved
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  Speaker 1: from the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston.
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  Speaker 1: Those of you who are old enough to remember that,
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  Speaker 1: remember those news reports, do you not? Entire neighborhoods were
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  Speaker 1: left sitting under feet of water. Citizens hacked their way
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  Speaker 1: onto their roofs in hopes of being rescued by helicopters.
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  Speaker 1: Residents sought refuge in nearby cities. New Orleans came to
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  Speaker 1: San Antonio, where I live. by virtue of 12,500 evacuees.
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  Speaker 1: It just so happened that a very good friend of mine,
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  Speaker 1: my next door neighbor in fact, was placed in charge
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  Speaker 1: of a makeshift local refugee center. A large downtown warehouse
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  Speaker 1: was turned into a triage. Robert invited me to tour
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  Speaker 1: the triage with him And as we walked through the warehouse,
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  Speaker 1: I was struck by one fact. Everyone knew their job
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  Speaker 1: and everyone had a job. Some people distributed blankets. Others
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  Speaker 1: handed out sandwiches. There were a covey of medical professionals
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  Speaker 1: examining health concerns. Counselors and pastors counseled the suddenly displaced.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, my friend, turned to me and said, you're
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  Speaker 1: a pastor, grab a chair and get to work. And
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  Speaker 1: so I did. I've made myself useful. The image of
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  Speaker 1: that warehouse came to mind as I was reviewing the
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  Speaker 1: text that we're going to consider this weekend. It's one
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  Speaker 1: of the most inspiring, convicting, and even controversial passages that
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  Speaker 1: exists in scripture in terms of of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: It introduces us to the Holy Spirit as the ultimate
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  Speaker 1: gift giver. You would likely agree with me that it
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  Speaker 1: does seem that our entire world is in a state
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  Speaker 1: of trauma. People do not know why they were born
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  Speaker 1: or to where they are destined. This is so much
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  Speaker 1: the age of know-how and very, very little know-why. The
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  Speaker 1: invisible enemy of sin and secularism is in the process
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  Speaker 1: of sucking the soul out of so many people. Opioid
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  Speaker 1: addictions are on the rise. Anxiety and depression, especially among
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  Speaker 1: our young people, are charting new courses. And most tragically,
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  Speaker 1: the suicide level is as high as it's been since
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  Speaker 1: World War II. We, in the middle of it all,
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  Speaker 1: come together as God's triage system. His church has been
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  Speaker 1: since its founding and will continue to be until his
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  Speaker 1: return the haven for those who are hoping to come
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  Speaker 1: out of this hurricane-ravaged society. Through the church, the displaced people,
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  Speaker 1: Find a place. And behind it all, overseeing this work
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  Speaker 1: is the direction of the Holy Spirit. He is in
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  Speaker 1: charge of his church. And he does this in part
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  Speaker 1: through the distribution of spiritual gifts. Reading from 1 Corinthians
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  Speaker 1: chapter 12. Nearly all of our passages will come out
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  Speaker 1: of either chapter 12 or 14 of 1 Corinthians today.
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  Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul wrote, Now to each one the manifestation
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  Speaker 1: of the Spirit is given for the common good. Let
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  Speaker 1: me just make sure. To each one the manifestation or
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  Speaker 1: demonstration of the Spirit is given. Please raise your hand.
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  Speaker 1: If you are in each one. Okay. We're talking about you.
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  Speaker 1: He goes on to write. To each one. The manifestation
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  Speaker 1: of the spirit is given. For the. Common good. Not
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  Speaker 1: personal advancement. But common good. All spiritual gifts. Are the
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  Speaker 1: work of one and the same spirit. And he. he
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  Speaker 1: distributes them to each one just as he determines. The
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is the ultimate gift giver. And by his
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  Speaker 1: sovereign plan, he determines what gifts or gifts you receive
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  Speaker 1: and when you receive them. He garnishes his children with
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  Speaker 1: supernatural abilities intended to glorify God, bless the needy, and
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  Speaker 1: encourage the church. Would it not be a tragedy of
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  Speaker 1: the highest order to live your whole life and miss
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  Speaker 1: out on the unique to you Collection of gifts as
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  Speaker 1: determined by the Holy Spirit. That was the opinion of
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  Speaker 1: the Apostle Paul. Backing up now to the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and then skipping down to verse 4.
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  Speaker 1: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you
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  Speaker 1: to be ignorant. There are diversities of gifts, but the
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  Speaker 1: same spirit. There are ministries, differences of ministries, but the
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  Speaker 1: same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it
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  Speaker 1: is the same God who works all in all. But
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  Speaker 1: the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one
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  Speaker 1: for the profit of all. So the Spirit is the
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  Speaker 1: authorized gift distributor of Jesus Christ. While the gifts are diverse,
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  Speaker 1: the goal of the gifts is singular, and that is
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  Speaker 1: the common good of the church. Now, there was a
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  Speaker 1: church that had forgotten this, the Corinthian church. They were
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  Speaker 1: jealous of other people's gifts. They were doubtful if they
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  Speaker 1: themselves had a gift. Some were showing off. Some were envious.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone was confused. So the apostle Paul decided to write
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  Speaker 1: a letter And in this letter, he chose to describe
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  Speaker 1: some possible gifts. Still reading from 1 Corinthians 12. For
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  Speaker 1: to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: To another, the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts
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  Speaker 1: of healings by the same Spirit. To another, the working
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  Speaker 1: of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another... discerning of gifts,
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  Speaker 1: to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation
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  Speaker 1: of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all
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  Speaker 1: these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
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  Speaker 1: I think I do not have the gift of remembering
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  Speaker 1: to bring my water up on the platform. Could you
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  Speaker 1: hand me one, please? Anyone will do. Anyone will do.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Steve. I knew I would need it, so
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  Speaker 1: I thought I might as well ask for it now.
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  Speaker 1: Keep a few things in mind as you review this very,
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  Speaker 1: very important paragraph. Number one, no gift list in the
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  Speaker 1: Bible is complete. No gift list is complete. The New
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  Speaker 1: Testament has at least five. 1 Corinthians 12 says, 1
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians 12, 2 in that chapter, Romans 12, Ephesians 4,
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  Speaker 1: and 1 Peter 4. It was not the intent of
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  Speaker 1: the apostle in any of the epistles to provide an
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  Speaker 1: exhaustive list of every single gift. This is proven by
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  Speaker 1: the fact that none of these lists are identical. And
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  Speaker 1: it's proven by the fact that the New Testament churches,
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  Speaker 1: not all of them read Every letter that you and
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  Speaker 1: I can read. So some of them would not have
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  Speaker 1: known about certain gifts. These gifts are suggestive. They are emblematic.
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  Speaker 1: They represent the type of work the Holy Spirit wants
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  Speaker 1: to be done in his church. Number two. not all
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  Speaker 1: gifts are given at the moment of conversion. Yes, when
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  Speaker 1: Jesus saved your soul, he moved into your heart and
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  Speaker 1: he did bring certain abilities, supernatural strengths. But no person
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  Speaker 1: receives all their gifts upon conversion. If so, there would
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  Speaker 1: be no call to, according to 1 Corinthians 14, eagerly
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  Speaker 1: desire the gifts of the Spirit. Those words were written
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  Speaker 1: to Christians. And so why would Paul tell us to
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  Speaker 1: eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit if we already had
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  Speaker 1: all the gifts? Part of the excitement, part of the
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  Speaker 1: adventure of living in step with our dear friend, the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, is anticipating gifts that he will give us
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  Speaker 1: to match the challenges that we face. Also this, spiritual
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  Speaker 1: gifts are exactly that. They are gifts. You did not
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  Speaker 1: earn them. You do not deserve them. When the Apostle
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  Speaker 1: Paul used the phrase gifts of the Spirit, he nearly
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  Speaker 1: always used the term charisma or charismata. A charisma, as
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  Speaker 1: you I'm sure know, is a gift. It's a pure gift.
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  Speaker 1: You receive it. You don't deserve it. You don't earn it.
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  Speaker 1: It is purely by the grace of God that you
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  Speaker 1: are supernaturally able to do what the Holy Spirit determines
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  Speaker 1: for you to do. You don't brag about it because
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  Speaker 1: you didn't earn it. It is simply a supernatural empowerment
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  Speaker 1: given to you. Believers also this spiritual gifts are not
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  Speaker 1: an index of spiritual maturity. You can have spiritual gifts
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  Speaker 1: and be very, very immature. Christians in the Corinthian church were.
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  Speaker 1: They had all the gifts according to first Corinthians chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: but they were lacking in Christian character. They clustered around personalities.
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  Speaker 1: They tolerated immorality. They litigated against each other. They abused
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's Supper. They used worship for self-promotion. The presence
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  Speaker 1: of gifts requires the maturity to use them wisely. Also
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  Speaker 1: consider this. Natural talents and spiritual gifts are not always identical.
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  Speaker 1: Natural gifts advance personal causes, but spiritual gifts advance advance
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  Speaker 1: God's cause. Your spiritual gift is often a divine application
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  Speaker 1: of a natural ability. We see this in the life
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  Speaker 1: of the apostle Paul. Before Paul was a follower of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: he was Saul, the persecutor of the church. But as Saul,
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  Speaker 1: he was still an outstanding student and communicator. But when
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  Speaker 1: Christ knocked him off his high horse, literally, Christ requisitioned
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  Speaker 1: those natural abilities and anointed them and turned them into
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  Speaker 1: spiritual gifts. And we benefit to this very day. If
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  Speaker 1: you managed people before following Christ, it's quite likely that
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  Speaker 1: Christ will use those managerial skills, infuse them with the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Holy Spirit to bless the church. Then again,
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  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit might give you a new gift altogether.
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  Speaker 1: He determines. What matters is this. Spiritual gifts exist to
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  Speaker 1: exalt Christ. To edify the church and bless the needy.
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  Speaker 1: Gifts are not given so you can make a big
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  Speaker 1: deal out of you. Gifts are given so you can
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  Speaker 1: make a big deal out of Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. They are used, intended to be used to help
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  Speaker 1: build up the church. When my oldest grandchild, Rose, who's
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  Speaker 1: now 10, when she was four years old, she announced
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  Speaker 1: to me one day, Papa Max, I know how to
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  Speaker 1: sing harmony. I said, you do? Wonderful. Let's sing together.
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  Speaker 1: And she said, oh no, I like to sing harmony
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  Speaker 1: all by myself. She has since learned that harmony, by definition,
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  Speaker 1: requires the blending of multiple voices. Churches learn to do
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  Speaker 1: the same. Churches, healthy, vibrant, growing, city-changing churches, celebrate the
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  Speaker 1: spiritual gifts of each and every person. It is the
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  Speaker 1: virtue of It is the hallmark because only when we
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  Speaker 1: blend our gifts can we truly expect a beautiful sound.
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  Speaker 1: Torn that in, the Apostle Paul went into great detail
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  Speaker 1: in helping us understand this mystery of spiritual gifts. I
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  Speaker 1: think what he teaches can be clustered in two or
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  Speaker 1: three different categories. First of all, he talks about Gifts
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  Speaker 1: of discernment. Gifts of discernment. And direction. He says to
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  Speaker 1: one is given the word of wisdom. To the spirit.
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  Speaker 1: To another the word of knowledge. To another the discerning
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  Speaker 1: of spirits. Word of wisdom. Word of knowledge. A word
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  Speaker 1: of wisdom is a message that is appropriate. That is timely. Timely.
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  Speaker 1: That is rightly suited for any given occasion. I've mentioned
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  Speaker 1: several times that early in my ministry we lived in Brazil.
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  Speaker 1: And I went to a missionary conference at one point.
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  Speaker 1: And there were a gathering of some 60 or 70 missionaries.
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  Speaker 1: A guest speaker was invited to come from a university
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  Speaker 1: in the United States. A professor. He came and presented
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  Speaker 1: several talks. Did a masterful job. I recall after one
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  Speaker 1: particular lecture, we were having lunch with this professor and
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  Speaker 1: we were, they, we being a group of about eight
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  Speaker 1: or 10 missionaries, young missionary, I think in that case,
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  Speaker 1: all missionary men, even though there are men and women,
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  Speaker 1: but in that particular table, they were all men. And
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  Speaker 1: the professor, he was tired. He was tired from the
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  Speaker 1: jet lag. He was tired from the lectures and And
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  Speaker 1: he was just eating quietly and we were chit-chatting away
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  Speaker 1: when all of a sudden he lifted up his balding
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  Speaker 1: head and he said, young man, I have something to say.
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  Speaker 1: And he said it with force. And we all turned
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  Speaker 1: and looked at him and he said, never sacrifice your
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  Speaker 1: family on the altar of Christian service. Just like that.
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  Speaker 1: And then he started eating again. I have never forgotten that. Never.
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  Speaker 1: I have repeated that dozens of times. That was a
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  Speaker 1: word of wisdom. The Holy Spirit gave him that word,
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  Speaker 1: nudged him to share it, and he was obedient, and
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  Speaker 1: it fell on receptive soil. Many of you have words
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  Speaker 1: of wisdom. You have insights. You know what to say
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  Speaker 1: to that young family you know exactly the word that
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  Speaker 1: new employee needs to hear. And there are times that
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  Speaker 1: you're hesitant to speak up because you think, well, doesn't
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  Speaker 1: everybody already know this? No, they don't. And the fact
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  Speaker 1: that they don't is an indication that you have an
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  Speaker 1: ability to speak a word of insight into a particular situation.
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  Speaker 1: And if you stay silent, somebody may go away needy.
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  Speaker 1: But when you speak up, you enter into the triage
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  Speaker 1: system of the Holy Spirit with the word of wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: A word of knowledge is a gift of information that
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  Speaker 1: a person would have no way of knowing except for
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  Speaker 1: the fact that the Holy Spirit has chosen to reveal
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  Speaker 1: this knowledge to someone else. When Jesus was in dialogue
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  Speaker 1: with The Samaritan woman. And he told her that she
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  Speaker 1: was living with a man. Who was not her husband.
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  Speaker 1: And that she had five husbands before him. This was
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  Speaker 1: a word of knowledge. There was no way he would
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  Speaker 1: have known this. Or any person would have known this.
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  Speaker 1: It was a word of knowledge. Including in this grouping
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  Speaker 1: would be. The discerning of spirits. The discerning of spirits.
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  Speaker 1: The apostle Paul. demonstrated this gift in a city called Philippi.
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  Speaker 1: The owners of a certain slave girl were making money
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  Speaker 1: from her fortune telling. The apostle Paul, greatly annoyed, turned
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  Speaker 1: and said to the spirit, I command you in the
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  Speaker 1: name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And
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  Speaker 1: he came out at that very hour. That's the discerning
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  Speaker 1: of spirits. One time my wife and I, Dinalyn, who
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  Speaker 1: sends her love, by the way, One time we were
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  Speaker 1: walking through a beautiful resort town up in Colorado. And
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  Speaker 1: she stopped and she pivoted and she looked at a
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  Speaker 1: door and she scowled. I thought, well, maybe the purses
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  Speaker 1: were all gone and she couldn't find anything. Shouldn't have
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  Speaker 1: said that. I know. Sorry. I looked at the door
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  Speaker 1: and it said, fortune telling. Come in and have your
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  Speaker 1: palm read. And she said, Lord Jesus, defeat this business.
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  Speaker 1: Just like that. Firm. She could sense the presence of
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  Speaker 1: an evil spirit. And she spoke against it. Now, I
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  Speaker 1: haven't gone back to check on the status of that store.
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  Speaker 1: But I would never invest any money in it. In
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  Speaker 1: addition to these discerning gifts, the Apostle Paul mentions this.
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  Speaker 1: Gifts of healing and help. He states to another. Faith
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  Speaker 1: by the same spirit. To another gifts of healing. By
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  Speaker 1: the same spirit. To another the working of miracles. To
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  Speaker 1: have the gift of faith. Is to enjoy a sense
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  Speaker 1: of supernatural. Contagious confidence. I have heard this gift often.
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  Speaker 1: In my time here at Gateway. I have.
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  Speaker 3: I have.
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  Speaker 1: And given the challenges that you faced over the last
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  Speaker 1: few months, this has been a welcome gift. The person
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  Speaker 1: who has the gift of faith says, times are tough,
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  Speaker 1: but God is good. We're going to make it. Everybody
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  Speaker 1: just hang in there. Remember, Jesus is our true pastor.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the phrases that a person has who has
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  Speaker 1: the gift of faith. They speak to comfort the afflicted
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  Speaker 1: and to bless the fearful. What a welcome gift this is. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: The gift of healing would be the choice of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit to render restoration through the prayers of a saint. Again,
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  Speaker 1: witnessed over and over here at the wonderful Gateway Church
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  Speaker 1: as we've seen people healed from conditions, lifted and separated
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  Speaker 1: from depression. We see supernatural, inexplicable, apart from the Holy Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: moments of Taking place. And then there is the working
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  Speaker 1: of miracles. God can alter circumstances. He can bring down
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  Speaker 1: Jericho walls. He can vacate the grave of Lazarus. He
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  Speaker 1: can reverse a financial downfall. He can soften the hard
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  Speaker 1: heart of a spouse. He can gain entryway to a
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  Speaker 1: closed nation. He is a miracle working God. And there
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  Speaker 1: are those who seem to have this ability. They've been
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  Speaker 1: called upon to speak words of life-changing power into a
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  Speaker 1: very difficult circumstance. And if that is you, God bless you.
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  Speaker 1: We need you. There's a third type of gift. Let's
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  Speaker 1: cluster this type under the heading gifts of proclamation and intercession.
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  Speaker 1: Gifts of proclamation and intercession. Paul explains the meaning of
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  Speaker 1: prophecy in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I'm sorry, he refers
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  Speaker 1: to the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians chapter 12
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  Speaker 1: in verse 10. To another, prophecy. To another, different kinds
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  Speaker 1: of tongues. To another, the interpretation of tongues. Now Paul
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  Speaker 1: will explain the meaning of prophecy two chapters later. In
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  Speaker 1: chapter 14 in verse three, he says, he who prophesies
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  Speaker 1: speaks edification and exhortation and comfort. So to prophesy builds up,
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  Speaker 1: it encourages. Prophets indeed can foresee the future. Prophets essentially
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  Speaker 1: foretell encouragement. They leave people stronger. They say, this is
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  Speaker 1: what's about to happen you're going to be okay. They
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  Speaker 1: leave you encouraged. In fact, the apostle Paul called this
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  Speaker 1: in first Corinthians 14, one, the most important gift, not
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  Speaker 1: because the prophet is more important, but because we as
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  Speaker 1: humans get so discouraged. We need those to have the
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  Speaker 1: ability to speak words of encouragement, prophesying words of hope
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  Speaker 1: into our midst. speaking in tongues and the interpretation of
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  Speaker 1: tongues are magnificent, intriguing, yet often controversial gifts. So let's
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  Speaker 1: spend a little longer on these. There are two types
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  Speaker 1: of tongues as described in the New Testament. The first
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  Speaker 1: type was on display when the church was born in
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  Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem. On the day of Pentecost. You
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  Speaker 1: might recall from that story. That people from at least
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  Speaker 1: 15 different nations. Were present. When the apostle Paul preached.
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  Speaker 1: The Pentecostal sermon. According to Acts 2 and verse 8.
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  Speaker 1: The people heard his words and said. And how is
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  Speaker 1: it that we hear. Each one of us. In our
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  Speaker 1: own native language. So the apostles declaring the wonders of
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  Speaker 1: God were able to articulate the wonders of God in
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  Speaker 1: languages that they themselves apparently did not speak. Were they
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  Speaker 1: suddenly empowered with the ability to speak a language they
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  Speaker 1: had never studied or in route between speaker and hearer
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  Speaker 1: Did the Holy Spirit take those words and turn them
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  Speaker 1: into words that people heard in their own native language?
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  Speaker 1: When we get to heaven, we'll find out. But one
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  Speaker 1: of those two. The big idea is that people heard,
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  Speaker 1: they understood what was being said in their own native language.
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  Speaker 1: This testifies to God's white hot passion. To have his
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  Speaker 1: gospel communicated in the heart language of every human being
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  Speaker 1: on the planet. Paul, however, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14,
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  Speaker 1: was referring to a different expression of tongues when he
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: wrote this epistle. Picking up in verse 2, he said,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: One who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: but to God. For no one understands him. He utters
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: mysteries in the spirit. See the difference? This language is
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: understood by God, but not by people. Indeed, understanding it
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: would require someone with another spiritual gift of interpretation. It
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: might surprise you to know that the Apostle Paul enjoyed
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: this gift. He gave us a peek into his prayer
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: life when he wrote, and this time I'm reading from
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: a different translation called The Message. He wrote, so when
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: you pray in your private prayer language, don't hoard the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: To bring others into the intimacy. If I pray in tongues.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: My spirit prays. But my mind. Lies fallow. And all
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: that intelligence. Is wasted. So what is. The solution. Press
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: pause right there. What do you think he's going to say?
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: You think he's going to say. Well then don't do it.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Here's the answer. The answer is simple enough. Do both.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: as I pray. This is interesting, don't you think? The
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: apostle experienced and enjoyed two types of prayer. One we
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: might call praying with the spirit and the other we
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: might call praying with the mind. Both were valuable. In fact,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: he prayed in tongues or prayed in the spirit so
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: frequently that he said to a church, a church that
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: treasured this gift, that he did so more often than
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: any of they. That's in verse 18. Yet he went
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: ahead to state in verse 19, he would rather speak
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: five words with understanding than 10,000 words in a tongue.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Apparently there's a time and a place for the application
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: of these two prayer languages. What he did not do
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: was engage or instruct the church or any of us
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: to engage in only one form of prayer. The apostles
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: sought to respectfully regulate, not denigrate the practice of praying
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: in tongues or using a heavenly language. Boy, I'd love
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to get into your head right now. If we were
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: doing this in a living room, small group, boy, I'd say,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: all right, tell me what you're thinking. I wonder what
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: you would say. You might say, well, Max, I don't know. Wow.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: This all sounds a bit supernatural. And were you to
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: use that word, I would say way to go. That's
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: exactly what this is. The church is the supernatural expression
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ on the earth. The church is not
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: the government. The church is not a nice school. The
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: church is not a club. The church is the triage
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit operating in a supernatural way. mysterious
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: fashion that causes others to first be bewildered but eventually
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Lord willing to be saved. 46 years of ministry have
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: left me convinced we do not have what it takes
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: to heal this hurting world. We do not. We might
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: create programs. We might trained staff. We might build beautiful facilities,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: but I think you'd agree with me. I would exchange
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: them in a heartbeat for one raindrop of the Holy Spirit.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: We need His help. We need His help. And in
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: order for us to move forward as a church family
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: into the next chapter, that God is writing in the
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: wonderful story of Gateway, we must call upon the Holy Spirit.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: One of the great tragedies of the last century, in
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: my opinion, has been the division over the church universal,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: not the church local, but the church universal, over spiritual gifts,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: such as speaking in tongues, and miracles. Many God-fearing Christians
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: are convinced that these powerful gifts, these displays of the
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, were discontinued when the apostles died. I know
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: this line of reasoning well. I was one of its adherents.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: For the first 10 years of my ministry, I taught
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: personally and publicly about That these more demonstrative gifts. That
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: you and I have just been discussing. Were discontinued when
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: the apostles died. They served only to launch the church.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: They were distributed by the apostles. And then when the
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: church was established. The scriptures were given. And the apostles
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: had passed into heaven. These gifts were taken back into heaven.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: My mind began to change. In my mid-30s. When I
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: had a personal encounter. With the Holy Spirit. And then
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I began to ask some questions. Where does a New Testament. Author.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Ever say. That certain gifts will cease. Upon the completion
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: of scripture. I looked in my Bible for it. I
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: found none. In fact what I found were. Were scriptures
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: like the ones that we've. Explored in the last few minutes.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Urging us to. Continually desire. Spiritual gifts. And to not forbid.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: The speaking in tongues. But what about the belief that
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: only the apostles could distribute the gifts. And with their deaths.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: The miracles were discontinued. Again no direct statement to this effect.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: What we see are non-apostles. Like Ananias in Acts chapter 9.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Blessing Saul who became Paul. With the Holy Spirit. Besides
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: if only the apostles could give such gifts. Why do
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: we not see in the book of Acts a record
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: of the apostles traveling feverishly from church to church, laying
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: on as many hands, laying hands on as many people
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: as possible? What's more, we don't assume that the more
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: mundane gifts, I'm using that in quotation marks, like administration
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: and service or hospitality were discontinued. Isn't it a bit
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: arbitrary to say that the gift of mercy is still
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: valid but the gift of tongues is not Paul made
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: it clear that he expected the gifts to remain in
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: use until the return of Christ he said you Corinthians
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: are not lacking in anything as you await the revealing
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: of our Lord Jesus most convincingly of all at least
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: to me is that the Holy Spirit decided in a
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: great act of kindness To give me several of the
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: gifts that I had said he no longer gave. He
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: has healed people through my prayers. I've lost count of
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: the number of parents whose infertility was reversed after I
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: prayed for them. Apparently I have a pregnancy ministry. I've
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: spoken with words of wisdom. Midway through a sermon, I'll
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: often sense an impression to go back and repeat an
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: earlier point or to pause or to even supplement a
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: point with something I never intended to say. I've come
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: to expect that somebody somewhere will repeat that impromptu remark
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: just as I am repeated the impromptu remark from that
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: man in Brazil, right? Somebody will repeat that and say,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I've never forgotten. That really touched me. One of the
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: most surprising gifts of my life came to me just
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: six years ago. At the age of 64. Over a
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: period of several months, I had been asking Jesus for
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: a greater filling of his spirit. I requested that he
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: not hold back. I pray you'll make that your assignment
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: as this message comes to a close. I begin to say, Lord,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: is there something else you'll give me? Something else I
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: could use. I'm grateful for all the gifts that you
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: have ordained for me, but have I missed something or
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: have you been saving something? And then on July 9th,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: in the pre-dawn hours of a summer morning, I sat
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: on our veranda and prayed. And I began to experience
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: for the first time in my life a heavenly prayer language.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: From deep within there welled a flow of utterances. Staccato
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: like syllables. The feeling was one of delight and worship.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: This intimacy has continued each morning indeed several times a day.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: I can always start it. I can always stop it.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: But I never want to. This does not make me
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: more important. Does not make me special. I do not
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: glow in the dark. I do not levitate above trees.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: In fact I've chuckled at the possibility. That the spirit
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: gave me this gift. Because he knows how my mind
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: tends to wander. When I pray. And finally he said
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to take over for you. Here look
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: at over. I welcome his assistance. And also welcome this
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: regular reminder. And that is our God dwells in a
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: supernatural realm. And his church is a storehouse of supernatural moments.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: And to the degree. This might be a word of wisdom.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: To the degree. We will remain humble. And God-focused. And scriptural.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: He will bless the church. He does not need show offs.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: This is no place for self promotion. It is a
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: place for God promotion. So may you ask the Lord. Lord.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Am I using the gifts you have given me? Do
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: you have more gifts in store, especially those with which
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: I can bless our precious church family as we move
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: into the future? Donald Barnhouse, a well-respected pastor and scholar,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: studied at Princeton University. Twelve years after his graduation, the
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: school invited him to come back and speak at a
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: chapel service. Addressing one's alma mater is always a bit unnerving,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: but his Hebrew professor added to the fright by sitting
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: on the front row. After hearing the message, the professor
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: approached Dr. Barnhouse, congratulated him on a job well done,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: and then left him with these interesting words. Donald, he said,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: I'm glad that you are a big godder, When my
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: boys come back to speak on campus, I come to
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: see if they are big Godders or little Godders. And
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: then I know what their ministry will be. Barnhouse asked
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: him to explain. Well, Donald, some men have a little God.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: And they're always in trouble with him. He can't do
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: any miracles. He can't take care of the inspiration and
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: transmission of scripture to us. He doesn't intervene on behalf
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: of his people. They have a little God. I call
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: them little Godders. But then there are those who have
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: a great God. He speaks and it is done. He
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: commands and it will stand fast. And he knows how
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: to show himself strong on behalf of them that fear him. You, Donald,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: Have a great God and he will bless your ministry.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: He paused a moment and smiled and said, God bless you, Donald,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: and walked out. Gateway family, we have a big God.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: We have a big God. A God who arches high
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: above and yet chooses to come and dwell deep within.
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Let us resist the urge to create a little God
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: that we can explain, that we can control, that we
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: can manipulate. But let us submit ourselves to a God
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: who chooses to give gifts to the most unlikely of sorts.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: People like you and me. What if we all pursued
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: our gift to his glory? What if we all did?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: What would happen? What if each of us operated in
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: accordance with the prompting and the provision of the blessed
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit? Receive Paul's admonition. Do not be ignorant about
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: spiritual gifts. What spirit, I'm sorry, what gift has the
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Spirit given to you? You know, God did not place
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: you on this earth to waste away your life in
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: a labor that does not employ your God-given strengths. Remember,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: each one is in each one. So, Paul said, make
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: a careful exploration of who you are and the work
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: Galatians 6 and verse 4. Many years ago, I heard
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: a story about a dying father And his three sons.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: The father had created a very impressive. Industry. And he
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: was on his deathbed. And he needed to turn it
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: over to one of his three boys. And he came
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: up with an idea. He gave each one of them.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: A dollar bill. And said. Go and use this dollar bill.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: To purchase something. With which you can fill. This entire room.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: One came back with a pillow full of feathers. He
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: cut it open and feathers went everywhere. Another came back
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: with a bale of hay and he spread hay all
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: over the floor. The third son came back empty handed.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: They said, what'd you do with your money? He said, well,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I gave 50 cents to a church. I gave 20
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: cents to an orphanage. I gave 20 cents to a
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: soup kitchen. What about the other dime? He reached into
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: his pocket and he pulled out a match and a candle.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: He said a nickel and a nickel. And he struck
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the match and lit the candle, turned off the electric
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: lights and light filled the room. So my closing question
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: to you is, with what are you filling your world?
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: Gracious Lord, thank you for your blessed spirit. Have mercy
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: upon us now as we process your teaching. Forgive our teacher.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: His sins are many. And may we receive what you've
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: intended for us to receive. Through Christ we pray. And
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: all God's people said.
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: I'll be all right.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: You don't have to stay.
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: If you've already chosen, I won't stand in your way.
• 45:46
  Speaker 4: I can feel it in your distance In the way
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: you barely speak Like your heart is somewhere else now
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: Somewhere I can't reach.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: I was trying just to hold us While you slowly
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: slipped away Now I'm left with all the silence You
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: didn't want to say Maybe I just held on To something.
• 46:25
  Speaker 5: Already gone I'll be fine, you can leave You.
• 46:34
  Speaker 6: Don't owe me anything If your heart is found away
• 46:41
  Speaker 6: Out of what we used to be I'll be fine
• 46:46
  Speaker 6: Don't look back I'll survive this.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: Empty space Not tonight, maybe not soon But I'll learn
• 46:58
  Speaker 3: to be okay.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: We don't need to fake the feeling.
• 47:07
  Speaker 4: I can see it in your eyes ¶.
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: There's no reason left for staying.
• 47:13
  Speaker 6: ¶ ¶ When the love already died ¶ ¶.
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: Through the quiet in your voice.
• 47:25
  Speaker 5: ¶ ¶ I can hear your choice ¶ ¶ I'll
• 47:33
  Speaker 5: be fine, you can leave ¶ ¶ You don't owe
• 47:37
  Speaker 5: me anything ¶ If your heart has found a way
• 47:43
  Speaker 5: out of what we used to be, I'll be fine.
• 47:49
  Speaker 5: Don't look back.
• 47:51
  Speaker 7: I'll survive this empty space.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: Not tonight, maybe not soon, but I'll.
• 47:59
  Speaker 6: Learn to be okay.
• 48:03
  Speaker 5: I don't need a reason why.
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: I can see it in goodbye.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: And it breaks me, it does.
• 48:13
  Speaker 6: But I won't ask you to stay. I'll be fine.
• 48:22
  Speaker 5: You can't leave.
• 48:24
  Speaker 6: You don't owe me anything.
• 48:28
  Speaker 4: If your heart is found.
• 48:30
  Speaker 6: A way out.
• 48:34
  Speaker 7: I'll be fine Don't look back I'll survive this empty
• 48:41
  Speaker 7: space Not tonight, maybe not soon But I'll learn to be.
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: Okay I'll
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Be alright