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XIV. THE GIFT OF FAITH
"To another faith by the same Spirit"...I Corinthians 12:9
A. Supernatural Ability
The gift of faith is a supernatural ability to believe and trust God for the impossible. It is an avenue or a springboard to the supernatural realm. This kind of faith breeds a stirring of confidence that is able to stand any given situation. It is based on the word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit.
We need the gift of faith in the body of Christ today to demonstrate the power of Christ to this generation. Through this gift, one can have faith that is free from doubt and worry, faith that rests upon God's will and nothing else.
It was because of this kind of faith that Jesus was able to sleep in a storm, Daniel was able to sleep among the lions without fear or doubt, the three Hebrew children walked in the fiery furnace with the Lord, and Paul was able to sleep in jail. It was because of this kind of faith that Moses was able to face Pharaoh and Elijah was able to face the prophets of Baal.
With this kind of faith we can command mountains to move. We can change impossibilities into possibilities. Like the prophet, we can speak meal into the empty barrel and oil into the empty can, I Kings 17:14. We can speak life to the dead (I Kings 17:22), and with this kind of faith, death, blindness, leprosy, demons, and all manner of sickness and diseases will respond.
B. Kinds of Faith
1. Faith that is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the kind of faith we are talking about. See Matthew 17:2, Matthew 21:21, and I Corinthians 13:2. This kind of faith results in a lot of supernatural accomplishments. It is a surge of the Holy Spirit anointing that speaks to mountains and commands the impossible to be transformed into the possible.
2. The gift of faith should not be confused with the faith inspired by saving grace. This faith leads to salvation. It is born in one's heart as he hears the gospel and believes unto salvation. It is called saving faith in John 1:12 and John 3:16. Read also Ephesians 2:8, Romans 12:3, and Galatians 3:26.
3. There is another kind of faith that is realized as believers bear the fruit of the Spirit. It is produced as we abide in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. Read Galatians 5:22, and Colossians 2:5.
C. Examples of the Gift of Faith
1. Elijah operated in this gift, I Kings 17:4,6.
2. Daniel had this kind of faith that God would protect him, Daniel 6:23.
3. Abraham had a gift of faith, Romans 4:20-21.
4. Moses was a man of faith. Through his faith in God, a lot of miracles were performed for the children of Israel.
5. Elisha was operating under this gift when he ministered to a woman who had financial problems, II Kings 4:3,4.
6. It should be noted that on many occasions the gift of faith works in collaboration with other power gifts (healing, miracles). Sometimes it is hard to separate them but the important thing is that they are all from the same Spirit.
D. How the Gift of Faith Operates
1. The gift of faith is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. One has to be in one accord with the Godhead for this gift to operate, John 5:19,20; Num. 16:28; I Kings 18:36-39; Acts 2:1-4.
2. One may feel a surge of power that sovereignly elevates his faith to such a height that he demands a miracle in the name of Jesus, without considering the impossibilities or potential failures. All he sees is the end result, Ex. 14:21; I Kings 17:22; I Kings 18:33-39; Acts 28:5; 14:8-10; 13:11.
3. This kind of faith can only be sustained if the vessel has been cleansed and dedicated to God for maximum performance. Otherwise, sin will short-circuit it.
4. The gift of faith does not always work instantly. In fact, in most cases it works gradually, except where it overlaps with the gift of miracles.
E. A Word of Caution
It is possible to over-emphasize the teachings of faith to the point of imbalance. We always have to remain in the proper course. Now that there are proper conditions that have to be met before our faith can effectively operate. For example:
1. Faith has to be mixed with love. Faith alone without love is useless, Gal. 5:6.
2. Faith has to be mixed with holy living. You cannot expect to operate by faith while you are living an unclean life. Righteousness will strengthen your faith, Pro. 10:24.
3. Faith has to be balanced and realistic- realistic in the sense that it has to be in line with God's word. Some people pull scriptures out of context and then try to claim them unconditionally. This comes from the human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. It is cheating, and does not work.
4. Faith can only work within its boundaries- the will of God. If your faith is outside God's will you will end up losing and be disappointed.
5. Faith has its timing. Sometimes we claim God's promises without considering God's timing. We have to learn to be patient and learn to pray, "Lord, your will be done in your timing."
XV. THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
The gift of prophecy is the ability to communicate a message from God to the church, a gathering, or an individual through the power of the Holy Spirit. It originates with God, then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is passed on to the believer, who in turn gives it to the church.
The message is of God, but the language, the vocabulary, and the voice is of the believer.
The word used in the Old Testament to describe the ministry of a prophet is "naba:, which means bubbling up. In the New Testament, the word is "propheteia", meaning to speak forth, or bubbling up the mind of God. In this process the prophet must yield to the Holy Spirit to relay the message. He must do it willingly (by faith).
A. The Meaning
The gift of prophecy = to prophesy, to speak for another. To prophesy = "NABA" = this word is found in the Hebrew text of the Bible about 115 times. Its first appearance is in I Samuel 10:6 where Saul is told by Samuel that when he meets a certain band of ecstatic (rapturous delight or prophetic trance) prophets, he too will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. To prophesy is to speak God's message to the people under the influence of the divine Spirit, I Kings 22:8 & Ezekiel 37:10.
To prophesy is much more than the prediction of future events. The first concern of the prophet is to speak God's word to the people of his own time, calling them to covenant faithfulness. Jeremiah 23:16, 23:21 & 23:30-32
B. False Prophets
False prophets are not empowered by the divine spirit, but are spoken of as prophesying also, Jer. 23:16; 23:21; 23:30-32.
1. Ezekiel 13:2-3 says woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Deut. 18:19-20 speaks to the action if the prophet was wrong or proved to be wrong. In one of those instances, he was to be killed immediately, I Kings 18:19 & 18:40.
C. Differences between the Testaments
Looking at the Old Testament vs. the New Testament we find a difference. Prophecy in the Old Testament had to do with foretelling, not fortune telling or telling the future. In the New Testament, the way it is used is for telling forth.
D. Distinction between Prophecy and Preaching
There is a great distinction between prophecy and preaching, though some people and scholars think that it is all the same thing. Preaching means to proclaim, to tell forth, to evangelize, to witness or establish the good news. While one can do this under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, his reasoning and intellect is wholly involved. Prophecy, however, is the message of the Spirit having nothing to do with your intellect or reasoning. It is not prepared or premeditated. It domes directly from the Spirit of God. A prophetic utterance is supernatural. The only part a man plays is the willingness to speak as the Spirit directs.
E. Prophesying Is Important
Prophecy is the most important of the three gifts of utterance. The reason it is most important is that it takes the other two gifts of diverse kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues to equal prophecy, I Cor. 14:5, "Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues except he interprets."
F. Supernatural Utterance
Prophecy is a supernatural utterance in a known tongue. The Greek word that is translated prophecy means to speak for another. It means to speak for God or to be His spokesman.
1. I Cor. 14:1 tells us to follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophecy. However, when a person prophesies, that does not make him a prophet. Just like when you save money, that does not make you a bank!
G. Prophecies Purpose
Read I Cor. 14:3. From this scripture, we see that a prophecy to be of God, must edify, exhort, and comfort. Otherwise, we could say that God did not say it. Also, we can very clearly see that in the simple gift of prophecy, there is no revelation. Read I Cor. 14:5-6. Here we see that the gift of prophecy is used to speak to the body of Christ (the church) supernaturally. Read also I Corinthians 14:26 & 14:39, and I Corinthians 12 28-31.
1. Edification means to build up the believer, to strengthen him and develop him spiritually. This is very important, especially when one has grown spiritually cold or has some special needs. The prophecy will help him and build him up. It will cause his dryness to disappear and his heavy spirit to be lifted up.
2. Exhortation means to stir up and bring close to the Lord. It may be a call to consecration or to be steadfast and faithful.
3. Comfort means to cheer up. One may be discouraged or going through a rough time, and a prophecy may come to lift him up, Is. 41:10; 51:12.
H. A Sign to Unbelievers
Prophecy is a sign to unbelievers, I Cor. 14:24-25. A prophet' is God's mouthpiece or spokesman, Acts 13:1-2. He can be used to tell forth the mind of God, which may include any of these:
1. Warning of an event
2. Reproof
3. Edification
4. Exhortation
A prophet can foretell the future. He may predict like Amos, Amos 3:7,8; or Agabus, Acts 21:10-11; or John, who was given the book of Revelation by the Lord.
Some prophets; such as Moses, Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament, were used to write the infallible scripture. We had prophets of vision who were known as seers, such as Daniel and Zechariah. The Old Testament prophets also guided and directed people in their daily walk. In the New Testament, we have the written word and Holy Spirit. The New Testament prophets are used to confirm what God may already be speaking. Believers are supposed to be led by Holy Spirit and not by prophecies, Rom. 8:14.
I. Personal Prophecy
Personal prophecy - is it real? Yes, however, God does not lead you by prophecy but by His Spirit.
1. According to Acts 13:2-3, prophecy will confirm what God has already given you, as in the case of Saul and Barnabas.
2. In Acts 21:10-13, Agabus forewarned Paul what would happen to him in Jerusalem, but he did not tell him to go or not to go. That decision was left up to Paul. Read also John 16:13 and Romans 8:14.
J. The Prophetic Anointing
A person should only prophesy when he senses the Holy Spirit prompting him to do so. He will sense the anointing of Holy Spirit stirring up his heart. This anointing will increase s he prays and worships God. Sometimes he may feel a heavy burden in his spirit and this burden will be lifted after he has prophesied. One should be sensitive to know when the anointing has been lifted and when he has said what he is supposed to say and not continue.
Our spiritual ears are made sensitive and capable of hearing god's voice as we read God's word, pray in the Spirit, and walk in obedience to Him. Being able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit will eliminate the unnecessary fear of what people think.
The hardest part of prophesying is getting started. Usually many people never move in this gift because of the spirit of fear. After one has over come this great barrier of fear, it becomes easier to obey and operate in the gift of prophecy. It is of paramount importance to learn to trust God and move by faith if one is to operate in this gift.
The greatest fear is the fear of self and the fear of being misunderstood by others. Learning to be God-conscious and not people-conscious is essential for effective prophetic ministry.
K. How the Gift of Prophecy Operates
1. You may receive a message while in meditation on scripture.
2. You are encouraged by the Word to eagerly desire this gift. It is a gift that can function in any believer, I Cor.. 14:1,19;
3. You may receive a prophecy while in prayer, Acts 2:17-18; Acts 13:2.
4. When you want the Lord to use you in this gift, you should maintain an attitude of prayer and be open to the leading of Holy Spirit. You may feel an anointing, a tingling of physical sensations. There will be a witness of the Spirit in your spirit to speak forth. The Lord does not always speak the same way. Always keep your heart in total honesty and clean from bad influences.
5. Unless you have a witness in your spirit, do not feel compelled to speak, because it is easy to follow human emotions and miss the will of God. If the prophecy is from God, the Spirit will prompt you and remind you again. Always remember that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the control of the prophets, I Cor. 14:32. This also means you should be in full control of your emotions when giving a prophecy.
6. Sometimes the Spirit may only give you a few words to start with, and as you obey the Lord, the rest of the message continues. Faith and obedience are the key here.
7. Be sensitive to the anointing. Some people will continue to prophesy even after the message is over. God may only give you a short message. And, He may intend for someone else to continue with the prophecy, or that may be all He wants said, I Cor. 14:30.
8. Some people act or speak strangely when they are prophesying. There could be many reasons for that such as nervousness, but the people should not judge the prophecy by that. As a word of caution though, one should try not to let his emotions sidetrack the people from the message. You may have the message, but it matters how and when you give it.
L. All Prophecy is not of God
1. Prophecy can come from a human spirit. A person can be motivated by his own spirit to prophesy when God has not spoken to him or through him, Ezra. 13:1-16; Ezek. 22:22-31. People who do this are called false prophets. They prophesy from their own spirits but say the prophecy is from the Lord. We also have them in the church today, Matt. 7:22,32; Hosea 9:7; Micah 3:5; Zeph. 3:4; Zech 13:3; Matt. 24:11.
2. Prophecy from demonic influences. Satan can use false prophets. He also uses witches and people who communicate with the dead. There are many people who are turning to horoscopes, astrology, and the like for guidance to know their future, I Cor. 10:13-14. The Bible warns against inquiring about anything from the devil. He is a false prophet. He speaks his messages through lying and familiar spirits, Lev. 20:6; EX. 22:8; Lev. 19:31.
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