 I wanna talk to you about the spiritual gifts. We're gonna cover what are the spiritual gifts. How do you discover your spiritual gifts? Can you have more than one spiritual gift? How do you activate your spiritual gift? What is the purpose of the spiritual gifts and much more, this is gonna be a deep dive into this very exciting topic first. Let's look at what are the spiritual gifts. In short, the spiritual gifts are special abilities or areas of grace that the Holy Spirit gives to us. Now I'm gonna go through my list here and I've categorized them like this. Service gifts, power gifts, leadership gifts. Now, even though I've categorized one category as service gifts, it's important to remember that the spiritual gifts are given to each of us so that we can serve one another. I'm actually gonna show that to you now. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse seven says, a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. So right there, the Bible makes it very clear that number one, every single one of us have been given a spiritual gift. You may doubt that. Sometimes you may question whether or not God has put something in you. I know I've been there. There was a season of my life where I was thinking, perhaps I was the one that got looked over and I didn't really see any special abilities. I didn't really see anything special about myself and that's really the point, isn't it? Because everything comes from the person of the Holy Spirit. So don't doubt what the word of God says. God does not lie. The word of God does not lie. So if the word of God tells us that each and every one of us have been given a spiritual gift, then that includes you. God has given you one, whether you feel like it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you think you deserve it or not, God has given you a spiritual gift. So as I said, I've categorized them in three categories. The service gifts, power gifts and leadership gifts. But it's important to remember that all of the categories have to do with serving. I just did this for reference so that it could help you memorize the different gifts and operations that God has given to the church. So I'm gonna list them all and then I'm gonna give you a quick breakdown of each one so that you can understand the function of that particular gift. So let's first look at the service gifts. Remember, all gifts are spiritual gifts. And I think that sometimes the service gifts get overlooked because they don't seem necessarily supernatural in nature, but in fact, they are. And I'll explain that in a moment. You have the gift of exhortation, a reference to that is Romans 12, 8. I'm gonna read the gift and the reference or references. Gift of giving, Romans 12, 8. Gift of leadership, Romans 12, 8. First Corinthians 12, 28. Gift of service, Romans 12, 7. Gift of administration or helps, First Corinthians 12, 28. Those are the service gifts. Here are the power gifts. Prophecy, Romans 12, 6. First Corinthians 12, 10. Discernment, First Corinthians 12, 10. Also, First Corinthians 12, 10. Is the gift of healing and the gift of miracles. First Corinthians 12, 8. Word of knowledge, word of wisdom. First Corinthians 12, 9. Gift of faith. First Corinthians 12, 10. Again, we see the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation. Next we have what we call the leadership gifts. This is found in Ephesians chapter four, verse 11. We have the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, the apostle and the prophet. Let's go back to the service gifts. I'll tell you what they are real briefly. The gift of exhortation. Remember just a few moments ago I told you that though the service gifts don't seem supernatural in nature, they're actually quite powerful. The gift of exhortation isn't just the ability to encourage. The gift of giving isn't just the ability to give. The gift of leadership, the gift of service, the gift of administration, those aren't just the abilities to lead, to serve or to organize. In fact, the service gifts are fascinating because each spiritual gift in this category is graced and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let's give you an example for the gift of exhortation. So the gift of exhortation is the ability to encourage your fellow brother or sister in Christ. Now again, this may not seem supernatural but really think about the power of this. If someone comes to you, and maybe you've had people come to you like this, someone comes to you and they're dealing with just a heaviness on them, a deep sadness or sorrow. Maybe they experienced some tragedy, the death of a loved one, some sort of loss that they've experienced in life, a change in their circumstance that leaves them feeling empty. Maybe they're hopeless or feeling hopeless and they're troubled in their mind. They're having problems looking toward the future with any positivity whatsoever. Now if someone is in that state of mind and they're experiencing that lowliness, what do I need then? Well, if I came to them with a teaching gift, I could show them some wonderful insight about the Word of God but they might still leave with that sorrow hanging over their head. I could come to them and I could start speaking in tongues and then interpret the message and the message itself might be encouraging to some degree, sometimes people can hear encouraging messages and still walk away with heaviness. The same would apply from the gift of healing or the gift of miracles. If someone is feeling dejected, if someone is feeling downtrodden, they don't need you to multiply food or walk on water. They don't need some disease cured. What they need is to be uplifted. So now the one who's sorrowful, the one who's feeling heaviness, the one who's down and just not able to feel that joy or feel that peace, they're full of this entanglement and their emotions and they don't know where to turn. That's when someone with the gift of encouragement can come into the room, speak a word, and just by their presence, just by them being around them, just by that grace of the Holy Spirit operating through them, that heaviness is broken. What a powerful gift that God has given to the church. That truly is supernatural. Now, again, we can be dismissive of the service gifts thinking, well, that's just encouragement or that's just giving or that's just leadership. No, no, no, these are natural abilities or seemingly natural abilities that are graced supernaturally by the power of the Holy Ghost. You see, as someone who has a teaching gift and an evangelistic gift and a healing gift, I can sometimes come to someone with sorrow and my teaching gift, healing gift, evangelistic gift may not be enough for that person in that moment. And then someone else can come to them and no matter how anointed other people are, their gift set just doesn't function in that way so that one with the gift of encouragement can come to that person that nobody else could cheer up, that nobody else could get through to. In fact, that person wouldn't even open up to anybody else, but now the one with the gift of encouragement can walk into the room, start speaking and just by that grace that the Holy Spirit has placed on their life, that sorrow, that heaviness, that darkness is dissipated and that person is liberated from that negative state. That truly is a powerful gift. So don't just say, oh, it's the gift of encouragement. No, they just help people out when they're feeling sadder. Oh, it helps give them information that's gonna be inspiring. No, it's much more than that. It goes deep into the spirit breaking the bondages of heaviness and darkness and that's a gift that God has given to those in the service gifts category. Then there's the gift of giving, the gift of leadership, the gift of service, the gift of administration. The gift of giving is not just generosity but Holy Spirit-inspired generosity. So the gift of giving isn't just the ability to be generous. It's also the discernment to spot needs whereas other people might overlook someone. They don't see that they're struggling. They don't see that they're not financially doing well. They don't see that they're in need of material things but the one with the gift of giving has a keen eye. Maybe that's you, you have a keen eye to notice things that other people don't notice. I'll never forget there was this one group, there's one friend in our group that really none of us really paid much attention to not to be mean, just we weren't aware of how really poorly they were doing. They weren't eating enough. They weren't properly clothed and they were able to hide it because they didn't want the rest of us to know but there was someone in our group with that gift of giving that was able to spot it and therefore fulfill that need. So the gift of giving isn't just generosity. It's the posture of generosity that is divine. It is God's generous nature flowing through you and with that generous nature comes not just the desire to give but also the discernment to see the need. Not just the desire to give but the discernment to see the need and additionally it comes with the resources that God can entrust to the one with the gift of giving so that they might meet the needs of others. The gift of leadership, not just charisma, not just intellect, it's spirit empowered ability to lead and inspire others to follow. Then there's the gift of service. Remember, not just the desire but also the discernment to see the need. So the same thing is true of the gift of service. That person who has this spirit inspired desire to fill the needs of the church. They can spot what no one else spots. Maybe that's you. They can see what no one else can see. They notice needs and areas of lack that everyone else just seems to overlook and then they go and offer themselves to fill in those gaps. So it's not just someone running around doing tasks. It's someone who is so filled with the Holy Spirit that they become the glue or like the glue that holds together the structure of the function of the church. That is a powerful gift. I think of Stephen the martyr. Think about how the apostles said, we need to focus on prayer and the word. Let's get someone else to run the food program. There's the gift of service or administration right there. Now when they were looking for someone to fulfill that need, they didn't just say, oh, just get anybody to fulfill that. It's not really that important. No, they said, get someone who is truly filled with the Holy Spirit. Even to fulfill that seemingly mundane task, an individual needed to have the presence of the Holy Spirit evident upon their life. That's how they were chosen. And the same thing is true of those with the gifts of service. They may be overlooked sometimes. These gifts may be misunderstood. And sometimes I think we label these sadly. I don't think of them like this, but many Christians look at these gifts like the boring spiritual gifts or the fillers. People are like, well, you keep the service gifts. Give me prophecy, give me healing, give me discernment. Those are kind of like the wow factor ones, right? But I think sometimes we miss that really the Holy Spirit's grace is never dull. That supernatural ability that the Holy Spirit gives us can also be found in the gift of encouragement, in the gift of giving, in the gift of leadership, in the gift of service and the gift of administration. So the gift of administration is the organized mind of the Holy Spirit, bringing to your attention all of the details of the structure and the organization. I've heard people say, well, I don't know, I'm just not for organized religion. And I'm thinking, what are you for? Unorganized religion, chaotic religion. Name me one thing that God ever did that wasn't organized. This is why he needs people in his church. This is how he's chosen to make it. He needs people in the church who have the gift of administration to add structure, spirit-inspired structure to the power moves of God. So that's number one, the service gifts, exhortation, giving, leadership, service, administration. Then we see the power gifts. Again, prophecy, discernment, healing, miracles, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, faith, tongues, and tongues interpretation. Now watch this. The gift of prophecy, and I won't have much time to get too detailed about this, but the gift of prophecy is not the same as the office of the prophet. In 1 Corinthians 12, 10, we see the gift of prophecy, but in Ephesians 4, 11, we see the office of the prophet. People say, well, what's the difference? One is a function, that's the gift of prophecy. The other is a position, that's the prophet. So whereas all believers can hear from God and then repeat what they've heard from God, not everyone is a prophet. So the gift of prophecy is the speaking forth or the ability to speak forth the oracles of God that will help guide the church and ministries and people of God. There are different levels of prophecy. There is personal prophecy. This is where you prophesy to an individual about the personal details of their life and give them personal direction. Then there's corporate prophecy. This is where the prophet prophesies to the church. Then of course, there's regional prophecy, national prophecy, global prophecy. These are people who speak to global events, people who speak and prophesy national events and so forth. So there's different levels of influence even with the gift of prophecy, but the gift of prophecy finds its distinction from the office of the prophet, primarily in the fact that the office of the prophet is a leadership position in the church that comes with authority and influence. So someone like a new convert or someone who's just getting to know the Lord or someone who's just exercising their gift or someone who maybe isn't in leadership yet can still have the gift of prophecy flowing through them. But the prophet, that office, is a position of church leadership. It has to do with church authority and we shouldn't confuse the two. Just because someone can prophesy does not mean that they are a prophet. And that is a very important distinction to make because one comes with the authority and influence of church leadership and the other comes as a function. Next, we see the gift of discernment. Now please hear me. The gift of discernment is not the gift of criticism. We so often say things like, and it really is foolish, we say things like, well, I don't know, something just doesn't sit right in my spirit. And really what that is is you're just uncomfortable or maybe you're challenged or maybe you're convicted or maybe you're jealous or something like that. I always am very leery of people who will say, I discern something's off without ever being able to point to something specific because discernment isn't vague. I wanna say that again, discernment isn't vague. I've seen so many wonderful ministries attacked because of this vague feeling of discomfort. And the problem is it's most of the time not the Holy Spirit, but your emotions. It's not the Holy Spirit. It's just maybe the person's personality just rubs you wrong. You know, there are personalities that just conflict with you. There are some personalities that just make you uncomfortable not because they're evil or they're wrong or they're from a different spirit, but simply because it's so opposite of your personality that you find it abrasive. That's happened to me several times where I looked at someone and I say, something's just off and later I learned well, it was probably because it's their personality. I later learned they're a person of integrity, person of the spirit, person who taught the word with clarity and accuracy and I was just being emotional. And here's the problem though. We'll say things like, I discern something was off and just because other people share our discomfort, we somehow think that that's confirmation that we were right. Well, I discern something, something's just not right about this person. And then someone else comes and says, ah, me too. And then we in our immaturity don't recognize that just because someone else is uncomfortable with that person doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit spoke to both of us and therefore confirmed it. That's not how discernment works. Discernment is not vague. Let me say that again. Discernment is not vague. Discernment is sharp and pointed and specific. When you truly discern, you can point to exactly why your red flags are being waved or why the alarms are going off in the spirit because you'll be able to point to something very definitive. Discernment is definitive. Discernment is specific. Discernment is accurate. Discernment is based on the word of God, not on our emotions, not on our personal preferences, not on our emotional discomfort with something. Discernment is not, I felt uncomfortable with the person, oh, you felt uncomfortable with them too. It must be the Holy Spirit. That's just superstition because you're bound to find somebody who agrees with you on anything. So because you agree with someone on it, that suddenly makes it true. No, we must base our discernment on the word. The gift of discernment is simply the ability to tell whether or not someone is coming in the Holy Spirit or by a worldly spirit or demonic spirit. We could talk about doctrinal disagreements all day. We could talk about different methods of ministry all day. We could talk about the clashing of various personality types all day. But methods of ministry, doctrinal disagreements, personality type clashes, that is not the deciding factor. You must be able to discern, are they coming in the Holy Spirit, in a demonic spirit, or in a worldly spirit? And that really is what discernment is all about, is deciphering that message. Is it of God or not? That ministry, that person, are they of God or not? And sometimes our brothers and sisters who are of God but who differ with us on various issues will seem to set off those alarms of discernment when in fact it's just because of our disagreement that we don't like them. Now this isn't to say that we should just accept anyone and everyone. And this isn't to say that there's no such thing as a false prophet. False prophets, they exist. False teachers, they exist. But not everyone who disagrees with you on some obscure passage of scripture or some side doctrine or peripheral philosophy isn't someone who's a false prophet. Sometimes we think that the definition of a false prophet is someone who disagrees with me. Now again, I'm not talking about just embracing everything in everyone because there are some core tenets of our faith that unite every true believer. Things like the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection of the Lord, the atonement of sins, the need for repentance, the word of God as seen in scripture. In other words, believing that the Bible is the word of God. These are foundational truths that unite us as believers. The moment someone steps off those foundational truths, okay, that makes them a false teacher. But again, we can't just take on our emotional preferences or things that we kind of dislike for some vague reason and call it discernment. Again, discernment is distinct. Discernment is specific. Discernment is accurate. Discernment is based on scripture. So the gift of discernment is simply the ability to decipher between a spirit of the world, a demonic spirit, and the Holy Spirit. Quite simply, that's it. The gift of healing, 1 Corinthians 12-10, is the grace for healing miracles. Now, all believers can lay hands on the sick and watch them be healed, but not all believers are called to the healing ministry. Now, the one who has the gift of healing is more likely to see a healing miracle than a believer who's just operating in the average function of it. I have more on this and a teaching that I did last week. In fact, it was last week's Bible Revival, where I talked about how to know you have the gift of healing. And in that, I talk about the difference in the gift of healing and the function of healing. Then we see the gift of miracles. This is different than healing. This has to do with things like food multiplication, the bending of the laws of physics. This is God's grace on your life to see and experience these things. The word of knowledge. The word of knowledge is the supernatural acquisition of information. So quite simply, it's when I know something that I shouldn't know other than by the Holy Spirit or information that I didn't gain other than by the Holy Spirit. The word of knowledge deals with the here and now, the gift of prophecy deals with then, in the future, and the word of wisdom deals with the how. So the word of knowledge is the supernatural acquisition of knowledge. The word of wisdom is the supernatural acquisition of wisdom, the ability to speak a word to help bring people through a difficult circumstance. You know those circumstances where you feel like there's no way out? You don't quite know how to work through that. That's where the gift of the word of wisdom would come in. The word of knowledge is the supernatural acquisition of knowledge, past or present information having to do with the natural realm. And the word of wisdom has to do with the supernatural acquisition of wisdom. Now on the word of knowledge, there will always be a purpose to it. God doesn't just give you information to show off. I've seen it used that way where it's kind of just almost like a parlor trick. Well, isn't it cool that I knew that? Like, yeah, that's great, but what are you speaking on behalf of God? Or are you just trying to wow us with the fact that you can get accurate words of knowledge? So don't abuse the word of knowledge and make it some like sideshow that people come to see. Make sure that the word of knowledge, just like any of the other gifts should, is pointing to the person of Jesus. Then there's the gift of faith that's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse nine. Now remember, the gift of faith is others centered. Think about what we saw in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse seven, where the scripture tells us that God gives to each of us a spiritual gift. Why? So that we can help others. So that spiritual gift has been given to us for the sake of others. So then the gift of faith couldn't possibly be me having faith. The gift of faith must be the ability to stir faith in others. Then there's the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation. Now, I don't have time to get into this, but there are three expressions of the gift of tongues that we see in scripture. One is the personal prayer language. One is the prophetic gift where God speaks to the tongues, someone interprets and the church is edified. And then the other is the proof tongues, what I call it, where the gift of tongues is spoken and it's assigned to the unbeliever, just like we saw in Acts chapter two. But as it goes with what's mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation have to do with the prophetic public expression, such as we see in church assembly. So the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation is spoken aloud in a public church setting and they work in conjunction with each other. 1 Corinthians 12 is not talking about your personal prayer language, okay? Those are the power gifts. Then we see the leadership gifts. Leadership gifts are the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, the apostle, and the prophet. Now the evangelist is not just a traveling teacher. That's a teacher. An evangelist is someone who is graced by God for the purpose of soul winning. So just because someone preaches and travels doesn't make them an evangelist. They could be a traveling pastor. They can be a traveling teacher. They can be a traveling prophet or apostle and they could be a traveling evangelist. But just because you travel from church to church or venue to venue or country to country does not mean that you're an evangelist. An evangelist is someone who's focused on souls. Their primary function is not to entertain the church but rather to win the unbeliever over to Christ. Then there's the pastor. Now God gives us pastors not to control us but to guide us, but they are spiritual authority in our lives. Pastors act as a covering, not as a lid. They act as protection, not as limitation. Their job is not to control your life. Their job is to guide your life. So be careful that you're not giving someone the place of the Lord in your life where you can't do or think or have anything unless it's talked about with your pastor. No, the pastor is a guide. The pastor is a counselor. The pastor is someone who helps to watch over your soul and keeps you accountable in the area of holiness and they feed you the word of God. They're there to help you grow spiritually. That's a pastor. Then there's a teacher. These are people who are gifted by God to take complex spiritual truths and give them to you in simple, understandable, applicable ways. Then there's the gift of the apostle. Now, I feel like today anyone and everyone could be an apostle if you just put it in your Facebook title. No, that's just not how it works, okay? An apostle is not like an extra level of power. I think sometimes we misunderstand that. We think, okay, there's the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, the prophet, oh, but the apostle. That's the super powerful one. No, has nothing to do with level of power. Rather, it's an area of focus. So an apostle is not a pastor of pastors. I see some people, they make like their pyramid schemes. I ordained like 100 people, therefore I'm an apostle. Well, okay, they paid you for ordination, you gave them the card, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you were appointed by heaven as an apostle. It means you're a great organizer. There could rather be the gift of administration. So we have to be careful with how we throw out these titles because not everyone who is an apostle or claims to be an apostle, I should say, is an apostle. An apostle is one who is graced by God. Hear me now, this is simply the biblical definition. An apostle is one who is graced by God. To begin new ministry works among new people groups or in new regions. I'm gonna say that again. An apostle is someone who is graced by God. To begin new ministry works among new people groups or within new regions. Or as we look at online today, some people might be apostles who help take the gospel to the online community. That's apostolic. These are people who are gifted by God to establish ministries. And it's because of the function of their gifts that sometimes they just so happen to become pastors or the pastor of pastors. I'm gonna say that again. It just so happens to be that because of the function of their gift that they just so happen to become a pastor of pastors. A pastor of pastors is not an apostle, not necessarily. But usually one who is an apostle will eventually become a pastor of pastors. Why? Because they're gifted to begin new works. So they go to one region, look at Paul the apostle. He would go to a region, spread the gospel, begin a new work in that city, raise up a Timothy, leave that someone there to pastor the church, and then he would go on to establish a new work. So it's by the nature of what they do that they come to be a pastor of pastors. But not everyone who has a network of pastors is an apostle. These are people that are gifted by God to begin new churches, to begin new ministries, to start and open new mission fields. So like Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. We also see that some of the apostles went to different regions of the world breaking the gospel into those regions. Or even maybe not just people groups or regions. It could also be among generations. There could be apostles to the millennials, or an apostle to Gen Z. These are people who are gifted by God again to take the gospel message, break it into new territory, and establish new ministry works. It is not a higher level of the five-fold. Again, it's not like, well, you upgrade. You start as a teacher and an evangelist, then you upgrade to prophet, and then you get promoted to a pastor and all of you play your cards really good, then you can become an apostle and have all the power and more power than all of them. That's just not even biblical, okay? An apostle is someone who's gifted by God to break open new territories and people groups for the sake of the gospel. Someone who begins ministry works. And then we see the prophet. The prophet, again, different than the gift of prophecy. We covered that just a moment ago. These are people who are leaders in the church established as spiritual coverings, people who become deacons or people who are fixtures in church authority. They have the authority for discipline, for correction, for teaching within a local body of believers, but their primary function, their primary area of grace, is to hear from God and give that clear direction not necessarily to overtake scripture, but to affirm that scripture and then speak to those things that the scripture is not necessarily clear on, such as the specifics of any one individual's life. So here we see the service gifts, exhortation, giving, leadership, service, administration, power gifts, prophecy, discernment, healing, miracles, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, faith, tongues, tongues interpretation, leadership gifts, evangelists, pastor, teacher, apostle, and prophet. And for more on these, I've actually done teachings on these specifically. There's so much more for each one. In fact, I could do a teaching on each gift individually because there's so much to these gifts. But I wanna know right now in the comment section chat whether you're watching live or on the replay, let me know right now in the comment section, which gift that I'm talking about, of all these gifts, which one are you most drawn to? Like, which one excites you the most when you hear it? You're like, man, that just stirs my spiritual passion. I'm drawn to that gift like magnetically. And which gift do you suspect or think you have? Suspect kind of sounds like a negative word. Which gift do you think you have? Which gift do you think that God has given to you? Which gift do you sense that God has given to you? So let me know in the comment section, which gift are you most drawn to? And tell me why too, I'd be interested to know that. And which gift do you think or suspect that you have? Let me know in the comment section right now, Steve, how's the chat doing? Chat's doing amazing. And already I can tell you that a lot of people in the chat are resonating with, I mean, everything that you're saying. I can see a couple of comments here and Lee writes, this is such a powerful message. I love this, and someone else writes here, Remy writes, the prophets are leaders in the church. They have the authority for discipline and correction in the body. So people are commenting and talking about this topic throughout the message. So it's really, really great. And I'd love to see the comments, guys. Continue to comment. Also, if you haven't already, like the stream. Okay, I wanna tell you now how to discover your spiritual gifts. So I see many of the comments here, you know, people looking and seeing all the different gifts that we're talking. And I'm seeing lots of different combinations here. Now I wanna talk to you how to discover your spiritual gifts. Then I'm gonna tell you how to activate your spiritual gifts. And then we're gonna talk about the purpose of the spiritual gifts, which is very, very important. Okay, how do I discover my spiritual gifts? Number one, desire. There's a reason I asked you, which gift are you most drawn to? The Bible says this in First Corinthians, chapter 14, verse number one. Let love be your highest goal. But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives. So here, the Bible tells us to desire gifts. The Bible tells us to earnestly desire gifts, to long for them, to be passionate about the spiritual gifts. So the Bible isn't teaching you to be passive. Listen, we have like this false spirituality. We're, oh Lord, whatever gift you wanna give me, I'll just take it. We kind of pretend like we're being passive, but really inside there's this burning desire. That's the Holy Spirit, like Jeremiah, who said it's like fire in my bones. When God places a desire in you, that desire's gonna burn in your spirit. So nevermind the false humility. Nevermind the false spirituality. Nevermind this passive approach to the spiritual gifts, Lord, whatever you want. That's not humility, that's apathy. Because the Bible tells us to desire the spiritual gifts. God has given to you a spiritual gift. Now think about this. If you desire a spiritual gift, who do you think it was that put that desire there? Or what do you think it is that causes you to desire that? Now some might say, well, it could be the devil trying to deceive me and keep me off my call. But would the devil really ever give you a desire to do something unto the glory of God? Would the devil ever tell you to lay hands on the sick and pray for them? Would the devil ever tell you to encourage someone or to believe God for a miracle? No, the devil doesn't want you doing these things. So it can't be the devil, it can't be a demon. Some might say, well, what if it's my flesh? What if it's just me? Maybe you've questioned this before in your mind. What if it's just me? What if I'm the one who wants the gift and God isn't the one who wants to give it to me? Well, we have to make a distinction here because the flesh desires things that are of the flesh. And the spirit desires that which is spiritual. Now, granted, your flesh may desire the accolades that you think might come from operating in a spiritual gift. The flesh might desire the fame that you think might come from operating in a certain ministry. But the flesh will never desire the gift itself. The flesh will never desire the operation to help someone else in and of itself. The flesh will want the blessings of the gift or the perceived blessings of the gift. The flesh will want the praise. The flesh will want the attention, the accolades, the status. But the flesh will never desire the gift itself. So if you can make that distinction in your heart and you say, okay, yeah, maybe part of me in my flesh wants the accolades. Maybe part of me in my flesh wants the praise. Maybe there's something deep down in me that wants to be noticed and have the attention of people. Okay, you deal with that side, but don't dismiss the side of you that also desires the gift itself that you might be a blessing to the body of Christ because the flesh will fight the spirit and the spirit will fight the flesh. But don't let the flaws of the flesh keep you. From embracing what God has given you in your spirit. Don't allow the flaws of the flesh to keep you from embracing what God has given you in the spirit. So yeah, maybe there is some level of selfishness within you that desires the spiritual gifts for the gain of self or for the purpose of promoting self. But don't ignore that part of you that desires the gifts for good. That desires the gifts to be a servant. So that desire in you, if it's not the enemy and if it's only sometimes partially the flesh, what is that other part of you that desires? Who is it that put that desire there? That's your spirit. Now notice here, the Bible says, desire the spiritual gifts that's plural, you guys. Now people have asked me, but they're David, can you have more than one gift? Is that biblical to have more? What if I feel like I have several? Look, you could have them all. It's all up to the Holy Spirit. But the Bible tells us to desire the gifts, multiple, plural, not just one. There are many abilities that God has given to you in your unique gift set. So maybe God has called you as a prophet with a teaching gift and a gift of discernment. Or maybe God has called you as a pastor with the gift of giving and the gift of administration and he wants to pair that with the gift of miracles. Or maybe God has given you a gift of teaching. Maybe he's called you to be a teacher, a leader in the body of Christ who spreads the word of God in very clear ways. And maybe with that teaching gift, God has also given a leadership gift. And maybe with that leadership gift, he's given you a word of wisdom gift. There are many different unique combinations that can make up who you are in Christ. There are many different ways that God can use you and you'll find that you sometimes will desire more than one gift. And that's not only okay, that's healthy. That's being spiritually healthy. Again, never mind the false humility. Never mind this false spirituality. Oh Lord, whatever you want, I'll just wait here. No, he's saying you should desire these gifts. That's scripture, that's what the Bible says. And you should desire, earnestly desire. Be passionate about having more than one. So God wants to give you multiple spiritual gifts so that these can make up the uniqueness of how you're to be used in his kingdom that you might expand kingdom territory. What a powerful truth indeed. So that's number one, desire. If you desire a spiritual gift, it's because the Holy Spirit put that desire in you. And if he put that desire in you, it's because he wants to give you that spiritual gift. Again, we make those distinctions between the enemy confusing us, the flesh wanting it for selfish reasons, and the spirit itself desiring the gift for the purpose of serving others and bringing glory to God. That is pure. God has put it in you. I've told this story several times, but I grew up being, I went to high school at a private Baptist school. And so during history, we would actually see the many revivals talked about in our history books. So my history books were probably different than your history books if you went to public school or some secular school. My history books included the great revivals, the great awakening I read of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham and George Whitfield and all of the different movements of the Holy Spirit throughout the ages and in the nation. And these stirred my heart, but sometimes I would come to certain sections and I would read the word evangelist. Oh my goodness. I still can remember to this day how I sensed this stirring deep within my heart every single time I read that word. Whenever I would read that word evangelist, something deep down within me would be stirred. I sensed like a spiritual fire stirring up in my heart. And I would pray to the Lord, Lord, use me like this. Let me be someone who sees a move of your Holy Spirit. I wanna lay down my life like these men and women and I wanna be used like that. Let me do it, Jesus. And so that desire, that drawing, that magnetism in you that you feel towards certain things, that is the Holy Spirit. In fact, maybe you're drawn to this ministry because you sense a calling to the healing ministry. I mean, you're drawn to the supernatural. That's why you watch Encounter TV. Maybe you feel called to be an evangelist or you wanna teach the word. Could be, or maybe you just enjoy the teachings in general, but maybe there are some other ministries you're drawn to, like the prophetic ministries, or maybe you're drawn to the gift of tongues or you're drawn to ministries that operate in similar flows. You're always gonna be drawn to those who will have a similar flow to you. That's that spiritual likeness attracting that to you, not the law of attraction in the New Age sense, just in the practical sense that you're attracted to it because it's something you enjoy and you have a passion for. So that's number one, desire. You have a desire for the spiritual gifts that God has given to you because he's placed those in your heart. Number two, before I actually covered that, some may ask, well, what if I don't want a gift but I believe God has given it to me? Well, I would dare say that somewhere buried deep within you. There is that desire, but remember the flesh will fight you on it. Number two, recognition. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 16 says this, a man's gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men. Now, Proverbs here is giving us wisdom concerning when you give a gift. This is not talking about the spiritual gifts in context, in principle. This is talking about the fact that when you give someone a gift that it will open up doors for you, it will take care of itself. But we can glean this spiritual truth and apply it to the spiritual gifts, the very practical biblical principle that if you have something, it will show itself. You don't have to go around announcing that you're anointed. You don't have to announce that you're an apostle if you're really an apostle. I found that the people who say over and over again and insist on everyone calling them an apostle and constantly, Lord, that I'm an apostle, I'm an apostle, I'm an apostle, red flag, probably not an apostle. Or they are, but they're very insecure about their operation in that body of Christ. I have a gift of healing. I have the gift of healing. I have the gift of healing. I have the gift of healing. Now, it's one thing to share it for the sake of encouraging others. It's another thing to try to draw attention yourself. I have it, I have it because you want everyone to see and celebrate that. That's spiritual immaturity. Or I have the gift of prophecy. I can't tell you how many people have told me that. I have the gift of prophecy. Or I have the gift of discernment as if they're gonna say, you know what people mean when they say that? When they say, I have the gift of discernment. What they mean is, what I'm about to say is true and no one can question me. It's absolute because I have the gift of discernment. Something in my spirit, that's that old religious saying, something in my spirit just doesn't feel right about this. And I have the gift of discernment. Anytime someone announces they have the gift of discernment, what they're about to say is probably not true. I have the gift of discernment. And I can tell you why because there's that insecurity. But a true spiritual gift. And guys, this goes for all operations, all ministry. I can't list every single spiritual gift. So I don't think I'm just picking on any particular type of individual. I'm not. These desires for recognition are common to all of us. Every human being desires some sort of recognition or to feel important or to feel needed. And that's perfectly natural. You just have to keep that in check, make sure the flesh doesn't have too much influence over how you operate in these gifts. But when it comes to recognition, the main point is you don't have to go announcing that you have a spiritual gift if you actually have it. And that's sign number two that you have a spiritual gift. Here's how you discover it. Number one, where are your desires? What gifts do you desire? Number two, what do others recognize in you? And here's the thing, they may not even word it in a way that's super obvious. This is important. I'm serious, this is very important. They may not word it in a way that's obvious. They may just say, you know, I'm really comfortable sharing my story with you. Or they may, you may hear this a lot. I'm really comfortable opening up to you, okay? That's somebody recognizing your spiritual gift of encouragement. Or the fact that people constantly bring sick people to you. They just know, go to that person. And for some reason, people are constantly coming to you whenever someone's sick, I'll call so and so. Now you may have never thought you had a gift of healing, but they just see it. They're drawn up. Maybe they don't even verbalize it. Maybe they don't even say, oh, they have the gift of healing or they see a lot of miracles. They just know, you're the person to call. Now wait a minute, why would they know that? Why would they be drawn to bringing the sick to you? Why every time someone is sick, do they come to you? Possibly, are they recognizing whether they verbalize it or not? Are they recognizing that there's a gift of healing on you? Or the gift of prophecy. Or the gift of leadership. People recognize it on you and sometimes their recognition may not be ultra-specific. They may not say, hey, I see the gift of leadership on you, but boy do they follow. They look to you for direction. Why? That's the gift of leadership. They may not say, oh, you have the gift of wisdom, but they say, hey, I'm going through this really difficult situation and I can't seem to find a way out. And so I thought I'd come and get your opinion on it. Why? Because they know there's wisdom that operates in you. Or man, I'm in a really difficult circumstance and it just seems impossible. I don't think this is gonna happen. Can you pray that God does a miracle? And they just know to come to you when they're in an impossible situation. Why? Because in the spirit, they can recognize a spiritual gift on you whether they vocalize that or not. In the spirit, they recognize a spiritual gift in you whether they vocalize it or not. And that really is a powerful indicator here that they recognize your spiritual gift. So number two is recognition. Number three is function. Now this one may seem obvious too, but I'm gonna dig into this a little bit. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse four says, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit is the source of them all. So here we see that the Holy Spirit when he gives a gift to someone, he's the source. If he gives you the gift, it means he gave you the gift. So the natural conclusion of this is that there's function to the gift. See, you may think that you just have compassion for people, but that's probably a gift of encouragement. You may think, well, you know, I'm just really good at reading people. Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you really just good at reading people? Or is that the gift of discernment? You may say things like, I'm constantly having these dreams and they just seem to come to pass quite often. Okay, do you just by coincidence have these random dreams that just so happen to come to pass? Or do you have a prophetic gift? You know, it just so happens that I pray for people and often I see healing. Praise God, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You just so happen to see healing a lot or that gift is in you. You know, I'm just really good at figuring out situations, complex situations. Okay, that could be the word of wisdom. Well, I don't know if I can teach the word, but I understand it and I can explain it clearly. And see, we kind of are dismissive with these things because again, it comes back to this false humility of not wanting to acknowledge that we have any gifts whatsoever. That's not humility. That's just passivity, that's apathy. That's to ignore what God placed in you. No, acknowledge what God has placed in you and look out for the functions of the spiritual gifts in your life that you may be overlooking. So if you suspect you have a gift, there's that word against suspect. I don't mean it in the negative term. I gotta find a different word for that. If you believe that it's possible that there's a spiritual gift in you, then I wanna talk to you about how to activate that gift. Second Timothy chapter five or chapter one, I'm gonna read verses five through eight. So again, to recap, how do you discover that desire, recognition and function? These are areas in your life that will reveal a spiritual gift. Now, once you believe you have a spiritual gift, you don't have to be absolutely certain about it, okay? Just try to think of a few that match up to these explanations. And then let's take the next step here because the worst that can happen is you step out in faith believing that God gave you a gift and then maybe later you find out that he didn't. No big deal. We all live and learn. Everyone makes mistakes. You move forward, but don't be afraid to step out. I'm serious. I don't want you to be afraid to step out because that's what's gonna hinder you from receiving your spiritual gift or not receiving, but from activating it. Now, when I say activate, the funny thing is the internet is a funny place. Whenever I talk about activating spiritual gifts, people just freak out. Religious people mostly, they'll say things like, well, I don't want anything to do with the new age. Activate sounds so new age. Okay, well then how do you stir up? Is that better? We use the King James language for it. It's the same thing. It means the same thing. How do you cause that gift that is in you to become active in your life? How do you make use of the spiritual gifts? By activate, I don't mean, you know, awaken some part of your, you know, however the new age words that I simply mean that you purposefully use that which God has given to you. So this idea of activating the spiritual gifts is actually in the scripture. We'll use different terminology. It's stir up the gift or make use of the gift. Second Timothy one, five through eight, watch this. This is powerful. I remember your genuine faith. He's talking to Timothy now. For you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. Okay, so let's set up the context here. Paul is writing to Timothy talking to him about the faith of the generations before him. He's saying, I remember your genuine faith. You share that faith that was in your grandmother and your mother. So the generations before him carried this powerful legacy of faith. He had a spiritual heritage. And now Paul is reminding him of that. Now watch this verse six. This is why I remind you to fan into flames. The spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Okay, so God imparts a spiritual gift to Timothy when Paul laid his hands on him. Now watch this very popular portion of scripture. We read it a lot. And yes, it has universal application. Yes, we can use it to speak against fear. But in context, Paul the apostle, watch this. Paul the apostle in context is actually giving this encouragement so that Timothy wouldn't be afraid to activate a spiritual gift. Watch this now. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline or a sound mind. Okay, so never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. Wait a minute, wait a minute here. Let's break this down here. So Paul is saying, look, you have a great legacy of faith, a great heritage of faith. Your mother, your grandmother shared this faith. So I tell you, don't be afraid to stir up that gift that was placed in you when I laid hands on you. And then he talks about the fact that God has not given us a spirit of fear. Now again, this verse for God has not given us a spirit of fear in principle just talking about overcoming fear. So yes, you can still use it for when you're putting your children to bed and they're afraid of the dark. Yes, you can use it if you're afraid to go on a job search. Yes, you can still use it in circumstances where you're afraid. But the original use of this biblical principle, at least in this scripture, has to do with Paul encouraging Timothy to not be afraid of using his spiritual gift. So God has not given us a spirit of fear. How do I know that? After he tells him not to be afraid, he says, so never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. So what gift is he talking about? He's talking about Timothy's preaching and teaching gift. Talking about his gift of being a teacher, possibly a pastor. So now he's saying, don't be afraid to use those gifts. So this verse, God has not given us a spirit of fear. That very famous verse was actually in reference to the fear that people have of using their spiritual gifts. And now he's saying, stir it up. Fan it into flame. How does he do that? He tells him right there, never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. How do you activate a spiritual gift? You simply use it. How do you stir up a spiritual gift? We see it here. You simply use it. He tells him, great legacy of faith. The gift is in you. I laid my hands on you. Now stir it up. So go telling others about our Lord. So the way Timothy is instructed to stir up his spiritual gift is to actually make use of it. Look, you're never gonna get past that fear until you actually use it. And here's the reality is people will say, well, give me the keys. How do I activate it? Okay, use it. No, no, no, no, but how do I use it? Well, go use it. Well, what do you mean? Well, if you believe God has given you a gift of healing, go lay hands on the sick. Find some sick people, pray for them. You believe God's given you a gift of prophecy. Ask the Lord to speak to you. Compare it with this word. Judge the word with those who you're accountable to and then speak it based upon the wisdom that they give you. You believe God has given you a gift of leadership? Lead. Gift of tongues, speaking tongues. You have to actually step out even if the fear is still there. Now this part, not a lot of people like because they want to be given the keys, right? They want me to give them keys so that they won't be afraid. But that's not gonna happen. And this is why many believers get stuck. This is why many believers never use the spiritual gifts God has given to them. Why? Because they're too afraid because of their uncertainty. You're never gonna get past that uncertainty. You're never gonna get past that fear until you actually step out. I was terrified of preaching. And I mean terrified. I remember when the Lord first told me he wanted me to preach. I was praying in my room. I was going to bed. I was lying on my bed. And I remember I couldn't even sleep. I was tossing and turning for hours because the Lord was just telling me preach, preach, preach. Tossing, turning, tossing, turning in my bed. And I'm like, okay Lord, this has to be just me. I was terrified to even, listen. I was scared to even say out loud the words God's called me to preach. I didn't even want to say that. No, no, no, no. I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to start a business. I wanted, there's other, as silly as it sounds, I wanted to start my own theme park. I wanted to do something different, right? But no, the Lord said preach, preach, preach. And I'm like, okay Lord, this is terrifying to me. I am terrified. So I'll never forget, it was a Wednesday night. I go up to my youth pastor at the time. I said, pastor Eddie, I feel like God is calling me to preach. And I thought he would say, okay, well, let's give it a couple of years. Serve a little bit and so forth. I had been serving for years up to that point. So I thought maybe there's more years to serve. But apparently he thought I was ready. He says, okay, you can preach next Thursday. It's like less than, almost a week away. And I had just told him that. And that was probably the most grueling week in terms of being nervous that I've ever had. I was terrified. I was nervous. I didn't want to preach. When God first revealed to me that I was called to the healing ministry, and that was scary. 13 years old, God says, start laying hands on the sick. I didn't want to do that. I wanted him to just start doing miracles, Lord. And they can come up and testify. But I had to step out. And when I did, people made fun of me. People mocked me for believing that I could be used of God in that area. People did not, some didn't want to see me fulfill that. Some spoke out of jealousy. Some spoke out of concern for me. Maybe they thought I was crazy. Others just thought it was weird. But I had to do it. I had to start someone. And here's the thing, not everybody I prayed for got healed. Thank God a good portion of them did, but not everybody got healed. And so I just kept using it, kept operating in it. You have to actually do it. There's never gonna come a day where you're gonna wake up and you're gonna say, okay, I'm not afraid to use my spiritual gift. That's not gonna happen. I hate to break that to you. That's not gonna happen. You're never gonna wake up and say, I'm 100% comfortable with stepping out in faith. And I don't mean to be harsh with you, but you need to hear this. That day is not coming. That day is not coming. And so many of us waste so much time. What does God call me to do? What does God call me to do? When is God gonna call me? I'm waiting on God. Stop waiting on God. Do something. That really means do something. The day will not come where you say, I'm 100% comfortable, 100% confident. This is my gift set. I'm gonna go out and use it. You will never know until you step out. You have got to activate that by way of use. That's what Paul told Timothy. It says, don't be afraid. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. So use that gift. Go teach. Go preach. Now, according to the scripture, it seems that Timothy had some insecurities. He thought maybe I'm too young. And that's why Paul had to tell him, don't let others look down on you because you're young. And that was probably a point of contention for Timothy. He didn't wanna do it because he probably felt he was too young. Maybe there's somebody watching me right now. You're really young. You're thinking, how do I start? Well, just start. You know, I started preaching when I was 13. 13. My first book published when I was 14. This is not me bragging on myself, by the way. This is just my story. And this is what the Lord did. And I hope you're inspired by it. I started preaching at 13. First book was published by 14. Second book was published by 16. Had a television broadcast by 18. Had a national television broadcast within my early 20s. And things just snowballed from there. Now, each step of the way that I know what I was doing, that I was I fully confident that it was all going to work. Not really. But I stepped out. Now, maybe you're older, or as we say, more experienced or seasoned. Okay, and you're saying, well, time must have passed me by, no, no, no, no, it's never too late. But no matter where you are, whether you're young or old or in between, or you believe you have a spiritual gift, you're wondering if you have a spiritual gift. That we all have in common that we're just gonna have to eventually step out, stop being afraid, stop second guessing it, stop questioning it. You're not gonna have all the answers. Not everything's gonna be laid out before you as plainly as you want it to be laid out. It's not gonna be 100% crystal clear, but you have to at some point act. And that's what makes the difference between those who are doing things for God and those who are wanting to do things for God. That's it. At some point, you just have to, despite the fear, say, okay, I am afraid. Okay, I am nervous. Okay, I am insecure. Okay, I do have a lot of self-doubt. But at some point, you just have to do it. That really is the hard part. And we want keys, right? Give me the keys on how to not be afraid. They're not there. I can't cast you out of you. You're always gonna be there self-doubting. That's just a fact. And so this is why you have to just, in order to activate the gifts, use it. Use your spiritual gifts. There's no secret. Just do the basics. How do you strengthen it? Use it. How do you activate it? Use it. How do you get better at it? Use it. You're gonna have to use it. Now, one of the areas the Lord's been challenging me in, he reminded me, and this, sometimes we forget things. We don't really forget. We just kind of place things on the back burner of our minds and we just kind of leave it where it is. You know, when God first called me, I asked him to accompany the preaching gift. I asked him for three things. I said, okay, you want me to preach as an evangelist? I'm gonna ask you for three things. I want the gift of healing. I want the gift of teaching. And I want the word of knowledge. Because I had seen other evangelists use those gifts together. And something the Lord has really been challenging me lately in is the fact that I don't often use the word of knowledge. And so this year I've made a commitment. Lord, okay, I pray you start to stir up that word of knowledge in me. And sometimes it's stuff that freaks me out. Steve, you've been with me in these services. Oh yeah. There's no guessing with the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying this to brag on me. Like he will speak ultra-specific things that like if I'm either really, really right or really, really wrong. There's no in between. There's no like, well, somebody here, you're kind of struggling and you're believing God for a new season. Who is that? It's gonna be like 80% of the people in the room. But God will give me like a very specific, there was a woman here, you got in a car accident three years ago and because of that injury you went on painkillers and you've been on painkillers ever since and you become addicted. I've had to say things like that and then wait for like 10 minutes for somebody to finally go, it's me, it was I in the back waiting this whole time. Like where were you the whole time? You're making me wait on this. And I have to just step out. So that's one, I'll grow with you in this journey. That's one of the areas that the Holy Spirit's really been dealing with me in is stir up that word of knowledge. Start using that again. I don't use that often enough and I had to repent and I'm talking about within the last couple of weeks. I said, okay, Lord, you're right. I did ask for that. You did deposit that. I need to start using that more so that we can see it operate in the ministry. So that's something I pray you start seeing in these services. Pray for the sick. We'll get the testimonies and I'll start calling people out and giving words of knowledge. That's what I'm gonna pray that the Lord does in these services. And so there are gifts in me that I know I have to stir up and I'm a nervous to do it. I'm right there with you but I have to do it anyway. I have to do it anyway. Hey, if you think that there are believers who need to hear what I'm saying, like you truly believe that what I'm saying right now is valuable and you're thinking, man, I wish more believers could hear this. I wish more Christians would hear this. Clear teaching in regards to the spiritual gifts. Help me spread the word. Just go ahead and leave a like right now. Everybody watching live on replay take like five seconds, no more to find the thumb, click the thumb and then you're good. And in a moment I wanna talk to you about the purpose of the spiritual gifts and I'm gonna talk about, okay, this is gonna be, we're gonna go there, okay? I'm gonna talk about when Christians attack each other. I'm gonna talk to you about that in just a moment when I talk about what is the purpose of the spiritual gifts. But first, Steve, let's check on the chat. Chat, you guys are doing amazing. I would like to know as well how you're doing in the chat. I've been talking with you guys throughout the stream and you guys are loving the topic. Elaine writes, word of knowledge and gift of healings are the gifts I desire. But first to seek his face, powerful, powerful. Also, Joshua Moore, I know this is about spiritual gifts but when you said just act, that hit different. I am so insecure at times and God is working that in me. So powerful time right now in the chat. You guys are doing amazing. Continue to comment through the stream. We're talking right now. It's really great. First Corinthians chapter 12. This is gonna be so important. I wanna talk about when Christians attack each other and I'm gonna talk about the harmony that we need in the body of Christ to see these spiritual gifts intensify. If you look in Acts chapter two when the Holy Spirit fell, the Bible says they were all in one accord. No, they were not all crammed into a Honda Accord. What it means is they were all in unity together praying. And in that unity, there was power. There's something about fellowship and togetherness that intensifies the potency of the spiritual gifts. Watch this now. Now dear brothers and sisters, this is first Corinthians chapter 12. I'm reading out of the new living translation. If you don't believe that's an actual translation of the Bible, I'm reading out of the new living commentary. First Corinthians chapter 12 verses one through three. Now dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the spiritual gifts or the special abilities that the spirit gives us, I don't want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the spirit of God will curse Jesus. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. So Paul the apostle had a real challenge here because the Corinthians were very pagan people. There was actually a phrase back in the ancient world that was used and that phrase was to live like a Corinthian and to live like a Corinthian was similar to our phrase today in the United States where we say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I tell people when I preach there in Vegas, no, no. What happens in Vegas is revealed in heaven. Nonetheless, that was their ancient version of that saying. So today in the United States, we have that phrase what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. In other words, that party lifestyle, the perversion, the place of pleasure and self-indulgence, that's what it's known for. But the Corinthian people, they had that phrase to live like a Corinthian and that meant to live a lifestyle of parting, of drunkenness, of promiscuity, of idol worship and especially of sorcery. They worshiped all sorts of different gods, God of healing, God of truth, God of prophecy, Poseidon and others like this. And this was Paul's challenge. Okay, because we have a bunch of people who were once pagans, that's why he writes here. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter one. I don't want you, chapter 12, verse one, I don't want you to misunderstand this. Verse two, look at what he says. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So here Paul is saying, look, guys, I'm gonna tell you about the spiritual gifts, okay? But I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying because Paul's concern was that he would tell them about the gift of prophecy and they would go, oh yeah, we know that idol or he would tell them about the gift of healing and they'd go, oh yeah, we have healers too. It's the same thing, right? He didn't want them to confuse the power of the Holy Spirit for pagan power. He didn't want them to think that the two were similar. So that's why he writes, I don't want you, guys, I'm gonna tell you about this. Concerning the spiritual gifts that you asked, okay? It's funny that they even asked because it shows where they were. Hey, Paul, tell us about those special abilities and it's almost like reluctant, not really, but almost. He's like, okay, yeah, I'm gonna tell you about the spiritual gifts, I'll tell you, but please don't misunderstand me. Please don't compare it to pagan power. Please don't compare it to the idols that you used to worship. This is not pagan power, this is the power of the Holy Spirit. So I want you to know, and this is how he tells them now, here's how you're gonna distinguish between that old pagan power you used to use and the power of the Holy Spirit that's available to you today. Here's how you're gonna tell the difference. Here we go. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Now, the way that Paul has phrased verse three has led to some misconceptions in the church world today. We think that, for example, people who are demon possessed can't say Jesus is Lord. Say Jesus is Lord, see, they can't say it. They have a demon in them. Okay, that's not what the Bible is saying here. Paul the apostle is talking about the truths that are represented by these powers. He's basically saying it's not the miracles but the message that will help you to distinguish whether something is of the Holy Spirit or something is of pagan power. So if the message points to the Lordship of Jesus, if the miracles point to the Lordship of Jesus, that's by the Holy Ghost because no one could declare Jesus as Lord through those means except by the Holy Spirit. And no one would curse Jesus who is the central figure of our faith. No one would curse him except by another spirit. So Paul is saying the way to distinguish between pagan power and spiritual power, Holy Spirit power, is by what messages preach, by what truth is preached, by who they're pointing to. This is why I caution people. And I want you to hear me. Be careful, those of you who operate in the spiritual gifts because sometimes I've attended church services where there's no mention of Jesus but there's lots of mentions of prophecy. No mention of Jesus but lots of talk about deliverance and healing. No mention of Jesus but lots of talk about prosperity. Hear me now and hear me good. The moment you shift your focus from who Jesus is to what Jesus gives, you are in danger. Your soul is in danger. Why? Because you've just crossed over into what I call charismatic witchcraft, sorcery. To demonstrate the power without the purpose is borderline witchcraft. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, and I used to say things like this. So I'm not attacking anyone. I would say things that were quite foolish. I would say things like, wow, the service was so powerful. He didn't even preach or she didn't even preach. And we say things like that all the time. He didn't even preach the word. She didn't even preach the word. It was great. They just let the spirit move. And I thought, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Since when has the Holy Spirit been opposed to the word? And why do we imagine that the preaching of the word is somehow a barrier to the Holy Spirit moving? Look, if somebody is willing to demonstrate mostly power but struggles to teach the word or doesn't want to go there or only spends a couple of minutes for fear of losing people's attention, well, you're in danger because the Holy Spirit moves on the word. Hear me now, the word of God is not a barrier to the move of the Holy Spirit. The word of God is the foundation upon which the Holy Spirit moves. So Paul is saying here, look, you have these spiritual gifts. You have these special abilities, but please don't misunderstand this. You're not being given these gifts for the sake of themselves. You're not being given these gifts for the sake of self promotion or accolades or praise or entertainment. You're being given these gifts to point to the Lordship of Jesus. And any power demonstration that doesn't ultimately point to Jesus is not of my spirit, is not of the Holy Spirit. That's what the word of God teaches. So don't confuse these two powers with each other. The spiritual gifts are given to us for a purpose. Now watch this. And by the way, what I just told you was how to discern between a move of the spirit and a move that seems like it's the Holy Spirit but doesn't ultimately point to Jesus. If you leave a place going, wow, that person is so amazing, danger. If the individual is constantly pointing to themselves, look how powerful I am, look how anointed I am, look how they went to others who couldn't help them. Oh, but when they came to me, I'm the answer. Danger, danger, danger, danger, cult, cult, cult, cult. They should be pointing to Jesus. Now look here at verses four through six. I'm gonna show you something really intriguing here. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts. See if you can spot this. I've taught this before. See if you can spot what I'm about to say. Verse four, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. God, Lord, Spirit, Father, Son, Spirit. The Trinity is mentioned here in passing. This is an allusion to the Trinity. Now this is the source of your gift. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the source of the spiritual gifts. Now watch this verse seven. It's gonna be a key verse. I read it at the top of the broadcast and I wanna read it to you again but we're gonna come at it from a different angle. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so that we can help each other. So at the beginning, I read verse seven and I used it to demonstrate the truth that you have in fact been given a spiritual gift because it says a spiritual gift is given to each of us. Now I wanna take a look at this other angle so we can help each other. The purpose of the spiritual gift is not for show, it's for service. It's not for status, it's for service. Spiritual gifts are not a reward, they are a responsibility. You have been given a spiritual gift to help your brothers and sisters in Christ not to puff up your name, not to point to yourself and this is a dangerous place, especially in influencer culture. And listen, my heart breaks. My heart breaks to see these wonderful gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to us. Being abused and used for the purpose of the glorification of man. Now you can't prevent people from putting you on a pedestal sometimes but at least in your own heart you can know the purpose. At least in your own heart, you can point to Jesus. At least you can make an effort to use these gifts for service not for status. And it seems to me that this precious anointing that the Holy Spirit has given to each of us is being abused and misused for the sake of self, for the sake of our own ministries or names and this is not how it ought to be used. Now in 1 Corinthians 12, eight through 11 we read that list of spiritual gifts but you know, I wanna point something out to you now. And this I mentioned to you, I was gonna talk about Christians attacking each other. I wanna talk to you about something, this is so key. We're gonna go there tonight or if you're watching the replay, whatever time it is for you. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I'm gonna read verse 12, watch this. The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one spirit and we all share the same spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand, that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, I am not a part of the body because I am not an eye, would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it only had one part. Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye, listen to this now. The eye can never say to the hand, I don't need you. The head can't say to the feet, I don't need you. In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. Let me be clear. Jesus did say that in the last days, there would be false Christs, false anointed ones, false prophets, and they abound. They use their gifts to point to themselves. They use their gifts for personal gain. They preach things that are opposite of what the core tenets of our faith are. But not everyone who disagrees with you is a false prophet. There are different methods. There are different ways of operation. For example, some are evangelists. I'm an evangelist, that's what I do. I evangelize. I am not a pastor, not in this season of my life. I don't foresee a season where I will be, but I don't speak against that because it's not my life, it's his. You know, there are some who are prophets, some who have different functions of ministry, different gift sets. And I think the danger is that if people do things differently than we do it, that we start to attack brothers and sisters in the faith. Sometimes, guys, the truth is people attack out of jealousy. That's not always the case. I've had people attack me out of jealousy. I've had people attack me, for example, for what I teach on deliverance and spiritual warfare. Now you know me, I cast out demons. I believe in deliverance. I believe in spiritual warfare. I'm not against deliverance. I practice it. What I am against is extremism within deliverance that's actually religion and superstition that the Bible doesn't teach that actually damages people more and leaves them in a cycle of bondage. But you know, I've been attacked for my teachings on spiritual warfare. I've been attacked for my teachings on finance. I've been attacked for my teachings on even healing. I've been attacked for my teachings on evangelism. I've been attacked for all my teachings. But you know, we as the body of Christ can disagree on all those things. But so long as we agree on Jesus, we must operate in harmony. No one can say, well, you're not an eye, so I don't need you. Or you're not a hand, so I don't need you. We all have different functions in the body of Christ. So to be clear, yes, we should draw very clear lines in the sand. And if someone is glorifying self, someone is abusing the gospel for the sake of only gain. If someone is teaching things that are against the core tenets of the faith, they don't teach Jesus as Lord. They don't teach salvation. They don't teach repentance. In fact, they teach the opposite. If they say things like, you can live like you want and still go to heaven and so forth, that of course is heresy. But not every point of disagreement is heresy. Just because people do things differently than you does not mean that they should be labeled as false. Yes, we can have discomfort with the way that people operate. Some people have discomfort with the way I operate. I have friends who don't like the slain in the spirit manifestation. Okay, well, we still love each other. I have some people who don't like what I teach on spiritual warfare. When I attack religious superstition that has found its way into spiritual warfare so that people are set free, people don't like that. But I say, hey, I can only teach the word. There are different things that people don't like about others in the body of Christ. Personalities, methods, slight variations within doctrines that have nothing to do with the central themes of salvation. We have to learn to have the spiritual maturity. To not take every disagreement as a personal attack. And here's another thing that people do that's quite manipulative, that I've seen. Where if they disagree on a certain, you need to hear this because this is just the reality. And I pray you never do this. Where if they disagree on a certain point, they'll try to frame it like sin while we talk to them privately and then we address them with others and they didn't repent. They didn't end up agreeing with me. So now I have to blast them publicly. Well, are we talking about sin or a doctrinal disagreement? You can't go around demanding that everyone teach everything exactly like you, otherwise you expose them. That's not how the body of Christ is to function. Now, some people deserve to be exposed because they're of a different spirit, but we need to bring balance to this. We need to come to the place where we're not destroying each other just because of slight disagreements in doctrines that are peripheral and not primary. And that is unity. Again, call out heresy. Call out the false prophets. Call out the false teachers. I'll be right there with you plotting. But just because there are slight variations in the way people do things, doesn't mean we call them out or attack them because we say we're defending the faith until they come into agreement with exactly everything that we say that's immaturity. And we can't take everything personal. There are some of you who disagree with me on some things and there are some of you who agree with me on everything. But we all agree on Christ and if we are to see our spiritual gifts truly find their power, then we have to stop attacking brothers and sisters in the faith. Why? So that these gifts can come together and we can see the potency of the spiritual gifts in full operation. Now, I wanna pray for you right now. I wanna pray that the Lord would stir up your spiritual. Right now you're gonna have an encounter with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Right now, you receive the teaching. Now it's time for activation, revelation, and then activation. It's time now to receive this impartation. It's time now to stir up no more excuses, no more wondering what's next. It's time to activate these things by way of use. Step out in faith. I'm gonna pray these things we revealed and activated in you. But before we pray, if you wanna be used by God, you wanna draw closer to the Holy Spirit. You wanna learn more about the supernatural but in a biblically balanced way. Make sure you're subscribed to this channel. Click that notification bell when you do subscribe because we put out teachings on the Holy Spirit, prayer, spiritual warfare, and supernatural topics. We also show live streams where the power of the Holy Spirit moves in our services and you can sense the anointing from just watching it on your screen. You're a first timer. You're blessed by these teachings. Maybe you've watched a few of my videos. Join our spirit family. Subscribe right now to EncounterTV and click on that notification bell when you do. Let's pray I am believing right now. I'm so stirred up for you. I'm gonna pray and then I wanna talk to you about something very important. I'm so stirred up for you. I believe something's gonna happen right now. By faith, something is gonna happen right now. Father, I thank you for the gifts that you are stirring in your people. Precious Lord, I pray that they would sense your presence and power all around them. Thank you Lord that there is a stirring of the gifts within them. Activate that gift in them now. Something's happening in you. I can sense it. I'm telling you something is happening in you. I can sense it. Father, stir up that gift. Let them determine in their minds and hearts that they will make use. Despite the fear, despite the nervousness, they would step out and do it. Lord, I thank you that you're activating gifts of healing, gifts of prophecy, gifts of discernment. You're activating service gifts like the gift of encouragement. Raise prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, and evangelists I pray. Let that anointing stir right now. Something is happening. There's a great exchanging taking place in the spirit. Something is happening in you. I want you to write your prayer requests. Ask him to stir up that gift. Write it in the comment section right now. I'm telling you, it's an act of faith. Go now while this anointing is flowing. Write it in the comment right now what you're believing God to activate in your life. Just put it out there in faith. Father, we thank you that you're stirring these gifts. I rebuke the lives of the enemy. I pray you give your people boldness and courage to step out in faith and activate these gifts that you've placed upon their lives, Lord. Father, thank you that you're stirring up gifts of tongues and tongues interpretation. Thank you, Lord, that you're stirring up the gift of miracles, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom. Thank you, Lord, that you're stirring up the gift of faith and the gift of healing. Thank you, Lord, that you're stirring up the gift of leadership and the gift of giving and the gift of discernment. Lord, I thank you that you're dropping mantles from heavenly places and your place. I see in the spirit right now, it's like there's like a cloth coming over some of you in the spirit. There's a mantle for the prophetic, a mantle to be an evangelist, a mantle to be a pastor, a teacher. These mantles are falling on God's people. Someone's being called as an apostle. I thank you, Lord. You are dropping mantles from heaven right now. I thank you, Lord, that we are connecting in the spirit to moves of God in generations past and, Lord, that you are causing us to receive of that anointing. I thank you, Father, for what you're doing right now in your people. I wanna take a moment, just keep praying, keep praying. God's not done here. Keep praying, something is stirring by the spirit. Something is stirring by the spirit. I thank you, Lord. I thank you, Lord. There's a pastor watching me or you're gifted to be a pastor. Two years ago, you fell into sin and you're wondering about if God is going to restore you. God will restore you. I thank you, Lord, that you're bringing this confirmation to that man of God right now. I give you the glory, Lord. A young girl watching me, asking the Lord for the gift of healing. You feel like heat on your hands. God is stirring up that gift. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. There's a woman watching me. You used to have such strong spiritual discernment. And you're wondering why the discernment, I sense this so strong for you. You're wondering why that gift of discernment seems to be doled. I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit told me right now there's a woman watching that lost the sharpness of discernment because of bitterness and because of hurt. It's time to be healed now in your heart and in your soul. I thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Someone is receiving the gift of prophecy right now. Someone is receiving the gift of prophecy. You asked the Lord for it. Your hands are out like this and you felt like a weight being placed on your hands. That's the gift of prophecy coming onto you. I give you the glory, Lord. This is the Holy Spirit stirring these gifts. I thank you, Father, for what you're doing through your people. I give you the praise. Thank you, Lord, for stirring these gifts. Now give them the power to go, to activate, to walk in these gifts in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. I want you to say it because you agree. Say amen. Now don't turn this broadcast off. I wanna talk to you about something exciting. Maybe you're watching for the first time. Maybe you're a regular viewer. I don't want anyone to leave. This is usually the part where people go, thanks for the good meal. I'm God now. No, no, don't let that be you. Let your heart be moved for what God is about to speak to you now because the anointing is still flowing. I don't want you to miss an opportunity. I said the anointing is still flowing. From the start to finish, the anointing flows on these broadcasts. I don't want you to miss on what God is doing. Now, Ecclesiastes chapter 11, verse four says this. This is for someone watching me right now. This is gonna be a revelation for some people. Ecclesiastes chapter 11, verse four. Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. Isn't that true? If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Now, this truly is something I've noticed recently. I've noticed this about people. People will say I wanna be used by God. People will say I wanna start that business. People will say I wanna be a giver. They'll say I wanna take that trip. I wanna go on that vacation. I wanna ask that girl out, gentlemen. You'll say I wanna ask that girl out. But one day, one day, one day, one day. And I find that most people think that one of these days, the circumstances will be ideal. And they'll come to this place where they'll feel now is the perfect time to move. See, when people are single, they'll say, well, I'm not married yet. When they're married, they say, well, I'm married now so I have more responsibility. And then they'll have kids that'll say, well, now I have even more responsibility. Now there's no way I can do it. And then they'll say one day, well, I can't do it because I have a stable job and I have a nice career. And then after that, they'll say, well, I can't do it because I have grandkids. And then after that, they'll say, well, I can't do it because I'm tired and my health isn't so good. And then after that, they stand before the Lord and the Lord says, why didn't you do it? Why didn't you step out in faith? Time goes by like that. I'm thinking about the fact that the average person maybe lives to be 85, 90 years old. And here I am gonna be 33 in March of 2022. And I realize that I am done with a third of my life. It's done. That if my life was three slices of pie, I've already had one slice and I only have two more. And here's the crazy thing. Here's the alarming thing, if you will. Those next two slices are gonna go by faster than the first two slices. So if you lived a third of your life, the next two thirds are gonna go by much faster than the first third. So this encouragement to God's people is simple. Some of you are waiting for something. You're waiting for the ideal situation. One day, one day, one day, one day. And this is the trap that 99% of people fall into. And they don't think they're doing it. Most people say, yeah, you gotta live your life. You can't be afraid. And if you're afraid, you'll never step out and do anything. And then people will go ahead and wait. And they tell themselves, well, that's not what I'm doing, but deep down inside, they know that's what they're doing. They're not taking that step of faith. And that's what the Bible means when it says, farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Think about, imagine a farmer who has his seeds, he's looking around every cloud. Oh, it looks like a storm, I can't plant now. Comes out the next day. Oh, that's a cloud, could be a storm, I can't plant now. A farmer who watches every cloud will never plant. And the one who never plants will never reap a harvest. So there are some of you, gentlemen, God tells you, ask that girl out. Now, some people say, what about women? Okay, maybe in some cases, yes, but I'm a little old school, not dogmatic about it, but I think young men need to go out and ask women out. And the women said, amen. And maybe you wanna start that business. Maybe you've been waiting to start that business. You've been waiting to pursue and create and conquer and to build as God has told you to build or use that gift or start that ministry or start that Bible study or pursue that degree, whatever it may be, and you're just waiting. And look, here's the reality. In every season of life, there's gonna be an excuse that you can find. I heard this amazing quote that says, if you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. And some of us just make excuses and arguments. Well, I can't do it now because of this. They can do it because of that. And we see success in others. Well, that's them and they have this going for them and that going for them, all the while making excuses for our own lives. And here's the sad reality is most people will get to the end of the race, stand before God and find that they left so much unused. Why? Because they were considering the wins. This is what some of us do in our giving. We say, God, I wanna give. I'll become a giver and we're waiting for the day when all the debt is gone. We're waiting for the day when we have the perfect job. We're waiting for the day when everything is just like we wanted, but here's the reality. Once you get that perfect job, once you get that perfect income, once you get things all sorted out, there'll be another excuse that's there for the giving. We say, God, show yourself strong and I'll start giving. But God says, start giving, I'll show myself strong. We have it reversed. We say, God, bless me financially and then I'll give. God says, no, no, no, no, no. You give financially and then I'll start to bless your giving. That's like saying, God, give me a harvest and I'll plant the seeds. No, no, no. You have to plant the seeds and then you get the harvest and if you're not careful, you're gonna be looking around at the winds and the waves and the clouds and you're gonna say, well, it's not time yet. The rains are coming. The storm is coming. The sea may come up and wash out my harvest and you're just looking at every excuse and every generation has their reason to fear. Today they're saying, oh, the dollar could collapse or cryptocurrency could collapse or the housing market could collapse or government could collapse. That was true every day and it will be true every day from now on. If you're constantly considering what the world is saying, you'll never step out. Not just in your life, in business, in marriage, in whatever that may be you're pursuing in life but also in the kingdom. Your giving will never go to the next level. Your giving will never start if you're constantly worried about every cloud. Now here's some exciting news I wanna share with you. Our ministry is moving quickly through our fundraiser for Project ETV. I want you to show this on the screen written here. Look at this, 69% funded. Keep that up till I tell you to take it down. Look at this, Project ETV is 69% funded. Now don't go anywhere. I know the temptation is to log off and always taking an offering. Now's my time to leave. No, do something different this time. If you usually log off, do something different and let the Holy Spirit challenge you. Project ETV is going to help us reach more people than ever before. It's an expansion of our ministry. We're gonna build another studio location here in Austin. We have a goal to finish raising the funds by May 15th, 2022. We have 855,000 left to raise over the next few months. We've raised 69% of it thus far and it's moving quickly. And that means every day we're seeing more and more progress, more and more progress, more and more progress. That's where you can go to give. DavidHernandezMinistries.com slash expand. Okay, take that slide down. I wanna talk to you. Just a couple more minutes here. This project has the potential to reach a generation. It's a three phase project. Phase one as you saw is 69% funded. You can look at all the details on the website of the bottom line. We're gonna win more souls than ever before. We're gonna host larger events than ever before. We're gonna be able to produce more media than ever before. We're gonna be able to equip and empower more believers than ever before. If you like what this ministry's been doing, you haven't seen God do anything yet. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface. So I wanna challenge you. If you can, give a gift of $25, $55 or $50 or $100. There's no magic to that. It's not a magic seed to be sown. I'm just challenging you with some amounts. $25, $50 or $100. Now, there are some of you watching whom God has blessed with great wealth. And you can do those six figure donations, those five figure donations, those larger gifts. Maybe you wanna know more about the project. Call the ministry. If I know business people, they have great resources but they wanna make sure the resources are going where they say it's gonna go. So call the ministry, set up an appointment, come down and look at what we're doing. Call our office. They will tell you line by line where the money is going and we'll show you in person if you wanna come see it. So my challenge is to those of you, the wealthy, to the poor and everyone in between, all of us must do our part. Let's join hands and link hearts to move this project forward. This is God's project. It's going to be done. We're going to meet the need. We're going to see it come to pass. I'm excited, just thinking. I was walking around the studio today and I was telling Steve, Steve, every dollar's gonna come in. We're gonna see this happen. And just by faith, I knew it, I was stirred. Here's the thing though, not everyone will get to participate with it. And I don't want you to miss that opportunity to participate with the favor that's on this ministry in this season. Rapid growth, rapid expansion and be a part of what God is doing. Be a part of what he's doing. Don't miss this opportunity. Don't look at the clouds and say, well, they're saying this and this and that. Just release by faith into this ministry. Help move this project along. Give that one-time gift, large or small. You can also partner with us monthly that helps the ministry in general. But I need everyone to do something right now. With everyone that would watch this, if everyone who watched this just gave those amounts that I was talking about 25, 50 or 200, if everybody who watched this did that, we'd have the need met and then some. But the reality is not everyone will do that. But I'm asking you to be a part of what God is doing. This is biblical. This is biblical. Don't let that religious spirit keep you from missing out. Some, not all, some are saying, why are they asking? They're taking too long. Well, that's because I wanna give you an opportunity. The Bible talks about giving to the gospel and it's needed, it's important. And don't allow the enemy to keep you from participating. Don't allow that skepticism, cynicism, that doubt to say, well, I don't know why they're doing this or why. I'll tell you what that is. That's your flesh fighting the spirit. Operate in the spirit. Let that gift of generosity flow and watch what God will do. One more thing I wanna tell you. If you enjoyed this message on how to discover and activate your spiritual gifts, then you will love the teaching. How do I activate the gift of speaking in tongues? You can watch that on our channel in Counter TV right now.