 Kim and her husband Ron are friends of Marie and mine. We've known them for many years. I I first met Ron when he was an assisting pastor at Church called Pacific Hills Church. So I've known Ron since he had hair he was a rocker a rock and roller and He has a picture on his web page his testimony and he he played Hard rock guitar and his hair was down way past his shoulders. So for him those were the good old days and He has a friend some of you may heard its name Tommy Lee They grew up basically together and Tommy Lee started a band what's it called Motley crew Motley crew and wanted Ron to audition to be their lead guitar player So he was very very very talented and still is when it comes to playing Rock guitar and all but he had just gotten saved and So Ron said no, I don't want to be part of that. I want to serve the Lord and so Ron began to serve the Lord and he eventually became an assisting pastor at at the Pacific Hills Church and Went often to Houston over 20 years ago now and planted Church Calvary Houston And so Ron and Kim are very very close friends of Marie and mine I've known them as they I said over well over 20 years now and So Kim we we have known Kim going through this cancer that she has and She's a she's a Hispanic woman. She's from this area and They're saying that the match may very well be from a Hispanic And so naturally they thought of us I Said I've got a few here and So I just think it would be wonderful if a match could be found for her From her family here in the church. She'll be sharing on Sunday morning I'm giving her just a few minutes Sunday morning to share a little bit about what's going on and all and She happens to be in our friendship circle probably one of the very closest friends We have and we love her dearly and really pray That the Lord will find a match for her and who knows it may be That someone here in this church may be able to be a match for her And so I would encourage you next week. We're going to be having swabs and all and she'll be sharing a little bit And so you'll hear some things about that when they come and as already mentioned next Sunday night We'll be in in the main sanctuary We will have heaven ease here with us and and if you haven't seen them. It's it's quite a program it really is unique and amazing and and I asked Mari To share his testimony being a Japanese man How is it that you got saved and we'd like to know that and so he's going to be sharing a bit of his testimony in The musical but if you haven't seen it it is well worth seeing it's it's a gospel and and It's actually been influenced by Andre Crouch and If you haven't seen it again, you'll you'll just be blessed and The testimony will be great too and then finally Men if you haven't signed up for the men's retreat, I encourage you to do that We'd love to have you with us as we go off to the mountain to get away from our No, I mean to get closer to the Lord And It'll be a blessing All right Well, we're going to look at chapter 12. I actually want to share with you concerning two of the gifts of the Holy Spirit Um, I may not get to those two gifts. I'm going to I think I am But I want to spend time laying a foundation By looking at something in scripture referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit because that's really important for me to Lay a foundation so you to for you to understand the gifts that God has provided for us the gifts of the spirit of God So let's begin reading together here in first Corinthians chapter 12. I'll read verses 4 through 8 And we'll get into our study first Corinthians chapter 12 beginning at verse 4 reading 2 verse 8 the apostle paul writing writes Now there are diversities of gifts But the same spirit There are differences of ministries But the same lord There are diversities of activities But it is the same god who works all in all But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all For to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit To another the word of knowledge through the same spirit And we'll stop there because we're going to really as I said give an introduction and Hopefully I'll give you some basic things related to these two gifts That he mentions in verse 8 the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge But as we begin I want to refresh your memory concerning A man in the bible by the name of john the baptist John the baptist was a messenger who was sent By god to prepare the way of the lord and we know that And in his ministry he communicated clearly that Jesus christ is the one who baptizes with the holy spirit In matthew chapter 3 verse 11 john said I baptize you with water for repentance But after me will come one who is more powerful than I Whose sandals I am not fit to carry He will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire So john is letting us know from the beginning That the one who sends the holy spirit Is jesus christ Jesus christ is what is referred to as the holy ghost baptizer Now jesus told us that in john 15 verse 26 He said when the counselor comes Whom I will send to you from the father the spirit of truth who goes out from the father He will testify About me So I want you to notice this because I'm laying a foundation for you one John the baptist says I do baptize But I baptize with water representing repentance There's one who comes after me He is the one who will baptize you With the holy spirit So jesus himself says that I will send the spirit upon you So the bible makes it very clear that that jesus christ is the one who baptizes with the holy spirit Jesus is the baptizer So in order to see this how it works out in scripture, we need to turn to the book of acts chapter one Let's turn on bibles there Acts chapter one There are those who say That the ones who baptized with the holy spirit were the the apostles And this baptism of the holy spirit that we speak about Was only something that occurred in the first generation And that when the last apostle died This particular Thing that we refer to as baptism holy spirit as well as the gifts of the holy spirit. Well it it ceased And that doesn't occur anymore So the reason I laid it out that john said jesus is the baptizer I wanted you to see that jesus is the one who does it. It wasn't the apostles It is jesus himself And the writer of hebrus tells us that jesus is the same yesterday today and forever Jesus is still operating still ministering and he still is the holy ghost baptizer. So It wasn't the lane on of the hands of the apostles That was producing This power it was god himself So in acts chapter one verse four Luke writes being assembled together with them He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem But to wait for the promise of the father which he said You have heard from me for john truly baptized with water But you shall be baptized with the holy spirit not many days from now Therefore when they had come together, they asked him saying lord Will you at this time restore the kingdom to israel? And he said to them it is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has put in his own authority But you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you And you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem and in al-jadiyah and samaria and to the end of the earth So as we begin here jesus is speaking concerning and i want you to notice that the promise The promise of the father is what he calls it So he uses the word promise in describing the gift of the holy spirit The word promise simply means an announcement of divine assurance for good God has promised to give you something good. I'm assuring you that something good will happen So the promise is god's divine assurance for good in our lives And this promise is in reference to that which was spoken of in the old testament There are a lot of scriptures I could turn you to or read or cite But i'll cite these if you take notes you might want to note this 800 years before christ God made a promise to the nation of israel through the prophet joel In joel chapter 2 verses 28 and 29 And afterward i will pour out my spirit on all people Your sons and daughters will prophesy your old men will dream dreams which i've been doing quite a bit of lately Your young men will see visions Even on my servants both men and women. I will pour out my spirit in those days This is a promise that jesus is speaking about 735 bc isaac 44 3 says i will pour water upon him who is thirsty Floods upon the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon your seat and my blessing upon your offspring the promise of the father 586 bc isekio 36 25 through 27 Then i will sprinkle clean water on you you shall be clean i will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh I will put my spirit within you cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my judgments and do them 487 bc zechariah 12 10. I will pour on the house of david and on the inhabitants of drusum the spirit of grace and supplication These are promises that relate to the holy spirit Joel especially is one that is cited because on the day of pentecost That is a passage that the apostle peter cites in order to show the people that the promise that has been given by god All the way back in the old testament 800 years before christ has been fulfilled Even in your day. So these references that i'm speaking about here are all referring to this holy spirit Jesus was speaking concerning the promise of his holy spirit in luke chapter 24 verse 49 When he said behold i send the promise of my father upon you But tarry in the city of jerusalem until you're endued with power from on high So we have something in scripture that jesus refers to as the promise of the holy spirit So here in ax chapter 1 jesus is instructing his disciples to keep on waiting for the promise Well that fulfillment of the promise occurs 10 days later in what is called pentecost Now When you read your old testament you note that the holy spirit very often would descend But the holy spirit would also Um would depart In first samuel's 16 14 it says the spirit of the lord departed from sol And the solmis in psalm 51 verse 11 said this he said Do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me In the old testament the holy spirit would descend anoint remain and then leave But that's not the way it is in the new testament You see in the new testament jesus made a promise that his spirit would remain with believers In john 14 16 and 17 He said i'll ask the father He will give you another comforter to be with you forever The spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him But you know him for he lives with you and will be in you Now Here an axe the disciples when jesus is speaking concerning this promise That he says that you have heard of me and then goes on in verse five to say john baptized with water But you'll be baptized with the holy spirit not many days from now It's interesting how How the disciples remain kind of the way that they are In as you see them in the gospel asking questions that don't pertain to the context Because jesus is speaking here about a promise that's coming And what they asked doesn't seem to pertain to that because in verse six they said Are you going to at this time restore the kingdom to israel? And so they're thinking that that all fits within the the context of of the promise But one of the things that they didn't know at that time that is revealed because it was a mystery that is now revealed to us Is they didn't see the the the space of time that would occur from pentecost to the present time that is called the church age And so all of their eschatology the things that they knew related to last days Led them to believe that things would be wrapped up quickly and that's why they're asking Are you now going to restore the kingdom to israel? Are you going to do the work now that is promised in the old testament? But the lord jesus christ is making it clear listen There's going to be a gap of time you're going to be doing a work and that's why he says One in verse seven he says it's not for you to know times of seasons Which the father has put in his own authority in other words the secret things belong to the lord the things that are revealed belong to us Don't try and find the chronology of these things, but do what you're commanded to do What are you to do verse 8 you'll receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you You'll be witnesses to me in jerusalem judaeus samaria to the end of the earth So you've got a work to do you've got a task to perform It's not going to happen immediately The promise is the holy spirit who's going to come and will be upon you will empower you So he gave them marching orders Go forth preaching the gospel, but in order to do that You will require power You will require the power of the spirit of god So god wants to god desires to communicate in perceivable ways But he intends to do that through us If the lord wanted and we know this this would be even remarkable if you did it But he could align the stars in heaven Where we walk outside and it says jesus saves And that'd be it and that'd be a pretty good sign jesus saves But he didn't do that did he he hasn't done that has he He gave a remarkable sign, which is the resurrection of the lord jesus christ And that's what we preach. That's why we are his witnesses. What are we witnessing his resurrection? His being our savior The fact that he's returning for us We are his witness But in order to be able to be his witness and i want you to note that he said you shall be To be his witness requires something we don't have on our own To be his witness requires transformation And transformation comes through the power of the spirit of god So it's not enough for me And you all know This ministry is built on teaching the word of god. It's not enough for me to know the word of god I need to apply the word of god and the promises of god And one of the promises is the promise of the father And that promise of the father is that he would baptize me in his holy spirit empowering me To make me and to make us into his witnesses So that we could go out and be witnesses as we do the work of witnessing We ought to be witnessing at all times And when necessary we actually explain it with words Our lives in other words should be such a testimony of the power and grace of god That people will know Truly god is amongst you Because your life is so radically transformed You're so different What is it that made you different? What is it? And you can say the holy spirit of god who has rested upon me The holy spirit of god who empowers me and that's the promise that we're looking at So he said we'd be witnesses Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father Who's in heaven Matthew 5 16 tells us Let your light shine So that you can be a witness now to be his witness as mentioned early requires power Our lives will evidence his presence And so that comes to the baptism of the holy spirit That's a a promise that was fulfilled on the day of pentecost that is recorded in Acts chapter 2 Now the Feast of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days from the first sunday after Passover And so that's when the baptism of the holy spirit occurred now I mentioned a moment ago out of John 14 16 and 17 something concerning the holy spirit Now he would be with you and he would be in you There are three prepositions That are used in relation to the work of the holy spirit There's the word with there's the word in and there's the word upon So the holy spirit will be with you Because you develop communion and fellowship with the spirit of god the holy spirit Will be in you because at conversion you become the temple of the spirit of god according to first Corinthians 3 16 But he also says the holy spirit will be upon you That's what is called the epi in in in greek the word is epi And it speaks of body it speaks of him resting upon you and empowering you For the work of service I was sharing yesterday perhaps a few of you men may have been there yesterday at the men's conference I don't know, but were you there? I was sharing How that when I first got saved What we did is because we were part of what was called a jesus movement a jesus revolution What we did is we celebrated who jesus christ is that's what we did so When we went to church we expected to get bible studies not entertainment When we sang songs it wasn't to make us feel good. It was because we worshiped him When we gathered together with people it wasn't so that we could eat pizza and say I hang around with christians It was so that we would encourage one another and exhort one another and pray for one another and minister to one another And teach one another and and that's what we did that was my early days in the lord when I first got saved You know church for me wasn't the place that I went to because I had nothing else to do It wasn't a place that I went to simply because my friends went there and were going to do something important afterwards Fellowship wasn't something. Oh, I'm just going to hang around with a bunch of people who don't drink and smoke and chew and all of that stuff And that's good because I don't feel like doing that anymore There was a reason for all of this and it was all because I wanted to grow closer to jesus christ and know him And the power of his resurrection and to live for him and be transformed It's because like many of you it's because my life was one filled with alcohol and drugs and and a variety of things that go along with that And and I didn't want that life anymore I I didn't get to the point of sophistication where I was saying well, you know god's grace He allows me to still do still do these things if you know if I if i'm a little depressed God's grace allows me to drink if i'm a little lonely. He allows me to sleep around I didn't have that mentality. We didn't have it because we were saved out of the sewage And and yet what is going to keep us going strong? What's going to keep us going strong just going to bible studies and taking notes I needed something that that would amplify what I was learning from the word of god And that was the experience of the power of god in my life And and if you were to ask me you're not but i'm going to tell you anyway If you were to ask me what is missing in a lot of believers lives and and and I guess I I guess i'm at that point Where I can say this with some authority. I've been walking with the lord almost 42 years. I've been ministering for 39 So maybe I know what i'm talking about in this. I will tell you what it is People are walking in the flesh when they think they're walking in the spirit They're not walking in the spirit They're yielding to temptations of the carnality of their flesh and blaming god for it What god wants to do Is he wants to pour water on you like your dry ground So that you can just drink it in and he wants to do that with the holy spirit What has kept me Solid with jesus all these years the answer is the baptism of the holy spirit And love of the word of god and fellowship with fellow believers who love jesus and encourage my life But I need the power of the spirit of god because like he said I will pour water on him who is thirsty And I'm thirsty And I want the spirit in my life. I hope you do too. I hope you do too I think that we we can get caught up saying well, you know, it's just my flesh and I'm so weak and and we can make excuses But I can do all things through christ who strengthens me I can Forsake those old ways. I can be victorious. I was sharing with with the guys yesterday You know, I got saved a lot of us if you knew if you knew the personal testimonies and the unspoken testimonies Of a lot of the people you're aware of We were crazy We were We were crazy, you know, it's the truth And my mom my mom told me that quite often you're crazy. I'd say yeah takes one to know one mama, but We were We were crazy crazy My mom got mad at me. I was I had a friend of mine who was driving down the street. I climbed on top of the car like a living hood ornament And and I had one my leg up and I was standing like this and he was driving and he drove in front of my house And my mom was in the kitchen. I didn't realize she was looking out the window And she hit the window so hard and I came in and she you are crazy What is wrong with you? And I said, I don't know what you're so upset about we're just having a good time You could have fallen off that car and gotten run over, but I didn't Here I am What are you and that's the way I thought I didn't you know, I didn't think I didn't think about anything like that I didn't think anything about taking five breads and drinking almost a half gallon of wine I didn't think of those things. I didn't worry about those things. Who cares Life is short. Enjoy yourself Do what you want doesn't matter God grabs hold of your life And then you realize I was crazy I was crazy And now I'm in my right mind like that man in the from the gatherings When jesus ministered to him and delivered him There he was seated in his right mind And what is it that jesus said to do because he said I want to go with you and jesus said no You go back and you tell your friends your family tell everybody great things that god has done for you You go back and be a witness. Let them know. How are you going to be a witness? The power of the holy spirit The power of the holy spirit Jesus said you will be witnesses to view after that you have received this holy spirit this promise of the father We really need the work of the holy spirit When he speaks concerning power and said you shall receive power The word power in the original language as you all know is the word dunamis It's it's the root word in the greek for the word dynamic It's also the word that is used for dynamite We don't want to run around just blowing everything up So we want to be dynamic and the holy spirit produces a dynamism in us a power in us a strength in us As he comes upon us Somebody says I want this holy spirit baptism, how does that work? well when I uh first got saved I went to Little pentecostal church in long beach and um there was a Revival going on the church didn't seat more than 150 people very small little building there And they had an evangelist He had I've said this many of you have heard this before but he had a set of drums right at the platform right at the base of the platform And uh, you know, he's kind of a husky guy. It looks like he came from a kind of a rowdy background He had a big old pompadour. I still remember this guy and he would be shouting in the microphone and then he would Start playing the drums Then he'd get back on the stage and shout some more. I'm a brand new christian. I'm thinking this is normal Remember I was crazy. This is normal Before you know it we're marching around the church behind a church flag Singing songs. I mean it was you know It was crazy, but that's what we were doing And then then he says if you want the holy spirit Just to overwhelm your life Come and kneel here at at the altar and and tarry until the spirit comes upon you And so I wanted what god could do in my life. I wanted more of god I was a new christian. I was a couple weeks old three weeks old lord And I went and out there At the rail. I still remember doing that And he was shouting and people were yelling and they were crying and grabbing hold of the doorposts and shaking It was just an amazingly out of order meeting And and I'm kneeling there and I knelt there for 45 minutes begging and crying and pleading And I've got these other guys kind of like sitting on their heels, but see I was raised a catholic So I could kneel out kneel any protestant any day of the week So I was just kneeling there and I stayed all kneeling like that. I still remember that Jesus come upon me. Jesus come upon me. Please Jesus come upon me. I need you. Oh god. I need you. I was begging. I was pleading I was shouting with everybody else And then the evangelist says now everybody get up and give a testimony And I'm standing in line and and I'm thinking nothing happened Like nothing happened How can I disappoint these people? I'd like to lie, but I'm a christian. I can't lie I'm in church. Nothing. What god give me wisdom. I don't know what to say nothing happened And people would come behind that mic and say things and need you to look out at the people and they'd all kind of Smile and then it was my turn. I'll never forget this I'm standing here. I come and I look out at them and they're looking back at me and I say I really can't put into words What I just went through that was true And the people looked back at me and nodded their head like yeah, nothing happened to me either. You know, it's one of those moments, you know But I thought that's how it works. I thought You're supposed to plead. You're supposed to cry. You're supposed to beg. You're supposed to make promises You're supposed to tarry your Jesus said this in luke chapter 11 Verses 11 through 13 if a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? If he asks for a fish Will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg will he offer him a scorpion? If you then being evil Know how to give good gifts to your children How much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who? Ask him I don't have to beg. I don't have to plead. I don't have to cry. I don't have to tarry But I do have to ask Lord for your glory Not so I can be known And not so I can have some spiritual experience to boast about But for your glory Because I want to be your witness Would you fill me with your holy spirit? Would you fill me you have promised that you would? Would you be good to your word to me? You see in acts 532 We read we are his witnesses to these things And so also is the holy spirit whom god has given to those who obey him Lord it is my desire to take you at your word and to obey you And to receive your promises What is missing in many lives today? And I say this again Is the power of the spirit I think that many people have substituted bible knowledge Being able to quote scriptures and speak about certain things with Certainty, but they're still dry in their lives They're still dry There's still something that's missing within them. What is it? It's the power of the holy spirit God wants to work in you God I say that on the authority of god's word God wants to pour out his spirit upon you And if you've never had that experience He wants you to have it He wants you to have the power that he supplies so that you can live a victorious life in him So that you can be a witness to him You see in church life sometimes pastors substitute Things for the presence of god As something I pray and I seek the lord about all the time whenever we have events here It's not so we can feel the place by the way you need to hear that from me It's not to feel the place You know we say all the places feel you know, I'm I'm real careful with that the lord a long time ago And you don't hear that from me by the way think about it I I don't play that Because that's to me not a proof of anything you can feel buildings with entertainment And so that doesn't prove anything to me what I want Is for our people to be filled with God? That's what I want not buildings filled with people but people filled with God That's really what I want So when we have heaven is here is to give people an opportunity to hear about the glorious work of jesus christ when we had our You know last week event it wasn't all about us unfortunately one of the The people who were serving that night ministering that night said this is all about you and it's and and and we're here for you No, it's not I am the host and that's the guest and i'm not going to get up and embarrass the guest But let me say it openly to you it isn't about us It's about him and when I was looking at that banner and it says You know the event on it. I was looking above That banner which says we would see jesus because that's really what this ministry is all about I hope you understand and know that Because sometimes people will think all pastor just wants to fill the place. No, I don't I don't just want to fill the place. I want to fill the people I want them to have the spirit of God so they can leave walking in his steps So they can have an influence in their families and schools and neighborhoods and job sites So it's all about him. It always has been all about him. It's not about filling pews What I want is to walk in the power of the spirit of god What has kept me solid with christ for these years? The power of the holy spirit has he always had freedom to work in my life? No, I have quenched him grieved him many many times And I think that it's a natural habit of the natural man to do so But there's a longing for all of him To have all of me And jesus said it you shall receive power After that the holy spirit has come upon you If your christian life is boring It's not god who's boring There's something wrong with you There's something wrong with you and I'm not saying that as one who's like so perfect. I'm only half perfect No, mostly perfect. No, I'm just speaking with experience I'm just speaking from experience When have I become dry? Is it because he made me dry? No, he said I will pour my spirit upon you So was it his fault that I'm dry? It's my fault because I'm quenching the spirit. I'm clogging the the the The line that god wants to be pouring his his his works into my life And so that's why to me this is a very important subject because I want you all to walk out tonight saying I want more of jesus christ I want more of him because that is what's going to give you the strength to live for the lord and to serve him So we are intended by the lord to represent him on the earth So when he pours his holy spirit upon us and we receive by faith That's holy spirit experience and by the way, I should say this too Um, there are some people who think that it when the holy spirit comes upon them that they're going to have You know, holy ghost goose bumps. There's going to be some kind of electrical thing that goes on You know, and then they'll run around or whatever, you know I've been around that so have you perhaps I've been around that There's a group of people called holy rollers. You've heard the term holy rollers. How many have you heard the term? Am I speak to anybody? You know, it's okay. How many of you seen have seen holy rollers. Raise your hand. Okay. Trippy, huh? Yeah, yeah, they they really do They roll roll all over the place, you know, and and I've seen that, you know, and Mm-hmm No, Jesus doesn't make me do that If I need my if I need the the the floor dusted I don't need to bring some guy in to dust it, you know, I can just get a duster and I and I've seen that No, the holy spirit doesn't come upon you to make you freaky and weird Holy spirit comes upon you to make you more like Jesus Christ Who is not freaky and weird I mean, do you think that when Jesus preached that suddenly he would just stop his eyes would kind of roll in the back of his head And he just and speaking King James. I don't think so But a lot of times you get the impression when you see someone say no, the spirit is a pot You know, I was like, oh, you know what happened man and alien. I don't I don't get it because Jesus is normal. He's normal We're not And so when the holy spirit works upon us, sometimes we may attribute to him weirdness when in reality He's trying to take that out of us. Come out foul spirit of weirdness, you know I'm I should be serious, but sometimes I make myself laugh and then I get carried away and that's it Let's get serious again. I I really do want you to be filled with the holy spirit And if you haven't been tonight's tonight But I will tell you this as we go back to 1st Corinthians. I'll show you a couple things here chapter 12 In order for me to be exercising these gifts The holy spirits working in my life and the gifts of the spirit are going to be connected and so With the power will come to bestowing of spirituals or spiritual spiritual gifts and and he begins to speak about that in verse four Of 1st Corinthians chapter 12. He says there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit There are differences of ministries, but the same lord There are diversities of activities, but it's the same god who works all in all So he begins to speak concerning the diversities of gifts Notice how he said it. There are diversities of gifts But the same spirit diversity speaks of a distinction arising from a different distribution To different people in other words, there are various gifts that god gives Because the body of christ is made up of many members and therefore god gifts each member in an individual way And and and you'll see this a little clearer in just a moment But there are various kinds of gifts that are necessary for the body to function and in this particular passage He actually lists nine spiritual gifts Now this isn't the only place in scripture that you see gifts of the spirit mentioned But this is this is a portion of scripture that he takes time to give to them an explanation concerning nine of those gifts And so one he says there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit verse five There are differences of ministries, but the same lord There's a variety of applications of the gift of the spirit differences of ministries So when god is moving through the spiritual gifts, the body of christ is enabled to function in a healthy fashion Right now there are gifts of the spirit being in operation as as i'm doing what i'm doing But there are sunday school ministers who are teaching also and there's worship that takes place There's a variety of gifts that are at play in any time the church is together And so there are differences of ministries But he goes on to say in verse six there are diversities of activities Now the diversities of activities Speaks of the effect of the operation of the gifts of the spirit now All of the effects are produced by the power of god But they can be they can be exercised Through different people in a different way God is sovereignly controlling what is occurring through his gifts And he works differently in each one of us for example Uh, we saw this yesterday And you see this all the time when the church gets together You can have people who are exercising the same basic gifts And so we have a men's conference. There are 12 speakers each one of them is there to teach But all of us are different in the way that we teach You have pastor chuck smith who comes up And when chuck teaches he teaches in a certain way he's teaching the word of god But he teaches in a certain way You get poncho who comes up he's teaching But he is his personality is different than chuck his illustrations will be different Things that he sees in the passage that are biblically solid and are there Will be presented differently because that's how poncho teaches You see that with every teacher And so somebody may say I have the gift of teaching But that doesn't mean that it will be identical You know john mccarthur is a teacher Chuck swindall is a teacher david jeremiah is a teacher chuck smith is a teacher Raul Reese is a teacher. We're all teachers, but we have different ways that we teach That's all part of the gifts of the holy spirit Because the body of christ is is made up of various components And so one of the worst things that I could fall prey to and you could fall prey to Is thinking that if i'm going to be a teacher of the word then I have to teach Like that person up there is teaching right now, and that's not true at all Nobody can teach like john corsen except john corsen You know, he's got a unique ministry So for me to try to become a john corsen Would just not be true to the gifting that god gave to me When I do pastors classes, I'll I'll tell the young men who want to be pastors Never use me as your example You you shouldn't use me as your example you by the grace of god have a gift that is unique to yourself So use your gifts the way that your gifts operate and don't try to become somebody else Because have you ever wanted to be somebody else? If you have have you ever stopped to think that if you were identical to somebody else then one of you isn't necessary So we need both of you We need we need what god is doing in you and you teach this way and you see this in the passage is biblically solid You've rightly divided the word the application comes from your heart But that's how it works in the gifts of the spirit. What you do is you seek the lord You see when When our church first began I had already been teaching i've been teaching the word For eight years when this church began. I already had developed my own style But when we began and called ourselves calvary chapel I started thinking oh, what am I supposed to teach like? Should I try to teach like pastor chuck? And I thought No, there's only one pastor chuck Should I try to teach like greg lorry? No There's only one greg lorry Should I try to teach like raw? God forbid That I should do such a thing It's neat. No The lord said you are by the grace of god who you are Teach like yourself And that's how it works And so the ministry the activities of the spirit work differently in each individual But I want you to notice verse seven where it says the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one notice for the profit of all To bear or bring together to help for the benefit of others not ourselves alone is what the word profit means Which is another way of paul saying there are absolutely no superstars in the body of christ Because the gift of the holy spirit and the gifting of the holy spirit the gifts of the spirit are intended to build up the body And not to elevate people to superstardom They are not intended to draw attention to the one exercising the gifts at all But when the holy spirit is in operation He is drawing people to jesus christ John 15 26 says when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the father Even the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father He shall testify of me Whenever you see the gifts of the holy spirit in operation and you might be in a place where the gifts are really Manifest and they're very welcome and And um You may see somebody who Seems to have a certain spiritual gift and you can actually become enamored by that person And begin to want to be like that person to speak like that person to act like that person And you might even go to that person for all kinds of advice and Direction because you think that god is moving especially in that person And and god's word would say the opposite He says the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all It is never just to lift one person up And then he begins to give this partial list of spiritual gifts I'll give you two basically and and that's it's really time for me to stop Um, let me ask the pastor what he thinks you think you should stop. No, it's okay. All right Word of wisdom word of knowledge I'll just touch on these things Word of wisdom What is a word of wisdom a word of wisdom is an insight that comes directly from god It's an insight that comes directly from god Jesus exercised words of wisdom quite often. I mean, there are so many examples You can see one time when they approached the lord Jesus christ and they said to him the baptism of john Was it from men or was it of god? And he remember what the lord did at that point. He exercised this wisdom He said bring a coin to me and whose superscription and image is this on the coin Well, that's scissors Well, then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto god the things that belong to god That was wisdom that he used because as he did that They didn't have a word to say about it And so he'll give you that supernatural wisdom in different different experiences John's baptism was it from uh, from from heaven or was it from men? Well, jesus has a word of wisdom Well, he says well, you tell me something and as he's speaking concerning john's baptism They began to debate amongst themselves listen if we say that that john's baptism was from god He's going to ask us why didn't you believe him if we say it's from men Well, we fear the people because they all perceive john to be a prophet And so they turn to jesus and they say well, we won't answer you And jesus says at that time neither will i answer you Or or paul is there before the council and And he had been preaching people were upset at his preaching and as he's standing there It's he's about to be tried and and and they want to do him great harm and so The scripture says that he perceiving that there was a large portion of people there who were Pharisees And there was a large portion who were Sadducees And knowing that the Sadducees don't believe in spirits and they don't believe in heaven and things of that nature He's in the resurrection He says men and brethren i'm a Pharisee the son of a Pharisee And it's the question of the resurrection that has brought me before you today and what happens They began to argue amongst themselves to the point of distraction The lord gave him the wisdom at that time in order that he might be removed from that situation. So the word of wisdom is When you have a wise answer That you don't necessarily come up with but it's it's one of those things that is given to you at that moment It's not something that is simply originating from outside circumstances. It's something that originates from Within and there are times that you will have that That wise answer to give at that moment The word of knowledge Is not a natural ability to study gain degrees. It's not ordinary knowledge and the ordinary acquisition of that It's not even the ability to study the bible and understand it. That is something that is given to all believers by the holy spirit The word of knowledge refers to a knowledge that is beyond our normal way of finding things out So you have a Samaritan woman approach the lord jesus christ And jesus initiates a conversation with her And as he begins to speak to her he speaks concerning water and if you wanted some water that Means that you'd never have to come and draw water up again You would have asked me and i would have given it to you and she says well then give me this water So i don't have to draw anymore And what is it that jesus says to her go and call your husband Go and call your husband. How did he know that this woman was an immoral woman? Well, there are some obvious cultural things that could have been hints of it. She's there at noon Women didn't go at noon there because it was the heat of the day But the lord was speaking to her heart He had knowledge that this was a woman who was living immorally because she says i have no husband He says well in this you've spoken truly you've had five and the one you're living with right now. It's not your husband It's the word of knowledge Who ratted me out? There's nobody there just this jewish man and this woman. It's a word of knowledge And that happens Jesus is with his disciples. They're in cesarea filipi And as they're seated there Jesus asks the question who do men say that i the son of man am And i'll some say that you're jeremiah elijah john the baptist one of the prophets Who do you say that i am And the apostle peter responds thou art the christ the son of the living god And jesus says blessed are you simon bar jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father in heaven It's knowledge that was a moment of knowledge something. He didn't know that was handed to him at that moment Even he was able to do that Ananias and sapphira in acts chapter five Make an agreement to sell a parcel of land but not deliver up the full price And pretend that they had given it all And so when this takes place The holy spirit reveals that they're lying And and it's even it's even asked why has satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit You haven't lied to men, but you've lied to god How did he know that how did he know that they had made an agreement to do that knowledge a supernatural knowledge There are times From a practical experiential level that That the lord has given me knowledge That is supernatural it's from him It's happened in counseling Where i'll say something It can happen in teaching situation where i use an illustration And i've had people come up more than once and say you really shouldn't have said that Because that's what my son's doing right now and he thinks that i told you So next time don't say that I didn't know But it was the lord giving me that at that moment to say this I was in my house many years ago Over 30 about 31 years ago over 31 years because it was a i was an assistant and not even pastoring this church yet And i had a young woman who was seated across the table from me And while we were talking