1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS<br />CHARLES E. WHISNANT, APRIL 21, 2010<br />ICORINTHIANS 12<br />INTRODUCTION<br />1ATHE BODY PRINICPLE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS<br /> 1BTHE MANIFESTATION OF THE BODY<br />Jesus Christ in His incarnation, revealed Himself in a human body. Through that body, all the attributes of deity were made manifest and God became visible in human history. Christ is Body 1 and the corporate assembly of believers is Body 2. <br />Christ wants to leave Himself in the world. He wants us to be Christ’s in the world. Christ wants to reproduce in us His very essence, His very life, his very personality, His very character.<br /> 2BTHE MEMBERS OF THE BODY<br />Each person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ is a vital member of this Body.<br />Ephesians 2:21-22, Ephesians 4:7,8, 11.<br />1CMATURING<br />Ephesians 4:12: Gifted men are for the maturing of the Saints for the work of the ministry.<br />2CMASTERING<br />Ephesians 4:12-13<br />2ATHE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS<br />1BTHEY ARE ESSENTIAL<br />1 Corinthians 12:1, Ephesians 4:12<br />2BTHEY ARE COUNTERFEITED<br />1CFLESHLY COUNTERFEITS<br />2CSATANIC COUNTERFEITS<br />3BTHE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SOURCE<br />All spiritual gifts are supernaturally empowered, energized, and given by the Holy Spirit. They are beyond the natural. It is not like singing, playing an instrument, or clever with a certain art. They are supernatural enablements. They are “spiritual”. They are controlled by the Holy Spirit.<br />4BTHEY WILL ALWAYS UNITE<br />They will always unite the body, never divide it. <br />5BTHEY ARE NOT A SIGN OF SPIRITUALITY<br />Some are carnal, but they did have spiritual gifts I Corinthians 3:1<br />6BTHEY ARE NOT FOR THE POSSESSOR, BUT FOR THE GOOD OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BODY<br />1 Corinthians 12:5 gifts are called “services.” Something I do for you. <br />12:7 they are called “manifestations” Something that is made public, and given to every man to profit for the good of those gathered together. <br />7BTHEY HAVE THE PROMISE OF DIVINE ENERGY<br />I Corinthians 12:4, 5, 6. I Peter 4:10-11<br />8BTHEY COME IN VARIETIES<br />1CA UNIQUE POSITION<br />yNo two Christians are alike. Each has a unique place and position in the Body<br />2CA UNIQUE COMPOSITION<br />1 Peter 4:10; Ephesians 4:7. Yes. One gift, but that gift is a composite of all the various kinds of enablements. <br />1DTHE ILLUSTRATIONS<br />I Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6<br />2DTHE INCREASES<br />When God puts you in the Body, He gives you what you need to minister based on your personality. <br />3BTHE IRRESPONSIBILITY<br />We really are to minister in all areas. Some have greater responsibilities than others.<br />9BYOUCAN HAVE A GIFT AND NOT BE USING IT<br />1 Timothy 1:6<br />10BTHERE ARE SEVERAL TERMS TO DESCRIBE THESE DIVINE ENABLEMENTS<br />They are called energizing, services, manifestations, grace gifts and spiritual gifts.<br />11BTHE LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE<br />We say there are 7 or 8 major gifts but there are many other kinds of gifts.<br />12BALL GIFTS ARE TO BUILD THE BODY<br />Ephesians 4:12 and 1 Corinthians 12:7<br />13BSOME GIFTS ARE ALSO SIGN GIFTS<br />14BTHE GIFTS ARE DISTINCT FROM THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT<br />TRUE AND FALSE QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY<br />May 19, & 26, 2010<br />Rivers of Joy Baptist Church<br />Pastor/Teacher Charles E. Whisnant<br />True or FalseThe year 2008 marked the last of God’s warnings to mankind and the beginning in a countdown of the final three and one-half years of man’s self-rule that will end by May 27, 2012. <br />True or FalseOn December 14, 2008, the First Trumpet of the Seventh Seal of the Book of Revelation sounded, which announced the beginning collapse of the economy of the United States and great destruction that will follow. The next three trumpets will result in the total collapse of the United States, and once the Fifth Trumpet sounds the world will be thrust into WW III.<br />True or FalseOne who has the gift of Prophecy is able to know what is going to happen in the future<br />True or FalseThere is a big debate today about whether the gift of prophecy still exists.<br />True or False The ability of a person to give future events<br />True or FalseProphecy is the ability to predicting the future.<br />True or False Prophecy is predicting the future<br />True or FalseWe think of Jack Van Impe when it comes to prophecy<br />True or FalsePastor/Teacher is has the gift of prophecy, as well as Assoc. Elder Bill Bower<br />True or FalseProphecy (Noun): [proph-e-cy]<br />An inspired utterance of a prophet, viewed as a revelation of divine will.<br />A prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration.<br />Such an inspired message or prediction transmitted orally or in writing<br />True or FalseThe word prophecy comes from the Ancient Greek verb, προφημι (prophemi), which means “to say beforehand, foretell”; simply put, it is a combination of the Ancient Greek words, προ and φημι.<br />Προ is an Ancient Greek preposition which means “before, in front of”. <br />Φημι is an Ancient Greek verb, which means “to say, tell, assert, express opinions or thoughts”.<br />True or False2 Pet 1:19-21 KJV) We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: {20} Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. {21} For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.<br />True or FalseThe word for quot;
prophecyquot;
in the New Testament is the Greek word quot;
quot;
(propheteia) which carries with it the meaning of quot;
a speaking forth, exhortations, warnings, (which refer to the past, present, or future). These prophecies in Scripture were uttered forth by Prophets under the revelation or influence of God.<br />True or FalseThe idea of predicting the future, as I said before, was only an English addition to the English word prophecy that came in the Middle Ages. A Greek or a Hebrew knew what the word meant. It simply meant to proclaim before somebody. To speak publicly. <br />True or False Isaiah, or Daniel or Ezekiel were prophets of Revelation generally<br />True or False Pastor/Teacher Charles is a prophet of revelation only.<br />True or False Assoc. Pastor Bill Bower is a prophet of reiteration. Bill simply reiterated and simply repeated a message which God had already given. <br />True or False2 Peter 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. <br />True or FalseProphecy (4394) (propheteia from pró = before or forth + phemí = to tell) has the literal meaning of speaking forth, with no connotation of prediction or other supernatural or mystical significance. Propheteia is not used here in the sense of prediction but in its basic and broader meaning of speaking forth, of proclaiming a message.<br />True or Falseprophecy <br />a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events <br />Used in the NT of the utterance of OT prophets <br />of the prediction of events relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions pertaining to it, the spirit of prophecy, the divine mind, to which the prophetic faculty is due <br />of the endowment and speech of the Christian teachers called prophets <br />the gifts and utterances of these prophets, esp. of the predictions of the works of which, set apart to teach the gospel, will accomplish for the kingdom of Christ <br />http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=4394<br />True or FalseThe word prophecy, prophatea, from the verb prophatuofor you Greek students, simply really a basic word coming from the concept of prophamea, which is pro, before, phamea, to speak. <br />True or FalseAnd what it means is to speak before, but it does not mean to speak before in time, but to speak before in terms of an audience. It's not to speak before in terms of foretelling the future. It is to speak before an audience. <br />True or FalseLiterally, to speak before someone. To speak in public. To publicly proclaim, that it the gift of prophecy. <br />True or FalseIt doesn’t have to mean foretelling the future, but it is the speaking forth of the mind & counsel of God, or the will & message of God. William Barclay translates this as “the gift of forthtelling the truth!”<br />True or FalseW.E. Vine says, “Though much of OT prophecy was purely predictive…prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily, fore-telling. It is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means (Mt.26:68 “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”) it is the forth-telling of the will of God, whether to the reference of the past, the present, or the future.”<br />TRUE or FALSEProphecy preachers are one of the most dangerous elements in Christianity because they are consistently wrong yet are the most admired and sought after.<br />True or FalseThe point of prophecy is given in Revelation 9:10, and in that Scripture, we find a definition of prophecy. Listen to what it says, the end of verse 10. quot;
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.quot;
<br />In other words, the heart of all proclamation is Christ. And somebody who gets up and proclaims Christ is fulfilling the spirit of prophecy. Somebody who gives the testimony to Christ is fulfilling the gift of prophecy.<br />THE SPEAKING GIFTS CONTINUE: KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, TEACHING, EXHORTATION<br />Pastor/teacher Charles E. Whisnant<br />June 2, 2010<br />I want to give you five of them that are mentioned in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. And they're mentioned in either/or and one of them in both of those passages. <br />Number one: The Gift of prophecy. . <br />1 Corinthians 12:8 is the gifts. quot;
One is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge.quot;
Let's look at that one. <br />Number two: The Gift of the word of knowledge. <br />It's the Spirit-given ability to observe - to observe biblical facts and make conclusions. The spiritual gift of observing biblical facts and making conclusions. In other words, it's the ability to understand the Bible. <br />There are some people, they are writers. They are scholars. They are teachers, professors, researchers. <br />I know people who do nothing but research. They simply are available to be hired by a writer or an author or an institution to research a given area of biblical truth and to draw out of it all the basic conclusions as a basis for somebody's book, or somebody's course, or whatever that the groups wants done. The word of knowledge. They can write down or speak out with understanding of God's truth.<br />Number Third: The gift is the word of wisdom. <br />Wisdom is the ability to take the facts that the gift of knowledge has brought out and make a skillful application of them. <br />This could belong to a Christian counselor who sees a problem, and by his knowledge of the Word of God, he draws out the principles that can be practically applied to the solving of the problem. <br />This is the gift of the expositor, who can take the Word of God and study the commentaries, as I do, and read from all those who have the gift of knowledge, and out of that, draw the applicable principle to living. <br />This can be something that a believer ministers to another believer, in the area of assisting in his practical life. <br />Wisdom, then, is the skill to apply the facts that have been discovered by the gift of knowledge<br />Spiritual understanding of God's will. And I believe that's exactly what the gift is. It's the ability to understand God's will and make an application to obedience. And that's the way it's used mostly in the New Testament. To know God's will and to behave in response to is.<br />Matthew 11:19; 13:54; Mark 6:2; Luke 7:35; 21:15; Acts 6:10; James 1:5; 3:13; <br />2 Peter 3:15<br />The Holy Spirit-given ability to show us the principles that we need to know and obey to fulfill God's will. <br />Number four: the gift of teaching. <br />And again, Romans 12:7,. It says, quot;
For ministry, let us wait on our ministry, or he that teacheth -quot;
Oh, this is good. quot;
He that teacheth on the teaching.quot;
Again, the definite article. Here is the gift of teaching, and whatever you teach, let it be consistent with the teaching. And what is the teaching? It's this, isn't it? This is the teaching. So if you teach, be consistent with the teaching.<br />What is the gift of teaching? <br />Well, we should distinguish between the gift and the office. You can be a teacher in the Church, and that's an official position. And if you were a teacher, you would certainly have the gift of teaching. But not all who have the gift of teaching are recognized as official teachers, because the gift could be exercised in so many ways. <br />It is the ability, in the Holy Spirit, to pass on truth to somebody else.? <br />The gift of prophecy could be a one-time proclaiming of Christ, but the gift of teaching is a systematic training program to take a person from here to there. The difference may be in the continuity involved.<br />Teaching systematically the truth of God. <br />Number Five: The gift is exhortation. Romans 12:8, quot;
He that exhorteth on the exhortation.quot;
<br />The word means to comfort or help or advise or strengthen. I like strengthen. The gift of strengthening. <br />