6-18-23 Kasey Campbell: The Gift of Special Faith

We’re back in our series today about the gifts of the Spirit. Throughout our series, we’ve talked about the warning Paul gives the Corinthians when he gets started: he warns them that just because someone says they’re speaking for God doesn’t mean they are, so we need to be able to recognize when something brought forth, like a prophecy, glorifies Jesus and lines up with the word. John says it this way: 1 John 4:1 AMP Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world. Paul gives us the same warning John does so we will be alert. He also tells us that we always need to love one another and be committed to unity. Remember, what we do and how we operate in the gifts should always be for the profit or good of everyone in the church. That’s 1 Corinthians 12:7 NKJV But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: And we talked through the first two gifts he lists, the word of wisdom and word of knowledge. We often see those two together. Last week, Autumn started talking about faith, and I want to talk about it again this morning. So let’s pray before we jump in. PRAY. The next gift Paul lists here in 1 Corinthians 12 is the Holy Spirit's gift of special faith. 1 Corinthians 12:9 TLB He gives special faith to another, and to someone else the power to heal the sick. I like the TLB here because it describes this gift as ‘special faith.’ Most translations just say ‘faith.’ Yes, it is a work of the Holy Spirit to draw people to Jesus and help them have faith in Him for salvation, and Paul believes that. We could call that ‘saving faith.’ But what Paul has in mind here is the special gift of faith that can ‘move mountains,’ and probably refers to a supernatural conviction that God will reveal, pour out, or show His power, grace, or mercy in a specific way in a specific instance.1 In other words, there is a specific thing the Holy Spirit places on your heart and gives you a marked, unique, significant, particular burst or jolt of faith for that thing. I realize that statement was slightly vague, but let’s start with a definition of faith. Faith is where your feet go. It’s a choice. When you choose to put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, you hopefully also started going to church, reading your bible, praying and talking to God, singing worship, and growing in how you interacted with people. You did that because you 1 Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Revised Edition, P658. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. Special Faith | 1 believed what Jesus said and started following Him. If our lives look exactly the same before and after we put our faith in Jesus, there’s a problem, because faith is a choice and an action. For example, the story is told of a church during a drought that was praying for rain. It hadn’t rained in months, and the church kept praying, but one woman always came to the prayer meeting with an umbrella. She had faith that God would answer the prayers for rain, and so she was prepared for a thunderstorm. Faith is a belief in or a confident attitude toward God, which involves a commitment to following His will for our lives. We could say that saving faith is a personal attachment to Jesus Christ, characterized by an active combination of reliance on Him and His work and a commitment to do what He says.2 Faith is conviction, confidence, trust, or reliance on God. And this kind of general faith in Jesus and His work on the cross is how we were saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Say, by grace through faith. We’re saved by the grace of God. He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins, and we didn’t do anything to earn it. And then faith is how we walk after we trust Him for our salvation. It’s how our feet take us to the promised land. It’s the new direction we have in life after we meet Jesus. Our faith walk is not about perfection, it’s about direction. But we still have to move forward and get up if we stumble. That’s why James says, James 2:14 NKJV What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? So faith is our trust in God. It’s putting confidence in the fact that He is God and He will do what He says He will do. In a general context, it’s referring to a faith in God that brings salvation. In the context of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we find in 1 Corinthians, though, the gift of special faith is a supernatural surge of confidence from the Spirit of God that arises within a person who is facing a specific need or situation where that person gets a trans-rational certainty or assurance that God is going to move through a word or action. That was a long definition, so let me say it a different way. The gift of faith is the supernatural intervention or deposit of belief that moves us into a great level of faith to see a need be met. 2 Hayford, Jack W. The Hayford Bible Handbook, P603. Thomas Nelson Incorporated, 2004. Special Faith | 2 There are times when you may get a ‘surge of faith,’ so to speak. That’s the gift of special faith. We’ve all probably experienced the opposite - a surge of doubt.3 Peter, Jesus’ disciple experienced both in very quick succession. Here’s Peter having a surge of faith. Matthew 14:25-29 NKJV Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. This is amazing! Peter hears this man walking on the water say it’s Jesus. He doesn’t believe Him. Who else would be walking on the water in the middle of a storm? That’s why they thought it was a ghost or that they were seeing things. So Peter says, “ok, if you’re not a ghost, and you’re really Jesus, then command me to come to You. Because if Jesus tells me to do something, then I’m going to be able to do it! And you know, he’s right. If Jesus tells us to do something, we’ll be able to do it in His power by His Holy Spirit if we have enough faith to step out of the boat. God never asks us to do something He won’t enable us to do. That would be cruel. If Jesus told His disciples on the first day everything that He would do through them, and His plan to enable them to minister, they would have been totally overwhelmed. But He helped them grow into a place of faith and dependence on Him so that they could minister with signs, wonders, and miracles. So Peter has a surge of faith when He hears Jesus command him to come out on the water. And he walks on water! But then comes the surge of doubt. Matthew 14:31-32 NKJV But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. All of the disciples in the boat had some faith. They certainly all had general, or saving faith in Jesus; they were following Him. But it was only Peter who had a surge of faith that allowed him to step from a dry boat to wet water. All faith is alike in nature, or in how it works, 3 Hunt, Robert, and Jerry Stott. Positioned for the Gifts: Preparing Us for Extraordinary Power and Compassion, P171. Edited by Laurie De Revere, Foursquare Missions Press, 2019. Special Faith | 3 but the gift of special faith is different from other faith in degree and application. It often works in conjunction with healings and miracles. It seems to come on God’s people in times of special crises or opportunity in such mighty power that they are lifted out of the realm of natural or ordinary faith in God and feel a surge of certainty in their souls that triumphs over everything else.4 Let me give you another example. When Shavonne Lang completed surgery for breast cancer, she decided to celebrate. A long ordeal in a life of physical challenges had ended. She was grateful for the doctors and how the Lord had brought her through. Soon after the celebration, though, pain found it's way back into the right side of Shavonne’s body, so excruciating that she had to go to the emergency room. The news crushed her - a tumor in her kidney. She went to four different urologists, but the answer was the same; more surgery. Devastated but still clinging to hope, she listened one Sunday morning to a message on miracles. She went to be prayed for, and the pastor and a church member laid hands on her. After praying powerfully, the Pastor told her, ‘You’re healed, just believe it!’ Reminded of the parable of the mustard seed, she prayed, ‘Lord, please move this mountain.’ There are some in the body of Christ who would discourage such pronouncements of healing before having evidence. There are rightful concerns about presumption because no one wants to further damage the already weakened emotional state of a person in pain. Have you ever seen that happen? Someone makes a pronouncement or speaks something out saying it’s from God, or makes a declaration about something, and it doesn’t happen. It doesn’t come true. The person doesn’t get healed, or the situation doesn’t change, and it causes faith to be shaken instead of strengthened. This is part of Paul’s warning at the beginning of this section - just because someone says they’re speaking for God doesn’t mean they are. Or, sometimes as humans, we just miss it. And the way we grow in this is by hearing God’s voice, recognizing it, and acting on it. 1 Peter 4:10-11 ICB Each of you received a spiritual gift. God has shown you his grace in giving you different gifts. And you are like servants who are responsible for using God’s gifts. So be good servants and use your gifts to serve each other. 11 Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. 4 Van Cleave, Nathaniel M., et al. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, P317. Edited by The Foursquare Church, Foursquare Church, 2020. Special Faith | 4 In other words, we want to speak what God tells us. No more, no less. God is looking for His church to say what He is speaking and do what He is doing. Not add or take away from it. So we do want to be careful about presumption, but we also want to step out in faith and stand on God’s promises. And there are many times when faith starts to rise, starts to surge, and starts to grow strong even in the face of impossible facts and enormous mountains. Shavonne had a tumor on her right kidney. The facts didn’t lie. How dare someone proclaim otherwise - unless God said. Hebrews 11:1 AMP Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. Shavonne walked into the doctor's office full of emotions, but also holding on to faith. ‘Did you have surgery at Vanderbilt?’ Shavonne thought he was referring to the breast surgery. He asked again, ‘Did I operate on you?’ She told him that no one had operated on her kidney at all - that’s why she was there. Perplexed, the doctor exclaimed, ‘Well, someone did the surgery!’ He showed her side-by-side x-rays, one with the kidney tumor and another one with a small divot where the tumor used to be. He finally conceded, ‘There’s no logical explanation for this.’ God’s hand, more skillful than any surgeon’s still operates today. When He moves, how He moves, and why He moves in such dramatic ways cause even the skeptics to consider faith in Jesus.5 Faith in even its smallest form touches the very heart of God and can move mountains. Luke 17:3-6 NKJV Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. In this section, the disciples are probably feeling a little overwhelmed. Jesus has just told them to keep forgiving others if they repent, over and over and over again, and they say, ‘Jesus we need more faith in order to do that - could you increase our faith?’ 5 Hunt, Robert, and Jerry Stott. Positioned for the Gifts: Preparing Us for Extraordinary Power and Compassion, P171-173. Edited by Laurie De Revere, Foursquare Missions Press, 2019. Special Faith | 5 And Jesus tells them that the issue isn’t the quantity of their faith, or how much they have. The issue is the quality of their faith. And Jesus uses the mustard seed to illustrate the miraculous power released when the Holy Spirit is invited to enter the situation. Since the power that makes the change, works the miracle, or brings the healing is God’s, not ours, only a small amount of true faith is needed in the praying disciple. Our focus should be on Jesus, on His voice, His character, His grace, truth, and love, and on His power, not our own. The simplest person who trusts God in a child-like way can expect to see God accomplish the impossible.6 Why did Jesus pick an illustration where a mulberry tree is uprooted and planted in the sea? That’s strange. Is He just inventing a wild image just show that nothing would be impossible or does it have a meaningful role to play in His answer? The uprooting of a mulberry tree gave an outstanding prophetic picture of what God needs to do in the hearts of people who habitually or uncontrollably sin multiple times a day. In the context of what Jesus said, God needs to do a work in the hearts of people who sin against us multiple times a day. The Mulberry trees are able to flourish in hot, dry climates because of the extensive root system they put out. The roots of these trees go everywhere in search of water and removing such a tree is a formidable task. Jesus may be assuring His disciples that when they are asked to forgive a compulsive sinner seven times a day or more, even when it’s difficult, they should not despair even though there is an extensive "root system" from the sin penetrating the person's heart. God can miraculously pull out by the roots the sinful "mulberry tree" and cast it into the sea. Those listening to Jesus were part of an agricultural society and would be familiar with the properties of a mulberry tree, so the picture of one of these miraculously lifting out of the earth, roots and all, would inspire faith that God could change addictive behaviors and deep-seated attitudes. They asked for more faith (v. 5), and Jesus gave them a prophetic picture that would guide them in how to authoritatively pray for such a situation: command the "mulberry tree" to be uprooted and removed! We can trust Jesus to come through when He tells us to have faith for something. And the gift of special faith is a miraculous transformation of a person’s attitude toward God which 6 Schell, Dr. Steve. Daily Bible Study, Luke 17:5,6. 20 June 1999. Special Faith | 6 leaves that person with an inner assurance that God has promised them something and that God will keep that promise. Maybe someone entered a church service full of fear or doubt, but as the Holy Spirit is made manifest, as they start to feel His presence, the negative attitudes melt away, and a deep confidence that God will move on their behalf settles in. And this is a gift of grace. It can’t be earned. None of the gifts can be earned; that's why they’re called gifts. But as I start to close, let me give you one more example and then a few practical steps for greater faith. One missionary shares a story about receiving the gift of special faith. He shares, ‘The night before I was supposed to visit the home of a barren Fiji woman, I fought off one of the most visually disturbing demonic encounters I had ever faced. So as I entered her home, I was filled with great faith. And it took a surge of special faith to go through me the moment I laid hands on her and spoke what I heard the Lord say. “You are completely healed, and surely at this time next year you will have a child in your hands.” It only took a few minutes after saying that for me to also have a surge of doubt (remember the story of Peter?). The same lips that just prayed a faith-filled prayer muttered ‘What a stupid thing to say. I can’t believe I said that!’ But God had great plans for this woman, her husband, and her village. I just needed to be faithful to what God had told me to do. One year later, my wife and I were in the same area preaching. Just before I was about to give the message, a woman came running up to me holding a baby and shouting ‘Pastor, look!’ Though I didn’t recognize her at first, she told me that one week after we had prayed she became pregnant. She gave all the glory to God. But that’s only half the story. Going back to this village a decade later, I learned that her testimony really impacted the people, 90% of whom were unbelievers. Because of her healing, nearly everyone in that village came to Christ. Plus, she wasn’t simply barren. She completely lacked any reproductive organs, according to multiple doctors. No one doubted the creative nature of God, and they responded accordingly. I doubted after my prayer, but faith had already been released. I simply spoke of what God was doing. Though the gift of special faith will move through us at times, it’s also important we build our faith in order to move mountains. And the gift of faith will often come after we take that first step out of the boat.7 7 Hunt, Robert, and Jerry Stott. Positioned for the Gifts: Preparing Us for Extraordinary Power and Compassion, P176-177. Edited by Laurie De Revere, Foursquare Missions Press, 2019. Special Faith | 7 Here are 5 quick, practical ways we can grow great faith.8 1) Walk in the faith you have. We all start somewhere. 2) Build your faith by learning the Word. Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When we hear God’s word, the Holy Spirit does a work that makes faith possible. God gives faith to people who are willing to humbly listen to and receive His word.9 3)Let people of faith impart faith into your life. Psalm 1:1 NKJV Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; who are we surrounding ourselves with? What are we feeding our minds? What voices do we listen to - those that speak fear or unbelief, or those who speak faith? 4) Pray in the Spirit. Pray in tongues. It builds faith, and it builds you up. Jude 1:20 NKJV But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, and then 5) Don’t give up. Walking by faith isn’t easy. It can take time to learn how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit vs other voices. But keep going, because God will use you in a mighty way to minister His life and love to those around you. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NKJV Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love. 8 Hunt, Robert, and Jerry Stott. Positioned for the Gifts: Preparing Us for Extraordinary Power and Compassion, P175-180. Edited by Laurie De Revere, Foursquare Missions Press, 2019. 9 Schell, Dr. Steve C. Study Verse by Verse with Dr. Steve Schell: Romans, P119. Federal Way, WA, Life Lessons Publishing, 2015. Special Faith | 8