The Joy of Spiritual Gifts

So we have looked at the History of the Spirit in the bible.

That we all have God’s spirit in us as it is God who gave humanity our breath.

Jesus Teaches us in John 3:5-6 that it is our spirit that gives birth to our spirit that helps us enter God’s Kingdom, received when we believe that Jesus died and was resurrected.

This is our gift of a new spirit is of living Hope to guide us now, today and our guarantee which is written in 1 Corinthians 5:5 that this tent life will end and we will be resurrected with Christ into God’s presence for all eternity.

So what is Baptism of the Spirit and what are these many gifts that God give joyfully to us.

Holy Spirit in the early Church

Acts 2 - Pentecost

Acts 8 - Witness of Samaria receiving the holy spirit (no mention of tongues)

Acts 10-11 - Peter witnessed God sharing the Holy Spirit with the Gentiles

Acts 19 - Paul in Ephesus - Johns baptism to baptism of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 - churches processing the gifts of the spirit

Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Timothy, 2 Corinthians - Handling persecution, living faithfully and reaching into other cultures.

Acts - shows the unstoppable force of the Holy Spirit to advance the kingdom.

I know that baptism of the Holy Spirit can be a controversial topic and cause disputes in the church. However, if the key to the early church's success was the Spirit we need to come at this with an open mind with the desire to live in the fullness of the spirit that Jesus spoke of in the Gospels.

Misconceptions -

1. Baptism of the Spirit is one and done -

Baptism of the spirit is different to receiving the spirit.

If you are a believer of Jesus then you have been born again and received the spirit but that doesn’t mean you have been baptised.

Examples of this are John 20 and Acts 2, Acts 8 and Acts 19.

These examples in the new testament show the baptism of the Spirit is something that occurs to the disciples after they receive the Holy Spirit. It is another encounter with the Spirit of God beyond salvation.

Some refer to this as the second blessing, A.W Tozer - the deeper life. Luke calls it the “filling of the Spirit”, other scripture says the Spirit “fell on them” (Acts 10:44), sometimes the bible says the Spirit “was poured out” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17), John the Baptist and Jesus refer to it as “the baptism of the Spirit” (Matt. 3:11; Acts 1:5).

Sometimes we get court out on the idea of baptism - especially Baptists - What is baptism? to die to our old way of life and be resurrected as Christ to now live in our new self.

I want to encourage you to think about Bapnotism?

What happens when you come out? You are drenched your new self is saturated - you look different. The Holy Spirit is that abundance of water that is on your new life. but what happens - you dry off. Are we to get baptised again? no, but we are to stay in that saturated state.

Being filled by the Holy Spirit is more of a tide that we can walk out into. Our life is about continually growing to be reliant on God and saturated with the Holy Spirit.

This is similar to communion. We partake to be reminded of the body and the blood that give us the new covenant and the Holy Spirit. We also have to come back to being in our drenched state.

2. We forget about spiritual warfare

The Devil lies,

the world rejects

and the flesh wants to control (Galatians 5:13-25).

A gift from God which is to be a gift of joy, the Devil, the world, our flesh twists to create disunity and disobedience to God’s command to love one another.

So many churches cannot handle it, it is such a community thing and it actually brings such great sadness.

3. Some gifts over others - Many gifts, one spirit

In a moment I do want to talk about the encounters of the Spirit that lead to 3 common outcomes however when it comes to giftings.

From the reading today we can see how valuable the gift of the Spirit is to build up the church and to be the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 NIV

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

https://giftstest.com/

Helps, Administration, Apostleship, Discernment and Exhortation

The Greek word for the spiritual gift of administration is Kubernesis.  This is a unique term that refers to a shipmaster or captain. The literal meaning is “to steer,” or “to rule or govern.”  It carries the idea of someone who guides and directs a group of people toward a goal or destination.

Gift sets - my gift set

God can make a gift more promenade for a time and there are those that are part of our identity as a child of God.

Tongues are in this list but it is not a marker of being baptised by the spirit.

I would not say I can speak in tongues but I know I have encountered God multiple times - a word that comes to mind.

The next part about how we experience the Holy Spirit and how we receive it is from Dr. Rob Reimer - River Dwellers: Living in the fullness of the Spirit. A book I have committed to reading annually. Similar to the metaphor of staying drenched in the spirit, Rob is suggesting we do all we can to stay in the river and be reliant on living in the fullness of the Spirit.

3 outcomes when we encounter God through the Holy spirit

Bold Witness

Acts 1:8 NIV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The example of Peter before the Holy spirit and after

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we cannot hold our tongue, the reality of risen Christ in our life is something we want to share. If witnessing isn’t currently marking our lives, we have dried off, lets's ask God to fill us again.

Power

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

healing - physical, emotional and spiritual - Our God is a God of restoration

God’s Love - My experience - which also brought healing and breaking of Chains

Prophecy - Hear God’s voice and share it with others. We receive a word from the Lord, interpret the word, and deliver the word. I studied Coaching and I rely on the Holy Spirit to share what God is wanting to say to someone. Dreams - getting me here.

Acts 2:16–18 NIV

No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

How do we receive this encounter - How do we stay drenched in the Holy Spirit?

Pursuit

Is God your first love - that is what Jesus challenged some of the churches in Revelation. They had lost their first love.

Now until forever Jesus, I surrender Show me what I don't know More of You I'm desperate for Your presence Longing to be with You Lead me to a new place More of You

Lead me to You Forever, Lord, I will pursue I will pursue You've won my heart Jesus, You're all that I want All that I want

Receiving Prayer

Pray for one another - At the end of the service, we offer prayer. I want to encourage you to actually take it up. Pray to be filled with the Spirit.

Confession

As you are pursuing the fresh filling of the Spirit, it is important to take time to get right with God. Confess your sins to God and others. A call to repentance and to remove any barriers from living in fulness.

When We do this Pursue God, receive prayer, and confess our sins, we are drenched in the Holy Spirit and experience fresh encounters with God through Witness, healing and Prophesy. It brings great Joy.

Lets Pray