The last couple of weeks we have been studying prayer, and it's probably not the sort of study on prayer that you expected. Some of you may have been challenged on your way of praying and what you pray for.
Well, the reason I did the study on prayer and showing that the focus should be on others and not yourself, is to prepare you for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
You see the gifts are not intended for you as an individual (except the gift of tongues which we will discuss in the months to come), but are intended to edify or build up the church.
1 Cor 12:7 (NLT) A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
We will look at these things and others as we start this week with an introduction to the gifts.
Romans 12:1-5 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
What does it mean to present your bodies a living sacrifice?
In the Greek: present = yield bodies = the complete man sacrifice = the act of offering or presented to God
To simply put it all together it would be;
"Yield all you are to God"
Isn't that what we did when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior? We gave our all to Jesus. We gave Him our lives because He gave His life for us!
Maybe you haven't done this yet. Is there something you are holding on to, telling Jesus, "You can have all of me and my life except for?"
Matt 16:24-26 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus said to deny your self and follow Him.
To deny your self is to follow the first commandment,
Ex 20:1-6 1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Have no other gods before you. But you may say, "I have no other gods."
Think about it. What do you put before God or Jesus?
How much time do you spend in His word?
How much time do you spend in prayer?
Is an event, TV show, concert, football game, or anything in your life first in your life before God?
Think of it this way, if you had a choice to watch TV, or go to a football game, or watch soap operas, or maybe even go to a movie or concert, the park, a friends house instead of going to church, which would you choose?
Your choice is your god!
We say, "I'll go later."
When we start looking at the gifts, you may start to see your gift(s) that the Holy Spirit has given you, and if you decide not to go to church, or pray, or even go to a bible study, you may be missing out on using your gift(s) to minister to someone who really needs it.
Now I'm not saying that you can't go on vacation or have fun. But if you go on vacation, look for a church in that area that you can go to. Are a couple hours with God on Sunday morning going to mess up your vacation? It will probably bless you more if you went then you would think.
Are you ready to give your all to Jesus?
You may have just started this study, or have been following along with us these past weeks.
Jesus gave His all for you so that you can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
If you want that, then you can pray this prayer right now to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Just pray; Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner, and I know that the only way to heaven is through You.
I give my all to You, just as you gave Your all for me.
Please come into my life and forgive me of my sins. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and may I tell the all what you have done for me, and them.
Thank You Jesus for receiving me.
I pray this in your precious name AMEN!
Or maybe you are a believer, but have been holding onto some of your past, not letting go.
Today is the day you can let go. I know it's hard. But remember, greater is He who is in you, then he who is in the world.
Jesus is greater then anything from your past.
Don't forget what He has pulled you out of, and what He is doing in your life right now!
Just give your all to Him, and ask Him for the strength to give up what you need to.
Jesus Loves you and wants the best for you!
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
To be conformed in the Greek = is to fashion or shape one thing like another.
Like pouring Jell-O into a mold; as the liquid fills in all the gaps and hardens, it looks like the mold. Our mold is the image of GOD, what are we pouring ourselves into ?
Are you the image of God, or the world?
Do people see Jesus or you?
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Do we sometimes think we are better then others (brothers or sisters) do we pray like this sometimes:
Luke 18:11-12 (NLT) The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery, I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.'
When this is how we should pray:
Luke 18:13-14(NLT) "But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.' I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored."
This is more then a way to pray. It's more of an attitude of your heart.
So what is our part in the church?
Romans 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
To see this verse more clearly, look at:
I Cor.12:12-27 (NLT) 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 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. 16 And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 Suppose the whole body were an eye--then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything?
18 But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. 19 What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 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."
22 In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, 24 while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27 Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.
The body has separate parts and needs all of them.
We all have the same parts i.e.. legs, arms, eyes etc...
It's the same with the body of believers. Any church you go to has the same parts, What part are you in the body?
The legs for going out to minister; or the ears to just listen when someone needs to talk; maybe your a hand that touches people or lifts them up; or the back for doing physical labor; or maybe the eyes with a vision for the church; the mouth for praying for others or praising and worshipping the Lord and also teaching.
Maybe you're a part of the body that doesn't do anything?
You know if you sit for to long your legs will fall asleep.
But some churches will get rid of or ignore some of the parts of the body, like it doesn't exists, like if you neglected your teeth. If you don't take care of your teeth, they start to fall out.
Same with the body of Christ (the church) if we neglect someone, they will fall out of the church and go back to the world.
Has the Lord placed someone on your heart that you can come along side of and encourage?
Or maybe you are the one who needs encouragement. Maybe you feel like you have no purpose in the church you are in.
Think of this,
If you think you have no worth, just go hit your finger with a hammer. It hurts! But when you do your whole body tingles and feels it. It's the same with the church, if one is hurting; we all hurt and feel the pain.
How many of you have cut your finger? Have you noticed that when you try to use it, that the pain will not allow you to use it or use it properly?
So the other fingers have to learn to work and support the hurt finger. So it is with the body of Christ, when one hurts we should be there to do the work for that person and most important, support that person in their time of need.
Before we get into the gifts, one thing we should look at or ask; can the gifts be used incorrectly or for your own gain?
Judges 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Judges 14:19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father's house.
Here we see that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he used the gift from the Spirit for his own gain.
The following verses I want you to read throughout this next week, and we will discuss them next week in more detail.
These are where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are mentioned.
Do you see them all?
Which do you have?
1 Cor 12:1-11 (NLT)
1 And now, dear brothers and sisters, I will write about the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives to each of us, for I must correct your misunderstandings about them. 2 You know that when you were still pagans you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know how to discern what is truly from God: No one speaking by the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. 6 There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another he gives the gift of special knowledge. 9 The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Cor 12:28-31 (NLT) 28 Here is a list of some of the members that God has placed in the body of Christ:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who can get others to work together,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Is everyone an apostle? Of course not. Is everyone a prophet? No. Are all teachers? Does everyone have the power to do miracles? 30 Does everyone have the gift of healing? Of course not. Does God give all of us the ability to speak in unknown languages? Can everyone interpret unknown languages? No! 31 And in any event, you should desire the most helpful gifts.
Eph 4:11-16 (NLT) 11 He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Romans 12:6-8 (NLT) 6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7 If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.