In today's gathering, we explored the profound significance of living a Spirit-filled life, emphasizing the necessity of the Holy Spirit's power and gifts in our daily walk. We began by acknowledging the importance of not just appearing as Christians but truly embodying the power and presence of God in our lives. This power is accessible through the Holy Spirit, who equips us with spiritual gifts to edify the church and glorify God. Our focus was on the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, which include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

We delved into the nature of these gifts, understanding that they are not for personal gain but for the common good, to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the body of Christ. The gifts of healing and miracles were highlighted as supernatural manifestations that can occur instantaneously or progressively, reminding us of the power available to us through the Holy Spirit. We also discussed the role of prophecy, emphasizing that it should edify, exhort, and comfort, and that it must be delivered in order and judged by the church leadership to ensure it aligns with Scripture.

Furthermore, we addressed the importance of discerning spirits, which allows us to distinguish between the works of the Holy Spirit and other spirits. This discernment is crucial for maintaining the purity and integrity of the church. We also touched on the topic of women in ministry, affirming their biblical role and the equality of men and women in serving God, while recognizing certain distinctives in church governance.

As we concluded, we were reminded of the call to desire and deploy these gifts, to fervently seek them for the edification of the church and the glory of God. We prayed for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, encouraging everyone to surrender to His leading and to be open to His gifts operating in their lives.

**Key Takeaways:**

- The Holy Spirit empowers us with spiritual gifts not for personal gain but for the edification of the church and the glory of God. These gifts are manifestations of His presence and power in our lives, enabling us to live beyond mere appearances and truly embody the life of Christ. [29:33]

- The gifts of healing and miracles remind us of the supernatural power available to us through the Holy Spirit. These gifts can manifest instantaneously or progressively, demonstrating God's ability to override natural laws and bring about divine intervention in our lives. [39:04]

- Prophecy is a vital gift that strengthens, encourages, and comforts the church. It must be delivered in order and judged by church leadership to ensure it aligns with Scripture and glorifies Christ. Prophecy is not about correction or judgment but about building up the body of Christ. [45:57]

- Discerning of spirits is crucial for distinguishing between the works of the Holy Spirit and other spirits. This gift helps maintain the purity and integrity of the church by revealing the true nature of spiritual influences and motivations. [01:02:56]

- The role of women in ministry is biblically affirmed, with both men and women called to serve God equally. While recognizing certain distinctives in church governance, we celebrate the diverse gifts and callings of all believers, regardless of gender. [55:24]

**Youtube Chapters:**

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:33] - Introduction to Spiritual Gifts
[33:15] - Categories of Spiritual Gifts
[35:24] - Manifestation Gifts Explained
[39:04] - Gifts of Healing
[40:59] - Understanding Miracles
[42:41] - The Nature of Miracles
[44:21] - Prophecy and Its Role
[45:57] - Guidelines for Prophecy
[47:01] - Order in Prophetic Ministry
[51:55] - The Day of Pentecost
[53:41] - Spirit Poured on All Flesh
[55:24] - Women in Ministry
[01:00:12] - Judging Prophetic Words
[01:02:56] - Discerning of Spirits
[01:05:17] - Closing and Call to Action

**Bible Study Discussion Guide: Living a Spirit-Filled Life**

**Bible Reading:**
- 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
- Acts 2:17-21
- Colossians 1:11

---

**Observation Questions:**

1. What are the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, and how are they intended to be used within the church? [35:24]

2. According to the sermon, what is the significance of the Day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2:17-21? [53:41]

3. How does the pastor describe the role of prophecy in the church, and what guidelines are given for its practice? [45:57]

4. What examples from the sermon illustrate the difference between instantaneous and progressive manifestations of the gifts of healing? [39:04]

---

**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does the sermon explain the purpose of spiritual gifts, and why is it important for them to be visible in the life of a believer? [35:24]

2. In what ways does the pastor suggest that the discerning of spirits is crucial for maintaining the purity and integrity of the church? [01:02:56]

3. How does the sermon address the role of women in ministry, and what biblical support is provided for their participation? [55:24]

4. What does the pastor mean by saying that the gifts of the Holy Spirit should be desired and deployed for the edification of the church? [01:08:25]

---

**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on your own life: Are there areas where you feel you are merely "appearing" as a Christian rather than embodying the power and presence of God? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to work more fully in those areas? [29:33]

2. The sermon emphasizes the importance of prophecy for strengthening and encouraging the church. Have you ever received or given a prophetic word? How did it impact you or others? [45:57]

3. Consider a time when you needed discernment in a situation. How did you seek the Holy Spirit's guidance, and what was the outcome? How can you cultivate this gift more in your daily life? [01:02:56]

4. The pastor discusses the progressive nature of some healings. How can you maintain faith and patience when healing or miracles do not happen instantaneously? [39:04]

5. How do you perceive the role of women in ministry within your church or community? What steps can you take to support and affirm their contributions? [55:24]

6. The sermon calls for a desire for spiritual gifts. What specific gift do you feel led to seek, and how can you begin to cultivate it for the benefit of your church community? [01:08:25]

7. Reflect on a recent situation where you felt the Holy Spirit prompting you to act or speak. How did you respond, and what was the result? How can you be more open to these promptings in the future? [01:09:48]

Day 1: Empowered for Edification
The Holy Spirit empowers believers with spiritual gifts not for personal gain but for the edification of the church and the glory of God. These gifts are manifestations of His presence and power in our lives, enabling us to live beyond mere appearances and truly embody the life of Christ. The gifts are diverse, including wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Each gift serves a unique purpose in building up the body of Christ, ensuring that the church functions as a unified and effective witness to the world. As believers, we are called to desire and deploy these gifts, seeking them earnestly for the common good and the advancement of God's kingdom. [29:33]

1 Peter 4:10-11 (ESV): "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ."

Reflection: What spiritual gift do you believe God has given you, and how can you use it today to serve and edify someone in your church community?


Day 2: Supernatural Power in Healing and Miracles
The gifts of healing and miracles remind us of the supernatural power available to us through the Holy Spirit. These gifts can manifest instantaneously or progressively, demonstrating God's ability to override natural laws and bring about divine intervention in our lives. Healing can occur in various forms, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, and serves as a testament to God's compassion and sovereignty. Miracles, on the other hand, are extraordinary events that reveal God's glory and power, often leading to increased faith and awe among believers and non-believers alike. As we witness or experience these manifestations, we are reminded of the limitless possibilities when we walk in step with the Spirit. [39:04]

Acts 19:11-12 (ESV): "And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them."

Reflection: Is there an area in your life or someone else's where you are seeking healing or a miracle? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to work in that situation today?


Day 3: Prophecy for Edification and Comfort
Prophecy is a vital gift that strengthens, encourages, and comforts the church. It must be delivered in order and judged by church leadership to ensure it aligns with Scripture and glorifies Christ. Prophecy is not about correction or judgment but about building up the body of Christ. It serves as a channel through which God communicates His heart and intentions to His people, offering guidance, reassurance, and hope. As believers, we are encouraged to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, allowing the Holy Spirit to use us as vessels of His truth and love. In doing so, we contribute to the spiritual growth and unity of the church. [45:57]

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (ESV): "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good."

Reflection: Have you ever received a prophetic word that impacted your life? How can you be open to receiving or delivering a prophetic message that aligns with God's Word today?


Day 4: Discernment for Spiritual Integrity
Discerning of spirits is crucial for distinguishing between the works of the Holy Spirit and other spirits. This gift helps maintain the purity and integrity of the church by revealing the true nature of spiritual influences and motivations. In a world where spiritual deception is prevalent, discernment enables believers to navigate complex situations with wisdom and clarity. It allows us to identify false teachings, recognize genuine moves of the Spirit, and protect the church from harmful influences. As we cultivate this gift, we become more attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit, ensuring that our actions and decisions align with God's will. [01:02:56]

1 John 4:1 (ESV): "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you need greater discernment? How can you seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to distinguish between truth and deception today?


Day 5: Equality and Diversity in Ministry
The role of women in ministry is biblically affirmed, with both men and women called to serve God equally. While recognizing certain distinctives in church governance, we celebrate the diverse gifts and callings of all believers, regardless of gender. This equality reflects the heart of God, who values and empowers each individual to contribute to the mission of the church. By embracing the unique strengths and perspectives of both men and women, the church becomes a more complete and effective representation of Christ's body. As we honor and support one another in our respective callings, we foster an environment where every believer can thrive and fulfill their God-given purpose. [55:24]

Galatians 3:28 (ESV): "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Reflection: How can you actively support and encourage the diverse gifts and callings of both men and women in your church community today?

We thank you for reminding us today that without your power, you said, Jesus, I'm sending you Holy Spirit to be with you, to empower you. And so, Lord, forgive us for the times that we just sort of put that on the back burner or just sort of escape it. But you said desire spiritual gifts. And so, Lord, we pray that and teach us today, Lord, that we don't have to run on empty, but there's a power source that's available to us. And, Lord, help me to say what you want me to say. Don't let me say anything I shouldn't say. And at the end of today, I pray more than anything else, more than anything else, more than anything else, that you would be glorified. You'd be lifted up. You'd be honored today in our worship, Lord, in our receiving the Word today and responding to the Word. And second of all, that your people here today would be edified, built up, comforted, strengthened. And, Lord, then the enemy would be terrified in the name. In the name of Jesus, amen, amen. [00:32:12]

But the manifestation, manifestation there just make, is saying, make it visible. Say, make it visible. So, you don't want to just have Holy Spirit within you. But you want the gifts. You want the gifts to be visible so people know that there's something, there's a power source in your life. So, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. And then he goes on to list those. For to one is given, say it with me, word of wisdom through the Spirit. To another, say it, word of knowledge through the Spirit. To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healings. Notice the plural, gifts of healings. To another, working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another, discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of tongues. That's important. Next week, we'll cover that more in detail. Different kinds of tongues. To another, interpretation of tongues by the same Spirit. [00:34:59]

There's no such thing as a gift of healing that you own in your life. You are not a healer. If you are, then go to every hospital that you see and empty it out. Come on, let's get real, all right? It's a gifts of healing. For a specific time, for a specific person, in a specific way. You don't just have it in your back pocket. I cringe when I see somebody say, well, I have the gift of healing and I'm going to heal you. No, you don't have the gift of healing. You have the gift of ego. You have the gift of ignorance. You don't know the Word. He distributes the gifts as He wills. You don't own it. So when our prayer team comes down front, you know what they pray? Lord, we pray that gifts of healings and miracles will work through our life. And so that's why it's important when the prayer team comes down front, you agree with them. It's not a counseling session. It's what do you need? We're going to pray about that and we're going to believe. [00:39:09]

Miracles are not pulled out or progressive. They happen instantaneously. What do you have? Well, we have some fish and we have some loaves, but we got like 10,000 men and women. Okay, good. Let me show you something. Blesses it, passes it out. The more they pass it out, the more they have. What is that? It's a miracle. It's a miracle. Why don't we want more miracles in our life? Something beyond the ordinary. People say, man, I just wish we could see more miracles, like in the book of Acts. Have you ever counted how many miracles there are in the book of Acts? If not, I'll tell you. There are 30 exactly, say 30. You know how many years the book of Acts covers? 30. So if you average that out, that's a miracle a year. So I think maybe even we're doing that, a miracle a year, okay? But I believe, listen, I believe, listen to me prophetically. I believe the closer we come to God, the more we as a church hook up to the power source, we're gonna start seeing more miracles in our midst. [00:43:38]

And prophecy, boy, here's one that's really good. It's a spontaneous, supernatural, vocal expressions of inspiration in a language that, look, strengthens, say strengthens. Encourages and comforts. Now, some people define this as just good preaching. Good preaching. But you prepare for teaching, so that's not spontaneous. Sometimes in the midst of my teaching, I will sense something as a prophetic word, just like I said a few minutes ago. It's a divine inspired speech that would encourage you. That would encourage you. Now listen, here at the Father's house, and I'm gonna talk about something else in a minute, but here at the Father's house, here's how we work prophecy. Here's how we work if somebody feels like I have a word from the Lord. 1 Corinthians 14 and three says, if you have your Bible, look at that. But he who prophesies speaks edification, say edification, exhortation, and comfort, to men. Now, let me give you words that we might use. When somebody gives a word of prophecy, a word from the Lord, you would be strengthened. [00:44:56]

Because in this body, I'm responsible for whatever word is released. And if somebody comes into this house and I don't know their history, I don't care how many things they've got behind their name. If I don't know their history, I'm going to say to you, you need to bring that word over to one of our pastors. They'll judge it. Do not deliver it into the open congregation because I'm not going to let an incorrect word come to you. Do you believe that? That's how we feel. you say, well, that's restrictive. You're right. Now, I'm hoping that in life groups and small groups, we participate more and more of the gifts of the Spirit. You don't stand up and say, yea, yea, I say to you. Yea, yea, I say to you is somebody who comes from a Pentecostal background, and that's how you've always heard words given. But you don't find that in the New Testament. Look in the book of Acts. I don't see Paul ever standing up and saying, yea, yea. I don't see somebody else. Where do we get that? It's from background that we have. So we say, if you have a word, and we love the words, if you have a prophetic word, write it down. [00:47:01]

I'm just saying, yeah, there's an order. See, some of you come from a background, you never had any teaching about Holy Spirit, and you've been so kind to open up and say, well, I don't know. I don't know, but I'm willing to learn. Some of us come from a Pentecostal background, and we think we know it all. But I want to tell you, you need to back off also, just like other people, and say, let's just look at a fresh word, look at a fresh word, and if Terry's wrong, I'm willing to be corrected by our elders, or by the board that corrects me, or my overseers. If I get out of line, I'm not perfect. So I try, everything we do with this, I try to make sure, I've submitted to our elders, and we're safe together. Because, look, I could lead you astray, any person could lead you astray, if they ever get away from this word. Do you receive that? If you do, and you still love me, give the Lord a hand clap. [00:52:36]

God will say, read your Bible. I've already done that. Why are you asking me to do that again? And so Peter stands up and says, look, he's pouring out his spirit on all flesh, not restricted to men, all age. All sex, all social rank, and all race. I want to wade in on something right now that many of you come from the background and you've never balanced all the scriptures about women preachers. So just take a deep breath. Yes, we have women pastors. You say, is that biblical? Well, you ask God. Why would he call somebody that it wasn't biblical for them to do that? Some of you come from, some of you come from a background that have taken one passage of scripture out of context and you said, women could never teach, women could never preach. You're wrong. 1 Corinthians 11 and 5, Paul says that women can pray and prophesy in church. Check it out. But in 1 Corinthians 14 and 34, it seems that women, now this is one case, women were abusing their gifts and using them out of place. Paul, does not say women have no spiritual gifts. [00:55:24]

I believe that there should be a male distinctiveness, whether that's her husband or whether that's an apostolic pastor that's over that church. And this little book talks about that. But those of you who say women cannot preach, women cannot teach, you need to read this book. I don't want your emails. We've prayed. We've looked through that. That's our culture. That's who we are. If you don't like women preachers, you're not going to like this house. If you don't like women who pray, you're not going to like this house. Because in the Bible, it talks about equality. But even in equality, there is a headship that happens. Amen? Amen. So I'm not arguing. I'm not taking debates. We prayed over this for years. We prayed before we ever put this out exactly how we have. And if you want a deeper paper, I'll give you a deeper paper from Dr. Ron Cottle, one of the greatest theologians. And he'll show you that there were apostle women in the early church that went along. But I'm not opening that can today. I better move on. Philip had four daughters that prophesied. [00:59:05]

It's the ability to distinguish between works of the Holy Spirit and works of another spirit, a demonic spirit or a human spirit. People say, well, I have the gift of discerning of spirits and I can judge your faults. Nope. Ignorance. It's not a critical spirit. It's like the curtain is pulled back and you're able to see the what behind that person. You're able to discern. For instance, Acts chapter 16. Paul discerned that the slave girl was demonic. Oh, I know who you are. You're Paul. You're Paul. Saying the right words. But the gift of spirit, the gift of discerning of spirits well up in Paul. And he said, nope. Nope. That's not of the spirit. That's not even of you as a person. That's demonic. In Acts 8 and 2, Peter was able to see that Simon Magnus was filled with bitterness. So why wouldn't we want that? You see, one of the things that we do is that when we talk to somebody, we try to pray and ask the Lord to give us discerning of spirits. [01:03:00]

So that means if you're Spirit-filled, if you come to Jesus, knowing Jesus, and He's filled you, you have the ability for the Holy Spirit to work these in you. So what are our action steps? Here they are. Number one, discover. Discover. Say discover. Learn what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts. I can't cover it all this morning, but in the Spirit-filled study Bible, there's a whole section in the back about spiritual gifts. Number two, desire. Say desire. 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 says desire. Desire spiritual gifts. Desire. You know what that word means? It means to fervently boil over with zelliness for the object desired. Man, when I met Anita, I boiled over with zelliness for her. Woo! And I still do. But she came up here a while ago and flung her little hair around. I told Simone, I said, isn't that just a really cute little hairstyle she's got on today? Why wouldn't we desire? Desire. Gifts of Holy Spirit. [01:07:58]

All right. Well, man, thank you. That was so special. You know, those come around with regularity. They don't seem to stop. And we're just so blessed and thankful that you are here with us. We welcome you.

And Anita, I think I need your help here. I don't know. Something's gone wrong. See, that's why I use a yellow pad. But anyway, I got half a sheet of paper here, so I have no idea what's wrong with that.

All right. All right. So, if you'll fix that, I want to talk about this. First of all, I want to talk about International Sunday coming at the end of the month, and it's going to be really exciting. Mike's been working hard on that, and we have like eight or nine international tables that are going to be out front with international cuisine.

And if you'd like to be part of that, ask Mike. Mike, stand up so everybody can see your wonderful, handsome face. That's Mike. He's our missions director. And so, if you'd like to start, set up a table. We'd like to taste your cuisine from the country you're from. Wear your clothes. Clothes. Yes, that's good.

See what happens when I get thrown off at the beginning? You got me fixed? All right. And what? A form on the website to sign up. And so, if you want to wear, like, I might wear kilts if I can find the right thing, you know, but probably not. Probably not. It's going to be fun. It's going to be good.

Okay. So, the other thing I'd like to say is that I just really appreciate today the cards and the gifts that you put out there. So, thank you, Anita. Couldn't do it without you.

I have here with me today just this brand new, one of the best tools that you can get, brand new out of the box, and it's just really neat. It's Atomic Compact Series, and that looks pretty good, doesn't it?

And so, it's... So, well, maybe I should read the directions. That might help. All right. So, you know, when all else fails, there's too many notes. I could never read that. That's too many things. So, well, I guess I could just use this for a doorstop. I guess I could just set it up and say, that's pretty nice. Just look at that. Nice yellow, black, and a little red on the end.

So, what's missing? Oh, small thing. There's a battery in here. So, let's see if that works. Hey, what do you think about that?

So, I was just thinking about that. Isn't that sort of like we are sometimes? I mean, we can look good and set up and demonstrate as a Christian that everything is good in our life, but you push the button and nothing happens. It's just beige, just coasting.

And in this series on Holy Spirit, Overflow, Living in the Fullness of the Spirit, we've been talking about how that we need more in our life. We need Holy Spirit, and we need the gifts that He brings into our life. And so, last week, we started with that, and I think we covered three. And so, you better pray for me today. We've got a bunch that we're today, all right?

But I think it's very important for us to realize I don't have to go through life being powerless. Say powerless. But I can go through life with the power of God in my life. I mean, don't you want more of that?

So, let's pray today. Father, we thank you today for your love. We thank you for reminding us today that without your power, you said, Jesus, I'm sending you Holy Spirit to be with you, to empower you. And so, Lord, forgive us for the times that we just sort of put that on the back burner or just sort of escape it. But you said desire spiritual gifts.

And so, Lord, we pray that and teach us today, Lord, that we don't have to run on empty, but there's a power source that's available to us. And, Lord, help me to say what you want me to say. Don't let me say anything I shouldn't say. And at the end of today, I pray more than anything else, more than anything else, more than anything else, that you would be glorified. You'd be lifted up. You'd be honored today in our worship, Lord, in our receiving the Word today and responding to the Word.

And second of all, that your people here today would be edified, built up, comforted, strengthened. And, Lord, then the enemy would be terrified in the name. In the name of Jesus, amen, amen.

Well, Jesus, Paul said, now, concerning spiritual gifts, I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to be uninformed. And so, that's why we've been talking about this series. Our theme verse there is Colossians chapter 1, verse 11. It's in your notes. Would you read it with me out loud?

As we pray that you would be, I say it again, energized. You know, it's like energized. Let's go again. Let's go again. Let's pray that you would be energized with His explosive power from the realm of His magnificent glory, filling you with, amen.

So, in the Bible, we talked about there's three categories. This is a review from last week. Three categories of spiritual gifts. There are the manifestation gifts of Holy Spirit. Say, Holy Spirit. That's in our passage today, 1 Corinthians 12. And we'll talk a little bit about 1 Corinthians 4.

And then there's also the motivational gifts. Say, motivational gifts. Those are the serving gifts. And they're gifts from Father God. Say, gifts from Father God. So, we have gifts of Holy Spirit, gifts of Father God. And then there are the ministry gifts of Jesus in Ephesians chapter 4. The apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, teacher. Those are ministry gifts of Jesus.

So, we see Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Have you seen them? They have given us Holy Spirit gifts for our life. But we want to focus today and tomorrow, or next Sunday, and the last Sunday of the month, on the manifestation gifts.

So, our theme verse is a passage. It's 1 Corinthians 12, 7 through 11. You can follow along. But the manifestation, manifestation there just make, is saying, make it visible. Say, make it visible. So, you don't want to just have Holy Spirit within you. But you want the gifts. You want the gifts to be visible so people know that there's something, there's a power source in your life.

So, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. And then he goes on to list those. For to one is given, say it with me, word of wisdom through the Spirit. To another, say it, word of knowledge through the Spirit. To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healings. Notice the plural, gifts of healings. To another, working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another, discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of tongues. That's important. Next week, we'll cover that more in detail. Different kinds of tongues. To another, interpretation of tongues by the same Spirit.

He works all these things. Now, here's how he does it. He distributes to each one individually as he wills. In other words, as the need arises, he distributes one of these manifestation gifts.

So, how are they defined? Well, if you have a spirit-filled study Bible like this one here, at the very bottom, which is really some of the greatest definitions I've ever seen, at the very bottom, it'll say these are the definitions of these different, the word of wisdom, a spiritual utterance given by the Spirit, different kinds of tongues it gives those.

So, I really encourage you, if you don't have a spirit-filled study Bible, I'm not sure you're going to get to heaven without it. Just kidding. We don't get a kickback from that, but it's one of the greatest study Bibles I know of. I've got all kinds of study Bibles, but this one is especially because it leans to our life. We're a spirit-filled church. We are a spirit and a word church.

Sometimes people say, are you Pentecostal? Are you charismatic? Are you Baptist? We just simply say, we are a spirit and word church. If it's in the word, we want it. And if it's a part of the Spirit, we don't get overly emotional and fleshly. It doesn't measure up with the word. So, we are a word and spirit church. We don't want to live without the other. How can you live without the other? You know, it's like peanut butter. You can't live without honey or jelly with that, you know.

So, last week we said word of wisdom. If you got in your notes, here it is, a divine answer or solution for a particular situation. A need arises, Holy Spirit gives you knowledge or gives you wisdom of how to handle that situation. And then word of knowledge, a divine knowing situation.

And then word of knowledge, something specific without learning it by natural means. And like I said, the great prophet ALM says, heal it or reveal it. In other words, I need knowledge of how to deal with this. Like I needed knowledge a while ago that I needed the battery and you helped me with that.

And we said last week, faith is a Spirit-given ability to see something God wants done to sustain unwavering confidence that God will do it regardless of the obstacles. Why wouldn't we want those in our life?

And so today, I want to look at another one which we need operating in our life and in the body of Christ, gifts of healing. Say that. Remember, it's in the plural. And here's a good definition. The supernatural manifestation, in other words, a make-knowing of Holy Spirit that miraculously, say miraculously, brings healing.

Now, here's what you need to realize. Sometimes instantaneously and sometimes progressively from a disease or an infirmity. It doesn't say that gifts of healers. There's no such thing as a gift of healing that you own in your life. You are not a healer. If you are, then go to every hospital that you see and empty it out. Come on, let's get real, all right?

It's a gifts of healing. For a specific time, for a specific person, in a specific way. You don't just have it in your back pocket. I cringe when I see somebody say, well, I have the gift of healing and I'm going to heal you. No, you don't have the gift of healing. You have the gift of ego. You have the gift of ignorance. You don't know the Word.

He distributes the gifts as He wills. You don't own it. So when our prayer team comes down front, you know what they pray? Lord, we pray that gifts of healings and miracles will work through our life. And so that's why it's important when the prayer team comes down front, you agree with them. It's not a counseling session. It's what do you need? We're going to pray about that and we're going to believe.

Now, and like I'm saying, it's even Paul, extraordinary. Listen to him in Philippians 2 and 26. He said, I had to leave Epaphroditus that had a lingering sickness that I couldn't heal. And then he tells Timothy, Timothy, I don't want you to just drink water, but I want you to use a little wine for your stomach's sake and for your frequent infirmities. Frequent infirmity. Even Paul didn't have the gifts of healing to work with Timothy. He said, you need to deal with your gifts of infirmities that keeps coming back.

So again, sometimes it's instantly, sometimes it's progressive. 2 Timothy 4 and 20. It says, So the word here, healings, let me give you this word. It's the word eomai. Say eomai. So when you go out to lunch today, you can use the word eomai. It's healings.

All right. Listen, let me give you the definition. You don't have to write it down. Just listen. It's to be, to cure or to be doctored. It depicts healing power that progressively reverses the condition, but sometimes can be instant.

So sometimes when we pray for a person and they're not instantly healed, then we begin to doubt. The word in itself says that healing many times by this one word, it's healing power. So when we pray for a person and they're not it's progressive, it's progressive.

Even Jesus, remember he healed, he laid his hands on her. He prayed for the lepers and he said, I want you to go to the priest. And the scripture says, as they went. So it wasn't boom at that moment. It was a progressive one as they obeyed the Lord.

Why wouldn't we want that manifest in our life, in our church? When your kids get sick, why wouldn't you want to pause and pray to Holy Spirit and lay hands on them instead of giving them medicine before you lay hands on them? I believe we need to go back to the old fashioned days that we need to turn to these power gifts in our life. Teach our kids that healing is for today. Amen.

The next one I want to look at is miracles. Say miracles. The Greek text here says operation of powers, and it's a divine operation for a supernatural power that overrides natural laws. Natural laws. Thou shalt not walk on water, thou shalt sink. Jesus came walking on the water.

Peter said, if you're doing that, I want to do that too. Peter, it was a miracle that he got out of the boat and he walked on water. It's interesting here when you break this phrase down, operation of powers, the word here for miracles, it's the word for a supernatural power that overrides natural laws.

And it comes from two words, energeo and dunamis. So I'll put those all together and let me tell you what it does. It depicts terrific power beyond human ability to perform miraculous instantaneous things. Miracles are not pulled out or progressive. They happen instantaneously.

What do you have? Well, we have some fish and we have some loaves, but we got like 10,000 men and women. Okay, good. Let me show you something. Blesses it, passes it out. The more they pass it out, the more they have. What is that? It's a miracle. It's a miracle.

Why don't we want more miracles in our life? Something beyond the ordinary. People say, man, I just wish we could see more miracles, like in the book of Acts. Have you ever counted how many miracles there are in the book of Acts? If not, I'll tell you. There are 30 exactly, say 30. You know how many years the book of Acts covers? 30. So if you average that out, that's a miracle a year. So I think maybe even we're doing that, a miracle a year, okay?

But I believe, listen, I believe, listen to me prophetically. I believe the closer we come to God, the more we as a church hook up to the power source, we're gonna start seeing more miracles in our midst. More miracles in our midst. Let's give the Lord a hand clap if you believe that.

Why wouldn't we want that? And prophecy, boy, here's one that's really good. It's a spontaneous, supernatural, vocal expressions of inspiration in a language that, look, strengthens, say strengthens. Encourages and comforts.

Now, some people define this as just good preaching. Good preaching. But you prepare for teaching, so that's not spontaneous. Sometimes in the midst of my teaching, I will sense something as a prophetic word, just like I said a few minutes ago. It's a divine inspired speech that would encourage you. That would encourage you.

Now listen, here at the Father's house, and I'm gonna talk about something else in a minute, but here at the Father's house, here's how we work prophecy. Here's how we work if somebody feels like I have a word from the Lord. 1 Corinthians 14 and 3 says, if you have your Bible, look at that. But he who prophesies speaks edification, say edification, exhortation, and comfort, to men.

Now, let me give you words that we might use. When somebody gives a word of prophecy, a word from the Lord, you would be strengthened. Prophecy does not correct you. Prophecy does not judge you. It strengthens you, it encourages you, it comforts you.

So if someone says, I have a prophecy, I have a word, then I wanna see, does it strengthen? Does it comfort? Does it encourage? And it's for a particular group, at a particular time.

Now, here at the Father's house, if a person gives a prophecy, if a person stood up and just give a prophecy, I look and see if I know them. I ask Tim, do you know them? And if we do not know you, we will set you down.

Because in this body, I'm responsible for whatever word is released. And if somebody comes into this house and I don't know their history, I don't care how many things they've got behind their name. If I don't know their history, I'm going to say to you, you need to bring that word over to one of our pastors. They'll judge it. Do not deliver it into the open congregation because I'm not going to let an incorrect word come to you. Do you believe that?

That's how we feel. You say, well, that's restrictive. You're right. Now, I'm hoping that in life groups and small groups, we participate more and more of the gifts of the Spirit. You don't stand up and say, yea, yea, I say to you. Yea, yea, I say to you is somebody who comes from a Pentecostal background, and that's how you've always heard words given. But you don't find that in the New Testament.

Look in the book of Acts. I don't see Paul ever standing up and saying, yea, yea. I don't see somebody else. Where do we get that? It's from background that we have. So we say, if you have a word, and we love the words, if you have a prophetic word, write it down.

You say, well, why should I write it down? Because it may not be for a word now. You hear me? It may be something that we want to send out to all the members of this congregation in the house. So we say, write it down. Come right over here. Pastor Ben, would you stand? Roberta, would you stand? Anita, would you stand? Tim is already standing. Andrea, would you stand? Simone, would you stand? These are our pastors.

So if you have a word, you write it down. You bring it to them very quietly. I'll give you an example of that. It happened just a few minutes ago. You write it down, and they will read it, and they will judge. Does it strengthen? Does it encourage?

And then they'll say to me, I don't feel like it's a word for now. I feel like it's a word that we need to pray about. I feel like it's a word that we need to let people know. It's a word that we need to encourage someone. You may be seated.

But if it's a word for now, then sometimes we'll let you share it, or sometimes we'll let, like we're doing now, Tim's going to share a prophetic word that was given just a few minutes ago.

And let me say, please. The giver of this word was? Lisa, would you stand, Lisa? Lisa has a very strong, in the prophetic, and she never blurts it out. Honor and respect, she'll always write it out. She'll bring it to Tim or me. And sometimes we give it that day. And sometimes we say, well, we're going to give it later. Oh, it's for the church staff.

And guess what? Lisa has never got offended that we didn't share a word. So if you get offended at your word, that gives us a good knowledge that we can discern the spirit that's working in you. It's not really to give God glory, but it's more that you can be seen and have a platform.

So thank you. Thank you for obeying the Lord. Let's judge that word. Did it strengthen you? Did it encourage you? Did it build you up? Did it give you hope? Was it done in order? Yay, God.

We're not ashamed of that, and we're not ashamed of the Holy Spirit. People say, well, he just gets away from it. We'll cover that in a minute. That's ignorance.

Look, I come from a background, it's amazing, I'm still a believer. I mean, we could be right in a sacred moment, the worship team is there, and somebody yells out, whoo, whoo, gives out a word, and just scares the bejesus out of you. No order. That's what Paul dealt with.

Prophecy. Man, I love prophecy. On the day of Pentecost, if you want to turn to Acts chapter 2, verse 17 through 21. And I know somebody just got offended because of your background. I just had a check in my spirit. Stick with me. Stick with me. I'm not against this. I'm just saying, yeah, there's an order.

See, some of you come from a background, you never had any teaching about Holy Spirit, and you've been so kind to open up and say, well, I don't know. I don't know, but I'm willing to learn. Some of us come from a Pentecostal background, and we think we know it all. But I want to tell you, you need to back off also, just like other people, and say, let's just look at a fresh word, look at a fresh word, and if Terry's wrong, I'm willing to be corrected by our elders, or by the board that corrects me, or my overseers. If I get out of line, I'm not perfect.

So I try, everything we do with this, I try to make sure, I've submitted to our elders, and we're safe together. Because, look, I could lead you astray, any person could lead you astray, if they ever get away from this word. Do you receive that? If you do, and you still love me, give the Lord a hand clap.

And if you're offended, just get over it and pray for me. I'm sorry I just feel that way today. In Acts chapter 2, verse 17 through 21, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up and he preaches. And he said, Say all flesh. Say, pour out my spirit on all flesh. And your sons, say sons, and your daughters, shall what? Prophesy. Your young men shall see vision. Your old men shall see dreams. I'm seeing, still seeing visions. Woo, love that.

And on my men servants. And on my maidservants. I will pour out my spirit in those days. And they shall prophesy. They shall foretell. And they shall foretell. I will show wonders in heaven. Above any, and signs on the earth beneath. Blood and fire. And vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness. The moon into blood. Before the coming of the great awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass. That whoever calls on the name of the Lord. Shall be saved.

He preached that. And thousands of people gave their heart to the Lord. You see, some people preach the gift of Holy Spirit that came on that day with tongues. They preached the gospel. No, they didn't preach the gospel. Nobody got saved after they spoke in tongues. That was a proof tongue. And I'll cover that next week. There are about three or four different kinds of tongues. That was a proof tongue. It came once on the day of Pentecost.

Don't ask for the day of Pentecost to come again. It came once. Now, you can say, Lord, fill me, but don't say, send Pentecost again. God will say, read your Bible. I've already done that. Why are you asking me to do that again?

And so Peter stands up and says, look, he's pouring out his spirit on all flesh, not restricted to men, all age. All sex, all social rank, and all race.

I want to wade in on something right now that many of you come from the background and you've never balanced all the scriptures about women preachers. So just take a deep breath. Yes, we have women pastors. You say, is that biblical? Well, you ask God. Why would he call somebody that it wasn't biblical for them to do that?

Some of you come from, some of you come from a background that have taken one passage of scripture out of context and you said, women could never teach, women could never preach. You're wrong. 1 Corinthians 11 and 5, Paul says that women can pray and prophesy in church. Check it out.

But in 1 Corinthians 14 and 34, it seems that women, now this is one case, women were abusing their gifts and using them out of place. Paul does not say women have no spiritual gifts. He doesn't say they can't operate those gifts. He teaches both men and women if they act out of place in the midst of a corporate meeting, they're both to be corrected.

It's getting quiet in this Presbyterian church. Give you some background because some of you never had this background. In the Corinthian culture, women were not allowed to confront men in public. Maybe we need to recoup that one. That helps some of you out, doesn't it?

Apparently, some of the women that were Christians began using their Christian freedom and they felt like it gave them the right to question their husband about something that was going on in public and it caused division. In addition, at that particular day, culturally, women were ignorant. Sorry. They didn't receive a formal education.

And so, men, evidently, in the home were not teaching their wives. And so, in this corporate meeting, the wives, out loud, were questioning things that their husbands should have taught them at home. So, he's dealing with one issue.

So, does this mean women shouldn't speak or preach in a church service? Nope. It's clear from chapter 11, verse 5, that women both prophesied in public and in chapters 12 through 14, they're encouraged to exercise their gift.

Now, if you'd like to go deeper in that, and I know some of you probably would, outside we have a book called The Role of Women in Ministries. At the Father's House. And it talks about the equality in ministry of men and women.

Now, I know that there are some, listen to me, there are some certain governmental gender distinctiveness that has to happen. I personally do not believe that a woman by herself should have control of a church. I believe that there should be a male distinctiveness, whether that's her husband or whether that's an apostolic pastor that's over that church.

And this little book talks about that. But those of you who say women cannot preach, women cannot teach, you need to read this book. I don't want your emails. We've prayed. We've looked through that. That's our culture. That's who we are. If you don't like women preachers, you're not going to like this house.

If you don't like women who pray, you're not going to like this house. Because in the Bible, it talks about equality. But even in equality, there is a headship that happens. Amen? Amen.

So I'm not arguing. I'm not taking debates. We prayed over this for years. We prayed before we ever put this out exactly how we have. And if you want a deeper paper, I'll give you a deeper paper from Dr. Ron Cottle, one of the greatest theologians. And he'll show you that there were apostle women in the early church that went along. But I'm not opening that can today. I better move on.

Philip had four daughters that prophesied. So we've talked about that already. 1 Corinthians 14, 29 through 32 says, in order, let two or three prophets speak. Now, I believe that's really more in like a small group. Let two or three, it wouldn't be everybody gets up, but two or three speak and let others judge.

What do they judge? Is it in the word? Does it agree with the scripture? Does it glorify Christ? Does it bring liberty, not bondage? There will be an inner witness. And verse 32 says, and the spirits, my spirit as a prophet, is subject to whatever prophecy that I would give.

So I hear people say, oh, I can't hold him back. I can't hold him back. And I just, they just blurt out. No, the scripture says the spirit is subject to the prophets. In other words, the spirit may be working. And so at a time like that, you just quietly, you just quietly deal with that yourself.

Do you understand? And you watch the stage. I'm going off track here. You watch the stage. And if the stage is bringing us to a place of quietness, Jen has done this before. Okay, let's just, I just, I just feel like there's just a moment we need to get quiet before the Lord.

And the next thing is I cringe. Because I know some of you, when you hear quietness, you think that it's time to blurt out something. Not when it's there. Please. Understand? Understand? Everything in decency, in order.

You say, well, I can't, I can't control him. Well, that's ignorance. Compared to this scripture, that's not true. Well, I better move on. Let's just, but why wouldn't we want more prophecies?

I mean, this morning, I, over Mike, I gave out, just, it just boiled up in me, Mike. And I felt like that was a prophecy that the Lord had about your future. Did you receive that? Did it encourage you? Did it build you up? Did it bring you bondage? Did it bring you liberty? Did it bring you direction for your life?

I didn't plan on that. And Tim, you were there, you judged it. See? And that's why, and in small groups, you say, well, you're going to open up a can of worms. What if we, what if we, what if we get overzealous? Guess what? Pastor Tim will deal with that.

But I'd rather have some fire than no fire. I'd rather see our life groups say we had healings. We had miracles. We had prophecies that came forth that encouraged people. Why wouldn't we want that?

Well, let's go to discerning or distinguishing between spirits. It's the ability to distinguish between works of the Holy Spirit and works of another spirit, a demonic spirit or a human spirit. People say, well, I have the gift of discerning of spirits and I can judge your faults. Nope. Ignorance.

It's not a critical spirit. It's like the curtain is pulled back and you're able to see the what behind that person. You're able to discern. For instance, Acts chapter 16. Paul discerned that the slave girl was demonic.

Oh, I know who you are. You're Paul. You're Paul. Saying the right words. But the gift of spirit, the gift of discerning of spirits well up in Paul. And he said, nope. Nope. That's not of the spirit. That's not even of you as a person. That's demonic.

In Acts 8 and 2, Peter was able to see that Simon Magnus was filled with bitterness. So why wouldn't we want that? You see, one of the things that we do is that when we talk to somebody, we try to pray and ask the Lord to give us discerning of spirits.

So if somebody just wants a platform. Let me go here again. See, we did away with announcements. You know why we did away with announcements? Because some people wanted to get up and give announcements. Because it wasn't about announcements. They wanted a platform.

They didn't even understand it in their self. And if they were to get in a platform, then they'd get upset. So I said, boom, enough. We have no more announcements. We'll do it a different way.

Well, these days we'll do video announcements. Why? Because somebody wanted a platform. We discern that their spirit was a wrong spirit. So when people come to us and say, you know, I'd like to lead a group. I'd like to do this. Then we pray for discerning of spirits. I want to know what is driving you. Is it ego? Is it flesh? Is it demonic? Or is it? It's spirit.

Now, do you feel safe? I think that we need that. Why wouldn't we want that, right? Different kinds of tongues we'll talk about next week. We have a couple of books out there I'd really encourage you to get if you haven't read.

One is The Beauty of the Spiritual Language, Unveiling the Mystery of Speaking in Tongues by Jack Hayford. Jack Hayford was invited to go to speak to a major organization that did not believe in the Holy Spirit. And he said, I was petrified. How do I go and say, speaking in tongues?

He said, and God gave him the phrase, it's a spiritual language. It's also called a heavenly language. Also called the language of angels. And then one of the best books I like is The Language of Heaven. The Crucial Questions, and this is by Sam Storms, who was a former cessationist that believed in the Holy Spirit. He believed that all the gifts did not work.

And in it, it's by, and it's laid out by questions. Is tongues a sign of judgment? Do we have good biblical reasons to believe the gift of tongues is valid today? Why is tongues often speak so rapidly? What does it mean to pray in the Spirit? And it's just page after page after page of good answers.

All right, interpretation of tongues. You know, in the church service, we've had people stand up and they give out a tongue. And so immediately I would come to the stage and I would say, according to the Bible, it says if you give out a tongue, there should be an interpretation of that tongue.

So if you don't have the interpretation of that tongue, then you're out of order and you should sit down. We've had people mad, right, Tim? We've had them leave. Tim would go catch them and say, hey, let me give you some biblical understanding for that.

I'm not against giving out a tongue in a service. I think there's probably more that will happen in small groups than in a service. But if you stand and you give out a tongue, we're going to say, then you need to give the interpretation of that.

Again, I'm not ruling that out. I'm not against that. If it's in here, I believe it's for real. I've seen it operate. I've seen it work in a great way. And we're open. Say open. To what Holy Spirit would do.

It's not a word for word. It's a spirit ability to translate a public utterance. Now, let me talk about these. 1 Corinthians 12 and 7 says, but to each one of you is given the manifestation of the Spirit and He distributes them as He will.

So that means if you're Spirit-filled, if you come to Jesus, knowing Jesus, and He's filled you, you have the ability for the Holy Spirit to work these in you.

So what are our action steps? Here they are. Number one, discover. Discover. Say discover. Learn what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts. I can't cover it all this morning, but in the Spirit-filled study Bible, there's a whole section in the back about spiritual gifts.

Number two, desire. Say desire. 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 says desire. Desire spiritual gifts. Desire. You know what that word means? It means to fervently boil over with zeal for the object desired. Man, when I met Anita, I boiled over with zeal for her. Woo! And I still do.

But she came up here a while ago and flung her little hair around. I told Simone, I said, isn't that just a really cute little hairstyle she's got on today? Why wouldn't we desire? Desire. Gifts of Holy Spirit.

And then we need to deploy them. Use the gifts to build up the church. It says, it's for profit for everybody. For the common good. For the benefit. For encouragement. I believe many of you, many of you today, the Lord will give you a prophecy to speak over someone. Amen.

I really believe that. And the inside, you just feel it. You just say, and you don't have to go, don't scare the daylights out of somebody. Yay, yay. I say, Jen, when thou was bornest, God has had a gift for you.

No, I said, Jen, I just, and this is for real. I wasn't going to do this, but it's for real. I just feel like that. God says that hidden place in your life. That you feel like God can never use that.

See, everybody sees a lot of gifts that you have, but God says he's going to begin to expose that. Does that make sense? Do you have a hidden area? We didn't talk about this earlier, did we?

Somebody was waiting on the table. And I just felt this overwhelming urge just to give them a word of encouragement. And you have too. But you never recognize because you've never studied or you've never seen the manifestation gifts that can operate normal. Say normal.

Open our eyes into the spirit realm. Things that we've never witnessed, we've never seen. As the days get darker, your light must shine brighter. I pray for this body of believers.

If you're a spirit-filled believer, just as your eyes close, just lift your hands to the Lord. Lord, we lift our hands openly to you. The word urge, earlier today was to surrender.

So Lord, we raise our hands and surrender. And we earnestly desire gifts of Holy Spirit to operate in our church and in our lives. You that are believers, as you just continue to just pray quietly to yourself, I want to talk to those of you that say, well, you know, Terry, I really would, I really desire these gifts, but I'm really not sure where I stand with God.

Today, you can call on the name of Jesus. He'll forgive you of your sins. He'll make you brand new. But you say, but Terry, I just don't feel ready. I don't feel worthy. I, uh, exactly. You'll never feel worthy. You'll never feel right. It's a gift. That's why it's unbelievable.

For God so loved this world, He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth on Him could be saved. Jesus came. He lived a sinless life. He died on the cross for your sins and my sin.

If there are those of you today and online that would recognize and say, you know, I feel like the Spirit is drawing me, drawing me to surrender my life to Jesus. And today, I want to step across that faith line and say yes. I want to say yes to Jesus and surrender.

I want to say yes to Jesus and surrender. There's that word again. Surrender my life to you. I want to know you, God. I want to be filled with your Spirit.

If that's you today, as the church is praying, would you raise your hand and make eye contact with me and say, Terry, that's me. I want to surrender to Jesus today. I want to surrender. I want to know Him today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Others today, thank you for your boldness. Thank you. Others. Others today that would say, yeah, that's me. That's me. Those of you watching online, just put on there, on the typing, whatever you do, say, yeah, that's me. I want to surrender today.

Yeah, anybody else? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, young man. Just feel like waiting just a second longer. Eternity is in the balances.

Pray this prayer with me today. Heavenly Father, I am a sinner. I need a Savior. Save me. Forgive me. Make me brand new. I believe you died for me and you rose again so that I could live for you. Holy Spirit, fill me.

Let these gifts manifest in my life to be used in the church and in the world. My life's not my own. I give it to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Church, would you just get radical and celebrate with me with those today? Come on. Listen, in a minute, we're going to stand and worship again. You don't want to miss next week. I'm going to tell you, it's going to be unbelievable.

But over here is first step in here. If somebody beside you raised their hand, would you say, hey, let me go with you and take you over to the first step? There's some resources there to help you in your surrender. Would you do that?

And if you made that decision as we stand right now, let's stand. Don't just rush out the door. We got time. Let's just stand. And prayer team's coming down front. Gifts of healing, miracle working today. I believe that. Stir it up, stir it up, stir it up, stir it up. And if you prayed that prayer, first steps, let's sing this song.