Participants: Hal Steenson (Host)
Series Code: HPOV
Program Code: HPOV000002
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00:01 Hello, I'm
00:03 and I'd like to welcome you to Heaven's Point of View! 00:04 Our topic for this series is the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:07 Now being a charismatic pastor for so many years allowed me 00:10 the opportunity to see the bad and the good, 00:12 and the error and the truth of the handling and the mishandling 00:15 of the charisma gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:17 However, the misuses of the gifts 00:19 of the Spirit were nothing in 00:21 comparison to the attempts to have power and control over the 00:24 Holy Spirit Himself. There are many who believe the Holy Spirit 00:27 was given to them to cater to their every little whim. 00:30 This has never been and will never be the purpose of the 00:34 Holy Spirit. And today we are going to look 00:37 at the original purpose of the Holy Spirit. 00:39 So... don't go away, and we'll take a look at the Holy Spirit 00:42 from Heaven's Point of View. 01:05 There are many misconceptions concerning the purpose of the 01:08 Holy Spirit and His prime directive. 01:10 For many years there has been a sci-fi program on television 01:13 called Star Trek. Captain James T. Kirk states the 01:16 Enterprise's prime directive at the beginning of every episode. 01:20 The statement is always the same and very clear: to boldly go 01:24 where no man has gone before. 01:26 What a revelation it would be for the church 01:28 to grasp the truth of the Holy Spirit's prime directive. 01:31 If you ask people from different denominations what they believe 01:35 the purpose of the Holy Spirit is for the church, 01:37 you would get many different answers. 01:39 The reason for numerous responses could be that we have 01:42 a tendency to place the Holy Spirit into our belief mode 01:46 and allow Him to only be and do what we feel is correct. 01:52 says the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 01:55 However, what is the prime directive? 01:58 The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit? 02:00 To fully understand the purpose of the Holy Spirit, we must 02:03 go back to the beginning. Genesis 1:1 says: 02:17 Please note: the earth was without form and void 02:19 until something earth-changing happened. 02:22 The Holy Spirit moved or hovered over it. 02:24 Until the Holy Spirit moved, nothing happened. 02:27 In other words, had the Holy Spirit not moved, 02:29 the earth would still be without form and void. 02:32 This is the prime directive of God's Holy Spirit. 02:36 This is one of the most important responsibilities. 02:39 He is waiting and wanting to hover over anyone who is 02:42 without form and void. He desires to move upon our 02:46 misery and our brokenness, our doubts and our fears, and let us 02:51 know that He is with us and wanting to make something out 02:54 of nothing. We have a tendency to think we are less than 02:58 acceptable to God because other people are apparently better 03:01 than us because of what seems to be blessings on their lives. 03:04 But the truth is: the Holy Spirit is hovering over those 03:08 who are willing to conform to what He is saying and doing. 03:12 They must align themselves to His agenda, not try to align Him 03:16 to theirs. The only way the Holy Spirit can lead and guide 03:20 us into all truth is for Him to be the leader and us to be the 03:24 followers. The Spirit of God was not given to be misused 03:29 or to make us feel spiritual or superior. 03:31 He is ready to hover over us and form us into the image of 03:35 of our Lord. The misconception of most Christians is that if 03:39 you are in a down time or in a low point in your life, 03:42 the Holy Spirit has abandoned you. This is the furthest 03:46 thing from the truth. Now, let's get back to the 03:48 prime directive. The purpose of the Holy Spirit 03:52 is to be with you in those without form and void times - 03:55 more than any other time. When a defeated man named Samson 04:00 was treading out grain in the enemy's dungeon, weak, defeated 04:04 with his eyes burned out, something miraculous happened! 04:07 He was without form and void when the Spirit of God came 04:10 came on him. He then slew more in his death than he did in his 04:14 life. When Daniel was in the lion's den, do you think he was 04:17 alone and forsaken? Or do you believe like I do that the 04:21 Holy Spirit was there along with heaven's angels 04:23 working His prime directive? Was it not the Holy Spirit standing 04:27 between Daniel and the den of hungry lions? 04:29 Then there were the three young Hebrew children in the fiery 04:34 furnace. If that isn't a thing without form and void, then 04:37 nothing is. But there was a divine intervention for them. 04:41 They came up and out of the furnace without even being 04:44 scorched, and didn't even smell like smoke! 04:47 When Paul and Silas were in jail they were without form and void. 04:52 What moved on them to cause them to sing such praises to God 04:55 that it would cause an earthquake? 04:57 When Christ was on the cross, forsaken by those He loved 05:01 and all of those He was about to die for, what would cause Him 05:05 to have hope in all that had been prophesied about Him? 05:09 He knew the Holy Spirit was there - hovering, moving, 05:13 and just waiting to raise Him from the dead - and then 05:16 open the tomb to show the world that Christ had risen. 05:20 The prime directive of the Holy Spirit is to move upon 05:23 and fulfill all that God's prophets have spoken since the 05:25 world began. Even when it is without form and void. 05:30 Acts 3:21 says "Whom the heavens must receive until the time of 05:33 the restitution of all things which God has spoken 05:35 by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began " 05:40 One translation reads like this: "Whom the heavens must keep 05:44 until the restoration of all things. " 05:47 We must allow the Holy Spirit to hover over every area of our 05:50 lives and our churches to fulfill this scripture. 05:54 We must not underestimate the Father, the Son, and the 05:58 Holy Spirit's promise to be with us continually. 06:02 Hebrews 13:5 in the Amplified says: "For He, God Himself, has 06:06 said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave 06:10 you without support. " I will not, I will not, I will not 06:15 in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake, nor let you down 06:19 relax My hold on you. Assuredly not. Praise God! 06:22 The Holy Spirit has set up His abode within us and is patiently 06:26 waiting to bestow divine gifts upon us in order to establish 06:31 the kingdom of God in the earth. 06:32 Any church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not in 06:36 operation or are not allowed to operate, is something less than 06:40 the church founded on the Day of Pentecost. 06:43 The gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to build up 06:46 the church and make it the most powerful force in the universe. 06:50 These gifts were given to demonstrate the power of the 06:54 Word and the Spirit. I Corinthians 2:4 says: 06:57 "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's 07:01 wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power. " 07:06 The Apostle Paul, the one who cast out devils and even raised 07:10 the dead declares he did it by the Spirit of God. 07:13 If we neglect or reject the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, 07:17 it will be to our own detriment. 07:21 Now, in order to have a better understanding of the gifts, 07:25 let's look at the Greek terms that are used to describe 07:28 spiritual gifts. The first use of the word gift in Corinthian 07:32 letters is in italics and was not in the early manuscript. 07:44 In I Corinthians 12:1, Paul uses the word pneumatikov. 07:48 It is usually translated spiritual gifts, but a more 07:51 literal translation would be spiritual things - or simply 07:55 spiritual. It comes from the word pneuma - another Greek word 07:59 used in scripture to describe the Holy Spirit of God. 08:02 Pneumatikov tell us that the gifts are activated by the 08:06 Holy Spirit - who is already in us - rather than by our natural 08:10 ability. Paul is addressing two direct errors of the Corinthian 08:14 church in this first verse. First is the misuse of the gifts 08:19 by the Corinthian church and second is their ignorance 08:22 concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 08:24 Geneva Bible Notes breaks this verse down into two parts. 08:28 First, Paul enters into the third part of this discourse 08:31 touching the right use of spiritual gifts in which he 08:34 gives the Corinthians plainly to understand that they abused 08:38 them - for they that excelled bragged ambitiously of them 08:44 and robbed God of the praise of His gifts. 08:47 And having no consideration of their brethren abused them to 08:51 a vain display and so robbed the church of the use 08:54 of those gifts. On the other side, the inferior sort envied 09:00 the better and went about to make a departure so that all 09:03 the body as it were scattered and rent in pieces. 09:08 So then going about to remedy these abuses, he wills them 09:12 first to consider diligently that they have not these gifts 09:16 of themselves but from the free 09:19 grace of God to whose glory 09:22 they ought to bestow them all. 09:24 The second thing is he expresses their ignorance to what 09:27 purpose these gifts are given. 09:29 The next word for gift is in I Corinthians 12:4: 09:38 Paul uses the word charismata - which is most often translated 09:42 simply as gifts. The term gift of grace would more accurately 09:46 describe the meaning of the Greek. This is Paul's most 09:48 popular word for the spiritual gifts, and it denotes that they 09:52 are bestowed by the Spirit as an act of divine grace. 09:56 The gifts are such that they are freely given to anyone who 10:00 desires them. 10:01 Now, once again, the Geneva Bible Notes breaks this 10:04 scripture into two parts. First, Paul lays another 10:07 foundation - that is these gifts are different as the functions 10:12 are also different and their office is different. 10:15 But that one self-same Spirit, Lord, and God is the giver 10:20 of all these gifts. Now there is the Trinity if you need it. 10:23 And that the one end that is for the profit of all. 10:27 The second Paul is saying the Spirit is plainly distinguished 10:30 from the gifts. The next word for gifts is in 10:33 I Corinthians 12:5. 10:38 Paul uses the word diakonia to describe spiritual gifts. 10:41 The word is translated in the New Testament into the following 10:44 English words: administration, minister, office, service, 10:48 relief, administration. These are not the nine gifts of the 10:51 Spirit but plainly show us that the gifts of the Spirit are 10:55 limitless. It is a firm reminder that the gifts are for 10:59 the wellbeing of others. The verb diakonia is used in 11:03 Mark 10:45 by Jesus where He is speaking of Himself. He says: 11:07 "The Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve and to 11:12 give His life a ransom for many. " 11:14 Now, we need to have that attitude in our desire to bless 11:19 others through the spiritual gifts. The gifts of the 11:22 Holy Spirit are our tools to enable us to minister to others 11:26 in a God-glorifying way. Paul continues in chapter 12 11:30 and asks this question in I Corinthians 12:27-30. 11:34 "Now ye are the body of Christ and are members in particular 11:37 and God has set some in the church: first apostles, 11:40 secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles 11:44 then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of 11:47 tongues. " Are all apostles? Are all prophets? 11:51 Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 11:54 Have all the gift of healing and do all speak with tongues? 11:57 Do all interpret?" Because Paul links the apostles, prophets, 12:01 teachers with the charisma gift, some people mistakenly believe 12:06 these ministries are gifts given by the Holy Spirit. 12:09 They are NOT! These gifts are doma gifts and they were given 12:14 by Jesus to the church. Now I am going to conclude 12:17 this series explaining these doma gifts. OK? 12:20 Ephesians 4:8-11 says: 12:23 "Wherefore He has said when He 12:24 ascended up on high, He, Jesus, led captivity captive and gave 12:29 gifts unto men. " Now He that ascended is He that also 12:33 descended first into the lower parts of the earth. 12:35 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above 12:39 all heaven that He might fill all things. 12:43 Now get this: and He gave SOME apostles, and SOME prophets, 12:47 SOME evangelists, SOME teachers, and pastors and teachers. 12:50 The charisma gift given by the Holy Spirit was given to 12:53 demonstrate the authority of the believer while the doma gift 12:57 was given by Jesus for the equipping of the saints so they 13:01 could do the work of the ministry. 13:03 The charisma gift was given to promote the church while the 13:07 doma gifts are given to perfect the church. 13:12 Now, let's quickly do an over- view of the 9 gifts of the 13:14 Holy Spirit. It is through the diversity of all 9 gifts of the 13:17 Holy Spirit that God is able to meet the needs and challenges 13:20 of His children in everyday life. 13:22 The gift of prophecy: this is a Holy Spirit given utterance 13:27 that may benefit those hearing it whether it is individual 13:30 or to the body of Christ as a whole. 13:31 This gift may be used for edification, exhortation, and 13:35 comfort. This is where most people kind of stop the purpose 13:39 and the progress of this gift. However, there are other 13:42 purposes for the gifts of prophecy. 13:44 For example, there is the purpose of ordaining. 13:51 Amplified says: "Do not neglect the gift which is 13:53 in you. " That special inward endowment which was directly 13:57 imparted to you by the Holy Spirit by prophetic utterance 14:00 when the elders lay their hands upon you at your ordination. 14:04 Then prophecy may also be used as a sending forth. 14:09 says "Now there were in the church that was at 14:13 Antioch certain prophets and teachers. That's Barnabas, 14:17 that's Simeon that was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrene, and 14:21 Manaen which had been brought 14:24 up with Herod the patriarch, and Saul. 14:28 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, 14:31 the Holy Ghost said 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 14:34 whereunto I have called them. ' 14:36 When they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them 14:40 they sent them away. " 14:42 Now, there is the gift of tongues. 14:44 This gift was given on the Day of Pentecost and it was used for 14:48 no other purpose other than 14:51 to declare and magnify and preach 14:54 the goodness of God and the gospel of Christ. 14:57 Example: 15:01 It says: "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost 15:02 and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them 15:05 utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews and 15:08 devout men out of every nation under heaven. 15:10 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together 15:14 and were confounded because they heard every man speaking 15:20 his own language. 15:21 The gift of interpretation is next. The gift of 15:25 interpretation of tongues. This divinely bestowed charisma 15:30 gift is given by the Holy Spirit. It cannot be earned. 15:34 It cannot be learned. It is used by someone to impart a 15:38 known, known, known language he or she has never 15:42 heard before. An example of this... 15:45 An example of this may be someone who speaks English 15:48 that is sharing the gospel with a group of people in India 15:51 who speak Hindi. They can't understand the speaker because 15:54 he doesn't speak their language but God wants them to hear the 15:57 message of the gospel. The Holy Spirit endows one of these 16:01 Indians present with the gift of interpretation. 16:04 This gift will allow the recipient to understand what is 16:08 being spoken in English even though he or she has never 16:11 spoken it. Then he or she would be able to translate this 16:16 message of the gospel for the others in Hindi. 16:20 Now next there is the word of wisdom. 16:22 This is exactly what it says it is: a WORD of wisdom. 16:27 Not total wisdom within itself. The word of wisdom will always 16:33 be associated itself with knowledge in order to be 16:37 effective. It may be a tiny portion of God's wisdom 16:41 graciously given at a specific time for a specific circumstance 16:46 for God to accomplish His will for the recipient. 16:49 This gift has several other functions, and we will explore 16:53 them later in this series. 16:55 An example of this is in 2 Kings chapter 3. 16:59 Three kings that told Elijah that the Moabites were coming to 17:03 capture them. First Elijah does not know what to do. Then he 17:07 calls for a minstrel and listens and praises the Lord. 17:12 Then a gift of the word of wisdom was given to him, and 17:15 Elijah told them to make the valley full of ditches. 17:18 You will not see wind nor rain but the valley shall be filled 17:22 with water. The Moabites were defeated 17:25 and three kingdoms were saved. 17:28 Now, next is the word of knowledge. 17:30 The gift of the word of knowledge. 17:32 The Holy Spirit is omnipresent and He is omnipotent. 17:36 He is everywhere and knows everything. 17:38 When we understand that John 3:34 states that Jesus was 17:42 the only one that was given the Spirit without measure, 17:44 we begin to realize the truth of this gift's only being a word 17:49 of knowledge not all knowledge. 17:55 says: "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and 17:59 said to him 'Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. ' 18:03 Nathanael said unto Him, 'whence knowest Thou me?' 18:06 Jesus answered and said unto him 'Before Philip called thee, 18:10 when thou was under the fig tree I saw thee. ' 18:14 Nathanael answered and said unto Him, 'Rabbi, Thou art the 18:19 Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel. '" 18:22 The next is the discerning experience. 18:24 I know I am moving fast but we are going to go back and cover 18:26 every one of these in detail. 18:27 The discerning experience. This gift allows one's senses and 18:31 mental faculties to discriminate and distinguish 18:35 between what is morally good and noble 18:38 and what is evil and contrary either to God's divine law or to 18:42 human law. The gift of discernment allows you to see 18:45 past the false facade of those that desire to deceive. 18:49 It will give you the ability to judge whether something is from 18:53 God or from Satan, from fallen angels or unfallen angels. 18:59 Now, a good example of this is in 19:03 It says: "It came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel 19:07 who was possessed with a spirit of divination met us 19:10 which brought her masters much gainsay by soothsaying. 19:14 The same followed Paul and us and cried saying 'These men 19:18 are the servants of the Most High God which show us 19:22 the way of salvation. ' And this did she many days - but Paul, 19:26 being grieved, turned and said to the spirit 19:32 'I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her' 19:36 and he came out of her the same hour. " 19:40 Now the next one we are going to look at is the working of 19:43 miracles. This is an immediate, instantaneous manifestation of 19:48 the Holy Spirit that will cause a divine change in a person's 19:53 body, soul, or spirit. However, the working of miracles 19:57 is not limited to humanity. All of God's creation must bow 20:03 to this divine appointment. Now let me give you an example. 20:08 says: "And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell 20:13 from him and smote the waters and said: 'where is the Lord God 20:17 of Elijah?' And when he also had smitten the waters, 20:20 they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over. " 20:26 Now next is the gift of faith. The gift of faith is when you 20:30 are prompted to action by the Holy Spirit without regard 20:35 to what you may see, hear, touch, taste, or smell. 20:41 It is a supernatural, supernatural virtue given by 20:46 inspiration and assistance of the Holy Spirit. 20:48 This gift of faith accepts the prompting of God to be true 20:54 apart from any reasoning. The gift of faith rests totally 20:58 on the power of God knowing that He will not do anything contrary 21:03 to His word. An example of this is in Acts 14 verse 8 21:09 "And there sat a certain man at Listra, impotent in his feet 21:16 being a cripple from his mother's womb who never 21:17 had walked. The same heard Paul speak 21:22 who steadfastly beheld him and perceiving that he had faith 21:25 to be healed said with a loud voice, 'stand upright on thy 21:29 feet. ' And he leaped and he walked. " 21:31 Another example is some of the gifts can work in concert. 21:35 Here, we have the gift of faith and the gift of healing. 21:41 "And a certain woman which had an issue of blood 21:44 and had suffered many things 21:46 of many physicians and had spent all that she had 21:49 and was nothing the better but rather grew worse. 21:53 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind him 21:57 and touched His garment for she said 'If I may touch but His 22:01 clothes I shall be whole. ' And straightway the fountain 22:06 of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she 22:10 was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately knowing in 22:15 Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the 22:19 press and said 'Who touched My clothes?' And the disciples 22:22 said unto Him, 'Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee 22:25 and sayest Thou 'Who touched Me?' And He looked round about 22:29 to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing 22:35 and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down 22:39 before Him and told Him all the truth, and He said unto her 22:43 'Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace 22:46 and be whole of thy plague. '" 22:48 Next is the gift of healing. And we are going to take a look 22:53 at that in just a few minutes. 22:54 We are going to take a short break. 22:56 Don't go away. We'll be right back. 23:00 If you've been confused about what the Bible says about the 23:04 Holy Spirit's amazing gifts for the church, you'll want to 23:07 order you very own copy of this 13-part series. It's available 23:11 on DVD or video cassette from 3ABN at a very special price. 23:15 This 13-part series from Pastor Hal Steenson 23:18 makes a wonderful gift for a friend or family member. 23:21 Just call us at: 23:26 and we'll be happy to take your order. 23:27 You may also order it online at: 23:33 Again, the phone number is: 23:46 The gift of healing is the last gift that we are going to be 23:49 talking about today. The gift of healing are 23:52 extensions of God's covenant name: Jehovah Watha - the 23:56 Lord our Healer. The gift of healing is God's way of healing 23:59 all manner of sicknesses and diseases that afflict humanity. 24:03 A great example of this is: 24:08 It says: "And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their 24:12 synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom 24:15 and healing. " Listen to this! Healing all manner of sickness 24:19 and all manner of diseases among the people. 24:22 And His fame went throughout all Syria and they brought unto Him 24:27 all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases 24:30 and torments and those that were possessed of devils, 24:35 and those which were lunatics and those that had the palsy, 24:40 and He healed them. " Not healed them some - He healed them all! 24:45 The remnant church will need all these gifts as God begins to 24:50 pour out the Latter Rain. It will be our God-given 24:53 responsibility to allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit 24:57 to operate through us to bring souls into right standing 25:03 with Christ. You see, that's what I'm here doing today. 25:08 This is where my heart is. This is where Molly and I 25:14 want to stand and say there is truth in the gifts 25:18 of the Spirit. There is anointing in the gifts of the 25:23 Spirit. And Sr. White says that we need to be so acquainted 25:28 with the workings and the operations of the gifts of the 25:33 Holy Spirit lest in the outpouring of the Latter Rain 25:38 that we would look at them and say fanaticism. 25:45 God help us to understand the workings and the operations 25:50 of the gifts of the Spirit. You see, here is the other side 25:54 of it. A lot of people out there have seen nothing but the 25:58 negative. I've seen them both. I've seen the real workings of 26:02 the Holy Spirit. I've seen manifestations of healings. 26:06 I've seen miracles through the years. But I have also seen 26:10 Brother "Wonderful" and Sister "Greatness" 26:14 out there in the televangelist position 26:18 that claim to be doing great 26:21 manifestations and great miracles for God. 26:24 And so much of it is not real. But I am here to tell you today 26:30 that this old country boy right here has seen the proof of the 26:35 gifts of the Spirit. Manifestation of the 26:37 gifts of the Spirit. I have seen them to the point 26:41 to where there is nothing that could change my heart or 26:45 change my mind about the true manifestations of it. 26:49 And what we desire to do in this series as we teach and 26:55 break down which we will start in our next program. 26:59 We are going to break down each gift, and what I hope to do 27:02 is to show you an explanation of what that gift is. 27:08 Then to show you the true manifestation of that gift 27:14 along with the true error that is out there 27:19 to where we will be able to look at it 27:21 whenever somebody says that I am this, 27:25 I am that, I've got this - to where it won't be like somebody 27:29 saying "Hey, I'm a carpenter. Do you want to see me hammer? 27:32 Do you want to see me saw? Do you want to see me measure 27:35 something?" "No, I want to see something you've built. " 27:38 When somebody says that they move in the gifts and they move 27:42 in the in the manifestation of it, then here's what I've got 27:45 to say. "I don't want to just see you do it, I want to see 27:49 the results of it. I want to see the person that was healed. 27:52 I want to see the person that was healed. I want to see the 27:56 true life-changing spirit, and that life-changing spirit will 28:00 firmly declare. We will not know them by their gifts 28:04 but we will know them by their fruits. " 28:30 On our next Heaven's Point of View program, we will continue 28:33 with an in-depth study of the spiritual gifts. 28:35 The outer court gifts to speak, the holy place gifts to know, 28:38 and last the holy of holies gifts to do. So check your 3ABN 28:42 World for dates and times, and we'll see you there. |
Revised 2014-12-17