Heaven's Point of View

The Gifts Of Faith And Miracles

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Hal Steenson (Host)

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Series Code: HPOV

Program Code: HPOV000011


00:01 Hello, I'm
00:03 and I'd like to welcome you and invite you to join us
00:04 in our study on the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
00:07 We have studied the gifts to speak,
00:09 which is tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy.
00:12 Then we looked at the gifts to know: the word of knowledge,
00:15 the word of wisdom, and the discerning of the spirits.
00:17 On our last program we started the gifts to do,
00:21 the power gifts, and learned about the true gifts of healing
00:24 and today we begin our study on the gift of faith.
00:27 So get your Bibles and stay with us for the next half hour
00:30 as we study to show ourselves approved.
00:55 Our study for today is on the gift of faith.
00:58 The gift of faith is when you are prompted to action
01:00 by the Holy Spirit without regard to what you may see,
01:03 hear, touch, taste, or smell. It's a supernatural virtue
01:08 given by the inspiration and assistance of the Holy Spirit.
01:11 The gift of faith accepts the prompting of God to be true
01:15 apart from any reasoning. The gift of faith rests totally
01:19 on the power of God, knowing that He will not do anything
01:24 that's contrary to His Word.
01:28 says: "And there set a certain man at Lystra,
01:30 impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb,
01:34 who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak:
01:38 who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith
01:42 to be healed, Said with a loud voice,
01:45 'Stand upright on thy feet. ' And he leaped and walked. "
01:50 Now another example of this: some of the gifts can work
01:53 in concert. Now here we have the gift of faith
01:56 and the gift of healing working together.
01:59 We'll be talking about that more later.
02:03 says: "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood
02:05 twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians,
02:08 and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered,
02:12 but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus,
02:15 came in the press behind and touched His garment.
02:18 For she said, 'If I may touch His clothes, I shall be whole. '
02:22 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up:
02:25 and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
02:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself
02:33 that virtue had gone out of Him, turned about into the press,
02:37 and said, 'Who touched my clothes?'
02:40 And His disciples said unto Him, 'Thou seest the multitude
02:42 thronging Thee, and Thou sayest 'Who touched me?'
02:45 And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing
02:49 But the woman fearing and trembling,
02:52 knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him
02:56 and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her,
03:00 'Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole:
03:04 go in peace and be whole of thy plague. ' "
03:07 Now the gift of faith is the supernatural ability
03:10 to believe God without doubt. To combat unbelief
03:14 and visualize what God wants to accomplish.
03:18 It is not only an inner conviction impelled by
03:21 an urgent and higher calling but also is a supernatural ability
03:26 to meet adverse circumstances with trust in God's Word
03:31 and messages. You see, the Bible speaks of several
03:35 different types of faith which increases from faith to faith.
03:51 First there is saving faith. Oh, I love it!
03:54 Faith which gets you into heaven.
03:56 You'll find this in Ephesians the 2nd chapter
03:58 eighth and ninth verses: "For by grace are you saved
04:01 through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is
04:04 the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. "
04:07 Then after that there is the fruit of faith.
04:10 The faith that gets you into heaven.
04:13 Now let me say that again. This is the faith
04:15 that gets you into heaven. Galatians 5;22,23:
04:18 says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
04:21 long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith
04:24 meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. "
04:28 Now the gift of faith stems from saving faith
04:31 and the fruit of faith.
04:33 It is the ability to believe the miraculous.
04:39 says: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
04:42 as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly,
04:48 and the charity of every one of you toward each other
04:51 aboundeth. " This gift not only operates
04:55 in healings and in miracles, but in the realm of the impossible
05:00 as well. Saving faith produces the active faith of the
05:05 fruit of the Spirit - which in turn produces the
05:08 gift of faith. When the gift of faith is empowered,
05:13 the results are miraculous. Now, faith is a word with
05:19 which every Christian is familiar.
05:21 We contend for our faith; we share for our faith;
05:25 we are saved by grace through faith;
05:27 and we all have faith in Jesus Christ.
05:31 Some non-Christians would accuse us of having
05:34 blind faith - but only because they have been blinded
05:38 by their own ignorance of the truth.
05:40 So why is the gift of faith mentioned in verse nine
05:45 any different from or more special than faith
05:50 that we exercise in any of the contexts mentioned above.
05:53 Is faith the same in all these contexts?
05:57 Can we really understand this passage?
05:59 Why sure we can! Just have faith...
06:02 The Greek word used for faith here is pistis.
06:06 Looking at some of the other areas of the New Testament
06:09 in which faith is mentioned, we find that this word is used
06:13 in these other contexts as well. How then do we know
06:16 that there is a difference? The answer to that is in verse nine.
06:21 Faith is mentioned as one of the spiritual gifts - or
06:27 charismata. Nowhere else in the New Testament
06:31 do we see faith connected with charisma.
06:35 Therefore, while the Greek does not illuminate the nature
06:38 of the difference, it DOES establish
06:40 that there IS a difference.
06:42 This uncommon faith is not restrained by doubt.
06:48 Doubts crop up when we allow human thoughts
06:51 and weaknesses to diminish the divine power of God.
06:54 The gift of faith will always speak the solution -
06:58 will never speak the problem.
07:03 is an example of this. Jesus said:
07:05 "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say
07:08 unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
07:13 into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart,
07:16 but shall believe that those things which he saith
07:19 shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
07:21 Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire,
07:24 when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
07:27 and ye shall have them. " The gift of faith never doubts!
07:32 James said of doubts: "But when ye ask ye must believe
07:36 and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave
07:39 of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. "
07:41 Now, the uses of the gift of faith.
07:44 The gift of faith may be used for supernatural blessings
07:48 such as Isaac and Jacob and Joseph.
07:51 In Hebrews 11:20- the faith chapter - 11:20-22:
07:57 "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
08:00 concerning things to come. By faith Jacob when he was a dying,
08:05 blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped,
08:09 leaning upon the top of his staff. "
08:12 Verse 22 says: "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention
08:17 of the departing of the children of Israel;
08:19 and gave commandments concerning his bones. "
08:21 The gift of faith may also be used for personal protection.
08:25 Hebrews 11:32-34 says: "And what shall I more say
08:31 for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon,
08:35 and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah;
08:38 of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
08:42 Who through faith - who through faith subdued kingdoms,
08:45 wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
08:47 stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,
08:52 escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong
08:56 waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
09:01 of the aliens. " The gift of faith may be used also
09:06 for supernatural substance. Elijah was sustained by ravens
09:11 by the brook of Cherith. It takes the gift of faith
09:14 to trust and believe that birds would bring you provision.
09:18 The gift of faith may be used also for raising the dead.
09:23 There are many instances of the Lord raising people
09:26 from the dead throughout the Bible.
09:27 The New Testament records Jesus raising the following people
09:30 from the dead: the son of the widow of Nain,
09:34 Jairus's daughter.
09:36 Lazarus was raised from the dead after three days.
09:40 The gift of faith is a special faith that the Holy Spirit
09:43 gives a believer to trust God for a specific supernatural
09:47 solution to a problem. A work of power that the Holy Spirit
09:51 will perform. Galatians 3:5:
09:53 "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,
09:56 and worketh miracles among you,
09:58 doeth he it by the works of the law,
10:01 or by the hearing of faith? " I like the Amplified
10:06 version of this, listen to this:
10:07 "Then does He who supplies you with His marvelous
10:11 Holy Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you
10:15 do so on the grounds of your doing what the law demands
10:20 or because of your believing in and adhering to and trusting in
10:24 and relying on the message that you heard? "
10:28 The gift of faith sees no difference in believing God
10:31 for $5 or $5,000 or $5,000,000 dollars
10:36 because it takes the same gift
10:37 of faith for any of those. For the past 22 years,
10:42 I have observed the gift of faith in action
10:45 in Danny Shelton's life. I personally know of no one else
10:49 that moves in this gift arena as often and as powerfully
10:53 as Danny Shelton does. I have watched through the years
10:57 as God spoke to Danny to build or establish something for the
11:01 kingdom of God and saw an unwavering faith abound.
11:05 I am not aware of a single commission that the Lord
11:09 presented to Danny where the finances were in place
11:12 for this challenge before starting the project -
11:16 yet they were all accomplished.
11:20 You see, this is how the gift of faith works.
11:23 First, God speaks. Second, we obey.
11:26 Third, only then, will God supply.
11:30 Let me go over that one more time.
11:32 God speaks; we obey; and then He supplies.
11:35 What we want so much of the time is we want God to speak
11:38 then supply before we obey. Faith doesn't work like that.
11:41 The gift of faith will not consider the odds
11:43 or count the cost... it simply obeys!
11:47 Now the last of the gifts that we are going to study
11:50 of the gifts to do is the working of miracles.
11:54 Jesus foretold that believers would do miracles
11:57 in John 14:12. The Amplified version, powerful,
12:02 says: "I assure you, most solemnly, I tell you
12:04 if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself
12:09 be able to do the things that I do and he will "
12:12 oh, I love it... "and he will do even greater things than these
12:17 because I go to the Father. " Now, the definition.
12:20 A miracle occurs when the Holy Spirit transcends
12:24 known laws through which God normally governs this universe.
12:29 It is the supernatural power to intervene in and to counteract
12:33 earthly and also evil forces. The Greek word working
12:38 and the phrase working of miracles
12:40 is a noun, and it means the things produced by God's energy
12:43 or operations. Miracle is also a noun, and it means power.
12:49 Now let me share with you what a miracle is NOT.
12:53 It's not a figure of speech. It is not a miracle drug.
12:58 It is not miracle fabrics. It is not a sunset.
13:03 No matter how beautiful and wonderful it is,
13:06 it is not the birth of a child,
13:07 general miracles such as all the gifts of the Spirit,
13:11 the new birth, and so on.
13:13 Examples of real working of miracles in the Old Testament:
13:18 let me share this with you.
13:20 The working of miracles is more prominent in the Old Testament
13:23 whereas gifts of healing are more prominent
13:25 in the New Testament - but here are some Old Testament examples.
13:28 First there are immediate, immediate, immediate miracles.
13:34 The immediate creation of the world.
13:36 Ex nihilo - that means God created something
13:39 out of nothing - is a miracle. Psalm 33:6 says:
13:44 "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made,
13:47 and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. "
13:52 says: "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place
13:56 and hangeth the earth upon nothing. "
13:58 That's a miracle!
13:59 Next there are the mediate miracles.
14:02 The plagues in Egypt; Moses' rod turned into a snake;
14:08 the crossing of the Red Sea; the two widows' provision.
14:14 You see, the workings of miracles in the New Testament
14:17 are parallel to those in the Old.
14:19 Peter raised Dorcas from the dead.
14:21 In Acts 9:36-41 it tells us "Now there was at Joppa
14:27 a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation
14:30 is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works
14:33 and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass
14:36 in those days, that she was sick, and she died:
14:39 whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper
14:42 chamber. And forasmuch as Lydia was nigh to Joppa,
14:46 and the disciples had heard that Peter was there,
14:49 they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not
14:52 delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them.
14:56 When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber:
14:59 and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats
15:02 and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
15:06 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed:
15:10 and turning him to the body said: Tabitha, arise.
15:16 And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
15:19 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up,
15:23 and when he had called the saints and widows,
15:26 they presented her alive. "
15:29 Now next, Paul raised Eutychus from the dead.
15:32 Acts 20, verse 9 and 10: POWERFUL...
15:35 "And there sat in a window a certain young man
15:39 named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep:
15:43 and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep,
15:47 and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. "
15:52 D- E-A-D dead.
15:54 "And Paul went down, and fell on him,
15:56 and embracing him said, 'Trouble not yourselves;
15:59 for his life is in him. ' " Praise God!
16:05 Jesus fed the physically hungry. Jesus fed the hungry:
16:09 4,000+ people. Matthew 15:32-38 tells us
16:15 "Then Jesus called his disciples unto Him and said,
16:19 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue
16:22 with me now three days, and have nothing to eat:
16:24 and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint
16:27 in the way. ' And His disciples say unto Him,
16:29 'Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness,
16:33 as to fill so great a multitude? '
16:35 And Jesus said unto them, 'How many loaves have ye? '
16:39 And they said, 'Seven, and a few little fishes. '
16:41 And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
16:44 And He took the seven loaves and the fishes,
16:46 and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to His disciples,
16:50 and the disciples to the multitude.
16:53 And they did all eat, and were filled:
16:56 and they took up the broken meat that was left
16:59 seven baskets full. And they that did eat
17:04 were about 4,000 men, besides women and children. "
17:09 You see, Jesus fed the people because He had compassion
17:13 on them and their hunger. Assuming that there were
17:16 four people to a family,
17:19 Jesus fed 16,000 people
17:23 here at one time. The next time He fed 5,000.
17:28 In John 6: 5-10: "When Jesus lift up his eyes,
17:31 and saw a great company come unto Him,
17:33 He said unto Philip, 'Whence shall we buy bread,
17:37 that these may eat? ' And this He said to prove him
17:41 for He himself knew what He would do.
17:44 Philip answered and said, 'Two hundred pennyworth of bread
17:47 is not sufficient for them, that every one of them
17:50 may take a little. ' One of His disciples, Andrew,
17:53 Simon Peter's brother, said unto Him,
17:55 'There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves,
17:58 and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? '
18:03 And Jesus said, 'Make the men sit down. '
18:05 Now there was much grass in the place.
18:08 So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. "
18:14 Assuming that there were four people, once again, to a family,
18:18 Jesus fed 20,000 people here at one time.
18:22 This is truly a miracle! See, there were those there,
18:26 His disciples. One of them was a hesitator, the other was a
18:29 calculator, and the other one was an eliminator
18:32 but Jesus was an innovator - and this is what the miracles
18:36 of God can do if we will embrace them.
18:40 Then there were the miracles of Elisha. The man of God
18:43 made the metal axe head to swim. That's what it says - to swim -
18:47 which was lost in the water in II Kings 6:1-7.
18:51 Or Elijah raised the widow's son from the dead,
18:54 not to mention the many miracles of healing, deliverance,
18:57 and provision in both the Old Testament and the
19:00 New Testament of the Holy Bible.
19:02 However, not everything that appears to be a miracle
19:07 from God, hear what I am saying to you,
19:08 not everything that appears to be a miracle
19:11 is necessarily from God. Just as in Moses' day,
19:14 there were magicians who did lying wonders,
19:18 so there are today. The Holy Bible tells us that
19:22 in the last days the antichrist or the false messiah
19:25 will have his false prophets performing seeming miracles.
19:28 Many times people are drawn into false religions
19:31 and into witchcraft because they think they have evidence
19:35 or receive a miracle.
19:38 Real miracles, however, God's miracles
19:41 always glorify the Lord. The Holy Spirit is God's agent
19:45 on earth to supply resurrection power of Christ into your life,
19:50 and He will always magnify Jesus Christ,
19:52 who is God who came to earth in human flesh.
19:56 Do we dare question the power of God today?
20:00 Does He not now have the same eternal, unlimited power
20:05 as always? Do we presume to limit the power of God
20:09 in affirming that no miracles occur today?
20:12 The answer to these questions is a very emphatic NO!
20:18 Being omnipotent, all powerful, God is able to do anything.
20:22 What God is able to do and what He wills to do
20:26 are completely different issues.
20:29 God once created man from dust
20:32 and the woman from the man's rib.
20:35 He once parted the Red Sea to permit the escape of Israel
20:38 from Egypt and rained manna from heaven upon them.
20:42 He provided quail in the wilderness, and water
20:44 from the rock to supply Israel's needs.
20:46 He gave commandments inscribed on stone with His finger.
20:50 He once caused His Son to be born of a virgin,
20:53 and Jesus performed numerous miracles ranging from
20:56 feeding the hungry to raising the dead.
20:59 Some of the futile attempts to reproduce miracles
21:03 of Biblical caliber are shabby and sometimes tragic replicas,
21:08 and I have witnessed some. The parents of a California youth
21:12 were charged with manslaughter for withholding insulin
21:15 from their son. The son died, but the father steadfastly
21:18 insisted the Lord would raise his son from the dead
21:21 in three days. This delusion did not come to pass.
21:25 The minister of a 40-member church in Tennessee
21:29 was freed of manslaughter charges when two of his members
21:32 died after drinking strychnine to demonstrate their faith
21:35 in the divine, supernatural powers.
21:38 I just read recently on the Web of a minister that told his
21:43 congregation in an Asian country that he was going to walk
21:47 on water. And he walked out into the water,
21:51 walked out in over his head,
21:52 and they have not seen him since.
21:54 That's not a miracle of God.
21:57 Throughout human history, there has been the bogus
22:01 as well as the genuine miracle, the error as well as the truth,
22:05 and the false as well as the factual.
22:07 There have been people whose faith sincerely was based upon
22:11 delusion as well as those whose faith was anchored
22:15 in Biblical truth. The magicians of Pharaoh
22:18 sought to duplicate the miracle of Moses,
22:20 and error is always a counterfeit of the truth.
22:24 Did you hear that?
22:25 Error is always a counterfeit of God's truth.
22:28 There have been groups claiming supernatural powers
22:31 that have no connection with Christianity.
22:34 Attempted healings and miracles have always occupied
22:38 a prominent place in pagan religions.
22:41 And mighty world rulers have gone to Delphi, to the Oracle,
22:46 to Greece to seek the Oracle from the pagan temple
22:49 to advise them on their battles.
22:52 The sensational revival of the occult in our time illustrates
22:55 the susceptibility of many people to accept the mystical
23:00 and the unexplained. These occult groups can perform
23:04 feats just as astonishing as anything offered by the
23:07 modern-day faith healing advocates of Christianity.
23:10 God's Word is ultimate truth
23:15 and nothing is true
23:16 that does not agree with this source.
23:21 Don't go away; we'll be right back after this message.
23:29 If you've been confused about what the Bible says
23:31 about the Holy Spirit's amazing gifts for the church,
23:33 you'll want to order your very own copy
23:36 of this 13-part series. It's available on DVD
23:39 or video cassette from 3ABN at a very special price.
23:43 This 13-part series with Pastor Hal Steenson
23:46 makes a wonderful gift for a friend or a family member.
23:49 Just call us at:
23:53 and we'll be happy to take your order.
23:55 You may also order it online at:
24:14 You know a major question is how are we to discern true or false
24:18 miracles? By what rule of scripture would a faith healer
24:22 establish that his work is authorized by God?
24:25 Or that his healing is any more genuine than that
24:29 of a witch doctor? Some pertinent points regarding
24:33 the healings of Christ will serve as practical tests
24:37 for professed, so-called "healings" today.
25:42 Now if you want the gift, the real gift of miracles,
25:45 to operate in you, make sure that the Word of God is in you
25:48 and what you are being influenced by
25:51 is the right people. Miracles are the product
25:54 of the spoken Word of God because God IS HIS WORD.
25:58 I've seen false miracles. I've seen real miracles.
26:03 I've seen the power of God manifested in people's lives
26:07 and all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation.
26:11 I've seen the true. I've seen the false.
26:14 I've seen the truth, and I've seen the error.
26:16 But I want you to know something, OK?
26:18 Don't give up on the truth because there is error
26:21 out there. I said the other day we use real money but there is
26:25 still counterfeit. I know that I know that I know
26:28 that God can do all these things that we have talked about.
26:33 Many years ago when I was in college studying
26:36 for the ministry, I went to a big faith healing meeting.
26:40 And this was something that changed my life.
26:42 And at that point, I myself, even as a charismatic pastor,
26:46 started counteracting the counterfeit
26:48 because I noticed something. The person that came out
26:51 that was supposed to be Brother Greatness and
26:53 Evangelist Wonderful saw all these people down front
26:57 in wheelchairs and on stretchers,
26:59 and he called people up and said you've got sinus problems
27:04 you've got an ear infection, and things that that nobody
27:07 could actually see that had been truly manifest.
27:11 He stood there and prayed for all these that you could not
27:15 tell whether they were actually healed or not -
27:17 and never touched, never acknowledged,
27:21 the ones that were down front in wheelchairs
27:24 and on stretchers... because people would know,
27:27 they would know whether or not they were healed.
27:29 I went outside of that coliseum and cried. I wept, and I said
27:34 "God please, never let me do something like that.
27:39 Allow me if I ever minister and manifest the gifts of the Spirit
27:45 allow me to only manifest these in the real, the purest,
27:50 and truest of sense. " Recently God got me out of the
27:54 babbling and tongues and now has brought me
27:56 into the truth of that. God's honoring that request.
27:59 And I encourage you: be open to the gifts of the Spirit.
28:03 Be open to the moving of the Spirit because our church
28:06 needs these gifts desperately in this end time.
28:30 On our next program we are going to be looking at the
28:32 5 doma gifts that Jesus left for the perfection of the church.
28:37 So be sure and check your 3ABN World for the
28:41 dates and times, and join us there.


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Revised 2014-12-17