The Gifts of the Spirit: Part Two

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(upbeat music)

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It's a great day to be here at Springhouse

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because God is on the throne.

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He's on the throne and we can trust Him

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and we can trust Him.

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Welcome, welcome this morning.

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We are continuing today, part two of a two-part series

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on the Holy Spirit and I'm excited about

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what the Holy Spirit wants to do.

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But before we do that, could everyone take your head

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and just turn it back to the corner that way

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and say hello, Alice Taber.

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- Hello, Alice Taber.

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- We are so glad Alice Taber is in the house this morning.

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We sure do love you, Alice.

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Alice is so beautiful and we are just,

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it's such an encouragement to see you here this morning

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in the house.

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Let's start by reading scripture.

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That seems like a good place to start.

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Would you guys stand with me this morning?

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I'm gonna read this like your favorite football team

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just won the Super Bowl, okay, here we go.

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Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters,

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I do not want you to be uninformed.

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You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other,

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you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

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Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking

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by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed,"

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and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Spirit.

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There are different kinds of gifts,

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but the Spirit distributes them.

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There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

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There are different kinds of working, but in all of them

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and in everyone, it is the same God at work.

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Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit

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is given for the common good.

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To one, there is given through the Spirit

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a message of wisdom.

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To another, a message of knowledge by the means

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of the same Spirit.

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To another, faith by the same Spirit.

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To another, gifts of healing by that one Spirit.

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To another, miraculous powers.

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To another, prophecy.

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To another, distinguishing between spirits.

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To another, speaking in different kinds of tongues,

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and to still another, the interpretation of tongues.

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All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,

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and He distributes them to each one just as He determines.

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Father, I thank you for your word that it brings life.

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I pray that it would be live and active in our hearts today.

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In Jesus' name, and everyone said?

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Amen.

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You may be seated.

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I had the privilege to go to several of the gatherings

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this past week at the camp that the youth went to,

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where 160 teens received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

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(congregation applauding)

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And some of those teens are sitting here this morning,

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and I'm excited because I believe that the Lord

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is gonna use them this morning to pray over some of you.

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And I cannot wait to see what the Lord does in that.

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Let's just get this out of the way,

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because I don't know another way to say this.

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And I've been, I asked the Lord,

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what's a more better, cleaner, packaged way to say this?

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And I don't know, so I'm just gonna say it.

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This doesn't have to be weird.

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Okay?

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Can we just get that out of the way?

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This doesn't have to be weird.

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It is mysterious in some ways, because it's supernatural.

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And as we disclosed several weeks ago,

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anybody who claims to have the authority and knowledge

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of God Almighty, they are a liar.

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Nobody has all of the knowledge, okay?

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But we do have a precious gift in the Word of God

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where there are truths that have been given to us.

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There are things made available to us.

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And guys, we at Springhouse believe

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in the entire Word of God, not just parts of it,

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not the parts we just like, but all of the Word of God.

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And there are some precious gifts available to us

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that we don't wanna just skirt over,

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because guys, I want the fullness of God in my life.

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I want all of what God has to offer me,

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and I want you to also be able to lean

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into everything God has for you.

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So picking up from last week,

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this is a part two of a two-week series.

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So if you weren't here last week,

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I do encourage you to go back and watch and listen to that.

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But let's just review for just a moment.

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The gifts of the Spirit edify the body of Christ.

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What is the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit?

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It is to edify the body of Christ.

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Guys, as the body of Christ, you are the body of Christ.

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The body is supposed to edify the body.

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The body is supposed to edify the body, okay?

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So the demand, hallelujah, what a weight relief to me, Barbie,

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and you, and the pastoral stuff.

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But the weight and the demand is not on me alone

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to come in here and encourage you.

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You are to be encouraging and lifting one another up,

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and not just Sunday.

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Man, what would it be if you talked to your spouse

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just an hour on Sunday,

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and didn't say anything to them the rest of the week?

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That relationship probably wouldn't go very well,

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I don't suppose, right?

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Guys, it's not just about the hour

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that we're here on Sunday.

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In fact, I'll tell you the reason we gather here on Sunday

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is actually for communion,

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and remember Jesus Christ and what he did,

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and to enthrone God on our praises together.

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But throughout the week, on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,

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we should be lifting one another up,

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we should be calling one another,

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we should be asking the Lord for words of knowledge

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for people, and sending out messages to people,

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and asking the Lord to use us to build each other up,

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let alone maybe at the grocery store,

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the Lord using you supernaturally to lead somebody to him.

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But I know you're too busy for that.

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Okay, so the gifts are important,

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but they are never as important as the one who gives them.

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We want to make sure that we are centered in on the Lord.

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He has given so many precious gifts.

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If I were to come and give you a gift, Jonathan,

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I'm sure the gift would be great, it'd be wonderful,

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but I'm more important than the gift.

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You're more important than the gift.

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And so as we lean in and we explore the gifts of the Spirit,

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let us not forget the one who has given us the gifts.

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He is the one that's the most important.

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So we're gonna go through these gifts that Paul lists

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one by one, and I'm just gonna kind of give

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a brief explanation.

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Some of them are somewhat self-explanatory,

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but some of them you may be, I have no idea, okay?

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And so I'm gonna attempt to somehow bring

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a little bit of clarity, but we'll see.

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First one is this, wisdom and knowledge,

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wisdom and knowledge.

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I love that in the list of gifts, wisdom is the first one.

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And let me tell you why, this is why.

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

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Now, the fear of the Lord it's talking about here

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isn't a fear of the Lord like you run away,

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like you're scared of God.

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The fear of the Lord is likened to my child

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coming into my presence at my house

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and wanting to do the right thing.

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There's a sobering mindset when it comes to the Lord

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that he is God Almighty, at the same time he is Abba Father.

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Right?

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He is the fear of the Lord,

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it is a reverent fear of the Lord.

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And guys, as we look at these gifts that he's given to us,

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we need to approach them with a sober mindset

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that he is God Almighty on the throne.

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It is a wonderful, excellent, incredible thing

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that he has entrusted us with these incredible gifts.

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But he's the one entrusting us with these incredible gifts.

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And so what we do with them is very important.

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The beginning of, the fear of the Lord

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is the beginning of wisdom

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and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

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So what's the difference between wisdom and knowledge?

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So wisdom gives us a certain sense of direction

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and the path that we should go.

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When you're seeking wisdom, you want to see things

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with eyes outside of the current situation.

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You ever had tunnel vision?

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You ever look just at your situation just like this?

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We wanna look at it from God's perspective.

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We wanna look at it from God's perspective.

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We wanna see it from all angles and all sides

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and we want to walk in the path that is the most fruitful

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and we need wisdom to do that.

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This is a supernatural gift from the Lord

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that we can ask for and it's available to us.

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Knowledge, a word of knowledge on the other hand

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is the Lord giving you a piece of knowledge

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about someone else in order to edify them

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or to concrete that the Lord is involved in the conversation

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so that then you can lead them to Jesus Christ.

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Okay, I've had people come and I've seen people say,

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"I've got a word of knowledge for you, Cornelius.

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"You're dealing with X, Y, and Z."

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And Cornelius is like, "What?"

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You ever heard the thing, you've read my mail?

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He's like, "You've read my mail."

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And I'm like, "No, I haven't read your mail."

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The Lord Almighty is wanting you to pay attention

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to what's about to come out of my mouth.

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What's about to come out of my mouth

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is he wants to do something mighty and powerful in your life

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he wants to liberate you from X, Y, and Z,

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he wants to do these things.

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God will give you a word of knowledge about someone

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that you speak over them and that's something

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that they're currently going through

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or something that they know about that they're like,

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"How in the world did you know about that?"

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Because I'm so good.

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No.

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It's the Holy Spirit of God.

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So when somebody says, "You've read my mail,"

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you have been given a shoe in to say,

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"No, it's the Holy Spirit."

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Take advantage of that.

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Make sure you're putting the credit

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where the credit is supposed to go, yes?

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Over faith, faith, okay, let's talk about faith.

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What is faith?

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Faith is the confidence in what we hope for

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and the assurance about what we do not see.

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Faith is a supernatural gift from the Holy Spirit.

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Have you ever been around someone

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who had supernatural faith?

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Like you had given up all hope,

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but they were just plowing in as if it is gonna happen.

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Anybody been around somebody like that?

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It takes supernatural ability to be able to lean in

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and have faith for things that you don't,

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in your in-right mind mentally, don't want to believe.

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Some of you need faith to believe for someone

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who is a prodigal that needs to come home.

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Some of you are believing for reconciliation

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in destroyed relationships.

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Some of you were on the precipice of a destroyed relationship

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and God got involved and healed your relationship

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and now other people need your testimony, your story,

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so that they can have their faith bolstered.

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That's why it's important for us to share our testimonies

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with one another.

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The Word says this also, faith comes from hearing

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and hearing from the Word of Christ.

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I am believing God for this.

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I'm believing God for that I'm gonna be a multimillionaire

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with a Corvette, yada, yada, yada, all these things.

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I'm just believing by faith.

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Let me tell you something.

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The things that we are to believe by faith

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are the things that we find in the Word of God.

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And they are rarely about us.

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They are rarely about us.

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Some of you are believing God for things

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that He has not told you to believe Him for.

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And that's why He's not answering them.

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But there are also things that He's saying, come on,

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mustard seed faith is all it takes, come on, come on.

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Faith is acting and living our lives

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as if that thing has happened

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even though it hasn't happened.

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He gives us supernatural faith.

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Healing, we understand what healing is.

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There are people in this room who have had experiences

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with God in the area of supernatural healing in their life.

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If you have experienced God's touch

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in the area of healing at some point in your life,

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would you raise your hand?

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Stick, keep 'em up, look around the room.

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Put your hand down.

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God will move supernaturally in healing.

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He loves to move in His people in this way.

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But when the answer is no, He is still sovereign

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and He's still good.

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He's still sovereign and He's still good.

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But it doesn't mean that He doesn't like to move in this way.

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Some of you today need a supernatural healing

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and I believe you're gonna walk out of here healed.

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And some of you today need to understand

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that you have the gift of laying on hands to others

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and praying for healing over their life.

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And God wants to bestow upon you that supernatural gift.

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Miracles, what is a miracle?

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A miracle is anything supernatural that can't be explained

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in the law of, is it physics, the law, our law?

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It can't be explained, right?

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The natural law, that's what I'm looking for.

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Yeah, natural law.

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And so guys, I don't know.

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I don't know what miracles would be.

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Miracle is something wasn't and now it is.

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Right?

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Miracle of miracles.

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A miracle is I should have died in January

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in my accident with my car,

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but I'm standing here talking to you today.

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That's a miracle.

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I can't explain it.

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So miracles do happen.

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And when miracles happen,

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they happen so that you can point people to Jesus Christ.

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I can't explain why this happened.

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It must have been some mysterious entity.

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No, it was God Almighty.

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It was God Almighty.

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Prophecy, now I know you guys wanna talk about this.

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Prophecy.

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Prophecy in Scripture,

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a lot of times will have elements of it

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that talk about the future.

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But prophecy in Scripture,

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and what Paul specifically is talking about

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in 1 Corinthians is not fortune telling.

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It's not about going to somebody and saying

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in the year 2032, you're gonna have a red house

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with yellow shutters.

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Red house with yellow shutters, where'd that come from?

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(congregation laughing)

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Fortune telling.

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It's not about fortune telling.

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Prophecy is about edification and an encouragement

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of pulling out something that you see

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that the Lord has identified that you see in somebody

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and saying, hey, you might not see this,

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but I see this inside you

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and God wants to do this thing in your life.

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Let's look at what the Scripture says about prophecy.

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And it's also gonna talk a little bit about tongues,

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which we're gonna talk about as well today, okay?

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Follow the way of love and eagerly desire

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the gifts of the Spirit.

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Can we say this?

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Eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit.

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Let's say it again.

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Eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit.

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Guys, you should be here eagerly desiring these gifts.

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It says in the Word, that's not from me.

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Especially prophecy.

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For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people

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but to God.

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Indeed, no one understands them.

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They utter mysteries by the Spirit.

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But the one who prophesies speaks to people

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for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.

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Encouragement and comfort.

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Strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

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Those are the results of prophecy

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as it is written in terms of the gifts of the Spirit.

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Strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

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Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves,

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but I would rather have you prophesy.

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The one who prophesies is greater

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than the one who speaks in tongues

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unless someone interprets so that the church may be edified.

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You see a common theme here, that prophecy and tongues

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and the other gifts are about edification of the body.

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Edification of the body.

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Prophecy does not mean fortune telling.

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Now, this is real important.

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I want you to lean into this, okay?

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There's scripture in Deuteronomy that talks about prophets.

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And it says, in Deuteronomy, it says,

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if somebody prophesies and it does not come to pass,

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kill them.

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That's what it says, kill them.

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So we have lined up, no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

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(congregation laughing)

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No.

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Be careful when you say, thus saith the Lord.

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He is a sovereign God.

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And you don't wanna be at a place

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where you are saying something that he did not say,

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but you are walking around as if he said it.

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God is real serious about his name being taken in vain.

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But at the same time, he has given some of you words,

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encouragement, prophetic things to say to other people

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that are meant for their encouragement

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and building up that you need to lean into

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because God has given you those words.

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God has given you those words.

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So don't be afraid to lean into the prophetic

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when it comes to the people that you're sitting by,

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the people in your life, to lean into saying

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and calling out those things that are inside people.

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'Cause it builds them up, helps them see Christ.

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The distinguishing between spirits.

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This is discernment.

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This is when someone comes to you and they say,

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thus saith the Lord, but you know that what they're saying

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doesn't line anything up with the word,

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and you can say, that doesn't bear witness with me.

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Or how about this?

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Somebody comes and they gossip to me about James,

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and I can say, no, I don't bear witness with this

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because I know James, and I love James,

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and I know that James is not the person

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you're describing to me.

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The Lord has given me supernatural discernment to say,

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this is not right.

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The distinguishing of spirit between spirits is important.

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It's important so that you realize that what you're hearing

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and what is continuing to be said is really of the Lord.

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So anytime somebody comes and gives me a prophetic word,

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I say, Lord, give me the gift of discernment in this.

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Going back to prophecy for a second,

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'cause I forgot to say this.

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I've had people come and prophesy over me.

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I'm not gonna tell you.

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I'm supposed to do a lot of things that I'm not doing.

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No.

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There have been people who've come and prophesied over me,

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and it did not hit the mark.

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And then there are people that have prophesied over me,

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and it very much hit the mark.

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When somebody comes and gives you a prophetic word,

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all you have to do is say, Lord, I give you back this word

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that's been spoken over me,

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and then shelve it in the back of your mind.

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You can be encouraged by it,

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but you don't need to do anything with it.

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Do you understand what I'm saying?

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You don't have to necessarily do anything with it

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unless the Holy Spirit starts to tell you

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to do something with it.

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Sometimes it is just for you to be encouraged

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and wait and see what the Lord does.

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The Lord does not need you to make something happen.

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Does that make sense?

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Somebody told me that I would be leading a congregation,

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pastoring a congregation back when I was 18, literally.

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I laughed in their face.

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I could never see myself doing this,

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and here I am doing it.

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God knows what he's doing.

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God knows what he's doing.

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Shelve it, allow him.

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I could tell you a story, but I don't have time

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about how I really try to make something happen.

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I'll tell that another time.

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Okay, it did not work out.

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Tongues and interpretation of tongues.

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I know y'all are excited about this.

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Okay, tongues is just a fancy word for prayer language.

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Prayer language.

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Okay, when you speak in tongues, when tongues are uttered,

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it's vocabulary, syllables, it's a language

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that is not understood by the mass majority in the room.

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Okay?

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Now, I have a prayer language, and about 98% of you

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have never heard me use my prayer language,

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because I use my prayer language mostly in private.

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I use my prayer language in private.

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The word gives us very specific instruction

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about how prayer language is supposed to be used

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in the context of the congregation.

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We just read a verse that talked about

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if it's gonna be between tongues and prophecy,

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Paul says, "I'd rather you prophesy,

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"because tongues is an edification for yourself."

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What is tongues?

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Prayer language is the Holy Spirit interceding

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to God the Father on your behalf

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about things that you need

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and that you don't really realize that you need.

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Prayers that you don't really know that you need to pray.

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You literally, when you're praying the Spirit,

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you could be praying for something that's gonna happen

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a week from now that you have no idea,

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because the Holy Spirit of God

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is interceding on your behalf.

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So it is a prayer, it's a prayer language

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that comes out in these utterances.

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The word tells us that he groans before the Lord.

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He comes to the throne with these utterances

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and groans on our behalf.

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So he intercedes on our behalf.

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I believe that when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit,

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I believe that you are given a prayer language.

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Sometimes it's years before you receive the prayer language,

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but you do receive a prayer language.

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Let's look at what 1 Corinthians says about this.

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"If anyone speaks in a tongue,"

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this is talking about the congregation.

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"If anyone speaks in a tongue,

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"two or three at the most should speak one at a time,

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"and someone must interpret."

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Okay, so what that tells me, black and white,

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that tells me if somebody gets up

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and starts shouting out in tongues,

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and there's not somebody here to interpret that message,

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they are out of line.

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Okay?

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"If there is no interpreter,

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"the speaker should keep quiet in the church

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"and speak to himself in God."

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So it doesn't dismiss that there's a place for tongues,

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it just means that it's not for everybody else.

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It's between you and the Lord.

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"The spirits of the prophet are subject

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"to the control of the prophets.

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"For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace,

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"as in all the congregations of the Lord's people.

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"The spirit of the prophet is subject

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"to the control of the prophet."

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Guys, every one of us in this room have emotions.

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And for somebody to tell you that your emotions

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are not tied into your worship,

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that would be false.

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That would be false.

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When I sing that song at communion about Jesus Christ

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and what he did for my life, I begin to weep.

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Your emotions are a part of who you are.

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They're connected to your worship.

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But I want you to understand that you are in control

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and you have the ability to steward your emotions.

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So if you decide to wail out loud,

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to scream and shout, to throw a chair, to jump up,

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to run around the congregation,

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the Holy Spirit is not a possessor.

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You are in control of what you are doing.

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Do you understand what I'm saying to you?

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And it is the responsibility of the elders

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and the pastors in the house to call out

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when things are happening that are distractions

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and that are of God.

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And so, unfortunately that's me, you know,

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and it's other people in this house too.

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But it is the charge of the leadership

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to ensure that our focus is maintained vertically.

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Now, remember when Jesus heals that blind man in Scripture?

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I guarantee you when that blind man saw for the first time,

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he didn't care one bit about what anybody thought

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about his emotional response.

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So there are moments when an emotional response

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is appropriate.

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It's in keeping with what the Lord's doing.

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But let none of us be in a place where we are pulling away

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from the focus of the Holy Spirit.

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The word says that God is not a God of disorder

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and we're talking about tongues.

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So this is how, some would say we don't allow the releasing

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of the public speaking in tongues

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and the interpretation of tongues.

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That's not true.

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That's not true.

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There is a protocol for how to do it.

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I'm about to let you know what it is.

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If you feel like you have a word for the congregation,

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if you feel like the Lord has given you something

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for the congregation, then in the middle of the service,

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you come find me, I sit right here every week,

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or you come find Pastor Barbie or one of the elders,

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and you share with them what you feel like

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the Lord's put on your heart for the congregation.

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And the word tells us to judge the word, to judge the word.

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If we judge the word that it's in keeping

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with the flow of the Spirit,

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then we're gonna let you get on stage or get down here

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and share the word because it's for the edification

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of the body.

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But the protocol is to go to a leader

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and share what it is that the Lord's given you

Speaker: 00:25:25

so that you can have somebody in agreement with you,

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and then we can release that word, okay?

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That's how that works.

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For you to just stand up and start shouting that word

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without that process is out of order.

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And we won't be a church that's gonna run out of order.

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Yes?

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Because God desires order in his congregations, yes?

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Does that sound good?

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Okay?

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I do not believe that the initial evidence

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of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.

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I believe that the initial evidence

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of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is power.

Speaker: 00:25:57

Acts tells us you will receive power

Speaker: 00:26:01

when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

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You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Speaker: 00:26:06

And in that power, it's to do what?

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To be witnesses.

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To be witnesses for Christ Jesus.

Speaker: 00:26:13

The prayer language comes down the pike.

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Wisdom can come down the pike.

Speaker: 00:26:17

Faith might happen immediately or down the pike.

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Miraculous, all of these gifts are available to you

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when you decide I wanna be filled up

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and baptized with the Holy Spirit.

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Let us not forget though,

Speaker: 00:26:32

though these gifts are rich and powerful and wonderful,

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that the gifts of the Spirit are temporary.

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The fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

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The fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

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And we want, I don't wanna be a church,

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listen to me church, I'm saying this as your pastor.

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I don't want to be known as a church

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that operates in the gifts of the Spirit.

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I wanna be known as a church that operates

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in the fruit of the Spirit with the gifts in operation.

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Does that make sense?

Speaker: 00:27:01

I want us to be a church,

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if somebody looks at Springhouse and our people,

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I want them to say, man, those people know how to love.

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Those people are some of the most joyful Christians.

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Those people walk in abundant peace.

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Boy, the faithfulness of those people

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when they say they're gonna do something,

Speaker: 00:27:16

they actually do it.

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I mean, that's who I want us,

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that's the marking of walking by the Spirit.

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Let us be a people who walk by the fruit of the Spirit.

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Okay, we believe everything this word says.

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We believe everything that the Word of God says.

Speaker: 00:27:37

And so today, is today July 21st?

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Today's July 21st,

Speaker: 00:27:44

and this would be Margaret's 70th birthday.

Speaker: 00:27:46

July 21st, this is the door.

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See the door right here?

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Okay, I'm opening the door, okay?

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I'm opening the door from this point forward

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in our gatherings for the gifts of the Spirit

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to be in operation.

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I'm opening the door, I am releasing you as your pastor

Speaker: 00:28:13

to say, if the Lord has given you an encouragement,

Speaker: 00:28:18

a word of knowledge, if he's given you the ability

Speaker: 00:28:21

to go and lay hands on somebody and pray for healing,

Speaker: 00:28:24

you are free in the context of our service

Speaker: 00:28:27

to go and do those things.

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Now, I appreciate that you have come this morning

Speaker: 00:28:32

and you have sat in your assigned seats.

Speaker: 00:28:35

Because it really helps me when I'm standing over here,

Speaker: 00:28:38

some of you wonder what I'm looking at

Speaker: 00:28:40

when I'm like turned around, I'm taking attendance.

Speaker: 00:28:42

Like, oh, they're not in their seat, you know?

Speaker: 00:28:47

Landon threw me off, where's Landon Jones, is he in here?

Speaker: 00:28:50

He threw me off, he's supposed to be sitting over there,

Speaker: 00:28:52

you know, my brothers moved over and my mom's moved over,

Speaker: 00:28:56

I'm like, y'all are trying to throw me off today

Speaker: 00:28:57

and I'll mark you absent,

Speaker: 00:28:58

so you better get back to your seat.

Speaker: 00:29:00

No, I...

Speaker: 00:29:01

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:29:04

One of the things that makes me cringe in church

Speaker: 00:29:11

is when I feel like I am being manipulated.

Speaker: 00:29:13

I never want to be someone who manipulates you

Speaker: 00:29:18

into doing anything.

Speaker: 00:29:20

You are a free agent.

Speaker: 00:29:22

You are a free agent.

Speaker: 00:29:24

So, we're about to do some things

Speaker: 00:29:27

and I want you to consider it an invitation.

Speaker: 00:29:31

Not a source of manipulation, but an invitation.

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I want you to know, I'm gonna,

Speaker: 00:29:38

I'm saying this right on the heels

Speaker: 00:29:40

of what I just said on purpose,

Speaker: 00:29:41

'cause I never wanted to say this

Speaker: 00:29:43

so that it happened in a manipulative form.

Speaker: 00:29:45

But part of my desire for Springhouse

Speaker: 00:29:48

when I walk into this place is to see you all come in

Speaker: 00:29:53

and when worship starts, we storm the altar space

Speaker: 00:29:57

and we worship in the altar space with hands raised

Speaker: 00:30:01

and reckless abandon.

Speaker: 00:30:03

Now, I understand that it's nice to come

Speaker: 00:30:05

and get your assigned seat with your latte

Speaker: 00:30:07

and get comfortable and watch everything that's going on,

Speaker: 00:30:09

but guys, at Springhouse, we are not spectators,

Speaker: 00:30:11

we are players.

Speaker: 00:30:13

We are in the game.

Speaker: 00:30:14

We need to be participants in what's going on.

Speaker: 00:30:18

And so, while it's nice to sit back

Speaker: 00:30:20

and watch what you would call the show if you're watching,

Speaker: 00:30:23

it's not a show, this is real life.

Speaker: 00:30:25

What's happening is the reality of the kingdom

Speaker: 00:30:27

and you're missing out on huge things

Speaker: 00:30:30

when you come in to get comfortable.

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Guys, this should be a place

Speaker: 00:30:34

where we get comfortably uncomfortable, okay?

Speaker: 00:30:37

And we move and ebb and flow.

Speaker: 00:30:39

I would love, when I went to that person,

Speaker: 00:30:41

why is it that when I go to the camp

Speaker: 00:30:43

with seven churches of youth, 400 kids,

Speaker: 00:30:47

on the very first sermon, the very first strum of the guitar

Speaker: 00:30:51

these kids don't even really know each other,

Speaker: 00:30:52

they all, I can't even,

Speaker: 00:30:54

James and I are in the front row pushing our chairs back

Speaker: 00:30:56

because they're storming us about to fall back.

Speaker: 00:30:59

There's not enough room in the altar space for all the teens.

Speaker: 00:31:02

What is holding you back from running full face here

Speaker: 00:31:09

into the, I'm not saying God can't minister to you

Speaker: 00:31:11

from your seat, but I'm saying your heart posture.

Speaker: 00:31:13

What is stopping you?

Speaker: 00:31:15

Do you know, we have, Jonathan told,

Speaker: 00:31:16

Pastor Jonathan told me this week, I didn't realize this,

Speaker: 00:31:18

he said over the last five or six services,

Speaker: 00:31:22

we have had two altar calls in the service.

Speaker: 00:31:24

We'd had one in the first part of the gathering

Speaker: 00:31:26

and one at the end.

Speaker: 00:31:28

When we make that call at the first in the gathering,

Speaker: 00:31:30

last week, we had to eliminate a row this week

Speaker: 00:31:32

because we didn't have enough room up here last week

Speaker: 00:31:34

when you all came up here for believing Jesus

Speaker: 00:31:37

for your family.

Speaker: 00:31:38

What would it look like if you didn't have to

Speaker: 00:31:42

have an invitation?

Speaker: 00:31:43

What if we knew that the door is open

Speaker: 00:31:45

and the invitation was there already?

Speaker: 00:31:47

What would it look like if we came in

Speaker: 00:31:49

and actually took this space and really just went after

Speaker: 00:31:53

the things of God?

Speaker: 00:31:55

Well, it would mean that I'd have to get uncomfortable.

Speaker: 00:31:57

Yep, yep, it sure would.

Speaker: 00:31:59

Okay, you done with me preaching that too?

Speaker: 00:32:03

Okay, okay.

Speaker: 00:32:04

If you join us on live stream,

Speaker: 00:32:07

thank you for joining us today.

Speaker: 00:32:09

We will see you next week.