Following Jesus

Spiritual Gifts- Interpretation of Tongues

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The gift of interpretation of tongues is closely connected with the gift of speaking in tongues. Obviously where there is no message in tongues, no interpretation is needed.

When the twin gifts of tongues and interpretation work together they form a kind of prophecy.

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul gives guidelines about the use of tongues in a public meeting. His aim is to ensure that there is some sort of order in the proceedings, but above all that people are edified by what goes on.

He says that anybody who prays in tongues should pray for the ability to interpret what has been said (14:13). This seems like a good procedure to follow. A message in tongues is of little value in itself, and if God is speaking to me in tongues I should ask Him also to speak to me in English.

Paul also suggests that the number of tongues speakers should be limited to two or three, speaking one at a time. Each message must be interpreted, and if there is no one present to give the interpretation, then the the tongues speakers must remain silent (14:27-28). This may suggest that there were people who were known to exercise this gift, and if they were for some reason not present at the meeting the protocol was that if you had no interpretation with the tongue then you had to remain silent.

I have had a number of experiences of this gift in action, both as an interpreter of my own tongue and as an interpreter of someone else’s message. It is a strange experience for me, as my ears hear one set of words while my brain hears, more or less simultaneously a different set of words.

One of the strangest experiences of this gift happened at a Uniting Church Synod meeting. These meetings are not known for the use of spiritual gifts. At the start of each morning session that year, a member of an ethnic group within the denomination was invited to pray in their native tongue with an interpreter giving an English translation afterwards. On one particular morning, a South Korean pastor led the prayer, and as he started praying the Lord gave me a very clear interpretation, a strong prophetic word. The translation that was given was different to the words that I heard. Did I stand up and give the spiritual interpretation? No, it seemed inappropriate on that occasion.

This brings me to the final thought in this series on spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit never forces us to say or do anything. All of these gifts are subject to the judgement of the people involved. You don’t have to blurt out every word of knowledge, you don’t have to pray for every dead person to be raised. The operation of the gifts is according to the faith and the judgement of the person.

Spiritual Gifts- Speaking in Tongues

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This is described in the text as “speaking in different kinds of tongues.” It can be defined as speaking aloud words in a language that the speaker has never learned in the normal natural way.

There are three different expressions of “speaking in tongues” described in Scripture.

Firstly, tongues is the initial sign of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This is the manifestation described in Acts 2:6, where a bunch of uneducated Galileans praise God in languages which they did not know, but which turned out to be understandable by the cosmopolitan crowd which gathered outside. When Peter goes to Cornelius’s house, all who hear Peter’s message receive the Holy Spirit, “for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.” (Acts 10:46)

Secondly, tongues is given as a special prayer language which allows us to pray directly from our spirit to God’s Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 describes the Spirit interceding for us “in groans that words cannot express.” 1 Corinthians 14:14 says, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays.” Sometimes we don’t know how to pray in a situation, but the Holy Spirit can still use our prayers, especially if we pray in tongues.

Thirdly, an expression in tongues can be given publicly, that is, in a gathering. Here the tongues can be combined with an interpretation to function as prophecy. Sometimes someone who brings such an expression, may in fact be speaking a human language which they do not know but is known to a person in the congregation (similar to the experience in Ats 2). In that case, then the purpose is to carry an extra authenticity, particularly if the language is known only to a very few people.

Often, a group will start to all speak in tongues at once. This might be in response to a call for prayer, or it might just be a spontaneous response to a powerful worship time. Of all the gifts of the Spirit, tongues seems to be particularly resistant to being kept in a box.

Because the public use of the gift of tongues can be seen as chaotic or hard to understand, Paul gives some specific teaching about the use of this gift in 1 Corinthians 14. It should be understood that this chapter is about use of gifts in gatherings and not about the private use of tongues. Every gift is used at the discretion of the believer and should be used to build everybody up, and especially to glorify the name of Jesus.

Caldron Pool: ‘Staggering’ Numbers of People Have Turned To God During the Pandemic, Researchers Say

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From caldronpool.com

Numbers of people from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom have been reassessing their lives, turning to God, and praying more during the coronavirus pandemic, recent surveys have revealed.

Numbers of people from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom have been reassessing their lives, turning to God, and praying more during the coronavirus pandemic, recent surveys have revealed.

In Australia, researchers have found individuals have been praying more during the COVID-19 crisis, suggesting the pandemic has led many to reassess their priorities in life, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Of 1002 people surveyed in July, more than 35% said they were praying more, 41% said they were thinking about God more than they had before, and up to 25% said they were reading the Bible more than they used to.

Almost half of the participants said they thought more about mortality and the meaning of life.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle told the SMH: “The research is showing that this COVID situation has rattled Australians and got them thinking about the big purpose of life. It’s got them re-prioritising their life.”

In March, a US-based national survey revealed that almost half of Americans believe the virus is a “wake-up call” from God.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Joshua Fund, an Israel-based evangelical organisation, found over 43% of Americans believe the global coronavirus pandemic and economic meltdown is a sign of coming judgement and/or a wake-up call for us to turn back to faith in God.

Of the respondents, 25% of self-identified non-Christians agreed.

Almost 22% of all non-Christians responding to the poll admitted that the crisis has caused them to start reading the Bible and listening to Bible teaching and sermons online, while more than 29% of the respondents also believe the crisis reveals that “we are living in what the Bible calls the last days.”

The Pew Research Center released similar findings after surveying 11,537 Americans between March 19 and 24. According to the report, “more than half of all U.S. adults (55%) say they have prayed for an end to the spread of coronavirus.”

“Large majorities of Americans who pray daily (86%) and of U.S. Christians (73%) have taken to prayer during the outbreak — but so have some who say they seldom or never pray and people who say they do not belong to any religion (15% and 24%, respectively),” Pew Research reported.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a survey revealed a ‘staggering‘ number of 18-24 year old’s have been turning to God during the pandemic.

The survey, conducted by Savanta ComRes, interviewed 2,244 UK adults aged 18-plus. The findings revealed 45% of 18 to 34-year-olds and 49% of 25 to 34-year-olds prayed more during the month of July. That figure rose to 55% in the month of August.

According to the Telegraph, Google data reveals the pandemic has prompted a surge of interest in God, with a 50% increase in searches for prayer.

In March 2020, the share of Google searches for prayer surged to the highest level ever recorded, surpassing all other major events that otherwise call for prayer, including Christmas and Easter.

Josh Williamson, pastor at Newquay Baptist Church said: “As the old saying goes, ‘there are no atheists in foxholes,’ and it also seems that is the case when a pandemic causes people to examine their own mortality.

“I’m not surprised that people are thinking about God as the reality of death looms large; deep down in all of us is the knowledge that God exists, but what happens is that people push down that knowledge by ignoring what is plainly known,” he said.

“A crisis has a way of bringing that knowledge back to the surface.”

Spiritual Gifts- Discernment of Spirits

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The spiritual gift of “discernment of spirits”, or more accurately “distinguishing between spirits” is of vital importance in an age where lies are dressed as truth and where satan can appear as an angel of light.

If somebody preaches a message or gives a prophecy, how can we tell if they are being led by the Holy Spirit, an unclean spirit or their own human spirit? How can we tell if a new person at church is a real christian or somebody sent to undermine the fellowship and destroy the ministry?

I have seen congregations destroyed by the white-anting of evil spirits in their midst. I have seen ministers driven to distraction by manipulation through unrepentant Jezebels.

This gift of distinguishing of spirits is the key to keeping us safe from the devil’s deceptions. It allows us to welcome genuine christians while avoiding people who are influenced by satan or sent on a mission of destruction.

Some years ago, a couple turned up at our night service. Through their conversation, we determined quickly that they were under the influence of demons. They claimed to have come with the support of ministers in another town, but we were able to establish that this was not the case. They had a bizarre theory about the New Jerusalem which anybody with an ounce of Biblical knowledge would see right through, but had the potential to deceive immature believers. We immediately warned the other pastors in town and the whole church was untied against them.

So how does this gift work? Often it is an impression that something is not right. Our first warning sign with any visitor to church is when they don’t give a full name or where they are from or the church they attend.

When there are strange events happening that don’t add up, or people become ill in strange ways or emotions and relationships are unusually stressed, these are signs that demons are on the prowl.

Sometimes in prayer, a word of knowledge may come that a particular person is under the influence of a particular spirit, or a key piece of information will come that suddenly makes sense of a previously baffling situation.

On one occasion, I was part of a group that was praying for a particular person. After we talked about the situation and were about to go into prayer the person said something that in any other situation would be quite innocent. Instantly I knew in my spirit “That’s it!” and my wife confirmed the same revelation.

As christians we have been given all authority by Christ. When these spirits are revealed, it is very easy (usually) to expel them. Sometimes we may need to get a group of people together and even fasting may be necessary. In any event, the blood of Jesus is our weapon in these times of spiritual warfare.

Forget Slow-and-Gradual—New Study Says Life “Emerged Fully Formed”

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From Answers in Genesis comes this report that scientists are thinking abut creation as a potential explanation for the beginning of life.

 

Forget Slow-and-Gradual—New Study Says Life “Emerged Fully Formed”

by Ken Ham on August 20, 2020

 
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For decades scientists have debated when, how, and where the first life supposedly evolved. Various hypotheses abound: maybe RNA came first; perhaps life evolved around hydrothermal vents; maybe life arrived on an asteroid—but none have satisfied everyone, due to significant problems with each one. And now an old idea has been revived and refined: maybe there was a “chemical big bang,” and life arose spontaneously in a river, with all the major components in place all at once.

As this article from New Scientist states,

It has long been thought that the ingredients for life came together slowly, bit by bit. Now there is evidence it all happened at once in a chemical big bang.

In other words, it used to be that life evolved so slowly you couldn’t see it happening, and now it happened so fast we missed it!

The article explains that life requires, at the bare minimum, “three core systems”: an outer membrane, the ability to metabolize, and the ability to reproduce using genes. Chemical evolutionists have a problem when it comes to trying to explain the origin of life—you need all three of these systems at the same time for life to even be imaginable. So scientists have argued over which came first, but now some say all three came at the same time. That’s a pretty fortunate set of circumstances!

In other words, it used to be that life evolved so slowly you couldn’t see it happening, and now it happened so fast we missed it!

Geneticist Dr. Georgia Purdom says of this study,

The scientists correctly define what you need for life—something to contain it (membrane), ability to make/utilize energy (metabolism), and ability to reproduce. They’ve given up on bacteria being the first living organism because they know how complex even these “simplest” organisms are. Since none of their other ideas about which came first have panned out, they’ve decided that all three requirements for life must have evolved at once from “Goldilocks chemistry.”

Just like Goldilocks is a fairytale, so is their idea for the origin of life!

So just the right molecules interacting under just the right conditions in just the right place led to a living organism. Just like Goldilocks is a fairytale, so is their idea for the origin of life! All of the research to develop this idea has depended on the scientists adding just the right chemicals (e.g., iron, sulfur) in just the right conditions (e.g., UV light), meaning intelligent design was needed, and they still didn’t end up with anything living! Life only comes from life (the law of biogenesis), and life only comes from the Creator God.

The popular summary of the study concludes with,

Of course, all this depends on the everything-first idea proving correct. Szostak’s protocells and the new biochemical insights have won over many researchers, but some pieces of the puzzle are still missing. Perhaps the most persuasive argument is that the simpler ideas don’t work. As is the case with many things in life, the beginning was probably more complicated than we had thought.

So the strongest support for this origin of life story is this: that the alternatives don’t work? Maybe that’s because life didn’t arise by natural processes! Really, their story is nothing more than a “just-so” story because they have to somehow explain the origin of life without God. They’d rather put their faith in the unbelievable—that something as complex as life could just pop into existence—than put their faith in the One who made them. And not just any “One,” but the only One true God: the Creator God of the Bible.

And information systems don’t just pop into existence. Information only comes from other information and, ultimately, a mind (in this case the mind of the Creator).

Life shows the fingerprints of the Designer. Just consider one of the three categories for life—the ability to reproduce using genes. This requires an information system to code the instructions needed to assemble life. And information systems don’t just pop into existence. Information only comes from other information and, ultimately, a mind (in this case the mind of the Creator).

Just as information only comes from information and, ultimately, a mind, so life only comes from life and, ultimately, the Lifegiver. These researchers, studying the incredible complexity of life, are without excuse for denying the Creator’s existence (Romans 1:20).

Spiritual Gifts – Prophecy

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The gift of prophecy appears in all three of Paul’s major lists of spiritual gifts. The gift operates differently in each list even though the same term is used. (See my other articles on Manifestation, Motivational and Ministry gifts).

Prophecy, in its simplest definition, is to hear the specific message of the Lord for a particular gathering, and then to speak it out. Unlike the words of wisdom and knowledge, prophecy is given to a corporate gathering and is usually less related to an individual.

We see this gift expressed in all its splendour in the Old Testament prophets. In the Old Testament the role of the prophets was to stand against both the priests and the kings to provide a brake on abuses of power and to remind the nation of its calling to serve only the Lord.

In the New Testament, prophets are an accepted ministry in the church, and the expression of prophecy a normal part of church meetings. The role of prophecy in the New Testament was to “exhort, encourage and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). This suggests that the overall tone of prophecy is to be positive, building up rather than condemning, although there may sometimes be a place for prophecy that convicts or warns about hidden sins.

Prophecy was never accepted as “the word of the Lord” and should never be treated as such. It must always be tested (1Thessalomians 5:21), but not in such a way as to quench the Spirit or disrespect the gift (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). Any “prophecy” that contradicts Scripture is not from the Lord.

Prophecy is not a sermon. Three is a place in the meeting for both teaching and prophecy. However, prophecy, like all gifts, needs to be administered by the church in a way that encourages order in the meeting but also spontaneous expressions of the desire of the Holy Spirit. Generally it is not helpful for people to randomly leap to their feet and declare “Thus says the Lord.” This is the issue being addressed by Paul in1 Corinthians 14.

Many churches, including New Life, have a prophetic protocol for their meetings. Often these involve writing down the words you believe the Lord is saying to the church and handing it to the pastor or the person leading the meeting. They are then at liberty to see if it is appropriate to read out the prophecy to the congregation or perhaps leave it until some other occasion. Usually in any congregation, people who have a good record of speaking genuine messages from the Holy Spirit are given more liberty than other, less trusted, believers.

Prophecy should never be used to direct another person into a specific course of action, for example, in marriage or career choices.

So how do we step forward in the gift of prophecy? We are told that we should seek all of the spiritual gifts but especially prophecy. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Since these manifestation gifts are given for all believers to use, we should ask that God pours them out into our lives.

If you feel that God is saying something to you regarding the church, or an individual for that matter, write it down. Take it to your pastor or other trusted leader and ask for their advice. Ask them also to tell you about how the church handles the gift of prophecy.

As a matter of wisdom, it is far better to say, “I think God is saying…” rather than “Thus saith the Lord!” Humility in the use of any spiritual gift is far more effective than loud arrogance.

Above all, remember that all the gifts are valuable, and all the gifts are best used in the context of the Body where everyone is working together in the anointing of the Holy Spirit..

Spiritual Gifts – Miracles

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Spiritual Gifts – Miracles

The gift of being able to perform or work miracles is easy to understand, but much more difficult to exercise. It should be realised that this is not a gift for the super-spiritual. Like all of the gifts in this passage, the gift of miracles is available to all believers. The only qualification is that we are available for the Holy Spirit to use.

To understand the gift, we need to understand what a miracle is. A miracle can be defined as any situation where God intervenes and changes the normally understood laws of nature. In this sense, healings are in the same category as miracles. Other miracles described in the Bible include Jesus turning water into wine, Jesus walking on the water, Jesus stilling the storm, Peter and Paul and Silas being released from prison, Elijah setting fire to a saturated sacrifice, Elisha floating an axe head, and many more, in both the Old and the New Testaments.

The phrase “signs and wonders” is often used to describe miracles because they are meant to be signs of the Kingdom directing attention to Jesus.

Excluding healing, there are four broad types of miracles:

1. Resurrections- people have been raised from the dead throughout history. In the Bible we have several examples of this, including Jesus Himself. If God is the Lord of life, then we should not be surprised when He turns death to life. Livestock have also been raised form the dead on occasion, particularly in poor communities.

2. Nature miracles- these include walking on water and diversion of disasters. People have been known to order tropical storms such as cyclones to turn away from the coast. John Alley tells of how a potentially disastrous flood in Rockhampton was moderated by the hand of the Lord. Some years ago a huge bushfire in the Pilliga Forest was extinguished by rain that was not predicted in response to prayers.

3. Provision of money and other resources. For over a decade our family drew very little salary, and yet God provided more than enough for us. Those who looked at our finances deemed it was impossible for us to survive. Almost everyone in ministry has a story to tell of a time when they were desperate for money to meet a need, and then the money came in.

It is not only ministry where God provides needs. During the recent long drought, a member of our church who has an agriculture related business stated that God provided just enough business for him to keep going at a time when there should have been no work for him.

4. National and international interventions. At the last Australian election the polls and the conventional wisdom was that the Labor Party, led by someone from the Left wing of the party would win the election. It turned out that the Liberal- National Parties won. The re-elected Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, noted in his acceptance speech, “I have always believed in miracles.”

During the coronavirus pandemic there have been several occasions when public health experts feared an outbreak but it was averted. Recently, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said “It was a miracle” that security guards associated with quarantine hotels had not previously been infected and taken the virus out to the community.

Billy Graham in his book “Angels” recounts eye witness stories from the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. According to these accounts, British fighter planes continued to fly and participate in the battle after the pilots had been killed. Some saw a second figure in the cockpit actually flying the plane.

Miracles take many forms, but are always associated with a gift of faith. A miracle takes at least one person who is desperate for God to intervene in a situation that seems hopeless.

Again it should be noted that miracles, by definition, are a gift from God. To the sceptic, they will always appear impossible or subject to other explanations, but to the follower of Jesus “Nothing is impossible with God.”

To learn to walk in miracles, it is necessary to pray. When we lay our heart’s concerns before the Lord, and see prayers answered, then our faith grows to a place where we can believe for the impossible and see God working in every situation.

Spiritual Gifts- Healing

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Spiritual Gifts- Healing

The fourth gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12 is “healing”, literally “gifts of healing.”

Healing refers to the supernatural ability to restore to wholeness a person who is broken in some way. Paul probably refers to this as gifts of healing because there are many ways in which people may need to be healed- physical, emotional, psychological, relational, social.

There are also many ways in which healing may be administered- laying on of hands, anointing with oil, prayer in the person’s language, prayer in tongues. Jesus once spat in the dirt and made mud to apply to a blind man’s eyes (John 9:6). In Acts, we are told that people would bring the sick onto the streets so that Peter’s shadow might fall on them and they would be healed (Acts 5:15).

At the heart of the ministry of healing is the fundamental fact that God did not create human beings for sickness and death. It was Adam and Eve’s sin that brought death and sickness into the world, but now Christ’s death has reversed this curse.

When God recreates the heavens and the earth there will be no more sickness, death or grieving. We will once again live in perfect fellowship with God and sin will no longer impede the relationship.

In the meantime, christians have the blessing of healing gifts through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because we are imperfect and are still affected by the law of sin and death, people still become sick and people still die. Unlike Jesus who had a perfect track record with healing, we don’t always get it right and we don’t always have the necessary faith to see complete healing take place. That does not mean we shouldn’t try and learn to work in this gift.

For many years, I have prayed against colds and flu each winter. Most years, I remain free of these conditions, although some years they sneak through. I have found that if I pray in faith, binding the disease as soon as symptoms show up, I prevent it from developing into something more severe.

This gift, perhaps more than other gifts, relies on both the faith of the healer and the faith of the person being healed. Placing hands on the person or anointing with oil are ways of building faith by providing a visible connection between the healer, the healed and the Holy Spirit.

It helps after praying to ask the person if there is any noticeable improvement, perhaps asking them to do something they previously could not do, or if there is a change in pain levels. If there is partial healing, we can pray again. Even Jesus did this at least once (Mark 8:24).

Some healing ministers say that we should not pray to the Father, but directly address the disease or the affected body part. They say that this is the way Jesus worked. That probably is not so important, as long as we have faith that Jesus is present to heal.

The test of faith for healing is not “Do you believe God can heal?”, but “Do you believe God wants to heal you of this condition now?” That is the level of faith that God responds to. Too many people profess a theoretical belief in healing, but even the Devil believes that. Healing happens when we believe God is here right now to heal this problem.

So how do we grow in this gift? By doing it! Start by asking God to lead you in the ministry of healing. Then when a friend or relative is ill, offer to pray with them. Don’t rush for the Panadol when someone gets a head ache, but pray first. Learn some key scriptures about healing and soak them into your heart.

This gift works in concert with other gifts such as faith and word of knowledge. As you step out in faith and believe that God is able to heal, you will find times when you work in the other gifts as well.

Don’t be discouraged when people are not healed straight away. This is not your fault. Ask the Lord to give you more insight into how He heals and how you can work with Him.

The gifts of healing are as important as ever, even though medical science is much more advanced than in Biblical times. God is still present to heal people.

John Piper: 10 Reasons to Read the Bible Every Day

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Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

John Piper gives 10 great reasons to read the Bible every day

Ten Reasons to Read Every Day
So, I have ten reasons that I believe this — ten reasons to make Bible reading, Bible understanding, Bible memory essential to the Christian life. Resist feelings of self-sufficiency that say, “I don’t need the Scripture every day.” Here are my ten reasons.

  1. Scripture saves.
    Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

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Salvation has happened to God’s people, salvation is — at this moment — happening to God’s people, and salvation will happen completely at the resurrection of God’s people, and it is happening now by means. Paul says to hold fast to the teaching and thereby save yourself. God saves us daily by Scripture.

  1. Scripture frees from Satan.
    You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

And the context is that Jesus is showing the Jewish leaders that, though they think they are not slaves, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44). Satan is your enemy, young Christian. He is a thousand times stronger than you are. So, John writes to the young believers,

I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14)

This is our only hope for defeating a supernatural enemy. Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13), he struck back with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), and he had it memorized, so he didn’t have to carry a book in the wilderness.

  1. Scripture imparts grace and peace.
    May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Knowledge of God gained through Scripture is not identical with grace, but Peter says it is a means of grace. If we want to be made peaceful and powerful through divine grace, Peter says, it happens “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” That knowledge is found in one place: Scripture.

  1. Scripture sanctifies.
    Jesus prayed,

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

“We’re all assigned in some measure to handle the word of God.”TweetShare on Facebook
Sanctification is the process of becoming holy — that is, becoming more like Christ and like God, who is perfectly holy. This is not optional. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive . . . for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

We don’t become perfect in this life, but we do become holy. God sanctifies his people. And Jesus prays to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” It couldn’t be more plain, or more important.

  1. Scripture gives joy.
    You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

His delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Life without joy is unbearable. The Christian life is a life of many afflictions. But in them all, God sustains joy, and he does it by the Scriptures.

  1. Scripture protects us from destructive error.
    Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God . . . so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:13–14)

How do young Christians stop being leaves blown around by cultural and theological winds and opinions? Answer: “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” — knowledge that they experience not as the opinion of man, but as the word of God. That’s found in one place: the Scriptures.

  1. Scripture is the hope of heaven.
    And what I mean by this is that full understanding, full enjoyment of the truth of Scripture, will be experienced only in heaven.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The knowledge of God — all the fullness that a created being can properly comprehend and enjoy — will not be withheld from us indefinitely. The frustrations of our present limitations of understanding and enjoyment will be removed. How fitting it is, then, that we be ever growing now in what will be our final joy in the age to come.

  1. Scripture will be resisted by some.
    The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. (2 Timothy 4:3)

In other words, we need to know the Scriptures so that we’re not taken off guard or knocked off balance or led away by false teachers. We need to receive the Scriptures regularly to be ready to meet those who refuse to receive the Scriptures.

  1. The right handling of Scripture is approved by God.
    Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

It is a precious thing to be assigned to do a very important task, and then to find the master worker approving of what he’s asked you to do. We’re all assigned in some measure to handle the word of God. And what a wonderful opportunity to be pleasing to the Lord.

  1. Scripture gives and sustains life.
    Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
    (Matthew 4:4)

Spiritual life — eternal life — just like physical life, must be fed, not by bread, but by the word of God. If you think that you have eternal life as a kind of vaccination against hell, which needs no nourishment, you don’t know what spiritual life is.

So, there are ten reasons for why young believers should resolve with all their might — all the might that God gives them — to make reading and meditating on and understanding and memorizing the Scriptures essential, nonnegotiable, in their Christian life.

Spiritual Gifts- Faith

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It may seem odd that faith is listed as a gift of the Holy Spirit in a list of rather extraordinary gifts. In most translations it is simply translated this way: “to another faith by the same Spirit”, although the NLT calls it “great faith.” The original Greek word is faith.

There are many so levels or types of faith that we need to tease out what is being referred to here.

Firstly here is normal human faith in which we trust things because in our experience, or to all appearances, they can be trusted. We trust that a chair will support our weight. We get on to planes operated by total strangers without too much fear because we trust that the pilot is able to fly and land the plane, and that all the maintenance, flight control and other systems work together to keep us safe. We drive at thigh speeds on highways separated from oncoming vehicles by a thin coat of paint on the middle of the road.

Next there is saving faith. This is the faith in Jesus that He will forgive our sins and bring us into relationship with God. This is a gift from God because we aren’t smart enough in our sinful nature to work out the gospel is true. But it is also a response from the human heart to the gospel- we know that the message rings true and is the answer to our desperation.

Then there is normal christian faith. We trust that God’s word is true, that He will supply all that we need, and He will answer prayers. The quality of this varies from person to person and even from time to time in the same person. Some are able to believe for healing for another person and for miracles, but other people are content to know that God loves them and that He answers fairly generic prayers.

Then there is the gift of faith which is a whole different level. Most people do not work in this gift all the time, but it comes as it is needed to the person who needs it for a particular occasion. This is the gift that makes possible the operation of other gifts such as miracles and healings.

This gift works in a number of ways, so we should not try to pin down the exact method of operation. The Holy Spirit is creative in His use of the gifts.

Some years ago, my wife, Margaret, suffered from a torn rotator cuff in her shoulder. This consists of several layers of muscle in the shoulder which make it possible to lift your arm. A sonogram revealed that it was torn right through all the layers, and this meant that it would not heal naturally. Surgery would be expensive, even with health insurance. So we prayed, believing that God would do what was impossible and heal this rotator cuff. We prayed three times a day for a couple of months. Then she noticed that she was able to lift her arm a little. We kept praying for complete healing and soon she had full use of her arm again. We had faith that God was able and willing to do what doctors said was impossible.

At other times the gift of faith is experienced as a surge of confidence that God is active right now. I have felt this when praying for people for needs of all sorts. You just know that God is going to answer this prayer and so you can pray with boldness. It might lead to a prophetic declaration that this need will be met in the name of Jesus. In any event, this surge of faith is exactly what is needed to bring about a miracle.

The person I think of when I think of the gift of faith is Peter. Peter was the one who had faith to walk on the water to Jesus (Matthew 14:29). Peter was the one who preached to the crowd on Pentecost and led 3000 people to Christ in a day (Acts 2:41). Peter was the one who healed the lame men at the Temple gate (Acts 3:1-10).

The gift of faith leads to breakthroughs in many ways because it opens the door for the Holy Spirit to act through the other gifts.