This morning, we’re continuing our ministry training series called “Equipped.”
All ministry and all of the gifts of the Spirit should ultimately have the end goal of pouring out God’s love toward people and pointing them to Jesus and His salvation (1 Corinthians 13).
1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
All of the gifts of the Spirit are manifestations of God’s grace given by the Holy Spirit as He wills. Although Holy Spirit chooses which gifts to give us, He’ll only give them to us if we want them. Remember, all ministry is a cooperation between us and God.
1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 14:1
Eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit.
Once we have the desire for them, how do we receive them?
Well, like everything else with God, we ask for them!
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT)
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
God will give us good gifts if we desire them and ask for them!
Last week, we learned about the spiritual gifts of words of knowledge and words of wisdom. This morning, we turn to a gift of the Spirit that we love here; prophecy! Why? Because the Bible tells us to!
1 Corinthians 14:1
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.
Whereas all other spiritual gifts are purposed to be used to serve the needs of anyone at all, prophecy is a special gift given to the church for the church.
1 Corinthians 14:22
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.
In fact, prophecy can even lead to us receiving the other gifts of the Spirit!
1 Timothy 4:14
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
By the way, here is another reference to spiritual gifts being imparted by the laying on of hands.
Prophecy is a gift through which God reveals to us our future potential. A prophetic word gives us hope, it gives us direction, it gives us a place to stand and battle from!
A prophetic word helps us to prepare for the future and position ourselves for it.
Paul instructed Timothy to do all of this.
1 Timothy 1:18-20
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Personally, I struggled with the need to fight for prophecies because we so often quote and stand on this scripture.
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
If God’s word accomplishes what He desires and always achieves its purpose and never returns void or empty, then how could an accurate prophetic word sent by God not come to pass? Why can’t we just kick back and wait for God to fulfill His word?
Prophecies, like much of God’s word, only comes to pass as we humbly submit ourselves to God and cooperate with Him. Many, if not most, of God’s promises to us are conditional. They begin with that giant, but tiny word “IF.” They are not automatically accomplished in our lives.
God wants us to be a part of the process. There is just as much that God wants to do IN our lives than THROUGH our lives!
Prophecy gives us a little taste of God’s hope-filled future for us intended to give us a hunger and thirst and a desire for Him. It gives us clear direction. He wants us to seek Him and press into Him and press on in life with fullness of faith in His word coming to pass. We are a critical and integral part of that process.
Prophecy speaks God’s potential.
If God’s purpose for prophecy is to reveal to us His future plans for our lives, then it always accomplishes that purpose fulfilling Isaiah 55. It always fulfills God’s desire to share with us His secret things.
We then know what His plans are and they transfer ownership from His only to ours shared.
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Once God’s secret things are shared with us, they belong to us and the generations that follow us so that we can follow them!