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3) Power to minister in the gifts
It has already been stated that the Spirit-in-us can effect supernatural
events but they are conditional to a mature faith in the inner man. When talking
about the Spirit-on-us we can see supernatural events that our inner man does
not have the faith to believe for. This may seem to be a contradiction but it is
not. We can see this in the life of Ezekiel when confronted with the valley of
dry bones. Ezekiel did not have the faith that those dry bone would come to life
but he did have the faith to prophesy. EZE 37:3 And He said to me, "Son
of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, Thou
knowest." 37:4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and
say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' 37:5 "Thus says the
Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you
that you may come to life. 37:6 'And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow
back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that
you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.' " 37:7 ¶ So I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to The apostle Paul says, 1CO 12:7 But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. The common good for who?
The body and ultimately the world. When the gifts of the Spirit are functioning
the way that God intended, the body of Christ will be healthy. The power that it
posses will overflow to the world at large. The lack of spiritual power causes a
vacuum and the body of Christ suffers for it. The When the body moves in gifts of healing, faith, discernment and all of the other gifts, a person in need is able to go to the person who moves in the particular gift and have their needs met. Without these abilities can God meet all of your needs according to His riches in glory? Yes, but by the time you develop your personal faith to receive it, it may be too late. Why else would the church be called the BODY of Christ? Just as Paul said, not all members of the body have the same function. Thank God that other members can supply the things that I do not posses. The direct opposite is what is more common in the body of Christ today. The majority do not move in any gift and only have an impotent understanding of counseling . Churches resemble more of a club then the body of our Savior. We should be ashamed when we have a form of godliness but deny the power of God. Equally as bad are those churches that only move in one gift (tongues) or maybe two (tongues and prophecy) and then only one or two people, all the time suppressing all the other members from moving in their respective gifts. This is usually a lack of understanding about authority and a selfish and insecure leadership. Authority will be discussed in a later section as well as the role of leadership. |
its bone. 37:8
And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered
them; but there was no breath in them. Why wasn't there any breath in them?
God told Ezekiel twice that He was going to put breath in them (see verses 5 and
6 again) and only once about the sinews, flesh and skin? To further emphasize
the point that is being made, the bones came together and flesh was added to the
bones but they did not live (or have breath). If Ezekiel was believing with the
maturity of inner faith (this is not to imply he was immature but lacking faith
to believe that this was going to happen) he would not have to prophesy again
for the fulfillment of his first prophecy. God tells Ezekiel to try again and we
see the breath coming into the bodies. EZE 37:9 Then He said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus
says the Lord God," Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on
these slain, that they come to life. "'" 37:10 So I prophesied as He
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on
their feet, an exceedingly great army. This is a great advantage to the
body of Christ. If we actually would allow the people of God to move in
the gifts of God we could advance without hindrance. Every member would be able
to find the answer to their needs by one of the many gifts that are available in
the body.
world seldom receives any help
from a church that has a vacuum because the church is always too busy trying to
put out fires (or close the vacuum). It is not just the lack of spiritual
anointing from the spirit-on-us that causes vacuums. If we choose not to live by
the Spirit-in-us no amount of spiritual anointing will stop our downward slide.
Many think just because they continue to move in the anointing that they are in
good standing with God. A closer look will reveal their lack of Spirit-in-them
and the dangerous deception they are in. ROM 11:29 for the gifts and the
calling of God are irrevocable.