In March of 2021 we had week of revival services where many gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out. It left many with questions and thoughts about what happened during that week. These three messages are Pastor Christian’s response and follow up to tend the fire that the Holy Spiri poured out. If the notes are not enough and you’d like to see the full video of Pastor Christian’s sermon please email the church ([email protected]) for a private link.

Introduction

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 ESV  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.  (2)  You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.  (3)  Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.  (4)  Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  (5)  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;  (6)  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  (7)  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  (8)  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,  (9)  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,  (10)  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  (11)  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

How many of y’all were blessed during fire week?!

I really think God did some major things during fire week, and honestly I don’t think He is done!

But the question has to be asked “What now”?

Ok pastor, so I received the gifts of the Spirit, what now?

Or, I didn’t receive the gifts of the Spirit, what now?

Or you might even be asking “The gifts that I used previously were stirred up and reignited in me, what now?”

I bet some people are even thinking “Man that was really REALLY odd and I am supper uncomfortable with what was happening… what now?”

These are the questions that we are looking to answer tonight and the following two Wednesdays.

We are calling this series “Tending the fire” because, just like any fire, if you don’t tend to it it will go out.

And we don’t ever what to go backward in the ministry, amen?!

Point One – Don’t be Uniformed about the Spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 12:1 ESV  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

• Someone say “Don’t be uninformed”.
• Paul, writing to the Corinthians, a large Christian church, says “Concerning the spiritual gifts, don’t be uninformed”.
  • And here is what we need to understand, PAUL WAS WRITING TO A CHURCH THAT WAS ALREADY OPERATING IN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.
    • They were already prophesying and praying in tongues…
    • BUT THEIR ZEAL SURPASSED THEIR KNOWLEDGE.
      • They were using the spiritual gifts… A LOT…
      • But they didn’t know why, or how… they just had the experience and ran with it.
    • So Paul is writing them and saying “Look, guys, we’ve got an issue… you are all using the spiritual gifts… but you are uniformed about them… and it is causing problems.”
      • We will learn about those issues next week when we talk about 1 Corinthians 14, but for now I want you to know this… HEAD KNOWLEDGE IS A GOOD THING.
        • Head knowledge by itself is dangerous…
        • But then again, heart knowledge by itself is dangerous… and that’s what we see with the Corinthians…
        • So Paul says “Do not be uninformed”.
• So lets talk about the spiritual gifts…
  • Now that these things have spread like wildfire in the church, praise God, let’s understand it.
• So let’s start with the laying on of hands… Bishop Burch brought people forward and laid his hands on them and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit… WHY?
  • Well, because that’s what the leaders of the new testament church did.

Acts 19:6 ESV  And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

1 Timothy 4:14 ESV  Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

2 Timothy 1:6 ESV  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,

Acts 8:13-17 ESV  Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.  (14)  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,  (15)  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,  (16)  for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  (17)  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

• So we saw, over three nights and one morning, this phenomenon of Bishop Burch laying hands on people and them receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
  • We saw people receive the gift of tongues just like it says in Acts 19:6
  • We saw some people fall down in the presence of the Holy Spirit…
  • But we also probably saw some people give a curtesy fall… because, well, Bishop Burch can be intimidating and maybe a little pushy…
    • But that doesn’t negate the genuineness of what was happening in the Spirit…
    • Man I have testimony, after testimony, after testimony of people who fell out legitimately in the Spirit when Bishop Burch laid hands on them…
  • Listen, the first time I fell out in the Spirit the Apostle didn’t even touch me… In fact I was determined not to fall because I was convinced this guy in Singapore was pushing people…
    • But when he came to pray over me It was like I was instantly transported to the throne room of God… I feel back and there was no one to catch me… didn’t feel a thing… and I was just there, with the Holy Spirit, in the Fathers Throne room at His feet.
    • The same thing happened to me Friday night… and Bishop Burch tackled me!
      • Why did he do that? I don’t know. Was it probably really odd for people watching… absolutely…
      • But it was also probably pretty odd when Jesus spat in mud and rubbed it in a blind mans eyes…
        • But the blind man was healed…
        • And I was taken to the throne room again!
• Why do I share this with you?
  • Because I don’t want you to be uninformed… the laying on of hands is Biblical!
  • But also as a warning… do not think that you can get up and pray over people like Bishop Burch did.
    • A lot of preachers get in trouble with this one…

1 Timothy 5:22 ESV  Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

• DO NOT BE HASTY IN THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
  • This is Paul’s instruction to the pastor Timothy… DO NOT BE HASTY IN THE LAYING ON OF HANDS…
  • This is a Holy thing that happens… it’s not an every day thing… and it is ONLY for the born again.
    • As we tender the fire, we need to temper our expectations moving forward.
    • YES LORD! Thank you for the gifts!
    • YES LORD! We want more of them in our church!
    • YES LORD USE US IN MIGHTY WAYS FOR YOUR GLORY!
    • AND YES LORD! We will do all things in order, according to how you instruct us in your word.
• Someone say “Do not be uninformed”.
  • Because I want MORE of what happened this week.
  • More love, more power, more of God in our lives!
  • More gifts, more miracles, more anointings.
  • BUT I REFUSE TO BECOME A CHURCH THAT WORSHIPS THE GIFTS INSTEAD OF THE GIFT GIVER… and that happens!

Acts 8:17-22 ESV  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.  (18)  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,  (19)  saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”  (20)  But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  (21)  You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.  (22)  Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

• Simon received the power of the Holy Spirit and He got so excited…
  • He wanted to lay hands on others… he wanted to keep this fire spreading…
  • But he missed the point entirely…
  • He offered to Buy the ability to lay hands on people…
    • He focused on the gift instead of the gift giver…
    • What he should have done was submitted himself to the teaching of the disciples…
    • Upon receiving the Holy Spirit when they laid hands on him, he should have said “Praise God! Now teach me to follow God like you follow God… teach me to be holy like you guys are holy, so that one day, the Lord willing, I too might glorify God in this way.”
    • But he didn’t want that…
      • He didn’t want the teaching, or the submission, or the Holiness…
      • All he wanted were the gifts!
• But we are not going to do that at CLC…
  • Because all I want is Jesus…
  • All I want is the Father…
  • All I want is the Holy Spirit!
    • I am grateful for the gifts, and desire more… but only for HIS GLORY! Amen?!
• So we need to be careful church…            
  • Careful that we don’t go forth uniformed…
  • And careful that we don’t go forth idolizing…
• Now that brings me to point to… we are mandated to desire the greater gifts…

Point Two – We ought to desire the greater gifts

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 ESV  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  (28)  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.  (29)  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  (30)  Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?  (31)  But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

• Bring up verse 31 again… lets read the first sentence together read this with me…

1 Corinthians 12:31 ESVa  But earnestly desire the higher gifts…

• But earnestly desire the higher gifts…
  • If you are not earnestly desiring spiritual gifts… specifically the higher gifts… then you are disobeying a scriptural mandate by God, written through Paul to church going Christians!
• So let’s talk about the spiritual gifts, and then let’s talk about which ones are the higher spiritual gifts…

Romans 12	1 Corinthians 12	Ephesians 4
Exhortation Giving Leadership Mercy Prophecy Service Teaching	Administration Apostle Discernment Faith Healings Helps Knowledge Miracles Prophecy Teaching Tongues Tongues Interpretation Wisdom	Apostle Evangelism Pastor Prophecy Teaching

• Now I don’t have time to go through and explain all of these gifts, I preached a series on it that is available on YouTube that you can go watch that explains them all… and we will talk in detail about some of these gifts next week as we dive into using our gifts for maximum impact… but for now I want you to look at this list…
  • There is one gift in particular that is missing… in fact there is a whole chapter about this spiritual gift… 1 Corinthians 13… do you know what that gift is?
  • LOVE!
  • The supernatural ability to love like Jesus loves…
  • The Holy Spirit empowered gift of Love.
  • Paul says Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts… but let me show you a greater way, or a greater gift… and that greater way is LOVE!
• So Paul end’s chapter 12 with “Earnestly desire the greater gifts and still I will show you a greater way”… and then he begins chapter 13 like this…

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  (2)  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  (3)  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

• Now watch how he begins chapter 14…

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV  Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

• So to answer the question “What are the higher spiritual gifts”, there are two of them… love and prophecy.
  • Love… an unconditional love for others…
    • A love that forgives full, often, and without thought of personal gain.
    • A love that sacrifices
    • A love that spreads
    • A love that is completely unconditional.
  • If you have all the spiritual gifts, but you have not love, you are NOTHING.
  • Did you know that love is the only spiritual gift that will last forever?

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 ESV  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  (9)  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  (10)  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

• You see one day The Perfect will come, Jesus will come back and we will be with him, face to face… and we won’t need to prophecy… because we will be in heaven.
  • We wont need to pray in tongues… because we will be in heaven.
  • We wont need words of knowledge or wisdom… we wont need administrative gifts… we wont need gifts of healings and miracles… BECAUSE WE WILL BE IN HEAVEN…
  • But we will still NEED LOVE! Because that is all that we will do in heaven… love, and be loved!
• And just as a side note… there are whole swaths of Christianity that say that the spiritual gifts don’t exist anymore… because it makes them uncomfortable…
  • By the way, being uncomfortable is a stupid reason not to do something… its either real or it is not, regardless of how comfortable it makes you…
    • Going to the dentist makes me uncomfortable, BUT I STILL GO TO THE DENTIST YALL
  • But there are whole swaths of Christianity who are uncomfortable with the gifts of the Holy Spirit… and instead of confronting that and submitting to God, they instead throw out whole chunks of scripture from the old and new testaments… and they use this one verse to justify it…

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 ESV  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  (9)  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  (10)  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

• They say “When the perfect comes” means when the Bible was completed…
  • What?! Is that what this scripture says? NO! NOT AT ALL….
  • Especially because it says when the perfect comes we will see face to face…
    • DOES YOUR BIBLE HAVE A FACE ON THE COVER?!
    • It’s nonsense, it ignores a massive amount of scriptures… and it is straight up heresy.
• Ok, back to the greater gifts… Love and prophecy… we know what love is, but what about prophecy…
  • Prophecy, in short, is having God speak to you and you speak to others what God spoke to you.
  • This could mean saying something about the future, or an unknown event… but in this case particularly I think it means speaking to someone about secrets in their lives…

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 ESV  But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,  (25)  the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

• We see a perfect example of this kind of prophecy happening through Jesus in the book of John…

John 4:16-19 ESV  Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”  (17)  The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;  (18)  for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”  (19)  The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

John 4:28-29 ESV  So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,  (29)  “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

• This is the kind of prophecy that is the greater gift…
  • You want to be a powerful evangelist… this is the gift you need…
  • Imagine eating breakfast at a restaurant… and four girls come in after smoking pot, they came in because they had the munchies…
    • Imagine seeing these girls and stopping them and looking at one in the eye and saying “Hey, you… you have been raised in a Christian household… you have been raised in the church… but you have turned your back on your family and you are running from God… God is calling you back to him”.
    • Then that girl procedes to freak out because you just read her mail…
    • She tells you that everything you said was true, then you tell her she needs to get her bottom back in church and her heart right with God…
  • That kind of thing happens all the time, how do I know, because that story happened at breakfast on Saturday. Bishop Burch just called this girl out and she freaked out and told us “THIS MUST BE GOD BECAUSE EVERYTHING YOU SAID IS TRUE”.

Conclusion

Listen, I have a lot more to talk about, but we need to be done for the night… because I think some of you have not earnestly desired the greater gifts as scripture commands…

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV  Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

So I want to give the opportunity right now… (Call up worship team)

Laying on of hands for love and for prophecy (Call out flames of fire girls for prophecy gift).