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We look at 3 Old Testament prophets who God cleansed their mouth so they could be His mouthpiece. Then we take a look at what the New Testament says about our attitudes toward the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you desire to be used of God to edify and bless others take a listen to this podcast. I hope you will be encouraged and challenged.
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We look at 3 Old Testament prophets who God cleansed their mouth so they could be His mouthpiece. Then we take a look at what the New Testament says about our attitudes toward the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you desire to be used of God to edify and bless others take a listen to this podcast. I hope you will be encouraged and challenged.
Listen to 230428-Gods Mouthpiece Pt 1 by Seldom Seen Studio MP3 song. 230428-Gods Mouthpiece Pt 1 song from Seldom Seen Studio is available on Audio.com. The duration of song is 01:09:07. This high-quality MP3 track has 73.439 kbps bitrate and was uploaded on 5 Jul 2023. Stream and download 230428-Gods Mouthpiece Pt 1 by Seldom Seen Studio for free on Audio.com – your ultimate destination for MP3 music.
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The speaker is excited to share the word of the Lord and the stirring of the Holy Spirit. They talk about the privilege of being God's mouthpiece and representing Him on earth. They mention examples from the Old Testament of prophets who experienced encounters with God and received His words. They emphasize the importance of allowing God's word to fill their hearts and mouths, and the power that comes from speaking the word of the Lord. They encourage listeners to separate the precious from the worthless and walk in obedience to God's commands. They remind them of the privilege of standing before the King of Kings and being His mouthpiece. They conclude with the idea that God loves to reveal His will and wants to speak through His servants. Welcome to everyone. Friday, April the 28th. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord. I am stirred today because I feel I once again, the word of the Lord and the stirring of the Holy Spirit. So I've been eager to, as Paul said, I think Paul said in, I'm so eagerly looking forward to seeing all of you. And I also have been eagerly looking forward to meeting with each one of us and having us share one with the other, encourage each other and to deliver the word that's in my spirit tonight. And I bless the Lord. Hallelujah. And as Jeremiah said, the word was sweet in my mouth, but it burned like fire within my belly. And it's quite interesting. Let's pray today. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we're just so grateful for your moving and for your family that joins together on this night to participate in seeking you through your word and by your spirit. And by the fellowship we have with each other, this family is special in that we just know that we love each other. We're part of each other and Lord, we're part of what you're doing. So Father, speak unto us, Lord, for your servants are listening. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. God, that each of us, our mouths be filled with wisdom and grace and with the word of the Lord. And this night we pray, thanking you, Father, in advance in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So the title tonight is very simple. It's called God's Mouthpiece. And we just want to take a look at what the word of God says. Sometimes we've been told what prophecy is. And prophecy is this and prophecy is that. And people get to confusion and arguing over spiritual gifts and all of these things. And I think it can complicate the very simple matter of hearing from God and being his mouthpiece, his representative. An alternate title I would have chosen for tonight is the privilege of sons speaking his words, being his representatives. So each time in the last six or eight sessions, we've been talking about being the sons of God and not just children, which is a privilege of becoming mature sons who are able to represent the family, the family of God, to represent our Father upon this earth. You know, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of Father and the Holy Spirit is the one here. But the Holy Spirit is looking for a body to work through, a corporate body and individual people that will allow him to do what he desires to do. And this is God's plan, how he is going to defeat the enemy. He's going to demonstrate his wisdom as Ephesians said, through the church. Isn't that something, that in the ages to come, the wisdom of God would be shown clearly to the principalities and powers. How is that going to be? Through the church. So this is how the Holy Spirit is working in this day, the Spirit of the Lord working through the people who belong to God. The mature sons and daughters, those who have surrendered and have had their senses exercised in how to work together with our Father God. So this is the introduction and the way that I believe the Lord is leading us. And if you witness this in your spirit, that this is something that is quickening to you. Amen. Say amen. Amen. Well, let's look at a few examples. I find it quite interesting. In the Old Testament, one thing that I was noticing is in the life of Isaiah, in the life of Jeremiah, and the life of Ezekiel, the three major prophets, something very interesting happened to each one of them. Something that was similar, something that they each experienced. Does anybody know what that was? Each one of those three experienced when they met with God, something interesting happened to them. Anybody have an idea of it? Do we remember Isaiah's experience? God's holiness convicted him. God's holiness. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was high and lifted up in his train to the temple. And the angels all around were crying, holy, holy, holy. And Isaiah realized his unworthiness. He realized he was not fit for the use of the master. And then came an angel. And what did the angel do? What did the angel do, Brother David? Go ahead, Emmanuel. He took a coal of fire from the altar of God and he put it on his lips. Because he had just confessed and declared he is a man of unclean lips, out of a family who are unclean. And yet the angel cleansed him. Cleansed what? Cleansed his lips. And in the life of Ezekiel, what happened to Ezekiel when he had an experience and he met the Lord, something about his mouth. What happened to him? The Lord handed him a scroll. The Lord handed him a scroll and said, here, eat. If you want to, let's read it together, Ezekiel, the third chapter. Let's read verse one to four. Brother David, are you available? Ezekiel. Good evening, Pastor. Good evening, Brother David. I'm so glad that you're here. Ezekiel chapter three, third chapter, first four verses. This is the experience of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter three, verse one. I read, moreover, he said unto me, son of man, eat that thou findest. Eat this scroll and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that scroll. And he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with the rules that I give unto thee. Then did I eat it. And it was in my mouth as a honey for sweetness. Chapter four, verse four. And he said unto me, son of man, go get thee unto the house of Israel and speak my words unto them. For thou art not sent to people of strange speech and of hard language or to the house of Israel, not to many people of strange speech and of hard language whose words thou canst not understand. Surely I have sent thee to them that they would hearken unto thee. Verse seven, for the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made thy face against their faces, thy forehead against their forehead. As an adamant harder than the flame have I made thy forehead. Hear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks. Thou, though they be rebellious, should they be a rebellious house. For thou art not sent to them that they would not understand. Moreover, he said unto me, son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart and hear with thy ears. Verse eleven, and go get thee to the captivity unto the children of thy people and speak unto them and tell them, thus says the Lord God, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Verse twelve, the spirit took me and I had behind me a voice of great rushing saying, blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. Man, that's good, Brother David. So David, Jeremiah's experience, David, was one where the Lord took and gave him a scroll of words and he said, I want you to eat this. And he took it in his mouth and he says, the angel says, or the Lord says, take it into your belly and into your innermost being. It's very interesting words to me. It's poetic, but it's also specific. It's exacting the way he said it, because when we take the words of the Lord into our being, it's not only just words in our mouth. It becomes part of our being. And when the words of the Lord are part of our being, and then we speak them, it has a whole different level of effectiveness than if we just read somebody's words and we're speaking those words. They have some power, because the word of the Lord always has power. But it's a different thing when the Lord has put his words not only in our mouth, but deep within us, and it fills our belly and our whole being that we have consumed God's truth and we have lived in God's truth. I find it just interesting in the exacting of this. Anyone else with a comment about this particular experience? The third one that we were talking about is the life of Jeremiah. And David, again, if we could ask you if you're still... Oh, we've lost David for a moment. He'll be back. Amen. I don't know if Brother Zebedee, if you're able to read from the book of Jeremiah. If you are able to read Jeremiah 1, verse 4 to 10. Jeremiah chapter 1. Okay, Brother Zebedee, do you have light? Do you have light where you are? There's no light, but I'm managing with a torchlight. Okay. Okay. God bless you. Okay. Then the words of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I found thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then say I, Ah, O God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child, but thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee. And whatsoever I command thee, thou speak, but be not afraid of their faces. For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Verse 9. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. Since then, I have said before thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. This is the word of the Lord. Oh, hallelujah. Amen. I'm just catching what the Lord said to Jeremiah. He said, I'm putting my words in your mouth, and you are going to be able to tear down, to be able to set up, to be able to establish kingdoms by the word of the Lord. You know, we are never in ourselves powerful. It's always the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's always the word of the Lord through a channel of clay. And that we should always recognize, as Romans 12 tells us, we'll look later, how that it operates through humility, by faith, and the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit. It's never of ourselves. But he's looking for someone who's willing and an open vessel and look at that experience. There's a fourth experience that we want to mention in the book of Daniel, chapter 10, verse 16. Whoever is first to find Daniel 10, 16, I ask you to please read it. Daniel 10, verse 16. Yes, sir. And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake and said unto him that stood before me, Oh my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are torn upon me and I have retained no strength. It's a whole experience that Daniel had. When the Lord had showed him the end of times and he was speaking words to him about what would happen in the final kingdoms, Daniel was so shaken by what he'd seen that he fell on his face to the ground and he was dumb. He could not speak. And yet one who had the likeness of the sons of men, that's a curious one. I personally believe it was the Lord Jesus Christ himself, one who looks like the sons of men and yet he is the son of God. He stood before me and Daniel said, Oh my Lord. Oh my Lord. But here's what we were talking about. He touched his lips and opened his mouth. I think we can begin to pray earnestly from deep in our heart. God, touch my lips. Lord, open my mouth. God, fill my belly with not the letter of the word but with the living, life-giving word where God can pour into us that which builds up and that which edifies. I have nothing to say of myself. I remember a time when I was young. Oh, I had so much to say. And I knew so much in my youth. I thought I did. And yet the Lord had to humble me, had to deal with me, had to bring me low, had to lay like Psalm 66 says, lay affliction upon my loins so that I was able to produce no fruit in a good way. And yet this humbling made me realize that unless the Lord places his word in my heart and unless he opens my mouth to speak and I speak as the oracles of God, I'm just speaking out of my flesh and I can help no one. Oh, there's truth in what I would say. But that life-giving word that transforms people, oh, Lord Jesus, that comes from the Spirit of God, that flows forth from the throne of God through our lips. Oh, my dearest beloved brethren who are here tonight, my earnest desire, as Paul would say, is that you would be able to speak the words of the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord, that you would become a mouthpiece speaking what God gives you to speak. Hallelujah. Oh, mighty God. We desire, dearly beloved, cry out to the Lord earnestly desiring that you would speak his words, that nations could rise or fall at the word of the Lord, serious place to be. But it is the Lord who works through us. You know, this is all still Old Testament. Did you notice we're just still in the Old Testament? Wow. All of these principles are very, very real. Hallelujah. Even in the Old Testament, I remember, I think it was Moses crying out saying, I wish, I know, I know what it is. Joshua came to him one day and said, these people are speaking, that they are prophets, and they are giving a word. They are speaking words from the Lord. There's two people. Joshua thought, these guys should stop. He comes to Moses. It's good when you're young to go to your elders and check first. It's good training. And Moses said, are you zealous for my sake? He says, I would that all of the Lord's people could prophesy and that the Lord would put his spirit upon all of them. Moses had God's heart and God's desire. God desires more people that would be able to speak by the spirit of the Lord, opening the word of God by the spirit of revelation, the spirit of God. This is not something wild and way out there. We're not predicting the next 10 years of your future in our prophetic words. We're simply bringing revelation of truth that brings people alive, empowers them to be all that God has called them to be, releasing them from the bondage of the wicked one and speaking life. Hallelujah. These are things which build up the body of Christ. When each individual is strengthened, the body is strengthened. When we speak to each one, wherever you may be, God strengthens the work of the Lord in the world. Bless the Lord. What a privilege. Whoever can find Jeremiah chapter 15, verse 19. And the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah in this verse and Jeremiah is feeling very low. He's feeling despair. He's feeling sorry for himself and for the people of God. Jeremiah 15, 19. Jeremiah 15, 19, saith the Lord, if thou return, then I will bring thee again and thou shalt stand before me. And if thou take forth the precious from the vial, thou shalt be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. No, that's good. I think that's enough for us to unpack this one, Brother David. So the situation is Jeremiah is feeling sorry and he's upset. And the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah. It says, if you will repent, then I will restore you and bring you again into my presence, into an inner peace. And then you're going to be able to stand before me. Remember this phrase, stand before you, because this phrase we've been talking about off and on in our classes, meaning when there's a king, he has servants and officers of different functions, you know, the general of the army, those in charge of finances, those in charge of this and that, and they are doing what? They're said to be standing before the king. And this word standing, you'll see it often. Once you are aware of it, you'll see it often and realize the real meaning is that we may stand before the king, before the Lord. And as soon as the king would give a command, as soon as the king would speak, it was as law. Even I know in the United States, it's supposed to be as soon as the president speaks, all the branches of government are supposed to, I'm saying in theory, are supposed to begin to move to bring into action that which has been spoken. And so there were some who stood near the king. Oh, Jesus, come on, hear me, somebody. There are some of those who stood near the king. And their purpose was to hear what the king said and to make sure every branch, every officer knew what the will of the king was, because the king should not be required to raise his voice in Beller and give orders and jump up and down to try to get the attention of someone at the far end. Oh, no, if the king was just to speak, those who stood near him were to be his mouthpiece. This is speaking to anyone. Oh, Jesus, that we would stand before him, that we'd stand near to him, that we would hear his voice. And then he says, if you separate the precious from the worthless. Come on, somebody, I'll give you the joy of talking about this one. Brother David, what does that speak to you? Separate the precious from the worthless. Talk to me, Brother David. What does this say to you? Separate the precious from the fell. You know, being a mouthpiece requires being in line. For example, if a king is talking, his mouthpiece must be in line, must have the same mindset as the king. And his mouthpiece will not convey the wrong information to the people of what the king is saying. No matter what the king is saying, his mouthpiece will always try to convey a meaningful information. So, separating, or being a mouthpiece to God, you need to separate yourself from things that does not worth it. From things that will anger God in your life. Because that portion of the Bible, Zechariah chapter 3, verse 7, through more light. Let me read this. You said Zechariah? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. Zechariah chapter 3, verse 7. Okay, it says, Thou says the Lord of hosts, if thou will walk in my ways, and if thou will keep my charge, then thou shall also judge in my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place to walk among these that stand by. You know, if you need to separate yourself, you need to walk in the charges of God, you need to walk according to His precepts and direction, His principles, for you to be a mouthpiece, for you to convey God's message to people. That is why He told Ezekiel to eat the scroll, to have His word in him, so that he can be able to pass the message across to the children of Israel. Amen, Sophia, sir. That's beautiful. In addition, what does it mean to walk in the Lord's courts? Well, it means to have charge in the courts of the Lord. And then you see that He says this also, or is it not? You will govern my house in the New International, and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place, oh, come on, somebody, I will give you a place among these who are standing here. Standing where? Standing around the King, the King of Kings in His presence. You know, there are some, there are some who have the privilege, very high privilege of standing in the presence of the Lord, attending to Him. Hallelujah. Brother David, your Bible is very loud on the microphone, just so you know, turning your pages. That's okay. Just so you know, all right? There is a place that the Lord would have for us, that we would stand near Him, close to Him, to be His mouthpiece, that we would hear what He would say, and that we would be doing the will of the King. Like you so well said it, David, no one who has their own agenda is going to be allowed to represent the King. The only agenda of a mouthpiece is to communicate that which is the heart, the desire, and the word of the King. God has blessed us. If we walk in obedience and keep His requirements, oh, then we become a governor in charge and standing, a place to stand amongst those who stand around the King of Kings, waiting. Oh, they're not standing idly. They're waiting for any word from the King to fulfill His wishes. May God bless us to understand what the Lord is imparting to our spirits today. Hallelujah. You know the verse in Amos chapter 3. It's one of the verses I posted, pictures that I found. We read Amos 3, verse 7 and 8. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealed His secret unto His servants, the prophets, that is, the lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord has spoken. Who can but prophesy? The Lord's servants, the prophets, those who hear what He's saying. The Lord loves to reveal His will. He loves to speak what's in His heart. He loves to have, like all of us, loves to have someone who will hear what He's saying. Not only hear it, but will join in with Him and be used by His Holy Spirit to accomplish His will. You know, God, like Joel said, in those last days, God will pour out of His Spirit and young men will prophesy, old men will dream dreams that have visions. God will reveal His will and His word in the time when His Holy Spirit is poured out. Say, Lord, say with me, Lord God, pour out upon me that I could be your servant. Touch my mouth, touch my lips, fill my heart with your words that I might walk in the right way. Oh, mighty God, help us this day, help us this day, Lord God, to sincerely be desiring that you would use us. Hallelujah. Isaiah was bold enough that he could say in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 20, and Isaiah 58, 14, and we don't need to read it. But he was bold enough to say, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. He could almost have said, for the mouthpiece of the Lord has spoken what God is saying. No prophet has authority of their own. And those who speak words, come on, hear me now, those who speak words out of their own spirit, those who run when God didn't send them, and those who sit when God has spoken, oh, Lord, have mercy. But Isaiah could say, for the mouthpiece or the mouth of the Lord has spoken it, and be confident, confident knowing that it sincerely was the word of the Lord. You know, our confidence is not in our flesh, my brothers. Our confidence is in the living God who would speak to us and bring life and edification to others through us. All right. Let's go to the New Testament then. How many are being ministered today by the words from God? Amen. How many of you are receiving today? Bless the Lord. In the New Testament, let's just take a look in 1 Corinthians. A lot of this gifting and ability of God in our lives comes from an earnest desire within us. And we're going to see this. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31, as soon as you have it, unmute, and I'll know that you want to read. 1 Corinthians 12, 31. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31. What comfort and a gift, the best gift, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way. In the Ten Commandments, we're told that we must not covet our neighbor's goods. It's talking about our heart's desire. He says that in the Ten Commandments, do not let your heart look at your neighbor's goods and wish that you had it. You have a strong desire for something, which leads to stealing or murder or any other thing, right? So here we have it used in a positive way, where it says that we should covet earnestly. Well, we know the word earnestly is a strong, strong desire. It's a sincerity of our heart. And yet the word covet is so strong of a word. And he says that we should keep on coveting earnestly the best gifts. Wow. All right, let's read another one. Chapter 14, 1 Corinthians again. Chapter 14, verse 1. 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Corinthians. I read, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. So again, he's dealing with our attitude towards spiritual things, spiritual gifts. He says we should, okay, the chapter before is the love chapter. And he says in verse 14, yes, follow after love. And so he's putting the two together, love and a desire for the spiritual gifts. You know, at some point, my false humility said, oh, I should not desire to be powerful. I should not desire to speak accurately the words of God. I might become too proud. That's a lie from the devil and the flesh. The word of God tells us that we should seek and desire spiritual gifts. He tells us why in one of the other verses we'll get to in just a moment. Chapter 14, verse 39. These are attitudes that Paul is talking about here. Positive, powerful attitudes. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 39. Go ahead. Therefore brethren, covet the prophecy and forbid not to speak with tongues. So again, David, the same word covet, which just means that strong, earnest desire. That you would seek to, desire to pursue prophesying. Oh, I think many people, including myself, sometimes we just become negligent or we become lazy or we avoid the challenge of being fine-tuned to hear and to speak the words of the Lord. Chapter 14, verse 12 gives a motive, a motive for spiritual gifts. Why should we be zealous of spiritual gifts? Chapter 14, verse 12. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. What's the motive there? We seek to excel in spiritual gifts for a reason. Okay, so what's the reason? Very obvious in this verse. Brother Emmanuel, if you care to comment on that, what is the reason we should be seeking to excel in moving in the Holy Spirit? First of all, Yes, Brother Emmanuel. In my humble opinion, it is the opportunity for the manifestation of more of the fruits of the Spirit. So, as we allow ourselves and as we seek, let me put it in that analogy, as we seek to flow more in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, we touch many lives, many sorts of people, edify ourselves and most importantly, bring manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit. Praise God. Amen. Amen, good. And in this 12th verse, there's a reason given, which you also said, Emmanuel. And if we could just read that 12th verse one more time. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. The heart of Paul, he was instructing them, it's good ye are zealous of spiritual things. Seek to edify and build up the church in order that you may all abound. Right. So that everyone will be blessed. I don't like it when a prophet comes in and it appears like they lift themselves above other people and they want to be noticed. And there's a spirit there of the flesh that is not good because the heart, God will deal with our heart. And God desires, the desire of God within me, I know for sure, it said, I want every one of you to be built up and to abound in your ministry. I'm blessed if you're a better prophesier than me. Hallelujah. If you have more come to Christ through your ministry, if you're discipling thousands, I will rejoice with you and I will praise the Lord with you. This is the true heart of God. And as he works in me, I'm improving in those things. All right. First Timothy 4 and 14 deals with another attitude that can creep in that we might have towards speaking the words of God. First Timothy 4, 14, Paul's talking to Timothy, the young man. And the, excuse me, the young man is in the midst of, oh, some difficult people to deal with. Some difficult people to deal with. Seems like he might have been intimidated, as Paul said to him earlier. God didn't give you that spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. He said, speak boldly. So, Paul's been encouraging Timothy in the middle of maybe a difficult situation where the people are older than him. Because remember, he said, don't let them despise your youth. So, go ahead then on First Timothy 4, 14. Praise God. Okay. Let me have this one, brother. Thank you, sir. First Timothy 4, 14. Go ahead, Emmanuel. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the Presbyterian. Amen. The very first word. What's the very first word, Emmanuel? Neglect not the gift that is in thee. So, how would you define this word neglect? I would define it in this context as not feeling confident in what God has put in you. Not feeling equipped. Not feeling equipped. Feeling that something is lacking before you can manifest. Why is something lacking in the mind of God? All right. Let me ask you this question. Emmanuel, what happens if you neglect a garden of vegetables? What happens? It would gradually become desolate and unfruitful. It would, with time, become unfruitful. Let me put it that way. Very unfruitful. Good. Good. So, what is the opposite of this word neglect? What would be the opposite? It would be give attention to. Yes. Give attention to be conscious of these things. Be conscious of these gifts. Amen. Be diligent. Faithful. Do not be lazy. Work hard. Those are all the opposites of neglect. So, neglect can mean I got, like you said, intimidated. I felt insecure. And so, because I felt all of these things, then I decided to neglect that gift rather than to stir it up. Amen. 2 Timothy 1, 6, Paul encourages Timothy, I'm putting you in remembrance, Timothy, that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you. When I laid on my hands, I know that God gave you that gift, but you've been neglecting it. In chapter 4, verse 14, but chapter 2, verse 1, verse 6 of 2 Timothy, sorry, Timothy 1, 6, he encourages him that he needs to stir up. So, when you make fire, there's a time when the fire gets low. And this word stir up is the word you use when you gather all the fire together, that's kind of spread out and become low, and you stir it up so it becomes hot flame again. So, this word neglect and the encouragement of Timothy to stir up the gift gives us an attitude. We have to ask ourselves, are we in that place where we have neglected being a mouthpiece for God, exercising spiritual gifts? In 1 Thessalonians 5, there's several really strong encouragements. 1 Thessalonians 5, 19-22, while you're looking, as soon as you find it, someone then unmute and I'll speak in the meantime. You'll find that some churches neglect the moving of the Spirit, and some also reject, hinder, and discourage the moving of the Holy Spirit through people, through his vessels. And 1 Thessalonians 5, 19, David instructs us about these things. Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good, verse 22, abstain from all affairs of evil. I'd like to read it from the amplified version, from verse 19. Do not quench, subdue or just don't respond to the working and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Do not scorn, make fun of, or reject the gifts of prophecy or prophecies. But test all things carefully so you can recognize what is good. Hold firm to that which is good and stay away from every form of evil. Keep away from it. So attitudes towards the moving of the Holy Spirit can be also found here. So I'll let you, you guys, Jerry, are you following this? What attitudes towards the moving of the Holy Spirit do you find in these few little verses? So in these verses, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 19 to 22, there are attitudes that are revealed that are against the Holy Spirit. And Paul's letter to Thessalonica, he's encouraging them to avoid certain attitudes. Jerry, do you have that open in front of you? Can you see what he's talking about? 5, 19? Yeah, 19 to 22. What is he standing up against? Yeah, don't be an obstacle to the Spirit. Wow. Don't turn against it. Don't mock or, you know, don't attack. It's even worse. Don't be an enemy of the Spirit's work. Don't mock it. So basically, if you don't understand it, you don't like it, you don't believe it, you're not happy with it, it doesn't suit your religious format, don't get in the way of it. Don't put it out. Don't stop it. Don't contend against it. Like, leave it alone, basically. Don't get into a fight that's not yours. Don't get involved in that. So stay out of it, basically. Don't go against it. But then he talks about, like, being cautious and being, you know, have some wisdom to discern, to know the difference. It could be, there are fake, there are fakers, like you mentioned. Right. People with the wrong attitude and the wrong demeanor. They look down upon you. Yeah, have the ability to discern that, but don't fight it. Don't come and, you know, don't fight against it. Take what's good. Like, benefit. Have an attitude of, you know, the proverb says, rebuke a wise man and he'll be wiser still. Yes. It doesn't mean you're giving him something new. He might know what you're talking about, but he'll take whatever he can benefit and add into his learning. So that kind of an attitude of take what's good and don't worry about the rest. Put aside. Put aside the bad, don't fight it. And don't be afraid of it either. I think sometimes in churches there's a feeling of being threatened amongst their leaders. The leaders feel threatened and feel like they've lost control, possibly, and things might just get out of hand. And, you know, error might just come in and destroy everything. Rather, the instruction is there's no fear in this verse at all. He said don't hinder it. Rather, in other places, he said encourage it. Encourage people to exercise the moving and gifting of the Holy Spirit. And don't be afraid of it. Rather, have the wisdom to discern and judge and know. I call it my spiritual digestive system. You know, I eat a lot of things that, wow, in themselves, they're not perfect food. But I eat it together with everything. And even things that aren't good for me, my body has a way of dealing with that. And my body keeps that which is good, and I become strong. And the rest just passes on. Just let it go. So many, many, many times God will speak to us. And if it's not of the Lord, don't be so disturbed about it. People need to learn. Go talk to the brother or sister later. Discuss with them. Did you sense the anointing while you were speaking that? You know, we can teach them. We should not be afraid. But we should practice. I believe that the church is a time to practice, to exercise. How will anyone ever learn if they're not exercising the spiritual gift? Where are you going to learn? Where are you going to learn to prophesy in power and act accurately if you don't have a training ground? Oh, I believe that churches need to be a whole lot less of business, church business, and a whole lot more of training grounds. Hallelujah. Of course. Training grounds where we're allowed to make mistakes within the body and be instructed and be encouraged. Oh, bless the Lord. I think fear comes in a lot, insecurity, when we begin to move with the Holy Spirit that we might not, as Emmanuel said so well, that we can be afraid, insecure, not sure that we'll do it as well as, you know, the TV evangelist. Oh, bless the Lord. If our heart is pure and so desiring to minister to those who are needy around us, we'll begin to practice ministering life to those. When our heart is full of love, then God can move. One more place I'd like to read before we sum up today, and it's in Romans chapter 12. Emmanuel, you're correct. How can we learn unless we're given the opportunity, unless we step out boldly, maybe make some mistakes, maybe have some flesh mixed with it? You know, you're not going to hell for desiring earnestly the best gifts. In fact, we're commanded to. I'm not sure which verse it is in like the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians. It says, for these are the commandments of the Lord. They're not just suggestions of Paul. Earnestly desiring spiritual gifts is presented by Paul as a commandment. All right, Romans, the 12th chapter. I look it up here. Let me find it in my Bible, my worn out Bible. So we know that Emmanuel, I'm asking. Yeah, you're correct. Sometimes we're too careful to speak and it brings us fear. And what this chapter teaches us is that spiritual gifts operate by faith. Come on, somebody. Spiritual gifts operate by faith. They operate by love and they operate by faith. And so fear, intimidation, insecurity, falsehood, timidly. God didn't give you that spirit. Not the spirit of fear. He gave you in this ministering of the spirit, we need the spirit of power, spirit of love, and a spirit of a level sound wise mind. There is a wisdom that comes from God in the midst of ministry to people. Hallelujah. Oh, bless the Lord. Let's read this then. Good brother David. From verse three. And let's read up to verse six. Romans chapter 12 from verse three. For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think so badly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. Verse four, for as we have many members in one body, all members have not the same office as five. So we being many are one body in Christ. Every one member, every one members one of another. Verse six, having the gift differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the portion of faith. This is good. So this faith that is given, this faith that is given to us by the Holy Spirit, there is a measure, a measuring of this faith. When we first begin, our faith is small. But as we in obedience and as we become more clean before the Lord and dedicate our hearts toward that, as we love the people more, there is, we become fine tuned. There's more power. It becomes more natural. It's so beautiful when it's natural to minister out of the gifts of God within you. It is very beautiful when you're not struggling with it. When that fear and intimidation has bowed its knee to the faith in the Lord. Here in Romans 12, he says that the gifts are different according to the grace that God has given us and the faith to operate that gift comes from God. You know, I can I can pray for healing for someone. But there are some people who just have a Holy Spirit given gift of faith for healing. Some of you have met those people. And it's amazing to see the amount of faith that they have for healing for other people and the compassion that they have towards those who are hurting. And I know that faith works through love. Galatians has made that clear to us, that faith works through love. And I found that the times God has used me to see miraculous, instantaneous healing, I've noticed that there is a tenderness of depth of love that I sense. And there's a joyfulness that I also feel. And I just feel Jesus moving. And so as I step in, in obedience and in faith, God heals people. And I'm amazed and they're amazed, too. I remember a recent one. We were praying for people who are receiving boxes of food at Thanksgiving time. And there are many who don't have enough to eat. And they could never afford to purchase the special things that in America we tend to cook and prepare for Thanksgiving. So they were coming through the line. And this one young man, he looked very strange to me. He had his hand on his face like he was covering his face. And I just began to talk to him and I asked him, are you all right? He said, no, my tooth is hurting so much. But my mother made me come and pick up this box. I said, really, what's wrong? And as he moved his hand, I could see his entire face, the cheek and the jaw and up to his eye was all swollen big in my heart. My heart just went to him that he would come with all that pain to pick up this box for his family. And I said, do you believe that God can heal you? Can we pray? And we didn't have much time. I prayed a simple prayer. And I felt God's presence. And then we went to give him instructions what to do next to get his box. And I saw that he put his hand down and he was thinking about the instructions. And I noticed that his face had become perfectly normal. I said, your face, it looks like Jesus has done a miracle for you. So he looks in his car mirror and he is so amazed. He's so surprised. And he looks at me, he looks at his face in the mirror, and I said, come on, let's praise the Lord. Come on, let's praise Jesus. I think he's just got a miracle. And surely, instantaneously, this young man received a miracle. Hallelujah. How beautiful. I thank God for that gift of healing which was given for that young man. But the faith and the love is what I noticed. I had no problem just to believe and to pray for him. I wasn't intimidated. I didn't get in my head. You know, sometimes we reason ourselves out of blessings. Oh, Jesus, help us. It's in the area of our minds that doubts, that challenges, unbelief, and intimidation. Intimidation is mostly in your mind. Oh, come on. We need to move in the spirit, not in our own thinking. We need to be able to hear what God wants us to do. Speak what God wants us to say and see the miracles of the Lord. Oh, may God use us, and may God issue unto us the measure of faith to operate the gift of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Josh. So, prophecy requires faith. Let's look again at chapter 12, verse 6. Can you read it again, Brother David or Emmanuel, whoever was reading? Go ahead and read it again. Romans 12, verse 6. Romans 12, verse 6. Having then given different according to the grace that is given to you, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the portion of faith. Shall I continue? Yeah, read two more. Okay. Let us continue according to the portion of faith, or ministry. Let us wait on our ministry, or he that teacheth on teaching it, or he that exulteth on exultation. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence, he that sheweth mercy with cheerfulness. Praise God. Amen. So, this word prophesy is in our subject for today, being the mouthpiece of the Lord. And so, this prophesy is speaking the words of the Lord, whether it's teaching, exhortation, preaching, or words of edification, words of knowledge by the gift of the Spirit, prophetic utterances, thank you Lord, prophetic utterances by the oracles of God, meaning that we're the mouthpiece of God, speaking what he's speaking. All of these things, we can ask God for a greater portion of faith to operate. So, two things, we can earnestly desire, and then we can ask for greater faith to operate in those gifts that we already have. The reason Timothy didn't stir up his gift, the reason he neglected it is because he was intimidated. And Paul told him, your people need you to encourage them, to instruct them, to exhort them, to correct them, to train them. You find that all in Timothy. Paul said, Timothy, this is what you need to be doing. And all of that requires a measure of faith. You know, the Spirit of God is willing to give you greater faith than you have now, to operate in greater measures and more gifts than you have experienced. Are you open to it? Are you earnestly desiring what he has for you? Oh, bless the Lord. It is the encouragement of the Lord for today, for all of you, and it encourages me as well. Bless the Lord.
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