July 2, 2025 • 39 mins
The spiritual gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues remain powerfully relevant for believers today, functioning to build up the church body rather than to elevate individuals.
• Spiritual gifts must be understood within the context of 1 Corinthians 11-15, which frames them within the gospel message
• Different church backgrounds and denominational teachings can create filters that limit our understanding and receptivity to spiritual gifts
• The Holy Spirit's gifts are given "for the profit of all" and to help each other, not for individual superiority
• Speaking in tongues manifests in three primary ways: as unknown languages understood by hearers, as messages requiring interpretation, and as personal prayer languages
• The gift of prophecy strengthens, encourages, comforts, and can provide guidance, correction, and awareness of spiritual realities
• Love must be the foundation and motivation for all spiritual gift operation
• Spiritual gifts should function "decently and in order" as God is not a God of confusion
• Personal testimonies of experiencing these gifts can happen organically even without prior teaching
"Holy Spirit overrule in my life that I will never quench the fire that you have caused to burn. Let me never pour water on wood that you want to ignite. I pray that you will come unquenched into my heart and stay there without any hindrance from me."
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.
For more information about ourchurch, please visit
therockfamilytv Now.
Join us for a message fromPastor Chris Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning.
Good morning, this is sowonderful to get to be before
you today and thank you, pastorScott and Britt, for the
opportunity.
It's always an honor.
I did look at my watch before Icame up here.
I think it's just what you do.
I think it's what you do andI'm going to ask, I'm going to
(00:40):
request something that you never, ever put me behind Dr Ballard
again.
It's just, it's just really notfair at all.
But anyway, such an amazing,amazing presentation and if I
say something over these nextfew moments that you're like
yeah, I don't even know ifthat's right or not Just go.
(01:01):
It's Miracle Sunday and itfeels like Christmas.
I didn't run this through,jamie, but will you come to our
house for Christmas and justtell us the Christmas story,
just so I can see the tree andthe lights and all the grandkids
are sitting around, we've gotour dog and Dr Bowler comes in
(01:23):
and tells us the story ofChristmas.
I kind of feel like that guythat made the 911 call had a
friend that was hurt and thedispatcher answered and said you
know, what do you need?
And he said I need an ambulance.
I said my friend is, my friendis hurt.
I need you to come pick him upand she said, okay, what street
(01:44):
are you on?
And he said we're on Eucalyptus.
And she said, well, can youspell that?
And he said I tell you what I'mgoing to move him over to Pine
Streets and y'all come and pickhim up over there.
(02:05):
Oh, my goodness, all right, youknow I was thinking about this
that when we, when we standbefore you, and over the summer,
you're going to get to hearfrom just different voices here
in the house and on our staffand from different, you know
different pastors and how thatwe all, you know we're a vessel,
(02:25):
each of us are a vessel that isyielded and is surrendered and
submitted to the Lord and takevery, very seriously these
moments to open up the word ofGod and to, as Pastor Scott said
, to teach and to equip you,teach and to equip you.
(02:49):
And so with that comes thatfilter.
You know that Chris has, orwhoever it might be.
You're hearing my background,you're hearing my upbringing,
you're hearing, obviously, humorevery now and then, but you're
also hearing the story and theexperience and, basically, if
you want to say my take, you mytake on the word and the angle
that I'm looking at it from andat the same time, all over this
(03:13):
room, I realize and this isprobably the obvious being
spoken, but I think it needs tobe said that all over this room
today there are so manydifferent backgrounds, different
associations with the church.
Some of you don't know muchabout the church.
You're just coming to Christ oryou're actually here today
(03:35):
because you are seeking and yourealize that.
You know you need some help andwe're here to declare that
Jesus is, he's that help for you.
But depending on thedenomination or the upbringing
or the association that you havewith church can a lot of times
(03:56):
determine whether how you'regonna hear what we're giving you
and what we're sharing with youover these next few weeks when
we talk about the gifts and themanifestations of the Holy
Spirit that are mentioned in 1Corinthians, 12, 13, and 14.
A lot of times we've heard anangle of it, we've been taught a
(04:21):
certain way and maybe youdidn't take the time to really
delve into it and look into itand receive the full measure of
the truth and of the power thatthe Holy Spirit is trying to
emphasize and encourage all ofus to operate in.
(04:43):
Would y'all agree with that?
If I've had a limited exposureto the gifts of the Spirit, the
operation, the function of theSpirit, then I may have a
tendency to throw up a defenseor a filter or a wall that would
keep me from really receiving,being changed, being transformed
(05:07):
.
You know, if all you or I evergot was vanilla ice cream, how
many of you know that our palatewould be limited of all the
other flavors of?
Come on somebody, yeah, talkingabout ice cream there for just
a moment.
All right, I think of those andI'm sure there's no one in the
(05:31):
room like this or listening thatare dogmatic, just dogmatic
about your belief, dogmaticabout your doctrine or your
theology.
Specifically, I guess I thinkof those that might believe that
you're not baptized unlessyou've been baptized in the name
of Jesus.
That was such a strong thingyears ago that when we baptize
(05:55):
people, just to try to pleaseeveryone in the room, we would
say we baptize you in the nameof Jesus and the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, just totry to accommodate everyone's
feelings.
Man, sometimes you just need tokeep your feelings to yourself.
But anyway, I think about thosethat might be in the room that
(06:19):
are dogmatic that you are notbaptized in the Holy Spirit
until you speak in tongues.
If you ain't speaking intongues, you're not baptized in
the Holy Spirit.
Can I tell you something?
I hope that all of us are asdogmatic about the scriptures
that list gossipers and liarsand adulterers and fornicators
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and cowards as non-kingdominheritors.
Can I get an amen?
It's amazing to me how we loveto point out certain lists or
certain things that maybe we'renot sinning in.
But can I tell you, the word'svery, very specific.
And if we're going to bedogmatic, let's be dogmatic
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about obeying the ScriptureRight, loving the Word and
letting the Word work inside ofus.
So after that statement, Iwould say to all of us church,
let's hold our tongue, let'spurify our eyes and our hearts
and let's tell the truth andlet's live for Jesus.
Amen.
(07:27):
Can I tell you a couple ofdisclaimers?
You don't have to speak intongues to go to heaven.
You don't have to speak intongues to go to heaven and you
don't have to receive a giftthat the Lord gives you.
You don't have to, but whywould you not?
Right?
But you really don't have to.
Any gift you ever receive, youdon't have to take it and to
(07:47):
receive it.
I strongly encourage us toreceive.
I encourage all of us to takewhatever he is saying is
important and that we need.
So the first set of scripturesis going to come up for us we
need.
So the first set of scripturesis going to come up for us.
You know, our hope in this, inthis whole series, is is to help
(08:14):
educate and make you aware ofthe gifts, and then we're going
to trust the Holy Spirit to showup in power and in
demonstration.
Right, I really feel like Paulthis morning.
I didn't come to you withpersuasive words of men's wisdom
, but I'm believing for ademonstration of the power of
the Spirit as we receive theWord today.
As you are here for the end ofthe service, I would encourage
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you to stay.
It's going to be quitedifferent.
It's going to be adventurousand it's going to be filled with
a lot of fear and trepidationon those who are participating.
That's all I'll say about it.
I don't want to give it away,all right?
So we have to look at Paul'sinstruction to the Corinthian
church about gifts and how theyoperate, beginning with chapter
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11.
If we're holding this incontext, this whole teaching,
this series, you really have tolook at chapter 11 and go
through chapter 15.
All right, so those bookends ofchapter 11 and chapter 15 are
really what set up all of theteaching and the instruction and
the equipping that happens in12, 13, and 14.
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How many of you are with me in12, 13, and 14.
How many of you are with me Inchapter 11 is where he really
talks about the Lord's Supperand talks about how we're
supposed to approach that tableand approach that meal and how.
You know it's man.
It's a time to examine ourhearts.
It's a time to look inside andmake sure that we are
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remembering who Christ is, whatChrist did, what he provided,
what that new covenant has setin motion.
And then you know, in chapter15, it really talks it's the
gospel, it's the gospel.
It's really the gospel inchapter 11 too, when you talk
about the Lord's Supper and allthat happened through the
(10:06):
redemption and all that wasexecuted and all that was set
forth in motion when the Lordwent to the cross.
He actually set it in motionbefore, but in chapter 15, he
comes out strong.
He's talking about the deathand the burial and the
resurrection and the ascensionof our Lord and Savior, jesus
(10:28):
Christ.
So if you need context thismorning, which we all do.
The gifts are there to help youand I promote the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
That's what it's there for isfor you and I to be able to have
that power and have thosemanifestations, those different
(10:48):
ministries.
Let's look at it in 1Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 1
.
Concerning spiritual gifts.
Brethren, I don't want you tobe ignorant.
You know that you were Gentilescarried away to these dumb
idols.
However you were led.
Therefore, I make known to youthat no one speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesusaccursed and no one can say that
(11:09):
Jesus is Lord except by theHoly Spirit.
How about everyone in the room?
Can we say Jesus is Lord?
There are diversities of giftsthe same Spirit.
Differences of ministries, thesame Lord.
Diversities of activities, sameGod who works.
All in all.
Manifestation of the spirit isgiven to each one for the profit
(11:31):
of all, for to one is given theword of wisdom through the
spirit, to another the word ofknowledge through the same
spirit to another.
Faith by the same spirit toanother.
Gifts of healings by the samespirit to another.
The working of miracles toanother.
Prophecy to another.
Discerning of spirits toanother.
Gifts of healings by the sameSpirit to another, the working
of miracles to another, prophecyto another, discerning of
spirits to another, differentkinds of tongues to another, the
interpretation of tongues, butone and the same Spirit works
(11:56):
all these things, distributingto each one as he wills.
So differences, diversities,manifestations, and then he goes
through this list of these ninegifts that we are going to be
sharing with you over these nextfew weeks, mostly coupled
(12:18):
together.
So today we'll talk about thegift of prophecy and speaking in
tongues.
All right, I want you to look atverse 7 of that, and it gives
us some understanding of whyit's important for you and I to
desire the gifts, for you and Ito receive the gifts, and it
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says for the profit of all.
In the ESV it says for thecommon good, and then in the NLT
, the New Living Translation, itsays so that we can help each
other, so that we can help eachother.
So the gifts are not there foryou or I to operate in and try
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to exert some kind of aspiritual superiority over one
another.
Amen.
The gifts are not there for youto look like.
You have more with God, you'vegot more power.
They're there to build up thebody, they're there to encourage
(13:27):
one another.
So if you keep it in thatsimple form, it'll keep you from
falling into very much what Icall deception or being led
astray.
The gifts are not to be used topuff you up astray.
(13:49):
The gifts are not to be used topuff you up to make you look
good.
Come on, their function is tobuild up, is to encourage, is to
edify, is to comfort.
And so those really are the twogifts that we are talking about
today.
There's really no way to talkabout the gifts the nine,
especially without realizing howmuch they intertwine, how much
they work together, and althoughwe may kind of separate these
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two out today and try to standthem alone for a moment, just to
teach you about them, when theyoperate and when they function,
it may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
operating in that gift ofprophecy.
Does that make sense?
It may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
operating in that gift ofprophecy.
Does that make sense?
It may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
functioning in that gift ofhealing or that working of
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miracles or that gift of faith.
That makes sense to me, thespirit is always congruent and
is always working together, liketoday I have had and I'm trying
to figure out if it's just megetting old or if this is
actually something that I needto mention.
So I'm going to mention it justin case.
(14:56):
But I've had a lot of pain in myright foot and in my left hip.
Today I've had so much pain inmy left hip.
I feel like Jacob.
I feel like I've been wrestlingwith God over this message this
morning, but when it doesn'tsubside or when it doesn't leave
, I'm like this could be forsomeone in the room.
(15:18):
I may be feeling this pain,experiencing this, because he
wants a gift of healing or aworking of miracles to operate
and function right now.
In the name of Jesus, in thename of the Lord, just receive.
You got right foot pain.
Be healed.
In the name of Jesus, lord,thank you that you love me
enough to have Chris talk aboutit this morning.
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I receive my healing.
Put your hand on your left hipand say be made whole, be strong
, function the way you werecreated to Right Right, be
healed.
Sometimes that's just what youneed.
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You need the Lord.
We sat in here from Sunday toSunday still feel invisible,
still feel like we don't matter,we don't measure up, we're not
valuable.
I don't know if he heard myprayers.
I don't know if he really caresabout me.
When you look up here, he lovesyou, he cares about you.
(16:21):
You're on his mind.
He's got plans to prosper you,to give you a hope and a future.
It's who he is, it's what hedoes.
I receive it in Jesus' name.
If you look at 1 Corinthians,chapter 13, verse one and two,
it gives us more insight.
It says though I speak with thetongue of men, of angels, and
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have not love, I've become asounding brass and a clanging
cymbal.
And though I have the gift ofprophecy and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge,though I have all faith so that
I could remove mountains, but Ihave not love.
I am nothing.
And then, if you come on in tochapter 14, in verse one, what
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does it say?
It says pursue love, right, butdesire the gifts.
It's not a but Pursue love anddesire the gifts.
So really, in anything y'allthat we find ourselves
participating in, where we areChristians and where we are
(17:24):
believers and where we arefollowers and we are obedient
sons and daughters of ourheavenly father.
Love has to be the motivation,love has to be foremost, love
has to be at the front, it's gotto be the motivation, it's got
to be first.
And that's what Paul is saying.
(17:45):
He's saying hey, in all of thisfunctioning and all this
operating, all of this ministryand diversity of gifts and
manifestation, make sure thatit's motivated by love.
Make sure that you lead withlove.
And so that's our desire.
And then he said desire thesegifts, be passionate about them,
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be hungry for them, develop acraving for them, yearn about
them.
Be hungry for them, develop acraving for them, yearn for them
.
See if you're in the room andyou've never really heard or
read or been taught aboutspiritual gifts and their
function and operation.
For today, a lot of us haveprobably heard yeah, that was
just for then, that was just toget this thing kicked off, that
(18:27):
was just for the early church,to get them started.
But we stand here today knowingthat the same Holy Spirit is
still being poured out upon theearth.
Folks are still being drawninto the kingdom and into the
family of God.
Can I get an amen on that?
And so the function andoperation of the gifts are what
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empower you and I to be able toshow that full life in the
Spirit and live it in front of awatching world and really in
front of each other.
All right, so there's a hungerthere.
That's a prayer for all of usto pray, pray, lord, stir up
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that hunger.
Lord, to desire these gifts, todesire these ministries that
you want to pour into me, wow,all right.
So it says in that verse two.
In chapter 14, verse one, itsays to desire prophecy above
the others.
Right, I mean, it makes adistinction about prophecy.
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Let me say this before we getin to the teaching of tongues
and prophecy John John JackHayford.
Jack Hayford was a pastor of achurch on the way in Van Nuys,
california, for a long time.
It was a four square church.
He passed away just a couple ofyears ago.
This is what he had to say.
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Jesus gives the gift of the HolySpirit, yet when the Spirit
comes, he's loaded with packages.
He desires to release much morein us and through us than we
could ever imagine.
The gifts are given fordelivery, not for accumulation.
We receive them to pass them onto others, amen.
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So let's talk about this giftof tongues, right, quick.
In chapter 12, verse 10, Ithink we already read it, but it
talks about this gift ofdifferent or various kinds of
tongues that term tongues therecould be languages, all right,
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different, various kinds oflanguages.
If you go to Acts, chapter twoand verses one through seven, we
see this gift in operationreally for the very first time
in scripture.
All right, and it's in theupper room and it's after the
resurrection and ascension ofJesus and those believers had
(21:07):
gathered because he told them to.
He said go and wait and tarryand pray until that which is
promised is come, all right, andso the Holy Spirit blows into
that room in Acts, chapter twoand a cloven tongue of fire
comes and set over every one oftheir heads and it says that
every one of them began to speakwith other tongues as the
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Spirit gave them utterance andthey spilled out of that room
and they continued to speak inthose languages.
And all of the multitudes andthe crowds that had gathered,
because it was the harvest ofPentecost that they were
celebrating, it was a bigcelebration going on and it says
that these were Galileans andthat they were all speaking in a
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language that they didn't knowbut that the hearer did know,
y'all with me.
So this is how this thingkicked off, this whole gift of
tongues.
And so there was no need forinterpretation at that point
because, though unknown to them,it was known to the hearer, and
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you know what they were saying.
They were declaring the gloryof God, they were declaring the
wonders of God.
And so guess what, from the veryfirst use of this gift in the
New Testament, it was adeclaration of the gospel of
Jesus Christ that was goingforth, that piqued their
interest, so that Peter couldstand up behind them and say
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it's not on the board.
This is that which was spokenby the prophet Joel that in the
last days I'll pour out myspirit on all flesh.
Sons and daughters willprophesy, old men will see
visions, young men will dreamdreams.
Or is it the other way?
Old men will dream dreams andyoung men will see visions.
They're going to be visions anddreams, folks, on the young and
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on the old.
And he said I'm going to pourout my spirit on my handmaidens
and on my men servants.
And can I tell you that you'resitting in a church and a part
of a church, that we believethat that Holy Spirit is still
being poured out and he is stillactive, and if you didn't get
to listen to Pastor Lisa'smessage last week, would you
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please go back and listen to it,as she so beautifully
introduced the Holy Spirit to usin all of his glory and all of
his function and in all of thedifferent ways that he is here
to minister to us.
Are y'all all right thismorning?
So these tongues then?
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Yeah, it can be a knownlanguage to the hearer and not
known to the speaker.
How many of you remember Dr MarkRutland?
Raise your hand if you rememberDr Mark.
Years ago, dr Mark Rutland wasin South American country and it
(24:03):
came time for him to preach,and he was supposed to preach
through an interpreter.
The interpreter got deathly ill, was not able to make the
service.
Dr Rutland stood up.
He knew about this much SpanishHola mi amigos y amigas,
hermanos y hermanas.
Gloria a Dios, jesus Cristo, enel nombre de Cristo.
(24:28):
Right, I mean, he knew justenough to make some very, very
como esta muy bueno, es taco, esencherito, es chelada, es a
pollo, es loco en la cabeza.
You know, so funny, isn't it?
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It's so funny to be saying itin an Italian accent too.
That's what's hilarious, wow.
But when Dr Mark?
When Dr Mark opened his mouthand began to greet the people,
flew it Spanish, flew it Spanishthat he did not know, and he
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began to proclaim the God and heunderstood everything he was
saying and, to this day, canstill speak Spanish.
Because the Holy Spirit, yeah,wow, wow, wow, wow.
This is how this wow, wow, wowgift works.
This is how this thing canoperate.
And we're like, yeah, you know,I don't know it's spooky, it's
weird man, you know, I've donesome studying on it, I just
(25:32):
don't know if it's for today,friend, it's for today.
I don't know how to convinceyou of that, other than to tell
you that that gift is for today.
All right, and when you look atthe function of it, in 1
Corinthians 14, as Paul beginsto lay it out, he begins to make
this differentiation betweenlisten closely between that gift
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of tongues, where it is spokenin a public setting, or a church
setting, or a small groupsetting, or wherever you might
be, where there are folksgathered right, it will need an
interpretation.
Say amen, hallelujah, that'sgood, it's very simple.
He lays it out for us and thenthere is a gift that is attached
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to comes with this is thatfully loaded Holy Spirit that
lives inside of you and I.
That is a prayer language, aprayer tongue, all right.
Prayer language, a prayertongue, all right.
And the best way that we onearth know how to describe it is
through guys like Wayne Grudem,who said that it's
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unintelligible syllables thatare basically put together, all
right, that prayer language is.
And Paul, he goes through thiswhole thing.
He says, hey, listen, thatprayer language, those tongues,
that's for you.
Jude said it this way that onelittle chapter in Jude, in verse
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20, said building yourself upon your most holy faith, doing
what?
Praying in the Holy Ghost,praying in the Holy Ghost, all
right.
So sometimes this gift is gonnaoperate and it's gonna be a
language that you don't know butthe hearer is gonna know.
And then sometimes it's gonnabe a language, right, that's
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gonna need interpretation, right, when it's in a group, when
it's in a church.
And then there's that prayerlanguage, there's that prayer
gift of the Holy Spirit that isthere for you and I.
I got to give you a personaltestimony.
I was 15.
I was 1976.
I was in a little holinesschurch on a Wednesday night.
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Y'all have heard some of this.
No one had told me about this,see, and let me go back.
I was in a denomination thatdid not talk about the Holy
Spirit, didn't talk about thegifts, did not teach us, did not
open that up to us.
So I had no frame of reference.
I haven't heard anyone speak intongues, I haven't heard it
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preached about.
You know that, you, this is agift that you might want to,
might want to ask for or receivefrom the Lord.
No, I'm just a young fellowwho's freshly saved, gloriously
saved, actually delivered fromalcohol, delivered from lust,
delivered from lying, gloriouslydelivered, and set free Two
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weeks prior.
Two weeks later, I'm at analtar, unprompted, not even it
wasn't even an altar call.
I was just so hungry for Godand so new in my faith.
I just I'm like I'm just goingto go up there.
I've told y'all before Ianswered every altar call, those
first year of my life.
Man, people, you know like I'mnot going to go into it, but it
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was wild, but I answered a lotof altar calls.
This was no call.
I just wanted to get to thealtar.
As I began to cry out to him, Iwas really just thanking him.
Listen, are y'all listening?
I'm giving you a testimony thatcould possibly work for you.
I'm not saying this is the wayit has to be for you.
I'm just letting you know thatthis is my experience.
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This is what happened to me.
I was gloriously filled thatnight and that language began to
flow from me.
There actually was aninterpretation, but I was so
lost I didn't hear none of that.
I didn't know what was beingsaid, and our pastor's daughter
the next day had to pull me tothe side and say do you know
what was going on last night?
(29:28):
And I said I do not.
But I'm telling you, I'm 15.
I'm 15.
I'm telling you it felt reallygood so I could get out.
It's pretty amazing, right.
And she begins to teach me andtell me this is this gift, this
is how this function, this isyour prayer language, this is
how that functions.
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And y'all I got to tell you.
Then those first few months Iwas so excited to be saved, so
excited to have that gift, thatI know there were probably times
when I busted out in a serviceand I just started giving my
language.
And of course now it's got tobe interpreted right, or they're
going to have to say Chris isjust young and immature, he
(30:10):
don't really know what he'sdoing, so we think that might've
been his prayer language, butnobody ever did that.
There was always aninterpretation that followed it
and I, you know, in the middleof it I'm going, I don't know.
I don't know if I'm doing rightor if I'm doing wrong, and I
had such sweet pastors whopastored me and who taught me
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and who led me through that.
I was in a service in Christ forthe Nations when Jamie and I
were at Bible college back inthe late 70s and early 80s and
in a chapel service like thisthere'd be about 1500 people.
They would, you know theworship and then they would just
always.
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Anytime things got quiet, ifthere was a lull, somebody
wasn't singing, making adeclaration.
That was the student body'sopportunity to pipe in.
And we had some overzealous,more zealous students than we
did, others Y'all staying withme.
And there was this one brother,more zealous students than we
did others, y'all staying withme, and there was this one
(31:13):
brother.
He was zealous man.
He always had something, he hada gift.
He started out his first gift.
He's like yay, he.
And then he gave this prophecy,stood up again a little bit
later, yay, ho.
And he started the second wordThird time in the same chapel.
This brother stands up and goesYeha and one of our leaders
(31:36):
grabbed the microphone and saidYehush, brother, and sit down.
So in chapter 14, it makes twostatements.
It says let these gifts operate, listen, let them operate
decently and in order, right.
(31:56):
And it says that God is not aGod of confusion, he is a God of
order.
All right, so I'm gonna invitey'all to come on up because
we're gonna jump into this,because I'm running out of time.
Let me talk real quick to youabout the gift of prophecy.
Let's define it.
It's an empowered ability toreceive and communicate a
(32:18):
message from God thatstrengthens, encourages,
comforts others, spoken in humanwords and always subject to
discernment and testing.
Did y'all get that?
It's a good one.
In the Old Testament, god usedprophets to be his mouthpiece.
In the New Testament, he hasgiven the Holy Spirit filled
(32:40):
with gifts to empower his churchto represent him in the earth.
Wayne Grudem again says thatprophecy is telling something
that God has spontaneouslybrought to mind.
Using the speaker's own words,did you know?
In our day and time now,preaching really is a form of
(33:00):
prophecy.
It can fall into the operationof this gift.
Prophecy is best.
Think about it.
Prophecy is best because itbuilds up, it edifies, it
encourages and it comforts.
It can also admonish, coursecorrect, bring an admonition or
(33:26):
an exhortation right To youpersonally or to us as a body.
I want that next slide to go up.
So, these two gifts, how dothey function?
Tongues functions to edify yourprayer language, to edify the
individual.
When you speak in tongues in apublic setting or in a church
(33:48):
service, that's when it's goingto need to have an
interpretation.
Right, the scripture actuallysays that if you're going to
give a message in tongues inpublic, that you need to either
know that there is aninterpreter there, someone who
functions in the gift ofinterpretation of tongues, or
you're going to need to pray forthe interpretation.
(34:10):
Amen.
You can see why and how thiswould get out of order and get
confusing pretty quickly.
What should not be confusing toyou as a spirit-filled believer
is to hear one of your brothersor sisters praying in their
given heavenly language.
(34:30):
Does that make sense?
Not trying to give it to thewhole church, but you may stand
beside somebody who's worshipingin the spirit.
Paul said it.
He said I sing in the spiritand I sing with the
understanding.
He said I speak the language Iknow and I speak in the Spirit.
He said I pray withunderstanding and I pray in the
(34:53):
Spirit, come on.
So if we're not all let's justsay it this way praying in the
Spirit to me, we're leaving apart of the gifts on the table
that are available to us.
I don't have time this morningto tell you how many times I've
been praying in tongues.
For 49 years, since March the4th, 1976, I've been praying.
(35:17):
That language has been mineDifferent times, different
places, different churches,different services, different
states.
Yeah, there's beenopportunities where I've
operated in the gift of tonguesor where I've given an
interpretation of a message thatwas given.
Sadly, I've got too manystories that you're like that
(35:40):
was probably not God, not formyself, but just I don't
understand how we can get so faroff base.
I had one guy, a pastor, andevery time he started a message
in tongues it began with E coli,e coli.
I'm like, oh, here we go andy'all.
(36:02):
It became so kind of redundantthat these were the only two
guys that were gonna operate inthese gifts in our body, or they
kind of dominated, didn'treally.
You know, it was that whole ifit gets quiet thing, if it gets
quiet long enough, e coli.
And after E coli, bosley wouldspeak in.
Now his name was Chuck, but wecalled him Bosley because he had
(36:26):
the voice of Bosley andCharlie's Angels and Bosley,
every time.
Every time Bosley would say andthe Lord would say and then he
would tell us what the Lord wassaying.
But you could, almost likeclockwork, say, oh, we're fixing
to get an E coli and the Lordwould say, look at me, that's
(36:46):
not the way these gifts function.
An E coli.
And the Lord would say, look atme, that's not the way these
gifts function, that's not theway they're supposed to operate.
Amen.
So this gift of prophecy thatwe're going to operate here in
just a moment and just make someprophetic declarations, some
word of wisdom, word ofknowledge that we've prayed
about this week, that we'regoing to just speak over you,
(37:09):
and I feel like the Lord's givenus a way to do that.
1205, glory to God.
Stand up, stand up with me.
I don't feel, pastor Scott andBrad, I don't feel like I've
gone into enough depth into theteaching and just for time's
sake I'm gonna go ahead and goto this.
(37:29):
What we're, this exercise we'reabout to do, I do wanna leave
you with this.
On the teaching side of it, thatprophecy brings edification and
encouragement, guidance anddirection Please listen Exposure
of sin and correction.
It can strengthen your faithwhen that gift is operating by
(37:52):
the Holy Spirit.
It can make you aware ofspiritual warfare when that gift
is operating and it can stiryou to evangelism and to be a
soul winner when that gift isoperating and functioning and
you and I stay awake to thewhole idea that you and I are
(38:13):
here to be salt and light.
Rt Kendall said this and I wantyou to close your eyes just to
receive this, and then we'regoing to move into this exercise
.
Holy Spirit overrule in my lifethat I will never quench the
fire that you have caused toburn.
Let me never pour water on woodthat you want to ignite.
(38:35):
I pray that you will comeunquenched into my heart and
stay there without any hindrancefrom me.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
We hope and pray this message was encouraging and
impactful.
Join us live on our website orFacebook on Sundays at 9 and 11
am.
You can stay connected with uson Facebook and Instagram at the
Rock Family.
Have a Jesus-filled week.
Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.
For more information about ourchurch, please visit
therockfamilytv Now.
Join us for a message fromPastor Chris Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning.
Good morning, this is sowonderful to get to be before
you today and thank you, pastorScott and Britt, for the
opportunity.
It's always an honor.
I did look at my watch before Icame up here.
I think it's just what you do.
I think it's what you do andI'm going to ask, I'm going to
(00:40):
request something that you never, ever put me behind Dr Ballard
again.
It's just, it's just really notfair at all.
But anyway, such an amazing,amazing presentation and if I
say something over these nextfew moments that you're like
yeah, I don't even know ifthat's right or not Just go.
(01:01):
It's Miracle Sunday and itfeels like Christmas.
I didn't run this through,jamie, but will you come to our
house for Christmas and justtell us the Christmas story,
just so I can see the tree andthe lights and all the grandkids
are sitting around, we've gotour dog and Dr Bowler comes in
(01:23):
and tells us the story ofChristmas.
I kind of feel like that guythat made the 911 call had a
friend that was hurt and thedispatcher answered and said you
know, what do you need?
And he said I need an ambulance.
I said my friend is, my friendis hurt.
I need you to come pick him upand she said, okay, what street
(01:44):
are you on?
And he said we're on Eucalyptus.
And she said, well, can youspell that?
And he said I tell you what I'mgoing to move him over to Pine
Streets and y'all come and pickhim up over there.
(02:05):
Oh, my goodness, all right, youknow I was thinking about this
that when we, when we standbefore you, and over the summer,
you're going to get to hearfrom just different voices here
in the house and on our staffand from different, you know
different pastors and how thatwe all, you know we're a vessel,
(02:25):
each of us are a vessel that isyielded and is surrendered and
submitted to the Lord and takevery, very seriously these
moments to open up the word ofGod and to, as Pastor Scott said
, to teach and to equip you,teach and to equip you.
(02:49):
And so with that comes thatfilter.
You know that Chris has, orwhoever it might be.
You're hearing my background,you're hearing my upbringing,
you're hearing, obviously, humorevery now and then, but you're
also hearing the story and theexperience and, basically, if
you want to say my take, you mytake on the word and the angle
that I'm looking at it from andat the same time, all over this
(03:13):
room, I realize and this isprobably the obvious being
spoken, but I think it needs tobe said that all over this room
today there are so manydifferent backgrounds, different
associations with the church.
Some of you don't know muchabout the church.
You're just coming to Christ oryou're actually here today
(03:35):
because you are seeking and yourealize that.
You know you need some help andwe're here to declare that
Jesus is, he's that help for you.
But depending on thedenomination or the upbringing
or the association that you havewith church can a lot of times
(03:56):
determine whether how you'regonna hear what we're giving you
and what we're sharing with youover these next few weeks when
we talk about the gifts and themanifestations of the Holy
Spirit that are mentioned in 1Corinthians, 12, 13, and 14.
A lot of times we've heard anangle of it, we've been taught a
(04:21):
certain way and maybe youdidn't take the time to really
delve into it and look into itand receive the full measure of
the truth and of the power thatthe Holy Spirit is trying to
emphasize and encourage all ofus to operate in.
(04:43):
Would y'all agree with that?
If I've had a limited exposureto the gifts of the Spirit, the
operation, the function of theSpirit, then I may have a
tendency to throw up a defenseor a filter or a wall that would
keep me from really receiving,being changed, being transformed
(05:07):
.
You know, if all you or I evergot was vanilla ice cream, how
many of you know that our palatewould be limited of all the
other flavors of?
Come on somebody, yeah, talkingabout ice cream there for just
a moment.
All right, I think of those andI'm sure there's no one in the
(05:31):
room like this or listening thatare dogmatic, just dogmatic
about your belief, dogmaticabout your doctrine or your
theology.
Specifically, I guess I thinkof those that might believe that
you're not baptized unlessyou've been baptized in the name
of Jesus.
That was such a strong thingyears ago that when we baptize
(05:55):
people, just to try to pleaseeveryone in the room, we would
say we baptize you in the nameof Jesus and the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, just totry to accommodate everyone's
feelings.
Man, sometimes you just need tokeep your feelings to yourself.
But anyway, I think about thosethat might be in the room that
(06:19):
are dogmatic that you are notbaptized in the Holy Spirit
until you speak in tongues.
If you ain't speaking intongues, you're not baptized in
the Holy Spirit.
Can I tell you something?
I hope that all of us are asdogmatic about the scriptures
that list gossipers and liarsand adulterers and fornicators
(06:44):
and cowards as non-kingdominheritors.
Can I get an amen?
It's amazing to me how we loveto point out certain lists or
certain things that maybe we'renot sinning in.
But can I tell you, the word'svery, very specific.
And if we're going to bedogmatic, let's be dogmatic
(07:05):
about obeying the ScriptureRight, loving the Word and
letting the Word work inside ofus.
So after that statement, Iwould say to all of us church,
let's hold our tongue, let'spurify our eyes and our hearts
and let's tell the truth andlet's live for Jesus.
Amen.
(07:27):
Can I tell you a couple ofdisclaimers?
You don't have to speak intongues to go to heaven.
You don't have to speak intongues to go to heaven and you
don't have to receive a giftthat the Lord gives you.
You don't have to, but whywould you not?
Right?
But you really don't have to.
Any gift you ever receive, youdon't have to take it and to
(07:47):
receive it.
I strongly encourage us toreceive.
I encourage all of us to takewhatever he is saying is
important and that we need.
So the first set of scripturesis going to come up for us we
need.
So the first set of scripturesis going to come up for us.
You know, our hope in this, inthis whole series, is is to help
(08:14):
educate and make you aware ofthe gifts, and then we're going
to trust the Holy Spirit to showup in power and in
demonstration.
Right, I really feel like Paulthis morning.
I didn't come to you withpersuasive words of men's wisdom
, but I'm believing for ademonstration of the power of
the Spirit as we receive theWord today.
As you are here for the end ofthe service, I would encourage
(08:37):
you to stay.
It's going to be quitedifferent.
It's going to be adventurousand it's going to be filled with
a lot of fear and trepidationon those who are participating.
That's all I'll say about it.
I don't want to give it away,all right?
So we have to look at Paul'sinstruction to the Corinthian
church about gifts and how theyoperate, beginning with chapter
(08:59):
11.
If we're holding this incontext, this whole teaching,
this series, you really have tolook at chapter 11 and go
through chapter 15.
All right, so those bookends ofchapter 11 and chapter 15 are
really what set up all of theteaching and the instruction and
the equipping that happens in12, 13, and 14.
(09:22):
How many of you are with me in12, 13, and 14.
How many of you are with me Inchapter 11 is where he really
talks about the Lord's Supperand talks about how we're
supposed to approach that tableand approach that meal and how.
You know it's man.
It's a time to examine ourhearts.
It's a time to look inside andmake sure that we are
(09:45):
remembering who Christ is, whatChrist did, what he provided,
what that new covenant has setin motion.
And then you know, in chapter15, it really talks it's the
gospel, it's the gospel.
It's really the gospel inchapter 11 too, when you talk
about the Lord's Supper and allthat happened through the
(10:06):
redemption and all that wasexecuted and all that was set
forth in motion when the Lordwent to the cross.
He actually set it in motionbefore, but in chapter 15, he
comes out strong.
He's talking about the deathand the burial and the
resurrection and the ascensionof our Lord and Savior, jesus
(10:28):
Christ.
So if you need context thismorning, which we all do.
The gifts are there to help youand I promote the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
That's what it's there for isfor you and I to be able to have
that power and have thosemanifestations, those different
(10:48):
ministries.
Let's look at it in 1Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 1
.
Concerning spiritual gifts.
Brethren, I don't want you tobe ignorant.
You know that you were Gentilescarried away to these dumb
idols.
However you were led.
Therefore, I make known to youthat no one speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesusaccursed and no one can say that
(11:09):
Jesus is Lord except by theHoly Spirit.
How about everyone in the room?
Can we say Jesus is Lord?
There are diversities of giftsthe same Spirit.
Differences of ministries, thesame Lord.
Diversities of activities, sameGod who works.
All in all.
Manifestation of the spirit isgiven to each one for the profit
(11:31):
of all, for to one is given theword of wisdom through the
spirit, to another the word ofknowledge through the same
spirit to another.
Faith by the same spirit toanother.
Gifts of healings by the samespirit to another.
The working of miracles toanother.
Prophecy to another.
Discerning of spirits toanother.
Gifts of healings by the sameSpirit to another, the working
of miracles to another, prophecyto another, discerning of
spirits to another, differentkinds of tongues to another, the
interpretation of tongues, butone and the same Spirit works
(11:56):
all these things, distributingto each one as he wills.
So differences, diversities,manifestations, and then he goes
through this list of these ninegifts that we are going to be
sharing with you over these nextfew weeks, mostly coupled
(12:18):
together.
So today we'll talk about thegift of prophecy and speaking in
tongues.
All right, I want you to look atverse 7 of that, and it gives
us some understanding of whyit's important for you and I to
desire the gifts, for you and Ito receive the gifts, and it
(12:43):
says for the profit of all.
In the ESV it says for thecommon good, and then in the NLT
, the New Living Translation, itsays so that we can help each
other, so that we can help eachother.
So the gifts are not there foryou or I to operate in and try
(13:04):
to exert some kind of aspiritual superiority over one
another.
Amen.
The gifts are not there for youto look like.
You have more with God, you'vegot more power.
They're there to build up thebody, they're there to encourage
(13:27):
one another.
So if you keep it in thatsimple form, it'll keep you from
falling into very much what Icall deception or being led
astray.
The gifts are not to be used topuff you up astray.
(13:49):
The gifts are not to be used topuff you up to make you look
good.
Come on, their function is tobuild up, is to encourage, is to
edify, is to comfort.
And so those really are the twogifts that we are talking about
today.
There's really no way to talkabout the gifts the nine,
especially without realizing howmuch they intertwine, how much
they work together, and althoughwe may kind of separate these
(14:11):
two out today and try to standthem alone for a moment, just to
teach you about them, when theyoperate and when they function,
it may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
operating in that gift ofprophecy.
Does that make sense?
It may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
operating in that gift ofprophecy.
Does that make sense?
It may be a word of wisdom or aword of knowledge that is
functioning in that gift ofhealing or that working of
(14:34):
miracles or that gift of faith.
That makes sense to me, thespirit is always congruent and
is always working together, liketoday I have had and I'm trying
to figure out if it's just megetting old or if this is
actually something that I needto mention.
So I'm going to mention it justin case.
(14:56):
But I've had a lot of pain in myright foot and in my left hip.
Today I've had so much pain inmy left hip.
I feel like Jacob.
I feel like I've been wrestlingwith God over this message this
morning, but when it doesn'tsubside or when it doesn't leave
, I'm like this could be forsomeone in the room.
(15:18):
I may be feeling this pain,experiencing this, because he
wants a gift of healing or aworking of miracles to operate
and function right now.
In the name of Jesus, in thename of the Lord, just receive.
You got right foot pain.
Be healed.
In the name of Jesus, lord,thank you that you love me
enough to have Chris talk aboutit this morning.
(15:40):
I receive my healing.
Put your hand on your left hipand say be made whole, be strong
, function the way you werecreated to Right Right, be
healed.
Sometimes that's just what youneed.
(16:01):
You need the Lord.
We sat in here from Sunday toSunday still feel invisible,
still feel like we don't matter,we don't measure up, we're not
valuable.
I don't know if he heard myprayers.
I don't know if he really caresabout me.
When you look up here, he lovesyou, he cares about you.
(16:21):
You're on his mind.
He's got plans to prosper you,to give you a hope and a future.
It's who he is, it's what hedoes.
I receive it in Jesus' name.
If you look at 1 Corinthians,chapter 13, verse one and two,
it gives us more insight.
It says though I speak with thetongue of men, of angels, and
(16:42):
have not love, I've become asounding brass and a clanging
cymbal.
And though I have the gift ofprophecy and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge,though I have all faith so that
I could remove mountains, but Ihave not love.
I am nothing.
And then, if you come on in tochapter 14, in verse one, what
(17:03):
does it say?
It says pursue love, right, butdesire the gifts.
It's not a but Pursue love anddesire the gifts.
So really, in anything y'allthat we find ourselves
participating in, where we areChristians and where we are
(17:24):
believers and where we arefollowers and we are obedient
sons and daughters of ourheavenly father.
Love has to be the motivation,love has to be foremost, love
has to be at the front, it's gotto be the motivation, it's got
to be first.
And that's what Paul is saying.
(17:45):
He's saying hey, in all of thisfunctioning and all this
operating, all of this ministryand diversity of gifts and
manifestation, make sure thatit's motivated by love.
Make sure that you lead withlove.
And so that's our desire.
And then he said desire thesegifts, be passionate about them,
(18:07):
be hungry for them, develop acraving for them, yearn about
them.
Be hungry for them, develop acraving for them, yearn for them
.
See if you're in the room andyou've never really heard or
read or been taught aboutspiritual gifts and their
function and operation.
For today, a lot of us haveprobably heard yeah, that was
just for then, that was just toget this thing kicked off, that
(18:27):
was just for the early church,to get them started.
But we stand here today knowingthat the same Holy Spirit is
still being poured out upon theearth.
Folks are still being drawninto the kingdom and into the
family of God.
Can I get an amen on that?
And so the function andoperation of the gifts are what
(18:48):
empower you and I to be able toshow that full life in the
Spirit and live it in front of awatching world and really in
front of each other.
All right, so there's a hungerthere.
That's a prayer for all of usto pray, pray, lord, stir up
(19:18):
that hunger.
Lord, to desire these gifts, todesire these ministries that
you want to pour into me, wow,all right.
So it says in that verse two.
In chapter 14, verse one, itsays to desire prophecy above
the others.
Right, I mean, it makes adistinction about prophecy.
(19:39):
Let me say this before we getin to the teaching of tongues
and prophecy John John JackHayford.
Jack Hayford was a pastor of achurch on the way in Van Nuys,
california, for a long time.
It was a four square church.
He passed away just a couple ofyears ago.
This is what he had to say.
(19:59):
Jesus gives the gift of the HolySpirit, yet when the Spirit
comes, he's loaded with packages.
He desires to release much morein us and through us than we
could ever imagine.
The gifts are given fordelivery, not for accumulation.
We receive them to pass them onto others, amen.
(20:21):
So let's talk about this giftof tongues, right, quick.
In chapter 12, verse 10, Ithink we already read it, but it
talks about this gift ofdifferent or various kinds of
tongues that term tongues therecould be languages, all right,
(20:44):
different, various kinds oflanguages.
If you go to Acts, chapter twoand verses one through seven, we
see this gift in operationreally for the very first time
in scripture.
All right, and it's in theupper room and it's after the
resurrection and ascension ofJesus and those believers had
(21:07):
gathered because he told them to.
He said go and wait and tarryand pray until that which is
promised is come, all right, andso the Holy Spirit blows into
that room in Acts, chapter twoand a cloven tongue of fire
comes and set over every one oftheir heads and it says that
every one of them began to speakwith other tongues as the
(21:29):
Spirit gave them utterance andthey spilled out of that room
and they continued to speak inthose languages.
And all of the multitudes andthe crowds that had gathered,
because it was the harvest ofPentecost that they were
celebrating, it was a bigcelebration going on and it says
that these were Galileans andthat they were all speaking in a
(21:53):
language that they didn't knowbut that the hearer did know,
y'all with me.
So this is how this thingkicked off, this whole gift of
tongues.
And so there was no need forinterpretation at that point
because, though unknown to them,it was known to the hearer, and
(22:16):
you know what they were saying.
They were declaring the gloryof God, they were declaring the
wonders of God.
And so guess what, from the veryfirst use of this gift in the
New Testament, it was adeclaration of the gospel of
Jesus Christ that was goingforth, that piqued their
interest, so that Peter couldstand up behind them and say
(22:37):
it's not on the board.
This is that which was spokenby the prophet Joel that in the
last days I'll pour out myspirit on all flesh.
Sons and daughters willprophesy, old men will see
visions, young men will dreamdreams.
Or is it the other way?
Old men will dream dreams andyoung men will see visions.
They're going to be visions anddreams, folks, on the young and
(23:01):
on the old.
And he said I'm going to pourout my spirit on my handmaidens
and on my men servants.
And can I tell you that you'resitting in a church and a part
of a church, that we believethat that Holy Spirit is still
being poured out and he is stillactive, and if you didn't get
to listen to Pastor Lisa'smessage last week, would you
(23:21):
please go back and listen to it,as she so beautifully
introduced the Holy Spirit to usin all of his glory and all of
his function and in all of thedifferent ways that he is here
to minister to us.
Are y'all all right thismorning?
So these tongues then?
(23:41):
Yeah, it can be a knownlanguage to the hearer and not
known to the speaker.
How many of you remember Dr MarkRutland?
Raise your hand if you rememberDr Mark.
Years ago, dr Mark Rutland wasin South American country and it
(24:03):
came time for him to preach,and he was supposed to preach
through an interpreter.
The interpreter got deathly ill, was not able to make the
service.
Dr Rutland stood up.
He knew about this much SpanishHola mi amigos y amigas,
hermanos y hermanas.
Gloria a Dios, jesus Cristo, enel nombre de Cristo.
(24:28):
Right, I mean, he knew justenough to make some very, very
como esta muy bueno, es taco, esencherito, es chelada, es a
pollo, es loco en la cabeza.
You know, so funny, isn't it?
(24:48):
It's so funny to be saying itin an Italian accent too.
That's what's hilarious, wow.
But when Dr Mark?
When Dr Mark opened his mouthand began to greet the people,
flew it Spanish, flew it Spanishthat he did not know, and he
(25:10):
began to proclaim the God and heunderstood everything he was
saying and, to this day, canstill speak Spanish.
Because the Holy Spirit, yeah,wow, wow, wow, wow.
This is how this wow, wow, wowgift works.
This is how this thing canoperate.
And we're like, yeah, you know,I don't know it's spooky, it's
weird man, you know, I've donesome studying on it, I just
(25:32):
don't know if it's for today,friend, it's for today.
I don't know how to convinceyou of that, other than to tell
you that that gift is for today.
All right, and when you look atthe function of it, in 1
Corinthians 14, as Paul beginsto lay it out, he begins to make
this differentiation betweenlisten closely between that gift
(25:54):
of tongues, where it is spokenin a public setting, or a church
setting, or a small groupsetting, or wherever you might
be, where there are folksgathered right, it will need an
interpretation.
Say amen, hallelujah, that'sgood, it's very simple.
He lays it out for us and thenthere is a gift that is attached
(26:16):
to comes with this is thatfully loaded Holy Spirit that
lives inside of you and I.
That is a prayer language, aprayer tongue, all right.
Prayer language, a prayertongue, all right.
And the best way that we onearth know how to describe it is
through guys like Wayne Grudem,who said that it's
(26:37):
unintelligible syllables thatare basically put together, all
right, that prayer language is.
And Paul, he goes through thiswhole thing.
He says, hey, listen, thatprayer language, those tongues,
that's for you.
Jude said it this way that onelittle chapter in Jude, in verse
(26:57):
20, said building yourself upon your most holy faith, doing
what?
Praying in the Holy Ghost,praying in the Holy Ghost, all
right.
So sometimes this gift is gonnaoperate and it's gonna be a
language that you don't know butthe hearer is gonna know.
And then sometimes it's gonnabe a language, right, that's
(27:19):
gonna need interpretation, right, when it's in a group, when
it's in a church.
And then there's that prayerlanguage, there's that prayer
gift of the Holy Spirit that isthere for you and I.
I got to give you a personaltestimony.
I was 15.
I was 1976.
I was in a little holinesschurch on a Wednesday night.
(27:39):
Y'all have heard some of this.
No one had told me about this,see, and let me go back.
I was in a denomination thatdid not talk about the Holy
Spirit, didn't talk about thegifts, did not teach us, did not
open that up to us.
So I had no frame of reference.
I haven't heard anyone speak intongues, I haven't heard it
(28:01):
preached about.
You know that, you, this is agift that you might want to,
might want to ask for or receivefrom the Lord.
No, I'm just a young fellowwho's freshly saved, gloriously
saved, actually delivered fromalcohol, delivered from lust,
delivered from lying, gloriouslydelivered, and set free Two
(28:22):
weeks prior.
Two weeks later, I'm at analtar, unprompted, not even it
wasn't even an altar call.
I was just so hungry for Godand so new in my faith.
I just I'm like I'm just goingto go up there.
I've told y'all before Ianswered every altar call, those
first year of my life.
Man, people, you know like I'mnot going to go into it, but it
(28:43):
was wild, but I answered a lotof altar calls.
This was no call.
I just wanted to get to thealtar.
As I began to cry out to him, Iwas really just thanking him.
Listen, are y'all listening?
I'm giving you a testimony thatcould possibly work for you.
I'm not saying this is the wayit has to be for you.
I'm just letting you know thatthis is my experience.
(29:07):
This is what happened to me.
I was gloriously filled thatnight and that language began to
flow from me.
There actually was aninterpretation, but I was so
lost I didn't hear none of that.
I didn't know what was beingsaid, and our pastor's daughter
the next day had to pull me tothe side and say do you know
what was going on last night?
(29:28):
And I said I do not.
But I'm telling you, I'm 15.
I'm 15.
I'm telling you it felt reallygood so I could get out.
It's pretty amazing, right.
And she begins to teach me andtell me this is this gift, this
is how this function, this isyour prayer language, this is
how that functions.
(29:49):
And y'all I got to tell you.
Then those first few months Iwas so excited to be saved, so
excited to have that gift, thatI know there were probably times
when I busted out in a serviceand I just started giving my
language.
And of course now it's got tobe interpreted right, or they're
going to have to say Chris isjust young and immature, he
(30:10):
don't really know what he'sdoing, so we think that might've
been his prayer language, butnobody ever did that.
There was always aninterpretation that followed it
and I, you know, in the middleof it I'm going, I don't know.
I don't know if I'm doing rightor if I'm doing wrong, and I
had such sweet pastors whopastored me and who taught me
(30:32):
and who led me through that.
I was in a service in Christ forthe Nations when Jamie and I
were at Bible college back inthe late 70s and early 80s and
in a chapel service like thisthere'd be about 1500 people.
They would, you know theworship and then they would just
always.
(30:52):
Anytime things got quiet, ifthere was a lull, somebody
wasn't singing, making adeclaration.
That was the student body'sopportunity to pipe in.
And we had some overzealous,more zealous students than we
did, others Y'all staying withme.
And there was this one brother,more zealous students than we
did others, y'all staying withme, and there was this one
(31:13):
brother.
He was zealous man.
He always had something, he hada gift.
He started out his first gift.
He's like yay, he.
And then he gave this prophecy,stood up again a little bit
later, yay, ho.
And he started the second wordThird time in the same chapel.
This brother stands up and goesYeha and one of our leaders
(31:36):
grabbed the microphone and saidYehush, brother, and sit down.
So in chapter 14, it makes twostatements.
It says let these gifts operate, listen, let them operate
decently and in order, right.
(31:56):
And it says that God is not aGod of confusion, he is a God of
order.
All right, so I'm gonna invitey'all to come on up because
we're gonna jump into this,because I'm running out of time.
Let me talk real quick to youabout the gift of prophecy.
Let's define it.
It's an empowered ability toreceive and communicate a
(32:18):
message from God thatstrengthens, encourages,
comforts others, spoken in humanwords and always subject to
discernment and testing.
Did y'all get that?
It's a good one.
In the Old Testament, god usedprophets to be his mouthpiece.
In the New Testament, he hasgiven the Holy Spirit filled
(32:40):
with gifts to empower his churchto represent him in the earth.
Wayne Grudem again says thatprophecy is telling something
that God has spontaneouslybrought to mind.
Using the speaker's own words,did you know?
In our day and time now,preaching really is a form of
(33:00):
prophecy.
It can fall into the operationof this gift.
Prophecy is best.
Think about it.
Prophecy is best because itbuilds up, it edifies, it
encourages and it comforts.
It can also admonish, coursecorrect, bring an admonition or
(33:26):
an exhortation right To youpersonally or to us as a body.
I want that next slide to go up.
So, these two gifts, how dothey function?
Tongues functions to edify yourprayer language, to edify the
individual.
When you speak in tongues in apublic setting or in a church
(33:48):
service, that's when it's goingto need to have an
interpretation.
Right, the scripture actuallysays that if you're going to
give a message in tongues inpublic, that you need to either
know that there is aninterpreter there, someone who
functions in the gift ofinterpretation of tongues, or
you're going to need to pray forthe interpretation.
(34:10):
Amen.
You can see why and how thiswould get out of order and get
confusing pretty quickly.
What should not be confusing toyou as a spirit-filled believer
is to hear one of your brothersor sisters praying in their
given heavenly language.
(34:30):
Does that make sense?
Not trying to give it to thewhole church, but you may stand
beside somebody who's worshipingin the spirit.
Paul said it.
He said I sing in the spiritand I sing with the
understanding.
He said I speak the language Iknow and I speak in the Spirit.
He said I pray withunderstanding and I pray in the
(34:53):
Spirit, come on.
So if we're not all let's justsay it this way praying in the
Spirit to me, we're leaving apart of the gifts on the table
that are available to us.
I don't have time this morningto tell you how many times I've
been praying in tongues.
For 49 years, since March the4th, 1976, I've been praying.
(35:17):
That language has been mineDifferent times, different
places, different churches,different services, different
states.
Yeah, there's beenopportunities where I've
operated in the gift of tonguesor where I've given an
interpretation of a message thatwas given.
Sadly, I've got too manystories that you're like that
(35:40):
was probably not God, not formyself, but just I don't
understand how we can get so faroff base.
I had one guy, a pastor, andevery time he started a message
in tongues it began with E coli,e coli.
I'm like, oh, here we go andy'all.
(36:02):
It became so kind of redundantthat these were the only two
guys that were gonna operate inthese gifts in our body, or they
kind of dominated, didn'treally.
You know, it was that whole ifit gets quiet thing, if it gets
quiet long enough, e coli.
And after E coli, bosley wouldspeak in.
Now his name was Chuck, but wecalled him Bosley because he had
(36:26):
the voice of Bosley andCharlie's Angels and Bosley,
every time.
Every time Bosley would say andthe Lord would say and then he
would tell us what the Lord wassaying.
But you could, almost likeclockwork, say, oh, we're fixing
to get an E coli and the Lordwould say, look at me, that's
(36:46):
not the way these gifts function.
An E coli.
And the Lord would say, look atme, that's not the way these
gifts function, that's not theway they're supposed to operate.
Amen.
So this gift of prophecy thatwe're going to operate here in
just a moment and just make someprophetic declarations, some
word of wisdom, word ofknowledge that we've prayed
about this week, that we'regoing to just speak over you,
(37:09):
and I feel like the Lord's givenus a way to do that.
1205, glory to God.
Stand up, stand up with me.
I don't feel, pastor Scott andBrad, I don't feel like I've
gone into enough depth into theteaching and just for time's
sake I'm gonna go ahead and goto this.
(37:29):
What we're, this exercise we'reabout to do, I do wanna leave
you with this.
On the teaching side of it, thatprophecy brings edification and
encouragement, guidance anddirection Please listen Exposure
of sin and correction.
It can strengthen your faithwhen that gift is operating by
(37:52):
the Holy Spirit.
It can make you aware ofspiritual warfare when that gift
is operating and it can stiryou to evangelism and to be a
soul winner when that gift isoperating and functioning and
you and I stay awake to thewhole idea that you and I are
(38:13):
here to be salt and light.
Rt Kendall said this and I wantyou to close your eyes just to
receive this, and then we'regoing to move into this exercise
.
Holy Spirit overrule in my lifethat I will never quench the
fire that you have caused toburn.
Let me never pour water on woodthat you want to ignite.
(38:35):
I pray that you will comeunquenched into my heart and
stay there without any hindrancefrom me.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
We hope and pray this message was encouraging and
impactful.
Join us live on our website orFacebook on Sundays at 9 and 11
am.
You can stay connected with uson Facebook and Instagram at the
Rock Family.
Have a Jesus-filled week.
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