Sunday Sermon 06-05-2012 : Knowing Gifts and Tongues
Sunday Sermon : Knowing Gifts and Tongues
Pastor Joyce Yong
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| Are you ready for receiving gifts ? |
Key Verse : 1 Peter 4 : 10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Greetings to all beloved brothers and sisters in Christ ! This week, we are learning to know what are gifts and the gifts of speaking in tongues.
After being filled by the Holy Spirit, we should be moving on to the next level of receiving spiritual gifts.
Part One : Understanding God's gifts
What does gifts refer to ? Gifts can be defined in three ways ,
(1) God's blessings ( please refer to Ecclesiastes 3 : 13 , 5 : 19 )
Blessings are a gift from God. Every gifts from God brings down blessings. For example, if you have the gift of healing, you will bring down healing blessings .
(2) Rewards according to Grace ( please refer to Romans 5 : 15 , 6 :23 , John 4:10 , 6:65 )
The purpose of being gifted is to lead people to Christ . Gift demonstrates God's power on man weakness.
(3) Spiritual wisdom to understand spiritual revelation from God. ( please refer to 2 Corinthians 2 : 12 )
Who is able to understand spiritual revelation ? When Jesus came and fulfilled salvation , through him we understand how to live a life of faith on earth , and understand spiritual revelation that has been revealed by God.
Gifts are a blessings from God to lead people to Christ and to help others and ourselves to understand spiritual revelation.
Gifts are being used widely in three areas. Thank God for he has unlimited gifts for us to use properly and in these three areas below
(A) Self - Service (Eg: Gift of speaking in tongues, prayer , faith , discerning Spirits )
God gave each of us gifts as a tool to build up our spiritual life and to prepare ourselves to receive more advanced gifts to understand spiritual revelation.
(B) Serving others (Eg: Gift of healing ,encouraging ,performing miracles , words of wisdom and knowledge)
Gifts are also used to help the spiritual life of others to grow , to walk in the path according to God's will and to understand spiritual revelation .
(C) Serve Church (Eg: Gift of prophecy , translating tongues , teaching )
Lastly, God gave all of us gifts to serve the church, so the church may walk on the right path , and live a life of glorifying God.
Sometimes, people mistook gifts as miracles or being filled with the Holy Spirit. What are the differences between those three.
(1) Gifts brings miracles, but having miracles does not mean you have the gift. Last year 2011 , I attended my ministry " Warrior Bride Christian Conference " in Singapore , there are gold dusts scattered on my handbook. Does this gold dust miracle means I am gifted with giving gold dust ? No ,or maybe still under development.
How can I know whether I am gifted or its just receiving a miracle ? If its a gift, the miracles it bring will be continuously not only once.
(2) Gifts aids the growth of our spiritual life , miracles encourages our faith.
(3) When we felt the Spirit Presence such as cool breeze or feeling warm shows that the power of the Holy Spirit is filling you . It is not a gift .
Anyone that has been reborn in Jesus and is filled by the Holy Spirit can receive gifts and we all need gifts to build a stronger spiritual life.
Part 2 : Knowing the gift of speaking in tongues
Tongues does not refer to dialects. Tongues is the prayer for our spirit , its a spiritual language.
Speaking in tongues trains our sensitivity to spiritual revelation and prepare ourselves to receive more advanced gifts and spiritual experiences. Speaking in tongues are compulsory to all Christians, and I personally encouraged Christians to pursue to receive gift of speaking in tongues.
For those who had received this gift - you should practice it. Practice to speak in tongues during your personal devotion time or prayer time.
For those who had not received here's what you can do. First, be filled with the Holy Spirit, Two , ask for Pastor or Cell leader who have this gift to pray for you. Third , you need to have faith,
I would like to share my personal experience of receiving the gift of speaking in tongues to conclude. I didn't know how to speak in tongues when I first get to know about the Holy Spirit. I wasn't been anointed or prayed by my church pastors. I received this gift when I was listening to a worship CD during my devotion . At the beginning, the pastor began to ask everybody to speak in tongues. I believed and I opened my mouth and I received the gift of speaking in tongues. From then , I start practicing my tongues during my prayer or devotion time.
For me personally , I felt that speaking in tongues brings a greater effect than speaking in prayer , and it motivates my faith deeper when I speak in tongues.
God gave everyone of us the privilege to receive gifts. Do not be afraid and just believe.
