Heaven's Point of View

The Gift Of The Holy Spirit Part. 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Hal Steenson (Host)

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Series Code: HPOV

Program Code: HPOV000003


00:01 Hello, I'm
00:03 and I'd like to welcome you to Heaven's Point of View.
00:04 Our topic for this series is the gifts of the Holy Spirit
00:07 and I hope you are as excited about watching today's program
00:10 as I am about teaching it because on today's program
00:13 we are starting on the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
00:16 We are going to take an in-depth look at the gift
00:19 to speak, starting today, with the gift of prophecy.
00:22 For almost 20 years I saw this gift grossly abused
00:26 by men proclaiming to be prophets of God
00:30 and all the while they were drawing glory to themselves.
00:34 Today I get to teach God's truth about this gift,
00:38 not just what I've heard someone else say about it.
00:41 So get your Bible and follow along with me from
00:44 Heaven's Point of View.
01:08 I was sharing with a Christian brother recently
01:10 about doing a series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
01:13 and his question was this: What are the gifts
01:15 of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean?
01:18 Well, let me give you a definition.
01:19 The gifts of the Holy Spirit are spiritual endowments
01:22 beyond our natural mind and founded on the omnipotent God
01:26 we serve. These gifts are given to the church
01:29 to demonstrate the authority of the believer. That's us.
01:32 Various efforts have been made to classify, group, or show
01:37 how the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit actually complement
01:39 one another. As a whole, we can see how these gifts
01:42 fortify, guard, and edify the early church in the absence
01:47 of the revealed New Testament. They enjoyed miraculous
01:52 knowledge and the wisdom to apply it with understanding.
01:56 They had faith that could remove mountains
01:59 and the gift of healing. They could confirm the
02:02 spoken word with the working of miracles and miraculously
02:06 teach and foretell the future with the gift of prophecy.
02:09 They could determine a true and false teacher in the absence
02:14 of total revealed truth by the discerning of the spirits.
02:17 They were able to converse, teach, and have the language
02:21 understood to all present in languages unknown to them
02:25 because of the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation
02:29 of tongues. The gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in
02:33 God's Word in I Corinthians 12:8-10 are this:
02:38 "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom,
02:41 to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.
02:45 To another, faith by the same Spirit.
02:48 To another the gift of healing by the same Spirit.
02:51 Another, the working of miracles.
02:53 To another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits.
02:57 To another diverse kinds of tongues,
03:01 and to another, interpretation of tongues. "
03:03 Now, this is a good place to stop and let you know
03:06 that for years as a charismatic pastor, I heard this expression
03:10 from people that were not in this movement.
03:12 Well, the gift of tongues is the least of the gifts because
03:16 it is listed last. Excuse me,
03:18 the gift of interpretation is listed last.
03:21 So if you get a chance to say this to somebody,
03:24 please don't - because you might end up being
03:26 embarrassed over this. And besides that, in the
03:28 12th chapter of Corinthians he lists the gift of tongues
03:31 and the gift of interpretation last. And it can't be the least
03:35 of any of them because in the 13th chapter of I Corinthians
03:39 it plainly tell us that there is faith, hope, and love - and
03:42 love is listed last but Paul says love is the greatest.
03:45 So we have an expression in Alabama:
03:48 that dog won't hunt. So don't tell anybody that the
03:50 tongues is the least of the gifts because it's listed last,
03:52 OK? The gifts can be divided
03:54 into three categories with three gifts in each one.
03:57 First are the gifts to speak. This includes
04:03 Next are the gifts to know.
04:09 Then there are the gifts to do.
04:17 Now let's look at the gift to speak.
04:19 First, there is the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy.
04:24 I Corinthians 12:10 says: "To another prophecy. "
04:28 Now let me give you a definition of this, OK?
04:30 The gift of prophecy is by special ability that God gives
04:33 to members of the body of Christ to receive and to communicate
04:36 an immediate message of God to His people,
04:40 to a certain group among God's people,
04:43 or any one of His people individually,
04:46 through a divinely anointed utterance.
04:49 Now here are two Biblical truths concerning prophecy.
04:54 Truth number one: in the centuries immediately
04:57 preceding the first advent of Christ, the manifestation of the
05:02 gift of prophecy almost totally disappeared.
05:05 This is from Christian Experience and Teachings,
05:07 242, paragraph 1. In most Bibles there is a single
05:11 white page between the Old Testament and the
05:15 New Testament. That page represents 400 years
05:19 of intertestamental prophetic silence and oppression
05:23 visited on God's people. It was during this time
05:26 that the children of God sincerely cried out
05:29 for a deliverer. He came in the form of a child,
05:32 born in a manger in a little town of Bethlehem.
05:36 Truth number two: But the Scriptures,
05:39 while foretelling this dreadful apostasy, also plainly teaches
05:43 that just before the second coming of Christ,
05:46 many will be rescued from the darkness of error and
05:49 superstition. Once more the earth is to be lightened by
05:53 the glory of God. The pure truths will shine forth,
05:57 and in this time of heavenly illumination marking the
06:01 approaching end of the age, the gifts of the Spirit
06:05 are again to be manifest in the true church.
06:08 Christian Experience and Teachings, 242, paragraph 2.
06:13 Prophecy is largely rejected and despised by Christendom
06:17 as a whole. They fear what they don't understand
06:20 and blatantly reject what they have been taught
06:23 is not for today. Prophecy has been surrounded by
06:27 misunderstandings, confusion, and fear
06:29 yet from the standpoint of the Scriptures,
06:33 the gift of prophecy is the most important spiritual gift.
06:38 Paul considers it vital to the building up of God's church.
06:44 When Moses was finally convinced that God wanted him to delegate
06:48 his governing authority to a larger number,
06:50 he called 70 elders to a committee meeting
06:53 at the tabernacle. In Numbers 11:25-29 it says:
06:58 "And the Lord came down in a cloud and spake unto him
07:00 and took of the Spirit that was upon him - Moses - and gave it
07:04 unto the 70 elders, and it came to pass that when the Spirit
07:07 rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease.
07:13 But there remained two of the men in the camp,
07:16 The name of one was Eldad and the name of the other was
07:19 Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them and they were of them
07:24 that were written but went not out unto the tabernacle.
07:29 And they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man
07:33 and he told Moses and said, 'Eldad and Medad do prophesy
07:37 in the camp. ' And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant
07:40 of Moses, one of his young men answered and said,
07:43 'My lord, Moses, forbid them. ' And Moses said unto him:
07:46 Oh, I love it! 'In this thou for my sake?
07:49 Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, "Amen!
07:54 and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them. "
07:57 You see two of the elders failed to show up at the meeting.
08:01 The Spirit of God fell on the 68 who attended; however, the
08:05 Spirit came also upon the two who remained in the camp
08:09 who began to prophesy as well. Everyone wanted all of them
08:14 to stop, uncomfortable at the direct voice of God
08:17 and jealous for Moses to be the uniqueness as God's prophet.
08:22 They reported the incident to Moses and demanded that
08:25 he stop them. One could almost see Moses' concern.
08:29 And then reflecting on the blessedness of the Spirit's
08:32 presence in his life, he made this statement:
08:34 "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets - that the
08:39 Lord would put His Spirit upon them. " Numbers 11:29
08:43 Moses words began to be fulfilled on the
08:46 Day of Pentecost when the Spirit fell on an infant church
08:50 and prompted them to speak out in tongues the wondrous works
08:54 of God. Peter, still under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
08:57 explained this phenomenon with the Word of God.
09:00 He said: "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. "
09:04 God declared:
09:30 He is quoting from Joel 2:28.
09:32 Just what is the role of prophecy for the church today?
09:36 The New Testament Scriptures make it clear that the Spirit
09:39 is a universal gift to the church and that prophecy
09:45 is the characteristic gift of the Holy Spirit.
09:48 The apostle Paul indicated that the gift of prophecy
09:51 was for every believer. "For you can all prophesy
09:56 one by one. " That's I Corinthians 14:31
09:58 As we desire the renewal of the church - we need it -
10:03 this earnest expectation of the gift of prophecy among
10:06 God's people gives us great hope.
10:09 You see, if we take Paul's letter to the Corinthians
10:12 seriously, we must conclude that the gift of prophecy is
10:16 indispensable to the church. We can't do without it.
10:20 When we try to build churches without the gift being active,
10:24 any of the gifts being active, it's like trying to walk across
10:27 Illinois, or America, or Texas, on your hands.
10:31 It can be done, but it's certainly not the easy way
10:34 to do it - it's the hard way to do it.
10:35 The importance of the gift of prophecy is seen from Paul's
10:38 urgency for this gift to be used. He commands the
10:42 Corinthians to earnestly desire to prophesy.
10:46 I Corinthians 14:39 In all the various lists and
10:50 discussions of the gifts in Paul's letters, the only
10:55 constant gift is prophecy. Whenever Paul attempts to
11:00 classify the gifts in terms of importance, prophecy is given
11:05 preference over all the rest of the gifts.
11:10 says: "Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts
11:13 but rather that ye may prophesy. "
11:17 The immense value of prophecy to the church today is that it
11:21 is a current, current, current word of God,
11:24 current word from God, to encourage and guide His people.
11:28 The prophetic message is: "A word fitly spoken is like
11:34 apples of gold in pictures of silver. "
11:42 And this word comes directly from God Almighty Himself.
11:48 says: "Let no corrupt
11:49 communication proceed out of
11:50 your mouth but that which is
11:52 good to the use and the edifying
11:54 that it may minister grace
11:56 to the hearer. "
11:57 A specific revelation can be particularly powerful
12:02 in bringing conviction of sin and of God's presence
12:06 to unbelievers or backsliders who are present in the church
12:10 gatherings. Paul, the apostle, said, suggest to the
12:16 Corinthians how prophecy can work in this way.
12:19 "If all prophesy, and an
12:22 unbeliever or outsider enters,
12:24 he is convicted by all,
12:25 he is called to account by all,
12:28 the secrets of his heart are
12:30 disclosed, and so - falling on
12:32 his face, he will worship God
12:34 and declare that God is really
12:36 among you. "
12:40 For the outsider, prophecy can be a powerful sign of God's
12:44 presence among His people. We cannot afford to despise
12:48 the gift of prophecy nor can we allow it room for misuse
12:51 or misunderstanding and prevent us from embracing
12:55 and manifesting it. Rather we must diligently seek to control
12:59 its abuses by the guidelines of Scripture.
13:02 And be sure, be sure, saints of God - test all things.
13:11 says: "Despise not prophesying "
13:13 That's clear enough, isn't it?
13:14 "Despise not prophesying, prove
13:15 all things, hold fast to that
13:17 which is good. "
13:18 We must obey this scripture to allow the great constructive
13:23 value of prophecy to be experienced by our churches.
13:26 Through this unique spiritual gift, the church is able
13:30 to grow. It is able to mature. It is able to move forward.
13:33 And it is able to do it according to the Word of God.
13:38 says: "Follow after charity
13:40 and desire spiritual gifts. "
13:43 "Follow after charity and
13:44 desire spiritual gifts
13:46 but rather that you may
13:47 prophesy. " Why? "That the
13:50 church may receive edifying. "
13:53 Now here are some Biblical examples of the
13:55 gift of prophecy. Are you ready for this?
13:57 The beginning of the Christian era was marked by the outpouring
14:00 of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of various
14:02 spiritual gifts. Among these was the gift of prophecy.
14:05 In the Book of Acts we read of the inspired utterances of Peter
14:09 of Steven and of others connected with the early
14:12 Christian church. Also of the four daughters of Philip,
14:18 virgins, which did prophesy and a prophet named Agabus.
14:23 Acts 21:9-10
14:25 Christian Experience and Teachings 240, paragraph 1.
14:29 This is a powerful statement written by a prophetess.
14:33 Listen to this: The apostle had visions of the glory of heaven
14:37 and see II Corinthians 12:1-7. He wrote at length in the
14:41 12th chapter of I Corinthians concerning gifts of the Spirit
14:44 that were give not for one age alone. Listen, this is NOT FOR
14:49 ONE AGE ALONE but till we all come into the unity of the faith
14:52 and of the knowledge of the Son of God
14:55 unto a perfect man. Are we there yet? NO!
14:57 So they are still here. The gifts are still real.
15:00 They are still for today. He goes on to say: "Unto the
15:03 measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. "
15:06 Not the "partness," not the "sumness," but the stature
15:08 of the fullness of Christ. "
15:10 You will find that in Ephesians 4:13.
15:12 "God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily
15:16 prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,
15:18 then the gifts of healing, helps, governments,
15:21 diversities of tongues. " I Corinthians 2:28
15:24 And that's from Christian Experience and Teachings 240,
15:29 paragraph 2. John the apostle, the last
15:32 survivor of the 12 apostles of Jesus, was a prophet.
15:35 In the closing book of the Bible, Revelation, he tells
15:40 of the visions that were given him while he was in banishment
15:44 on the Isle of Patmos. In recording these visions,
15:47 he declares them to be the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
15:51 You know we hear a lot of teaching from other
15:54 denominations and other groups and everything, and they are
15:57 unfolding, supposedly, revelation.
16:00 But their unfolding of revelation so much of the time
16:04 does not reveal Jesus Christ. This is what I appreciate about
16:09 3ABN. The one that would counteract the counterfeit,
16:12 preach the undiluted three angels' messages.
16:14 All the teachings that we present and try to present
16:17 on Revelation reveal Jesus Christ
16:21 which God gave unto John to show His servants
16:25 things which must shortly come to pass.
16:27 And he says that Christ sent and signified it by his angel
16:31 unto his servant John who bare record of the Word of God
16:36 and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and all the things
16:40 that he saw. That's in Revelation 1 and 2.
16:43 That's Christian Experience and Teachings 240, paragraph 3,
16:47 and 241. You see the gift of prophecy helped shape the Bible
16:50 significantly. There are two general kinds of prophecy calls.
16:55 First, classical.
16:56 And then second, predictive or apocalyptic.
17:01 The classical prophecy deals with the contemporary situation.
17:05 The writings of Isaiah and the writings of Jeremiah are good
17:09 classic examples. These men received some messages
17:12 that were primarily directed to the people of their own time
17:15 and other messages that contained predictive elements.
17:18 Other messages that contained PREDICTIVE elements.
17:21 Now Daniel and Revelation contain much predictive
17:26 and apocalyptic prophesies. You see, the gift of prophecy
17:30 may function long term or short term - as in the case
17:35 of Ellen White. A person may receive a life-long call
17:40 to prophetic ministry. On the other hand,
17:43 the Holy Spirit may choose to assign the gift of prophecy
17:45 temporarily. Its His gifts and God gives them as He wills
17:50 often to resolve a difficult issue that needs clear
17:54 intervention by the Lord. This is why it's given.
17:56 Notice two special people at Jesus' dedication:
18:00 Simeon, a priest who had long prayed to live to see
18:05 the Messiah, was moved by the Holy Spirit and gave a short
18:09 prophecy about Jesus' life. Now you see that Simeon,
18:14 who was a short-term prophet, gave a long-term predictive
18:19 message. Then there was also Anna, a long-term prophetess,
18:24 who gave no prophecy of the future - but she witnessed
18:28 diligently about the Savior to all who would listen.
18:33 You will find this in Luke 2:25-35.
18:37 Now let's look right now at some purposes for the
18:41 gift of prophecy. Now this is vital, I hope you're taking
18:44 notes. If not, that you'll rewatch this or get the series -
18:48 however you need to. It brings life,
18:51 prophecy brings life to the Word of God.
18:53 If Ezekiel had not prophesied, oh, hear this,
18:56 saints of God hear this, If Ezekiel had not prophesied
19:00 over the valley of dry bones, it would still be a
19:05 valley of dry bones. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
19:11 "The hand of the Lord was
19:12 upon me and carried me out
19:13 in the Spirit of the Lord
19:14 and set me down in the midst
19:16 of the valley which was
19:18 full of bones. "
19:19 Nothing but bones, dry bones.
19:21 "and caused me to pass by them
19:23 round about and, behold,
19:24 there were v-e-r-y many
19:27 in the open valley.
19:28 And lo, they were very dry.
19:31 And he said unto me, Son of man,
19:34 can these bones live?
19:36 And I answered, O Lord, thou knowest. "
19:39 If more of us would answer that instead of trying to give
19:42 some quick fix answer. If we would just answer,
19:44 "Lord, thou knowest. "
19:45 "Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones and
19:48 say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. "
19:53 It brings revival! Prophecy also brings revival
19:56 and reformation. True prophecy reforms and revives.
20:04 says: "But this is that
20:06 which was spoken by the prophet
20:08 Joel. " This is that. "And it shall come to pass
20:11 in the last days, saith God,
20:13 I will pour out of my Spirit
20:15 upon all flesh, and your sons
20:17 and your daughters
20:18 shall prophesy, and your
20:20 young men shall see visions,
20:21 and your old men shall dream
20:22 dreams: and on my servants
20:24 and on my handmaidens
20:26 I will pour out in those days
20:29 of My Spirit and they shall
20:31 prophesy. "
20:33 You see, true prophecy can guide you
20:37 to your God-called place in ministry. Did you hear that?
20:42 It will guide you to your God-called place in ministry.
20:46 So many of you are looking for it.
20:47 True prophecy can guide you into that.
20:50 Prophecy, when spoken of the unction of the Holy Ghost,
20:53 can properly position you in Christ.
20:56 Pastor Hal, where do you get that?
20:57 Out of Act 13:1-3.
21:00 It says: "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch
21:04 certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon
21:07 that was called Niger, and
21:09 Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen,
21:11 which had been brought up
21:13 with Herod the tetrarch,
21:15 and Saul. As they ministered
21:17 to the Lord and fasted,
21:19 the Holy Ghost said,
21:21 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul
21:24 for the work whereunto I have
21:26 called them. ' And when they had
21:29 fasted and prayed,
21:30 and laid their hands on them,
21:32 they sent them away. "
21:34 Isn't that awesome? "The Holy Ghost said... "
21:37 The Holy Ghost didn't speak audibly,
21:39 He spoke through prophecy.
21:41 Next, the gifts of the Spirit may be used to build up
21:46 the body of Christ. I Corinthians 14:3 says:
21:49 "But he that prophesieth
21:51 speaketh unto men to edification - get this - edification,
21:55 exhortation, and comfort. "
21:58 Next, the gift of prophecy can be used to teach.
22:01 I Corinthians 14:31 says:
22:03 "For ye may all prophesy
22:06 one by one," - why? -
22:08 "that all may learn, and all
22:10 may be comforted. "
22:11 This gift of the Spirit can be used also to win people
22:14 for Christ. I Corinthians 14:23-25 says:
22:18 "If therefore the whole church
22:19 be come together into one place,
22:21 and all speak with tongues,
22:23 and there come in those that are
22:25 unlearned, or unbelievers,
22:27 will they not say
22:29 that ye are mad?"
22:30 [Ummm! I bet some of you have been into Pentecostal churches
22:33 that you didn't just think they
22:34 were mad, you thought their butter slipped off their bread]
22:37 "But if all prophesy and there
22:39 come in one that believeth not,
22:42 or one that is unlearned,
22:43 he is convinced of all,
22:44 he is judged of all: and thus
22:46 are the secrets of his heart
22:48 made known, made manifest
22:52 and so falling down on his face
22:53 he will worship God and report
22:55 that God is in you of a truth. "
22:57 Through the years I have witnessed the blatant
23:00 misappropriation of this wonderful gift
23:03 because most of the time it was not judged, and if it was,
23:06 it was judged incorrectly.
23:07 The correct way to judge any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
23:11 is always by the Word of God.
23:13 When we come back right after this break,
23:16 we are going to give you some simple ways to
23:19 judge prophecy. Don't go away. Be right back.
23:23 If you've been confused about what the Bible says
23:26 about the Holy Spirit's amazing gifts for the church,
23:28 You'll want to order your very own copy of this 13-part series.
23:32 It's available on DVD or video cassette from 3ABN
23:36 at a very special price. This 13-part series
23:39 with Pastor Hal Steenson makes a wonderful gift for a friend
23:42 or a family member. Just call us at:
23:48 and we'll be happy to take your order.
23:50 You may also order it online at:
24:09 Now here are some simple ways to judge prophecy.
24:12 Does it glorify the Godhead or does it center in on one's self?
24:16 says: "Howbeit when he,
24:18 the Spirit of truth, is come,
24:19 he will guide you into all truth
24:21 for he shall not speak of
24:22 himself; but whatsoever he shall
24:24 hear, that shall he speak
24:26 and he shall show you
24:27 things to come. He shall glorify
24:30 me; for he shall receive of mine
24:33 and shall show it unto you. "
24:35 I John 4 says:
24:36 "Beloved, believe not every
24:38 spirit but try the spirits
24:40 whether they are of God:
24:41 because many false prophets
24:42 are gone out into the world.
24:44 Hereby know ye the Spirit of
24:46 God: Every spirit that confesses
24:49 that Jesus Christ is come in the
24:51 flesh is of God. "
24:54 Now, does it agree with Scripture?
24:57 Isaiah 8 says:
24:59 "And when they shall say unto
25:01 you, Seek unto them that have
25:02 familiar spirits, and unto
25:04 wizards that peep, and that
25:06 mutter: should not a people seek
25:08 unto their God for the living
25:10 to the dead?
25:11 To the law and to the testimony:
25:13 if they speak not according
25:15 to the word, it is because there
25:17 is no light in them. "
25:21 Now the apostle Paul makes it very clear that the gifts of the
25:23 Holy Spirit are for every believer and not confined to the
25:27 select of the elect or to a limited number of superstars.
25:31 God intended every believer to have access to and manifest
25:35 the spiritual gifts.
26:33 Do false prophets figure in the picture? Let me tell you.
26:36 Do false prophets figure in the picture?
26:39 We knew a lady in Lakeland, Florida, a pastor's wife.
26:43 Her pastor moved a man out of the church because...
26:47 he was a false prophet and could not get him to stop
26:53 prophesying in the parking lot [we call them parking lot
26:56 prophets] and in so doing that this "false prophet" encountered
27:00 this pastor's wife about six months later and she was
27:04 pregnant carrying their second child. And he walked up to her
27:07 in a meeting, and he said to her "The Lord would say unto you
27:12 that because your husband would not receive me as a prophet
27:16 that you are going to bring forth a deformed child. "
27:20 She was taken aback, but a little lady standing next to her
27:24 turned to her and said, "Mattie, were you edified?
27:30 Were you exhorted, were you comforted?" And Mattie said,
27:31 "No, I wasn't. " And this little lady, her name was Marty,
27:35 turned to that so-called prophet and said, "I rebuke you
27:41 in Jesus' name. " And that's what we need to do.
27:44 We do not need to embrace the fallacy of the gift of prophecy.
27:48 We need to receive the truth of it such as the gift that God
27:52 gave to Ellen White, be open to it, and understand the truth
27:56 of it and the error of it. So let's not lean unto our own
27:59 understanding but let's hear the Spirit of God and the
28:02 Word of God with our hearts and then speak if from our
28:05 hearts that others might be encouraged and exhorted.
28:09 In the name of Jesus.
28:31 On our next Heaven's Point of View, we will start on two
28:33 of the most controversial of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
28:36 Tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
28:38 We are going to be on this subject for several programs
28:41 so check your 3ABN World for the dates and times.
28:43 See you there.


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Revised 2014-12-17