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How are we to know what is of God and what is not of God?

1. Do not Rely on Inward Feelings.

2. Don’t base your Acceptance of something on the People Reporting.

3. Use Your Mind.

4. Use the Scriptures.

5. Be careful of Fresh Revelation.

6. Reject anything that Contradicts the Word.

7. God does not need to Show Off.

8. Be careful about the Prophesying of future Events.

9. Be cautious about Personal Leadings.

10. Be careful of Physical Sensations.

11. Be careful of the Power of Suggestion.

12. Be careful of particular gifts that only seem to occur in the presence of a Particular Teacher or Person.

13. How has this manifestation Effected my Relationship with the Lord?

How are we to know what is of God and what is not of God?

1. Do not Rely on Inward Feelings.

2. Don’t base your Acceptance of something on the People Reporting it.

3. Use Your Mind.

There is nothing wrong with using your mind. Colossians 3:2 Romans 8:6 Romans 12:2 2 Tim 1:7 2 Peter 1:15

Don’t disengage your redeemed, transformed mind.

4. Use the Scriptures.

Beware any teaching that puts the Spirit against the Scripture.

5. Be careful of Fresh Revelation.

6. Reject anything that Contradicts the Word of God.

7. God does not need to Show Off.

1. Common Errors.

· Experiences are not the basis for Doctrine.

· Basing our understanding of the gifts on a Preconceived Theology.

2. What is a Spiritual Gift?

· God is the Source of all Spiritual gifts.

3. Spiritual Gifts are a Manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

The four major lists of gifts are found in Romans 12:6-8,

1 Cor. 12:4-11,28, Eph. 4:12, 1 Peter 4:11.

4. Spiritual Gifts are Not Spiritual Fruit.

Gal 5:22. These are not spiritual Gifts. These are the Character of Christ being Developed in us.

5. Who Has Spiritual Gifts?

· Unbelievers Don’t have spiritual gifts.

· All Spirit born Christians have at least one spiritual gift and probably more than one.

6. Spiritual Gifts are For the Church.

7. Spiritual Gifts Glorify God.

The desire of the Spirit is that the intellect, the will, and the emotions, function dependent upon God.

Reasons why Power is Lost:

1. Lack of Instruction.

How can we walk in the way the NT calls us to walk, without the life/control/gifting of the Holy Spirit?

2. Sin.

The one who is intentional about dealing with sin and making the effort to be aware of and deal with sin can be filled.

3. Professionalism.

People begin to focus on education, skill and technique, rather than the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

4. Unbelief.

There is a spirit of unbelief that we must evict.

5. Pride.

When people realise that something they have been condemning, is actually something God wants, pride gets in the way.

6. Charis-phobia.

No fire is never the answer for false fire. Abandonment is not the answer for excess.

7. Tradition.

Traditions can be held as being equal to the Word of God.

8. Stereotyping.

Saying your experience to be authentic, must look exactly like my experience.

Dunamis – The Power of God III - Empowered in Stewardship/Fellowship.

The Holy Spirit Empowers us.

- Dunamis: (miraculous) power, might, strength.

- We need the Dunamis of God to fulfil his calling in our lives.

Empowering is often missing, but is so needed in:

1. The area of Stewardship.

Stewardship is not something that you trump up in emotion. It is something God produces by His Spirit.

Examples of giving that is not Spirit empowered giving:

1. Guilt Giving.

2. Emotional Giving.

Acceptable giving is the result of the Spirit of God.

2. The area of Fellowship.

God calls us to be a part of his body.

Every growing/maturing believer in Jesus Christ needs other growing/maturing followers in their life.

Our culture needs to see the church demonstrate the power of the gospel that is greater than racism, ageism, consumerism, and models being agents of reconciliation, rather than division..

Dunamis – The Power of God II - Empowered in Counsel/Worship.

The Holy Spirit Empowers us.

- Dunamis: (miraculous) power, might, strength.

- We need the Dunamis of God to fulfil his calling in our lives.

Empowering is often missing, but is so needed in:

1. The area of Discerning Vision for a local Assembly.

2. The area of Evangelism.

3. The area of Preaching.

4. The area of Discipling and Counsel.

5. The area of Worship.

What should we see in Spirit led Worship?

· Worship happens when the Holy Spirit in us calls us to magnify the Father and lift up the Son - Jesus Christ.

· Worship involves a celebration of one’s saving relationship with the Lord and of His ongoing presence with them.

· To Worship is to remember.

· To worship is to join in unity with God’s people.

· The Holy Spirit empowers our worship.

· Spirit led worship is Christ centred.

· A Spirit led worship service lifts up and exalts Christ.

Dunamis – The Power of God I - Empowered in Preaching/Vision/Outreach.

The Holy Spirit Empowers us.

- Dunamis: (miraculous) power, might, strength.

- We need the Dunamis of God to fulfill his calling in our lives.

- The effective Christian knows where the power of God is moving, and knows how to go with the power.

- If Jesus didn’t minister until he had the empowering of the Spirit, how could you and I ever hope to?

He Empowers us in 3 basic ways:

Power is Knowing What to do.

Power is Knowing When to do It.

Empowered is the Ability to be Fruitful and Effective.

Empowering is often missing, but is so needed in:

The area of Discerning Vision for a local Assembly.

The area of Evangelism.

The area of Preaching.

The preaching we need to hear is what God is saying to, and wanting to do, in a local assembly.

Primary Sources God uses to impart to us a knowledge of His will:

1. The Bible.

2. The Burden.

3. The Bearings.

What are the Circumstances of our lives, Through which God imparts Direction to us, and Helps us find our Bearings?

God may direct us through Circumstances:

i). Not every Circumstance is something God is Orchestrating.

ii). But some things Don’t Just happen.

God can work Circumstances to do a couple of things:

a. God may use Circumstances to Confirm our Path.

b. God may use Circumstances to Change our Path.

c. Circumstances by Themselves are Not Reliable indicators of God’s leading.

You need to Line Up All Three of these primary sources God uses to impart to us a knowledge of His will.

Primary Sources God uses to impart to us knowledge of His will:

1. The Bible.

2. The Burden.

A burden is a Divinely initiated and Sustained Impression on my

spirit that a particular matter is God’s will for me.

How can we seek to describe the Spirit’s work in our hearts in this:

a. Seeding.

b. Stirring.

c. Strengthening.

d. Sustaining.

Some Precautions:

i). An Inner Voice is Not always from God.

ii). If something is of God it will Agree with Scripture.

iii). If something is of God it will be Confirmed by Reality.