Date of message: 09 November
2003 Issue
117
Subject: We Are Each Given A Wonderful Gift
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
Welcome to those who have just recently joined the family of Jesus Christ
our Lord. As you start the walk with our Lord, I pray that you will enjoy
all the riches of His blessings in your life. The journey will not be
easy but it will be an exciting one especially when you have the Holy
Spirit as your Paraklete or Comforter by your side and inside of you.
Last week I shared about the gift of praying in tongues and how it frustrates
the plans of the devil. Not knowing what goes on between our spirit and
the Holy Spirit when we pray in tongues confuses the devil; he cannot
plan his next move since he does not know what goes on between God the
Father and God the Holy Spirit because that is essentially what happens
whenever we pray in the Spirit.
We learn from Romans 8: 26 that when the Holy Spirit makes intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, the channel between the
Father and the Holy Spirit is opened and direct prayer transpire between
them. We do not understand what goes on in the spirit realm but they are
all good and we need not be afraid of what is happening.
1Corinthians 12: 4-11 shows us: -
4. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who
works all in all.
7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit
of all;
8. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another
the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9. to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by
the same Spirit,
10. to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another
discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues.
11. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to
each one individually as He wills.
The Hanukah lamp-stand
In the passage, Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit listed for
us nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts can be classified into three
categories - power gifts, utterance gifts, and discerning gifts - and
there are three gifts in each category.
Years ago I visited an ex-colleague's home and saw a Hanukah lamp-stand
sitting on the top of her dining room dresser. I did not understand the
significance of the lamp-stand for every Jewish household then but Pastor
Joseph Prince of New Creation Church brought to our attention recently
how he received revelation from the Lord.
In the Old Testament, the candelabra, or golden lamp-stand found in the
Temple as well as in the tabernacle of Moses, has only seven branches
and each branch represented one gift of the Holy Spirit then.
In the golden lamp-stand, the middle candlestick represented the Spirit
of the Lord and it is the Spirit that imparts the rest of the six gifts
to whomsoever He chose to grant those gifts. The gifts were not permanent
then as the Spirit came and went as the need arose. Because Jesus had
not come and died for the sins of the whole human race, the Holy Spirit
could not be dispensed yet (John 7: 39).
But now that the Lord had been glorified, the Spirit had been freely given
and with Him there is now a new dispensation, hence the nine gifts represented
by the nine branches of the Hanukah Lamp-Stand.
The golden lamp-stand
A close examination of the Hanukah lamp-stand will reveal that the middle
candlestick can be detached from the lamp-stand and the lady of the household
is usually tasked to light up the rest of the candles in the lamp-stand
during the Shabat meal on Friday evenings. Interestingly enough, if we
were to use the middle candlestick to represent the gift of tongues and
the action of lighting up the other candlesticks from this candlestick
signifies that the gift of tongues can activate the other eight gifts
of the Holy Spirit as He wills.
According to Jewish records, the Hanukah lamp-stand was first given after
the children of Israel came back from the Exile at around 300BC. They
did not know the significance of the change in the design of the lamp-stands;
nevertheless they have been observing the practice of lighting the lamp-stand
every Sabbath since then.
Is the gift of tongues available for everyone? Or is it given only to
a specially chosen and select few? I submit to you that this gift is indeed
given to all and sundry after the Day of Pentecost when the Church was
birthed. Read through the whole book of The Acts of the Apostles and observe
the occasions when a believer puts his faith in the Lord after hearing
the Good News of the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior
on the cross.
Each time a person believes in Jesus and receives Him into his heart,
the Holy Spirit comes in and resides within him and the outward or accompanying
sign of that happening is usually the outburst in tongues (in a heavenly
language). The gift of tongues is for every believer and it is up to him/
her to receive it and to exercise the gift.
In fact once in Samaria the believers had only been baptized in the name
of Jesus (Acts 8: 14-17) but had not received the Holy Spirit into their
lives. They then sent the apostles Peter and John to the Samaritan Church
so that they could lay hands on all the believers to receive the Holy
Spirit.
Like the lighting of the Hanukah lamp-stand on Shabat evening, we as believers
ought to exercise the gift of tongues which the Holy Spirit has appropriated
to everyone who believes in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It starts with the middle candlestick and the rest of the lamp-stand is
lighted up eventually.
Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ into your life? That is the starting
point and unless you have the Lord Jesus in your life, the Holy Spirit
will not be able to come in and dwell with you and if He is not there,
how do you receive this wonderful gift available for all believers in
their daily living.
One day, after all the Christians have been taken home to be with the
Lord, and should you by any chance be reading this article, be assured
that Jesus loves you so much that He already demonstrated His love for
you on the cross and there will be no condemnation for you once you put
your faith in Him but you will have eternal life (Romans 8:1). The Lord
cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks will come to pass.
If you have not already received Jesus into your heart and you would like
to do so, then pray this simple prayer to invite Him into your heart and
immediately you will experience His peace coming your way.
Father, our heavenly Father, thank you that You love us so much that You
sent us Your only Beloved Son Jesus Christ to die for all our sins and
because of His death, I have been forgiven and now I am set free. Thank
you that I am no longer condemned but I am now a child of God,
Lord Jesus, come into my heart and make my heart Your home. Thank you
for giving me the Holy Spirit in my life to remind me of my special position
as a child of God the Father and as Your child, I can start enjoying all
Your blessings for my life. Thank you also for the wonderful gifts that
the Holy Spirit brings along with Him and for imparting those gifts into
my life.
Thank you because of what You had accomplished for us on the cross and
having risen from the dead for our justification, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
And believers, continue to exercise the gift of praying in tongues and
with the usage, more gifts of the Holy Spirit will be imparted to you.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 -26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
This and other archived messages can also be found
on the following URL
http://www.oocities.org/fibredrive/index.htm