The Grace to operate.
Hebrews 4:9-13 NLT
9 So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. 11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
Opening Story = “I can’t believe it! Bologna again!
If you’re tired of bologna, Maybe we should change our diet? If all you can fix is bologna, then change the chef.
If you have been operating in a way that isn’t producing the desired results, isn’t it time to act differently?
God wants to pour, lavish His Grace upon you, let God’s Grace transform your life. His lavish grace will cause you to operate differently.
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 2-9 NKJV
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always concerning you for the Grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The gifts were exploding in the church at Corinth, so much so that Paul had to write I Corinthians 14 to give direction on regulating them. We must know and understand that order in the spirit isn’t quenching the spirit. Operation without order is confusion; God is not the author of confusion but peace. When the gifts operate correctly, it causes the church to flourish.
Direction and instruction should not cause defection.
When the Grace of God touches a person’s life or the life of an entire church, it always produces transformation and has tremendous effects. It causes a person to repent, gives them the desire to change, and empowers them to live an obedient and sanctified life.
- God’s grace poured on us, transforms us. (Titus 2:11-14 NKJV; Romans 12:2 NKJV)
Conformed is a change from the outside to the inside.
Transformed is a change from inside out working outwardly
Grace is in an inside job that transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Grace = Charis = Charis sometimes denoted special power that was conferred upon an individual or group of individuals by God. When grace transforms you, it carries outside evidence of what has happened inwardly. Grace poured inwardly continuously resulted in some type of outward evidence.
The New Testament word Grace is also charis. It is occasionally translated favor because a person who receives charis (grace) has been supernaturally enabled to receive evidence of God’s favor on their life. Thus, when we read of “grace” in Paul’s writings, we know that he was referring to God graciously imparting a special touch that enables, empowers, and strengthens the recipients.
Grace poured out on you inwardly is a divine touch that transforms you and gives you the ability to do what you could not do before.
Grace was poured out on them. 1 Corinthians 1:4.
That Grace that was lavished on them changed the Corinthian Church.
Since grace first produces inward change, but it also always comes with outward evidence. It is never silent; it is never invisible; it always manifests visibly. So at Corinth, when God’s Grace touched them, it became visible through the many supernatural manifestations and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(Miss Thompson and Teddy)
Think back on your life, what happened to you, when you encountered God’s Grace. That difference from where you were to where you are now; is the Holy Spirit operating in your life. So the Holy Spirit works in us, on us, through us, and for us.
We receive gifts because of Grace! 1 Corinthians 1:5 NKJV
Paul said the church was enriched in everything by Him. The Corinth church was loaded with these gifts. These gifts were in such mighty manifestation in Corinth that Paul had to write the church about managing such abundance of spiritual gifts in their services (Read and thoroughly study 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14).
What are the gifts? 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 NKJV; Romans 12:
1 Corinthians 12:7 “each one” or “everyman” “is from the Greek word “hekastos” “which is an all-inclusive term that includes every single person with no one excluded. It means that God wants every Christian to function in spiritual gifts, and no one is excluded.
He wants you to operate in the gifts because it is a profit to all when you do. The word “profit” is describing something that is a benefit or an advantage gained. So when believers operate in their gifts, it is a benefit to every person in the church, and it gives all of us an advantage in our lives.
The enemy has fought and resisted the gifts in your life because he is an adversary that doesn’t want you to have an advantage. With you having an advantage, he cannot steal, kill and destroy.
Paul gave us an understanding of the gifts that were overflowing and enriching the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1:5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,
Utterance is the Greek word logos, meaning words that are vocalized.
Knowledge is the Greek word gnosis, meaning knowledge or insight.
The Holy Spirit was revealing to the church at Corinth supernatural knowledge and supernatural insight.
Paul listed these gifts as well as seven others in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 NKJV
It is quite the range of gifts that God’s Grace gives to us. In that list, Paul lists the vocal gifts and the revelatory gifts.
Vocal gifts (utterance)
The vocal gifts are tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy.
Revelatory Gifts (knowledge)
Word of Wisdom, word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits are the revelatory gits.
These were the gifts that were primarily operating in the Corinth Church.
The other three listed are faith, working of miracles, gifts of healing (exercising gifts)
You can categorize them as three that say something, three that reveal something, and three that do something.
The manifestations and operations of the Holy Spirit are endless in their variety and diversity, but the result is always toward one end: “to profit withal.” Therefore, these nine gifts are always for our benefit. And because they originate from the Spirit of God, we can trust, as James 1:17 states, they are good because they come from the Father Above.
The four major lists of gifts are found in Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:9-11 but other passages mention or illustrate gifts not included in these lists.
All gifts are given to help the church operate to its fullest potential.
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