FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE GIFTS
OF THE SPIRIT – VIII
2 Corinthians 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves, but in IAUE which raiseth the dead:
Last week we concluded with this thought:
If IAUE is not limited, and it
is His Spirit that is placed within us, why then should we consider the
manifestation of IAUE within us to be limited?
We do, however. We do limit the
manifestation of the Spirit because our brains get in the way and we
superimpose over the grace given to us the thought that WE cannot do the
supernatural. Consequently, we become
faithless and do not believe that IAUE can do that supernatural thing through
us. But He can, and He will, if we align
ourselves with the objectives of His will
Every weekend, as I begin to write the next
post in this series, I am made keenly aware of how, despite all my emphasis on
having a life-purpose to do the will of IAUE, on having a meek and lowly
spirit, on being content with our placement within the Body of Messiah by IAUE,
on the need for the fear of IAUE and the necessity of a pure heart, I know
there will be readers who will check themselves off as having satisfied each of
these qualifications; and they will still either consciously or subconsciously
look to this study as a way of bolstering their egos. Pride is pernicious; and unless we lay the axe
to the root of it in our lives, we will never be free of it; nor will we ever
be used by the Spirit of IAUE in the measure to which He intends us to be used.
How can we be free from pride? Is it even
possible? Yes. Not only is it possible; it is expected of
us.
Romans
6:7 For he that is dead is
freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Messiah, we believe that we shall also
live with him:
9 Knowing that Messiah being raised from the dead dieth no more;
death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he
died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto IAUE.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto IAUE through Yahushua Messiah our Master.
12 Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto IAUE, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto IAUE.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace.
I just want to touch on this briefly. This is so basic, so fundamental to
discipleship that it should have been learned very early in our new life in
Messiah. Hopefully, this will serve as a
reminder and not some new idea to be pondered.
The FACT is, Messiah died; and he rose from the dead.
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Yahushua
Messiah our Master, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And
declared to be the Son of IAUE with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
The only-begotten Son of IAUE died. When he was raised from the dead by “the
spirit of holiness,” he became “the firstborn among many brethren.” We are the many brethren; and the transaction
by which we became “in him,” “in Messiah,” was through a union with his
death. Remember what the Hebrews author
said of Levi.
Hebrews 7:9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth
tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
Levi paid tithes to Melchisedec because he was
yet in the loins of Abraham when Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec. While Levi was IN ABRAHAM, everything Abraham
did, Levi did, because he and Abraham were one. The consequences and effects of
everything Abraham did while Levi was yet within him, are passed on to Levi;
for Levi did them IN ABRAHAM. In like
manner, when we are baptized into Messiah, we are baptized into his death.
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Yahushua Messiah were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
like as Messiah was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life.
Our union with Messiah begins at his
death. Messiah was raised from the dead
by the spirit of holiness, and so were we.
Messiah died to sin, once; and so did we, IN HIM. Messiah now lives unto IAUE forevermore…and so
do we, IN HIM. Our problem is, we have
not “reckoned
ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,” as we have been instructed to
do so by the Scriptures. We have failed
on the most cardinal issue of becoming identified with Messiah in his
death. We cannot become identified with
him in the power of his resurrection (the gifts of the Spirit of Holiness
cannot manifest through us as they ought) until we have died with him.
2 Corinthians 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves, but in IAUE which raiseth the dead:
Paul carried the sentence of death in himself
at all times in order to permit the power of the resurrection to work through
him. Where there is no death, there can
be no resurrection. We should consider
that the gifts of the Spirit are nothing more than demonstrations of the power
of the resurrection in our lives. That
is what the lost world is desperate to see…evidence of life that transcends
their miserable death-state. The problem
is, we are barely walking above that same miserable state in our own lives; and
that is because we have bought into a false gospel that produces “decisions for
Messiah,” that are based upon the wisdom of man’s words, and not about the
power of IAUE.
1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of IAUE.
Last week we discussed the gifts of the Spirit
as supernatural tools to give evidence to the world of the unseen Creator. Evangelism in the book of Acts was
accompanied with signs and wonders so the peoples’ faith would not rest
entirely upon their words; but upon the authority behind their message as seen
in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Mark 1:25 And Yahushua rebuked
him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud
voice, he came out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among
themselves, saying, What thing is this? what
new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean
spirits, and they do obey him.
Yahushua did not go from town to town just
preaching his message. The apostle John tells
us in John 21:25 that if every miraculous work Yahushua did was recorded, the
world would not be big enough a library to contain the books. He healed the sick, he cast out demons, he
raised the dead, he cured the incurable, he restored lepers and he spoke of
things only IAUE could have known. His
life was one demonstration of the Spirit and of power to another, with a
message sandwiched in between his deeds.
His message was never without the miraculous giving evidence to the
source of the authority of his words; such that his words became synonymous
with that authority.
Matthew
8:5 And when Yahushua was entered into Capernaum, there came unto
him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Master, my
servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Yahushua saith unto
him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered
and said, Master, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he
goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he
doeth it.
10 When Yahushua heard it,
he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not
found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
I have been hesitant to discuss the gifts of
the Spirit of holiness until I believed we possessed the right mind and heart
to take up that discussion. The temptation
will still be there to want to seize upon the various gifts in order to make us
look good, look spiritual, look important, etc.
If we permit this mindset to rule us, we can disregard the benefit that
can come from the remainder of this series. Remember, these are enablements of grace
intended to provide us with the ability to obey the will of IAUE in doing the
miraculous, and thus give evidence to the reality and nature of IAUE. That is
the first and foremost purpose of the gifts of the Spirit.
The Spirit is holy. The Scripture repeatedly commands us to be
holy even as IAUE is holy. When the two
are combined in one body, nothing is impossible.
Next week we will begin our discussion of each
of the nine gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12.
To those whose hearts are not ready to implement the rest of this series
in a manner worthy of a disciple; I commend you to the discipline of the
Father. These are matters too dangerous to consider without the fear of IAUE as
the anchor of our souls.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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