restore us once more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our Biggest Mistake The mistake we often make at this point is to look at the model and say, "That's what I want. That's the way I want to live. That's the way I want to be. I hate myself when I get angry and lose my temper. I hate myself when I fly off and say ugly things to people. I hate myself when I stumble and go after the flesh. So I'm just not going to do that anymore." We see the ideal and understand what God intended for us to be, and in our heart we desire to live a life of love and purity, righteousness, truth, and peace. But then somehow we imagine we can achieve that goal by sheer effort and brute resolve. Yet the mere desire to be like Jesus doesn't itself create the reality. It doesn't enable us to realize our goal. We do not become like Christ by imitation, which is where a lot of people go awry. Jesus once said to Peter after he had failed yet again, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). I am certain that all of us have found this to be true in our own experience. We don't lack desire; it isn't that our spirit is unwilling. The problem is that our flesh is weak. That's why mere imitation will never work. We can try to be like the little engine chugging up the hill that kept saying, "I think I can, I think I can, I think
The first thing to understand, after that, is that there are diversities of gifts. In I Corinthians 12 Paul lists nine different gifts. Yet this is not a complete or exhaustive list; toward the end of the chapter Paul also mentions the gifts of helps and governments, and in Romans 12 he again adds to the list. Paul says there are different gifts, yet only one Spirit. It is the same Spirit who distributes all of the gifts as He wills. These gifts complement each other; they do not compete with each other. Second, there are differences of ministries. Some have the gift of apostleship, some the gift of prophets, some the gift of pastor-teachers. Others have the gift of government or the gift of helps. Some have the gift of exhortation, an important and valuable gift. My wife has this gift. After she speaks to and exhorts various groups, they're ready to go out and challenge the world. These are all different gifts of administration, but the same Lord directs them all. Though we may serve Him in different ways, we serve the same Lord. Third, there are diversities of operations. I know how certain gifts operate in my life, but it doesn't follow that they will operate in the same way in your life. They might, but not necessarily. Why not? Because there are diversities of operations. The Spirit works differently in our lives, according to our own unique personalities and idiosyncrasies. Surely if you're a parent you've discovered that none of your children are exactly alike. Each one has a unique and distinct personality. Or, if you have 14 grandkids,
saints of old, and that may be one reason why we do not see the gift of miracles as much in evidence today as it was back then. A Possible Exception If there is anyone I have ever met who may have possessed the gift of the working of miracles, it was a simple native woman from New Guinea. She lives in the jungle and leads a very simple life. As I sat on the grass and heard of the things God had done in and through her life, my heart burned. Quite an astounding testimony was given of how God had used her to do one miracle after another - marvelous things, such as the raising of the dead and the opening of blind eyes. All were confirmed to us by the local missionary. God used her to start a school, which I visited. She herself had never attended school, but she started one because the Lord directed her to. I saw hundreds of students being trained there, all because of a simple woman who sat on the grass nursing her baby, and told me about the things God was doing through her life. That woman has the advantage of not living in a society so filled with stimuli that her mind has no time to meditate deeply on God. I was amazed. I thought, Oh God, I wish I could share this with the world. I've earnestly wanted to return to the jungle and take with me a TV camera so I could film her whole story. If ever I have met anyone who had the gift of working miracles, it was this simple native.
This aspect of tongues is unique. Tongues is the only gift of God that edifies you personally and individually All of the other gifts serve to edify the church and to build up the body. But this one gift was given to build you up, to strengthen you. Speaking in tongues strengthens your walk, your relationships, and gives you the power to commune with God on a deep, spiritual level.2 Limited Use in Church Tongues was a popular gift in the Corinthian church and many people liked to exercise it to excess. That is why Paul wrote, "I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue" (I Corinthians 14:18,19). In several ways Paul restricted the use of tongues in church services. First, he restricted it to services in which an interpreter was present. In I Corinthians 14:28, he wrote, "If there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God." In other words, don't speak out in tongues during church if no interpreter is present. This brings up a very important point. Some believers contend that they have no control over their speaking in tongues. It is thought that somehow the Spirit takes over and they lose control - the Spirit overrides their will and they speak out in tongues. I remember the testimony of a good saint of God who described how she received the gift of tongues. The gas meter reader
Jude was yet another exhorter. He wrote, "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Even from these few examples we can see the important place exhortation holds in the New Testament. Exhortation Today One of the most beautiful gifts of exhortation I have ever had the privilege of observing belonged to a little old lady in her nineties. Mother Berg used to travel across the United States in a big, old Cadillac, stopping at churches across the country to exhort the people. Although she lived in Huntington Beach, she had a radio ministry based in Florida, which was beamed throughout the Caribbean. She was a real sweetheart. Whenever I would get discouraged or anxious about my ministry, I would go over and knock on Mother Berg's door and let her exercise her gift of exhortation. I'd always come away encouraged, strengthened, helped, and with a new perspective. When she attended our church, I always asked her to say a few words to the people. Her favorite theme was, "God is still on the throne." She would say, "You're acting as though He abdicated His throne. You're acting as though God is not in control. The way you're acting, you'd think that God wasn't in charge any more, that He no longer rules. But God is on the throne."
fulfill His purposes in the lives of the Israelites. Whenever issues arose that needed a decision, Moses inquired of the Lord, and God spoke to him, and gave him the direction and guidance and laws needed to govern the nation's social life. Under Moses, seventy elders were appointed to act as sub-rulers. People brought their disputes to these elders, who made decisions according to the law of the Lord. When an issue became too difficult for them, the elders brought that issue to Moses, who in turn would go to God for the divine answer. Under Moses also was Aaron, the high priest and leader of the people in spiritual things. Under Aaron were various orders of the priesthood, men who carried the tabernacle burdens or who conducted the service within the tabernacle. Throughout ancient Israel a divinely established governmental order ruled. The priests under Aaron; Aaron and the seventy judges under Moses; Moses under God. Our God is a God of order, of government. He establishes order in the universe and among His people. Government in the New Testament God has established order within the church as well. Paul says one of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of ruling (Romans 12:8; I Corinthians 12:28). Men are gifted with the ability to rule within the body of Christ through the calling, the power, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
who must give an account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." This girl was being held in bondage. The leaders of her church said, "If you disobey our church you are disobeying God, and you are going to hell. And if you go to another church you're going to hell because you are rebelling against the authority of God." This poor girl was miserable. She had been attending another church on the sly and she was afraid her pastor might find out and consign her immediately to hell. It was tragic. I showed her from Scripture where Jesus insisted that those who were called to be leaders must be the servants of all. We aren't to hold people in bondage by threatening them with hell. That isn't like our Lord and that doesn't represent Him truthfully. Oh, how we must be careful in ruling because, as rulers, we are representing God to the people. We must take care that we don't misrepresent him. Everyone Has Some Rule You may not be a pastor of a church or an elder in your congregation, but in some way you are a leader. All of us have some rule. Regardless of who you are, God has placed you in a position of authority over others. You are their guide - directing their activities, telling them when they can go, when they must stay, what they can do, what they can't do. In exercising that rule, it's important that you recognize you are also ruled. We
23. The Real Baptism of Fire John answered, saying to them all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. - Luke 3:16 Some time ago I ran across an autobiographical account by the great American evangelist Charles Finney. I am thrilled each time I read his description of the special work God did in his life one evening long ago: Just before evening the thought took possession in my mind that as soon as I was left alone in the new office I would try to pray again, that I was not going to abandon the subject of religion and give it up. And therefore, although I had no longer had any concern about my soul, still I would continue to pray. By evening we got the books and furniture adjusted and I made up in the open fireplace a good fire, hoping to spend the evening alone. Just at dark Squire Wright, seeing that everything was adjusted, bade me goodnight and went to his home. I accompanied him to the door and as I closed the door and turned around, my heart seemed to be liquid within me. All my feelings seemed to rise and flow out. And the utterance
overcome sin, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, and to transform you into a powerful witness for the Lord. The Holy Spirit is not given to you so that you might have an ecstatic spiritual experience. Rather, He is given to you so that you might have the power to live for Jesus. But you must ask for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:11-13)! What's the procedure here? To whom does the Father give the Holy Spirit? He gives the Spirit to His children who ask. You don't have to reach some exalted standard of holiness nor must you do something extraordinary. No, just ask. It's a gift. Ask, and then receive by faith the promise of God. God is not going to force on you something that you do not want. You must desire what He has to give. God will not violate your free will. You must ask the Lord in faith for the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a petition you can make in full confidence. John tells us that if we ask for anything according to God's will, we can know that God hears us, and that He will grant us our request (I John 5:14). Therefore, when you ask God for this gift of the Holy Spirit, you can be utterly confident that you
procession back up the steps and into the temple courtyard where thousands of people would be gathered to worship God. As the priests entered the courtyard, the people would break forth in singing the Hallel Psalms - the songs that begin and end with Hallelujah ("praise God"). As the people sang and worshiped God, the priests poured out the water on the pavement. As the water splashed on the big stones, everyone was reminded how God brought water out of the rock when their fathers were dying of thirst in the wilderness. They remembered how Moses took the rod and struck the rock according to the commandment of God, and how life-giving water came gushing out the rock. All this spectacle was to remind the Israelites of God's divine preservation of their fathers during their 40-year wilderness wandering. It was all very symbolic and very moving. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, the priests did not make a procession to the pool of Siloam nor did they pour out water on the pavement. This too was significant, for it acknowledged that God had kept His promise to their fathers. He preserved them in the wilderness and brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey - a well-watered land where they no longer needed water to gush miraculously out of rocks. The activities of the eighth day proclaimed that God had fulfilled His promises in bringing the Israelites to their land.