By now, if you’ve been following my series here, many of you have already learned so much about the behaviors of others and hopefully much about yourself.
This next gift is on giving. You might say well giving is just giving, but it’s not. There are some who are born to give and to be a blessing to others and that’s the gift we’re talking about today. A. The person gifted in giving has the ability to make money and they like to give. They are motivated to give to the gospel. God takes a natural ability to make money and the joy of living to bless the body of Christ. B. Characteristics 1. Ability to make wise purchases and investments. 2. Desire to give quietly to effective projects and ministries 3. Attempts to use his giving to motivate others to give. 4. Alertness to valid needs he feels others might overlook 5. A joy when his giving is answer to specific prayer. 6. A joy when they meet someone’s needs without pressure of appeals 7. A dependency for partners counsel to confirm amount of gift. Wants joint witness. 8. Wants gift to be high quality. He is giving to Jesus. Doesn’t want to give sloppy gift to Him. 9. Wants to feel a part of ministry to give to. C. Misunderstandings 1. The need to deal with large sums of money may appear to be focus on temporal things. 2. The desire to increase effectiveness of a ministry may appear to be an attempt to control ministry of person. 3. Lack of response to pressure appeals may appear to be lack of generosity. 4. The personal frugality in which he lives may appear to his family as selfishness in not meeting their wants. They may live as if they don’t have money. D. Scriptural basis for giving. Giving in the Greek is the word Metadidomi which means to share. 1. Luke 3:11 – the giving of material things 2. Romans 1: 11 - the giving of spiritual things 3. Ephesians 4:8 – discusses finances 4. 1 Thessalonians 2: 8 – is on self E. Example of a Giver – Abraham He was entrusted with much goods and assets. Gen 13 says, “He blessed him in all things”. He gave Lot the choice of land. He tithes liberally. He wanted God to be glorified in his giving. He always said it was God who blessed him. He was ready to give his own son and did it without fanfare or complaining. Your comments and questions are always welcome. I'm here to help you grow in the Lord. Be Blessed, Doc Sharp
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If you are just now joining us on this series, I encourage you to scroll down to the beginning and get caught up. This series will help you know where and how you fit in to the body of Christ. I gave an introduction and we've covered the gifts of motivated servant, motivated prophet, and the motivated teacher. In each of these, I give you lots of details about each gift and I give you biblical examples. You'll learn a lot about yourself and others in this series. Now, we are on the motivated exhorter. A. The motivated exhorter is usually liked by everyone, outgoing, likes to speak, and is usually used to teach.
B. Manifestations 1. Motive to see people grow and become mature in personal life. 2. Wants Word to become flesh – get personal results. 3. Main thrust is the person. He is offended if he can’t get full attention of all listeners because the thrust of his gift is the person. 4. The exhorter wants the person involved with God and the Word. 5. He will take up for people and develops a parenting complex. C. Characteristics
1. to will , Acts 11:23 2. to surrender to God, Acts 14:22 trials. 3. He took up for Paul in Acts 9:27 4. He took up for John Mark in Acts 15:39 Many of you were probably raised like me, in a church that was constantly preaching about sin. So many sermons were about an angry God that was waiting to slap you down because of your sin.
We heard “turn or burn” every Sunday. To an extent, that is true. If you die without receiving Jesus that is exactly what will happen. As a youth I accepted how bad I was, but there were some sweet saints of God that didn’t need to be harassed and told how bad they were. To be called black-hearted sinners every Sunday was not “good news”. As a result, we saw very few people walking in victory. The message that Jesus brought us was so diametrically different from that. What we hear about God is so vitally important. It could be the difference of remaining in debt, lack and bondage, or receiving your healing, deliverance or your miracle. What you are hearing can either bring health, or sickness, healed marriages or divorce, prosperity or poverty. It can draw you closer to God in joy or drive you away in fear. Most churches are preaching law instead of Grace. I’ve heard preachers say God will put sickness on you to teach you something or punish you for your sinful life. Why seek healing from God if He is the one who put it on you?? Why seek God for your broken marriage if He is punishing you? Why ask for prosperity if God is making you poor to keep you humble? To walk in love, joy, peace, and all the promises of God, you must shut off those that describe God as angry, wrathful, and the “great punisher”. Stop listening to that garbage. Your victorious life is dependent on what you are hearing about God. Let me paint you a word picture of what God is like, the picture of JESUS! John 10:30 reads, “I and the Father are one.” John 14: 8-11; verse nine says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus carried the character, the love, compassion, the ability and power of God. He demonstrated who God was. Acts 10:38 reads, “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with Power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Seems to me if God was the great punisher, Jesus would be doing the same things. Did He condemn the harlot caught in adultery? No, He forgave her. Did He judge the tax collectors? No, He ate with them. Now, did He eat with them to become like them? No, He was with them to change them and do them good. If you are hearing that on a regular basis, about God being this great punisher, and that He is angry with you, then you are in the wrong church. Colossians 3: 16 reads, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” You must be hearing this on a regular basis for faith “cometh by hearing…” Now, I want to add this in here for you. I see many people that are getting saved by grace through faith but then they start trying to maintain their salvation by works. They have learned those things at church, and that, too, is very wrong. We must understand that salvation is by Grace and it is a gift – something we don’t work for. Very few churches are actually preaching Grace. Salvation which is saved, healed, prospering, being blessed, and every promise of God is all received by Grace through faith and if you are not hearing that you are in the wrong church. This kind of teaching does nothing to build you up in your faith or ability to trust in a loving Father. I will close with this. Acts 20: 32 reads, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His Grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Doc Since June, we’ve been discussing the key points about the motivational gifts of God in this series. So far, I gave you an introduction of these gifts and we've discussed the motivated prophet, and the motivated servant or ministry gift. In this installment, we'll talk about the motivated teacher.
In Romans chapter 12, we find a group of gifts that every believer can fit into. These are called the Motivational Gifts; they are gifts that God gave the church. We talked about how everyone fit in place leads to success. Let me remind you that you can and should mature and develop in your Christian walk and in the gift God has for you. A. One of the key things about the motivated teacher is that they have a strong desire to learn. They aren’t always good explainers or teachers but they love to dig for the deeper truths in the Word. B. Characteristics: 1. Belief that their gift is foundational to all gifts – without the Word nothing works. 2. Emphasis on accuracy of the Word 3. Testing of knowledge of those who teach. 4. Delight in teaching to validate the Word 5. Research what they are taught with the Word 6. Present the Word with systematic approach such as 1…, 2…, 3…, etc. 7. Avoidance of illustration with non-biblical sources. 8. Resistance of scriptural illustration out of context 9. Greater joy in research than presenting it. C. Misunderstanding: 1. Emphasis of accuracy of scriptural interpretation may appear to neglect practical application of the Word. 2. Has many study aids – may appear to neglect teaching ministry of Holy Spirit 3. The use of knowledge in testing others may appear to be pride of learning 4. Seems to overdo detail in teaching. 5. Objective manner in research and teaching seems to lack feeling – cold and indifferent. D Example of a Motivated Teacher: Paul – He said don’t let any other man lay any other foundation. He told the Hebrews they all needed to be teaching. When in prison, he asked for his books. He spent 3 years in desert studying and learning. In the next lesson, we'll talk about the motivated exhorter or one who is motivated to exhort and encourage. Stay tuned. Doc Learning and getting into your gift will help you be a blessing to others, and your local church. Can you imagine everybody being in their place operating in the gift they are supposed to be using? With more and more people in their place the corporate church will succeed. As a reminder, every believer is equipped with certain gifts that help make them a success.
Romans chapter 12 lists what is called the motivational gifts of God. And in this series, we’ll go into each one and I’ll show you specific details that you may feel fit you. You’ll find that some may overlap; you will have at least one of these gifts but you may find that you function well in another gift as well. Now, I’ve given you the introduction and we talked about the gift of Prophecy. In this issue we’ll discuss the gift of Serving or Ministry. Alright, let’s get started. The Gift of Serving / Ministry: A. In serving or doing ministry work we find the Greek word Diakonia from which we get our word Deacon or servant. It’s a position of serving one another and meeting practical needs. B. Demonstrates love in deeds not words. C. Usually busy doing something, even without being asked. D. Doesn’t organize well. Will volunteer for anything and usually works better alone. E. Characteristics of the Servant /Ministry 1. Ability to recall likes and dislikes of others 2. Alertness to see and meet practical needs; Martha is an example of this. 3. Doesn’t like long range goals – do it now! 4. Physical stamina – no regard for tiredness 5. Willingness to use personal funds to avoid delays 6. Desire for sincere appreciation and also detect insincerity. Can detect flattery. 7. Desire to finish project with evidence of unexpected extra service. Likes to go beyond what is asked of them. 8. Involvement in many activities with inability to say no. 9. Joy over short range goals – frustration in long term goals. 10. Doesn’t like time limits F. Misunderstandings: 1. May appear to be pushy in meeting needs. 2. Avoidance of red tape may exclude others from jobs. 3. Disregard for personal needs may extend to their own families’ need. Pastor must be aware of this so one person is not burned out and overworked. 4. Easiness of serving may prompt suspicion of self advancement. Motivated prophet will be able to tell motives behind this 5. May react to others who don’t see needs. Servant must be aware of their motive gifts and not get into criticism. 6. Insistence in serving may appear as rejection of being served. They don’t like being on the receiving end. 7. Desire for appreciation may lead to being hurt. 8. Quickness to meet needs may stop teach of spiritual lesson God is trying to teach through the need. 9. Meeting practical needs may be judged as lack of desire for spiritual matters. 10. Stamina may be viewed as insensitivity to others that are helping. 11. Joy of short range goals may conflict with someone else’s long term goals, especially the Pastor. 12. Inability to avoid others’ needs may result in side tracking others direction and may get ahead of pastor. 13. This is probably the largest group in the church. G. Examples of Servants Luke 10 and John 12 Martha got mad at Mary for not helping in the kitchen. Martha couldn’t see that Mary was operating in her gift (teaching). She got hung up in task and forgot who she was serving. She could only see the short range goal (fixing the next meal). Serving may not seem very spiritual, but it is if the person is walking in their gift. When you perform your gift it is spiritually fulfilling. If you get anything out of this, hit the blue comments link below. I will get back to you. Doc This is neither the ministry gift of Prophet (being that of the 5-fold ministry found in Ephesians 4:11-12) nor the manifestational gift of prophecy. This person has the ability to see the inner motives of people. The prophet views everyone in the light of their lives before God.
Alright. Here are some key things to know about this gift. A. Prophecy 1. This is not a prophet. B. Five Manifestations 1. Brings people to accountability. Their intentions and motives are revealed 2. Reveals heart motivation 3. Brings inner conviction 4. Brings awareness of God’s presence 5. Makes people fall to their knees in repentance C. Characteristics of the Motivated Prophet. This person is very blunt and doesn’t beat around the bush. As a result they usually are rejected by most congregations. 1. Called by God to speak on His behalf a) Needs to express his message verbally b) He does have a burning message c) He must speak out. See 1st Corinthians 14:3 2. Ability to discern character and motive of people. He is not easily fooled by people; 2 Peter 2: 1-3 3. Has capacity to identify, define and hate evil. Drawn to what is Godly and repelled by what is ungodly. 1 Tim 3:7 4. Willing to accept humiliation and hurt. Can “break” and cry presenting message which can cause the same brokenness in other people. 5. Dependent on spiritual truth to prove his authority. The word of God is of utmost importance to them. Matt 11: 2-6 6. Wants outward evidence to demonstrate inward conviction. They desire to see brokenness that yields true repentance. 7. Direct, frank in speaking. “Hits you where you live” 8. Concern for God’s reputation. He doesn’t want God’s reputation tarnished by loose living Christians. 9. Inner weeping over sin. Can identify with the sins of those he talks with. 10. Wants their own sins pointed out. Psalms 51:13 D. Misunderstood by others 1. Frankness may be viewed as harshness 2. Interest in group can be viewed as disinterest of individuals 3. Methods may appear gimmicky 4. Focus on right and wrong may be judged as intolerant to partial good 5. Emphasis on immediate decisions may appear to neglect spiritual growth 6. Public boldness and strict standards may hinder intimate relationships 7. Strong desire to reveal truths may be viewed as little interest in listening to another person’s point of view. E. John the Baptist in Luke 3:3-20, is a prime example of a motivated prophet (also the ministry gift of prophet). He was aware of personal unworthiness. He wanted an outward sign (baptism). He bluntly pointed out Herod’s sin. Easily misunderstood, easily criticized. Please love and pray for them. They are needed. Understanding each other through a study on the Motivational Gifts of GodEvery believer is equipped with certain gifts that help make them a success and also will help make their local church be a success. This in turn will largely affect the corporate church. These gifts are called the Motivational Gifts that God gave the church. These gifts are found in Romans 12: 6-8. In verse 6 we read, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7) Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8) Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness When pastoring a growing church, one needs to know where to place people in proper positions of service. In an effort to bring unity and peace to the body it is necessary for everyone to know where they belong as well as where everyone else belongs. The reason why many fail in certain jobs in the church is not because they are dumb or lazy, but because they are out of position according to their abilities and gifts. Everyone in place leads to success. Everyone can mature and develop in their Christian walk and most notably, these gifts will stop competition and help everyone view others in the same light that God sees them. People will also stop striving to be something that they aren't called to be. Every person can fit into this group of gifts. In Romans 12:3, the word measure is the Greek word metron which is an instrument of measuring. God has measured one of these gifts to every believer. Not everyone has the same office but when we all individually move in our gift, then the Church shows forth Jesus. Alright, so in this post, I'll give you the name of the gift and some characteristics about each one. In later posts, we'll go over each one in depth. The Motivated Prophet: A. Reveals unrighteousness B. Discerns motives of people C. Presents God's truth The Motivated Servant: A. Demonstrates love by using practical means B. Can detect personal needs The Motivated Teacher: A. Clarifies God's truth B. Researches and studies The Motivated Exhorter: A. Stimulates faith in others B. Encourages a victorious attitude towards adverse situations The Motivated Giver: A. Gives to further the ministries of others. The Motivated Leader: A. The motivated leader is a strong organizer B. Superintends Motivated Mercy: A. Identifies with and comforts those in distress. Now, understand that the Motivational Gifts are not talents.
In Matthew 25: 14 we see the parable of the talent. Talent varies from person to person. Some may be multi-talented while others have few. These are God given natural abilities that you are born with. In contrast, Luke 19: 13 tells us about the pound. Every person received just one. In light of this, stop being critical of people who doesn't have an ability in certain areas. They weren't called to that area. You may not have a lot of talent, but you do have a motive gift and God wants you to develop it to the fullest extent to be a blessing to the Church and glory to Him. As you begin to understand these gifts, you will begin to see other members' gifts and begin to be able to relate to them and pray correctly for them. Most of all, you will stop being so critical. As I mentioned earlier, we'll go into each one of these in depth on a monthly basis. You don't want to miss this because this will help you realize the gifts and calling on your life and it will help you to develop in those things. Romans 11:29 reads, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." In other words, God is not going to change His mind about what he has called you to do. This is the time for you to learn who you are and what you can do to help others and bring glory to God. You'll have no excuse so stay with us. Doc The belief and extent of most people's idea of the Christian life is get saved, be sweet little darlings, and go to heaven. Well, there's more to it than that, amen? If the only reason to get you saved was to get you in heaven, we'd just go ahead and send you home right after you got saved. Right? You know, Lord, we're baptizing another one, take them home.
We are left here for a purpose. And this generation is going to be the most dynamic generation the world and the church has ever seen, amen? We're beginning to see things in our every day natural that we used to think were super stupendous miracles that only happened in Africa to some super evangelist. But they're happening right here. There are so called average Christians having miracles right here in our own back yard - the states. I'll let you in on a little secret. The average Christian should be having miracles. If you are not, you are below average. If you are not getting the sick healed, you're below average. We need to just get up to average. Average is stupendous. Come On! If we were to reach average Christianity, we'd set this country on its ears. We'd be known from the high and low, people would be coming from miles around with people in ambulances saying please pray for aunt Susie or brother so and so. Isaiah chapter 60 verse one says, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come," Anybody been shining here recently? You got it folks. Some of you are still thinking it sure is getting dark. Well, take that bushel basket off of your light. Let's continue. "And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." Wait until you find out what the glory is, or what it entails. "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall rise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee." You say well, that sound like today. Folks, there is a purpose for the light rising on you, hallelujah! I can remember when I was a kid the greatest problems they had in school was chewing gum and running up and down the hallways and shooting spit-wads across the room. Now, they're concerned about AK47's, knives, murder, rape, and all this other stuff. I was convinced that Saddam Hussein was bad. And once they went in there, they started revealing some of the things that was really going on and I was convinced that he was more than bad. Man, they were evil. They showed some of the cult rituals they were in, people stabbing themselves with swords, walking around with swords sticking out of them and all this other stuff and they sowed this stuff on TV. And we have a tendency when these things happen, we get distracted, we start worrying, we take our eyes off of God, we back off of faith and get scared. I'm telling you folks, the bible says it's going to happen. Quit worrying! We cannot be in fear and walk in power. You've got to be in faith and faith cometh by what? Hearing. Those that are reading this and preparing for what's coming, there's going to be great joy in the camp. It says, darkness, destruction, misery, death, ignorance, sorrow, sickness, wickedness, and it says gross darkness comes upon the people and it means thick, dark, gloom. But it goes on and says but the Lord shall rise upon thee and his glory, hallelujah, in the midst of darkness, in the midst of wickedness, in the midst of deep, dark, gloom upon the people, it says don't be worried. Glory is coming upon my people. This word glory, means, Honor, Splendor, it means POWER. It means Wealth, and riches, Authority, Magnificence, Favor, and Excellency. As the darkness grows, the glory is going to exceed it. And there's going to be those that see the darkness and the glory and go darkness, glory, ooh I think I'll choose the glory. It's coming a time when darkness is not going to be fun anymore. Right now, you can walk in darkness and there's fun for a season. But God is going to bring this to the point that darkness is going to be so far apart from the glory it's not going to be hard to make the decision. This is going to be a no brainer, man. God himself says in Deut 30, I've placed before you life and death and then gives you the right answer. You've got a choice. I'm telling you those that are in preparation for what's coming the glory is going to hit in a more magnificent and powerful way than for those who wait and do nothing. Those Christians living more for the world are going to experience many of the same symptoms. We've got to attach ourselves to the word, get into the word like never before, study to show ourselves approved, we need to fill ourselves with the word. It's a powerful weapon. It's going to keep you out of darkness, and gloom and keep the glory coming, Whew! Amen! And the glory we walked in is nothing compared to what's coming. He's going to fill his people with glory like never before. Will you be ready? Will you be part of the glory? Doc Sharp A while back I heard a prophetic message from Dr. Bill Hamon that resonated with my spirit. He called it the Joshua Generation.
The reason it hit me so was it was already in my heart that a great move of God was on the way and even though I was in my 70’s, I still believed I would play a part in it. God has been moving to restore revelations that have been lost over the centuries. Must has been lost by religion and man’s thinking. Salvation by grace was replaced with salvation by works. Healing was lost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was lost, gifts from our Trinity were lost, etc, etc. Acts 3: 19-21 reads, “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive (hold onto) until the times of restitution (restoration) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Since the 1500’s, God has been in the restoration business. This has been called by many different “moves”. We have the Protestant, Holiness, Pentecostal, Full Gospel. Latter Rain, Charismatic, Prophetic, and Apostolic. Each “movement” has restored a different aspect of true Christianity that has been lost for generations. Notice that the scripture we just read was in Acts, nothing had been lost. This was a prophetic word for the future. Currently, we are in a transitional phase between moves. Joshua chapter 1 will give you a glimpse of the passing of one move and the beginning of a new move. The last move can be equated with Moses and the new move with Joshua and Caleb. Look back over the last few years and recall the mighty men and women of God who have died: Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Lester Sumral, T. L. & Daisy Osborn, and Dereck Prince to name a few. These represent the Moses generation that is passing away. Now, let me ask you a question. How old was Moses at his death? He was 120 years old. The Pentecostal / Spirit Filled movement is approximately 120 years old!!!. Many prophets, as well as me, believe that the greatest move of all times is in the early stages right now. I believe this early stage will be called the “Joshua Generation.” This will be a preparatory move to get the mighty Army of God fully equipped and activated for the final move which will be called “Harvest.” The reason this phase will be called the “Joshua Generation” is that the older generation will play an important part. And by older, I’m saying the 50+ age group. In the past when people who had been active in the church they had a tendency to feel like it’s time to slow down and let some of the younger people take over and they just quit. It’s not going to be that way this time. God is finally going to have a move that will be “tri-generational.” Have you ever wondered why God called Himself “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob?” God’s ways are to use the wisdom of the older generation, the resources of the middle generation and the zeal and power of the younger generation. The younger generation needs to be fully equipped with all the weapons of their warfare, the middle generation needs to learn how to give and the older generation needs to discover how to mentor. It’s going to take ALL of us, working together as a team to WIN the last day war with the kingdom of darkness. The greatest harvest the world has ever seen is coming and it will take every single believer to accomplish this. The Lord told me the 50+ ers’ would mentor the young stallions or the young warriors. My response was “Lord, I don’t know too many 50+ ers’ that know how to be a warrior much less mentor a warrior.” His matter of fact response was “teach them!” From that point on I have had a zeal towards the 50+ ers’. We have a big job, let’s get busy learning everything we can and become doers, so that we can fulfill God’s call on our lives, for this hour that we are currently in. Doc. For more from Doc Sharp, log onto our website at themoveablechurch.org. In the menu, click blogs, then Dr. H.R. Sharp/ or from the home page, click on Grace image to go to his blog. God’s nature never changes. His character and behavior are established, BUT, He enjoys a variety of expressions. In other words, variations in manifestations, differences in appearance and operation.
1 Corinthians 12: 4-6 reads 4) Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5) And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6) And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Each gift can be exhibited by the spirit in various ways and maturity through each person. It is God’s intentions to establish the gifts with varied depths. Diversity of Gifts: There are many gifts—same spirit. God’s idea of church is a TEAM. He wants to take different people at different levels and strengths and mold them into a winning team. To God, reaching His goals is considered a win. Example: a basketball team a) all players dribble, shoot, run, jump, and play defense. b) different skill levels such as * point guard—good dribbler / passer * center—forwards –close to the basket * shooting guard—long range shooter c) all different skills for a win. The key to a great team is every player completely understands his role and then they also understand the role of the others on the team. Then the most important thing is they work together and coordinate all the parts to work effectively and efficiently. We need to spend more time together—fellowship, prayer, ministry—in other words - practice together! I’ll use my high school team as an example. We not only need to strive to be the best we can be as individuals but we must strive to be the best we can be together. I need to know what I can do. How do you get to that place? Fellowship, spending time with one another, ministering with one another and to one another. Paul’s teaching of the gifts in 1 Corinthians should not be taken out of context. In chapters 12 through 14, he explained that distinct and specialized gifting work through a unified group of people who all recognize the importance of each and every functioning part. All the members of the body of Christ can move in the gifts to a certain degree, yet the Holy Spirit wants to mature and perfect some of those gifts in a person in order to establish that person’s function & ministry in the church. We must learn to work together so that our ministries compliment each other in using the gifts such as tongues, interpretations of tongues, word of knowledge, gifts of healing, discerning of spirits, working in miracles, etc. Also, know that as we minister together there is a growing process. Intensity and maturity increases as we use our gifts of the Holy Spirit. For those who won’t move out in their gifting, it is because it’s not as strong as others. You need to know this: it never will until you begin to USE it. Differences of Administration: The last section about the gifts are attached to the Holy Spirit. This section is attached to the Lord as noted in verse five of our scripture. Lord: Greek—kurios and it means supreme in authority, controller or master. What Paul was getting at here is varied levels of authority that operate with each manifestation. There is order to everything that God establishes. Order means no chaos, no confusion or no error, 1st Corinthians 14:29-33. In a spirit-filled church where the gifts are allowed freely, there also must be order, see 1st Cor 14:40. As a church, there needs to be spiritually mature individuals that maintains order. Without the ministry of administration things get out of order and essentially quench the Holy Spirit instead of giving room to the Holy Spirit. I have learned how to operate under authority which brought me to operate with authority. I can function independently but I choose to place myself under Pastor Morton. As a matter of fact, I have become able to tap into other ministers’ anointing. As we get in order it increases the accuracy, the quality and the amount of ministry that the Lord chooses to use us. Loose cannons and lone rangers need not apply; if you can’t submit to authority, don’t expect to be able to have authority. Diversities of Operation: This has to do with variety of expression. 1st Cor 12:6. The Amplified Version reads: “And there are distinctive varieties of operations [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God who inspires and energizes them all in all.” What this is saying is that God will accomplish the same thing in a variety of ways. Example: word of knowledge of glaucoma given to three different people: 1st person may feel eye pain. The 2nd person may “see” in the spirit a red, inflamed eye, and the 3rd person may just get a word that someone has glaucoma. The result is someone gets healed of glaucoma. God has many ways to attack a problem. He allows diversities of operation to take place in the gifts. Don’t get stuck with one way of ministering the gifts. Above all, don’t try to copy someone else—be yourself. Gifts can manifest in many ways: 1) see it –have a vision for it 2) hear an audible voice 3) still small voice 4) feel it and 5) you know that you know. We need to mature and realize that the Holy Spirit will manifest any way He wants to and our preconceived ideas need to be dropped. Some of you might say well, if God doesn’t do it that way, it can’t be God. That’s just not true. God’s expressions, actions, and operations can be as diverse as the personalities and gifting of the members of the body of Christ. Now, everything must line up with the bible. Everything must be judged and discerned. 1) does it line up with the word 2) is it a now word 3) is it a down the road word 4) is it for one individual 5) is it for the whole group. As we practice the gifts, submit to leadership and start to mature then the Holy Spirit will move in our midst more often, we'll begin to function with more accuracy, and with much more diversity. Doc Alright, we’re going to start in Deuteronomy chapter 34. It’s the last chapter of this book.
Now, this is starting a new three part series that I’ve titled The Joshua Generation. You’re going to learn some things about your age group, and what God expects from your generation in these end times. We’ll talk about three different age groups and how God expects to use you in the days ahead. Let’s start with verse nine. It says, “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” And it says that Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid hands on him. You find somebody filled with something from God, go get them to lay hands on you. Have them impart it into you. Now, I can’t lay hands on you to short circuit the years of study I’ve had, hello. You’re going to have to do that yourself. You’re going to have to read and you’re going to have to study, you’re going to have to get books, tapes or cd’s. You’re going to have to go to conferences, and do that all of that yourself. But there are some things that come from God that I can give you. Moses was given the spirit of wisdom. He laid hands on Joshua and Joshua received it, too. Now, it’s very important that we understand this because this is the generation that we’re moving into. Hallelujah. “And the children of Israel hearkened unto him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.” In other words, they obeyed Joshua like they did Moses. Now, turn over one page to the first chapter of the book of Joshua. In verse one we read, “Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ minister saying.” Do you know what Joshua was? He was Moses’ gopher. For years. For 40 long years Joshua served Moses. In verse 2, “Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise and go over this Jordan. Thou and all this people unto the land which I do give them even the children of Israel.” How many of you know that of all the hundreds of thousands, and some people say as much as 1.6 to 1.9 million came out of Egypt. How many of them made it to this point? Of all of the hundreds of thousands of millions of people that came out of Egypt, how many of that generation went into the promised land? Two. Caleb and Joshua. Now, I have lost count of how many prophetic words I’ve received that I was either a Joshua or a Caleb, which I’m both. We’re talking about a generation of people. Everyone over 20 died, because of their doubt and unbelief. In other words, God had told them something to do and they didn’t believe they could do it. Folks, you’ve gotta understand that if God says you can do it, don’t argue. Don’t argue. Why? You might wind up out in the desert bleaching your bones white. Amen? Bones don’t get red, they don’t sun burn, they bleach white. Moses and that entire generation passed away. They left Egypt, got born again. They left Egypt, they left the kingdom of darkness but they got stuck between darkness and promise, because they refused to move on with God, they refused to believe what God said. And he says because you haven’t believed this you’re going to wonder around in the wilderness for 40 years. And I’ll raise up another generation that will go in and receive what I have promised you. And folks, the Moses generation is passing away. There’s a lot of born again believers out there that refuse to move on beyond what they receive as salvation; what they think as salvation. They refuse to move beyond that, they refuse to believe in signs, and wonders, and miracles. They refuse to believe that there’s more in this word of God than just a ticket to get them all into heaven. And there is a generation rising up, they are going to choose to move over, out of darkness, even out of religion and move in and get behind the Joshua’s and Caleb’s of these days and they are gonna go over and possess what God has given them as a church. Hallelujah. And see, they’re going to go over, this generation is going to go over and they’re going to begin to cast the “Ites” out the country. They are going to begin to cast out those things that are coming against them, cast out those things that are coming against other people, and set the captives free. They’re going to possess the promise land. Is it because we’re good? No, it’s because we’re saved. From a book written by Dr. Bill Hammon, he said the Lord had dealt with him about this Joshua Generation and in 1992, here’s what he said. “Those 40 and older in 1992 will be the generation that will cross over Jordan. Those children, ages 14 to 39 will be the generation that will begin to dispossess the “Ites” from Canaan. And those unborn up to age 13 will be the ones who will see the consummation of the ages, and bring back the King and overcome all things and see My Kingdom established on earth. In the year 2002, these age groups are 10 years older. the first group would be those age 50 and over, the 2nd group are those 24 to 49, and then the last group are those ages 23 and younger including those yet to be born. The older group will be generals, lieuten-ants, and mature leaders who have been established in present truths.” There’s a kicker there; says those that are established in present truths. Turn to 2nd Peter. You’ve heard me mention present truth, I want to show you the biblical basis for it. 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 12 says, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” Present truth is everything you’ve learned up to today and you’re getting ready to receive more. If you’ve reached a point where you think you’ve received it all and there’s no more to receive then you are not established in present truth. You’re deceived and your bones will bleach in the desert. He says I want you to be established in present truth. If you are one of those who don’t want to believe this because it wasn’t taught before, let me tell you that the church has lost so much that it is having to be restored. And that’s just one of the things that was restored along with now, the Lord has restored the five fold ministry found in Ephesian 4:11. It says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” God has had to restore the entire 5-fold ministry to their place of authority. He’s restored the pastor, the evangelists, the teachers, the prophet, and in recent decades, he’s restored the apostolic office and he’s restoring these, not so they can take charge, but so they can equip you to do your job. Hello. If you drop down just one verse you’ll read, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: amen? Dr. Hammon says , “They will lead the church into the end times promised Canaan land. The participating saints aged 24 to 49 in 2002 will be the ones to drive out the “ites”, and possess Canaan by making sure the apostolic and prophetic movements fulfill their destiny and purpose. The 24 to 49 group will become the prophetic, apostolic intercessors who will function like midwives, nurses and doctors to help birth the saint’s movement. They will be the main propagators of the main restoration movement and the major leaders.” Those that are bucking the prophetic and the apostolic will not be in this group. It says they are going to make sure that the prophetic and the apostolic are brought to the place that it’s supposed to be, because once those that are in office come forth then you can move forth. There are things that are going to be imparted into the church of the living God and it’s not going to come just because you got close to a church building. It’s going to be because it was imparted unto you. Let me remind you, this is only the beginning. We’ll talk about more of this. Tell your friends, gather around and study this. If you need extra issues, let us know; we’ll send it out free. Doc. By not knowing what Jesus has made us into we will never walk in power and victory that we were designed for. The Lord asked me a question “When will my people believe my word?” My answer was, we are leading people to the Lord, healing the sick, etc… His answer was, “No when are my people going to believe what I said about them in my word.”
Too many Christians view themselves as less than what God says they are. They feel unworthy, worthless, having no abilities, feeling unusable. The word points a different picture of who we are because of Jesus sacrifice. These feeling contrary to the word is the reason so many never enter into the ministries each is called to. So many set on the sidelines enjoying others do ministry, but never think that they can do works for the Lord also. Most view the Eph. 4:11 ministries as those called to ministry and they are there to support them. The 5-fold ministries are the gifts from Jesus given to us to equip us to minister to the lost, sick and captives. Many Christians have a basic knowledge of who God is, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is; but don’t have a clue as to who they are. By not knowing what Jesus has made us into we will never walk in power and victory that we were designed for. I am going to cover two of the many reasons for this. One, not feeling worthy. Worthy has to do with worth. Jesus considered you worth the price. Acts 20:28 and Eph. 1:14 says we were purchased with a price – the blood of Jesus. He considered you worth the price he paid to purchase you from the kingdom of darkness so you could be ushered into the kingdom of light. NEVER again say I am unworthy – that is a LIE! Two, undeserving. We are totally correct in saying we don’t deserve anything from God. BUT, the GRACE of God was designed for the underserving. I wasn’t saved because I deserved it, its by grace we are saved. I don’t pray for sick because I’m good at it, its by GRACE. I don’t deserve to pray for the sick. I prophesy by grace. I speak in tongues by grace. Everything I do or I am is by God’s grace, nothing more. You can win the lost, heal the sick, perform miracles, walk in victory all because of God's wonderful grace. It’s time the church rose up and become the church. Pew sitting is not a calling, ministry is. Jesus is coming back for a victorious church not a sitting church. Rise up get into the word, claim who you are and begin to do what God has called you to. Doc if God says you can do it don’t argue. We're going to start in Deuteronomy chapter 34:9. Sometimes you'll hear ministers talk about impartation. You ever hear that word? Verse 9 says that Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid hands on him. You find somebody filled with something from God, go get them to lay hands on you. Have them impart it into you. Now, I can’t lay hands on you to short circuit the years of study I’ve had, hello. You’re going to have to do that yourself. You’re going have to read and your going to have to study; you’re going to have to get books, and get CD's,, DVD's. You’re going to have to go to conferences. You’re gonna have to do all of that yourself. But there are some things that come from God that I can give you, that I can impart to you. Moses was given the spirit of wisdom. He laid hands on Joshua and Joshua received it, too. It’s very important that we understand this because this is the generation that we’re moving into. Hallelujah. Continuing with verse 9, “And the children of Israel hearkened unto him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.” In other words, they obeyed Joshua like they did Moses. Now, turn over one page to the first chapter of the book of Joshua. “Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ minister saying." Do you know what Joshua was? He was Moses’ gopher. For years, for 40 years Joshua served Moses. We have a tendency that when we feel there’s a call on our life we do it right now, poof. You can do that if you want to, but your ministry won’t last. Hello. In Joshua 1:2, "Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise and go over this Jordan. Thou and all this people unto the land which I do give them even the children of Israel." Some say as much as 1.6 to 1.9 million people came out of Egypt. How many of them made it to this point? Of all of the hundreds of thousands of millions of people that came out of Egypt, how many of that generation went into the promised land? Two, Caleb and Joshua. Now, I praise God for this because I have lost count of how many prophetic words I’ve received that I was either a Joshua or a Caleb, which I’m both. Of these people, and we’re talking about a generation of people, everyone over 20 died because of their doubt and unbelief. In other words, God had told them something to do and they didn’t believe they could do it. Folks, you’ve got to understand if God says you can do it don’t argue. Don’t argue. Why, you might wind up out in the desert bleaching your bones white. Amen? Bones don’t get red, they don’t sun burn, they bleach white. Moses and that entire generation passed away. That generation that came up out of Egypt, they got born again- hello! They left the kingdom of darkness, but they got stuck between darkness and promise because they refused to move on with God. They refused to believe what God said. And he says because you haven’t believed this you’re going to wonder around in the wilderness for 40 years. See, they went in and spied out the land for 40 days. He says for a day will equal a year, 2 Peter 3:8. You’re going to wonder around in the wilderness, you’re going to die out in the wilderness, your bones are gonna bleach out under the desert sun. And I’ll raise up another generation that will go in and receive what I have promised you. And folks, the Moses generation is passing away. There’s a lot of born again believers out there that refuse to move on beyond what they receive as salvation; what they think as salvation. They refuse to move beyond that, they refuse to believe in signs, and wonders, and miracles. They refuse to believe that there’s more in this word of God than just a ticket to get them all into heaven. Well, I’m going to tell you, my ticket is punched, but I’ve gone beyond my ticket. Amen. There’s much more to it. There’s much more than just being a sweet little darlin’ for several decades and then go push up daisies because you’ve died in the wilderness. God has promised us great and mighty things. God has promised us power. He has promised us to be able to win the lost, heal the sick, stop devils and raise the dead. Are we going to spy out the land and say no, we can’t do that, that’s too hard? I can’t do that. You just don’t understand brother Sharp; I’m just not good enough for that. Well, get saved. Well I am saved, but you just don’t understand, I just, I’m just not living a perfect life. Well, repent. You know, God says that David was a man after his own heart. And there are several reasons there why he’s called that. One is that he was a worshipper. But the biggest thing about David was that he was a quick to repent. That moves God. You say, oh God I blew it. He says ok you’re forgiven, now let’s move on. Amen. And there is a generation rising up; they are going to choose to move over, out of darkness, even out of religion and move in and get behind the Joshua’s and Caleb’s of today and they are gonna go over and possess what God has given them as a church. Hallelujah. Remember, it said my servant Moses, is dead now, therefore, and it’s, [it’s, implied here…YOU] arise and go over this Jordan. Most Christians today are satisfied to stay on this side of the river Jordan, and just look over and say wouldn’t that be nice to be over there. Wouldn’t it be nice to have power. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to pray for the sick and, oh man, wouldn’t it be nice if they got well. Well, you just stay over on that side if you want to. I think I want to get across the river. And see they’re going to go over, this generation is going to go over and they’re going to begin to cast the “Ites” out the country. They are going to begin to cast out those things that are coming against them, cast out those things that are coming against other people, set the captives free. They’re going to possess the promise land. Is it because we’re good? No, it’s because we’re saved. And we go one step further. We choose to believe what’s in the book. If the word says I can do it, who am I to argue with God. Who am I to call God a liar? You might say, well, I just don’t have any power. Well, get filled with the Holy Ghost. Well I am filled with the Holy Ghost, I even speak with tongues. Well what are you doing with it? You just use it to entertain yourself? I'm crossing my Jordan, are you going to go with me? Praise the Lord. You can do it. Listen, Dr. Bill Hamon wrote a book called The Day of the Saints. You would do yourself a great service to obtain a copy of that book. In the back he explains what the Joshua Generation can expect. Doc Acts chapter 3: 6-10 The Church needs to get to the place that they’re doing the same thing Peter did here, bringing forth signs, wonders and miracles that will bring forth wonder and amazement in the eyes, not only of the world but of the religious establishment. I’m going to tell you something, religion will stifle Christianity. Religion will put a muffler down on true Christianity. The true Christian is not only born again, but the true Christian is born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with power, and going around and doing amazing deeds that will amaze and astound the religious community. It’s time the church woke up and got amazing. It’s time we woke up to the point that God has called me to do signs and wonders, and miracles. He’s called you, too. If you’ve been studying any of my articles that I’ve put in The Net magazine, you have found out that because of his grace, even though we’re undeserving, his grace has provided everything we have need of to be victorious and over comers in this world now. We found out we don’t have to wait to get to heaven to receive the ability of God. Why are we going need it in heaven? I’m not going to need healing in heaven. I’m not going to need deliverance in heaven. Amen. I’m not even going to need finances in heaven. Dear Lord, my parking lot’s going be gold. It’s what the word says, that the very streets are paved with pure gold. Glory to God, you get a little short, you just go out and sweep a little dust off the streets, hallelujah. We are the recipients of everything that God has called us to be. You may not be walking in it, but it’s available and it’s there. I was raised in a denomination that believed all that stuff was finished, that it was over. I was amazed when I found out that it wasn’t over with, that I had been taught wrong all those years. I was in that certain denomination for 24 years. And, as far as I was concerned all that stuff that was in the bible was finished, it had passed away. But it’s not. It’s not passed away. It’s not going to pass away until Jesus comes. The word says in 1 Corinthians 13:10 “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” And that which is coming, contrary to popular belief is not the New Testament; it’s the second return of the Lord. So, until Jesus comes again everything that the bible said we could do, is still in effect today. John chapter 9 verse 4. Now, this is Jesus speaking. Jesus himself says I must work the works of God. Now I was truly amazed. I looked this up in one of the other translations. It’s the new American standard, which many theologians believe it is a little closer to perfect than the KJV, it doesn’t say I must work the works, it says we must work the works of God. There’s coming a day when we will not be able to minister in this world. But, until that day and until Jesus comes and shuts this thing down, it is day and we must be working the works of the Lord. Now, Jesus said he’s the light, Amen. Verse 5 says as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Has Jesus ascended? Yes he has ascended. See, it says that as long as I’m in the world I am the light. Turn over to Matthew chapter 5. Verse 14 says you are the light of the world. And a city that sets on a hill cannot be hid. Jesus said as long as I’m in the earth I am the light. But he says you are the light. When you received Jesus as your lord and savior, he came in you and you became the light of the world. You became the enlightening force in the earth. We keep waiting for God to do something. “Well, God my loved ones, they are all lost, they are going to hell. Do something.” Well I’m going to tell you something, he's already done something. Hello. Matter of fact, he’s already done all he’s going to do. Because when he got on the cross, he said it’s finished. It’s a finished work; it’s a done deal, if you will. It’s over with, I have finished the work. He says as long as I’m here I’m the light, but I finished my work here on the earth. He says, now you are the light. You are the power, you are the ability. You may not be able to do it. But Christ in you can do all things. That’s why Paul made the statement I can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthens me. I can do all things. The first trip we went to Costa Rica, lady came up for prayer, and the Lord gave me a prophetic word that there were those at that meeting that were going to be healed. They would just come up and get it. This lady came up and I didn’t know what she was talking about, because I don’t speak Spanish. I laid hands on her and the power of God hit her and she laid out on the floor for the longest. And we set there and watched her change right in front of our eyes. Her complexion was an ashen gray. We found out later that she was dying of heart problems. The Lord put a new heart in her body. We watched her pink back up, her complexion changed, it got pink, her lips pinked up, they had been blue, actually gray. We were there the next year and that lady showed up. This time she was dancing and praising the Lord with a new heart. I don’t take any credit for this, it was all God. All I did was lay my hands on her - God did the rest. Jesus says as long as he was in the earth, he was the light, and now he says you are the light. It’s time the church woke up and got amazing. It’s time we let God work through us to bring about those signs, miracles, and wonders, amen. Doc How many of you would like to find out how to be victorious? How many of you have found out that being victorious is not easy? Yet we’re required to be victorious, hard or not, amen? Let’s look at James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” From whom will the devil flee? From you! He will flee from you. For those of you who feel you have tried resisting and it didn’t work, we’re going to clear up some things, show you how to resist successfully. We need to know this. You’re going to find out that you need to learn how to resist the devil because he’s out to kill you. Some few years back I was listening to a tv minister, the channel messed up, but I heard him say we’re under more pressure now than we’ve ever been. The church and individuals Christians are under more pressure than ever before. This is because the enemy knows his days are short, and in these last days, we’re seeing more attacks coming against individual believers and churches; and it’s going to increase. Being for-warned is being for-armed. You are being for-warned today, but at the same time you can walk in more victory than you’ve ever walked in before. On one side, it’s gong to get worse, but on the other side, we'll experience more victory than ever before, amen. On the other side, if you’ll do what the word says, it’s going to get better. Which would you rather have, better or worse? I’ve tried worse; it’s not near as good as better, amen? I’ve been under attack and I’ve been free. Free is better. Victory is better than defeat. You can’t have a victory without a battle. A key thing to remember is all these attacks is just the enemy giving us more opportunities to be victorious. This is not the time to throw in the towel. It’s not the time to throw our hands up in defeat; the bigger the battle the bigger the victory. I told you I would show you how to resist. That word resist in the Greek is anthistemi. It’s where we get the word antihistamine. It means to set over against, to set something against. Resist means to set over against the devil and his attacks and his demons and everything that he can throw at you. You must set against it, stand against it, resist it with everything that is within you and he will flee from you. Another key in resisting is the word submission. It’s really important because without submission there is no lining up with the word of God, there is no being a doer of the word. There will be no resisting with results. Now, the word submit means to subject oneself to obey. Obedience is your prayers and your hands. Whatever the word of God says to do, then do it. The word says the joy of the Lord is our strength. In being obedient we are storing up strength; we are storing up ability in the Lord. If you are not in the word, reading it and studying it, if you are not in fellowship with other believers, if you are not doing what the word of God says, there will be no victorious results. In other words, your resisting will not work if you are not in the word. Alright, let’s turn to Ephesians 6:13. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. When is the evil day? The evil day is any day you are attacked. Everyday, you need to put on the whole armour of God, which you’ll find in verses 14 through 18. The word says to put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand. Now, this word withstand is the same Greek word anthistemi. So, we are to get into full obedience to the word of God, so that we can anthistemi—resist and stand against. Hallelujah. By the way, both of these words denote more than an occasional resistance. They actually imply perpetual resistance. They both also imply the two words hostile towards. So, the word resist implies hostile towards. I heard a football player say I’m hostile, mobile, and agile. We need to be more so when it comes to our enemy. Many Christians out there take on that que sera sera attitude, saying you’ve got to deal with the cards you’ve been dealt. Uhm, no you don’t. You start attacking the enemy, even be hostile in your resistance, not to one another. Be hostile towards your real enemy, the devil. Let’s talk about that word flee. Flee is the Greek word pheugo. It is where our word fugitive comes from. Submit yourselves unto God, do what he says, and resist the devil and he will pheugo. He’ll become a fugitive. Thayers says the word flee inspires fear or threatened danger. You start talking about the power in the name of Jesus, start talking about his shed blood and the devil will flee in inspired fear and threatened danger, amen? That’s why he flees, he’s afraid of Jesus. He’s afraid of the blood of the lamb, he’s afraid of the word of God. You start resisting him with the word, start resisting him with the blood, and the name of Jesus, and he’ll flee in terror. I like what Wheedon’s commentary says. Temptations, when repelled, disappear, and when habitually kept at a distance, they cease to exist. If you are going to wake up and become amazing, you must learn to submit to God, and you must learn to resist the devil, amen? Amen! Go on the offensive and start gaining back your ground. You can do it. Doc Acts chapter 3: 6-10
The Church needs to get to the place that they’re doing the same thing Peter did here, bringing forth signs, wonders and miracles that will bring forth wonder and amazement in the eyes, not only of the world but of the religious establishment. I’m going to tell you something, religion will stifle Christianity. Religion will put a muffler down on true Christianity. The true Christian is not only born again, but the true Christian is born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with power, and going around and doing amazing deeds that will amaze and astound the religious community. It’s time the church woke up and got amazing. It’s time we woke up to the point that God has called me to do signs and wonders, and miracles. He’s called you, too. If you’ve been studying any of my articles that I’ve put in this magazine, you have found out that because of his grace, even though we’re undeserving, his grace has provided everything we have need of to be victorious and over comers in this world now. We found out we don’t have to wait to get to heaven to receive the ability of God. Why are we going need it in heaven? I’m not going to need healing in heaven. I’m not going to need deliverance in heaven. Amen. I’m not even going to need finances in heaven. Dear Lord, my parking lot’s going be gold. It’s what the word says, that the very streets are paved with pure gold. Glory to God, you get a little short, you just go out and sweep a little dust off the streets, hallelujah. We are the recipients of everything that God has called us to be. You may not be walking in it, but it’s available and it’s there. I was raised in a denomination that believed all that stuff was finished, that it was over. I was amazed when I found out that it wasn’t over with, that I had been taught wrong all those years. I was in that certain denomination for 24 years. And, as far as I was concerned all that stuff that was in the bible was finished, it had passed away. But it’s not. It’s not passed away. It’s not going to pass away until Jesus comes. The word says in 1Corinthians 13:10 “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” And that which is coming, contrary to popular belief is not the New Testament; it’s the second return of the Lord. So, until Jesus comes again everything that the bible said we could do, is still in effect today. John chapter 9 verse 4. Now, this is Jesus speaking. Jesus himself says I must work the works of God. Now I was truly amazed. I looked this up in one of the other translations. It’s the new American standard, which many theologians believe it is a little closer to perfect than the KJV, it doesn’t say I must work the works, it says we must work the works of God. There’s coming a day when we will not be able to minister in this world. But, until that day and until Jesus comes and shuts this thing down, it is day and we must be working the works of the Lord. Now, Jesus said he’s the light, Amen. Verse 5 says as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Has Jesus ascended? Yes he has ascended. See, it says that as long as I’m in the world I am the light. Turn over to Matthew chapter 5. Verse 14 says you are the light of the world. And a city that sets on a hill cannot be hid. Jesus said as long as I’m in the earth I am the light. But he says you are the light. When you received Jesus as your lord and savior, he came in in you and you became the light of the world. You became the enlightening force in the earth. We keep waiting for God to do something. “Well, God my loved ones, they are all lost, they are going to hell. Do something.” Well I’m going to tell you something, he already has done something. Hello. Matter of fact, he’s already done all he’s going to do. Because when he got on the cross, he said it’s finished. It’s a finished work; it’s a done deal if you will. It’s over with, I have finished the work. He says as long as I’m here I’m the light, but I finished my work here on the earth. He says, now you are the light. You are the power, you are the ability. You may not be able to do it. But Christ in you can do all things. That’s why Paul made the statement I can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthens me. I can do all things. The first trip we went to Costa Rica, lady came up for prayer and the Lord gave me a prophetic word that there were those at that meeting that were going to be healed. They would just come up and get it. This lady came up and I didn’t know what she was talking about, because I don’t speak Spanish.. I laid hands on her and the power of God hit her and she laid out on the floor for the longest. And we set there and watched her change right in front of our eyes. Her complexion was an ashen gray. We found out later that she was dying of heart problems. The Lord put a new heart in her body. We watched her pink back up, her complexion changed, it got pink, her lips pinked up, they had been blue, actually gray. We were there the next year and that lady showed up. This time she was dancing and praising the Lord with a new heart. I don’t take any credit for this, it was all God. All I did was lay my hands on her - God did the rest. Jesus says as long as he was in the earth, he was the light, and now he says you are the light. It’s time the church woke up and got amazing. It’s time we let God work through us to bring about those signs, miracles, and wonders, amen. Doc The Lord asked me a question “When will my people believe my word?” My answer was, we are leading people to the Lord, healing the sick, etc. His answer was, “No, when are my people going to believe what I said about them in my word?” In this two part series, It’s Time the Church Woke Up and Got Amazing, we’ll talk about the corporate church and your part in it. Too many Christians view themselves as less than what God says they are. They feel unworthy, worthless, having no abilities, and un-useable. In my recent series on Grace that is in The Net magazine, I showed you that God’s grace is our ability to be doers of the word, God’s word. We don’t have to be highly educated or some famous person. We do need God’s grace. Now, the word paints a different picture of who we are because of Jesus’ sacrifice. These feelings of unworthiness, contrary to the word, is the reason many never enter into the ministries each is called to. Many folks set on the sidelines enjoying others do ministry, but never think that they can do works for the Lord also. Most view the Ephesians 4:11 ministries (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, & Teacher) as those called to ministry and they are there to support them. The 5-fold ministries are gifts from Jesus and are given to us to equip us to minister to the lost, sick and captives. Many Christians have a basic knowledge of who God is, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is, but don’t have a clue as to WHO they are. By not knowing what Jesus has made us into we will never walk in power and victory that we were designed for. I am going to cover two of the many reasons for this. One, not feeling worthy. Worthy has to do with worth. Jesus considered you worth the price. Acts 20:28 and Ephesians 1:14 says we were purchased with a price – and that price is the shed blood of Jesus. He considered you worth the price he paid to purchase you from the kingdom of darkness so you could be ushered into the kingdom of light. NEVER again say I am unworthy – that is a LIE! Two, undeserving. We are totally correct in saying we don’t deserve anything from God. BUT, the GRACE of God was designed for the undeserving. Thank God for His grace, right. I wasn’t saved because I deserved it, it’s by grace that we are saved. I don’t pray for the sick because I’m good at it; it’s by GRACE. I don’t deserve to pray for the sick. I prophesy by grace. I speak in tongues by grace. Everything I do or I am is by God’s grace, nothing more. You can win the lost, heal the sick, and perform miracles; you can walk in victory all because of God’s wonderful grace. It’s time the church rose up and become THE CHURCH. Pew sitting is not a calling, ministry is. It’s not enough to just go to church, warm the pews, pray for sister so and so, and earn your little brownie points. Hint: God doesn’t give brownie points. He gives us grace. Jesus is coming back for a victorious church. He’s coming back for those who are doers of His word, not a sitting church. Rise up, get into the word, claim who you are, begin to confess it daily, and begin to do what God has called you to do. Begin to see yourself the way God see’s you. There will be no excuses, because God has equipped you with His grace. Doc Sharp Much of the church world has had an attitude about money that is totally unscriptural. This prevailing attitude is that wealth and Christianity don’t mix. This wrong attitude comes, I believe, from the monastic dark ages idea that holiness and piety can’t be obtained if one has money.
Along with this unscriptural error is another idea that has been added, which is unworthiness. A large portion of the Church walks around feeling as if they don’t have any reason to expect God to give them anything. They feel like their past has been so bad that they don’t deserve anything from God. Most have worked very hard for God in order to “feel” accepted, but it seems the harder they try, the more they mess up. Does that sound like you? The question I raise here is not whether you deserve or don’t deserve the blessings of God, but does God want to give you His blessings? The answer to this question is an absolute YES! God’s grace is your answer. You don’t deserve anything, but God wants you to have it. God gave us Jesus (John 3:16), when we didn’t deserve Him, didn’t He? Jesus died on the cross for us, when we didn’t deserve it, didn’t He? Jesus provided heaven as our final destination, when we didn’t deserve it, didn’t He? What makes you think that He won’t provide His blessings to you now? Now, let’s get God’s Word on this. 2 Corin 9:8 says: 8) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. The word for grace here means, according to Thayer, all earthly blessings, wealth, etc, which is due to divine goodness. Why does God want you wealthy? First of all, He loves you like a father does a child. With that love comes the desire to bless. Secondly, He wants to finance the spread of the gospel. These good works talked about in verse eight are ministries that God has ordained to help expand His Kingdom. The key to getting this extreme wealth is that we must leave the world’s economy and enter into God’s economy. The world’s economy works like this: You get everything you possibly can get and hold on to it as hard as you can. You work, beg, borrow, scratch, and claw for everything you possible can. You save it, hide, and don’t let anyone get it from you. God’s economy works on a different principle. With our financial and material goods, we begin to give, give, give, and then give some more. As you give, God begins to multiply back to you what has been given. Proverbs 11:24 reads: “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Here, we see an example of both types. The scatterer (giver) increases while the one who stores up (withholdeth) decreases into poverty. I have heard many people lament that it seems the harder they try to get ahead financially, the further behind they get. If you aren’t trying to develop a giver’s heart, you will tend to poverty. Now, giving is extremely difficult for most people to do. God’s grace not only brings things to you that you don’t deserve, but it will enable you to do things that are hard for you to do. God’s grace will work on your heart until it becomes easy to give. Just like there is grace for works, there is grace for giving. Galatians 6:7 reads: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. What this is saying is that whatsoever harvest you reap comes completely from what you have sown. If you find it painful to give, ask God for the grace to be able to do it. Ref 2 Corinthians 8:2-7. These people had allowed God’s grace to work on them until they actually enjoyed giving. Paul’s prayer here is that we abound in this grace, also. I encourage you to ask God for this grace, so that you can enter into God’s economy. After you enter through giving, then His grace gift of finances can begin to flow to you. Doc Sharp There are multitudes of Christians that walk around fearful of losing their salvation. The reason for this is that for generations there has been legalistic teachers and preachers that have preached that you can lose your salvation if you sin.
They have taken the above scripture to mean that you can lose salvation for even the slightest transgressions. My brothers and sisters, let us settle this question once and for all. Your salvation is not based on whether you sin or not, it is based on God’s love and His grace. 2 Corinthians 5:19 reads 19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Sin is not what keeps a person out of heaven; it is unbelief. Unbelief in Jesus is the ticket to hell, not sin. Reference John 16:7-11. According to verse 9, the only sin the people of the world will be judged on is the sin of not believing on Jesus. John 3:reads 18) He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Jesus took care of the sin problem for the world. Why can’t we see that as Christians our sin was also taken care of? Was Jesus’ precious blood powerful enough to save us, but weak now that we are Christians? Has His blood lost its power? Has it been diluted and weakened for the Christian? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Sin is no match for God’s grace. Grace will overpower sin any time, any place, any way. Glory! The Christian who walks in sin does not lose heaven, but he will walk in a lot of hell while on earth. We must understand that whatever a man sows that is what he will reap. Back to Gal 5:4. It says that you are fallen from grace, if you get into the law (legalism). You don’t lose your salvation: you simply step outside the benefits of God’s grace. If God’s grace can be earned or won, then it ceases to be grace. My brothers and sisters, please stop failing to be partakers of God’s grace. There is so much to be done in this world before Jesus can return. You have been declared righteous; you have been declared innocent. You have been declared a child of God. Quit calling God a liar and start accepting what God has done in you through Jesus. If you will begin thinking on the things of God, especially what God’s Word says about you, then you will begin to change. God’s image of you will begin to manifest in you the more you think and meditate on it. Quit listening to the devil’s lies about you. Begin to accept what God says about you. The less you worry about falling into sin, the less you will. Quit dwelling on your sins and your past. Spend all of your time thinking of Jesus’ past and your future. My suggestion to you, at this point, is seek God’s grace. Receive (take) His grace; then, begin to grow in His grace. Doc Sharp 1st Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Most Christians won’t do anything in the Kingdom of God because they feel too unworthy. Paul knew this very feeling as is demonstrated by the above scripture. Even though he knew he did not deserve to be what he had become, he didn’t let this feeling stop him from serving God in the capacity that he had been called. Most Christians' use excuses like I have no ability, no anointing, or no education. This has nothing to do with you being the best you can for the Kingdom. Our Father is not looking for your ability or talents. Matter of fact, many times our talents and abilities get in the way of God’s will. You must understand that all God is looking for is your availability. He will provide the talent, ability, power, anointing, as well as the results. When we get to heaven, our reward will not be based on what we have done for God, but on what we have allowed God to do through us. This is the concept that Paul understood when he made the statement that he could do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthened him. If you deserved grace, then it would no longer be grace. We don’t get grace because we deserve it; we get grace because we need it. As a person develops confidence in God’s grace, then he can lay hands on the sick and see them recover. He can cast out devils, minister to the lost effectively, and, in general, be an effective Christian. 1 Peter 4:10 says As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Please understand God wants you to walk in this power, and His grace has taken care of your lack of holiness and righteousness in order to make you into a useable vessel. Passive Christians will be powerless Christians because everything God has for us must be taken. If you are waiting for God to hit you with some magical wand and make you successful, you will wait a long time. Actually, we need to develop a confidence that says not only can we stand firm in the power and strength of God’s peace, but that He wants us to. God wants us to have and to use His power more than we realize and want to. We should step into supernatural power like a young duck goes into water. Weakness and failure are abnormal for the Christian. It’s a shame that feelings of unworthiness keep the Church from obedience to God, especially when His grace was designed to take care of the problem. This is the day of God’s grace. This is the dispensation of the grace of God. Rise up, you army of God, begin to operate as the warriors of God. We don’t deserve it, but that is God’s will for His Church. Let the weak rise up and say they are strong. We must find out who we are, who we belong to, and what we can do. Our destiny is to rule and reign with Christ Jesus, but we can’t wait until we get to heaven to start utilizing the strength and ability's that God’s grace has provided for us now. Let us always remember that God’s grace is more than enough to cause us to win in any situation. Thank God for His Grace - HR John 1: 17
For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ not only brought me salvation, righteousness, and justification, but He also brought me the grace of God. Great, that’s wonderful, but what is it? Jesus has brought me something and I don’t have the slightest idea what it is. He brought the same thing to you, too. It should be our goal to learn everything we possibly can about God and what He has provided for us. If we don’t understand it or know about it, we might inadvertently be missing out on something. And we don’t want to miss out on the goodness of God. Stay with me for more on the Grace of God, what it is and what it means to us as believers. To begin with, grace is not a simple subject. There is more than just one definition or meaning for grace. Let’s look at 1 Peter 4: 10: As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The word manifold means many or varied. Grace has many different facets, meanings, and purposes. To try and define grace as simply “the unmerited favor of God” is to fall woefully short of the full impact of the word. As a matter of fact, by not understanding the fullness of Grace is the reason much of the church is not more victorious, powerful and mature. Grace is what God uses to provide for us everything that we have need of, even though we really don’t deserve it. Grace sees to it that you get what you don’t deserve. I don’t deserve salvation, but grace gives it to me anyway. Look at Eph 2: 8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. God’s love for us and His church is manifested in grace to us and through us. Now that I have received this grace, I can, also, receive everything that grace is. As mentioned earlier, grace is manifold, which means it has many different forms. Grace is favor, power, strength, my protection, blessings, promises, gifts, enduements, deliverances, and miracles. Romans 8: 32 says, He that spared not His own son, but delievered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things. Everything is totally dependent of Jesus Christ. There is no one that is good enough to get into heaven. We are all in the same boat: the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one can come into God’s presence except through the blood of the Lamb. Most people would develop a fatalist attitude at this point. Why try? It’s hopeless! Actually, this is great news! My goodness or lack of goodness is not the issue. Salvation is 100% a gift that is given only to the undeserving. That makes me a candidate for heaven, Glory! I don’t have to worry about whether I’ve done enough good to get into heaven or done enough bad to miss out on heaven. What relief! What comfort! What peace! Thank God for His grace. Mankind must come to the place that they understand that there is nothing they can do to get into heaven and certainly nothing they can do to miss hell. Eternal damnation is our destination without the free gift. Read Romans 5: 14 - 17. Let’s focus on verse 17. “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Did you notice the words, “justification” in verse 16 and “righteousness” in verse 17 along with the phrase “free gift”? Those who have sinned - messed up their lives - are the ones that the free gift of grace brings righteousness and justification to. Jesus has paid the price for me to miss hell (mercy) and then provided heaven for me (grace). His mercy watched over me and kept back what I deserved long enough until His grace gave me what I never deserved. Let me tell you what you need to do to get this free gift in your life. Look at Acts 10: 43 “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” By believing on Jesus, our sins are taken care of. The word receive is the Greek word “Lambano”. This is not a passive word. It is vigorous and active. It means primarily to vigorously and violently grab something and take it for yourself. All the gifts of God, all of His blessings, every promise of God has to be taken. You cannot passively sit back and wait for God to hit you with a magic wand. The above scripture shows us that we must grab hold of the idea and attitude that our sins are forgiven and that we are children of God. His picture of us is as victorious, overcomers; so get with the program and take His grace. Doc Sharp |
Dr. H. R. SharpJust a man armed with the Word of the LORD. Available now in the store
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