The Promises of God - Lesson 20 Indwelling of the Holy Spirit - 1
Introduction:
1. God's promises are described in 2 Peter 1:4 as "exceeding great and precious." 2. Because God's promises are so special, they deserve our careful attention. 3. We are presently studying "God's promise to send the Holy Spirit." a. God made this promise through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). b. Peter stated that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled on Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21). 4. The Scriptures teach that God has given people various measures of the Spirit, including: a. the baptism of the Holy Spirit b. the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by spiritual gifts c. the non-miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 5. In this lesson we are concentrating on "the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by spiritual gifts."
Discussion:
I. THE APOSTLES EXERCISED SPIRITUAL GIFTS (Hebrews 2:3-4)
A. Those who heard the Lord [the apostles] confirmed the great salvation that He proclaimed. B. As the apostles confirmed the great salvation, God bore them witness. 1. One way that God bore them witness was through "gifts of the Holy Spirit." 2. The gifts demonstrated the authority behind their teaching (Matthew 16:19; 18:18). C. The apostles were able to exercise spiritual gifts because they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). D. In addition to the apostles, . . .
II. OTHER CHRISTIANS WERE ABLE TO EXERCISE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
A. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10) The Christians in Corinth possessed nine spiritual gifts, including: 1. "the word of wisdom": a special wisdom that came from God (1 Corinthians 2:6-7) 2. "the word of knowledge": the ability to understand and teach the truths revealed by the apostles (2 Corinthians 4:6-7) 3. "faith" a. This was not the kind of faith that we possess (Romans 10:17). b. This was a miraculous faith (Matthew 17:20). 4. "the gifts of healing": miraculous healing (James 5:14-15) 5. "the working of miracles": the ability to perform miracles other than healing 6. "prophecy": speaking a message from God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit 7. "discerning of spirits": the ability to judge spirits to determine whether they were evil or from God (1 John 4:1) 8. "divers kinds of tongues": the ability to proclaim messages from God in foreign languages 9. "the interpretation of tongues": the ability to translate messages spoken in foreign languages. B. The apostles were able to exercise their gifts because they were baptized in the Spirit; however, spiritual gifts had to be "imparted" to other Christians (Romans 1:11). C. Spiritual gifts were imparted to other Christians through the "laying on of hands" by the apostles (Acts 6:5-6, 8; 8:5-7, 14-17; 19:5-6; 2 Timothy 1:6). D. The apostles and other Christians exercised spiritual gifts; however, . . .
III. SPIRITUAL GIFTS WERE TEMPORARY (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)
A. They would end when "that which is perfect" [finished, complete -- 2 Chronicles 8:16] came. B. The New Testament is "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25). C. When the New Testament was completed there was no longer any need for spiritual gifts, and they vanished away.
Conclusion:
1. Spiritual gifts were exercised by the apostles and by other Christians. 2. These gifts existed when the church was in its infancy -- they were not permanent. 3. Today we have something far greater -- the completed New Testament of Christ.
