Derek Prince 20
Derek Prince 20
Derek Prince 20
Teaching Letter
No. 23: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Dear Friend When Abraham sent his servant from Canaan to Padan Aram to seek a bride for his son Isaac, the servant loaded ten camels to take with him. In the Middle East I have seen with my own eyes how much can be loaded onto a camel. It is amazing! The ten camels with their loads were visible evidence that Abraham was an honoured, prosperous man. Included in their loads were precious gifts of jewellery. When the servant found the young woman who was to become Isaacs bride, his first act was to place on her face a very conspicuous nose jewel. By accepting the gift Rebecca committed herself to become Isaacs bride. Had she refused the gift, however, she would have rejected and dishonoured Isaac. She could never have become his bride. Today, in a similar way, God has sent His Holy Spirit with abundant provision for the bride of His Son Jesus the Church. Included in it are nine beautiful spiritual gifts. By accepting these gifts, the Church is marked out as the one who is committed to become the Bride of Christ.
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day,Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them,I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!6 This indicates that it is possible for a person to exercise spiritual gifts and at the same time to practice lawlessness. What is lawlessness? It is an arrogant assumption that Gods moral and ethical standards no longer apply to those who can exercise gifts of supernatural power. Obviously, such ministries may at times confront us with the need to make difficult personal decisions. How should we respond? First of all, we must keep in mind Pauls warning to Timothy: Do not . . . share in other peoples sins; keep yourself pure.7 Second, we must also keep in mind the warning which Jesus gave us concerning such unethical ministries:Heaven is for those who do the will of My Father in heaven.We each need to ask ourselves: What is the will of God in my life? What does my Father expect of me? For my part, I feel that God has given me a clear, simple answer: This is the will of God, that you should be holy.8 To this the Holy Spirit has added a warning: Without holiness no one will see the Lord.9 It is my determination to pursue holiness. In my next letter, I will deal with the opposite side of the coin: the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Yours in the Masters service
Derek Prince
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1 Timothy 5:22 1 Thessalonians 4:3, NKJ & NIV 9 Hebrews 12:14, NIV
For further study, we recommend audio cassettes 4155 Exercising Spiritual Gifts 4156 Gifts of Power and Revelation
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