CONTENTS  Preface  1. Born Anew  2. Scriptural Teaching on Evangelism  3. Practicing Evangelism  4. How to Pray  5. Sanctified Christian Living  6. In the Spirit 7. Forming Fellowships  8. Training for Ministry  9. Prayer and Ministry  10. One in the Body  11. New Testament Order 12. On to Maturity

6. In the Spirit When we receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we enter into a new and exciting life of discipleship. As we yield ourselves to Him, He begins to manifest Himself powerfully, even using our tongues, the most unruly member of our bodies, in a supernatural language of praise. But this new language of the Spirit is just the beginning, a door to ever greater blessing: to Christ's deep love and to gifts and fruits of the Spirit in abundance. The New Language The new language of the Spirit is a sign that we have received the Baptism in the Spirit, and an assurance that He continues to dwell in us. We should keep practicing it until it becomes fluent and as easy as breathing. As we continue praying in this supernatural way, we enter into deeper realms of praise and union with God, a peace we never imagined before, and a continual witness to His presence in us. “Gifts” or Manifestations of the Spirit. In I Corinthians 12:8-10 we meet nine solaced “gifts” of the Spirit, which verse 7 describes as manifestations. The Holy Spirit is given to us, then He manifests Himself through us as He wills. Whether we call them gifts or manifestations, we must remember that they belong to the Holy Spirit and not to us. For instance, the Holy Spirit has “gifts of healing” for sick people. They are His gifts, and He wants to give them to the people who need them. We are just the delivery boys. Let us not in pride think that we have a gift of healing, or prophecy or discerning of spirits. These manifestations of the Spirit are always for a particular time and situation. The Lord speaks to us or acts through us to meet an immediate need. They do not in any sense become our permanent possession. If we have received the Holy Spirit and yielded ourselves to Him, then He can use us as need arises for any one of these manifestations. If we see someone collapse on the street, we don't need to tell him to wait while we run off looking for our friend with a “gift of healing.” The Lord wants to use us to deliver His gifts as need arises. All can speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5), all can prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:31). “Follow the way of love, and seek spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Then why in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 does Paul say: “To one is given . . . to another is given . . .?” Because in these chapters (I Corinthians 11-14) Paul is talking primarily about the Christian fellowship at worship. He is emphasizing our working together in the Body. It is not a one man ministry, but all can take part, as the Spirit divides His manifestations to all, “just as He determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11). Another time, the person who prophesied before may be used to deliver gifts of healing or to utter a word of knowledge. Our part is to be obedient to the Spirit and ready to let Him manifest Himself however He chooses. In I Corinthians 12:8-10 Paul lists nine different manifestations of the Spirit: 1. Word of Wisdom — A command or word of guidance from the Lord, dealing with a given situation, revealing the Lord's will in that situation. Paul once spoke with divine authority, using a word of wisdom, telling the people on shipboard that all the cargo must be thrown overboard, but all the people must stay on board that the ship and people might be saved. By the operation of this gift the Lord directs our ministry step by step. He also speaks His direction to us in our prayer fellowship. 2. Word of Knowledge — A revelation of some fact or condition that could not be known by natural means. This often diagnoses the spiritual or physical condition of the person to whom we are ministering. Jesus told the woman he met by the well in Samara what was wrong with her marital history. In seminary, we learned to ask a lot of psycho-logically oriented questions to determine the basis of people's difficulties. But if God gives us direct under-standing of the condition, and wisdom to minister to it, our ministry can be many times more effective, and God is glorified just as He was in Samara (John 4).  In Indonesia many people, even many Christians, have magic charms and idols. If we ask them, they will deny it. But if, by revelation, we can tell them, “You have a piece of paper with Arabic writing on it among the shirts in your cupboard.” then they will have to admit it and will usually be willing to destroy the charm. 3. Faith — An absolute confidence in God's ability and willingness to act in a given circumstance at a given instant. In this way, God gives us the assurance we need for healing or doing other miracles in His Name. One time while Paul was preaching, he saw a crippled man in the audience who had received this gift of faith for healing. Paul stopped preaching, and told the man to stand up and walk. 4. Gifts of Healing — The grace of God operating to heal sick bodies and minds. The Lord uses us as His instruments to deliver this gift of healing to the sick person. Remember that this is the Spirit's gift, not ours. Healing does not depend on the loudness of our voice or the length of our prayer. In the New Testament almost all healing is done by a simple word of command in the authority of Jesus' Name. 5. Working of Miracles — A demonstration of God's supernatural power, like Jesus walking on the water, or feeding multitudes starting with a little bit of food. In our church in Montana we learned the effectiveness of prayer for rain in a dry country. We also learned to prevent hail damage by a word of command in the Name of Jesus.  6. Discerning of Spirits — Recognizing spirits and distinguishing among the Holy Spirit, angel spirits, demons, and the spirit in man. Discerning of spirits is tremendously necessary in the life of the church, especially for those in places of authority. This manifestation is essential in deliverance ministry and in leading meetings which experience the freedom of the Spirit. We need to distinguish clearly whether our people are being motivated by the Holy Spirit, their own ideas or emotions, or some other spirit. Also, every local church has people whose lives are in some measure troubled or bound by evil forces. We need to be able to bring them God's deliverance. Sometimes we meet people with unexplained illnesses. The Spirit may reveal to us that these are the result of participation in occult practices, or because someone else has been using black magic against them. In these cases, a prayer for healing would not be appropriate. We must discern these causes in the Spirit, and then take authority over them in Jesus' Name. We must remember, however, that discerning of spirits is not the same as the gifts of suspicion and criticism which sometimes operate in churches. These latter are themselves suspect, and usually need to be discerned, repented of, and cast out. 7. Prophecy — Speaking God's words. We yield our mouths to God, and He speaks through us to His people for building faith, exhorting, and comforting. Prophecy may contain predictive elements, but its main function is for strengthening and building up the Body of Christ. We can always get much advice and counsel from men, but it is often confusing and conflicting. How wonderful, then, if we can hear directly from God. We have had Bible conferences at our Training Center where the Lord has spoken to us for hours in one prophetic utterance after another, revealing the secrets of His heart and teaching us His ways in a most direct manner. As we have put into practice what He has told us, we have seen ever-increasing results in our lives and ministry. 8. Tongues — Supernatural prayer in a language given by the Spirit and unknown to the speaker. There are three different situations in which tongues are normally manifested. Each of us should pray continually in this way in our private devotions to remain yielded to the Spirit and in union with Christ. On some occasions, this manifestation can be used for speaking to people whose language we do not know. Throughout the history of the Church, there have been many who have preached the gospel and ministered, by inspiration of the Spirit, in languages they have never learned. In public meetings, the gift of tongues, if spoken out loud, should be interpreted for the edification of the Body. We pray with our minds but we can also pray in the Spirit (i.e., in tongues). We can sing with our minds, with songs from a book or songs we have learned. We can also sing with new songs given directly by the Spirit. Sometimes in our worship together all can worship and praise the Lord in the Spirit. Another time one or two people can sings psalms given by the Spirit.  9. Interpretation of Tongues — Conveying in the common language of the people the sense of the public prayer or song in tongues described above. We believe that the interpretation of tongues should properly be in the form of inspired prayer, because Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14 that he who speaks in tongues is not speaking to men, but to God. All these manifestations are supernatural and given by the Spirit for a specific time and circumstance. To deliver them, we must cooperate with the Spirit. He distributes them as he wishes. Our part is obedience. For delivering the spoken gifts, we simply open our mouths and speak forth the words He gives us. For healing and other miracles we must be ready to lay on hands, issue a word of command, or do whatever else He tells us to do. The spoken manifestations of the Spirit (prophecy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge) need not be delivered formally with a “Thus satin the Lord”: but can be delivered simply and conversationally in personal ministry, or they may occur almost unconsciously in preaching or teaching if we are being guided by the Spirit. Frequently we may wonder why we said something or other, but later several people say that it spoke directly to their need or revealed to them the hidden secrets of their hearts. The best atmosphere in which to begin experiencing these manifestations is in a small informal prayer fellowship without predetermined order of worship. “When you come together let each one have a psalm, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:26). Paul says that “the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). This means that the Holy Spirit does not force us to do or say anything. We are free to obey or disobey. We can quench the Spirit by not delivering what the Spirit gives us, or we can get ahead of the Spirit and say or do many things that the Lord did not command. Either way causes confusion. But we can also be obedient to the Spirit, cooperate with Him, and manifest the love of the Lord Jesus. Everyone who has been baptized in the Spirit can be used to deliver any of the nine manifestations of the Spirit. In Christian gatherings, the Spirit distributes them according to need, using us to minister one to another. In our every day walk, we should be yielded enough to the Lord to be able to minister to people through these manifestations of the Spirit anywhere and at any time. Our own intelligence, education, and ability is not negated or discarded in this spiritual ministry, but these natural capacities need to be brought to the Cross and surrendered to Him. Let us never forget that His thoughts are higher than ours and His understanding deeper. We need not worry if we do not see all these manifestations in our ministry at first. But as we learn to yield to Him and as need arises, He will use each of us. We should continually seek this spiritual ministry by prayer, practice, and obedience to the Spirit. Many people are afraid to yield to the free working of the Holy Spirit or to allow His manifestation in their churches, lest there be counterfeit or false manifestations. But we can only surely distinguish the true and the false if we ourselves have experienced the real thing. So the safest way of avoiding the counterfeits is by a deep involvement in the fellowship and work of the Holy Spirit. We can proceed with the perfect confidence that God is our loving Father who watches over us. If His son asks for a fish, He will not give a scorpion. So let us keep our eyes on Jesus and yield ourselves fully to Him, and always be full of His Spirit. The Law of Love According to the New Testament, love is not basically an emotion or attitude, but a way of acting. God loved the world He had made. So when He saw that world had gone astray, He acted. He sent His Son to manifest His love and to bring the creature back into fellowship with Him. The Son, Jesus, manifested God's love for fallen humanity by acting the following ways: 1. He forgave sins. 2. He healed sickness. 3. He cast out demons. 4. He preached the Kingdom of God. These are the works of love which meet man's deepest needs. With these works of love, God's Son offered to give men back their inner peace, peace with other men, peace among nations, and peace with God. Our proper response to these works of God is two-fold: 1. Receive these gifts of His love for ourselves: forgiveness, healing of body, mind, and spirit, deliverance from every power of darkness, entrance into His Kingdom, and His dominion, or ruler ship, in our lives. 2. Become Christ's messengers to pass on His love to others, by doing for them in His Name what He has done for us. This two-fold response fulfills Christ's laws of love for God and man. To give this practical kind of love, we need the supernatural equipment of the Spirit. The nine manifestations of the Spirit are the weapons of our warfare and the means of showing Christ's love towards others. When we receive the Baptism in the Spirit, the love of Christ is in us. As we yield to Him, His love flows out to others. We deliver His words and His help to them. The close relation of the spiritual gifts and Christ's command-ment to love God and one another is shown in 1 Corinthians 13. Not by accident did Paul place this chapter between the material in chapters 12 and  14. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be divorced from the manifestation of the Spirit. Some people have tried to interpret the love of 1 Corinthians 13 as a substitute for the manifestations of the Spirit. But if we examine the context, we see that love is here presented as the “more excellent way” to receive and exercise the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1). Without love we may minister in the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is not evident in our lives. We are empty and make a poor witness through our personal life. But love without the gifts of the Spirit is merely a nice feeling or emotion. If my neighbor is sick, I can sit at home and feel love for that person. But the love of Jesus makes me go there, lay hands on him and heal. If my neighbor is discouraged or depressed, I go in the love of Jesus and deliver a word of wisdom or prophecy for “edification, exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). The proper order is: (1) follow after love, and (2) seek spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1). The spiritual gifts make the love practical and demonstrable. We are not content to manifest our own human love, but His supernatural love. We minister to others not according to our own ability, but His. Fruit of the Spirit Let us not try to fix up our own lives. We have already tried that for years and failed. Only the Spirit of God can really make us what we should be. We must give Him a chance. The growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is very much related to our manifesting the gifts of the Spirit in fulfilling the Law of Love. In Gelatins 5:22, 23 we are told that the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness; goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These qualities are not attained by our struggle, but are fruit of our submission to the Holy Spirit. The more we bring Christ's forgiveness, healing, and deliverance to others, the more we are filled with His love. The love of God flows through us like a mighty river. If we know that we are acting according to His will, we will increase in joy and peace. We grow in patience, kindness, and goodness, because it is hard to get irritated at people to whom we are ministering the love and help of the Lord. We grow in faithfulness as we continue to be obedient to the Spirit's work in and through our lives. We learn gentleness, as we realize that we depend entirely on the Lord's power, not our own effort. We will see the need of exercising self-control so that our actions will not become a hindrance to the Lord's work. The Holy Spirit is working the Christ like character in us. Our part is to let Him flow through us and do His works in us and through us. The goal of this sanctifying process is that we “all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Walking in the Spirit Let us not be impatient if we do not see all this spiritual growth in our lives at the beginning. Fruit has to grow. After children are born, they need to learn to walk. People who have been born again and become children of God, need to learn to walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit involves two aspects:  1. Praying in the Spirit. In I Corinthians 14:2, we read that “anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him, he utters mysteries with his spirit” When we speak in tongues we are praying and uttering mysteries in the Holy Spirit. In verse 4 we read that he who speaks in tongues edifies himself. If we pray continually in the Spirit, that is, in tongues, we are edified. Our spirits are built up and brought on to perfection. In Isaiah 28:11 it is explained that speaking in tongues is God's rest. We cease from our own labors. If we continue to pray in tongues we enter His rest, our faith is built up, and our spirits are united with His Spirit. This is the first part of walking in the Spirit. 2. Obedience. If the Lord asks us to do something, let us not try to carry it out our own way, but according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As we pray in the Spirit, we often hear the voice of the Spirit telling us to do something. If the Lord wants us to prophesy, let us prophesy. If He wants us to speak, let us speak. If He wants us to pray for a sick person, let us pray. If He wants us to sit still, let us sit still. Everything He tells us to do, we do. We need to walk in the Spirit twenty-four hours a day. We can pray continually in the Spirit. Then when the Spirit directs us to do something, we will obey. Let us not be afraid to yield ourselves fully to the guidance of the Spirit. Let us enter into the joy of His service, giving thanks and praise continually in the new language He has given us. Let us minister with the power He has given us, speaking His words and doing His works, letting His love change and sanctify us. We will grow in the Spirit from glory to glory, and our love will be perfected in Christ. We are not asked to choose between gifts and fruit of the Spirit, but to have both in abundance and in perfect balance.

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