International Missions Seminar
We need to be ready to meet the Lord
- We need to live right because we never know when it is our time to die
- If people die in their sins, there is no time to repent
- We must have faith that heaven and hell is a real place.
- The knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ either enlightens or condemns us (Ephesians 1:17-18).
- Immediately upon death, we will go before God.
- The soul that sinneth shall die, at the point of death the soul will go back to the Creator (God) to be judged and God will send that soul hell. (Ezekiel 18:20)
- All of this occurs prior to the funeral.
- The death angel will come for us whether we are saved or sinners.
- Sometimes people see the death angel prior to death and other times people do not.
When Jesus comes on the cloud with the angels and God, this will be the second judgement (Thessalonians 4:13-18).
- There are many judgements.
- The first judgement is now (I Pet 4:17)
- Paul says we should be able to judge today because, we will one day judge angels (fallen) (1 Corinthians 6:3).
- The Corinthians should have judged a matter in the church (1 Corinthians 5:3).
- There will be a judgment in heaven, and this is for the saints.
- This is a righteous judgement to receive our rewards for our labor, time, energy, and the amount of money given
- This is because it takes money to run the church, and this is for the work of the Lord, and in the ministry (Galatians 6:9).
- We need to be grateful if we can give $100 for the power march because God prepared us to give this.
- God will make us givers
- In order for us to become givers, we cannot let our hearts go into the basket when we pay our tithes
- The more we pay in tithes, the harder it is to put it into the basket because it’s a lot of money.
- The Lord will help to arrange our affairs, so he can make us givers
- Our affairs are our real estate business, life, business, investments, etc.
Philippians 1:23-24
- Paul said he had a choice to go to heaven, but for him to remain with them was needful.
- We are required to believe that we are going to heaven to be with the Lord when we take our last breath.
- When we have the Holy Spirit, we will have this awareness.
- Sinners know instinctively they will not be with the Lord.
- God made us this way, so we know when we are right and wrong.
- The sooner we realize that we are wrong, the better off we will become, and then the Lord can help us.
- We need to stop looking at others in the church who are wrong to justify our wrong.
- We need to stop judging others and find ourselves.
1 Corinthians 12:9-10
- There are nine spiritual gifts:
- Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues
- If all of us who are spiritual think on these gifts, then this will result in powerful church services.
- A dry service is a result of those who are spiritual that are not thinking about gifts of the Spirit
- If the Lord would ask us which gift we would like to have, what gift would it be?
- It is probably the gift that we have been thinking on.
- Our choice is dependent upon our personalities and motives.
- A lot of praying is required for us to get any or all of the gifts of the Spirit.
- Discerning of Spirits is not a gift that is used to criticize others.
- Tongues was not manifested in the Old Testament.
- It was really given to the believing Jews so they would know that the Holy Spirit was poured out, meaning available to Jew & Gentiles alike (Joel 2:28-29).
- It was also given to them, so that when Peter goes to Cornelius’ house that the Jews would know at that time and up until now, the Gentiles have the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues just like the Jews who were filled (Acts 10:1 – 11:17).
- If we don’t pray in tongues, then we are not tongue talkers.
- In the bible the saints spoke in tongues (Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:6; 1 Corinthians 14:18).
- The gifts are arranged into three main categories (reference: Classification and Definition of Gifts (12:8):
- Power gifts: Miracles, Healing, Faith
- Mind gifts: Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Discerning of Spirits
- Vocal gifts: interpretation of tongues, prophecy, divers kinds of tongues.
- The gifts we receive are according to our personality (Luke 8:15)
- The Holy Spirit can change the seat (heart) of our personality (1 Corinthians 3:18).
- We must be kind and affectionate.
- Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing and Miracles are gifts people don’t have because of their personality.
- Being unkind and bad tempered will prevent an individual from having a gift of the Spirit.
- The gift of healing requires us to have compassion.
- Jesus was moved with compassion (Matthew 9:36).
- If we don’t have compassion the Lord will not give us the gift of healing
- Compassion helps us to forgive.
- Prophecy is the gift we should strive for because it blesses and edifies many people (the hearers within the church).
- We should desire to Prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1).
- The other gifts bless individually or only to certain ones.
No matter how severe a person has wronged us, if God has forgiven them, then we should also forgive them.
- David carried his sins for three years (2 Samuel 11-12).
- It is not good to tell or preach all our sins, because the people will not want to hear us.
- People can tell we have been forgiven & delivered by the way we serve God
- We tell God thank you when we travel in airplanes, go from meeting to meeting, teach, preach, etc.
- After David is forgiven, he tells God he is going be a preacher of preachers and will be a teacher of transgressors (Psalm 51:13).
The more the devil uses an individual, the greater the reward & price he or she will pay for tearing down God’s church.
- The devil will reward evil to the ones he uses. He’s going to pay them back.
- Jesus loved the church and gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:25).
- This also presents a danger to them that use witchcraft on people.
- When the devil works, it’s for the evil
- When the Lord works, it’s for the good (St John 10:10).
We cannot lay hands on the people if we are not praying.
We need to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind because this is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37).
1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7: if we want any gift of the Spirit, we will need the love of God within our hearts & personalities.
- The Lord wants to give us patience.
- Charity does not
- Envy = Jealousy
- Vaunt = is proud or boasting
- Unseemly = does not dishonor others
- Seeks not her own = is not self-seeking or overly ambitious at the expense of other people
- Not easily provoked = not easily angered (able to hold one’s temper)
- Thinketh no evil
- Rejoice not in iniquity = love does not delight in evil but delights in the truth
- These things are in our heart, soul (personality) and prevent us from getting spiritual gifts.
- These things should be in our lives (2 Peter 1:5-8)
- Whatever is in the preacher’s heart will ride out on the preachers words.
- The Lord will speak to us in prayer to tell us whatever we need to do to get a gift.
- When He does this to us in prayer, it causes us to cry and make a vow unto the Lord.