053 - Spiritual Gifts #4 - Don Gossett

[00:00:00] It's been a delight to share with you about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in these recent days.

[00:00:05] I trust this subject will encourage you to really study God's Word.

[00:00:11] Read 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, discerning of spirits,

[00:00:18] the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, the gift of faith, the gift of tongues,

[00:00:23] the gift of interpretation of tongues, the gift of prophecy. We are encouraged to seek all these

[00:00:29] gifts for the glory of God. And that's what I want to encourage you today, to have an open heart.

[00:00:35] I'll always praise God that this was like a foreign language, a foreign subject,

[00:00:40] the gifts of the Spirit when I first united with William Freeman to travel.

[00:00:45] Here was a man that the gifts of the Spirit were so awesome through his life,

[00:00:49] for he had received this visitation that God himself was manifesting the gift of healing.

[00:00:55] And he stepped out to be obedient to the Lord, and the results were mighty for God's glory.

[00:01:02] So I want to emphasize this fact that may you seek the gifts of the Spirit. Now, it may be that I've

[00:01:10] not explained this as you might understand, for there's so much to be said about the gifts of the

[00:01:16] Spirit. And I encourage you to not only study God's Holy Word, but there are good books that others have

[00:01:23] written on this subject. And I personally have received much help. And when we function in this

[00:01:30] supernatural realm of the gifts of the Spirit, of course, we need to be careful, but not afraid.

[00:01:36] Satan offers many perversions of God's true gifts. We can stay on the right track through prayer and

[00:01:42] seeking truth from God's Word. I also urge you to begin praying about the gifts of the Spirit.

[00:01:48] Ask God to use you in them and allow them to flow through you as he sees fit. Don't seek the gifts that

[00:01:55] seem most attractive or interesting to you, but seek the gifts God has for you. When you allow the gifts

[00:02:02] of the Spirit to work through you, it'll help others and help you in your everyday life. And it'll

[00:02:09] demonstrate even to non-believers the power and goodness of Christ. He indwells within you. I've

[00:02:16] mentioned to you in the first broadcast I've done on this teaching that when I began to work with William

[00:02:23] Freeman, I began to see the manifestation of a gift that to me was just overwhelming. It was the ability

[00:02:31] of God that enabled him to be an instrument to bring healing to people in the name of Jesus. You asked,

[00:02:38] was everybody healed? No, they weren't. But I'll tell you a great number were. And thank God for all the

[00:02:44] mighty victories. He taught me so much and he was my personal mentor, as it were, on the gifts of the

[00:02:51] Spirit, not just by teaching but by example, as I would see this gift operated. Two special gifts,

[00:02:58] the gifts of healing and the discerning of spirits were two that were among the other very prominent

[00:03:04] giftings. And God wants you to be a possessor of his grace. Allow the Spirit of God to manifest through

[00:03:12] you the gifts of the Spirit. And I say it'll be a blessing to you. It'll be an encourager to others.

[00:03:18] That's what always would happen when people came to the Freeman Crusade. In that big tent sitting 10,000

[00:03:25] people, people were coming there. Why? Because God was on the scene. They were seeing the manifestation

[00:03:31] of the Holy Spirit through a man of God who would be an instrument to pray. And I assure you that you

[00:03:40] don't have to be in the classification of a super person like William Freeman or T.L. Osborne or Jack

[00:03:47] Coe or these people with whom God joined me in ministry for those years. I will always bless God that I had a

[00:03:55] good education, not a total understanding, but a great education in the Holy Spirit to understand

[00:04:02] the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. And God wants to use you to help you to be one used by

[00:04:09] him. Now, I've mentioned a great deal about the gift of tongues, but also the same scripture goes on

[00:04:16] to say about the interpretation of tongues. Now, when you speak in tongues in public worship,

[00:04:22] the message must be interpreted according to 1 Corinthians 14, 27. We must give understanding

[00:04:30] that interpretation of messages are given of what's been given in tongues. And to you,

[00:04:37] you can understand that this gift of interpretation of tongues in public worship is absolutely essential.

[00:04:44] It's a command of the Bible and it'll give you supernatural help. So the gift of speaking in

[00:04:51] tongues, interpretation of tongues, God wants you to understand that these are giftings you can see

[00:04:58] manifest through your life. And Father God, in Jesus name, as we've had the occasion to emphasize the gifts of

[00:05:06] the Holy Spirit, I pray that you see the hunger of every person, sincere, simple, sweet people who want to

[00:05:15] obey you and want to be instruments of blessing. I pray, Lord, that in their own sphere of life,

[00:05:21] in their own interaction with other people, that the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit can be

[00:05:26] manifest, that people can receive healing in Jesus name. People can receive guidance and direction

[00:05:35] by your word and by the Holy Spirit. Father, these are desirable gifts, gifts, Lord, that will edify,

[00:05:42] will strengthen, will build up and make us channels of blessing to this world. In Jesus name, amen.

[00:05:49] Well, I have had opportunity to be involved in the mission of outreach to the people of the world.

[00:05:58] Now, in my own ministry, for many years, when I, after I left William Freeman, I began to travel

[00:06:06] everywhere. And I was asked a question when I was recently with Sid Roth on his national TV program.

[00:06:14] He asked me, he said, do you think you received the anointing of William Freeman? I said, I've never

[00:06:20] thought of that, but it'd be something desirable. I consider the anointing God gave me was by his own

[00:06:27] Holy Spirit, by his own providence, and I'm grateful for that. But this gift is not just something you

[00:06:34] coveted to try to be like someone else. It's a gift that God's sovereignty wants to give to you,

[00:06:40] that you can be an instrument of his blessing. Now, God honors our natural giftings. He knows he gives us

[00:06:47] abilities. He gives us understanding. But then the supernatural kicks in, and we are aware that the Holy

[00:06:54] Spirit is being, is using us for God's glory. So I hope you'll have your heart open. The Bible gives a

[00:07:02] fair amount of instruction what to do. Among other things, the scripture says, covet earnestly the

[00:07:08] best gifts. I mean, we have to have this word covet as a strong word. It means you really pursue. You

[00:07:15] want to covet the gifts of the Holy Spirit and that you might receive from him. And how you ask, well,

[00:07:23] brother Don, how do I covet? You do this in several ways, I believe. First of all, as you pray,

[00:07:30] a life of prayer will be a real buildup in preparation to receive the gifts of the Spirit.

[00:07:36] It'll enable you to have your own heart right with God. I discover that in order to really be used by

[00:07:43] God, there are four words that must dominate. Get right with God. If your heart is not right with God,

[00:07:50] it'll be very difficult for the precious Holy Spirit to manifest. You see, we can commit sins against the

[00:07:58] Holy Spirit. The Bible warns us that we are not to be one who grieves the Holy Spirit. We're not to quench

[00:08:06] the Holy Spirit. We're not to lie to the Holy Spirit. But if we quench not, grieve not, lie not,

[00:08:13] and yet submit to the Holy Spirit, we'll discover he'll be pleased to work through us. So let your heart

[00:08:19] be always clean, an instrument for God's glory, not for your personal acclimation or somehow

[00:08:27] expression, but that you can be one God can flow through. I don't have all the answers about the

[00:08:34] gifts of the Spirit. I'm still a learner all the time, even though I've been involved in this ministry

[00:08:40] for so many years of my life. I praise God that I learn new things all the time, all about the same

[00:08:46] principles of how God works, and it's all in his written word. So be a student of the word. Study 1

[00:08:54] Corinthians chapter 14. Study out those 18 different scriptures about the speaking in tongues. Oh, why

[00:09:01] would anybody want to deny themselves of this privilege when the Bible says that the that speaks

[00:09:08] in unknown tongues speak is not unto man, but unto God? How be it in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries?

[00:09:14] And again, he to speak in unknown tongue edify himself. My friend Sid Roth, with whom I was

[00:09:23] recently on television interviewed by him, he made a covenant with God to pray in tongues an hour

[00:09:30] every day. I asked him about that. I said, Sid, I've heard you say that you have covenant to pray

[00:09:37] in tongues an hour every day. He said, yes, Don, that's been a great delight of my life. Well, I'm not

[00:09:45] recommending you necessarily pattern after Sid Roth. Simply obey the Lord in your own heart. Speak in

[00:09:53] tongues five minutes or ten minutes or however long, but it's not the length or it's not the loudness. It's

[00:09:59] simply yielding to the precious Holy Spirit. How about it? Has your heart got a hunger for the

[00:10:07] Lord's best for your life? Have you had a desire not just to be an ordinary Christian,

[00:10:14] but you want to be one that God can use in these last days? Father, as humbly as you know how we bow

[00:10:21] before you to say thank you. Thank you for the Holy Spirit and thank you for the gifts of the Holy

[00:10:27] Spirit to us. Father, we do covet these gifts, the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues,

[00:10:35] interpretation of tongues, the gift of faith, the working of miracles, the gifts of healing,

[00:10:41] the discerning of spirits, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom. Lord,

[00:10:44] we covet all these gifts according to your will. For Lord, it's according to your will,

[00:10:51] your purpose that the gift is manifest. So we submit to you, Lord, as humbly as you know how,

[00:10:57] with gratitude for anticipation of your blessing. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, I trust that you will

[00:11:05] have an open heart and mind, that you know the gifts of God are so wonderful. And I'm grateful

[00:11:13] that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to you. For the Bible says,

[00:11:17] the promise is unto you, to your children, to as many as are far off, even as the Lord God should call.

[00:11:24] This gift of the Holy Spirit, baptism of the Holy Spirit, is God's gift to you, that you should give

[00:11:31] priority. I hope you'll have an open heart to this truth also. So now as we come down to the closing part

[00:11:38] of this broadcast, I have discovered that studying the Word of God will be the key to your being able

[00:11:45] to have insight and understanding. Because this isn't something that's mystical, the gifts of the

[00:11:52] Spirit. I know I've had people tell me, oh, it seems so mystical about a gift to the Spirit. Well,

[00:11:59] there's nothing mystical about it. It's a Bible truth, and the Holy Spirit is not a mystic. He's a

[00:12:04] real person. Praise God for that. So now we come down to the action time of this broadcast.

[00:12:11] You know, I've been saying to you people, praise is the forerunner of God's working.

[00:12:18] So simply yield your heart to Him. God says, whoso offers praise glorifies me. And He commands,

[00:12:27] enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Let's praise Him together.

[00:12:32] Praise you, Lord. Amen. Praise you, Lord. Amen.

[00:12:48] Praise you, Lord, Amen, praise you, Lord, Amen.

[00:12:55] Praise you, Lord, Amen, praise you, Lord, Amen.