LNB-19

911117PM

“El Tablazo looked so close.  Too close.  It happened so fast.  Exploding into the jagged 14,000-foot peak, the DC-4 disintegrated with a metallic scream.

 

What was left of the Avianca Airline flight bound for Quito, Ecuador, flamed crazily down the mountainside into a deep ravine.  One awful moment illuminated a cold Colombian mountain in the night, then the darkness returned.  And the silence.

 

Before leaving the airport earlier that day, a young New Yorker named Glenn Chambers hurriedly scribbled a note on a piece of paper he found on the floor of the terminal.  The scrap was part of a printed advertisement with a single work, “Why?” sprawled across the center.

 

Needing stationery in a hurry, Chambers scrawled a note to his mother around the word in the middle.  Quickly folding this last-minute thought, he stuffed it in an envelope and dropped it in a box.  There would be more to come, of course.  More about the budding of a lifelong dream to begin a ministry with the “Voice of the Andes” in Ecuador.

 

But there was no more to come.  Between the mailing and the delivery of Chambers’ note, El Tablazo snagged his flight and his dreams from the night sky.  The envelope arrived later than the news of his death.  When his mother received it, the question burned up at her from the page — WHY?

 

It is the question that hits first and lingers longest.  Why?  Why me?  Why now?  Why this?”

 

The answer to such ultimate questions can be found in God’s Word — Hebrews is the expression of God’s truth to man.

 

GOD HATH SPOKEN

 

The answers are here.  Let’s look — and looking we find out why — 7 reasons God has you — 7 transformations of change the Holy Spirit wants to make in you!

 

God has plans to change you through His Spirit by:

 

  1. Hebrews 2:4— CONFIRMING HIS PRESENCE
  2. Hebrews 3:7— OPENING OUR HEARTS
  3. Hebrews 6:4— KEEPING US SECURE
  4. Hebrews 9:8–OPENING THE DOOR
  5. Hebrews 9:14— CLEANING OUR MINDS
  6. Hebrews 10:15– BEARING WITNESS TO OUR SOULS
  7. Hebrews 10:29— POURING GRACE UPON US

 

v     He Confirmed His Presence in You

 

Hebrews 2:4 — God has answered the question of why you exist by confirming His presence in you.  How?  By giving us gifts.  Open to Romans 12.

 

A great Bible teacher, Warren Wiersbe, said, “We minister to the same body (vv. 7-11).  The gifts are given for the good of the whole church.  They are not for individual enjoyment, but for corporate employment.  The Corinthians especially needed this reminder, because they were using their spiritual gifts selfishly to promote themselves and not to prosper the church.  When we accept our gifts with humility, then we use then to promote harmony, and this helps the whole church.

 

The various gifts are named in I Corinthians 12:8-10 and 28, and also inEphesians 4:11 and Romans 12:6-8.  When you combine the lists, you end up with nineteen different gifts and offices.  Since the listing in Romans is not identical with the listing in I Corinthians, we may assume that Paul was not attempting to exhaust the subject in either passage.  While the gifts named are adequate for the ministry of the church, God is not limited to these lists.  He may give other gifts as He pleases.”

 

 

“How Can I Know What My Gifts Are?

 

OFFER yourself to God as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).

BELIEVE that you’re gifted (Romans 12:3).

ASK for wisdom (James 1:5).

WAIT for a particular gift (Acts 8:18-20).

SEARCH your heart’s desires (Psalm 37:4).

LISTEN to what others commend you for (Acts 6:1-6).

PONDER where God seems to bless your ministry (Acts 14:27).

SERVE with your whole heart (I Chronicles 28:9).

PRACTICE your gifts as they become obvious to you (I Peter 4:10-11).

~John MacArthur

 

 

 

“A thorough examination will yield the truth that spiritual gifts fill two major purposes:  the permanent gifts edify the church and the temporary gifts are signs to confirm the Word of God.  God will continue to give the permanent gifts to believers for the duration of the church age, and those gifts are to be ministered by His people at all times in the life of the church.  Those gifts include first the speaking or verbal gifts — prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, teaching, and exhortation, and second, the serving or nonverbal gifts — leadership, helps, giving, mercy, faith, and discernment.  The temporary sign gifts were limited to the apostolic age and therefore ceased after that time.  Those gifts included miracles, healing, languages, and the interpretation of languages.  The purpose of temporary sign gifts was to authenticate the apostolic message as the Word of God, until the time when the Scriptures. His written Word,”