Dufresne - Anointings and Mantles

Contents

Chapter 1

Concerning Spiritual Gifts

P aul writes in First Corinthians 12:1, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant."

Later in this chapter, Paul adds that he does not want us to be "stupid, misinformed, or ignorant" concerning the gift ministries God has set in the Church.

I'm convinced that before you begin to teach or study the spiritual gifts outlined in First Corinthians 12, you need to go back to the eleventh chapter, where Paul lays the groundwork by teaching about discerning the Lord's Body.

Actually, that's what you're doing when you study these two chapters: You're discerning the gifts of the Spirit in the Body of Christ as well as the gift ministries that God set in the Church. Praise God for every type of ministry!

Prophets, as you probably know, are different. Sometimes they will "camp" on one subject until the situation changes. At other times, they will zero in on different things.

Often when preaching I say to myself, "How did I get off on that subject?" Then I'll receive a letter that says, "I had a problem, and you hit the nail right on the head!"

That's my job. As a prophet, I'm a "stump puller." Of course, stump pullers don't get much credit for anything; they just clear everything out of the "field." Later the other gift ministriesapostle, evangelist, pastor, teachercome along and till the ground, nurturing the tender plants in God's garden.

In the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians, Paul also refers to you, the everyday Christian. Every one of you is set in the Church, the Body of Christ, and every one of you needs to discern your part in the Body.

Paul said in First Corinthians 12:28, "God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles , then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."

God has set them in the Church! We need to discern each part God has set in the Church. We don't need to criticize each other.

For example, a man who flows in the gifts of the Spirit, but does not have a strong preaching or teaching gift, needs to work on developing that gift and needs to be under a pastor or a teacher to help keep his ministry straight, so he'll stay in line with the Word of God.

We Need Each Other

We need each other. Because we supply each other's spiritual needs, we shouldn't criticize how another Christian functions. God has set that person in the Church for a purpose.

Those who don't operate strongly in miracles need to be careful not to make fun of those who do have miracle anointings , and those who flow in miracle anointings need to realize the necessity for those who teach and bring balance and stability with the power of the Word and the Spirit.

If we concentrate on just one type of ministry without discerning the whole Body of Christ, we will miss out on something vital to our life, because we need every other part in the Body to remain healthy spiritually and even physically.

Those who do not discern the Body properly will become weak and sickly, and will die physically prematurely.

People are blessed when a variety of anointings are exercised in meetings.

Prophecy

There are those whom God has not set. They have set themselves and said "I am an apostle, and I am a prophet, and I am this, and I am that."

Shortly you will see some of them drop dead, even in the pulpit, because they are lying to the Holy Spirit. And because the Head of the Church never set them into the Church to walk in that office.

Youll hear it said, "My, my, you know that preacher just keeled over in the pulpit. He must have been burned out."

No, saith the Lord, you shall see some of those go off the scene who get up and absolutely lie, saying, "I am this and I am that," but I never told them that they were in those offices.

But there will be those who will walk in the mighty power of God I have set these in their offices. They are not ignorant of the things that pertain to the Spirit, and they will walk in the office that I have set them in.

And they will rise up in these last days, and they will walk in the anointing, the gifts, and the equipment of their offices. Oh, how the Body of Christ will be blessed, because they will be coming on the scene.

Yes, the fivefold ministries and those that I have set in the Church will even come into cities. The pastor will work together with them as a team, and blessings will be conferred because of their unity, saith the Lord of hosts.

God set every part or member in the Body of Christ. We need them all! If you do not discern the local church, you will be weak spiritually. Yes, you might fool people as you operate in the gifts and so forth, but you will always be weak spiritually, because God has set the local church in the Body of Christ.

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

Let's continue in First Corinthians 12. The fourth verse says, "Now there are [differences and] diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit."

Although Paul is referring here to the gifts of the Spirit, I believe he is also pointing to the gift ministries, because they're mentioned in this same chapter.

Verse 5: "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." The word "administration" means "services, ministries, and offices." Notice the Lord is the Head of the administrative arm of this big "corporation," the Body of Christ.

Verse 6: "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." God is the One who operates it to accomplish things done in the Body of Christ.

Verse 7: "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." I don't want to sound spooky, but "manifestation" means "appearing." There are different ways the Holy Spirit manifests, or appears, and we are not to make fun of them!

Mocking a Manifestation

I was guilty of this years ago, watching a fellow on television. He'd stick his fingers in someone's ears and say, "Now, deaf spirits, come out!" And he'd put his finger on their mouth and command the dumb spirit to come out. Then he'd say, "Say baby. Ba -by. Ba -by."

And I was sitting there laughing and saying, " Ba -by," mocking this man of God. It seemed funny then, but I was mocking the way the Spirit of God was operating through him.

And God said, "I want to ask you a question."

(When He wants to ask you a question, you're in trouble! You've had it!)

I said, "What is it?"

He said, "How many auditoriums do you fill up?"

"Well, I go down here on the Indian reservation, and about 16 people show up." I knew He had me.

Don't criticize because of the way different manifestations of the Holy Spirit flow through different people.

Dont Leave Out the Spirit

If we're not careful, we can get into one mindset. Then we will say things like, "Bless God, I'm a Word man. Unless it's in the Word..." Well, it is in the Word. It's in the verses we've been studying.

You can be such a stickler for the Word that you leave out the Spirit! We need both the Word and the Spirit.

In 1971, when the anointing came into my right hand and manifested itself by heat and a burning sensation, I didn't know what it was. I didn't know anyone else operating with that manifestation, and people were making fun of me because of it.

In one of my meetings, I described how the tangible healing anointing felt like a hot silver dollar being held in my hand. Then one man got up and said, "I haven't got silver dollars in my hand that are real hot." He was criticizing me. He was jealous because he didn't operate under that kind of anointing.

I never asked for that kind of anointing in the first place, but I knew what God had spoken to me, so I continued operating in it.