The Urim And The Thummim

THE URIM AND THE THUMMIM

February 7, 2016

By Rev. James May

I’m going to speak to you this morning, as the Lord will lead me, concerning something that many of you may never have heard of, or even if you have heard of it, you may have never understood what it was all about. I believe that you will be blessed this morning by this message, and I pray that it stirs your soul to go before God like never before!

I want to talk about God’s Method of Speaking to His People both under the Covenant of Abraham and the Covenant of Grace

The Book of Hebrews has this to say about how God speaks to his people beginning at Hebrews 1:1.

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Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

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Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Keep in mind that God is not limited in his means of communicating with mankind and he can choose any method he wants at whatever time he wants. Sometimes his method of speaking is through dreams and visions; sometimes through audible voices; sometimes through signs and wonders, and even miracles; and sometimes he uses ways that are only meant for a time and a season, and then those methods may never be seen again.

For us, in this modern church, the most reliable and easily understood method of communication that God has with his people is through the written word of God, and through the gifts of the Spirit, which we call, “The Speaking Gifts”.

God chooses to speak through a man or woman of God who has, for a certain time, place and reason of God’s choosing, been given a spiritual gift by the Holy Ghost which is manifest to edify (build up and encourage) the Body of Christ through various means. These gifts are in operation when we are used to bring forth a message, or a word, or a teaching that comes from the very heart and mind of God.

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Some of the ways that these Gifts of the Spirit are seen in operation include:

• A Word of Prophecy, or foretelling of future events so that the church many not be caught unaware;

• A Word of Exhortation(encouraging and faith-building messages)

• A Word of knowledge (mostly used in revealing something in your personal life that will help you to have greater faith and to walk in greater understanding of where God is leading you)

• A Teaching Word (something that is revealed to your heart and spirit that you may be struggling to understand. To you it becomes a new revelation, even though it may have been revealed to others many times. Each of us grows at a different pace and we all need teaching at different levels.)

• A Word of Wisdom (this is a message from the Mind of Christ to help us to understand more fully and act more wisely on the teaching, or the Word of Knowledge that we have already received. It could also be a new revelation, or understanding of something that is confusing to us that will help us to be better and more productive in the kingdom of God.

Now these gifts of the Spirit, which should be seen in every church where the Holy Spirit is allowed to move freely in the congregation, may, or may not, manifest, or be seen in every service. They are given only by the unction of the Holy Spirit.

There are times when overzealous Christians will try to appear to be used in these gifts, but if you’ve been in the presence of God where the Holy Spirit is moving, it isn’t hard to know when it’s real, or when it’s a work of the flesh. Sadly, we don’t see the Gifts of the Spirit in operation nearly as often as I believe the Holy Spirit would want them to be, simply because many Christians either don’t understand how they work, or are afraid to yield to the unction of the Holy Ghost because they might somehow miss God by speaking out of turn.

Let me just say this: Moving in the Gifts of the Spirit is something that is truly a blessing to the church in more ways that I can say. Being used by God in the Gifts of the Spirit requires the yielding of ourselves to God because the Gifts are given, but never forced upon you. And lastly, you will never be used in the Gifts of the Spirit if you allow the fear of failure, or fear of missing God, or fear of speaking out of turn, or fear of what others may think, or any other kind of fear, keep you from yielding and speaking forth that which God will give to you.