Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Believer’s Relationship with the Gifts:
The gifts are manifestations of the Spirit’s presence. (1 Corinthians 12:7)
The Greek word for “manifestation” means – a shining forth, a making visible, a clear display, plain evidence.
Thus, we are used to reveal the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The key thought is that we are the “used” and not the “users”
Too many people want to use the gifts rather than be used by the Spirit in the gifts
Too many people have it backwards. They think the gifts are tools we use to do the work of God. In reality, we are tools the Holy Spirit uses to manifest Himself.
Because of this fact, we are “used” and not the “users”. We need to understand:
The Spirit chooses which gift is to operate. (1 Corinthians 12:7)
The Spirit chooses which person is to be used in the gift.
Thus, there is no room for jealousy
The use of the gifts is a cooperation between man and the spirit.
We do not lose control of ourselves
Such “emotionalism” is part of our past unsaved life. (1 Corinthians 12:2)
Such emotional loss of control leads to demon worship, not to God
We are always in control of ourselves. (1 Corinthians 14:32)
We are actually a team with the Holy Spirit.
We are yielded vessels. We have the potential for all the gifts.
The gifts are gifts of grace not earned by our lifestyle or maturity.
The Greek word for gifts:
DORON – an expression of honor for something we have done.
CHARISMA or CHARIS – a grace, unmerited favor.
Therefore the Spirit uses us in the gifts not based our lifestyle or
maturity.
When a person is used in the gifts, it is not because the Holy Spirit approves of his lifestyle.
A very good example is the church at Corinth
Becoming the person the Spirit chooses to use.
Be a person of DESIRE (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1)
We are to be earnestly ambitious for the gifts.
We are commanded to desire to be used.
The causes of this desire:
Obedience to God’s command
Love for the other members of the body (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:3)
Be a person of FAITH (Romans 12:6)
Fear of the other members of the body will keep us from being used.
“I’m shy”
“I’m ashamed”
If we are afraid of someone, then we don’t really love them (1 John 4:18)
Fear is the opposite of faith.
Have faith to be used.
By studying about the gifts in the Word (Romans 10:17)
Then step out in faith and yield yourself to be used.
Guidelines for orderly operation of the gifts.
The need for order in the operation of the gifts.
God is always a God of order and never a God of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)
Maintaining order in the use of the gifts.
Motives can destroy order.
An unteachable spirit (1 Corinthians 14:37-38)
There are some people who think they are spiritual because of the way they have learned to act.
They always think they are right when in actuality they only have an unteachable attitude.
People who are unteachable should be ignored and not allowed to minister in the gifts.
Rebellion against God (1 Corinthians 14:32-33)
We can control the Holy Spirit’s movements through us (1 Corinthians 14:32)
Confusion is caused by rebellion
3. Spiritual pride
The desire to be somebody, therefore, we think we should operate in the gifts.
The attitude that we are better than others and need to correct them through the use of the gifts
Motives that cause order.
The desire for edification to take place (1 Corinthians 14:26)
A love for the people (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Practical advise to order:
A gift of tongues must always have an interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:27-28)
Tongues must only operate two or at the most three times in a service (1 Corinthians 14:27)
Prophecies should be spoken one at a time. (1 Corinthians 14:31)
After two or three prophecies, there must come a time of evaluation (1 Corinthians 14:29)
If two are speaking at once, the first who speak should sit down (1 Corinthians 14:30). After the one finishes, the first one may continue.
Guidelines for judgment of the gifts. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)
Judgment has the idea of a thorough examination of the operation of the
gift. (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21)
We should not say “judge not lest you also be judged”
We are commanded to judge and to examine the operation of the gifts.
Otherwise, we will be led astray
Otherwise, we will be confused
3.The judgment is not for the purpose of condemnation or rebuke but for the purpose of order.
Guidelines for judgment.
We must keep a few things in mind:
There will be varieties
There will be a variety of effects of the gifts of the Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:6)
There will be varieties of personalities through which the Spirit flows
As a gift flows through a person it will of course, be colored by his personality. Ex. Educated, emotional
We must, therefore, have a greater standard of measure than just opinions as to style and effects.
We must base all judgment on the Word of God.
We must leave what seems proper to us completely out of the situation
The Word of God will be the final authority as to:
How the gifts operate
What is the content of the gifts.
There are 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 namely:
The gifts of utterance (speech):
The Gift of Tongues
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
The Gift of Prophecy
The gifts of revelation:
The Word of Knowledge
The Word of Wisdom
The Gift of Discerning of spirits
The ability or the power gifts:
The Gift of Faith
The Gifts of Healings
The Working of Miracles
The Gift of Tongues:
1. This prayer language takes two different forms.
A spoken prayer language. (Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 14,15)
Singing in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:15)
The purpose of speaking in tongues
For personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:4)
It is a form of prayer when we do not really understand how to pray. (Romans 8:26-27)
It is one way that we worship God (1 Corinthians 14:2)
The tongue will always be a sign to the unbelievers. (1 Corinthians 14:22)
Note: Apostle Paul in the book of Corinthians didn’t encourage the use of tongue in a corporate celebration or gathering. Maybe for the following reasons
it will not edify the church(I Corinthians 14:16-19)
it is given for personal edification(I Corinthians 14:4)
preaching of the word is more important than speaking in tongues (I Corinthians 14:5)
those with this kind of gift must learn how to practice self control. (I Corinthians 14:32)
The Gift of Interpretation
It is a necessity in services. (1 Corinthians 14:5, 12-13, 28)
The gift of tongues by itself does not edify the body of Christ
It requires interpretation for there to be edification
The whole purpose of the gift is for the edification of the body
Therefore, if there is no one to interpret and we don’t operate
in the gift, we should not speak
Sequence of events
There will be a message in tongues
All will begin to pray for the interpretation of the tongue
Especially the person who gave the tongue should pray that he would interpret. (1 Corinthians 14:5, 13)
All will wait for the interpretation to be given, before moving on
to the rest of the service.
The definition of interpretation.
It is not an exact word-for-word translation
It is an interpretation.
To explain what has been said
Thus, a short message in tongues may have a long or short interpretation
Thus, a long message in tongues may have a concise interpretation.
The Gift of Prophecy
The definition of Prophecy.
The word prophecy means “to utter inspired words”. According to 1 Corinthians 14:31 all believers may exercise this gift at some time as the Spirit wills.
The purpose of such prophetic utterance is to:
Edify the church. This means to build up, strengthen believers.
Exhort them. Stir up believers. Confront and challenge them.
Comfort. To encourage the body.
Three misunderstandings about prophecy:
It should not be confused with preaching.
The gift of prophecy is not foretelling the future
The Gift of prophecy is not for personal guidance
Scriptural teaching on the gift of prophecy:
It is for speaking supernaturally to men (1 Corinthians 14:3)
Prophecy requires no interpretation
Prophecy convinces the unlearned. (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)
Prophecy functions so that believers may learn. (1 Corinthians 14:31)
Everyone should desire and covet this gift. (1 Corinthians 14:1, 39)
The person operating the gift is responsible for its use or abuse. (1 Corinthians 14:32)
Because the human element is fallible, prophecy must be judged.
How shall we judge a prophecy
Will never contradict the written Word of God
It will always exalt Jesus Christ, and never denigrate Him.
It will edify, exhort and comfort the believers
It should witness with the majority of the believers present.
It will not break the spirit of the meeting, though it may change the course of it.
If there is a predictive aspect, it will come to pass.
The “FRUIT TEST” (Matthew 7:16)
The Word of Knowledge
Understanding the Word of Knowledge
The word of knowledge is a part of God’s knowledge
A word is a part of a sentence
The word of knowledge is a supernatural impartation of facts in the past, in the present, or the future. It is a partial impartation of facts, not total. These are facts we have no way of knowing in the natural.
Illustrations of the Word of Knowledge.
Noah (Genesis 7:4)
Noah did not even know what rain was.
Noah received knowledge that he had no way of knowing in the natural.
Moses (Exodus 32:7-8)
Samuel (1 Samuel 9:15-16)
Ahijah (1 Kings 14:4-6)
Jesus (Matthew 21:2-3; Luke 22:12-13, 34)
The variety of operations of the Word of Knowledge.
Be careful of Satan’s counterfeit.
Satan will always attempt to imitate God (Isaiah 14:14)
Satan will attempt to imitate the word of knowledge through: clairvoyance, tarot cards, astrology, etc.
There will be variety in how the word of knowledge is revealed.
It may be revealed by an audible voice of God (Exodus 2 – Moses)
It may be revealed by an angel. (Acts 27:23-26)
It may be revealed by the operation of other gifts.
It may be revealed through the gift of prophecy. Ex. Agabus and the famine
It may be revealed by a tongue and an interpretation.
It may simply be revealed by the still inner voice of the Spirit
There will be a variety of completeness of the knowledge.
At times we will know a lot and at times only a small amount. Ex. Ananias and Paul (Acts 9:10-19)
Peter for Cornelius (Acts 10:19-20)
The amount will vary with how much knowledge we need in order to accomplish what God wants to accomplish.
There is variety of purposes / results for the word of knowledge. (1 Corinthians 12:6)
The purpose may be to provide encouragement
The purpose may be to show us how to respond to a future decision
The purpose may be to demonstrate the reality of God.
The purpose may be to lift faith and healing (Acts 9:17-19)
The purpose may be to cause belief. (John 1:47-48)
The purpose may be to cause repentance. Prophet Nathan exposed David’s sin.
The purpose may be to provide warning (1 Kings 6:8-12; Acts 21:11)
The purpose may be to stir a city for revival (John 4:17-18, 29)
The Word of Wisdom
The sources of available wisdom for mankind
Satan is a source of wisdom.
Lucifer, as created, was full of wisdom. (Ezekiel 28:12)
His wisdom became corrupted because of his greatness. (Ezekiel 28:17)
After Satan’s fall, he kept his wisdom only now as a “corrupted wisdom”. Like deceit / craftiness, etc.
Note that Satan’s wisdom limited: because he is not omniscient in his wisdom, he will not take into consideration eternal facts / future facts. This is why Satan made a mistake at the crucifixion.
The world is a source of wisdom. (James 3:14-16)
God’s wisdom is far superior to the world’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:19-20; 3:18-20)
The world’s wisdom is basically applicable to earthly things. Ex. Luke 14:28-32
The world’s wisdom is limited because it does not know the future facts. Because its wisdom is not based on omniscience.
God is a source of wisdom. (James 1:5)
God’s wisdom is unlimited.
God’s wisdom is based on His omniscience.
One of the ways we receive God’s wisdom is by reading His word.
Another way is to receive a part of God’s wisdom supernaturally.
The operation of the Word of Wisdom.
The word of wisdom defined.
It is a fragment of God’s wisdom based on the totality of God’s knowledge.
It is actually God’s guidance in the situation
How to think about the situation
How to respond in a given situation
What to do concerning a certain problem
Illustration of the word of wisdom in operation.
King Solomon (1 Kings 3:25-26)
From the battle field of Israel (2 Kings 3:16; 22-24)
From the life of Jesus (Matthew 22:16-22)
The word of wisdom solved a split within the early church. (Acts 15:13-21)
Judging the word of wisdom. (James 3:14-18)
What the word of wisdom is not like:
The word of wisdom is not based on envy
The word of wisdom is not based on selfish ambition
What the word of wisdom is like:
The word of wisdom is pure
There is no deceit / no crookedness / no under the table about it
The word of wisdom is peace loving
It promotes peace not destruction
The word of wisdom is considerate.
The word of wisdom is submissive.
It recognizes authority
The word of wisdom is full of mercy.
It has no vendettas or vengeance in it.
The word of wisdom is full of good fruit.
The word of wisdom is impartial.
The word of wisdom is sincere.
The Gift of Discerning of spirits.
The definition of the gift of discerning of spirits.
What it is not.
It is not the gift of suspicion
We are often times suspicious of people because they have hurt our feelings. We have a desire for revenge.
We are often suspicious of people who are successful because we are envious.
We are often suspicious of people because of gossip we have heard.
We are often suspicious of people against whom we are prejudiced.
It is not the ability to see faults in other people.
Many new Christians believe that because they can see someone else’s fault, they have the “gift of discernment”
You don’t need discernment to see other peoples fault. Other people’s faults are very open for inspection by everybody.
What discerning of spirits is.
It is the ability to see what has motivated the situation, like God sees.
It is not wisdom what to do about the situation; it only understands what is motivating the situation.
There are four spirits who might be motivating a situation.
God’s Spirit / Holy Spirit
Angelic spirits
Demonic spirits / Satan
Human spirits
We must know which of these is in operation in order to know how to respond to the situation.
The Gift of Faith (1 Corinthians 12:9)
The definition of faith.
Faith is made up of knowledge (Hebrews 11:6)
The knowledge of who God is.
The knowledge of what God is able to do.
Faith is the title deed of the things we have as our goal. (Hebrews 11:1)
The need for the gift of faith.
There are times that Satan attacks us beyond our level of faith
Each of us has a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)
Each of us is growing in faith. (Luke 17:5; Romans 10:17)
There are times this measure of faith is not enough.
There are actually two types of faith.
The fruit of faith – that which is growing in us.
The gift of faith – That which is given to us instantly by the Spirit.
There are times in which we need the gift of faith because we have not developed our faith enough to handle the situation.
The gift of faith is one of God’s methods of escape. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
When we are in a situation that is beyond our faith, we don’t give up.
God has a way of escape, the gift of faith.
The operation of the gift of faith:
A situation may arise that requires tremendous faith.
When we analyze our spiritual life we see that our level of faith is not yet developed enough for the situation.
Suddenly, God gives us a supernatural calmness / assurance that everything is ok. This is when we can tell that faith has come into our life.
The gift of faith will last until we see the answer.
Remember faith is the evidence of things not yet seen.
This gift of faith will not leave / will not lift / will not evaporate until the situation is finished.
The illustration of Elijah. (1 Kings 18:30-38)
The Gifts of Healings. (1 Corinthians 12:9)
There is a variety of the gifts of healing. Notice, it is “gifts” of healing.
The gifts of healing will vary with the disease.
There are times in which the Spirit seems to want to move upon a certain type of sickness and disease. (Acts 8:7)
The gifts will vary in how they are manifested.
The gift of healing may work by the prayer of the person who is sick.
The gift of healing may operate by a command. (Acts 3:6; 14:10)
A gift of healing may operate by the laying on of hands. (Mark 16:18)
A gift of healing may operate by the anointing of oil and the prayer of elders. (James 5:14)
A gift of healing may operate by giving a person instruction. (2 Kings 5:10; Luke 17:14; John 9:7)
We must learn to respond to the variety of the gifts of healing.
We cannot dictate:
Which method they will operate in
Which type of sickness will be healed
To refuse to flow with what the Spirit is doing:
Is to fail
Is to not receive healing.
The Working of Miracles. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
The definition of the gifts of miracles.
Literal translation: “energies of power”
Philips translation: “ To another the power to do great deeds”
Thus the working of miracles is the ability given by the Spirit to do things that supersede the laws of nature.
Types of miracles:
Miracles of judgment
The deliverance of Israel from the people of Egypt
Miracles of protection
Parting of the red sea
The calming of the storm in Matthew 8
Creative miracles.
The water turned into wine in Luke 2
The lepers made whole (Luke 17:19)
The raising from the dead
The miracles of provision
God can remove the need. (Deuteronomy 29:5; 2 Kings 6:6)
God may provide the need
The fish and the coin. (Matthew 17:27)
The breaking of the fish and loaves to feed the multitudes.
The operation of the working of miracles:
God always expect us to do something to see a miracle.
Jesus ordered them to roll away the stones
Jesus ordered them to fill the jars with water
Peter had to grab the man’s hand at the gate beautiful and lift him up before his ankles were strengthened.
Every miracle God did in Egypt required Moses to do something first.
To operate in the working of miracles, we must do something God tells us to do before anything will happen.
