Introduction
1 Corinthians 12:1 (NKJV) “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant…”
1 Corinthians 12:4-10 (NKJV) “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. {5} There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. {6} And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. {7} But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: {8} for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, {9} to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, {10} to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
God’s desire is for us to experience the gifts of the Spirit. He wants us to understand their purpose and be effective in their use. Too many of us are ignorant of what they are, why they are given and how they can be used.
Three Revelation Gifts
“Revelation” means “the making known of information.”
1. WORD OF WISDOM Click for further teaching on the Word of Wisdom
A word of wisdom is a word, proclamation, or declaration, that is supernaturally given by God. Its purpose is to meet the need of a particular future occasion or problem.
• It is given to a person through words, visions or dreams. It provides understanding and instruction on what action must be taken.
• It is not revealed through human ability or natural wisdom. It is a God’s revelation of His plans and purposes.
2. WORD OF KNOWLEDGE Click for further teaching on the Word of Knowledge
This communicates past or present facts or events that cannot be known through our natural senses. They are revealed to the speaker by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Their purposes are edification, instruction, or correction.
3. DISCERNING OF SPIRITS Click for further teaching on the Discerning of Spirits
This is the supernatural recognition of the presence or activity of spiritual forces, either good or evil.
Three Power Gifts
“Power” refers to “the supernatural power that comes from God.”
This is not normal faith. It is the supernatural faith that God gives, which you receive for special needs and opportunities. This faith arises to do the following:
• It sustains those that receive it in times of persecution, hardship or imminent danger. Stephen had this gift as he preached to his soon-to-be murderers (Acts, Chapter 7).
• It is also the faith God gives to those who operate in extreme levels of power. Through these people, God does signs and wonders, and other unusual and amazing events. This is the faith that raises the dead.
These gifts (plural) are more than the believer’s normal activity of praying for the sick. They are special gifts of healings, given to some Christians by which they have consistently positive results.
• These gifts are always supernatural. They often do the impossible. What they accomplish are miracle events.
• They may be done with prayer, but can include more than prayer, or can be a command or a touch.
• As the Apostle Paul did, certain people can recognize and use objects to bring God’s healing (a shadow, a cloth etc.)
The word miracles (Greek: dunamis) means this: The working of God’s power that interrupts, disregards and displaces the natural laws of nature. It is God’s power, working through a believer’s gift. God, Himself, through the person He uses, interrupts or disrupts His own design and order – to bring about His will.
God’s intention is supernatural intervention, through us, to use these power gifts to destroy the works of the devil.
Three Vocal/Utterance Gifts
Prophecy includes two separate functions.
• To foretell: This means to speak of things to come.
• To forth tell: This means to speak correction and instruction in the present time.
The Old Testament prophets, who were God’s covenant enforcers, spoke more forth telling than foretelling. The gift of prophecy continues today. God still speaks to His church through prophecy, both to forth tell and to foretell.
This is not the same as the private tongues every believer that has been baptized in the spirit has. It is a supernatural sign, by supernatural utterance of the Holy Spirit, through the tongue of a believer. It is used in public ministry and in our private times. It is mainly used along with the interpretation of tongues. Other instances, that it is not interpreted, is when one is speaking to an individual or individuals in their native tongue, which is unknown to the speaker.
Tongues, when combined with interpretation, are the equivalent of prophecy. The interpretation comes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Tongues and interpretation is given by God to us, so we can edify believers, and convict unbelievers of their sin and show them that God is real.
God uses these nine gifts to speak supernaturally through the person He chooses. The gifts are intended to make our lives and those we touch with them better.
Distribution of the Gifts of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV) “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
The nine gifts of the Spirit are distributed to each one individually as God wills. This means that He decides what gifts He gives and to whom He gives them. This does not stop us from asking Him for a particular gift. In fact, the Bible tells us to desire spiritual gifts. We all have a responsibility to ask for them. God has given us this opportunity. Asking for them is our right as believers. Remember, it is always Him operating through us. We must never take His glory by trying to take credit for a spiritual gift. Humility is our door to the power these gifts hold. Every believer is called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to move in signs, wonders and the gifts of the
Holy Spirit.
Understanding Your Spiritual Gifts
(They are Special Endowments)
1 Corinthians 12:1 (Literal translation of the Greek New Testament) “Now about spiritual gifts – the special endowments of supernatural energy, I do not want you to be uninformed or have any misunderstanding about them.”
Principle: You cannot correctly operate what you do not correctly understand.
We must understand the correct operation of the nine gifts of the Spirit. We must be able to explain their Scriptural basis to others. Operating in the gifts of the Spirit is more than having feelings and enjoying the experiences. We must not let anyone or any traditions rob us of the opportunity to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is God’s plan for us and we must not allow anyone or anything to tell us otherwise.
Hindrances to the Operation of the Gifts
1. THE TRADITIONS OF MEN – They rob us and defile the gifts. Religious traditions and many current denominations say the operation of the nine gifts of the Spirit ceased in the first century. These traditions of men would rob us of the miraculous, supernatural power of the Spirit’s gifts. In Mark, Chapter 7, Jesus responded to the Pharisees, when they criticized His disciples for their lack of respect for tradition and doctrine. Jesus used the example of “corban.” This was the practice of a person arranging to give his wealth and estate to the temple when he died. This neglected his aging parents. They were left with nothing.
Jesus said the following: Mark 7:6b-13 (NKJV) “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition… making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Jesus said the Pharisees made the Word of God of no effect through traditions. They were breaking the Law of God in order to preserve the traditions of men.
Here are additional hindrances to the operation of the gifts of the Spirit.
2. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE (ignorance of the Word)
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
3. NOT KNOWING THE GIVER OF THE GIFTS INTIMATELY
John 16:13-15 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
4. LACK OF DESIRE
You must not be spiritually lazy or lukewarm (Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. ). You must be willing to nurture and express your spiritual gifts. The early church nurtured and practiced them as a lifestyle. Notice in Acts, Chapter 3, how Peter and John interrupted their visit to the temple. They stopped and Peter used his spiritual gift of healing to make whole the lame beggar. Peter boldly expressed his gift. We need Peter’s boldness.
5. FEAR OF MAN
2 Corinthians 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. If we fear that some person will not be pleased, we must not allow our fear to stop us from using our spiritual gifts.
6. FEAR OF REJECTION
Isaiah 51:7 Listen to me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings.
7. FEAR OF MAKING A MISTAKE OR OF MISSING GOD
Comparisons and self-consciousness are killers! We are all uniquely made to do good things for God without regard to what people might say or think.
1 Timothy 4:14 (NKJV) “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) “For we are all His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
8. A LOW DEGREE OF FAITH
Romans 12:6 (NKJV) “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;”
9. A LACK OF GENUINE, SELF-DENYING LOVE FOR OTHERS
Galatians 5:6b (NKJV) “… faith working through love.”
Has the Holy Spirit come upon you? Then you have received (past tense) power! It is right there inside of you.
John 14:12 (NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
Additional Purposes of the Gifts of the Spirit
We are not called to be the “audience” or “spectators” of God. We are called to be the “army” of God. The Spirit of the Lord anoints you to participate, to wage battle, and not just to watch.
Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV) “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; {19} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
Here are some additional purposes of the gifts of the Spirit.
A. To evangelize the lost (See also – Acts 3:1-4:31) Spiritual gifts do the following:
1. They capture people’s attention.
2. They open the door for the preaching of the Gospel.
3. They bring glory to God through: (a) their demonstration of supernatural power (b) their effective result, which is to validate the Gospel as the Holy Spirit draws people to salvation.
As a result of Peter’s operation in the gift of healings, causing the lame man to be healed, there was a door for the gospel to be preached among the multitudes, and to the authorities.
B. To bring (through you) God’s compassion for the sick, oppressed and possessed Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”; 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. ; 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. ; 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. ; Mark 1:40-42And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. ; Luke 7:13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
C. Jesus is our example. He used His gifts to destroy the works of the devil, to free the captives and proclaim their liberty.
1 John 3:8 (NKJV) “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
D. To edify the Church God the Holy Spirit uses His gifts in us to do the following:
1. To enable us to minister to one another – 1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
2. To establish us and to give us boldness – Romans 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
3. To bring glory to God through Christ – 1 Peter 4:11If any man speak, let him speakas the oracles of God; if any man minister,let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The ultimate purpose of the gifts is to bring glory to God.
Perspective on the Gifts
Your part is to be open to God and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As you obey the task God gives you to do, He accomplishes His will through you. If you are not obedient to the voice of God, you will probably not see a great measure of the gifts operating through you. You must submit to God. He wants to use you every day, in every way possible.
• Do not say, “I cannot do it.” The truth is that you cannot do it yourself. God knows that. He wants to work through you.
• Do not look back to the past or what you have not done.
• Do not look at your own abilities. Do not be self-centered.
• Your approach to spiritual gifts must be God-centered.
When God gives you an assignment, the Holy Spirit will come and equip you for it. The key is not to focus on the gifts, but to recognize them as God moves through you. Focus on the Giver of the gifts! There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. Increase your relationship to Him through loving communion and obedience. Then, you will find God using you through your gifts. His desire is two-fold:
1. To be ever closer, ever more intimate with you
2. To use you more effectively for His purposes and His glory
Your Part
1. Yield and obey!
2. Receive and believe!
3. Step out in faith and boldness!
4. Exercise the gifts of God!
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 