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There is much discussion
today regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some believe the gifts are
for today, while others believe they passed away with the apostles. Who
is right? What does the Bible say about this issue?
The word of God should always
have the final say in the life of a believer. People may say one thing,
but the Lord's words are the "right thing". We must take heed lest we be
deceived by the winds of false doctrine and prophetic utterance that are
beginning to blow throughout the body of Christ. Some winds are
destructive. The wind of the Holy Spirit will bring life and refreshing
to God's people.
Many have gone to churches
and heard a watered down gospel message preached to them from the
pulpit. Many have believed a lie from those who have placed themselves
in leadership positions. The Lord didn't place them there, because He
never called them to be pastor. They are self appointed leaders.
Just because someone is a
pastor does not mean they are "of God". We must be very careful. I have
been in churches where the pastor is not even saved! We must cry out to
the Lord for the gift of discerning of spirits to be manifested in our
lives so we may know those who labor among us. The Bible says we must be
careful for even the very elect of God can and will be deceived.
I believe the gifts of the
Holy Spirit are for the church today. We would be a powerless church if
the gifts were not in operation. The Lord Jesus himself operated in the
gifts of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. Everywhere He went, He
performed healings and miracles. We must follow in the footsteps of our
Lord and become more like Him.
1 Cor. 12:1-12 - Now
concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols,
however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking
by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus
is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but
the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who
works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each
one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom
through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same
Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of
healings by the same Spirit, 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. But one and
the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one
individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members,
but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also
is Christ.
Paul says, "I don't want you
to be ignorant..." He didn't want the believers to be uninformed or
misinformed regarding the gifts. He wanted them to have wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding of the gifts so they could minister
effectively for the kingdom. The Corinthian church was abusing and
misusing the gifts. This brought a lot of unnecessary confusion to the
believers. Paul addressed this issue in his letters to the Corinthians.
Verse 4 says, There are "diversitites"
of gifts or differences of gifts. All the gifts are different, but they
all operate and function by the same Spirit.
Paul goes on to say, "the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one..." The Lord doesn't
believe in leaving anyone out of the picture. He desires to manifest His
gifts through "each one". A few verses down, Paul says, the Spirit
distributes to "each one" individually as He wills. He gives His gifts
to whomever He chooses. The Lord is not a respecter of persons. He may
choose to use a new believer to minister healing to a Pastor or leader
in the church. He may use an uneducated street person that always sits
in the back row to prophesy words of encouragement to the body on a
Sunday morning. The Lord chooses whom He wills.
When the gifts operate and
function properly within the church, the whole body is edified. It
profits everyone.
The Nine Gifts of the Holy
Spirit:
1) The Word of Wisdom
2) The Word of Knowledge
3) Gift of Faith
4) Gifts of Healings
5) Working of Miracles
6) Prophecy
7) Discerning of spirits
8) Tongues
9) Interpretation of Tongues
There must be a balance
between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is
for character and holiness. The gifts of the Spirit are for power.
Have you ever known those in
the church who indulge themselves in sin on Saturday night and prophesy
in the church on Sunday morning? Their lifestyle does not line up with
the will of God for their lives. Why does the Lord still use them?
Shouldn't they lose the gift?
The gifts and callings of God
are without repentance (meaning they are irreversible, unrevokable),
there is no guarantee that the men and women using them will be faithful
and honorable to these gifts. The Lord will deal with these individuals.
He will judge their sin. We must pray for them.
If we want the gifts to flow
freely through us, we must allow the fruit of the Spirit to be
manifested in our lives. We must learn to "walk in love". Without love
we will only sound like a clanging cymbal.
1 Cor. 13:1 - Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become
sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
If the fruit of the Spirit is
not present in your life and you prophesy in church on Sunday morning,
your words will sound like a clanging cymbal to the congregation.
We must be in tune with the
Holy Spirit. We must not bring reproach to the Lord by the way we live
our lives outside the church walls. We must "get right" with the Lord.
If we won't repent of sin, we are deceiving ourselves. Many have been
playing church, but God is going to judge the sin that is rampant in our
midst. God hates sin. Sin separates us from the Lord.
The church of Jesus Christ is
one body. As one body, we must stop division and strife and work
together as a team. We must not all be going in different directions,
but we must learn to flow in the direction of the Holy Spirit. A river
flows one way. Part of it doesn't flow upstream and another part of it
flow downstream. The church must flow together as one. The Lord is
calling for unity in the body of Christ. He will be able to move
mightily in our midst when we unify ourselves together with Him. Too
many in the church want to do their own thing instead of doing God's
thing. We must learn how to "die" to ourselves and live for Him.
In case some of us haven't
realized it yet, we need one another. We cannot afford to be on an
island separate from the body. None of us have arrived. None of us know
it all. We only know in part. When we all come together and give what
God has given to us, the picture begins to come together. The church
will be able to see more clearly the plan of God that is being set
before them. We must cry out for unity in the body of Christ. We must
hunger and thirst for righteousness. A holy standard must be raised in
the church. If we don't raise the standard of holiness, who will?
The nine gifts of the Spirit
can be divided into three groups.
I. Utterance Gifts
Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues
Prophecy
II. Revelation Gifts
Word of Knowledge
Word of Widsom
Discerning of Spirits
III. Power Gifts
Gift of Faith
Gifts of Healings
Working of Miracles
The purpose of the gifts is
that they be a sign pointing to Jesus Christ. The gifts should NEVER be
used to draw attention to ourselves or our ministry.
The gifts of the Spirit are
the ministry of Holy Spirit.
What are some things that
hold us back from operating in the gifts?
One thing that holds us back
is fear. This is probably the main one. Fear always hinders us from
stepping out into the fulness of what God has for us. Fear will cause us
to fail. Fear causes us to be disobedient. Fear is the opposite of
faith.
I've heard it said that fear
is:
F - False
E - Evidence
A - Appearing
R - Real
How do we combat fear?
1) Combat fear with faith.
2) Face your fear.
John 14:12 - Jesus said,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that
I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because
I go unto my Father."
We cannot do the "greater
works" without the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit operating
in our lives. We must press on to know Him more and hunger for all that
He has for us. We cannot afford to pick and choose which gifts we want
operating in our lives. We must allow the Holy Spirit to distribute His
gifts according to His will.
Please read the other
teachings on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on this site.
If this teaching has been a
blessing to you, we'd love to hear from you. |
