HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY EVERYONE...HE HAS RISEN! Thanks for joining our bible study tonight. I was surprised to find out that we're not quite finished yet with the role of the Holy Spirit in our series about life under the New Covenant. I had thought last week's article on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit was the end of it but during the week I discovered by His leading that there would be a least one more topic to discuss. So, this week we're going to look more closely at the nine special gifts listed here for us from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12:
Word of Wisdom
Word of Knowledge
Special Faith
Gifts of Healing
The Effecting of Miracles
Prophecy
Discernment of spirits
Speaking in Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues
As pointed out last week, the word GIFT as used in Chapters 12, 13, and 14 of 1 Corinthians is NOT talking about "presents" like birthday presents. It's also NOT talking about "blessings." It IS talking about GIFTINGS, which could have also been translated as SPECIAL ABILITIES or EMPOWERMENTS that the Holy Spirit makes available to accomplish His plans and purposes in our lives. Another word that Scripture DOES use to help describe spiritual GIFTS is GRACE:
Romans 12:6 = "Since we have gifts that differ according to the GRACE given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly."
In other words, GIFTS come to us by GRACE which is the undeserved FAVOR and EMPOWERMENT of God. GRACE is the source. Thus, the various spiritual gifts listed for us by the Apostle Paul can be further defined as "undeserved empowerments" that help make it possible for believers to overcome obstacles and problems in Christian life and accomplish our assignments for the Kingdom of God. Notice also that believers are INSTRUCTED to "exercise" the spiritual GIFTS, i.e. we're supposed to USE them. The Apostle told both the Romans and the Corinthians to USE them and goes into quite a bit of detail as to how to use them. Indeed, Scripture clearly reveals that the use of the Spiritual Gifts was common in the early Church and that they were needed for victorious life under the New Covenant.
What about Present Times?
A large part of today's Body of Christ believes that the Gifts of the Spirit are no longer relevant and thus by default no longer available. They don't see them in use, they don't experience their use and many have been taught that they're no longer useful. But can you show us the scriptures that clearly talk about their departure from the Church? Or about when they would become obsolete? Or about the coming of a time when we wouldn't need them anymore?
If the early church folks needed special abilities to perform their assignments, is life so much better today around the entire worldwide Body of Christ that we don't need the Spiritual Gifts even though Christians are routinely beheaded and burned to death and tortured and kidnapped by nonbelievers on almost a daily basis? Do they not still need the Spiritual Gifts in places like China where Protestant Christians must meet secretly in an illegal underground network of home churches? Even in our country which is relatively free, do we not still need the Spiritual Gifts to fulfill our assignments in the face of a secular onslaught that seeks to silence the speaking of God's Word in public because it increasingly contradicts the latest "political correctness?"
The availability of Spiritual Gifts does NOT depend on whether or not Christians want to use them. The Word of God says they're available so they are unless we can find verses that they're not. If we choose NOT to make use of them, to ignore them because our church group doesn't talk about them, etc. then we lose an important part of the package of empowerments the Holy Spirit has assembled for us. We become weak and ineffective and less relevant than we COULD be. We experience more defeat and less victory than we should. And more than anything we RESTRICT the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in our personal lives. Most Christians are asking God for more power when it's ALREADY available by FAITH on a supernatural level instead of the natural fleshy level we can't seem to graduate out of. For those who want more power you can find it mentioned in your Bible and when you find it there, ask the Holy Spirit how to manifest it in your life because He wants us to have it.
Some Important Definitions
In this week's discussion I wanted to leave you with some important definitions about these nine special gifts keeping in mind that my church background has ALWAYS included their use and manifestation. I have experienced them my entire Christian life of more than thirty years and to me they're an essential and normal part of my Christian walk. Please note that according to Scripture these GIFTS are supposed to manifest through individuals in the local church for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). They can also operate outside the local church and often do.
Another thing to point out is that the Holy Spirit doesn't always operate the same way so we need to avoid trying to put Him into that box we talked about in previous articles. An individual believer experienced in the use of the Spiritual Gifts may manifest one or more gifts at a particular time and a completely different set of gifts on the next occasion. An individual can manifest one gift or all nine of them at the same time according to how the Holy Spirit is operating. Individuals may have one particular gift they manifest on a continuous basis all the time or they may not. It's up to the Holy Spirit; and since they gifts are supernatural, Faith is an essential component and that faith must be powered by love which is why 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 is there between Chapters 12 and 14.
Here are the definitions of the nine Spiritual Gifts:
Word of Wisdom = an impartation of how to apply one's knowledge in particular situations in a way that the folks manifesting the Gift could not have determined on their own.
Word of Knowledge = an impartation of information about someone or some thing or event that came from an outside source (the Holy Spirit) that the person manifesting the Gift couldn't have known by any other means.
Special Faith = everyone has been given enough Faith to believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But beyond that there are those who manifest a FORCE of Faith that can change circumstances in the natural. If you're the one manifesting this Gift, you know beforehand that something you believe WILL definitely happen and you're EXPECTING to see HAPPEN at any moment. The eventual happening will thus be a supernatural event.
Gifts of Healing = why do we pray for people to be healed unless we believe that God is willing to heal? He DOES want to heal and is waiting for us to agree with the Word about healing so it can take place. But beyond that there are often impartations of the Holy Spirit in groups of people where hundreds of people are healed. IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!
The Effecting of Miracles = a miracle is a supernatural intervention of God that defies natural law in order to manifest in the natural realm. A MIRACLE by biblical definition can ONLY come from God even though the World uses that word for anything that can't be explained by natural reasoning.
Prophecy = means in this context the preaching or speaking of the Gospel which is also called "prophesying" in a way that produces supernatural understanding. It can also mean foretelling of future events or a Gift of understanding the prophecies of the Old Testament. Prophecy is a SIGN for believers (1 Corinthians 14:22) to strengthen Faith (Romans 10:17).
Discernment of Spirits = special insights into the intentions of people including their thoughts, purposes, designs, secrecies and hypocrisy.
Speaking in Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues = the last two gifts are unique to the New Covenant and they operate together. Keep in mind that they're EMPOWERMENTS to help us fulfill our New Covenant plans and purposes. Their intent in the church service is as a SIGN to unbelievers (I Corinthians 14:22) and they're to be used together. The speaking in tongues involves "giving utterance" to the believer to speak words in an unknown language. In other words, it isn't the Holy Spirit doing the actual speaking Himself but by FAITH He's leading the speaking of the believer. And that speaking in the church service must be accompanied by the interpretation or it's of no value as the SIGN to the unbeliever that the Holy Spirit is present and that God is real.
Now also, "Speaking in Tongues" can be used by any believer to pray out loud in a manner that only God is going to understand. Those who DO speak in tongues believe that the expression "Praying in the Spirit" used in many other New Testament scriptures is referring to this particular Gift. So the use of the Gift in this manner (also called a Prayer Language) releases the Holy Spirit to help us pray correctly especially when we don't know how or what to pray. Many believers not only pray in tongues they also by faith have learned to receive the interpretations.
Conclusions
Hopefully these recent discussions have been a help in getting to know the Holy Spirit better than before. The closeness of our relationship depends on us. He's already inside inside of all believers occupying His Temple. He's as close as He gets and from there the relationship is up to us. Continue to consult with Him on a continual basis and watch what happens to your New Covenant life. May God bless you with His increasing manifestation.
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on April 3. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), pushing you to VICTORY in every area of life!
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Sinners' Prayer
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Jesus, I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and I believe that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven for all time and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed, God has already come into your life and you're a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
When you get a moment have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer and believing what you said:
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
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