Something More: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
We have been learning that it is our responsibility to be informed, biblically about the things of the Holy Spirit. We cannot pretend or ignore what is in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. It's the same spirit. If God is good, the Holy Spirit is good. The Gifts of the Spirit build up and encourage the Church. We need to familiarize ourselves with the Gifts so that we know how to develop them within ourselves.
1 Corinthians 12:1 - Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
Never be uniformed about what God is offering you. We need to be informed, without pressure about what God is offering to us. All gifts are for GOOD – any gift used to tear others down or build yourself up is evil. Period. Simple. Maybe you are not an evil person but how you are using the gift is evil... we need to understand what we are doing. It really matters. All gifts are for the GOOD of the church (people).
So What Are the Gifts?
1 Corinthians 12:8-10 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
Gift of Faith – Faith from God to you to accomplish something beyond human ability.
- The Gift of Faith goes beyond human ability (our measure of faith)
- Gives God glory and encourages the Church.
- We all have faith to use and grow, but this is a gift that moves even beyond
- BIBLICAL EXAMPLES: Meshack, Shadrack, and Abednego, Paul & the Snake
Gift of Healing - Power from God to heal beyond focused prayer and faith
1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
- This gift is healing power the Holy Spirit gives that goes beyond just our faith and prayer.
- We were on a missions trip in Guatemala up in the mountains and we were praying at a church/village. Someone with a messed up leg/knee, disformed. A kid, not a pastor, prayed and the knee bones started to move. Feel it and see it. I have faith, I believe in healing, yet I saw the gift working through a student. Beautiful.
Gift of Miracles – power from God that breaks or bends natural laws
- Jesus performed almost every single miracle outside of the church walls.
- Miracle is anything good that I couldn’t make happen – But the gift of Miracles again goes beyond.
- BIBLICAL EXAMPLES: Moses & the Red Sea, Jesus & Peter Walking on Water, When the Storm became peaceful during the storm
- This gift is not limited but specializes in breaking and bending the natural laws that only the gift of the Holy Spirit can bend and break.
Discerning of Spirits – to identify and separate from evil spirits.
- Discerning of Spirits – to always be able to know what (not who) is good and what is evil. God loves all people, separate the sin from the sinner. Again, the gifts are always meant to edify others.
- Hebrews 5:14 - But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
- Build up this gift so that nothing but good would attach itself to us and our families. We are the gatekeepers of our homes.
Word of Knowledge – To bring heavenly revelation down to earthly understanding.
- The gifts Edifies – If God ever corrects, He does it with Hope, not shame.
- Maybe God would reveal something, but if He does, it’s going to have so much hope in it you wont care about the correction.
- The Bible is filled with heavenly revelation – that’s the point, I have earthly revelation and its crap. I need something from heaven.
- Don’t put limits on this gift – God wants to reveal things to us, listen to the Holy Spirit and obey whatHe teaches you.
Word of Wisdom – Heavenly insight that brings a solution to a problem.
- A problem is revealed to me but WITH a solution.
- Maybe you listen to the solution and obey, maybe you don’t.
- God loves to give wisdom – wisdom is what we need to get through ALL of our problems.
- James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
- Wisdom is something for everyone
- The gift makes you a supernatural source for wisdom, to help people, not judge, but help.
Prophecy – Speaking with divine inspiration of things you could not know, and it WILL happen.
- The Gift of Knowledge and Wisdom require obedience. Prophecy MUST happen.
- Prophecy MUST encourage, exhort and comfort.
- Good intentioned people often give words of wisdom/knowledge and call it prophecy – be careful.
- Prophecy can reveal and predict – must happen or it’s not prophecy.
- Prophecy that people don’t talk about – Exhortation of God – ¾ of the Old Testament prophecy was just that.
- Be informed – don’t get stuck in a box, because when we put the gifts of God in a box, it becomes HUMAN WEIRD – people love God weird.
Tongues – to speak and pray in a tongue that you do not naturally know to deliver a word for the church.
Interpretation of Tongues – the ability to interpret that word to bring understanding.
Interpretation of Tongues – the ability to interpret that word to bring understanding.
- God can speak to us in many different ways, this one takes a lot of trust in the people it’s coming from and so it’s a hard gift for people to accept.
- This is still a gift.
- Your personal prayer language is different that than Gift of Tongues.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
- Acts 1:4 - Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
- Acts 2:4 - And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
- When I don’t know what to pray – I let the Spirit pray power in me.
- It is a connection to an increase of what I already have- the Spirit IN me.
"I have intimacy, power, help, fruit and gifts – Why do I need the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
- Jesus said it’s good – Don’t leave without the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- Water in Me vs Water Around Me – I can only hold so much water, so much of the Holy Spirit, but if I am at the ocean... I am surrounded AND connected to more water than I could ever hold.
- Same water in me, when its UPON me it goes BEYOND me.
- When the spirit comes upon me, it goes beyond me
- Capacity – Baptism is an increase of capacity for all you already have access to.
- The Baptism of the Holy Spirit increases my capacity for others not just me.
The Holy Spirit it our help that guides and teaches us – take your next step with Him. Develop the gifts that you have been given. Not sure what gift you have? Take this free spiritual gifts test: https://spiritualgiftstest.com/
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