A Spiritual gift is a supernatural capacity or power bestowed on a Christian by the Holy Spirit to enable that person to exercise his/her function as a member of the body of Christ.
These gifts are not to be thought of as natural abilities nor as permanent possessions but as supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit Himself. (1 Cor. 12:7, 11)
A gift is not given primarily to benefit the one through whom it is manifested but for the ‘common good’ (vs. 7), for the benefit or profit of the whole congregation.
In our last weekly, we took a brief look at nine of the gifts. Today we will pick up with …
10. The Gift of Faith — this is a special ability that the Holy Spirit gives to certain members of the church, to discern with extraordinary confidence the will and purposes of God for the future of His work.
11. The Gift of Healing — (how I wish I had this gift) is the special ability the Holy Spirit entrusts to some in the church to serve as human intermediaries. Through these people, God chooses to cure illness and restore health to someone apart from the use of natural means.
12. The Gift of Miracles — the Holy Spirit enables or empowers some in the church to represent Him in performing powerful acts that are perceived by some to have even altered the course of nature. Example – Elijah saying it would not rain again until he gave the word.
13. The Discerning of spirits — In Ephesians 6:12, the Apostle Paul says that we “are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
Just because something is spiritual does not mean it is of God. Satan has an incredible army of evil forces carrying out his diabolic schemes. This gift is so important in discerning whether something is of God or not.
14. The Gift of Tongues — on the day of Pentecost, “the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and gave them the ability to speak the good news about Jesus in known languages that they had not personally learned.
We read in Acts 2:5-8, “At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. ‘How can this be?’ they exclaimed. ‘These people are all from Galilee and yet we hear them speaking in our own language’.”
In 1 Corinthians 12:10, Paul wrote “Still another person is given the ability to speak in the unknown languages (to them). God may want to communicate to the church some important message and use this means to do so. But if and when He does, the next gift is absolutely required.
15. The Gift of Interpretation — When I was president of the Missionary Church, I traveled over much of the world. Many times, I was in a country where I did not know the language. I had a message God put on my heart for these people, so I gave the message in my language. And another person, an interpreter communicated it on to the people. In 1 Cor. 12:10, Paul writes “while another is given the ability to interpret what is said.”
In a church service, if someone gives a message in an unknown language (to that person) and no one stands to interpret that message, the one who gives the message is out of order and should be rebuked.
16. The Gift of Apostle — probably the closest one with this gift today would be a missionary – one called to go and share the good news to another people group. It could be a regional director over a group of churches, but for the most part, we do not have or use that term today. In John 17:18, Jesus said, “Just as You (Father) sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world.” The word ‘apostle’ means ‘sent.’
17. Next, we have the Gift of Helps — the Holy Spirit gives a special ability and desire to certain members of the church to use their talents in the life and ministry of other members of the church, thereby the person helped to increase the effectiveness of his or her spiritual gifts. I praise God that we have many in Jubilee with this gift. They do things voluntarily that I could never do. It frees me up to use the gifts I have to extend His kingdom. I believe these people may have greater rewards than people like me and that excites me. Many times, these people see a need, and without ever being asked they step forward and take care of it.
18. Now let’s consider the Gift of Administration. The Holy Spirit gives certain members of the church the special ability to understand the immediate and long-range goals of the church and they devise and execute effective plans to accomplish those goals and meet the need. I praise God that Jim, our new Associate Pastor, has this gift. He has led our task force in developing and executing the plans for Jubilee to safely reopen.
I hope this three-part study is helping you to discover how the Holy Spirit has gifted you. We will complete the study in our next weekly. Let me give a word of caution … Do not be frustrated if you can’t put a label on the way you are wired. One thing is certain, if you have a desire to serve the LORD and honor Him, the Holy Spirit will guide you in using your gift to enrich the church.
God Bless You,
Pastor Leonard
