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LIVING FAITH MINISTRIES, Inc. International SERVANT’S MANNA 8th Edition, Vol. 1, 2006 The Gifts of the Spirit Greetings in powerful name of Jesus, our All-in-All! I would like to do a teaching on a very important aspect of our salvation and life as a Christian. God has given us, His children, everything we could possibly need to carry out His plans for our lives. He has given us access to His very power through the Holy Spirit. For many, many years we have not had a good understanding of how the Holy Spirit operates. The Apostle Paul no doubt had a very good understanding of spiritual things and how the Holy Spirit operated, but for many years now, the average person has not. There was a time when people thought that just because they had a higher education that gave them license to operate in spiritual gifts and ministries. Going to college is a very good thing to do and it enlightens your natural mind to things in the natural realm. However, the only way to operate in God’s realm is to have a close relationship with the Holy Spirit who then enlightens your spirit man to the things in the spirit realm. We are encouraged time and again in the Word of God to diligently seek Him and fellowship with Him. In so doing, we begin to position ourselves to receive His gifts and blessings that He has always desired to bestow on us. Without those gifts and blessings in our lives, His perfect plan for us will not come to pass. Why Do We Have the Gifts of the Spirit? As we know, the gifts of the Spirit are different than the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is our character traits that we develop as a Christian; it is our personality and how we act day-in-and-day-out. When we get born again, the Spirit of God within us produces changes to our character that will portray Jesus better. The gifts of the Spirit are special manifestations (things in the spirit realm that are made evident to our natural senses, such as sight, hearing, thoughts, etc.) that come directly from the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the church body. Please read I Corinthians 12:4-7. God has called each one of us to be ministers in some way. Being a minister simply means being a servant. He has called each one of us to use the gifts, talents, abilities, and possessions we have to bless others. That is why the gifts of the Spirit are given to us, so we can help make the church strong, and to help us to reproduce what Jesus did on the earth. The foundation of the operation of the gifts is the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Some people take issue with this point, but have you ever seen people who are not Spirit-filled prophesy, have a word of knowledge, pray for the sick and see them miraculously healed, operate in supernatural faith, and cast out devils? They do not do these things because they do not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are available to each born again Christian, but not everybody is interested in receiving it. There are many born again, zealous people for God, but they are not baptized in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. Some are “occupying the place of the uninformed” (I Corinthians 14:16), while others simply choose not to go that far with the Lord. I realize that everyone who is born again has a “portion” of the Holy Spirit within them; it is the Holy Spirit that makes our spirit alive once again. That is where the love and zealousness for God starts. There are many preachers today who have an undying love for God, live a very godly life, and preach salvation to the lost with remarkable fervency. They win hundreds of thousands of souls to the Lord. But how much more could the supernatural power of God flow through these people if they were filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit? When people become born again and find out about the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues and about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but choose to reject it, they are not in the perfect will of God for their lives. It is God’s will for all His children to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and operate in the gifts of the Spirit as well. (Acts 2:39) In the first two chapters of Acts we see that Jesus instructed His faithful followers (who by this time were indeed “born again”) to go to the upper room and wait there until they “received” the Promise of the Father and that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Do you suppose any of them had a clue as to what “the Promise of the Father” actually was? I really do not think they did. But they did what Jesus told them to do anyway, and finally the Holy Spirit showed up in the most unexpected and unusual manner. Did you notice that Jesus’ followers did not try to reason out what was happening, neither did they reject it because it had never been done before? They were open to whatever God had in store for them. Christians today can learn a lot from that fact. Do you really think the Promise of the Father was only for those few people gathered in that one room on that one particular day? I am thoroughly convinced that the Promise of the Father is just as much for us today as it was for those in the upper room that day. Please read Acts 18:24-19:6. Apollos was a very learned man who did a wonderful work for the Lord, spreading the gospel and bringing many to Christ. He was one of the very early disciples of John the Baptist. He was mighty in Scriptures, fervent in spirit, and he spoke boldly about Jesus. From this passage we find that we need to keep in mind that just because somebody speaks and preaches boldly does not necessarily mean that they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. That is why they make the distinction in the book of Acts that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues should not be a one-time experience. It should continue on for the rest of your life. Neither is speaking in tongues the only evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Please read I Corinthians 2:1-5. Paul was not concerned about how eloquent he was; neither did he come with his educational credentials, even though he had many. I Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” Now, I realize everybody likes listening to an eloquent speaker; however, eloquence does not mean anointing or the power to heal and deliver. We have all heard preaching that sounds real good, but if there is not any power, in other words, if there are not any signs and wonders along with the preaching, then they were not preaching the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Word of God is preached by His power, signs and wonders do follow. Look what happened when Jesus preached! People were healed, devils were cast out, and miracles happened. Every time He preached, signs and wonders followed Him. Our faith needs to be in the power of God, not in how well His Word is presented. Natural knowledge, eloquence, or flare can never take the place of being in the Spirit and flowing in His power and anointing. I believe miracles still happen by the power of the Holy Spirit in some churches today, but I also believe that many churches have lost the power because they do not allow the Holy Spirit full reign. If we claim to be a Christian, which means to be “Christ-like,” then we need to be praying for the sick, casting out devils, operating in the word of knowledge and wisdom, and operating in the gifts of faith and healing. That is what Jesus did, and that is what He instructed us to continue to do until He returns. (Mark 16:15-20) Over the years, people have gotten the attitude that we are not supposed to desire the spiritual gifts. Now, who do you suppose started that train of thought? I am certain it was not the Holy Spirit! I believe the people who started that mindset only had a head-knowledge of God, not a personal relationship with Him. Knowing about God does not give you license to operate in the power of His Spirit. Most churches today are not interested in having those signs and wonders manifesting in their midst—some churches even preach against the power of the Holy Spirit and that He does not do those things anymore. There is an element of truth to that…the Holy Spirit does not do those signs and wonders any more in their churches because there is no faith on the church’s part; they do not want Him to do signs and wonders—God does not go beyond man’s will. The Lord wants us to earnestly desire His gifts with the motivation and joy in knowing that they will change other people’s lives, and not out of arrogance or pride. Being a vessel of the Holy Spirit is not a self-centered or self-serving occurrence. Yes, we are very blessed when the Holy Spirit uses us, but it is mainly for the good of others. Having signs and wonders manifesting in a church body is the norm in God’s eyes. These things ought to be happening consistently, if they are not, we as individuals and as a church body need to sincerely seek God as to why, and then act on what He reveals. The church should never diminish or try to control the flow of the Holy Spirit in any way. We need to let God be God and allow Him to flow unimpeded in our midst. The manifestation of the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit needs to go outside the church building, too. It needs to overflow into our homes, our schools, our work places, and wherever we go! People need to see the Christ that lives in us. Please read I Corinthians 12:8-11. Here is where we find out about the nine gifts of the Spirit. It is so amazing to me that God desires to share all these things with us. Jesus Himself operated in these gifts, and out of His grace and love for us, when He went to heaven He sent back His Holy Spirit to dwell with us, fill us, and bring forth the same identical manifestations and power that Jesus had when he was here. That is an incredible thing to have happen. It is sad that so many churches do not understand this. Many churches reduce these incredibly spiritual gifts down to man’s understanding. These are all supernatural from the Spirit of God. We cannot make them operate and have the same powerful results as when the Holy Spirit makes them manifest. Many people try to fabricate the gifts, but there is no power, neither is there any fruit when they do. When these gifts originate from the Holy Spirit—mighty things happen! We need to realize that these are not learned gifts; they are not acquired by reading or being taught. They are direct manifestations of the Spirit of God, and the individual is only the vessel He is using. That is why we need to be very humble and in tune with the Holy Spirit; we do not want to be oblivious to His unctions when He wants to use us, neither do we want to fabricate His gifts just because He has used us in that capacity before. If the Holy Spirit used you to speak out a word of knowledge at church last Sunday and it was right on target and ministered to those who it was intended for...do not be surprised if He does not happen to use you in the same capacity next week. Do not “make something up” next time to make it seem as though you are being used by God. He only uses humble, willing, and completely yielded vessels only when He wills. We do need to desire spiritual gifts. We are not to be ignorant about spiritual gifts and we should desire to understand them and have them, particularly that we prophesy. Actually, the word “gift” might not be the best word for these nine manifestations of the Spirit. I say this because when someone gives you a gift, you can use it any time you want to. The gifts of the Spirit are actually manifestations that the Holy Spirit releases to you at a specific time–only when the Holy Spirit knows they are needed, not when we think they are needed! Sometimes people have felt these manifestations, but did not know what to do about it. We are going to learn the following: How to discern when the Holy Spirit is moving you to speak out His Word for the edification of the Body of Christ and how to properly use these gifts by His power. We will break these nine manifestations down into three categories: the gifts of utterance, the gifts of revelation, and the gifts of power. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT Utterance Gifts Please read I Corinthians 12:1-11. The utterance gifts are prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These gifts deal mainly with encouraging the church body and building their faith. When the utterance gifts flow freely in a church service, many people’s lives are touched and blessed. The Gift of Prophecy Please read I Corinthians 14:1-5. To begin with, I would like to make a distinction between the “gift of prophecy” and the “office of the prophet” that we see mentioned in I Corinthians 12:28. The true prophet or prophetess that has that office is able to foretell events and will oftentimes bring correction. Someone operating in the office of a prophet might give a prophecy during a church service; however, everyone who gives a prophecy during a church service is not necessarily a prophet. We need to keep that straight in our thinking, because sometimes young Christians get the impression that they are a prophet just because the Holy Spirit used them as a vessel to bring forth a prophecy during a church service. That is very seldom the case. Prophecy is considered the best spiritual gift because it is the clearest to understand by anyone within earshot. We are supposed to greatly desire to be used in that capacity. Every day when we are praying to the Father we should make ourselves available for Him to use as a vessel for His spiritual gifts to flow through…especially to prophecy. The gift of prophecy is manifested in a corporate gathering for three main reasons that we find mentioned in I Corinthians 14:3; they are edification, exhortation, and comfort. The gift of prophecy does not come forth as a rebuke, and it holds no revelation. It is not foretelling the future, neither does it reveal someone’s past. It is for the edification and building up of the church, to strengthen, encourage, help, and comfort us. When prophecy is of the Spirit of God, it is very powerful and always bears fruit. The gift of prophecy comes in the native language where it is being delivered. For instance, in our church, we would prophesy in English; in a church in China, they would prophesy in Chinese, etc. The gift of prophecy is a sign or confirmation for believers; it is not a sign and wonder for unbelievers. A nonbeliever is not going to know that the prophecy is from God because his spirit has not been quickened yet. He would probably think that those folks practiced the speeches the night before. However, once they get saved and their spirit man comes alive, they will realize that it is the Holy Spirit manifesting the power of God in their presence. If you are prophesying, do not try to add to it, trying to make it something that it is not. I have been in churches where someone had a problem with the pastor, a member of the praise and worship team, or someone else in the church, and they gave a prophecy laced with their own opinion and words that did harm to the other person. In a case like that, the pastor needs to correct that individual for false prophecy, immediately. If that individual refuses to repent and change his ways, he will need to be removed from the church body. These people are trying to steer the church to their own liking. It is a very sad thing when they refuse to change. They are not hearing from God…they are hearing from themselves. The gift of prophecy that we want to see in our churches is going to build us up, encourage us, exhort us, and comfort us…not harm us. Please read I Corinthians 14:12-40. In these verses we are given very sound advice and direction on how we should act when assembled together and how the Holy Spirit will operate among us. The Holy Spirit never brings confusion. If there is confusion it is because “we” have gotten in there and started operating in the soul realm. We need to stay in the spirit realm and as we do, the Holy Spirit will flow powerfully, bearing remarkable fruit. When Paul is talking about two or three people, I believe he is simply giving us a guideline to follow; I do not believe if you get to three times, you have to put an end to it. It is a guideline because there does need to be order. In verse 40, the word decently simply means “in truth.” It does not mean all sorts of religious piousness and haughtiness, insisting on doing things in a specific manner. Paul is telling us simply to do things in truth. If you are going to prophesy or speak in tongues, make sure it is from God and that it is for the whole Body assembled there and not a personal word to you. Prophecy starts in your spirit and ends up in your mind. That is one way to tell if what you have an unction to say is from the Holy Spirit. If a thought is just zipping through your mind, chances are it is simply a thought you had. But if it is rising up from your spirit man, your mind starts to understand what is coming from your spirit man, and then you have something that will build up the Body of Christ. Oftentimes your heart starts pounding and it seems like the word you are to give is burning inside you. After you have experienced being a vessel of the Holy Spirit in this way, you will be better able to discern whether or not what is on your heart to say is from Him. Over time you will gain more confidence in being used by the Holy Spirit in that way. Diverse Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues There are two different manifestations or uses for diverse tongues. The gift of diverse tongues and interpretations are for the corporate setting, and only comes with the unction of the Holy Spirit. We will be talking about that later on. However, there is also a private prayer language we use when we are not in a corporate setting. Before we learn about the gift of diverse tongues and interpretation of tongues, I would like to take the time to set a good foundation for personal prayer language. I Corinthians 14:2, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” Paul is speaking of a prayer language, praying in the Spirit in your private life as well as in church. As we mentioned earlier, when we are first born again, we receive the Holy Spirit. He is the One who brings our spirit man to life. So, yes, every born again Christian has a portion of the Holy Spirit in them. However, when we have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, tongues should be the initial evidence that the Holy Spirit has indeed filled us with His presence. When I think of being filled with the Holy Spirit, I think of a cup used for drinking. Now, you can turn on the water faucet and stick that cup under there for a second or two, and sure enough, you will have a little bit of water in your cup. Likewise, you can get the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues, but maybe you only spent a little bit of time with Him and got filled only a little bit with Him. We need to seek Him, go after Him; we need to stay under the spigot of “water” and continually get filled with Him. We are not to be satisfied with the amount of Him that we have. I have heard it said that, in a manner of speaking, our spirit man leaks, the more we give of ourselves and are used by the Spirit, the more we need to continue to be filled by Him. Spending time every day praying in tongues will do that very thing. What is so amazing about being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is that you can be in direct communication with the Father all the time! No matter what you are doing, at will you can be in fellowship with the Father. Your spirit man is communicating with God and being fed at the same time. We may not always get an interpretation, sometimes the Holy Spirit knows it needs to be kept a mystery for awhile. Who knows, maybe He was having you pray for a very personal situation in somebody else’s life, and being that the Holy Spirit is not a gossip, He won’t reveal it to you at that time. If you need to know, He will cause you to understand, if not…don’t worry about it. If you find that you are facing circumstances and issues in your life that seem overwhelming, pray in the Spirit…a lot! Praying in the Spirit as you go through the day is a good habit to get into, but you should also set aside some time every day where all your focus is on praying in the Spirit. It may be during your personal time with God and reading His Word. I prefer praying a little bit in the natural and then bathe it in tongues, then when I get a release about that particular issue, I go on to the next. You may start out praying in tongues for 15 minutes or so, then after awhile you may find yourself praying in tongues for an hour or more! It can be a very sweet and intimate time; it can be a very powerful time; and it can also be a very purifying time. So many Christians do not pray in tongues very much, and then they wonder why they feel dried up and are not on fire for God. There are those who appear to be baptized in the Holy Spirit because they speak in other tongues, but yet they do the weirdest, most bizarre, and meanest things. How can this be? Just because somebody prays in other tongues does not mean they are spiritual, neither does it mean that their character traits have been perfected. Some people may spend hours every day praying in tongues, but the effectiveness of their prayers are basically nullified if their attitude is wrong. If they are not teachable or they do not allow the Holy Spirit to reveal things in their heart that are not pleasing to Him and do not line up with the Word of God, then they could pray all day long with no fruit to show for it. These people may have started out spiritual, loving God and only wanting to be used by Him. However, because of pride, jealousy, or some reason like that, they started to operate in the soul realm, they became carnal once again. The gifts of God are without repentance. In other words, once God has given someone a gift, He does not remove the ability to operate in it. What is removed when someone strays like that is His anointing on those gifts that they may have once had. When that happens, all that individual needs to do is sincerely repent of his sin and humble himself before God, and as he remains humble and teachable, God may restore His anointing on him once again. We also need to keep in mind that if we have done something wrong, we cannot pray in tongues for hours and hours and expect God to make what we have done right. It does not work that way! People can be doing something wrong, living in sin, and still praying in tongues, and that prayer language will not change what they are doing or what they have done. Only repentance will change the outcome of the situation. Some people are so confused and deceived that they will go on for years living wrong or having wrong attitudes or ideas of things, and praying in the Spirit all the while. They are thinking that there is something wrong with somebody else, or they are wondering why they are not getting a breakthrough. It is because they are using their prayer language in a wrong way. If they would humble themselves and get right with God, their life will change. Effectively praying in tongues has got to be coupled with a humble and contrite heart. Jude 20, “But you, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” We build ourselves up when we pray in the Spirit. Our spirit man gets stronger and stronger and we gradually mature the more we pray in the Spirit. So, if you have any fear, worry, doubt, oppression, depression, or anything of the sort…pray in the Spirit! There is nothing that the devil can throw your way that you cannot overcome with the power of the Holy Spirit. Many people who have these problems will read all kinds of self-help books, take all kinds of medication, or go to psychologists to try to get through it. If they would pray in the Spirit…spending quality time, being honest and open with God, the Spirit will strengthen them and show them what needs to be done in their lives to get it back on track. Now that we have covered our prayer language let us read I Corinthians 12:8-11. The gift of diverse tongues and interpretation of tongues are best understood together, because the gift of tongues without interpretation is basically useless in the corporate setting. When it talks about diverse kinds of tongues it is talking about different kinds of languages that people have never heard or are taught; these words are speaking mysteries to God. In some churches they try to teach that it is only people who have learned a foreign language. That is most certainly not the truth of the matter. Diverse tongues are give to you directly from the Holy Spirit. What is interesting about tongues and interpretation is that we do not find it in the Old Testament. The other gifts are found in the Old Testament, but not these two. Tongues and interpretations are for the New Testament church. They are for the whole Body of Christ. It does not matter what denomination you belong to, you can be a Spirit-filled Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, or whatever. In God’s view it has no denominational barriers. There are people who resist it and refuse to allow it in their churches, but the Holy Spirit will give it to every born again believer if they ask for it. Please read I Corinthians 14:3-5. Tongues with interpretation is equal to prophecy. If you stand up during a service and speak in tongues, and then sit down, and there is no interpretation, it means nothing and has no value. We need to pray for interpretation when we have the unction to pray in tongues, even in your private life. Once you start operating in tongues and then interpretation, you can expect to experience it quite often when done by faith. Please read I Corinthians 14:26-33. The problem that was going on in the Corinthian church was that everybody had been filled with the Holy Spirit and they were all speaking in other tongues. Then when they would come together everybody wanted to speak in tongues, but nobody had an interpretation for it. When everybody was speaking out in tongues, it brought a lot of confusion and disorder to the meeting. They had not acquired the understanding of these gifts of the Spirit yet. I Corinthians 14:19, “Yet in church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” Paul was not talking about his personal prayer life, he is talking about those who would come to church and speak in tongues real loud and nothing would happen! Nothing happened because there was no one to interpret. If you have a strong unction and you know that there is an interpretation, then you need to give it. Sometimes we know there is one who has the gift of interpretation who will interpret the utterance. If there is no one to interpret, then the utterance should be held. Revelation Gifts Please read I Corinthians 12:1-11. The revelation gifts are the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits. These gifts deal with “revealing” specific things that are not common knowledge to everyone. They go into the spirit realm and uncover past events, future events, and certain activities going on in the spirit realm. The Word of Knowledge The word of knowledge has to do with past and present situations and circumstances in a person’s life. God knows everything, but He gives out only a fragment of His knowledge...He gives “a word” of knowledge for someone to speak out and from that you will get an understanding. While you are praying for someone, sometimes you may receive something in your spirit about that individual. When that happens, the individual is encouraged that God knows and cares about them and that He wants to set them free and heal them. The word of knowledge is oftentimes used to start a healing that is needed from something that took place in the past or that they are going through right at that time. I have yet to meet someone who does not have something from their past that they need healing for. God knows about it and cares deeply about it. If that past experience is troubling them or hindering them in any way, God will let them know that He is aware of it and that He will help them take care of it for good. He often uses the gift of the word of knowledge to start that healing or deliverance. The word of knowledge can come by vision, by inward witness, or inward voice. For example, in Acts 9:10-12 Paul met God on the road to Damascus. That encounter changed his life. The Holy Spirit told Ananias about Paul and what He wanted him to do. This is a beautiful example of the gift of knowledge working through Ananias. Please read Revelation 2:1-7. The Holy Spirit is having John tell these churches that He knew all about them—what their past was and what their present is. But sometimes the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom (future happenings) operate together. At times it is hard to differentiate between them because they work so closely together. Please read Acts 5:1-11. Peter had an inward witness because the Holy Spirit told him exactly what was going on in the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. Speaking out that word was a very bold thing for Peter to do. Taking a chance on speaking something like that out would have immediate confirmation whether he had heard from God or if he was just “making it up.” Peter knew the voice of his Master! As you share the Gospel, you need to expect something to happen. For example, when you share the Gospel with someone, the Holy Spirit may give you a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom that will truly minister to that individual. They will wonder how you knew, and it lends such credence to your testimony when you tell them that God revealed that bit of information to them in order to help them. That will minister to a person far more than any secular psychologist could. Intellect is good and learning is fine, but they are no substitute for the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. The church is supposed to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to be witnessing miracles all the time. I find it sad when people are so shocked and amazed when miracles do happen. Yes, miracles should never become so “familiar” to us that we are not filled with love and joy and gratitude toward God when they happen, but when we are flat out dumbfounded by them, something is wrong. The more we make ourselves available for God to manifest His power through, the more “normal” our church services will be in God’s eyes. The Word of Wisdom The gift of the word of wisdom is defined as the divine purpose in the mind of God revealed by God’s Spirit; it is for future events. This gift has to operate on a very consistent and accurate basis in any person who has the office of a prophet. Please read Acts 9:10-16; Acts 21:10-11; Acts 27:9-11, 20-25. Here we see fine examples of the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom working together. Please read Acts 11:27-29. Agabus was a recognized prophet in Jerusalem that people knew; he had a proven ministry. I believe prophets today have to have a proven ministry as well. It takes years to know if they have a proven ministry. One needs to be very careful whom they trust when it comes to taking to heart what is said. A great deal of damage to a person’s personal life, as well as spiritual life, can happen if they believe a false prophet. We have to be very careful about not getting into the soul realm. The Lord spoke this to me one day, “Soul projections.” I knew what the Lord meant, and it had to do with false prophecy. However, when the Lord reveals something to me like that, I always ask Him to give me Scripture to back it up. He gave me Ezekiel 13:3-9. Soul projections are soulish thoughts that people have and they try to bring it forth as being from the Lord. These people prophesy out of their own inspiration, not the Holy Spirit’s. A true prophet will make sure that what he is about to speak out is from the Spirit of God. He will be certain that it is not just a great idea or something good that he may have read recently, thinking, “Oh, this would fit in real good right here!” Our minds are so complex that they can really deceive us into thinking something is from the Holy Spirit. We do not always know unless we are very careful about it and maintain a pure and humble heart. So, we always need to check our spirit man when we want to bring forth a word to be sure we are in right standing with God and that the word is indeed from the Holy Spirit. Please read Matthew 7:21-23. Here is another area where discernment is essential. There have been, are now, and will be many false prophets who say, “Thus saith the Lord.” They are not prophesying by the Spirit of God; they are prophesying out of their own soul, their own inspiration, but using the name of the Lord to acquire credibility. That is a sin against God! We have to be careful to discern whether or not what is in our heart is from God or from ourselves, as well a whether it is for ourselves or for someone else. As we start allowing God to use us in this capacity, we will eventually grow and mature and be more accurate and confident. Many Christians quit being used by God if they happen to miss the mark and are corrected by their pastor. Do not quit. Learn from the experience, remain humble, and eventually you will be right on the mark consistently. Please read Mark 16:15-20 and Matthew 28:18-20. Nowhere does it say to go into all the world and prophesy. It says to go preach His Word and reveal what the Word of God says. It does not take a prophet to do that! When the preaching is anointed, there is oftentimes the prophetic that operates along with it. It is fine if someone truly has a personal word from God for you, but do not go “looking” for it—the devil will be only too happy to accommodate you. You already have a personal word from God—the Bible—follow it! If you are spending time in prayer and the Word, God is going to lay things on your heart and reveal things to you. You do not have to run around to all kinds of meetings to hear a personal word. I do not have any problems with meetings, but you should already know what God is telling you to do, so then if a word is spoken over you it would be a confirmation of what God has already revealed to you. Always going off to hear a personal word might be considered taking a shortcut to praying and fasting, and reading the Word for yourself. I realize that nobody actually enjoys fasting at the time, but if you diligently fast and pray and seek God, He will tell you everything He needs to for you to fulfill His will for your life. The Discerning of Spirits Having discernment is different than the gift of discerning of spirits. For instance, you can talk with someone for a short while and discern a number of things about them—mainly, what their basic relationship with God is. You can also have discernment whether someone is lying to you, withholding information from you, or telling you the truth. Or, if a drunk comes walking into church, it does not take the “gift” of discerning of spirits to know that he has the spirit of alcoholism. That is not the gift of discerning of spirits. The gift of the discerning of spirits is actually being able to see into the spirit realm. You can see angels and demons. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will let you see a demon in relation to a particular individual—you need to pray for that person and take authority over it immediately. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will have you see angels. Over the years I have had visitations of angels. Out of the corner of my eye I will see them. I have awakened in the middle of the night and saw two angels watching me sleep. We definitely do have guardian angels. I believe we have additional angels assigned to us when we are sent off on another assignment for the Lord. He sends them to watch over us and take care of us and sometimes even inform us of things to come. They are very real and it is a great comfort knowing that they are there with us all the time. Isaiah 6:1, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” That was the gift of the discerning of spirits in operation. Please read Exodus 33:20-23. Moses got to see the backside of God! That must have been and incredible experience! That was also seeing into the spirit realm. We see another example of the gift of discerning of spirits in Acts 27:20-25, when Paul was visited by an angel of God. Paul was encouraged by the angel and was given a message to give to the rest of the people on the ship. When God bestows the gift of the discerning of spirits it is for a very good reason. He will reveal things to us, give us confidence, understanding, and to give us boldness. It may even come by way of an angel delivering a message to you like we see in this passage. These revelation gifts are good, and we want to have them operating in the Body of Christ. But we do not want to let the phony to be creeping into our churches or our lives in any way, because the Lord says that those who do that will be commanded to depart from Him because He did not know them. The pastor of a church has the very important and unpopular job to keep that kind of activity out of the church. He needs to have a close relationship with the Holy Spirit and be accurate in discerning spiritual things. He also needs to have a great deal of confidence and boldness in order for “wolves” as well as the sheep to know that God is in charge. Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” This verse is not saying that just because someone may think he is a child of God that he is automatically always led by the Spirit of God. There may be many children of God out there who are definitely not being led by the Holy Spirit—that does not mean that they are not sons of God, they may be. We cannot tell for sure because the fruit is not there, but God knows their heart. So, what this verse means is that when it is obvious that someone is being led by the Spirit of God because of the fruit of their lives, you can safely say that they are a child of God. You do not have to have the word of knowledge, wisdom, and discerning of spirits operating all the time to prove that you are being led by the Spirit. Those are special manifestations that will come at a time when it is needed for somebody that needs ministering to. What should be operating all the time is the fruit of the Spirit. The Power Gifts Please read I Corinthians 12:1-11. The three power gifts are faith, working of miracles, and healing, They are called the power gifts because they do something, instead of encouraging us or revealing something to us. The Gift of Faith Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” There are three basic types of faith: Saving faith, daily faith, and the gift of faith. As we know, salvation is not something that can be earned. Everyone who is truly born again had to have what is called “saving faith” in order to be saved. Because we are created in the image of God, we have a measure of faith deposited in our spirit. Our spirit is never actually dead, but it is dormant until we become born again. It is like a dead battery that simply needs to be recharged. So when you heard the gospel and the Holy Spirit touched your spirit, faith came forth, and when you chose to yield to it, you became born again. That is saving faith, and everybody has it, but not all use it. Then there is the faith that we receive once we do get born again. This faith is for our everyday living. It needs to be nourished and developed, just like a muscle in our body. The more we feed our faith by reading the Word of God and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, and exercising it by putting it into practice, the stronger our faith becomes. Everyone who is truly born again has this faith, too. However, not everyone feeds and exercises it to the same extent. The third kind of faith is the gift of faith that is used to create things and do supernatural exploits. The gift of faith gives us power to fulfill God’s plan in the earth as well as in our lives. When we look at some of the miracles that took place in the Bible, like Moses parting the Red Sea, we see the gift of faith operating. God gave Moses that extra faith to raise his staff and cause the water to part and the ground to dry up for the Israelites to cross over to safety. Moses did not need that kind of faith all the time, it was a special faith that God knew he needed at that moment. If Moses would have tried to do the same thing some other time when it was not needed, it would not have happened. Daniel in the lion’s den is another fine example of the gift of faith. Daniel certainly did when he went into the lion’s den, but do you know who else had the gift of faith? King Darius! The last thing he said to Daniel, “‘Your God, whom you serve continually, will deliver you.’” (Daniel 6:16) The gift of faith is oftentimes spoken out about things that are going to happen. We speak things out that the Lord has laid on our heart that He knows is needed for that time. When God reveals something to you, you know that you need to have it, and you speak according to what He has shown you, it will happen. Sometimes we can conjure up our own foolish thoughts and desires. We can think up our own goofy ideas that we would like a particular thing to happen, but when we speak it out and it never comes to pass, it is because it was not of God in the first place. It will take time and a teachable, humble spirit to get to the point in your relationship with God to know for sure where your desires are originating from. We all make blunders when we are first starting out, but as we repent and learn from them, we get more accurate in perceiving the voice of the Holy Spirit. When God lays something on your heart that a certain event is going to come about, you need to speak it out in faith. Then when God sees your faith-filled words lining up with His desire and plan, He sees a faithful one, and He says, “There is one who is believing Me, now I can bring it to pass.” You will then see those desires manifest in the natural. The same holds true in your personal life. When God puts something in your heart, whether it is for your job, your home, or even for a vacation you are going to take, you need to speak it out in faith. When your words line up with what God’s plan is for your personal life, then it will happen. Always keep in mind whatever you are believing for, if it does not line up with God’s written Word, it is not from God. He never goes against His Word. The gift of faith is a supernatural endowment by the Holy Spirit so that what is uttered or desired by man or spoken by God will eventually come to pass. We need to get a deep revelation of that. Write down some of the things you are believing for and then when they come to pass you can go back time-and-again and be encouraged. Smith Wigglesworth said that oftentimes if we make a step of faith and use our own faith until we come to the end of it, then supernatural faith will take over. As we persist in our own faith and do not back down or doubt, then the supernatural faith will kick in and see to it that our desire manifests in the natural. There may come a time when you are in public and something tragic happens that you will have that immediate gift of faith rise up from within you. Obey it! It may save someone’s physical life as well as their spiritual life. Do not worry about all the people or what they may think–just obey the unction of the Holy Spirit and He will back you! The gift of faith is not going to operate if you are in fear or doubt or if you are embarrassed about stepping out and allowing the power of the Holy Spirit flow through you. Begin, learn, remain humble, and then confidence will come, as well as miraculous happenings. The Working of Miracles The working of miracles is the supernatural intervention into the natural course of things. There is a natural course that God set up from the foundation of the world, these are called laws of nature and are not deviated from unless God intervenes. . I often think of the fig tree that Jesus cursed in Mark 11:13-14 and wonder why He did not make fruit grow instead–He was hungry! Why didn’t He just say, “Figs, come forth!” It would have been just as easy; but He was also using it as a teaching for the Children of Israel. That tree was a deception–it looked real good on the outside, but there was no fruit. The Children of Israel appeared to be godly but they really were not, there was no fruit to show for all their pomp and show. That object lesson needs to be understood today every bit as much as back then. We can have the “appearance” of being a Christian, but what about the fruit? Jesus did at least 30 recorded miracles like that, and no doubt many more that were not recorded in the Bible. Another incredible example of the working of miracles that Jesus did was the feeding of the five thousand and again the four thousand. Jesus knew the Father and what the Father wanted for all those people. If we would get to know the Father the way Jesus knew Him, we would not have any problem stepping out in faith. Salvation is another amazing miracle, turning water into wine, calming the sea, walking on the water, raising the dead, and the like are all working of miracles that Jesus did, and He has bestowed that same power on us through the power of the Holy Spirit. So often a number of these gifts of the Spirit are working together at the same time. You cannot work miracles without the gift of faith in operation. So, Jesus had the faith to pray over those fish and loaves and feed all those people. That miracle happened because of faith. When we know what Jesus has done for us and all that He has provided for us while still on earth, we should have no problem wanting to develop our relationship with Him. By doing that we will bring Him glory by the power of the Holy Spirit through us. When Jesus saved us, He did not leave a void in our lives between the time we got saved and when we go to heaven. He has a plan for us in between there too! When we understand that fact and how much He cares for us and that He has left us in charge down here to do the things that He did, we should give everything we have got to bring Him glory. II Kings 4:1-7. Elisha needed something from the woman to work with. The woman was willing to use that jar of oil; she trusted God and Elisha, and she obeyed them. When all the vessels that they had collected were full, the oil ran out. As long as there was something to put the oil in, the oil never stopped–now that is a miracle. Did you notice that Elisha instructed them to close the door while they were filling the vessels with oil? Oftentimes, when God is working a miracle in your life, you do not want to be telling everybody. The reason for that is that all too often when others observe what is going on, they may intentionally or unintentionally mess it up for you by their words, their prayers, telling others, or any number of ways. So we need to use discretion when God is working in our lives. Most of the time we need to wait until God has completed the work, then we can tell others all about it, giving God all the glory and it cannot be taken away from you! Sometimes miracles come in the form of a curse. The Bible does not say that all miracles are a blessing, it says that it is a supernatural intervention into the natural course of things. Please read Acts 13:4-12. This false prophet needed to be put in his place, and the Holy Spirit knew just how to do it! This was very similar to what happened to Saul (Paul) before he became born again. Back then he was trying to destroy the Christians and stop the Word of God from going forth and God intervened in his life. God had to get Saul’s attention in a very dramatic way, too. He had to humble Saul and bring him to a place where he would get saved. A miracle can sometimes be a hard thing or it can be a blessing. God uses miracles to save His people and to get the Word to go forth. We need to be opened to the fact that we can have miracles happen in our lives...good or bad! The case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11, was a working of a miracle. It is hard to think of it that way, but it definitely fits the definition of a miracle. The Gifts of Healings The gifts of healings is a supernatural healing of disease and infirmities without any kind of medical intervention or natural means. A lot of times someone will go to a doctor and get pills and still get some prayer, then after a couple of weeks they are healed. Yes, God healed them and it is important to give God the glory for that. But that would not be classified as the gift of healing, because natural means were used as well. The unbeliever gets healed as well as the Christian when they take medication and treatment. We are in no way against doctors and the medical profession, they do a lot of good, and most of us have been helped by them at one time or another. But a doctor actually cannot heal anybody. A doctor can only treat the individual’s symptoms and we give them credit for that. They study hard, they mean to do good for people, but God is the only one who can do the healing. So, doctors help us a great deal, but receiving our healing directly from God is the best. And what is even better than that is when we stay in good health through the power of the Holy Spirit. What is so exciting is that God gives us the gifts of healings for the Body of Christ as well as for us as individuals. He has given these gifts to us because He cares so much for our well being, and that we are taken care of and are in good health. In every country where I have gone to preach the Word, I have seen miracles of healing and demons cast out as I shared the Good New of Jesus Christ. In Haiti, the people were so hungry for God’s Word and a touch from a loving Savior that they came from miles around. I was blessed to pray for hundreds and hundreds of people. Many were healed and are still healed today. Demons were cast out with a word and the person would receive their minds back. When people get hungry for God and believe His Word, the Word works in every area of their life. In the Philippines one night during a service a paralyzed lady was carried in and set on a chair near the front of the meeting hall. When it came time to pray for the sick, I had some of the pastors come and lay hands on her and pray for healing with me. As we did this, one of the pastors commanded her to stand up and walk. At first she was reluctant, but the pastor persisted. “You’re healed, in Jesus’ name,” he told her. “Now, stand up and walk.” This lady had been in this paralyzed state for two years, due to a severe stroke. That night she walked home. The next day the pastor from the church went to see her. She was still healed and telling her neighbors what Jesus Christ had done for her. From that one miracle, her whole family was saved and started attending church and Bible study. Miracles bring revivals. Miracles prove God’s wonderful Word. The Word was true two thousand years ago, and it is true today. Believe it and see. God’s Word will not return to Him void Healing has gotten to be quite a subject. There are thousands of books about healing and people’s opinions of the issue. As you learned in Level One, what it boils down to is the truth that Jesus died on the cross for you and me and set us free from whatever binds us, holds us, or tries to destroy us. He has done everything for us that we could ever need. Healing has gotten to be quite a subject. There are thousands of books about healing and people’s opinions of the issue. What it boils down to is the truth that Jesus died on the cross for you and me and set us free from whatever binds us, holds us, or tries to destroy us. He has done everything for us that we could ever need. Stir Up the Gifts Jesus was always the Son of God, from birth to His death and resurrection. However, we never hear of Him doing any miracles until He was baptized in the Holy Spirit. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit came on Him when He came up out of the water. The Holy Spirit anointed Him to do all the things He did. When we get baptized in the Holy Spirit, the same power comes on us. Please read Luke 4:14-21. When Jesus returned after having been baptized in the Spirit and tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He proclaimed that this Scripture is being fulfilled through Him. Acts 10:38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” So when we get born again and Spirit-filled, we have that very same Holy Spirit and power right inside of us. The only difference is that Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure; we have a specific amount. However, the more time we spend before the Lord, that measure of the Holy Spirit in us will increase and get stronger and more powerful. There is a limit to the amount of the Holy Spirit we can have, but that limit far exceeds our needs. Again, our anointing, power, and faith all increase in strength and intensity as we spend quality time with the Lord, allowing Him to perfect us in every area of our lives so we can become more Christ-like. Please read I Corinthians 12:28-30. What is being said here is that everybody can operate in all the gifts by the power of the Holy Spirit as needed. However, not everybody operates in all the gifts all the time. One may give an utterance, another may interpret, one may have a word of knowledge but may not have a word of wisdom, and some may have the gifts of healings. Those who do have the gifts of healings may have different areas in which they are more anointed. Some may be anointed for blind eyes to be opened; another may have special anointing for backs, cancer, or whatever. God gives different anointing for healing to people. I have had good success with healing cancers, tumors, and backs. I have seen many people diagnosed with cancer completely healed, and many paralyzed people walk out of the meeting. He will anoint us with what we need for not only ourselves, but our loved ones, those we encounter every day, and the Body of Christ as well. It is very important for each member of the Body of Christ to find out what their gifts are and be faithful to operate in them. We have to make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, because He won’t go beyond our will. It takes a totally yielded and willing heart to be used that way. Please read II Timothy 1:3-7. I believe that what the Apostle Paul was telling Timothy here was not to stir up just one particular gift of the Spirit. He was encouraging him to start praying in the Spirit even more and stir up the gift of God. The gift of God is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need to stir that up. We need to start praying more and more in the Spirit and all those gifts will operate as you need them and in the specific way that you need them. Paul is showing us today how to deal with fear, it is called praying in the Spirit. You can pray in the Spirit until you break through and overcome it. In II Timothy 1:7, the word power is the same power that we find in Acts 1:8. Dunamis means ability, might, and miracle power. Paul is telling not only Timothy, but you and me as well, that when we received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we received all that we need! So…stir it up! The Spirit that we received when we got baptized in the Holy Spirit was not fear, condemnation, or anything that would hinder us. It was the ability to be strong in God, and to overcome these things that come against us. We have the ability to be in charge and to work the miracles and the gifts of God. You need to purpose to stir up the gifts in you. You need to decide that you are going to get excited and bold and pray loud and strong and you will find that any hindrances, skepticism, apprehensions, doubts, fear, procrastination, or whatever the devil is trying hard to put on you will just start falling off. You get a cleansing that is not only refreshing, but is very necessary, too. Do not stop stirring those gifts up, keep at it every day. If that heaviness comes back, just start praying in the Spirit before it gets a toehold in you. If you pray in the Spirit a lot, those thoughts won’t be able to even enter your mind. Once the attack has come, it is a lot harder to pray out of it, but if you purpose to pray without ceasing, those attacks do not latch on to you. In II Timothy 1:3-7, the Greek the word fear means: fearfulness, fright, or intimidation. It does not mean to flee because of danger. It means an oppressing fear, intimidation, or something that has a hold on you that incapacitates you. Many in the Body of Christ deal with this from time-to-time. To bring fear on someone is one of the strongest weapons the devil uses. Fear is what feeds the power of the devil over someone; just like faith is what feeds the power of God in someone. The devil loves to tell you things that are going to happen and show you the worst side of things, because that way he can control you. It is a depressing, debilitating spirit that is very real but not impossible to overcome. Paul knows the situation that Timothy is in and wants to encourage him not to be full of fear. II Timothy 1:8, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Being imprisoned does not make for a very good reputation...even if you are imprisoned for preaching the gospel. There was a lot of intimidation that Timothy was probably feeling and there was a fear coming on him. The devil was probably telling Timothy that he would be next. He was no doubt telling him all sorts of lies, like no one is going to believe what he was preaching anymore because the man that he was working with was a convict! That kind of fear debilitates a person and can cause them to become inactive. It causes that person to get to the point where they are doing nothing productive for the Kingdom of God—and that is precisely the devil’s plan. It is a very powerful force that is still very active on the earth today. But praise God that force is not from God and it is subject to us in the name of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are dealing with a constant, nagging fear that always comes to you, no matter what it is, you have not allowed God’s perfect love to cast that thing out. When you start praying in the Spirit, you start drawing closer and closer to God. Pretty soon you are right in His presence, as real as if I was standing next to you. When you are in that place, peace and strength comes, and as you take that with you throughout the day, you know that there is nothing in this world that you need to fear because the love and power of God is right there in you. This type of fear can come onto you very subtly. Many people do not even realize they are under its power for a long time. That is another reason it is imperative to have a very close relationship with the Holy Spirit, that way He will help us to recognize the fear and take authority over it. Paul reminds us that we also received God’s agape love and a sound mind. When we find ourselves not walking in God’s love or if we are confused or tormented in our thoughts, we need to pray in the Spirit until we get back into His presence and His peace fills us. We can operate with the power of God; we can love with God’s kind of love; and we can have a sound mind and be able to make proper decisions and have disciplined thoughts. We need to pray in the Spirit faithfully and continually. Please read I John 4:17-18. As He is, so are we. Wow! Is that true in your life and character, even when no one is looking? This is why God has given us His Holy Spirit and endowed us with His abilities, gifts, talents, and love nature. We are to be an excellent representative of Jesus Christ; in other words, a Christian, or “Christ-like.” The bottom line for why God wants us to stir up the gifts in us is so that we can be a blessing in the earth, so we can be as He is in the earth in order to draw more and more people into His Kingdom. I want to take a moment here to forewarn you about a very important issue in regard to one’s ministry for the Kingdom of God and operating in the gifts of the Spirit. The devil can cause the best of Christians to fall if they are not careful. What I am talking about is your motive for doing what you are doing in the church, no matter what it is. If you have pure motives and are not looking for compliments, high positions, being “noticed,” and the like, chances are the devil will not have an opening to get into your heart to plant seeds of pride. Pride is a very destructive force and is a big problem in many churches today. People are doing what they are doing with a prideful heart, and the power of the Holy Spirit is thwarted because of it. When you have joy and a good attitude about doing even the little things in your church, God is going to increase that, take care of you, and eventually there may be a good chance of being promoted to a position that has even more responsibility. But let God promote you. Remain sweet and humble and faithful to what you are doing, and God will exalt you in due season. (I Peter 5:6) Please read I Corinthians 12:1-11. If you have a spiritual gift operating in your life, it is not only for you, those gifts are for somebody else who needs a touch from God or a need of a word from the Lord, you are the vessel. Like electric wiring; you are the conduit for the Holy Spirit to flow through. Sometimes people have a spiritual gift operating in them and all of a sudden they think they are something special, they think they are a little better than the next guy…do not go there. You need to keep your heart and mind pure; you need to have the proper attitude about it. I Corinthians 14:26-27. One of the hardest things for Christians to do when they get together in a group is to sit still and wait on God. We always want something to be happening or someone to be saying something. Not so! The Lord wants us to be still before Him sometimes. Yes, He enjoys our exuberance and raised voices in praise; but there is also a time and place to be quiet and still and simply wait on Him…listening to what that still small voice is saying. Churches should exercise this periodically. I remember hearing about Believer’s Meetings that Kenneth Hagin would have on Sunday nights. They would gather together and simply be quiet and wait on the Holy Spirit to show up. Eventually there would be all those things mentioned in verse 26 happening. Please read I Corinthians 14:38-39. We are not to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. We can choose to be ignorant because we were given the power to make choices. God does not want us to be ignorant, but if people prefer to remain ignorant, let them be ignorant. If they do not want to believe in this portion of God’s Word, fine, but that should not change you or intimidate you, and do not think they are right and you are wrong. They are ignorant by choice…everybody has that choice. So, it is my deepest desire that you take all that you have learned here and diligently and appropriately apply it to your daily life. Your life will be so much better because of it and the Kingdom of God will go forth in even more power. Dr. Billy Ferg Living Faith Ministries | Servant's Manna | LFM Bible College | Nigeria Pictures | | Return Home | Living Faith International Church | Living Faith Ministries, Inc. | |
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