The Holy Spirit – Part 8
1 Corinthians 12:1 BBE But about the things of the spirit, my brothers, it is not right for you to be without teaching.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 NKJV (1) Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: (2) You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. (3) 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. (4) There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. (6) And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. (7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: (8) for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, (10) 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. (11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
In verse 3 notice Paul said that the Holy Ghost will always exalt the Lordship of Jesus, not the lordship of a man or even draw attention to some man.
The gifts of the Spirit are categorized:
Three Revelation Gifts:
- The word of wisdom
- The word of knowledge
- The discerning of spirits
Three Power Gifts:
- The gift of faith
- The working of miracles
- The gifts of healings
Three Utterance or Inspirational gifts:
- Prophecy
- Divers kinds of tongues
- Interpretation of tongues
These are often in manifestation together such as tongues and interpretation of tongues.
Word of Knowledge:
The Word of Knowledge is the supernatural revelation by the Holy Ghost of certain facts in the mind of God.
A word is a fragmentary part of a sentence just as the Word of Knowledge is a fragmentary part of the complete knowledge that God has.
The Word of Knowledge can come through several different means: inward revelation, audible voice, an angel, dreams, tongues and interpretation, etc.
The Word of Wisdom
The Word of Wisdom – a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God concerning the divine purpose and plan in the mind and will of God. It is the revelation of the plans and purposes of God.
The difference between the Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom is that the word of knowledge is always present tense or concerning something that has happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.
The Gift of Faith
The Gift of Faith is a supernatural manifestation of Holy Spirit whereby a believer is empowered with special faith, or wonder-working faith and it is beyond simple saving faith.
- The gift of faith is given to the believer so that he can receive miracles.
- The working of miracles is so the believer can work miracles.
You start with simple faith in stepping into any of the manifestations of the Spirit as He prompts you, then the manifestation steps in to do the work.
The gift of faith employs active faith that expects a miracle.
Smith Wigglesworth said that if you will take a step of ordinary faith, when you come to the end of that faith, very often this supernatural gift of special faith will take over. One reason more folks don’t see the manifestation of special faith operating in their lives is that they don’t first use what faith they already have.
The Gift of the Working of Miracles
The Gift of the Working of Miracles: a supernatural intervention by God in the ordinary course of nature, a temporary suspension of the accustomed order, or an interruption in the system of nature as we know it, operated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joshua 10:12-14 NKJV Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” (13) So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. (14) And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
John 2:1-11 NKJV On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. (2) Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. (3) And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” (4) Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (5) His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (6) Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. (7) Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. (8) And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. (9) When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. (10) And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (11) This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 6:5-14 NKJV Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (6) But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. (7) Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” (8) One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, (9) “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (10) Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (11) And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. (12) So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” (13) Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (14) Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
The Gift of Faith vs. the Working of Miracles
The working of miracles is used to deliver people from unavoidable danger or harm. The gift of faith would carry a person through the danger with great peace and calm without the person being harmed at all.
Remember, the gift of faith receives the miracle, where the working of miracles does the miracle.
The Greek word for “miracles” in 1 Corinthians 12:10 is “dunamis” and means: acts of powers, explosions of almightiness or impelling, staggering wonders or astonishments.
In the New Testament we see more of the Gifts of healing then the working of miracles but there are some situations where it could have been both.
Acts 6:8 NKJV (8) And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Acts 8:6 NKJV (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
Acts 15:12 NKJV (12) Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Acts 19:11-12 NKJV (11) Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, (12) so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.
The Gift of Healings
Gifts of healings are manifested for the supernatural healing of sickness and disease without any natural source or means. The purpose of the Gifts of Healing is to deliver the sick and to destroy the works of the devil in the human body.
The Gifts of Healing have nothing to do with medical science or natural learning.
The Working of Miracles was more prevalent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament and Gifts of Healing are more prevalent in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.
Notice in these verses that “gifts of healing” and “gifts of healings” appear. Vines Expository Dictionary states that in the Greek the word for healing is actually in the plural in all instances.
One possible explanation to the plurality of the healings is due to the many types of diseases known and unknown to mankind. One gift might not possibly heal every kind of disease.
Jesus operated in the Gifts of Healings and Working of Miracles in His ministry.
Jesus did not perform any miracles or heal anybody as the Son of God. He did it as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit and did none of these things until after He was anointed.
Jesus was just as much the Son of God when He was 25 as He was when the Holy Ghost came upon Him at 30 but He did not heal anyone when He was 25.
John 3:34 NLT For He is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives Him the Spirit without limit.
By this verse there is an implication that Jesus operated in the Spirit without measure and therefore we as Christians individually operate in the Spirit with measure but collectively as the Body of Christ we operate together in the Spirit without measure.
Therefore just one person in the Church is never going to have the measure of success in ministering in the Gifts that Jesus did but collectively we will.
Jesus operated in all of the Gifts of the Spirit without measure except for tongues and interpretation which was reserved for the Church Age which Jesus ushered in.
Difference between receiving healing by faith and the Gifts of Healings:
You can receive healing for yourself by believing God’s Word for yourself and acting on it.
Gifts of Healings are manifested through another person to you.
It is a special manifestation through one person to another who is in need.
The Gift of Diverse Kinds of Tongues
The Gift of Divers kinds of tongues is a supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue.
The Gifts of Tongues is the most prominent as it is often the most manifested gift in our services, it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and it is only found in the Church Age.
Divers Kinds of Tongues is supernatural utterance by the Holy Spirit in languages never learned by the speaker, nor understood by the speaker, nor necessarily understood by the hearer.
Speaking in tongues has nothing to do with linguistic ability; it has nothing to do with the mind or intellect of man. It is a vocal miracle of the Holy Spirit.
Tongues is unique to this dispensation.
Tongues is the initial evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4 Day of Pentecost
Acts 8:5-17 Samaritans are saved under Philip’s ministry
Acts 9:3-18 Ananias lays hands on Paul and he is filled
Acts 10:44-46 Cornelius and his household are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit
Acts 19:1-7 Ephesians are saved, baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit as Paul ministered to them
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
The Gift of Interpretation of tongues is a supernatural revealing of that which has been said in an unknown tongue.
Remember, interpretation of tongues is not a translation of a message in tongues.
The purpose of this gift is simply to render the gift of tongues understandable to the hearers so the whole church congregation as well as the one who gave the utterance in an unknown tongue, may know what has been said and be edified.
1 Corinthians 14:27 NKJV (27) If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
Notice this verse is not referring to utterances but rather people and the number to give an utterance. He said to let two or three people speak and let it be by course or in succession. (Not speaking at once)
Often times, during interpretation of tongues, as it concludes the speaker may flow over into prophecy.
The Gift of Prophecy
The gift of prophecy is greatest of the utterance gifts because it takes the other two, divers kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues to equal this one gift.
The Gift of Prophecy is a supernatural utterance in a known tongue.
Divers kinds of tongues is a supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue.
Interpretation of tongues is a supernatural showing forth of that which has been said in an unknown tongue.
In the Hebrew, prophecy means to flow forth, bubble forth like a fountain, and to spring forth.
In the Greek, the word prophecy means to speak for God or be His spokesman.
1 Corinthians 14:1 NKJV (1) Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:39 NKJV (39) Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:3 NKJV (3) But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
In the simple gift of prophecy there is no revelation, only edification, exhortation and comfort.