We have talked about tongues, Wisdom, Knowledge faith and healing. If you missed any of those, get our app Christian Center PA or go to our website www.christiancenter.usand catch up on the teachings
All of these gifts are available to us and are for the purpose of building up the Body and reaching the world.
As the Holy Spirit is in you, you can rely on Him to move through you as you get to know Him better through daily spending time with Him
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are diversities (distinctive) of gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], 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 [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them]. 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.
Working of Miracles–
The spiritual gift of miracles is described in Scripture much like the gift of healing. It is found in 1 Corinthians 12:10and the Greek phrase
energemata dynameon –literally translates “workings of powers.” The double plural most likely means that these gifts were diverse and were not permanently available at the will of the gifted believer, but instead were bestowed at various times and circumstances. Thus, the gifts are subject to the divine will of God and His purposes and are not decided by the one who performs the miraculous works.
We know that Jesus performed many miracles in His earthly ministry, even more than those recorded in Scripture (John 20:30-31, Acts 2:22).
The Apostles regularly performed miracles of all kinds including casting out demons, healings, raising people from the dead, striking people dead, causing blindness, and much more (Acts 2:43; 3:1-10; 5:1-16; 9:36-43; 13:4-12; 19:11-12).
Other believers performed miracles as well, including Stephen (Acts 6:8) and Phillip (Acts 8:4-8).
Miracles were given by God to the church to reveal the presence and glory of God among all people and to create a sense of awe and wonder and Godly fear. Though there were many enemies of the church, often the result of miracles being performed was more people coming to faith in Jesus and glorifying God, as well as greater faith and boldness within the church (Acts 4:29-31; 9:35, 42).
Those with the spiritual gift of miracles often
– have a heightened sensitivity to the presence and power of God through His Holy Spirit.
– have a special measure of faith and desire for God to reveal Himself and draw many to faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
– take care not to draw attention to themselves or have a following of people, but are constantly pointing others to Jesus.
Example: Demon possessed woman in Sudan “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh”
Those with this gift understand that God is Sovereign and He can work when and how He desires, but they make sure they are available and listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
This takes time of learning and waiting on God to have the confidence to know what He is doing in any time
This gift is often accompanied by prayer and strong petition by these individuals for God to reveal His glory to people.
They do not claim power themselves, but always give credit and glory to God for His mighty works. Often God will deliberately humble them to keep them relying on His grace and pointing to His Son, rather than miracles. See also 1 Corinthians 12:10, Acts 1:8;
When someone is presented as God’s man or woman as the man of power of the hour you need to ask yourself what spirit are they flowing in as this is all done by God’s power. We can not accept the credit nor the criticism
“Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham”
Prophecy
-The spiritual gift of prophecy is an extraordinary and unique gift. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:1to “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”
-This gift is a blessing to the church and can be to those in the Kingdom of darkness and should not be quenched or despised (1 Thessalonians 5:20).
-Those who have the gift of prophecy differ from the Old Testament Prophets who spoke the authoritative Word of God directly. Their words were recorded as Scripture as they proclaimed, “Thus says The Lord,” whereas the messages from those with the spiritual gift of prophecy must be tested which means they can be wrong (1 Corinthians 14:29-33; 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21; 1 John 4:1-3).
The Greek word for the gift of prophecy is
Propheteia –which is the ability to receive a divinely inspired message and deliver it to others.
These messages can take the form of exhortation, correction in the life of the unbeliever (gently), prediction of future events, comfort, inspiration, or other revelations given to equip and edify the body of Christ
But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church…..But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you
I saw this happen in Russia as they brought young man and women in from the streets and the Lord gave me words about them, not condemnation but things that only God knew so they would know He loved them…each one came to Christ because of this
Again, they do not constitute the authoritative Word of God, but are the human interpretation of the revelation that was received. They are spoken in human words through a human mind, which is why they must be tested against the Scriptures.
Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil
The Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophecy to some believers to make God’s heart known and to edify the church.
This gift
– is for the benefit of both believers and unbelievers and is a sign that God is truly among His church (1 Corinthians 14:22-25).
– those with this gift are sensitive to both the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the needs of the church body.
It has become an inaccurate tradition that a word comes unexpectedly and with great force, a prophetic word, insight understanding may be delivered to a person days, weeks, or months in advance to be delivered at God’s right timing
1 Corinthians 14:32,33 Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.
A prophetic person should be humble and continually study the Scriptures in order to test these revelations before speaking them. When they do speak, they should allow and even expect others to weigh what is said against the Scriptures and interpret the message accordingly. In this way the church may be continually built up together in unity 1 Corinthians 14:4, 26,1 Corinthians 12:10, 14:1-5,1 Peter 4:10-11.
A prophecy can be a direct word, a teaching, preaching, prayer, it can show up in many forms. Any time a distinct word from the Lord is proclaimed, a prophecy is delivered
Discerning of spirits(1 Cor. 12:10; Luke 8:29)
The spiritual gift of discernment is also known as the gift of “discernment of spirits” or “distinguishing between spirits.”
The Greek word for the gift of discernment is Diakrisis. The word describes being able to distinguish, discern, judge or appraise a person, statement, situation, or environment.
In the New Testament it describes the ability to distinguish between spirits as in 1 Corinthians 12:10, and to discern good and evil as in Hebrews 5:14.
The Holy Spirit gives the gift of discernment to enable certain Christians to clearly recognize and distinguish between the influence of God, Satan, the world, and the flesh in a given situation. The church needs those with this gift to warn believers in times of danger or keep them from being led astray by false teaching. See also I Corinthians 12:10, Acts 5:3-6; 16:16-18;1 John 4:1.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”
It is important that we understand especially in today’s culture where there are some who claim to be following Christ, even filled with the Spirit but are not, the fruit is not active in their lives and in its place is manipulation and false things….This gift enables us to know clearly what is God and what is not God, understanding the fruit of the Spirit and looking for the fruit enables this gift to function at a very high level. Is the ministry about building the person and their kingdom or the Kingdom of God?
Interpretation of tongues(1 Cor. 12:10; 14:13-33)
The spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues is found alongside the gift of speaking in tongues in1 Corinthians 12:10.
– The Greek word for interpretation is hermeneiaand simply means to interpret, explain, or expound some message that is not able to be understood in a natural way.
– this spiritual gift is the supernatural ability to understand and explain messages uttered in an unknown language.
– This is a revelatory gift, meaning that God “reveals” the meaning of the words or message being spoken and allows the interpreter to communicate its meaning to those who need to hear it. When this happens in the church two things happen: the church is edified and God is glorified.It is especially effective when someone interprets other than the person who gave the tongue and in some cases I have seen it where a second person not in the room at the time of the first interpretation, interprets the same things as the first
The spiritual gift of interpretation is given by the Holy Spirit to certain individuals to reveal messages spoken in an unknown tongue to God for the building up of the church. Like the gift of prophecy, tongues that are interpreted have the effect of encouraging and blessing the church to love and serve God more deeply and effectively. See also 1 Corinthians 12:10, 30;14:28. This gift is only used within a ministry environment
Each of these gifts are available for anyone who is filled with the Spirit. Some may stay with a person for life some may come and go as the need demands but learning to use these gifts and understand them takes time, learning from people experienced in these areas. Personally I have used all of these gifts with the exception of a tongue in a public meeting.