The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

Part 3) The Power Gifts


The gifts of healing are supernatural impartations of God's healing power into the person(s) in need of healing. Notice that they are described as gifts ( plural form) mainly because there are many ways that healing is imparted or ministered to those that are sick. Again this is the supernatural healing power manifested by the Holy Spirit and should not be confused with any natural healing practices like medical sciences or treatment using herbs.

Examples of the gifts of healing are found in many places throughout the scriptures. I will list a couple to show the variety of impartations.

Acts 3:7&8
7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Acts 5:15&16
15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came in from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

Acts 19:11&12
11 God gave Paul the power to do unusual miracles, 12 so that even when handkerchiefs or cloths that had touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and any evil spirits within them came out.


Acts 28:8&9
8 As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 Then all the other sick people on the island came and were cured.


The gift of working of miracles is the supernatural intervention or interuption of the ordinary or natural realm as we know it. Through this gift the laws of nature are altered, suspended or controlled. This is a very needful gift because it will stir up our faith and draw the unbeliever.

Acts 7:5&6
5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did.

Acts 7:36-40
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”* 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the city of Azotus! He preached the Good News there and in every city along the way until he came to Caesarea.



The gift of faith is a supernatural faith given to accomplish a specific task according to God's timing and purpose. The gift of faith will manifest in a believer or believers during or directly after a word of wisdom is given to equip or empower the believer(s) to perform the task God has purposed with a supernatural boldness. There are many examples in the book of Acts of the new Church operating in the gift of faith with great boldness.

Acts 4:8-13
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Leaders and elders of our nation, 9 are we being questioned because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed in the name and power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’*
12 There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.”
13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.


Acts 4:23-31
23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John found the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. 24 Then all the believers were united as they lifted their voices in prayer: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor King David, your servant, saying,
‘Why did the nations rage?
Why did the people waste their time with futile plans?
26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
the rulers gathered together
against the Lord
and against his Messiah.’*
27 “That is what has happened here in this city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. 30 Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God’s message with boldness.

These power gifts will often work together and also work with the other gifts aswell. We can see in the four Gospels that Jesus had all 9 of these gifts operating in and through Him. There are many other examples in the scriptures to confirm the working of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through believers. This has been more of a general study to help in becoming more familiar with the gifts and recognizing them. I encourage everyone to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to manifest His gifts in you and to increase your knowledge and experience in the supernatural gifts.

May Christ be glorified by His Church as we grow into a fullness and stature previously written about and soon to be witnessed by this generation and those to come.

Hey Jiggy,

Why Didn't Jesus Speak in Tongues? Since Jesus didn't put His own focus on speaking in tongues, why do so many people today make it an 'end-all' issue in their Christian experience?


In Christ
hadirfuss

Good question hadirfuss, because it is not recorded in any of the four gospels that Jesus spoke in tongues doesn't mean that He didn't. there where times when Jesus went of by Himself and ofcourse we know of one time that while He was praying, the diciples fell asleep. So there were times that He could have but no one was around to witness it.

Another thing to consider is that Jesus, being the Son of God, knowing the will of His Father and in continual fellowship with the Father knew what to pray and how to pray.

Romans 8:26&27
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

Another thing to consider concerning the gift of speaking in tongues is who else would have been able to interpret the tongues? But I will study it more indepth and try to give you a more definite answer.

An excellent bible study Brother Jiggyfly, thankyou for taking the time to prepare and give it to us.


One or two folks are asking questions.......nothing wrong with that, but I would council faith to such.


The bible is clear when it says "the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.........1Cor 2 v 14.

What Jiggyfly is talking about here is what Paul Yongi Cho, Pastor of the largest chuch in the world in South Korea (last I heard 200,000) called in his book "The Fourth Dimension".

Lots of questions have been asked about...........Dont question......Receive. Do not look at.........look to Jesus.

As bro Jiggyfly reads the word our eyes are upon Jesus..........It is what He ......
Drink......"let him come unto me and drink" said Jesus.

Lord Jesus Bless

One or two folks are asking questions.......nothing wrong with that, but I would council faith to such.
The bible is clear when it says "the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.........1Cor 2 v 14. Please be patient and kind, Stephen. I'm new here - I hope it's OK for me to ask questions, I can hardly absorb it all by osmosis! lol. Remember Phillip and the eunuch - "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said , "How can I, unless some one guides me?"
So here goes -
I've never been to a church that had anyone speak in tongues... and so my attention is drawn to these scriptures at 1 Cor. 13:8-11 - "Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away."
I had the understanding that these gifts had ceased with the apostles' deaths. But some of you here evidently enjoy these particular gifts? I would like to hear more of your personal testimonies about this, if you'd like to share. I have more questions, but one at a time is all I can handle on my end. There is so much to learn... but it's good stuff!
Thank you in advance -
~In His Peace~
Willoughby

I like Mathew Henry's Commentaries. Here it is for you to read and study. 1 Corinthians 13:8-11 talks about love being enduring forever. Now, we know GOD is the source of love (Jesus Christ Himself) and that the gifts will "pass" away while love will continue on forever. As far as I see it, I do not see indication of when they will pass away other than the day of Jesus Christ [Second Coming] for sure. They [gifts] will not be needed then.

I attend a church where many speak in tongues as sparked by the Holy Spirit. They do not use it to boast or impress, show off. They use it in prayer.

Its excellency represented by its properties and effects;

Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it. This love is a clear proof of regeneration, and is a touchstone of our professed faith in Christ. In this beautiful description of the nature and effects of love, it is meant to show the Corinthians that their conduct had, in many respects, been a contrast to it.

Charity is an utter enemy to selfishness; it does not desire or seek its own praise, or honour, or profit, or pleasure. Not that charity destroys all regard to ourselves, or that the charitable man should neglect himself and all his interests. But charity never seeks its own to the hurt of others, or to neglect others. It ever prefers the welfare of others to its private advantage. How good-natured and amiable is Christian charity!

How excellent would Christianity appear to the world, if those who profess it were more under this Divine principle, and paid due regard to
the command on which its blessed Author laid the chief stress! Let us ask whether this Divine love dwells in our hearts. Has this principle guided us into becoming behaviour to all men? Are we willing to lay aside selfish objects and aims? Here is a call to watchfulness, diligence, and prayer. (1Co 13:8-13)

I apologise to you unreservedly. My post was not to be critical. Many miss what God offers, by giving precedent to human reasoning.

"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" 2Cor3 v 6

Your approach is positive, your questions come from a desire to know, and not from doubt.

In His Love and Victory

Thanks so much, Stephen - that's a relief to. I don't want to come in here as the dumb newbie and create havoc, you know. You're a sweetheart!
~His Peace~
Willoughby

"Speaking in tongues" has not ceased. It is still practiced by many christians 'round the world. Some denominations preach that "tongues" and healing through the laying on of hands have ceased, based only on the fact that they haven't seen them manifested in a long time. That's like claiming that the automobile doesn't exist because you haven't seen one for a long time.

I've witnessed physical healings and demonic deliverences with my own eyes on a number of occasions. I've prayed in tongues many times, with the Holy Spirit providing the words for prayers He wishes me to utter.


The "Gifts of the Spirit" are still up and running so far as God is concerned, especially in Third World countries where God is often the only doctor around.



SLE

"1 Cor. 13:8-11 - "Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away."

Hi Willoughby, this refer to death. We are all an imperfect human being. But when we live our life for God and it's time for us to die or our Savior have return. We became perfect in Christ who have saved us. We no longer needed to struggle with the earthly life, we belong to God after we are death or the day he return and that days is when perfection come.

One scriptures that tell us that these gift have not ceased. Please refer to Acts Chapter 2.
17 God says: In the last days I will give my Spirit freely to all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.

Please continue reading until verse 21....

God Blesses those who seek his truth...Best wishes..

Quoc Thinh