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 Sermon > Cell Bible Study |
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Title |
Chapter 10-The Gifts of the Holy Spirit |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
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1. Spiritual and Beneficial Gifts of the Holy Spirit
When God's children who have received the Holy Spirit pray earnestly and follow the desires of the Holy Spirit, they will not only be full of the Holy Spirit but also gifts of the Holy Spirit will follow. Gifts in the Bible are special works that are done within the love of God. Namely, they are the various things that happen to believers through God's grace.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 says, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."
Also, 1 Corinthians 12:31 says, "But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way." 1 Corinthians 7:7 says, "I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind." Therefore, we should hope for greater gifts but find out the gifts that God has allowed to us and use it as a good steward.
Romans 12:6-8 says, "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; [7] ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; [8] the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness." 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received."
Likewise, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are beneficial and spiritual. It is the gift of God given to us with His grace in order for us to accomplish God's will.
2. Kinds of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8] To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10] to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses."
The one Spirit manifests many kinds of gifts in order to benefit us. Now, let us consider the gifts of the Holy Spirit written in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
(1) Gift of the word of wisdom
The word of wisdom is to listen to the Word of God, use it wisely to give life and faith and to lead people to the way of eternal life. Those who received this gift do not speak on their own but what the Holy Spirit says. So they can change the heart of other people and give strength and hope and joy and thanks so that they can overcome this world.
Therefore, those who are teaching in church should receive this gift of word of wisdom. To the extent that we get rid of evil and become sanctified, we receive wisdom from above. So, if we struggle against sin, have spiritual love, and teach the souls with the word of wisdom, we can lead so many souls in the correct way.
(2) Gift of the word of knowledge
A newborn baby has brain cells but no knowledge stored in them. They gain knowledge as the things they see, hear, and learn from their parents and environments are input in their brain cells. Among the parts of their knowledge, there are both correct parts and incorrect parts in the sight of God.
The gift of the word of knowledge is to completely and spiritually understand God's Word that is written in letters, realize the law of the spiritual realm, and understand the heart of the Father to make it a part of one's heart. But because the Word of God is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), we cannot understand it or make it a part of us without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, to have word of knowledge, our spiritual eyes must be opened bythe help of the Holy Spirit. If our spiritual eyes are not opened, we can understand God's Word only literally and cannot realize the true spiritually meaning. On the contrary, if we keep God's Word in our heart spiritually with our spiritual eyes opened, we can get into spiritual level.
Therefore, when we understand God's Word, make it ours, and teach and put it into practice with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Word becomes spiritual word. This is when we say we have received the gift of the word of knowledge.
(3) Gift of faith
We cannot gain faith with our own strength but it is a gift that can be given only by God. In faith, there is faith as knowledge, which is to know the Word of God, and spiritual faith which is given by God. We can communicate with God and receive answers from Him only when we have spiritual faith. To have this kind of faith, we must continuously put into practice the word that we know as knowledge.
For this, we must receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit through prayers. If we get rid of the parts of the things in us that are against the truth one by one and instead input the truth in our heart and put it into practice, we can receive the spiritual faith given from God above.
(4) Gift of healing
Gift of healing is to cure a disease with prayer when somebody is suffering from pain or having a problem in his body function or due to germs. If one who knows God's Word gets sick, it is because he has committed a sin by misunderstanding the truth or because he does not put the truth into action (Exodus 15:26).
This kind of person will be healed of the sickness if he repents and prays with faith for himself or when he receives prayer from another one who has the gift of healing. Other than this, one can be healed of a disease through prayer of love because prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
(5) Gift of working of miracles
Gift of working of miracles is different from the gift of healing. It is to manifest something that cannot be done by human ability. Therefore, it is to cure medically incurable disease or those who are physically challenged. It is also to change one's personalities or to change the weather.
People in the Bible such as Moses, John, James, Peter, and Paul had strong characters before they were used by God. But they were changed into apostles of love and could save a lot of people because they received the gift of working of miracles.
If we love God, we come to love the souls. Then, we will be passionate to receive God's power to save those souls. We will then pray, and through prayers, we can receive this kind of gift of working of miracles.
(6) Gift of prophecy
Gift of prophecy is to edify the church by God's inspiration to the people through the Holy Spirit to tell about things to come. That is why 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3 says, "Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation."
Prophecy is given only when it is absolutely necessary by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is not just given to anybody at any time. God gives this gift to those who live in God's Word, become sanctified, and pray much to tell about things to come.
On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
(7) Gift of discernment of spirits
Spirit can be divided into God's spirit and spirit of the world. Discernment of spirits is to discern, according to God's will, between spiritual things and fleshly things, between the voice of the Holy Spirit and fleshly voice, between truth and falsehood, and between righteousness and unrighteousness. Therefore, to discern between spirits, we must know the will of God. We do not do it by ourselves but it is perfect when we are led by the Spirit of God within His power.
In order for us to receive the gift of discernment between spirits, we must demolish all thoughts of untruths and theories and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. When our obedience is complete, we can get into God's heart and understand God's will. We can then understand the rules of the spiritual realm and receive the gift of discernment between spirits.
How, then, can we discern between the spirit of truth and spirit of falsehood?
Jesus said about the last days in Matthew 24:4-5, "Beware that no one leads you astray. [5] For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray." God's children should not be deceived being able to discern between the spirit of truth and spirit of falsehood but only follow the spirit of truth and act in light.
1 John 4:6 says, "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." So, we can discern between spirit of truth and spirit of falsehood easily.
Those who belong to God listen to the word of truth. But those who belong to the world would listen to the word of this world, not the word of truth. So, if one listens to the word of truth, he belongs to spirit of truth. If one does not listen to the word of truth, he belongs to spirit of falsehood.
To be deceived is to have unclear mind and get bewitched by something. It is to receive Satan's disturbance to the extent that one cannot control himself. Therefore, we should firmly stand on the truth not to be deceived and follow only the spirit of truth to act in light.
(8) Gift of various kinds of tongues
Speaking in tongues is a gift that is shown to those who have received the Holy Spirit, and it is the prayer of one's spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14). God wants to give this gift to all His children and everybody can receive it (1 Corinthians 14:5).
How, then, can we receive the gift of speaking in tongues? If we cry out in prayer according to the Word of God, we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Mostly at this time, we can receive the gift of speaking in various tongues.
Prayer can be divided into prayer of heart which is said in our ordinary language and prayer of spirit which is said in tongues. It is better to pray in combination of these two. Speaking in tongues is prayer of spirit. Although we do not understand it, it is asking for spiritual things and for our spirit to be well off. Prayer of heart is to ask for our desire and through this prayer we can bear fruit (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).
(9) Gift of interpretation of tongues
Because we pray in tongues not for people but for God, nobody understands this. That is why the Bible urges those who pray in tongues to ask for the interpretation.
The gift of interpretation of tongues can be given when one is filled with Holy Spirit and receives the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is not given easily. It can be given to those who have gone into the level of sanctification resembling the Lord or to those who can cut off his own thoughts in special will of God.
As we have seen, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are useful. God's children who have citizenship in heavenly kingdom should long to have these gifts, ask God for these gifts and use these gifts usefully that are given to each one in God's will, so that they can glorify God and save many souls.
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