Weapons for the Christian: 5
– The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
According to Paul, there are
weapons of warfare.
2
Corinthians 10:3-4 (ESV)
For
though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to
destroy strongholds.
We are considering ten
weapons that the Believer has at their disposal. We looked at the first four in
previous posts. If you haven’t read them I encourage you to do so.
The next weapon on the list is
another list. These are referred to as The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
1
Corinthians 12:4-11 (ESV)
Now
there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of
service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is
the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through
the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge
according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another
gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to
another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to
another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All
these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one
individually as he wills.
5. Be a conduit for the
gifts of the Spirit: Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Gifts of
Healing, Working of Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning of Spirits,
Different Kinds of Tongues,
and Interpretation of Tongues. Nine gifts. All are given by the Spirit. This is
part of what Jesus promised before ascending to heaven. He said He would send
another comforter; One that would remain with us forever.
The Holy Spirit works these
gifts in the life of the Believer as He wills. Their purpose is to empower the
Believer to be a witness to his world. Not to trivialize them in any fashion,
they resemble the “tools” on Batman’s belt. It seems that regardless of how
bizarre the situation, of how highly improbable the situation, Batman always
had the exact tool needed for the moment.
This is exactly the way the
Gifts of the Spirit operate. It makes sense, because the name God chose for Himself
is “I AM,” which is interpreted, “I will be what I will be.” God is always what
is needed in the moment. His gifts given through the Holy Spirit operate the
same way. You can readily see how these make amazing weapons of warfare for the
Believer. Because we wage war in the spirit, spiritual gifts are the most
appropriate way in which to fight.
When our faith intersects
with the Spirit’s power, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished in those
moments.
There is not time in this
forum to look into each gift in detail. Perhaps later. But, here is a brief
look at the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in case you have never seen them. There
are nine gifts list by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. Traditionally these have been
divided into three groups: The Power Gifts, The Revelation Gifts, and The
Speaking Gifts.
The Power Gifts: Faith (or special faith, as some
have described it)
Gifts of Healing (the only plural
gift)
Working of Miracles
The Revelation Gifts: Word
of Wisdom
Word of
Knowledge
Discerning
of Spirits
The Speaking Gifts: Prophecy
Tongues
Interpretation
of Tongues
The Power Gifts do
something, The Revelation Gifts reveal something, and the Speaking Gifts say
something.
Faith
– every Believer has faith. This is faith given by the Holy Spirit to believe
for things beyond normal Christian life.
Romans
12:3 (ESV)
For
by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each
according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Gifts
of Healing – it is plural, implying that different gifts manifest different
healings, perhaps for a specific ailment or disease.
Working
of Miracles – a miracle is anything that happens contrary to the natural laws
given by God at creation.
Word
of Wisdom – a direct word from the Holy Spirit with information that is not
naturally obtainable. Jesus told Peter to go catch a fish that would have a
silver coin in its mouth to pay their taxes. That was a Word of Wisdom.
Word
of Knowledge – a direct word from the Holy Spirit with information that is
naturally obtainable, but unknown to the speaker. Jesus told the woman at the
well all of her past. This was natural information supernaturally revealed to
Him.
Discerning
of Spirits – a direct word from the Holy Spirit revealing the spirit behind a
person’s behavior. Jesus knew which spirit was motivating men: God or the
devil.
Prophecy
– a direct word from the Holy Spirit that brings edification, exhortation, or
comfort to one(s) being addressed.
Tongues
– a direct word from the Holy Spirit delivered by the speaker in a language
other than their own, or one previously learned.
Interpretation
of Tongues – a direct word from the Holy Spirit of the meaning of the tongues
spoken, delivered by someone that did not know the language spoken. The message
given by the interpretation brings edification, exhortation, or comfort to the
one(s) being addressed.
You can see that having
these “tools” available during day-to-day life, the Believer would be well-equipped
to handle any situation that might arise. This is not “Fantasy Island” stuff. This
is the real work of the Holy Spirit. Read the text again. Allow the Jesus to
show you what He has provided when He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell you. It
will greatly assist any spiritual battle you encounter.
No comments:
Post a Comment