The Gifts Of The Spirit

THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

Mark 16:16, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

John 14:12, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Jesus was God. He was also a man. God became a human being who possessed all the Gifts of the Spirit. He came to destroy the works of the devil. His mission is our mission.

Peter said, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

We are living in a devil afflicted world. Everywhere we look, we see lives suffering the consequences of sin. Depression is at an all-time high. Mental illness is rampant. Drug addiction is epidemic. Broken homes are the norm in our society. Then there are the physical problems in the world, broken bodies, diseases, afflictions brought upon mankind because sin came into the world.

We are living in a world that cannot be saved with enticing words of mens’ wisdom. The world needs more than kindness and goodwill. What good is compassion without power to help? What good is it to care for the hungry if you have no food to give them? What good are kind words to a drug addict, or to the man possessed by the devil? No good at all.

Compassion for the lost is not enough. A nice church building, a nice song service, a well-spoken minister is not enough! The church must have the power of God, the authority of God, to destroy the works of the devil!

Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus said, Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. He ascended into Heaven, and the disciples went into an upper room. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing might wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance. It is the infilling of the Holy Ghost that gives power to the church.

If you have received the Holy Ghost, you have been filled with power. You have the authority of the name of Jesus. Jesus said we would do the works he did, and greater.

The church needs power!

So what are the Gifts of the Spirit?

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

1 Cor. 12:4, Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

The Church needs to use the Gifts of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost gives the church power. The gifts are the tools we use. There are more gifts than are mentioned here, gifts of ministry, gifts of administration, the five-fold ministry is a gift of God to the church. But for the sake of time, we will concentrate tonight on the nine gifts mentioned here by Paul to the Corinthians.