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There are nine “gifts of the Spirit” and they can be split into three categories:
Power Gifts – Gifts that DO something!
1. Gift of Faith
2. Gifts of Healing
3. Working of Miracles
Revelation Gifts – Gifts that REVEAL something!
1. Gift of Word of Wisdom
2. Gift of Word of Knowledge
3. Gift of Discerning of spirits
Utterance Gifts – Gifts that SAY something!
1. Gift of Prophecy
2. Gift of Tongues
3. Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
So let us look, very briefly, at each gift in turn:
The power gifts:
- Gift of Faith
The Gift of Faith is also sometimes called Special Faith or Wonder Working Faith. It’s first important to understand that there’s a difference between the faith that we all have and the Gift of Faith.
Remember, these gifts are as the Spirit-wills, not as we will.
We can all exercise faith in God’s Word to believe for a miracle anytime we want! We can develop our own personal faith, and make it stronger.
The Gift of Faith is God’s Faith on a Believer for a time so that they can receive a miracle.
One minister said the Gift of Faith is like God unscrewing your head, and dumping out all the doubt and unbelief, and then filling you up with high-octane, unleaded God’s Faith!
- Gifts of Healing
The Gifts of Healing is the supernatural ability to minister healing to other people’s physical body.
Scripture does not exactly explain why it is called “Gifts of Healing” (“gifts” plural rather than singular), but it is commonly accepted that there are different forms of healings, for different forms of afflictions, that people may move in healing for.
For example some may move readily in healing of backs or shoulders or knees, others may move readily in the area of mental illness and or deliverance, others still may move readily in the area of illnesses.
Not all divine healing is done through the Gifts of Healing. For example, the Bible says that the Word of God is health to our flesh.
We can all receive healing in our own bodies through the Word and faith, however that is not the same Gifts of Healing. Someone operating in this Gift is able to minister healing to others with ease.
- Gift of Miracles
A miracle can be defined as a supernatural intervention by God in the ordinary course of nature.
We can all receive a miracle through prayer and faith in Gods Word.
However, the Gift of Working Miracles actively performs a miracle. When this Gift is on you, you’ll walk on water when you should be sinking!
With this Gift you’ll see the miraculous in manifestation in your home, business and on the streets!
The Revelation gifts:
- Word of Wisdom
Wisdom itself is not a Gift of the Spirit. Even unbelievers can gain wisdom.
However, the Gift of the Word of Wisdom is a supernatural gift that’s available to the Body of Christ.
The “Word of Wisdom” is Gods Wisdom pertaining to future events. It is information that only God has pertaining to the future that He imparts to a Believer.
You can receive a Word of Wisdom for both yourself and for others.
God may give you a Word of Wisdom to help someone make a decision or bring guidance to them.
It can also be used for warnings. In Acts 21:10-14 Paul received a Word of Wisdom from Agabus concerning what would happen when he went to Jerusalem.
A “Word of Wisdom” may also come to help you know how to best apply a specific “Word of Knowledge”. (eg: rape, incest, picture of child’s toy)
- Word of Knowledge
Like human Wisdom, human Knowledge is also not a Gift of the Spirit.
“The Gift of the Word of Knowledge” is a supernatural gift. It is Gods knowledge pertaining events past and present given to a Believer.
Jesus had the Word of Knowledge in operation in John 4 when He told the Samarian woman at the well that she had 5 husbands, and the man she was currently living with was not her husband. Jesus knew that because the Holy Spirit told Him.
Remember, Jesus was Anointed with the Holy Spirit when He was Baptized in water by John. We are also Anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power (Acts 1:8) and can do the same works that Jesus did!
A “word of knowledge” may be words, or a picture in your mind, writing that you see supernaturally, an impression the Holy Spirit gives you, a dream or vision (eg: Paul in Acts 16:9-10 “Man from Macedonia”), or even “phantom” pain.
I often receive “words of knowledge” as a “gut impression”.
I also regularly receive “words of knowledge” as “phantom” pains. These “words of knowledge” work in conjunction with “gifts of healing”. I will get a pain in some part of my body, when I speak that out the pain leaves me – because it was never “my” pain to begin with.
It was the Holy Spirit giving me a “word of knowledge” that someone in church has such a pain, and that God wants to heal it if they come forward for prayer. And when they do, God does heal them.
- Discerning of spirits
The “gift of Discerning of spirits” is not natural ‘discernment’. We can all develop natural discernment on our own.
The Gift of Discerning spirits is to discern the spirit in operation behind a person or in a place. It is also a spiritual discernment as to whether something is of human origin (thought/teaching), or if it is of God, or if it is of satan.
Seeing into the “Spirit Realm” is a manifestation of the Gift of Discerning spirits. However, knowing by inward revelation is just as much a manifestation of this gift.
The Utterance gifts:
- Prophecy
God has things He wants to say to His people, and He will do this through the Gift of Prophecy!
To understand the other two Utterance Gifts we must first understand the Gift of Prophecy.
The “gift of Prophecy” is not the gift to be able to foretell future events.
The “gift of prophecy” is NOT the same as the Ephesians 4:11 five-fold ministry function/office of a “Prophet”, although a Prophet ministry function/office will usually move freely in the gift of prophecy as well.
The “gift of prophecy” is a supernatural utterance in a known tongue, that is, for us, a revelation given by God in English.
The purpose of Prophecy is for the exhortation, edification and comfort of the Church (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).
The Hebrew word translated “to prophecy” means “to flow forth, to bubble forth like a fountain, to tumble forth, to spring forth.”
The Greek word translated “to prophecy” means “to speak for another”; it means to speak for God, or to be His spokesman.
Have you ever been speaking with a person, and suddenly Scripture and encouragement began flowing out of your mouth?
Maybe later you thought, “Oh my, I don’t know where that came from!” You could have been actually operating in the Gift of Prophecy. God was speaking through you!
This is something you cannot make happen however, if your faith is active and you’re available, you can certainly expect God to use you in this way!
- Tongues (this is NOT heavenly prayer language tongues that all Baptised in the Holy Spirit Christians can have.)
Tongues is a supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue. Tongues is God speaking through a person in a heavenly language, followed by an interpretation of what was said.
Whereas a person’s prayer in tongues does not need, nor is it meant to be, interpreted.
However if a person was to stand up and publically speak in Tongues to a congregation then an interpretation should be expected to follow.
- Interpretation of Tongues
Tongues with the Interpretation of Tongues is basically the equivalent to the Gift of Prophecy.
In 1 Corinthians 14:5 Paul said, “Greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, unless he interprets.”
Remember that it is an interpretation of tongues, not a translation.
Some people wonder why the interpretation of what was said is longer or shorter than the length of the Tongue that was given. This is because it is an Interpretation of Tongues, not a direct translation.
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