THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

the Spirit. Jesus said,

It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not

away, the Comforter will not come unto you (John 16:7).

And again, He said,

The works that I do shall he do also; and greater

works than these shall he do; because I go unto My

Father (John 14:12).

Jesus went to His Father to send us another comforter, that we might be

able to do the works that He did, and even greater works than He did. We can

interpret this either qualitatively or quantitatively. It is through the operation of the

Holy Spirit within us that we are enabled to do His works. And they are called the

gifts, the manifestations, or the appearings of the Spirit.

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 knowl-

edge 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 inter-

pretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one

and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man sever-

ally as he will (I Cor. 12:7-11).

The manifestations, or the appearings, of the Spirit are given to every man

to profit withal. The bestowal of the gifts of the Spirit depend upon the goodness

of the giver. However, the expression of the fruit of the Spirit depends upon the

goodness of the individual. If you are an individual living in relationship with the

Lord Jesus Christ, His nature, His character is produced in you and expressed

through you by the Holy Spirit. But the gifts of the Spirit are not based upon one's

spirituality. They are premised upon the goodness of God.

On the first day of January, 1941, I went to a little church and began to

pray; on the eighteenth of March, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit; and on the

third of April, I preached my first revival sermon. I received a ministry gift. How

spiritual was I? Who knows? However, God did not give me a gift because I was

spiritual; God gave me a gift because He was a good God. How mature was I?

How spiritual? I don't know. But God gave me a gift. So a gift depends on the

goodness of the giver. But whatever fruit, whatever Christlikeness I express in my

life is the result of over 50 years of living in union with Christ.

Sometimes we think that when the Holy Spirit manifests a spiritual gift, it

must be a extraordinary experience. However, it dawned on me one day that gifts

of the Spirit were being manifest through me. The Spirit whispered, "A word of

wisdom or a word of knowledge often manifests itself through you, and you are

not conscious of my presence." So, even though we may think that the Spirit

does not manifest any spiritual gifts in our lives, we can be sure that the Spirit of

God has manifested a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith, a gift of

healing, a miracle for someone, and we were not aware of it. These gifts do not

have to come through some supernatural phenomenon; they are part of the

everyday experience of the Spirit-filled child of God. The Holy Spirit manifests

them. The Spirit does it.

People define the gifts of the Spirit in various ways. Some list all of the

ministry gifts and the spiritual gifts as gifts of the Spirit. Others classify them into

various functional categories. Also, there has been a discussion about whether

the gifts are in the church, in the Spirit, or in the individual. The answer is "Yes."

The gifts are the property of the Spirit, they are manifest in the church, and they

are manifest through the individual. But they are different from the ministry gifts

of Christ. The ministry gifts that are given by the Lord Jesus Christ are offices set

in the church. The manifestations of the Spirit are not offices set in the church.

The Spirit may manifest one of His gifts through anyone at any time. They are

manifest according to His sovereign will for a specific purpose at a specific time.

However, Jesus sets certain people as teachers in certain churches. He calls

certain people to be pastors of certain churches. If I went to your church, took

your pastor by the hand and told him that I was going to be pastor of the church

that morning, especially until after the offering was taken, what he would say? He

would probably say, "I think not. I am set in this church as pastor." However, if I

went to your church and told the pastor that the Lord had given me a spiritual gift

for the church, he might allow me to minister the gift to the congregation. The

manifestations of the Spirit appear and disappear, but the ministry gifts of Christ

are settled in the church.

I have classified the gifts into three categories: The gifts of knowledge, the

gifts of power, and the gifts of utterance.