As you can see by the pictures above, we were able to get into our study of the gifts of the Spirit. We laid some foundation work, making sure that we understand the gift of apostleship — it was for a specific group of men for a specific time in Church history. Certain attributes would follow after the apostles, as stated in Mark 16:17-18: 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. All of these were manifested in Peter, John, and Paul in their ministries, as recorded in Acts.
We saw the criteria for choosing an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot in Acts 1:21-22: Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
We looked at the gifts, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. They are in descending order of importance, placing the edifying gifts that build the body of Christ in higher priority, than the visible or sign gifts, that could cause a carnal believer to elevate themselves, which is always a danger.
The manifestation of the Spirit is for the benefit of the whole body.
1 Corinthians 7:7: For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body of Christ, and the local church in particular. We are to encourage each other, and strengthen one another with our gifts!
Edification Gifts:
1. The word of wisdom — Teaching doctrinal truth based on one’s personal experience
2. The word of knowledge — Teaching doctrinal truth Knowledge is what you know, understanding is knowing how to apply what you know, and wisdom is being able to share what you have “fleshed out” in your knowledge and understanding.
3. Faith — A supernatural measure of trusting God for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ
Visible or Sign Gifts: (Signs were to reveal Jesus Christ, as the risen Messiah, to the Jews)1 Corinthians 1:22: For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:1 Corinthians 14:22: Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
4. Gifts of healing — An apostolic gift bestowed to reveal the authority given this group of men – the original apostles to the Jews and to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.
5. Working of miracles — Bestowed upon the apostles
6. Prophecy — Temporary gift of teaching and foretelling truth to the churches in the early Church Age, before the written Word was available.
7. Discerning of spirits — An important temporary gift needed in the early church, to discern true and false prophecy. We rely upon the Word of God today to discern truth and error.
8. Multiple spoken languages / tongues — A temporary gift of being able to speak known languages to the audience, but unknown to the speaker, that the hearers might believe.
9. Interpretation of languages / tongues — A temporary gift of interpreting the language of the speaker for the edification of those unfamiliar with the language spoken.
We will continue our study of the gifts of the Spirit in our next class!