As some of you know, I've been writing a lot less over the last few months. This is not because I am any less committed to serving the Lord, but because He has been preparing me for a new season in my life. 

Over the last 8 months or so, I have begun the process of being licensed through the ACOP, (that's the Apostolic Church Of Pentecost). Now I am in mentor ship under Pastor Mark Gordon (a seriously cool dude!) to become an Associate Pastor! (Whoo Hoo!) 

But what does this mean for LHF? 

What ever shall become of our dashing hero Walter?

Truth is, Love Hope and Faith has been accepted into the Bridge Community of Faith with open arms. This means that LHF is now an extension ministry of The Bridge, (check out our cool website BTW www.thebridgekelowna.com). Not only that; but now you can donate to help keep LHF going by clicking on the donate now button and selecting LHF Ministries on the Canada Helps page.

As for what is going to happen to me... I will continue as always to spend my days in service to the Lord. Writing for LHF I will continue to provide you with (hopefully) entertaining blogs, as well as re-focusing on discipleship training. 

God bless you all for your continued support and prayers. 
Walter Blackwood

As promised yesterday, I have written out all of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit along with a brief overview of what they are. To help organize them and understand them better, I've divided them into 4 groups: 

LEADERSHIP GIFTS
TO EQUIP GOD'S PEOPLE
Apostles - Prophets - Evangelists - Pastors - Teachers

SPEAKING GIFTS
TO EXPLAIN GOD'S TRUTHS              
Prophecy - Teaching - Exhortation - Word of Wisdom - Word of Knowledge

SERVING GIFTS
TO ENABLE GOD'S WORK
Serving - Helps - Leadership - Administration - Giving - Mercy - Discerning of Spirits - Faith - Hospitality

SIGN GIFTS
TO ESTABLISH GOD'S AUTHORITY
Tongues - Interpretation - Miracles - Healings

At the end of the descriptions below, I've included a Spiritual Gifts Survey in PDF format for you to download. Remember that this information is only the start. Once you know what your giftings are, you have to then put those gifts into spiritually profitable use for the glory of God's Kingdom.

LEADERSHIP GIFTS
The first group of spiritual gifts are what we will call "leadership gifts". We use this title for these gifts because each one is a special leadership position in the church. These leadership positions are sometimes called "offices" in the church. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. (Ephesians 4:11).

     -Apostles
     -Prophets
     -Evangelists
     -Pastors
     -Teachers

So what does it mean to have one or more of these gifts?

APOSTLES
An apostle is someone who has the gifts and the anointing to develop new churches in different places and cultures and to oversee a number of churches as a supervisor. Apostle means "a delegate, one sent with full power and authority to act for another". The apostle has a special authority and ability to extend the Gospel by developing and organizing bodies of believers. Some modern terms for an apostle would be missionary or church-planter.

PROPHETS
There are two prophetic gifts. One is the special gift of being a prophet. The other is the speaking gift of prophecy. In general, prophecy refers to speaking under the special inspiration of God. It is the special ability to receive and communicate an immediate message of God to His people through a divinely-anointed utterance.

But a person is not a prophet just because he prophesies. Every prophet prophesise but not everyone who speaks a prophesy is a prophet. Those with the special gift of being a prophet do not just speak under the inspiration of God. They also hold an office of authority and leadership in the church. This is confirmed in Acts 13:1-4 where prophets and teachers were used in a leadership capacity to guide Barnabas and Saul into the special ministry to which God had called them to.

The Bible gives many examples of prophets both men and women in the Old and New Testament. As you study these references try to distinguish between those who had the special gift of being a prophet [leadership] from those who had just the gift of prophecy.

EVANGELISTS
An evangelist has a special ability to share the Gospel with non-believers in a way that men and women respond to, and become responsible members of the Body of Christ. The meaning of the word "evangelist" is "one who brings good news".

Now, we are all called to "do the work of an evangelist" and share the Gospel with others, but God gives some the special gift of being an evangelist. Philip is actually the only person in the New Testament called an evangelist. In fact, when Philip met Jesus the first thing he did was to share the news with Nathanael:  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:45-46)

PASTORS/(SHEPHERDS)
The Greek word "pastor" actually means shepherd. Pastors are leaders who assume long-term personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a group of believers. To spiritually feed and protect those under his ministry, serving and leading them as God directs.

TEACHERS
Teachers are believers who have the special ability of communicating the Word of God effectively in such a way that others learn and apply what is taught. Teaching involves training, not just communicating information.

The special gift of being a teacher differs from the speaking gift of teaching just as being a prophet differs from the speaking gift of prophecy. You will recall that Acts 13:1-4 showed teachers in a special leadership position [along with the prophets] in guiding the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. All believers do not have the special gift of teaching or the speaking gift of teaching. But all believers are to be involved in teaching the basic Gospel message.

                       LEADERSHIP WORKING TOGETHER
The five special gifts of leadership function together in the ministry of the church.

Apostles extend the Gospel message to various regions and raise up organized bodies of believers.

Prophets also provide leadership in the church. One of their functions is to give special messages from God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Evangelists communicate the Gospel in such a manner that people respond to it and become believers. They may minister individually or in large groups, but their ministry always produces new believers. These believers then come under the care of apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers of the church who guide their spiritual development.

Pastors exercise long-term leadership and care for those who have believed through the message of the evangelist. They provide pastoral care to those who have become believers through the ministry of apostles. Their ministry is a picture of the loving care of a shepherd for his sheep.

Teachers provide instruction which goes beyond the presentation of the Gospel by the evangelist. They teach believers to be spiritually mature. They train faithful people who are capable of teaching others.

The main responsibility of those with special leadership gifts is to train other believers to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

                        SPEAKING GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are five gifts of the Holy Spirit that we call "speaking gifts" because surprise, they all involve speaking aloud. The five speaking gifts are:

-Prophecy                   
-Exhortation               
-Words of knowledge
-Teaching                  
-Words of Wisdom

The first two speaking gifts, prophecy and teaching, are similar to two of the special gifts. But as I said before, the speaking gifts of prophecy and teaching are not the same as the leadership gifts of being a prophet or a teacher.       

PROPHECY
So what is the gift of prophesy? A person with the gift of prophecy speaks by the special inspiration of God to communicate an immediate message to His people. Everything I said before about prophecy given by a prophet also applies to the gift of prophecy. Although they prophesy like prophets, people with the gift of prophecy do not have the special leadership position of a prophet. They simply deliver special messages under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

TEACHING
As in the example of prophets and prophecy, the speaking gift of teaching does not mean a person has the special gift of being a teacher. God sets teachers [who also have the gift of teaching] in special leadership positions in the church.

EXHORTATION
This is a big scary word for counselling and lifting up others. The gift of exhortation is the ability to draw close to individuals when they're in need, counseling them correctly with the Word of God. To "exhort" literally means to call a person aside, to advise, recommend, admonish, encourage, or comfort.


Exhortation is the ability to give wise spiritual counsel. People with this gift minister words of comfort, consolation, and encouragement in such a way that others are helped. A modern term for this gift would be "the gift of counseling".

WORD OF WISDOM
The word of wisdom is a divine insight into people and situations that is not obvious to the average person. This God-given wisdom is combined with an understanding of what to do and how to do it. This gift is not called "the gift of wisdom" because it does not give one the total wisdom of God. It is a word of wisdom, just a portion of God's infinite wisdom.

The gift of the word of wisdom doesn't come through education you can't learn this gift. And if you don't have the gift of the word of wisdom you can still develop spiritual wisdom by studying the Word of God. But remember, this spiritual wisdom available to all believers is not the same as the gift of the word of wisdom. The word of wisdom is a special ability given by God through the Holy Spirit.

WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
The gift of the word of knowledge is revelatory knowledge under the inspiration of the Spirit. This means it is knowledge revealed by God. It's not knowledge obtained through education or study. Like the word of wisdom, it is not called "the gift of knowledge". It is the gift of the "word of knowledge". It's not the total knowledge of God, but only a portion of His knowledge.

Like all of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us; the gift of the word of knowledge should be used in humility because you are not the source of the knowledge. God is the source.

                         SERVING GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are nine spiritual gifts which we will call the "serving gifts". These nine gifts "serve" the church by providing structure, organization, and support in both spiritual and practical areas. The nine serving gifts are:

            -Discerning of spirits                          -Helps
            -Leadership                                         -Serving
            -Administration                                  -Mercy
            -Faith                                                  -Hospitality
            -Giving

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
Discerning of spirits is the ability to evaluate people, doctrines, and situations as to whether they are of God or of Satan. Discerning of spirits should not be confused with having a critical spirit. This gift is limited to the discerning of spirits. It is not just discerning in general. This gift serves the church by identifying people who would split the fellowship with wrong motives, doctrines, and attitudes.

Discerning of spirits is an important gift because our enemies in spiritual warfare are not visible to the human eye. They are recognized only through spiritual discernment:

If you don't have the gift of discerning of spirits you're not defenceless. God has given a way to test the spirits. This test is valid whether or not you have the gift of discernment and that is, comparing it against God's Word. IF you want to know more about discerning of spirits, I have a few references you can look up.

LEADERSHIP
The spiritual gift of leadership is the ability to set goals in accord with God's purpose and to communicate these goals to others. A person with this gift motivates and leads others to accomplish these goals for the glory of God.


Leadership is mentioned in Romans 12 and the qualification for this gift is that one leads [rules] with diligence. Diligence means to show constant care and effort to accomplish what is undertaken. It means to be industrious, attentive, and to persevere. This is true for the gift of administration as well.

ADMINISTRATION
The gift of administration is actually called "governments" in the Bible. A person with the gift of administration has the ability to give direction, organize, and make decisions on behalf of others. The meaning of the word administration is similar to the word used for a pilot steering a ship. A person with this gift is responsible for direction and decision making. Like the pilot of a ship they may not be the owner of the ship, but they have been entrusted with the responsibility of directing it on its voyage.

The gifts of leadership and administration both involve organizational skills which result in the accomplishing of spiritual goals. Often a believer will have both the gifts of leadership and administration. If a person has the gift of administration but does not have the gift of leadership, he will need someone with that gift to work with him.

A person with the gift of administration has the ability to direct, organize, and make decisions. But without the gift of leadership he does not have the ability to motivate and actually work with people to achieve goals.

Pastors and teachers often also have the spiritual gift of leadership. They are able to motivate people to accomplish spiritual goals. But many of them do not have the gift of administration. Although they motivate, they fail to organize in such a way that the goals can be achieved.

FAITH
A person with the gift of faith has a special ability to believe with supernatural confidence and trust God in difficult circumstances. It is special faith to meet a special need. He knows God is going to do the impossible. He exercises this faith even when other believers around him do not believe.

There are different kinds of faith. The Bible speaks of sanctifying faith (Galatians 2:20), defensive faith (Ephesians 6:16), and saving faith (Romans 5:1). The Bible also teaches that each person has a certain amount of faith given to him as a gift from God (Romans 12:3b). It also teaches that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). But the gift of faith is an unusual ability to believe God in every area of life. This faith knows no impossibilities. It puts no limits on what God can do.

Faith is listed in Galatians 5:22 as a fruit of the Holy Spirit as well as a gift. Faith as a spiritual gift refers to power. As a fruit it refers to character. Faith as a gift is an act. It is the ability to act in faith in the face of impossibilities. Faith as a fruit is an attitude. It is developed through spiritual growth just as fruit in the natural world develops through growth processes.

GIVING
A person with the gift of giving has a special ability to give material goods and financial resources to the work of the Lord. He does it with joy and eagerness. The gift of giving also includes the giving of time, strength, and talents to the work of the Lord. The one requirement for a person with the gift of giving is that it is done with simplicity, and by simplicity I mean liberally.

All Christians are to give to the work of the Lord. All believers are to give tithe from their income. The tithe is 10% of all that is earned and that is a minimum. If believers are not giving tithes and offerings, it is the same as robbing from God. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. (Malachi 3:8)

I know it's hard to hear, and I really don't want to sound like I'm judging because my point is that; although all believers are to give and are blessed of God for doing so, a person with the gift of giving has an unusual ability to give joyfully to the Lord; a special spiritual motivation to give.

HELPS
A person with the gift of helps has the ability to assist others in the work of the Lord enabling them to increase the effectiveness of their own spiritual gifts. From custodian to musicians, anything assisting in the operation of a church or a ministry can be considered a gift of helps. When Paul sent a woman named Phoebe to Rome, he asked believers there to assist her with the gift of helps. The gift of helps is any work which supports or assists someone else. It is like serving as an assistant.

SERVING
The gift of serving is an ability to perform practical tasks related to the work of the Lord. A person who serves helps others accomplish spiritual goals by freeing them from routine but necessary duties. Serving differs from helps in that it relieves someone of certain duties. One who serves assumes the responsibility for certain tasks to free another to exercise their spiritual gift.

A person with the gift of serving might totally relieve a pastor from involvement in the distribution of food to those in need within the church body. An example of this is found in the early church where certain believers "served" tables to free the apostles for more important spiritual tasks.

MERCY
"Mercy" means compassion and empathy. This means you are able to feel with and for another. A person with the gift of mercy has special compassion on those suffering and an ability to help them.

The gift of mercy involves an attitude as well as an action. This is shown in the story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan not only had compassion on the victim of the robbers, but also took action to help him.          

HOSPITALITY
The gift of hospitality is a special ability God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to provide food and lodging for those in need. A requirement for the use of this spiritual gift is that it is done without grudging. Grudging means resenting having to do it. Hospitality is done with excitement and joy.

                             SIGN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are four gifts which we will call "sign gifts" because they are supernatural signs of God's power working through believers to confirm His Word.


The sign gifts minister to and through believers in healing, miracles, and special messages from God through tongues and interpretation. The four sign gifts are:

     -Miracles
     -Healing
     -Tongues
     -Interpretation of tongues

You may notice that these gifts are not on the gift survey; that is because you can't really survey these. If I asked you if you have ever raised someone from the dead, then you probably have the gift of miracles. If you have ever restored sight to a blind person, you most likely have a gift for healing etc.

MIRACLES
Through a person with the gift of miracles God performs powerful acts which are beyond the possibility of occurring naturally. These supernatural acts are a sign that God's power is greater than that of Satan.

Miracles accomplish specific spiritual purposes. God uses miracles to confirm the Gospel message and bring people into the Body of Christ, or to show the anointing and approval of the person ministering. God confirmed the ministry of Jesus and the apostles through miracles. But we always have to be on our toes because signs and wonders do not necessarily mean a man or ministry is of God. Satan likes to deceive through miracles.

HEALING
A believer with the gift of healing has the ability to let God's power flow through him to restore health apart from the use of natural methods. "Healing" means to make well. This type of healing often referred to as "divine healing" because it is done by the divine power of God alone rather than through natural means.

Physical healing is one of the spiritual signs that is to follow the ministry of all believers. All believers can pray for the sick, but a believer with a gift of healing is used specifically and consistently by God in this area of ministry. In addition to curing physical affliction, healing can also include the casting out of unclean spirits.

Even with the gift of healing, not everyone we pray healing over will be healed and you shouldn't be discouraged by this. God has His reasons. If we gave up or doubted our gifting because someone wasn't healed it would be like an evangelist who stopped ministering because everyone he preached to didn't respond to the Gospel. Everyone Paul preached to didn't respond to the Gospel. Everyone he prayed for wasn't healed. But he kept on doing what God had called him to do. He preached the Gospel and prayed for the sick and left the results in the hands of God.

TONGUES
The gift of tongues is the ability to receive and communicate a message of God to His people through a language never learned. "Tongues" means languages. The reason we call this a "sign" gift rather than a "speaking" gift is that the Bible indicates clearly that this gift is given for a sign.

When one speaks in tongues it can be in a language known and recognized by listeners; or it can be in a language no one knows. This is called speaking in unknown tongues.

Now speaking in tongues is the physical sign of having been baptised in the Holy Spirit. But this is different from the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is the special ability to deliver messages from God to the church in a language not known by the speaker.

The purposes of speaking in tongues, for personal prayer, self edification, and as a sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. The gift of tongues is for edification of the church, intercession, prophesy, or as a sign for unbelievers.

INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES
The gift of interpretation is pretty self explanatory. It's a special ability to translate the language of someone who is speaking in tongues. The interpretation of a message in tongues is given by the Holy Spirit to one with this spiritual gift. It is not interpreted by knowing the language in which the message was given. It is given by revelation from the Holy Spirit. Interpretation is a summary of the message, not a word by word translation. Because of this, interpretation may vary from the message in tongues in length or structure.


I hope these explanations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been of some help to you. If you really want to see what these gifts look like in action, I've included examples of Christ demonstrating each gift. God bless you all!

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF JESUS

-Miracles:                               Acts 2:22
-Healing:                                 Acts 10:38
-Word Of Wisdom:                I Corinthians 1:24,30
-Word Of Knowledge:           John 1:45-50; 4:18; 11:14
-Discerning of Spirits:            John 1:45-50 6:61
-Prophecy/Prophet:                 Matthew 24
-Teaching/Teacher:                Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 26:55; Mark 6:6; 14:49;
                                                Luke 5:17; 13:10,22; 21:37
-Exhortation:                           Luke 3:18
-Mercy [compassion]:             Matthew 20:30-34
-Apostle:                                 Hebrews 3:1
-Evangelist:                            John 10:16
-Pastor:                                   John 10:11
-Leadership:                           John 13:15-16; Mark 10:42-45
-Administration:                     Luke 10:1-17
-Faith:                                     Luke 8:49-56
-Giving:                                  John 10:11
-Helps:                                    John 17:6-10
-Serving:                                 John 13:4-16; Mark 10:42-45
-Hospitality:                       John 21:9-13 [Had no home yet had hospitality].

-Tongues and Interpretation: These were the only two spiritual gifts not evident in the life of Jesus. These were not necessary because He was the Word of God Himself. There was no need for the gifts of tongues and interpretation to bring a message from God through Him to man.

     (Spoken at the Bridge Community of Faith Sunday April 26th 2015)


Jesus left His followers with the responsibility to extend the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. But Jesus didn't just leave them with this huge challenge, with this immense responsibility without giving them the ability to fulfill it.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)   

The Holy Spirit empowers believers to be effective witnesses of the Gospel through the use of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities given by the Holy Spirit for specific purpose. Paul taught on the subject of spiritual gifts to the early church. He said:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. (I Corinthians 12:1)

Today we will be introducing what spiritual gifts are and their purpose in our lives. Later on, we will break down the various spiritual gifts, and help you discover where your own spiritual gifting lay.

                             WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
When we use the word “spiritual” in regards to spiritual gifts it means “characterized or controlled by the Holy Spirit”. A “gift” by any definition is something freely given from one person to another. Put these two together, and a spiritual gift is a supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit to a believer to minister as a part of the Body of Christ.

Now the ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit’ is not to be confused with the ‘Gift of the Holy Spirit’. In John 14:16-17 Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Holy Spirit and in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost we were given the Gift that is the Holy Spirit in answer to that promise. The gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit are supernatural abilities given to believers in order to enable effective ministry.

                                     GIFTS AND TALENTS
There is a difference between spiritual gifts and natural talents. A talent is a natural ability that we inherited at birth or developed through training. A spiritual gift is a supernatural ability which did not come by inheritance or training. It is a special ability given by the Holy Spirit to be used for specific spiritual purposes.

This isn't to say that the Holy Spirit won’t use one of your natural talents. For example, I have a talent for speaking in public; and I trained it on stage and off for years. After I turned my life over to Christ, the Holy Spirit blessed my talent and gave me gifts that are reliant upon that natural talent.

Although we should use all our natural talents for the work of the Lord, we still need spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts not only provide spiritual capabilities far greater than the finest natural talents, but it is through the anointing of the Holy Spirit we are able to accomplish His will.

                               PURPOSES OF THE GIFTS
The purposes of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed in the book of Ephesians 4:12-15:

For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (Ephesians 4:12-15)

According to this passage, the purposes of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to:         

-Perfect the saints
-Promote the work of the ministry
-Edify Christ and the Church

The objectives or goals of spiritual gifts are that we will:

-Become united in the faith.
-Develop our knowledge of Christ.
-Develop in perfection, with Christ as our model.
-Become stable, not deceived by false doctrines.

                                  SPIRITUAL WEAPONS
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are also given to us as weapons of spiritual warfare to conquer the spiritual forces of Satan:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Since spiritual warfare is well... spiritual, then spiritual rather than natural weapons have to be used. It’s almost hard to believe but sometimes we go into spiritual warfare without any knowledge of these weapons. Anytime you go into battle without your weapons you cannot expect to win. This is another reason why it’s important to understand spiritual gifts. They are part of the spiritual weapons God has provided.

                               DISTRIBUTION OF THE GIFTS

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (I Peter 4:10)

Each and every believer has at least one spiritual gift; and because every believer has at least one spiritual gift, we each have a responsibility to discover what that gifting is and use it as God intended. You will not be judged by how many spiritual gifts you have, but by your faithfulness to use the spiritual gift or gifts you have been given. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 confirms this as truth.

A person may have more than one gift, but no one has all the gifts of the Spirit. If he did, then he would have no need of others in the Body of Christ.

                                        THE ABUSE OF GIFTS
A spiritual gift from God can be abused. To "abuse" a gift means to not use it properly. You can abuse spiritual gifts by:

-Not using gifts given to you.
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. (I Timothy 4:14)

-Attempting to use gifts without the Holy Spirit’s anointing.
But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!  You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (Acts 8:20-21)

-Not using your gifts properly.
God is not the author of confusion. Where there is confusion your gifts are not being used correctly. Spiritual gifts can also be improperly used when you manipulate people, gain wealth, or use them for your own selfish satisfaction rather than in ministry to others.

-Glorifying you gift.
When you "glorify" your gift, you consider it more special than other gifts. You begin to see the gift as greater than the Giver.       

                       MANY GIFTS FROM ONE SOURCE
There is one source of spiritual gifts but there are many different gifts. No gift is more important than another. Your position in the Body of Christ is compared to parts of a human body. Just as in the human body, the smaller parts such as the eye have important functions, the seemingly "small" gift is often quite important in the functioning of the church. Some gifts involve greater responsibilities, but no gift is more important than another.      

Some parts of the human body have greater responsibilities than others. For example, the eye lets you see what is around you. It guides you when walking. It permits you to read and see and enjoy God's creations. The eye has greater responsibility, but it is no more important than the big toe which provides balance for walking. The guidance of the eye is useless if you have no feet to walk with. The eye's function to permit reading is useless if you have no brain to understand what you read.

Sometimes misunderstanding arises in the Church when believers don’t recognize the spiritual gifts of others. If one person has the gift of giving he may not understand why other believers don’t give as liberally as they do. Or one may have the gift of administration and become very impatient with people who are less organized.

Each believer needs to use his or her spiritual gifts to work together with other believers who have different gifts. When this happens, the Church functions effectively as the Body of Christ.          

                                      STEWARDS OF GIFTS
We are only stewards of spiritual gifts. We use these gifts on behalf of the one who gave them to us. We are stewards for Jesus Christ and as a steward, we will be judged on the basis of our faithfulness to use the gifts we have been given:

Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (I Corinthians 4:1)

                                 ARE GIFTS FOR TODAY?
There is a belief that the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament are not for the Church of today. It’s the idea that some gifts, like prophecy, tongues, miracles, etc., were only for the early Church. That after the Church was established and the New Testament written, some spiritual gifts were no longer needed. Often I Corinthians 13:10 is used to explain this belief:

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. (I Corinthians 13:10)

This is sometimes taken that when the perfect revelation of God's Word was written; there was no longer a need for tongues, interpretation, and prophecy. That once the Church was established there was no longer a need for confirming signs and miracles. And I sort of understand where they’re coming from. It sort of makes sense. But this passage is actually referring to a future time when the "perfect" Kingdom of God is established on earth. Since what is perfect has then come, we will no longer need of any of the spiritual gifts.

We will have no need of messages through prophecy, tongues, or interpretation, for we will be dwelling with the God who inspires such messages. We will have no need of the word of wisdom or knowledge, for we will be living with the source of all knowledge. We will not need discerning of spirits, because everyone left will be written in the Book of Life. There will be no need for gifts of healing because pain, and sickness, and death will no longer exist.

Also remember the purposes and objectives of spiritual gifts we looked at earlier in Ephesians 4:12-15? The purposes are for what? Anyone remember?

-Perfecting of the saints.
-Promoting the work of the ministry.
 -Edifying Christ and the Church.

The need for which the gifts were given still remains. The saints still need to be perfected; the ministry still needs to be promoted to the ends of the earth, and Christ and the Church need to be edified.

The objectives are that we will:         

-Be united in the faith.
-Develop our knowledge of Christ.
-Develop in perfection, with Christ as our model.
-Become stable, not deceived by false doctrines.

God would not give spiritual gifts for these purposes and objectives and then remove them without these things being accomplished.   

-Are all believers united in the faith?
-Has everyone developed fully in the knowledge of Christ?
-Are we all perfected?
-Are our church members stable and not being deceived by false doctrines?
-Are all our church members spiritually mature?

The answer to all these questions is of course "no"; or you wouldn’t need to be hear listening to me tell you why you wouldn’t need to be here. These objectives have not been accomplished. For this reason we know all of the spiritual gifts are still for today. God gave spiritual gifts to accomplish certain purposes in the Church. He will not withdraw any of these gifts without these purposes being accomplished. The Bible also says that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29). This means God will not change His mind and take back a spiritual gift or calling He has given.  

                                   THE KEY TO USING GIFTS
Any guesses what the key is to using your spiritual gifts? In I Corinthians 13 the Apostle Paul gives us the key but he introduces the subject in I Corinthians 12:31. He lists some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then says... But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. (I Corinthians 12:31)

When you get a chance read I Corinthians 13. This chapter gives the key to using any and all spiritual gifts. That key is love. You can prophesy, have the gifts of healing, faith, giving, etc., but without love in using these gifts, they will not be effective.

Gifts are unprofitable when used without love. Speaking in tongues becomes like a noisy clanging. Every gift is worthless, "it profits nothing", unless it is used in love. Love is the "more excellent way". The gifts become a channel through which God's love can flow to those around us. Love is the key to using spiritual gifts effectively.

                     A WARNING: SATAN'S COUNTERFEIT
Satan always tries to counterfeit the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A counterfeit is something that imitates something real, but it is not genuine. Satan is a deceiver. The Bible says he sometimes even appears as an angel (II Corinthians 11:14). In the final days of time, there will even be a Satanic counterfeit of Christ called the antichrist (I John 2:18,22).

Much of this counterfeiting is accomplished through the occult. Most of you know that when I was younger I didn’t so much dabble in the occult as delved into it. I have seen firsthand the power of the occult. It can accomplish things that look like powerful gifts; witches and psychics pretending to foretell the future. Creating objects, potions, and rituals that they claim will do anything from re-grow your hair to summon your soul-mate. But in each and every case, their source is Satan.

So what does a counterfeit look like?

-A counterfeit does not fulfill the Scriptural purposes of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Read again Ephesians 4:12-15. Any true gift of the Holy Spirit will accomplish these spiritual purposes and objectives.

-Counterfeit gifts do not agree with what the Bible teaches about Jesus. When anyone ministers a gift, what do they say about Jesus? Does it agree with the written Word of God?

-You can also recognize counterfeiters by their personal characteristics. In II Peter 2 and the book of Jude, list off characteristics of ‘false prophets’; if you study these chapters it will help you to distinguish the real from the counterfeit.

Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities given by the Holy Spirit to help promote, perfect, and edify the church. These gifts help us to mature in our faith, and fight in spiritual warfare. Every single one of us has at least one spiritual gift; in fact, most of us have several. When we identify our gifts we have to use them for God’s purposes not our own, and be careful not to abuse them. Like everything God has given us, we must be good stewards of His provision. And of course as always, Satan will try to pervert or mimic what God is doing so we have to keep our eyes open for his counterfeits.

                           WHAT ARE THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
So I have told you all of this so when you do a spiritual gifts survey, you can understand the importance and power that is involved with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow I will be posting a list and explanation of all of the Spiritual Gifts listed in the Bible. I'll do this by breaking them down into four groups; leadership gifts, speaking gifts, serving gifts, and sign gifts. Along with the list of Gifts I will also be posting a Spiritual Gifts survey you can download, print, and take yourself. 


Determining your gifts is fun and sort of cool to know, but if you don't take that knowledge and use it to become effective in the body of Christ then it avails nothing. Once you learn what your gifts are, find a ministry or church program or a home group, and start being effective in the body of Christ. When we learned of Christ and His sacrifice for us, we lost the right to be ignorant, and when we received the power of the Holy Spirit, we have taken on a responsibility to; ... be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)