Bill Bremer
Senior Member
Joined: 02/29/2016 Location: United States
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Posts: 81
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Posted: 04/13/2016 at 6:19am
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I
began functioning in the gifts of the Spirit back in 1974. I flow in
several of the gifts of the Spirit and have seen them all in action. I
have also seen and heard way to much weirdness and charismatic razzel
dazzle. So, here, I present the solid wisdom and insight of men who were
there in the 70's. Paul
lists the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 but does not explain
them or show how the Spirit works them in us. He tells us each person
has been given the ability to manifest the Spirit and the manifestations
are for the common good. He emphasizes “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of
all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to
another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith
by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another
discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all
these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NKJV Explanations of the gifts of the Spirit*Word of wisdomJesus
manifested a word of wisdom when, to the Pharisees who were intent on
tripping Him with their questions about paying a tax to Caesar, He gave
His famous reply: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to
god the things that are God's” (Mt 22:21 NASB).
He promised us similar wisdom for times of emergency, “for the Holy
spirit will teach you in the very hour what you ought to say” (Lk 12;12 NASB). See Mt 10:16-20. Acts 6:17
is an outstanding example of the need of a word of wisdom to settle
particular problems that arise in a church congregation. The answer of
the twelve apostles manifest wisdom of the highest degree—deep spiritual
principles coupled with sound common sense. The Spirit's bless is
evident in that their statement found approval with the entire
congregation and enabled the word of God to keep on spreading so that
many more became obedient to the faith. James, acting as a moderator of
the first church council at Jerusalem, manifested a word of wisdom (Acts 15:13-21)
which was accepted by all and which settled the controversy regarding
legalism. The possibility of receiving a word of wisdom, however, should
never cause one to stop seeking wisdom for life in general (James 1:5).
We cannot depend on this charismatic gift for every situation because
it is only a word of wisdom. As Donald Gee says, it is “a spoken
utterance through a direct operation of the Holy Spirit at a given
moment, rather than an abiding deposit of supernatural wisdom. Word of knowledgeDennis
Bennett defines a word of knowledge was a “supernatural revelation of
facts past, present, or future which were not learned through the
efforts of the natural mind. It may be described as the Mind of Christ
being manifested to the mind of the believer, and is given when needed
in a flash of time (1Cor 2:16).
This gift is used to protect the Christian, to show how to pray more
effectively, or to show him how to help others.” A word of wisdom often
is given in conjunction with the word of knowledge in order to show how
to apply the information God has revealed. In the Old Testament, Nathan
the prophet received a word of knowledge regarding David's affair with
Bathsheba, as well as wisdom to know how to bring the king to repentance (2 Sam 12:1-14). The prophet Elisha knew in his heart about Gehazi's greedy act and therefore was able to expose his hypocrisy (2 Kings 5:20-27). Jesus our Lord knew the evil thoughts of the scribes (Mt 9:2-6) and the natural history of the Samaritan woman (John 4:17-19). A word of knowledge enabled Peter to rebuke Ananias and Sapphira for their lying wickedness (Acts 5:1-9). Gift of faithThe
three dynamic gifts provide extraordinary powers to effect changes in
the lives and circumstances of both saints and sinners. The gift of
faith is not saving faith, which a man exercises when on the basis of
God's word he trusts in Christ to redeem him. Nor is it the faith of
Gal. 5:22, one of fruits of the Spirit, which develops in the believer
as faithfulness or fidelity. The gift of faith, according to Dennis
Bennett, is “a sudden surge of faith, usually in a crisis, to
confidently believe without a doubt, that as we act of speak in Jesus
Name it shall come to pass.” This is the wonder working faith that Jesus
said can move mountains (Mt 17:20; 21:21; Mark 11:22-24; Lk 17:6; 1 Cor 13:2).
As Lenski says, by means of this charisma, things that are otherwise
impossible are actually accomplished in the course of our service unto
the Lord. This gift frequently operated through Elijah and Elisha in the
Old Testament. Think of Elijah's faith when he prepared for the fire to
fall from heaven and when he announced that rain would come! (1 Kings18:22-38, 41-45). Daniel had the gift of faith when he “stopped the mouths of lions” (Heb 11:33; Dan 6:22).
George Mueller's orphanages at Bristol, England, for 2000 children, and
Hudson Taylor's obtaining 100 missionaries to evangelize the interior
of China are modern-day examples of the gift of dynamic faith in action. Gift of healings and workings of powersThe
next two gifts appear in the Greek as plurals: literally, “charismatic
gifts of healings' and “workings of powers.” The plurals indicate that
all healings and all miracles are in each separate case a supernatural
operation of the Spirit. As Bittlinger says, “Every healing is a special
gift. In this way the spiritually gifted individual stands always in
new dependence upon the divine Giver.” Lenski explains: “In each
instance a specific intimation came to them from the Spirit that the act
should be performed, and not until that moment did it occur, but then I
always too place without fail.” Peter and John for instance, had passed
the lame beggar at the Gate Beautiful many a time, but not until a
certain day did the spirit prompt them to channel healing to him (Acts 3:1-8).
This principle explains why a Spirit-filled Christian cannot go into a
hospital and administer healing to every sick person he sees. The plural
nouns also indicate the different kinds of diseases and afflictions,
requiring different sorts of healing. The implication may be that a
certain person is especially used in bringing healing to those suffering
from a certain disease or group of diseases. Working of miraclesThe
“working of miracles” covers those wonderful works which are not
strictly healings. Included under the category of miracles would be the
exorcising of demons and the restoring of persons from death, such as
Dorcas and Eutychus (Acts 9:36-41).; 20:6-12).
Quite a number of authenticated cases of the raising of the dead have
taken place recently in Africa and Indonesia, as well as in America. The
creation of new bodily parts or organs much better be explained as an
instance of the gift in operation instead of one of the gifts of
healings. Since the beginning of the Indonesian revival in 1965, the
Christians have repeatedly trusted God to turn water into wine for their
communion services, in that tropical land where grapes do not grow. Distinguishing of spiritsThe
third gift which operates by a direct revelation from God is the
“distinguishing of spirits” (v.10 NASB margin). It goes without saying
that this not a critical spirit in the natural or even the true
intellectual discernment of the child of God that is developed through
Christian fellowship and through study of the Bible. Yes, is is
essential for us to partake of the word of righteousness and to train
our senses or faculties to discern good and evil, i.e., to make moral
decisions (Heb 5:13-14).
The spiritual gift of discernment, however, does not come through
training but is imparted in the moment when it is needed. The Greek word
for “discernment,” diakrisis, literally means a “judging
through,” a seeing right through to the inner reality with a judgment
based on that insight. Dennis Bennett explains that by this gift the
believer is enabled to know immediately what is motivating a person or
situation. Those responsible for the orderly progress of a meeting of
the brethren need to know whether a person is operating under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, whether he is expressing his own
thoughts or feelings, or whether he is controlled by a wrong spirit. The
Holy Spirit will manifest himself by this gift through those who pass
judgment on the messages of the prophets in the assembly (1 Cor14:29).
Usually the discerning of a false or evil spirit brings a sense of
heaviness, unrest, or even sickness, whereas the sense of the presence
of the Holy Spirit is one of joy and peace and love. This gift, then, is
the gracious provision of the head of Church to arm her against the
subtle deceptions of the enemy. A
striking example of the gift of discerning of spirits in operation is
found in Acts 16:16-18. A slave girl having a spirit of divination met
Paul and his party in Philippi, evidently desiring to follow them to the
place of prayer. Even though her shouts to the crowds about Paul seemed
lofty and spiritual, yet Paul detected the true nature of the
motivating spirit and at last commanded it to come out of her. Probably
he waited until the day she was ready to be saved so that when he
exorcised the demon it would have no right to reenter her. See 1 John 4:1-6. *From The Layman's Commentary on the Holy Spirit, included in the Logos International Study Bible published in 1972. In Part 4, we will consider prophesy, tongues and interpretation of tongues. Link to good article by Charles Carrin on the word of knowledge
__________________ Bill Bremer Kingdom Relationships http://billbremer.org
billbremer04@yahoo.com
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