11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
All of these different
gifts are given by the Holy Spirit. He works them in every single person who is
yielded to Him. It doesn’t matter whether they are a preacher or not. It
doesn’t matter whether they are ‘super spiritual’ or not. He works them to
every man. And He works them in us as He wills.
Galatians 3
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and
worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?
It is also important to note
that these are given to us freely. We do not first deserve or earn them by
prayer and fasting. They are gifts given to us by grace. They are unmerited.
This is what Paul was reminding the Galatians of. They had fallen over into
works righteousness and trying to earn the gifts by doing good works and
behaving well.
An illustration of this
is found in Acts 3 where Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate called
Beautiful. After they healed him and went into the temple with Him, the people
who saw them and recognized the man and realized that he had been healed and
was now walking were shocked and looked at Peter and John with great awe and
reverence. the same way we look at people who flow in the gifts of the Holy
Spirit today.
But instead of encouraging
this, Peter rebuked them;
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people,
Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as
though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
Of course this is what everyone
was thinking. That Peter and John had some special power and were very holy
men. And as a result of their special power and holiness they had made this man
walk and worked a mighty miracle.
Indeed this what people
in church think even today. We have even coined terms for it. We call it
special anointing, healing anointing or miracle anointing. We think that some
big time preachers have some special power or anointing or gift upon them to do
miracles and healings that the rest of us don’t have. It would do us well to
realize that there is no such term in the bible and that the concept of a special
anointing on a few is an Old Covenant concept when the Spirit of God came upon
a few people and departed. In the New Covenant the Holy Spirit has come in
every believer. Every believer who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit has been endued with power from on high.
Secondly, we think that
if we live holy enough, pray a lot, fast a lot, study the Word, sow seed in
these men and women, receive an impartation or whatever that we may also get
this special anointing. Well, Peter said it wasn’t so. He didn’t have any
special power. He didn’t have any special anointing. And he wasn’t really
living that holy and deserving God’s power.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made
this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath
given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Now Peter explains how
this miracle happened and by which power it happened. FAITH!
That’s right.
Faith in Jesus and in the name of Jesus is what made this cripple whole. It was
the faith of Jesus that is even given to every believer that made this man
well. This is the same faith that every believer has from God. It is not just
with a few super saints, it is not only with the preachers, and it is not only
with the ‘man a gad’. Every believer has faith. That’s why you are a believer.
You believe!
In 2 Peter1:1
Peter tells us that this precious faith has been given to every believer and
that it has been given to us through the righteousness of God that Jesus our
savior has given us.
“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”
He says that we
have obtained ‘like precious faith’ with them. Who is them? The apostles. We
have received the same faith (the word like means same) that the apostles had
and walked in. we have the same name of Jesus that they used and we have the
same Holy Spirit that they had. So you see that we can do exactly what they did
and more. Isn’t that what Jesus promised us?
John 14
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth
on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall
he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask
any thing in my name, I will do it.
Jesus did not say that we
would need a special anointing to do His works and greater. He said we would
need to simply believe. Simply have faith.
As we have already noted,
these gifts work in everyone. The Holy Spirit works them in every man as He
wills. And it is by grace. Not by works. The question then is how come very few
believers are operating in the gifts of the Spirit?
There are obviously a
number of reasons but we can discuss some.
Lack of confidence.
Many of us have no
confidence that we can operate in the gifts of the Spirit. We are afraid to
step out and try because we have fear, we are afraid of failing in case it
doesn’t work etc.
Lack of practice.
If you haven’t tried, how
can you know whether it works? If you have never prayed for a sick person how
will you manifest the gifts of healings or miracles? If you’ve never tried to
minister or counsel a person how will you manifest a word of wisdom, or word of
knowledge? If you’ve never tried to deliver a person how will you manifest
discernment of spirits? You have to get out there and act on your faith. You
will fail many times especially at the beginning but as you learn to yield more
and step out of your comfort zone you become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit
and more effective.
With time you develop
great confidence and like Jesus and the apostles you get 100% positive results.
Condemnation.
Many of us are self-righteous
and think that God can only relate to us and use us on the basis of how much we
pray, study, fast, give, live holy etc. as a result we don’t feel deserving and
thus don’t even try to operate in God’s power.
Personality/ behavior pattern
Most people will only
yield to the Holy Spirit according to their personality and behavior pattern.
This is because we are comfortable in our personality. So a social person who
talks a lot will find it easy to yield to the verbal gifts. While a strong D
who is dominant, decisive and doesn’t care what people think will find it
natural to operate in power gifts.
The Holy Spirit is not
limited. We are the ones who are unwilling to believe and yield to Him 100%
Important things to note;
Many times as we minister,
these gifts will overlap. Many of the
gifts are complementary to each other. You will operate in several gifts as you
minister and deal with a situation. For example you may receive a word of
knowledge about someone with a sickness in the body, and then as they come
forward or as they acknowledge that they are the one you will lay hands on them
and operate in gifts of healings and heal them. That’s two gifts complimenting
each other.
We do not own the gifts.
The gifts are owned by the Holy Spirit. They are His gifts. We just operate in
them. Many Christians are busy trying to discover what gifts they have. A more
sensible thing to do would be to learn to yield to the gifts. The Holy Spirit
gives us the gifts we need to minister effectively in the situation we are in.
One preacher refers to
the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a tool box that a worker carries with him. When
he needs a hammer he uses a hammer, when he needs a screw driver, he uses a
screw driver, when he needs a drill, he uses a drill. It's not like God has given you one or three tools to use. What if you need to unscrew something and all you have is a hammer?
What is the best gift?
The one you need at the moment.
1Peter4
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one
another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
We are stewards of God’s
manifold (multiple) gifts and graces. We are not owners. A steward is not an
owner. A steward is a manager, an administrator, a servant. One who has been
entrusted with something that belongs to another. The gifts belong to the Holy
Spirit. He has entrusted them with us. To use them to minister to His people.
As He wills.
11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of
God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies,
that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong
the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
It is God who supplies
the ability. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us. He is the one doing the
works. It is not us. It is not our special anointing. It is not our great
holiness. It is the power of God that He anoints us with. It is the Holy Spirit
working with us and confirming the Word with signs following.
As a result, when we flow
in the supernatural, God gets the glory. He is glorified when we operate in
heavenly power and authority.
LOVE IS THE KING. AND THE KEY
“But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I
unto you a more excellent way.” 1Cor12:31
The Key to flowing in the
gifts of the Spirit is love. God’s Agape love. If you have no love for others
and for God, you will be very ineffective in the gifts of the Spirit. Everything
we do has to be motivated by loving people, serving people and wanting to
minister to people. Not about us and what we want and what we think is right or
correct or whatever. Love has got to be the motivation.
After Paul has said some
things about the gifts of the Holy Spirit is 1Corinthians 12, he ends by saying
that there is even a more excellent way. There is a better way to operate in
the gifts. And that way is operating in love.
He is not necessarily saying that
love is better than the gifts, he is saying that operating in the gifts with
love as the motivation is the best way.
So the whole of the next
chapter he talks about what God’s kind of love is.
Today we call 1Corinthians13
the love chapter. What we don’t realize is that the context was actually operating
in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul is talking about flowing in the power of God with love as the motivation and the driving force.
After He is done, he goes
back to his theme of spiritual gifts in chapter 14. And he begins by saying;
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts”
1Corinthians14:1
BE OBEDIENT
When God leads you,
follow. When God tells you to do something, do it. Be obedient to what He says
at the moment and in a situation and power will flow. Obedience releases the
power of God. Obedience takes us out of our comfort zone into the realm of the
supernatural.
When you obey God, it is
His responsibility to fulfill His Word and to do the works. Your job is to show
up.
BE BOLD
The reason we don’t see
the mighty power of God manifested in our lives and in ministry is because we
never allow ourselves to get in positions where God can show Himself mighty.
We need to be bold, step
out and attempt some radical things. Just follow the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Do not be afraid.
Talk boldly. Live boldly.
The bolder you talk, the bolder you live, the more miracles you will see.
Don’t play it safe. Lay
your hands on some sick folk. Rebuke devils. Command miracles to happen.
Believe God. Expect the gifts in you by the Holy Spirit to function.
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