First—know
your spiritual gifts. Second—use them appropriately. God didn’t give you them
to sit on a shelf.
May’s Awakening, Day 8
To
one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message
of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to
another speaking in different kinds of
tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these
are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one,
just as he determines. 1 Corinthians 12:8–11 NIV
[Prophecy has already been discussed in Part 1.]
Miracles.
The gift of miracles is the distinctive ability to serve as a human
intermediary of God to perform supernatural acts which alter the normal or
expected course of nature, all to bring attention and glory to God. This gift,
like the gift of healing, requires a devout faith, trust, and close communion
with God to know and carry out His will. Those who carry the Gospel message to
the ones who have never heard the message of Christ are often seen to possess
this gift. Signs, wonders, and miracles were a normal part of bringing the
message of Christ in the Book of Acts and still are seen today.
Discernment.
The gift of discernment, or the discerning of spirits, is the distinctive
ability to perceive with assurance whether certain behaviors or words,
purported to be of God, are truly of God, merely human, or actually satanic in
their origin, all to prevent confusion and false teaching from entering into
the body of believers. The gift is a sensitive and insightful perception of the
Word of God and the things of God and anything which is insincere or otherwise.
The gift goes beyond every believer’s ability and responsibility to “test the
spirits” and everything as it pertains to God’s Word, His Truth.
Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is
how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge
Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have
heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 1 John
4:1–3 NIV
Tongues.
The gift of tongues is the distinctive ability to receive and deliver a
divinely inspired message in an unknown language to unbelievers such that they
would believe, or to the body of believers as an anointed message from God to
His people. The gift of tongues should always be accompanied by its companion,
the gift of interpretation, such that the public message is understood and
believed. It is best if the one possessing the gift of tongues also possesses
the gift of interpretation. Ideally, one person would deliver the
message in a tongue and a different person would deliver the interpretation.
However, it is possible that there may be no one present who possesses the gift
of interpretation, or, a person is unwilling at the time to step out and use
their gift of interpretation. Therefore, in that instance, after a moment of
waiting, the responsibility for interpretation falls on the one who delivered
the message in the tongue. Without an interpretation, God’s message has been
lost. This is why the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation are often
counted as one gift since they are so interdependent, but each is still unique.
Finally, again note the difference between the gift of tongues—delivered to the
public as a message from God to be interpreted; contrasted with praying in
tongues—spoken in private or in small groups, and is strictly praying as the
Spirit directs and is never intended to be a message of God that is
interpreted.
Interpretation.
The gift of interpretation is the distinctive ability to make publicly
known, in the common language present, an anointed message from God which has
just been voiced by another, given in an unknown tongue, such that God’s
divinely inspired message would be understood by those present. Whereas it is
probably essential for one who has the gift of tongues to also have the gift of
interpretation, it should be apparent that the opposite is not true. One who
has the gift of interpretation need not have the gift of tongues—but they
certainly must be willing to step out and use their gift. This is a gift of
clearly hearing the Divine Whisper and letting the Holy Spirit speak publicly
through you.
Tomorrow we will look at the final
gifts mentioned at the end of Chapter 12 in 1 Corinthians.
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