Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The first place in Scripture to see the existence of the Holy Spirit is in Genesis 1:1-2, where we see God speaking in the midst of the Spirit, who was present at the beginning of time. The usage of Spirit as it moved in Genesis 1:1-2 is “rachaph,” which means “to brood over.” The Holy Spirit brooded over and around God’s men and women. The usage of Ghost as it moved in 2 Peter 1:21 is “phero,” which means “to bear, bring forth, or carry.” I believe this New Testament usage means that the Holy Ghost carries, bears, and brings forth The Word of God, who is Christ.

An important prophecy: Joel 2:28-29 says, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”

In life, you must find the fullness of the Holy Ghost, we follow Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jesus called the Holy Spirit/Ghost four different titles, which include “Comforter,” “Teacher,” “Spirit of Truth,” and “Convictor.” The Holy Spirit comes and comforts me all the time, helping me through daily trials and teaching me about God’s Love. Whenever I hear lies, I consult the Lord, and He allows the Spirit of Truth to come and comfort me and tell me good things to build me back up. When I do wrong, He convicts me and tells me what I should be doing instead that would bring Him greater joy.

Jesus said that the Holy Ghost would come in power, as we see in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” We see the first time the Holy Ghost comes upon someone is in Jesus’ baptism, as we see in Matthew 3:16-17, “and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove…” Who shall receive it? To everyone, as we see in Acts 2:39, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Personal benefits of the receiving of the baptism of the Holy Ghost include communication in worship, which involves praying directly to God in the Spirit. You also gain spiritual strength, which comes by knowing you’re a child of God. Intercessory prayer is also a benefit, which allows you to pray in a supernatural way so that the Spirit will pray through us the Will of God. It allows us also to have the mind of Christ when we pray. Another benefit is the boldness or spiritual power we gain, along with rest and refreshment. Another good benefit would be protection from the enemy, for we need protection from all forms of evil. We pray in the perfectness of the Spirit, which is in truth, and since the devil is a liar, we triumph over him with truth!

Spiritual gifts begin with the impartation of the Holy Ghost, so once you have received the Holy Ghost, you already have the start of them. Over time, you’ll understand each spiritual gift and be able to use them as the Holy Ghost helps. “The “Manifestation” of the Holy Spirit/Ghost is the VISIBLE evidence of Him dwelling with us – speaking in an unknown tongue.”

The nine types of “Manifestations,” which are found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, include, The Word of Wisdom, The Word of Knowledge, Faith, Gifts of Healing, Working of miracles, Prophecy, Discerning of spirits, Divers kinds of tongues, and Interpretation of tongues. If an individual speaks in tongues in the Church in a solo manner, it is called, “a message in tongues,” and is in order if it is interpreted. An “interpretation,” involves making the meaning of the message in tongues known. Tongues used in our personal prayer life are for strengthening, empowering, edifying, and building up the Spirit within us. Tongues are a “sign” for the unbeliever, actually, as we see in 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.”

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is a part of our salvation, which helps us in our everyday activities – including troubles and trials. Love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, and the most important, because everything must be done in love. Everything and everyone is rooted in love, and also God is Love. Everything that comes from God is rooted in Love! We see in 1 Corinthians 13 why love is the most important, especially the first few verses, “1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

Now, we read what the fruit of the Spirit is in 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.” They are listed: -Peace -Joy -Longsuffering -Gentleness -Goodness -Faith -Meekness -Temperance.

Before we get too far, let’s answer contradictions:

“Doesn’t the Bible say, “Tongues shall cease?”” – This would be a true statement based upon 1 Corinthians 13:12, where it says, “…then shall I know even as also I am known.” This refers to eternity, when we have entered into Heaven. With this, we would be known by each other and will know all things. This would be the perfect state, a more all-knowing position, because we would be like Him.

“I can’t find in Scripture where Jesus spoke in an unknown tongue” – This is because all tongues were known to Him, for He knew all things. He was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all languages should serve Him.

“The Baptism of the Holy Ghost was just for the early Church” – Acts 2:39 says, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Ephesians 3:6 says, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.”

“Tongues are of the devil” – This is not supported by Scripture or by experience. If it were true, the devil would use tongues, in opposition to Jesus, to curse Him. However, the Scriptures tell us this is impossible, and also the satan and his demons cannot understand tongues, as only the Holy Ghost has the gift of true interpretation.

“Tongues are the least of the Gifts” – Paul stresses the importance of sharing the Word, but he doesn’t demean the gift of tongues. His examples are in 1 Corinthians 14:5, 18, 39. In these verses, he says things such as, “I speak with tongues more than ye all…forbid not to speak with tongues…”

“It is emotionalism” – Emotion is very important, for God gave emotions to us. Love is the greatest of emotions. We are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We even see Jesus have many emotions, as we see in Scripture.

“Sure tongues are Scriptural, but I don’t need them for assurance that I have the Holy Spirit/Ghost” – he one manifestation that had satisfied the apostles and other disciples that a person had received the Baptism was speaking in an unknown tongue. Paul felt that praying in an unknown tongue had went far beyond an assurance of having receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a need in our lives. He will strengthen us.

More Gifts of the Spirit

The Word of Wisdom: This is a portion of the infinite Wisdom of God, made known through the instrumentality of a believer. Jesus promised His followers in Luke 21:15 that He would give them a mouth and wisdom, which adversaries can’t gainsay or resist. The reason for this is in Luke 12:12, where we see that the Holy Ghost shall teach what is needed to say.

The Word of Knowledge: This is the revelation of facts that an individual didn’t know beforehand. The Bible contains numerous examples where men received knowledge of facts that could only have come from a supernatural bestowing. We see much foreshadowing of this gift in the Old Testament, and see Jesus display this gift in His Earthly ministry. We see it was used many times in the early Church.

The Discerning of Spirits: This allows people to know if something is divine or not, but it is not a judgmental, nor a faultfinder. One example is seeing a wrong spirit in someone. The danger of deceiving spirits prior to the return of the Lord were increasingly great. We know through this gift which spirit is at work.

Faith: This gift is necessary to the operation of the Gifts of Healing and the working of Miracles. It is a gift of the Spirit, and we all have a measure of it. However, it is a special power given for special occasion.

The Working of Miracles: This is a gift of power, which cannot be comprehended by humanity, for a miracle is an event or effect in the physical world that deviates from the known laws of nature, or transcending our knowledge of those laws. God uses those humble enough for this gift to work miracles upon people.

Gifts of Healing: In His Church, there is the potential for healing the sick, and the purpose of these gifts is to relieve the suffering of the sick.

Prophecy: 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.” Prophesying involves making known a future event that is to help build up the Church, so that the Church can prepare.

Divers kinds of Tongues: Tongues used in our personal prayer life are for strengthening, empowering, edifying, and building up the Spirit within us.

Interpretation of Tongues: If an individual speaks in tongues in the Church in a solo manner, it is called, “a message in tongues,” and is in order if it is interpreted. An “interpretation,” involves making the meaning of the message in tongues known.

Sins of the Spirit Blasphemy is to utter abusive words against the Holy Spirit and to reject His conviction power of warning about your sins. (See more of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost)

Believers can also sin against the Holy Ghost, though their sins are of a different nature. It grieves the Holy Spirit when we do something that brings a wrong reflection on the honor of God or Jesus, or when we are involved in things or conversations that harm our spiritual life. We would quench the Holy Spirit by being reserved or stifling His ability to move upon our lives. Quenching implies the illustration of fire, to which a fire is put out by taking away the fuel or by suffocation. When the Spirit finds no fuel of consecration and no atmosphere of prayer, worship, and praise, He cannot work for the fire goes out. The Holy Ghost came as tongues of fire and therefore wants our fuel.

Gifts of Ministry (Romans 12:3-8)

Teaching: The Holy Spirit will be my guide in wisdom so that I can understand the Bible more, and then distribute my knowledge out to people the same way He helped me.

Exhorting: He will help me proclaim the things of the Lord by instructing me, and providing me maybe Word of Wisdom or Word of Knowledge, for example, so I may exhort another.

Ruling: He will give us wisdom based on how His Kingdom is run, because He is interested in making things better through us.

Giving: We shall give with simplicity and as the Lord leads us to do so. He will direct us in how we give.

Showing mercy: He is gentle with us, and He teaches us to be gentle with others; therefore, showing mercy to them and helping them.

Helps: This allows us to learn hospitality from the way that Jesus may have been, or He will lead us on how to be hospitable to people better.

More Spiritual benefits

The Holy Ghost helps us pray as we see in Romans 8:26-27, by making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. The intercession He makes for us is according to the Will of God, therefore, when we pray in tongues, it will be translated to God through His Will. When we pray to the Will of God, our prayers are much more effective!

The Holy Ghost is used as an instrument in praise and worship through praying, adoring, singing, and making melody in our hearts as we speak or sing to the Lord. Those that speak in unknown tongues speak not to men but unto God, as we see in 1 Corinthians 14:2.

The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God, as we see in Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”