The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Part 2
Benny
Hinn
“The gift of
faith is the greatest of the power gifts. It’s the exceptional ability to trust
God to work, even in unusual ways or in particularly challenging situations.”
Every
believer is promised an empowered life in the realm of the Spirit (Acts 1:8).
As discussed
in Part 1 last week, this promise of power comes after the Holy Spirit visits
your life, intensifying your ability to witness, strengthening your walk with
Christ, and equipping you for Christian service to defeat the enemy through
spiritual gifts (called the “Gifts of the Holy Spirit”) that equip you to do
the Lord’s work in new and powerful ways.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, lists each of the
nine gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. These nine gifts fit nicely into three
groups:
1. Revelation gifts
2. Vocal gifts
3. Power gifts
Revelation gifts include the word of wisdom, the word
of knowledge, and discerning of spirits.
Vocal gifts are tongues,
interpretation of tongues, and prophecy.
Power gifts include faith, healings, and the working of miracles.
I shared an overview of the first four gifts—three
Revelation gifts and the first Vocal gift. Now let’s look at the final five
gifts together—two more from the Vocal gifts and the three Power gifts, all of
which are so vital.
Vocal
Gift 2: Interpretation of Tongues—the translation of
divine utterances into recognizable language
To understand the interpretation of tongues, we must
go back and revisit the fact that there are three different kinds of tongues,
as mentioned in Part 1:
• Tongues unto God (“For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue
speaketh not unto men, but unto God”—1 Corinthians 14:2).
• Tongues as a sign to the unbeliever (Acts 2 gives
the account of people who marveled at hearing their own native tongue).
• Tongues which edify the body of believers (“For greater is
he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret,
that the church may receive edifying”—1 Corinthians 14:5).
Only
the third type, edifying the body of believers, requires interpretation.
With this type of tongues, the
interpretation of tongues is crucial. The Word shows that interpretation
becomes equal to prophecy.
It is very important, as we begin to use this gift,
that we understand 1 Corinthians 14:13, which states, “Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue
pray that he may interpret.”
This gift requires spiritual maturity
and is received only through diligent prayer, study of the Scriptures, and
precious time with the Holy Spirit.
Oh, that we would be more willing to pay this price,
for the interpretation of tongues to edify the church is needed more than ever.
Vocal
Gift 3: Prophecy—revelation for edification
1 Corinthians 4:3 is very clear:
“But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and
comfort to men.”
The
gift of prophecy builds up and encourages us. It stirs us up. It comforts us.
It is not condemning. It always exhorts and encourages. It brings life and
vision and light, not doom and gloom and death.
And it’s
important to remember that anything spoken out of the gift of prophecy must
always be completely consistent with the Scriptures and will never contradict
God’s Word in any way.
Power
Gift 1: Faith—the God-given ability to believe Him
for the impossible
The gift of
faith is the greatest of the power gifts. It’s the exceptional ability to trust
God to work, even in unusual ways or in particularly challenging situations.
Again, there is some confusion about the gift of
faith. There are actually three revelations of faith in the Bible:
• Romans 5:1 speaks of saving faith, which is that measure of faith given to every person.
• There is also the
fruit of faith, in Galatians 5:22, which is an important part of the fruit
of the Spirit. The fruit of faith is within each of us, as planted by the Holy
Spirit, but the gift of faith, in 1 Corinthians 12, comes for a moment, for a
season, and for a reason.
• The gift of
faith is the instantaneous assurance of God’s ability to act in a specific
situation. It does not deny fact…it changes it!
How
do we move into this gift and the three revelations of this gift?
Romans 10:17 says:
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God.”
The gift of faith can only happen when
God’s promises become more real to us than our circumstances.
Therefore,
this gift can work through us when we act through the revelation of Scripture
and the direction of the Holy Spirit. What begins as hope through prayer
becomes faith.
Power
Gift 2: Healings—the restoration of health
The “gifts of
healing” (1 Corinthians 12:9) are plural, not singular, for they apply to both
physical and emotional areas of life, and the gifts also come in two ways,
immediate and gradual.
Healing
restores what is broken. The Holy Spirit can use a multitude of acts of faith
to heal.
The spoken Word is used most often, but the woman
with an issue of blood was also healed as she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment
and by faith was made whole. We read of the laying on of hands and the
anointing with oil, but even the Apostle Peter’s shadow brought healing.
God
desires that we be healed and be used as instruments of healing. The secret is
obedience to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
Power
Gift 3: Working of Miracles—the divine creative acts
The working
of miracles is a supernatural occurrence against the law of nature.
It was against the natural order of things for God to turn back the Red Sea so
the children of Israel could walk on dry land (Exodus 14:26-28). It was a
miraculous act for the walls of Jericho to fall down as Israel obeyed the
Lord’s command (Joshua 6:20). It was supernatural for God to suspend the
rotation of the earth in response to Joshua’s prayer when he fought against the
Amorites (Joshua 10:12-13).
When arthritis no longer afflicts a body or blind
eyes see again, we sometimes call them miracles, but they are actually
healings. Healing is a work of restoration, while miracles are creative acts
that go against the laws of nature.
I
believe we are coming into a new dimension of creative miracles, when we will
see supernatural moves of the Holy Spirit’s power in ways that we’ve only
dreamed about. Readiness can only come through the Word. Psalm
33:6 points to this: “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made.”
True miracles are the product of His Word. The more we understand and act on His Word,
the more we will be able to move into the powerful dimension of all nine of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the working of miracles.
The
Holy Spirit’s Gifts for Today
God gives us
the nine gifts that we’ve discussed in these two teachings to build up His
Church, the body of Jesus Christ. These gifts have been given as a means to
spread the Gospel and establish His kingdom.
None of the gifts are to be forbidden, yet
everything must be done in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).
By heeding these two commands, as empowered by the
Holy Spirit and guided by the Scriptures, we can move, now more than ever,
toward the unity of the believers and a dimension of power and authority in the
realm of the Spirit of which the prophets of old spoke!
The
greatest days are here!
Are you ready to be empowered for service?
God’s great desire is that each of us seeks a
closer, more intimate walk with Him. That is my prayer for you today.