Episode 2-27: Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit real? Are they for today?

 Welcome back!  I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are beginning our discussion on the 9 Spiritual Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We actually started this discussion a few weeks ago when we discussed prophecy, that was a 2-part episode where we discussed not only the Spiritual gift of prophecy but also the Office of the prophet.  With this episode, we are going to lay the groundwork for the 9 spiritual gifts as a whole. We will discuss if these gifts are real and whether or not each these gifts are available for us today. As we continue the year we will cover the remaining 8 gifts, not necessarily in order because we want to also cover topics such as the demonic influence of the Spirit of Religion which often interferes with the Spiritual Gifts in operation.

Top Show Points:

·      Discussing the 9 Gifts of the Spirit

·      1 Cor 12:1-11

·      To summarize what Paul shared, the 9 Spiritual Gifts are: wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miraculous powers, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. 

o   Gifts we use out of the Power we have from the Holy Spirit are: faith, healings, miraculous powers

o   Gifts we have where the Holy Spirit uses us in Revelation are: wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits

o   Gifts where the Holy Spirit uses us and are Spoken are: prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues

·      When we are speaking of gifts, we are speaking of an action or a behavior that produces an outcome as a result of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural activity provided to us in a gift. 

·      We have lost our understanding of God and the power of the Holy Spirit

·      Part of the problem is that church leadership has turned their back on God for centuries.  You cannot expect modern Christians to know what most preachers not only won’t preach but outright deny exists.  The denial belief has been perpetuated and grown for centuries. 

·      If you listen to any believer that says the gifts are not for today, you will also see someone who does not have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, that is not guided by the Holy Spirit, that does not engage with the Holy Spirit, nor is he or she a person who hears what the Holy Spirit has to say to them. There is no heart there, just one-dimensional Christianity.

·      Those who say the gifts are not for today will say anyone functioning in the gifts is a heretic or making it up or has a mental health issue.  They believe we don’t need the gifts today.  If you ask, why don’t we need them, then the answer is either, we have the Holy Spirit or we have the Bible.  The problem with that argument is that the gifts come from the Holy Spirit so again, why don’t we need these gifts?  As far as the bible is concerned, The Bible does not negate the Holy Spirit. The Bible testifies to the Holy Spirit and the Bible testifies to the giving of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

·      We discussed cessationists who believe:  the "sign gifts" (such as prophecy) described in the Bible were temporarily granted to the apostles to authenticate the origin and truth of the scriptures, and that at the close of the Apostolic Age these gifts had served their purpose and ceased to be granted.

·      Cessasionists are spreading false doctrine.  One of the most well known cessationists is John MacArthur.  Just because a church is big, doesn’t mean what they are teaching is true.

·      I have met a few people who have had what they refer to as bad experiences with the gifts.  When they explain what happened, it’s really more they either had a bad experience with a person at a meeting where gifts were in operation or they didn’t understand what was going on and it made them very uncomfortable

·      Ask for the gifts.  As we go through each gift think about which one you would like to have and ask the Holy Spirit for that gift

·      One comment I hear too often is this “if the Holy Spirit wants me to have gifts, He’ll give them to me” Answer: no He won’t.  The Holy Spirit is not going to give you a gift you don’t want and that you won’t bother to invest the time with Him to be developed in the use of the gift. 

·      If you want a gift, you not only have to ask for it, you may have to wait for it. He may want to make sure you are ready and committed.  As we go through each gift, we will discuss the benefits but we will also be discussing the costs of having gifts. Understand that the gifts, once given, are irrevocable.  Paul tells us that in Romans 11:29.

·      We have to look at these gifts from the perspective that the gift is about the gift giver, not the one who has the gift.  If we lose focus and make it about the one who has the gift, that house will fall. 

We encourage you:

·          To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment

·          If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, take a look at my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice.  There is also a Study Guide available and two new devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. 

·       Class coming up 8/2 based on the Loving Conversations book on how to hear God’s Voice, sign up at lovingconversationssalo.com

I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!

  For the full episode, click the player below.