Gifts of the Spirit

Video Talk

Romans 12:3-8 ESV

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Now I am well aware that this is a very controversial subject and that many people have very strong beliefs and opinions with regard to the gifts. For some people are dismissing some of the gifts as foundational gifts, which they claim are no longer active today. But I see no solid biblical support for that stance. I believe what the Scriptures teach regarding the gifts, and that they are all alive and active today, and that they are all necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ.

Now, I also see these gifts on a pendulum or like on a see-saw (teeter-totter), and that on one end we have those who are denying the gifts of prophecy, tongues, miracles, and healings, while they support the gifts of mercy, generosity, teaching, and serving, etc., which are considered the more “safe” gifts of the Spirit. And on the other end we have those who are misusing and abusing the gifts of the Spirit, and they are doing all kinds of wild and crazy things claiming that they are of the Spirit of God.

So, we must be very discerning people. But we need to read what this says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22:

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

So, what is this saying? It is saying that we should not deny the gifts of the Spirit as though some of them no longer exist, for in doing so we may be quenching the Holy Spirit. Yet, we are not to just blindly accept any gift of the Spirit that someone says he has, but we are to test everything against the Scriptures, in context. And we should compare Scripture with Scripture because if we just pull out what one Scripture says on a subject without considering what the Scriptures teach on that subject, as a whole, we may misinterpret and misapply what the Scriptures are actually teaching.

Now with regard to the misuse of the gifts, we should be people who use the gifts biblically. So, if someone says he has a word from the Lord, that word should agree with the Scriptures, and that word must not be against (contrary to) what the Scriptures teach. So if your “word” is telling people that they are all going to be successful and wealthy and that nothing bad will happen to them, then you are teaching against the Scriptures which tell us that we are going to be afflicted, and that we will be hated and persecuted, and that we are going to suffer for the sake of the gospel of Christ.

Also, if your gift leads you to do what is out of control to where you lose control over your own body, then that is against the Scriptures, for they teach that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. So if the spirit you are listening to is leading you to do what is lacking in self-control, that spirit is not of God, and it is not the Holy Spirit. And so it is likely a demonic spirit. And if your speaking in tongues is created by you babbling, which is self-produced, then that is not of the Spirit of God who gives gifts as He wills.

And then I want to touch lightly on the subject of women and the gift of prophecy, for it is clear in the Scriptures that the gift of prophecy is given both to men and to women. And I am not speaking here of future telling nor am I speaking of adding to the Scriptures additional words supposedly coming from the Lord. Biblically speaking, at least under the New Covenant, I see prophecy more in the category of preaching, and both men and women are to prophesy. So this is more about sharing the truth of the Scriptures in ways which are practical and applicable to our lives and our world today.

Now with regard to the silencing of women, as some Scriptures do teach, I believe that we have to look at those Scriptures in their context, and also we should compare them with other Scriptures to see how Jesus regarded women, and how women are gifted of the Spirit, and how all of us are to be used within the body of Christ, too, as “each part does its work.” 

Now those passages that mention that women should be silent in the gatherings of the church also say that if they have questions that they should ask their husbands at home. So the idea there seems to be that these women were causing a disturbance and that is why they were being silenced. Anyway, the Lord has given me other writings dealing with the subject of women in ministry, so I will put the links to those writings at the end of this in case you are interested in reading them.

So, what’s the bottom line here? We should not quench the Spirit by denying the gifts of the Spirit, but we should test the spirits biblically to see if they are of God. And we should not tell other members in the body of Christ that we have no need of them and that they are to go “someplace else where they will be a better fit.” Now if they are out of line, biblically, then we don’t have to accept the abuse of the gifts, but we need to make certain that we know what the Scriptures teach on that subject so that we are not out of line by rejecting another Christian’s gifts and end up quenching the Spirit.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfLXHWSQM6Q

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Constantly Abiding 

By Anne S. Murphy, 1908 

There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave,

A peace it cannot take away;

Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,

I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,

When peace sweetly came to my heart;

Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,

Blessèd Jesus, how glorious Thou art!

This treasure I have in a temple of clay,

While here on His footstool I roam;

But He’s coming to take me some glorious day,

Over there to my heavenly home!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:

“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnmojpwHb0

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Women in Ministry

Role of Women in the Church

The Silencing of Women

https://runwithit.blog/2019/08/04/women-in-ministry/

https://runwithit.blog/2019/05/12/honoring-of-women/

https://runwithit.blog/2020/09/20/faithful-to-his-design/