The nine manifestations or gifts of the Holy Spirit are generally divided as follows:
Three revelation gifts -Spiritual gifts that reveal something:
- The word of wisdom
- The word of knowledge
- The discerning of spirits
Three power gifts -Spiritual gifts that do something:
- The gift of faith
- The working of miracles
- The gifts of healings
Three utterance or inspirational gifts -Spiritual gifts that say something:
- Prophecy
- Divers kinds of tongues
- Interpretation of tongues
The Word of Wisdom
The word of wisdom is a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God concerning the divine purpose and plan in the mind and will of God.
The Word of Wisdom Is Not Wisdom in the Affairs of Life
The word of wisdom is confused many times with simple wisdom in the affairs of life, but simple wisdom in the affairs of life is not a spiritual gift. In the beginning of Joshua's ministry, God told him that the key to his success would lie in meditating on the Word of God, and that is how Joshua was to obtain wisdom in the affairs of life.
The Gift of the Word of Knowledge
Notice that this gift is called "the word of knowledge." It is not "the gift of knowledge." There is no such thing as a spiritual gift of knowledge. There is, however, a spiritual gift, called the word of knowledge. The word of knowledge is the supernatural revelation by the Holy Ghost of certain facts in the mind of God — facts about people, places, or things in the past or present..
The Word of Knowledge vs. The Word of Wisdom
The difference between the two gifts — the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom — is that the revelation the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or concerning something that has happened in the past.
On the other hand, the word of wisdom always speaks of the future.
The Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom Can Operate Together
We divide the two gifts of the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom and deal with them singularly. However, as I mentioned, very often spiritual gifts operate together.
The Gift of the discerning of spirits
The gift of the discerning of spirits is supernatural insight into the spirit world.
The discerning of spirits actually has a more limited range of operation than the other two revelation gifts, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. That is because its revelation is limited to a single class of objects — spirits.
What the Discerning of Spirits Is Not
Someone has said that the best way to find out what something is, is to find out what it is not.
So let's discuss what the discerning of spirits is not. It is not discernment. I've heard people say, "I believe I have the gift of discernment."
Actually, there is no such thing mentioned in the Bible as the gift of discernment. It is the discerning of spirits. Many times what people call the gift of discernment is really the gift of the word of knowledge in operation.
In other words, sometimes people know things by the Spirit of God and call it discernment. But that doesn't mean it is really discernment. It is actually the word of knowledge in operation.
Also, the discerning of spirits is not a kind of spiritual mind reading. And the discerning of spirits is not psychological insight, nor is it mental "penetration." It is not the power to discern the faults of others.
You will find that the power to discern faults in others is possessed not only by believers but by unbelievers as well. You don't even have to be a Christian to have that "gift"! As a matter of fact, the power to discover or discern the faults in others is absolutely forbidden in the Scriptures. "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matt. 7:1).
One purpose of the baptism in the Holy Ghost is to destroy this "gift" of discerning faults in others, which is nothing more than criticism, and then to replace it with the sweet gift of gentle forbearance. The gift of discerning of spirits is not faultfinding. If those who think they have the "gift" of faultfinding would just turn that "gift" on themselves for about fifteen seconds, they
would never use it again.
Therefore, the discerning of spirits is not a spiritual gift to uncover human failures. Christians should walk in love, and the Bible says love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Paul, writing to the Church at Ephesus, said, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). Paul was talking here to Christians.
No, the discerning of spirits is not discerning of character or faults; it is not even the discerning of people. It is called the discerning of spirits, and it deals with spirits that exist in the spirit realm, whether they are divine, satanic, or human.
Discerning of Spirits Is Not Simply Discerning of Devils
Let me point out that this gift of discerning of spirits is not just the discerning of devils, nor is it the discerning of just evil spirits.
To say that the discerning of spirits has to do only with devils is misleading. This gift has to do with the entire class of spirits, including good spirits, bad spirits, and human spirits. It is supernatural insight into the realm of spirits. The discerning of evil spirits is included, of course, but too many times folks have thought that seeing demons and devils is all this gift encompasses and they have been misled.
Gifts of the Spirit Are Supernatural
All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural; they are not natural. Every one of them is a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit of God.
There are Bible teachers who say that some of the gifts of the Spirit are natural and some of them are supernatural. But if one of them is supernatural, then all of them are supernatural.
Every single one of the gifts of the Spirit listed in First Corinthians 12:8-10 is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
The Gift of Special Faith
It is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit whereby a believer is empowered with special faith, or wonder-working faith
The Gift of Special Faith Is Not the Same as Saving Faith
Every believer already has general faith or saving faith, which is also a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
The faith that you are saved by is a gift of God, but it is not one of the nine gifts of the Spirit.
Saving faith is given to you through hearing the Word, because the Bible says, "So then faith [saving faith ] cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).
The faith which we are talking about in this lesson — special faith — is something other than general faith or saving faith. It is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit whereby a believer is empowered with special faith, or wonder-working faith, and it is beyond simple saving faith.
The Gift of the Working of Miracles
A miracle can be defined as a supernatural intervention by God in the ordinary course of nature. The working of miracles is used to display God's power and magnificence.
In Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the Greek word for "miracles" in First Corinthians 12:10 is "dunamis," and can also be translated acts of powers.
The Gift of Faith vs. The Gift of the Working of Miracles
The gift of faith is also distinct from the working of miracles, although both gifts produce miracles. One of them is active and the other is passive.
The working of miracles is active; it actively works a miracle. The gift of faith doesn't work a miracle, but passively receives a miracle.
In other words, the difference between the working of miracles and the gift of faith is that the gift of working of miracles actively does, and the gift of special faith passively receives.
Gifts of Healings: Not Medical Science
First, I want to emphasize the supernatural character of the gifts of healings. The gifts of healings have nothing to do with medical science or human learning.
Luke, who was a medical doctor, was with Paul on many of Paul's missionary journeys.
Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles as well as the Book of the Bible that bears his name. Luke was with Paul when he was shipwrecked and they were on the Island of Melita.
Nothing at all is said to the effect that Luke ministered to the folks on that island with his medical knowledge. But the father-in-law of the chief man of the island was sick, and Paul laid his hands on him and he was healed. He was healed by the supernatural power of God. This was the gifts of healings in manifestation.
Note: There is a difference between receiving healing through the manifestation of gifts of healings and just simply receiving healing by our own faith in God's Word.
The Gift of Prophecy
Prophecy is supernatural utterance in a known tongue. is simply means divinely inspired utterance in a known tongue
The Bible says, ". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret ..." (1 Cor. 14:5). This infers that to speak with tongues and to interpret the tongues
is equivalent to prophecy.
tongues + Interpretation = prophecy
Therefore, prophecy is really the most important of these three gifts of inspiration or utterance in that it does not require another gift to complete it.
The Simple Gift of Prophecy Is Not Prediction
Many people think the gift of prophecy is prediction. The simple gift of prophecy, however, is not prediction but is speaking unto men ". . . to edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3).
Difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament.
It is also interesting to note the difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament prophecy was essentially foretelling, but in the New Testament we see that the gift of prophecy shifts strongly to forth telling.
The Gift of Prophecy vs. The Office of the Prophet
The gift of prophecy should not be confused with the prophetic office. The simple gift of prophecy has no revelation in it. Rather, it speaks unto men for their edification,
exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3); it is to edify the Church (1 Cor. 14:4).
Notice that in First Corinthians 14:1, Paul was telling the whole Church at Corinth to covet to prophesy and to desire spiritual gifts, ". . . but rather that ye may prophesy." Yet in First Corinthians 12:28, Paul said that all are not prophets. If prophesying made a person a prophet, then Paul would be contradicting himself. In other words, the fact that the gift of simple prophecy operates through a person doesn't make him a prophet.
Therefore, the prophet would have other revelation gifts operating in his ministry, as well as the gift of prophecy.
To constitute standing in the office of the prophet, a person needs to have at least two of the revelation gifts operating on a continual basis in his life and ministry, plus the gift of prophecy.
In other words, for a person to stand in the office of the prophet, he would need to be called to the fivefold ministry as a preacher or teacher of the Word (Eph. 4:11,12), and have two of the three revelation gifts — the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, or the discerning of spirits — plus prophecy operating consistently in his ministry.
Therefore, we should not confuse the office of the prophet with the simple gift of prophecy which we are all told to covet.
Paul said, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to EDIFICATION, and EXHORTATION, and COMFORT" (1 Cor. 14:3).
Thus, we can readily see that in the simple gift of prophecy there is no revelation. The simple gift of prophecy is given for edification, exhortation, and comfort. In the office of the prophet, however we very often find that revelation or foretelling does come forth, even through the vehicle of prophecy.
The Gift of Tongues
Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue.
The Gift of Tongues Is a Supernatural Sign
Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance by the Holy Spirit in languages never learned by the speaker, nor understood by the speaker, nor necessarily always understood by the hearer. Speaking with tongues has nothing whatsoever to do with linguistic ability; it has nothing to do with the mind or the intellect of man. It is a vocal miracle of the Holy Spirit.
We might ask, "What is the good of speaking with tongues?" Jesus said in Mark 16:17, ". . . these signs shall follow them that believe . . . they shall speak with new tongues."
The Gift of Tongues Is Unique To This Dispensation
One preacher disagreed with speaking in tongues, saying, "John the Baptist had the Holy Ghost and he didn't speak with tongues. Prophets of the Old Testament had the Holy Ghost, but they never spoke in tongues. So why do we need to speak in tongues?"
Initial Evidence of Receiving the Holy Spirit
Speaking in tongues is the initial evidence or sign of the Holy Spirit's infilling Presence (Acts 2:4). I believe, of course, that there are other evidences that will follow, but this is the first or initial physical evidence.
Speaking Mysteries Supernaturally to God
Paul gives another reason for speaking with tongues in First Corinthians 14:2: "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but UNTO GOD: for no man understandeth him; howbeit IN THE SPIRIT HE SPEAKETH MYSTERIES" (1 Cor. 14:2).
The Gift of Interpretation of tongues
Interpretation of tongues is a supernatural showing forth of that which has been said in an unknown tongue.
The gift of interpretation of tongues is the least gift of all of the gifts of the Spirit because it depends upon another gift — divers kinds of tongues — in order to operate. It does not operate unless tongues have been in operation.
The purpose of the gift of interpretation of tongues is to render the gift of tongues
understandable to the hearers so that the whole church congregation, as well as the one who gave the utterance in an unknown tongue, may know what has been said and may be edified thereby. Paul said,". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, THAT THE CHURCH MAY RECEIVE EDIFYING" (1 Cor. 14:5).
All these gifts operate by faith, but it takes more faith to operate in the gift of prophecy than tongues or interpretation of tongues.
The Gift of Interpretation — Not Translation
As we mentioned earlier, the interpretation of tongues is not a translation. I am sometimes asked why it is that when someone speaks at length in tongues, an interpreter will occasionally give only a short message.
Note: all the spiritual gifts listed above are manifested by the Holy Ghost as he wills. you cannot start the operation of a spiritual gift like if you switch on your TV set at home. The manifestation of the Spirit is given by the Holy Spirit Himself. Nevertheless some gifts can be operated by faith (e.g gift of tongues)
Recommended book
The Holy Spirit and His Gifts by Kenneth Hagin
