More gifts referred in Scriptures

 BY Argie Simonis

"For who makes you to differ from another? and what have you that you did not receive? now if you did receive it, why do you glory, as if you had not received it?" 1Cor. 4:7

This is a very good reminder to help us walk humbly. Any good we can find in ourselves is a gift from God. The Lord gives us gifts not because we are good or because we deserve them, but because He is good. Gifts are gifts, not wages, and are given 

"for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" Eph. 4:12 

and 

"all these works that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." 1Cor. 12:11

"And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" 1Cor. 12:28-30

In addition to the nine gifts of the Spirit that Paul mentions in 1 Cor. 12 that we studied in the previous messages, there are other gifts:

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teaches, on teaching;

Or he that exhorts, on exhortation: he that gives, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness." Rom. 12:6-8

Paul here mentions 7 gifts:

- prophecy

- ministry

- teaching

- exhortation

- giving

- administration

- mercy

Paul's purpose here is to show that different people in the body of Christ have different positions or functions.

I must point out again that all believers can function in the gifts mentioned here, but that does not mean that this is also their ministry, or in other words, their calling.

For example, everyone can and should teach others, but that does not make them teachers. The difference between teaching and preaching is that the preacher declares the Word of God, while the teacher explains it.

Paul also said "you can all prophesy one by one" (1 Corinthians 14:31), but he also made it clear that not everyone is called to be a prophet (1 Corinthians 12:29).

Likewise, all believers are to show mercy and give, but some people are given supernatural gifts in these areas.

- All believers are called to serve one another with love, but the gift of ministry or service, is a supernatural ability and grace that the Lord gives to a person to serve, help and minister to others.

- The gift of prompting

Exhortation is part of the preaching of the Word:

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." 2Tim. 4:2 

- The gift of giving (or offering) concerns people whom the Lord gives a special grace to make money in order to financially support God's work. We are all called to give to the Lord from our possessions:

"Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver." 2Cor. 9:7

but here Paul tells us that those who have a ministry of giving (offering) should be generous in giving.

- The gift of administration could refer to any of the many positions of authority within the church. This reveals that although everyone has some degree of authority, there are individuals who are given a gift of ministry to rule, or what we would commonly call "management" today.

- It is certain that all believers should show mercy and give, but some people are given supernatural gifts in these areas. This is what Paul is describing here. Regarding the gift of offering, he said that offering should be done with simplicity. Those who rule should be diligent in what they do and those who have the gift of mercy should administer it with joy.

- I would also like to mention the artistic gifts:

"See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship." Exodus 31:2-5

There are many gifted artists around the world, but not all of them dedicate their gift to the Lord.

Those whom the Lord has called to a specific ministry, even in the area of arts (music, theater, cinema) are to help and empower believers  to be able to better share their faith with the world. Then all together as one body become witnesses of our Christ and people are saved.

And since shepherds do not beget sheep, but sheep beget sheep, in the following messages we will look at the ministry gifts from Ephesians:

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers,

"for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" Eph. 4:11-12

Gifts of healings and working of miracles

 BY Argie Simonis

Something we notice in 1 Corinthians 12:9 is that it speaks in the plural of gifts of healing:

"... to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" 1Corinthians 12:9

The gifts of healing are supernatural powers released through a person for the purpose of bringing healing to those who are sick. All believers can lay hands on the sick and see them recover (Mark 16:17-18 and John 14:12), but there are some people who have a calling to a ministry of healing. These people are gifted with the gifts of healing, and this is something that strongly characterizes their ministry. Healing gifts are expressed in various ways, depending on how the Lord distributes them.

It is the same with the gift of miracles.

Miracles are God's way of meeting the needs of those who seek Him in faith. Miracles will sometimes be used to show God's ability so that people will believe (Mark 2:10-11), but will not happen to skeptics who tempt God (Luke 4:9-12) .

So what is the definition of a miracle?

A miracle is a supernatural intervention of God's power upon natural law.

There is an essential separation between a miracle and a healing. Healings occur within the boundaries of natural laws, while miracles are not limited to natural laws. A person with a high fever who receives prayer and then begins to recover experiences a healing. The Lord intervened here, but in natural ways, as for example in Peter's mother-in-law:

"And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered to them." Luke 4:39

The virus, infection, or whatever it was that was causing the fever was rebuked, left her body and then her immune system took over the natural healing process (as it is designed to do in all of us).

When something totally supernatural happens, that's a miracle:

"And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

And Jesus answered and said, Suffer you thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him." Luke 22:50-51

When Jesus reattached Malchus' ear after Peter had previously cut it off (John 18:10), it was a miracle. It was also a healing, but it was a miraculous healing.

The feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:19-20), the walking on water (Matt. 14:25), the transfer of the ship and all the passengers from one end of the sea to the other (John 6:21 ), these are all miracles. Miracles are usually instantaneous, while healings are usually a proccess.

Are miracles happening today?

"And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." Mark 16:20

The Lord confirmed the preaching of His Word with miracles. If Jesus and the first century Christians needed the Word confirmed by miracles, how much more we do:

"God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" Hebrews 2:4

The gift of Faith

BY Argie Simonis

The group of power gifts includes the gifts of faith, healings, and miracles.

The gift of faith is like the faith that every believer receives during the born again experience, but to a very higher degree. It's like when adrenaline enables a person to lift something extremely heavy that in a normal situation they would not be able to do. In other words, it is a supernatural impartation of faith intended to enable supernatural results.

All born-again Christians have faith, by which they were saved:

"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Eph. 2:8

Faith is like a muscle that needs practice to get stronger. We must practice it through the renewing of our minds:

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17

This is why the Scriptures speak of great faith (Matthew 8:10) and little faith (Matthew 8:26).

The faith referred to here as the gift of the Holy Spirit is different from the faith received at salvation, which is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is a supernatural impartation of faith that does not come through the normal process of renewing the mind and is intended to help those who struggle with doubts or worries and struggle to believe.

What I want to point out here is that the gift of faith is given for a specific problem or at a specific time. Otherwise, if one has the gift of faith, nothing else is needed.

The person who moves in the gift of faith operates over the limitations of mind and reason and can impart this supernatural faith to someone who has difficulty believing.

Usually this gift works together with the gifts of healings and miracles which we will examine later.

We must not forget that the Lord gives us these gifts as a tool to help us, not as a substitute for our personal faith and our relationship with Him. There will be times when we will need the help of a person with the gift of faith, miracles or healings, but the primary way the Lord has set us to receive from Him is through our personal faith and relationship with Him.

On the next message I will talk about the gifts of healings and miracles.

To be continued...

Judgement and condemnation

 BY Argie Simonis

There is not only a right and a wrong way to judge, but what we judge is equally important.

The Lord said to judge what is right (Luke 12:57 and John 7:24),

and used the word "judge" and "discern" interchangeably:

"You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time?

Yes, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right?" Luke 12:56-57

According to the dictionary, the word "judgment" moves on a scale that starts from the form of an opinion or evaluation and reaches condemnation. It is certainly not a bad thing to discern or appreciate a situation or a person. The Word of God even tells us to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). When we do it with discernment it is good. But when this is done with condemnation it is not good:

"Who are you that judge another man's servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand." Rom. 14:4

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Rom. 14:13

"Speak not evil one of another, brothers. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge." James 4:11

It is a reality that there will be times when we will be annoyed or offended by someone. It is not wrong to judge these actions. This of course must be done in the light of the Word of God, because any other attempt to interpret these acts based on our personal experiences or based on the opinions of others for example, will lead us to errors. When it comes to judge the motivation behind someone's actions, let us leave it to God, because only He knows the heart of a person.

We may have been hurt by words spoken to us, but most of the times we don't know the frustrations these people carry every day. If we could understand the real reason they do what they do, we would be much more compassionate in our judgment.

The Lord did not forbid us to judge, but warned us:

"Judge not, that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." Matt. 7:1-2

So, we must judge whether something is right or wrong and sometimes pass condemning sentences, as in the example of Paul (1 Cor. 5:3-5, 1 Tim. 1:20).

Pastors and elders also bear the responsibility of rebuking and disciplining church members:

"Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." 1Tim. 5:20

But it is something that should not be done lightly. This is a warning to be sure we have heard from God and we are not just venting our personal frustrations:

"So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment." James 2:12-13