Originally the term Apostle referred to the twelve disciples that Jesus called. Some people believe that the gift of apostleship does not exist any more, however, Paul refers to himself as an apostle and he wasn't one of the original twelve. In 2 Timothy 1:11 he said I was chosen to tell that Good News and to be an apostle and a teacher.
The original Greek word means a messenger or someone who is sent. I believe that missionaries and church planters are modern apostles. There aren't many people who fit this definition, but they do exist. When you think about it, all of us have been sent into the world to tell the good news of the Gospel. Matthew 28:19-20 says, go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. So, what are you waiting for?
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This is a tricky one.The gift of other languages, or tongues as it is often referred to, is the ability to speak in languages that you haven't learned. Some people believe this refers to a heavenly language, and others believe that it refers to foreign languages. 1 Corinthians 14 talks about this gift.
The gift of other languages is speaking to God. 1 Corinthians14:2 Those who have the gift of speaking in a different language are not speaking to people. They are speaking to God. No one understands them—they are speaking secret things through the Spirit. It benefits you, not the rest of the church. 1 Corinthians 14:4 Those who speak in a different language are helping only themselves. The gift of prophecy is greater because it instructs and encourages the believers. 1 Corinthians 14:5 I would like all of you to have the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. But more, I want you to prophesy. The person who prophesies is greater than the one who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what he says. It is for non-believers like the gift of miracles. 1 Corinthians 14:22 So the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who believe. Only two or three people should speak in tongues and take turns. 1 Corinthians 14:27 When you meet together, if anyone speaks in a different language, then it should be only two, or not more than three, who speak. They should speak one after the other. Someone should interpret what is spoken in tongues, or you should be quiet. 1 Corinthians 14:27b-28 And someone should interpret what they say. But if there is no interpreter, then anyone who speaks in a different language should be quiet in the church meeting. He should speak only to himself and to God. You shouldn't stop someone from speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:39 And do not stop people from using the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. In Acts chapter two the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other languages. These were definitely known languages because the people who had gathered there heard them in their own language. Someone told me once that to test if something is true and from God, ask yourself if it gives glory to him. If it doesn't give glory to God, then it's probably not from him. If it doesn't, it's probably not. So, if someone is speaking in tongues, it should meet the criteria above and it should glorify God. The gift of discernment is when God's Holy Spirit enables someone to discern the truth from a lie, right motives from wrong, or whether something is from the Holy Spirit or another spirit. In Acts chapter 5 Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold some land gave the money to the church. However, they secretly kept some of it for themselves.
Acts 5:3 Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan rule your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit. Why did you keep part of the money you received for the land for yourself? The Holy Spirit gave Peter the gift of discernment so that he knew they were lying. No one else knew, just Ananias, Sapphira and God. 1 John 4:1 says, My dear friends, many false prophets are in the world now. So do not believe every spirit. But test the spirits to see if they are from God. Not every preacher on TV is correctly teaching God's Word. There are all kinds of false prophets out there. That's why it's important for someone to discern if what they are teaching is from the Holy Spirit or another spirit. This is just one application of the gift of discernment. 1 Corinthians 14:1 says, Be eager to have the gifts that come from the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is when God reveals a message directly to someone so they can relay it to an individual or group of believers. We usually associate prophecy with telling the future, however, the Spiritual gift of prophecy is different to this.
I have seen the gift of prophecy in action at prayer and worship nights when someone gets a message of encouragement, instruction or comfort. The message is from God, not from the person speaking. In 1 Corinthians Paul tells us that we should want to have the gift of prophecy more than the other spiritual gifts. Here's what else 1 Corinthians 14 says about prophecy: 1 Corinthians 14:3 But one who prophesies is speaking to people. He gives people strength, encouragement, and comfort. 1 Corinthians 14:4b But the one who prophesies is helping the whole church. 1 Corinthians 14:22b Prophecy is for people who believe, not for those who do not believe. 1 Corinthians 14:29 And only two or three prophets should speak. The others should judge what they say. From these verses we learn:
According to www.crosswalk.com a miracle is when 'when God interrupts and intervenes in your human situation.' The Bible is full of miracles, from the creation of the world, to Jesus' resurrection. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a book of miracles—of God's intervention in humankind. We often think that miracles have to be huge in scale like Moses parting the sea or Jesus feeding 5000 people. If we look hard enough we will see miracles all around us. In my life I have seen God miraculously provide a new job when the old one was made redundant, a pregnancy after an infertility diagnosis, the provision of money that we didn't have to pay bills, supernatural help to pass exams, strength to endure difficult situations when I didn't think I could go on, and countless other miracles. These were all God intervening in my human situation. We all experience miracles in our lives, even if we don't recognise them. The gift of miracles is when God intervenes supernaturally through someone else.
Many people believe that the Spiritual gifts only applied to the apostles. I find this hard to believe because there were Old Testament characters who apparently had the gift of miracles before the apostles existed. Moses miraculously parted the sea so that the Israelites could escape Egypt, Joshua marched the Israelites around the walls of Jericho until they miraculously fell down, God miraculously provided a widow with oil through the prophet Elisha, and there are many more examples. Faith is necessary to do miracles. In Matthew 13:58 says, And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Jesus was in his home town, but because of their lack of faith, even he couldn't do many miracles there. The gift of miracles does not seem evident in the western church, generally speaking. I have heard a different story from the persecuted church in Asia. The lack of miracles may be largely due to a lack of faith, rather than the withdrawal of the gift. Once again, it's important to point out that this is just my personal view based on my understanding of the Bible. The gift of healing is when someone prays for a person who is sick and they are healed. This was evident during the early church - here are a couple of examples:
Acts 3:1-9 Peter and John healed a lame man. Acts 9:32-35 Peter healed a paralysed man. Acts 28:7-10 Paul healed many sick people at Malta. Some people believe that the gift of healing is no longer available but I have not found any evidence in the Bible to support this idea. I know of people who have experienced miraculous healing. I also know plenty of people who have not been healed yet. Sickness is part of living in a fallen world. Ultimately, perfect healing will come when we see Jesus face to face when he comes again. Spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sin, is way more important than physical healing. Whether or not you believe you have the gift of healing, the Bible tells us to pray for the sick. James 5: 14-15 says, If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them. There is nothing magical about olive oil. In Bible times they used to anoint people with olive oil as they it was believed to have medicinal properties. Prayer is the important element here, along with faith. The purpose of the spiritual gifts is to bless people and glorify God. We should focus on that, not on spiritual gifts. All Christians have faith in God, but the gift of faith that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 12:9 is not the same. Jesus often observed that people didn't have enough faith.
For example, when Peter got out of the boat and started to walk on water to Jesus, he started to sink and Jesus said, You of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31). Jesus also commented that some people had great faith. For example, when Jesus healed a woman's demon possessed daughter he said, Woman, you have great faith! You will get what you asked for (Matthew 15:28). Hebrews 11 is a whole book about faith. Verse 1 says, Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. Faith is believing that God knows what he's doing and trusting in him. The rest of Hebrews lists what we call the Heroes of Faith: Abel offered a better sacrifice than his brother. Enoch didn't die, God just took him up to heaven. Noah built the ark, even though he had probably never seen a flood before. Abraham moved to a new country. Sarah had a baby even though she was really old. All of these people had great faith. They obeyed God because of it. I believe the gift of faith enables people to look past their circumstances and obstacles, to trust God completely, and do hard things. They know that God is with them and helps them. The second part of 1 Corinthians 8 says, the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. Knowledge and wisdom are listed as two separate gifts. The Bible doesn't give us a clear definition of the gift of knowledge but I will attempt to make sense of it.
HELPS—Word Studies defines the original Greek word as 'functional ("working") knowledge gleaned from first-hand (personal) experience.' It's a bit like saying, 'I know about gravity because I fell out of a tree when I was six.' I know about it because I experienced it. I think that it's similar to someone having the gift of knowledge—they know because they have experienced it. Many people know that God loves them, but it's just a head knowledge. Other people have experienced his love in a powerful way and it has moved from being a head knowledge to a heart knowledge. The Holy Spirit gives us this knowledge, you can't learn it. Here's another illustration. If you haven't seen snow you can still know about it—you know that it's white and cold, you could even imagine what it feels like. But if you have stood in the snow, touched and tasted it, you know about snow on a whole other level. In my understanding, the gift of knowledge is linked to our experiences as the Holy Spirit helps us to understand them. It gives us a new perspective. Some people have the gift of seeing things from a God point of view, instead of a human point of view—I think that is part of the gift of knowledge. Hope that makes sense. In 1 Corinthians 12:8 Paul says, The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom (Easy-to-Read Version). Here is verse 8 in several other versions:
To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice (Living Bible). To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom (New International Version). Some of us can speak with wisdom (Contemporary English Version). The original Greek word for wisdom is sophia which translates to the 'art of using wisdom' or 'affection for wisdom' (HELPS Word Studies). Giftstest.com defines the gift of wisdom as 'the divine strength or ability to understand and to bring clarity to situations and circumstances often through applying the truths of Scripture in a practical way.' Put simply, the gift of wisdom is being able to understand and apply the Bible to everyday life. Even though Jesus didn't appear until the New Testament, the entire Old Testament points to him. Colossians 2:3 says, God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ (Names of God). Christ crucified and risen is the wisdom of God. The gift of wisdom comes from the Spirit—no about of Bible study or theological studies can give you this wisdom, only God can. As you reflect on this, can you think of someone that you consider to be wise? Do you know someone who understands the Bible and can explain it clearly? Paul talks about the Spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (emphasis is mine)
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. There is a lot of controversy and confusion over the Spiritual Gifts. I don't pretend to have all the answers but we will have a look at them over the next few months. The important take-away from this passage is that God gives us gifts and equips us to help each other. You don't have to know which gifts you have to start serving—just start serving. Do you have any clue about what your gifts are? Stay tuned for more. |
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