David Diga Hernandez - The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Power Gifts

So, I want to continue my series on spiritual gifts, and in this part, which is part three, I will be discussing the power gifts. These include the gifts of healing, prophecy, discernment, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the gift of speaking in tongues. I know many of you have been looking forward to my coverage of these gifts in particular, so I will delve into them. We refer to them as the power gifts in this edition of Spirit Church here on Encounter TV. First, Steven Montazuma is here with me; he will lead you in worship, and then we will get right into this lesson. I want to share with you about these wonderful gifts, and I believe that God has given you some of these gifts as well.

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So our primary text is going to be 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and again, I’m discussing the power gifts. I know that when I start talking about the power gifts, this stirs excitement in many of you because these gifts are thrilling; they are special abilities that the Holy Spirit gives to us that have a supernatural application. I want to get right into this: 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and we’re going to read verses 1-11.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the spiritual abilities the Spirit gives us, I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Holy Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say, «Jesus is Lord,» except by the Holy Spirit. Remember, in part one of this series, I talked about how we can avoid paganism or gifts just for the sake of the gifts; we need the substance of Jesus. The Spirit behind the spiritual gifts will always ultimately point to Jesus.

Verse 4: 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. Here you see all three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit present. I believe that was mentioned for two reasons: one, the Trinity is the greatest example of unity—Trinity, tri-unity. The gifts of the Holy Spirit work best when we are united. Also, I wanted to emphasize that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all very intentional about giving you your spiritual gift. It was these three together who decided what spiritual gift you would receive; I covered that in part one.

Verse 7: A spiritual gift is given to each of us, so every single person has a gift. You cannot say, «I don’t have one.» It goes on to say, so we can help each other. To one person, the Spirit gives the ability of wise advice, or the word of wisdom. To another, the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge, or the word of knowledge.

Verse 9: The same Spirit gives great faith, the gift of faith, to another. 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, or in tongues, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

Verse 11: It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts; He alone decides which gift each person should have. I want to first take a look at the gift of prophecy, which we just read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 10. It’s important to note that the gift of prophecy is different from the gift of the prophet, which we discussed last week in Ephesians chapter 4:1. Ephesians chapter 4:1 tells us about the leadership gifts that God has given to the body of Christ. They are more than just gifts; they are positions, part of the structure of the overall body God has given us, allowing us to find edification, guidance, and all those things that come with having leaders in our lives.

However, the gift of prophecy differs from the office of the prophet. There’s the apostle, the pastor, the teacher, the prophet, and the evangelist. Now remember, any believer can give counsel and guide one another, but not every believer will be a pastor. Any believer can start a ministry work that God has given them to begin, but not every believer will be an apostle. Every believer is definitely called to evangelize the lost, but not every believer will be given the office of the evangelist. Every believer should know the Word well enough to explain it to someone who desires an understanding of the Word, but not every believer will function in the office of the teacher. Finally, to make my point, believers can prophesy, but not every believer who prophesies is a prophet.

Romans 12:6 states, «In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.» So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. In other words, speak out with the measure of faith that God has given you. God anoints all believers; God has saved all believers, and God values all believers equally. However, as far as the gifts and the functions of those gifts go, not every believer is in the same place.

Look, if you can grow in something, that means there are levels to it. My generation especially wants to believe that all believers are on the same level spiritually. I have news for you: it’s not the case. The same applies to spiritual gifts. Not everyone is as strong in their gift as the next person, and not everyone walks in the anointing at the same level as others. Now, can every believer walk in the fullness, the capacity of the gifts that God has given them? Of course! But in order to get there, one must exercise those gifts, step out in faith, and maintain a prayer life and devotion.