SCRIPTURE LESSON.

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the self came Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ.” I Cor. 12, 4-12.

I beg of you to notice carefully that the diversities of gifts are attributed to the Spirit, the diversities of ministries to Jesus Christ, and the diversities of operations to God, the Father. I do not think that this is a fanciful or poetical expression, but a great truth that the church needs to learn.

Paul calls the attention of the believer to this fact, that there are differences of operations, but it is the same God that worketh all in all. The same God in creations and in providences. The sun, the moon, the stars and the earth all differ from one another, but it is the same God that worketh and createth and ruleth all of them. The trees, the flowers, the shrubs and the grasses all differ from one another, but it is the same God that hath created them all. The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the fish of the sea, the creeping things of this life differ one from another, but it is the same God that worketh in the different creations — that worketh, createth and superintended! them.

“There are diversities of ministrations, but the same Lord.,, That is to say, that the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be connected with, and has the superintendence of, the ministries. “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, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” The Lord Jesus, when He led captivity captive, obtained gifts for men, obtained these positions, these authorities, these orders, and ranks, through which the membership is to be edified, through which the Gospel is to be spread, through which the church is to have power.

The Father seems to be associated with the power of creation and of providences. The Son seems to be associated more closely with the ministries and orders in the kingdom which He has set up. The Son ordained the kingdom of heaven on earth and set it up among men, and He is more closely connected with the ministries of the kingdom.

The Spirit seems to be the source of fullness in these ministries, the source of power in the various workers of the kingdom. Among the ministries there are differences of gifts, but it is the same Spirit.

These spiritual gifts were very common in the church for 300 years after Pentecost, and it was expected they would remain permanently. When Constantine claimed to be a Christian, having great wealth and being a great ruler, he endowed the church, especially the ministry, and from that time on the gifts of the Spirit were seldom manifest. This was not because the world had become Christian, and the gifts of the Spirit were not needed, because not a twentieth part of the world had nominally become Christians. It was because the church had become worldly, especially the ministry. Constantine endowed the ministers with great possessions, and when they had great wealth they lost their spirituality, until they had no more salvation than the heathen among whom they lived. The Spirit was grieved for hundreds of years. The great falling away happened, the dark ages came, and the church groped in darkness without the fruit or the gifts of the Spirit. Nearly every spiritual man was imprisoned or killed by the church authorities.

Let us look at the gifts of the Spirit that are mentioned in these verses that I have read.

I beg of you to notice that the gifts of the Spirit are not the fruit of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are the manifestations of God to our senses. The fruit of the Spirit are the impartations of God to our characters. The gifts are irregular and of unequal value. Paul says he would sooner speak five words of testimony than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

The gifts are not for all, while the fruit is for all, for “every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” The gifts are obtained by asking while the fruit is obtained by abiding. The gifts call attention to ourselves, and are often the cause of strife and contention in the church. The gifts are instrumental, and do not belong to character. They are lodged in the voice, or will, or body, and have no relation to piety; Samson, Solomon, Balaam and Judas all had gifts, but they were none of them examples of Christian living.

Jesus says, many will say unto him “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works,” and that he would say to them,

“Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.”

Paul shows in I Corinthians, 13th chapter, that a man may have all the gifts and yet not be a Christian at all. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love — I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love I am nothing.” A man might say, “I have all the facilities for farming and merchandising all the facilities for manufacturing or railroading, but I have not patriotism; I am loyal to the king of England.” He would not be a good citizen. He might use his talents and gifts for his own interests or the advantage of King Edward.

I. There is the Gift of the Word of Wisdom.

It is said that unto one is given the word of wisdom. This does not mean scientific wisdom, but spiritual wisdom, the impartation of the truth of Christ Jesus. It means the fulfillment of the word that Jesus said, “He shall take the things of mine and reveal them unto you.” In this kingdom the Lord has appointed ministers, and teachers, and helpers, and when they are loyal to their work the Holy Spirit is pledged to impart unto them in his own way the right impressions of God, the right conception of the things of God that they shall speak wisely and shall teach truly/’ So that “if any man will do the will of God,” as they teach it, “he shall know of the doctrine.”

Now I am sure we do not appreciate the Holy Spirit as a teacher. We have learned to rely upon what we can gather as facts in history, in the sciences and in literature; but we are not relying on the Holy Spirit as the teacher of his wisdom and knowledge. What a wonderful teacher the Holy Spirit is! Did you ever notice how happy and successful men are, and how satisfied they are when they come under the inspiration and leadership of the Holy Spirit?

Take that Ethiopian in the desert riding in the chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah. He says, “How can a man understand these things unless somebody teach them?” Just then the Spirit took Philip away from the revival in Samaria and sent him into the desert and put him into the chariot with this Ethiopian. Philip spent two hours with him, and then baptized him, and he received the Holy Spirit, and the Ethiopian went on his way with great joy. He only had a conference for two hours, and he went away with great joy, for he had the Holy Spirit, and relied upon Him as the source and inspiration of the Scripture. He had somebody that could interpret to him the Word of God and explain to him the things of the kingdom, and so he went away from Philip with great joy.

Take the church at Antioch that had just been pulled out of the filth of heathenism, the vilest of the time. Two apostles were sent down there. They preached a few sermons, called these people out and baptized them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Then they were without a teacher, without a preacher, with nothing, not even the Old Testament; there was no New Testament. And yet they were full of joy, because the Holy Spirit was their teacher. He was to take the things of Jesus and show it unto them, He was to lead them into all truth.

Do we rely upon the Holy Spirit to impart wisdom unto us and to take the things of Jesus and show them unto us? I wish we could arouse you to the fact that we may have an unction from on high, when the Holy Spirit comes to abide in us. He is the teacher to impart to us his wisdom.

Wesley had this gift of wisdom, and adapted his sermons and methods to the times in which he lived. This gift of wisdom enabled him to become all things to all men, if by any means he might save some. This gift enabled him to consider times, environments, habits and dispositions; for without this gift he was not skillful or wise in saving men. There is a right way to use the truth as well as to use a plow or a threshing machine. I have seen many a preacher cutting wheat with a plow or planting corn with a threshing machine, defeating the very object for which he was laboring.

II. The Word of Knowledge — the Utterance of Knowledge.

This may be the ability to explain the meaning of Scripture or providences, the operations of the Spirit, or the wiles of the Devil. I believe it is the insight into the divine truth and verities. It is not so much intellectual knowledge as it is the knowledge of man — life — knowledge. It does not come so much by study as by inspiration, meditation and prayer. God can give a man more knowledge in a minute than he can get from books in a year.

This is the reason poor ignorant Burk can explain the Bible when he cannot read a sentence. This is why that student at Philips academy could preach so the professors and scholars would be amazed, when he had never mastered a single lesson. This is why Amanda Smith could give such instructive Bible lessons thirty years ago, when she could not read a verse in the New Testament. We need graduates from colleges and learned men — but the great need in the ministry of the word is this gift of knowledge from the Holy Ghost.

III. There is the Gift of Faith. This is the faith of God. Not the faith by which we are converted nor by which we are sanctified, but the faith by which we are instrumental in the conviction, conversion and sanctification of others. This is why so many do nothing, having no gift of faith that God can work through them. We are also to comfort and bear one another’s burdens in this way. '“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye.” “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.” Have you never seen people comforted and strengthened by the faith of others? I have seen people in the greatest distress comforted by strong believers. In fact, God has come to me many a time and given me the gift of faith so that others have been lifted out of their troubles.

Mr. Finney tells of a stammering blacksmith that was so troubled over the sins of his town that he shut himself up in his blacksmith shop and prayed and fasted for seven days until at last God gave him the victory, and a glorious revival came, and many hundreds were converted.

This is the faith by which God assures the believer that the work can be done.

This follows naturally the gift of wisdom and knowledge — so that when anything is known, and seen to be the will of God, there comes this inspiration of ability that it can be done.

There are hundreds of ministers who see what ought to be done, but have no convictions that they themselves are the persons to do it. They need the gift of faith.

IV. The Gifts of Healing.

The gifts of healing are also mentioned. These have reference to the healing of the sick. The Spirit imparts from Himself the gifts of healing to persons in the church — not to all that are in the church. It is not taught that all who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have the gifts of healing, any more than that of wisdom or faith or knowledge. Paul says, — “Are all prophets?” “Are all apostles?” “Have all the gifts of healing?” — thus declaring that they do not all have these gifts, but God imparts them as he will. The gifts of healing have been given to the church in all ages of the world. Perhaps it would be right to explain the trouble and remove the difficulties that are in the minds of some people concerning these gifts of healing. I will, however, only speak of some things which are important and which should be said.

1. We know that when Jesus was upon the earth he and his disciples had the gifts of healing. They healed the sick.

2. We know that the sick have promises for healing — whether the prayer is offered by themselves, or by others for them.

3. We know that these gifts of healing are special gifts, and healing is not to be general in the church; no person is to be condemned because he is not able to believe that the Lord can heal him, because the gifts of healing are not imparted to everyone. When the disciples went out and healed the sick, they had a special commission. They did not heal as believers, but as special messengers of the Lord. And so the Apostle says: “Are all prophets? are all apostles? are all teachers? are all evangelists? have all the gifts of healing?” showing it was not true that all should have the gifts of healing.

4. We have no statement in the Word of God that any of the gifts have ever been withdrawn. We have not the least shadow of a sentence that any of these gifts shall ever be withdrawn from the church, but we do have a statement that they shall continue to follow those that believe. We are sure that it is because of unbelief, because of worldliness that all these gifts are discontinued; unbelief has kept the church from expecting or coveting or desiring to have them. And when the church comes back to a spiritual condition, to the normal condition, these gifts will be manifest again.

5. These gifts are not to be relied upon as the essentials of your salvation. They have no connection with your salvation. You may have all the gifts of healing and yet have no salvation and no right to heaven. They are not essential to your salvation. You are not to suppose that because you have no special gifts you have no salvation, because these gifts are the sovereign gifts of God imparted to whomsoever he will. The gifts of healing are not homogenous with salvation; they belong to the department of spiritual gifts. A man can get to heaven from a sick body but not with a sin sick soul.

V. The Working of Miracles is the Next Gift.

We have been afraid of that word, miracles, and we have relegated this gift to the age of the apostles; but this is one of the chief gifts, and as available today as in the days of Paul. The literal meaning of the Greek words, “energemota dunamion,” is “workings of dynamite.” The word “dunamion” is usually translated power. Jesus says, “Ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost coming on you,” and the word translated power is the same word “dunamion.” Paul says to Thessalonians, “Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, — dunamion.” He says to the Romans, “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation,” and that is the only divine definition of the gospel. The gospel is not only good news, but Dunamion. Now, in these and a dozen other places, the word translated power is the same word translated miracles in this gift. So the gift means the working of power, — gospel power, — saving power, — and not merely physical miracles.

Sin is like a hard rock in the heart, and nothing but God's power can destroy it. We want divine power for conviction, and divine power for conversion, and divine power for entire sanctification.

By this gift a man becomes the instrument, the agent by which the Holy Spirit convicts and converts and sanctifies the people.

This gift of the manipulation of power is being received again. Finney was wonderfully endowed with it. The cotton mill experience, where men and women were prostrated before he said a word is familiar to you all. Carvosso had it. He would run after a man down the street, and the man would be saved. He would ride in a coach, and perhaps ten or twelve would be saved before he would get out.

Benjamin Abbot enjoyed this gift, and sometimes hundreds of men fell under one sermon. Even Samuel Morris, the Kru boy from Africa, was greatly used in this country, and many American people were saved.

VI. The Gift of Prophecy.

The original word for prophesy meant to boil, like a spring or an artesian well.

Jesus said “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The prophet said, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”

We learn in Revelations 19: 10, that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Witnessing for Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The Lord wants all his people to have this spirit of prophecy, for he said, “Ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me.”

Paul says, “He that prophesieth speaketh unto the people edification, exhortation and comfort.” Would God that all his people were prophets — would God that all Christians had this perfect spiritual liberty to talk for him at home or abroad, in private or public.

This is the preaching by which the world is saved, and by which Christians are kept from backsliding. This is what Paul means when he says, “Take the word of God which is the sword of the spirit.” Take the spirit of prophecy, for without this you are like a soldier without a sword.

The word of God is not merely the written book. It is the voice of God in us by which the world is to be saved.

John says the Devil and his angels are now making war against those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ; that is why it is so hard to testify; not merely timidity or weakness, but powers and principalities and wicked spirits in heavenly places are keeping the mouth of the church shut. With this gift we can overcome them by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

VII. The Discerning of Spirits

1. This gift is a supernatural sagacity to discern between satanical spirits, or the spirit of anti-Christ and divinely inspired men.

2. Or it may be given so as to read men, and to know whether they are the ones to do a certain work. The Holy Ghost said to the early church: “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for which I have called them.” The Bishops and presiding elders need it for that purpose.

3. Or it may be to see and know the inward purposes of men’s hearts, as Peter saw the heart of Ananias and the thoughts of Simon Magus.

This gift especially follows prophecy, or the testimony of Jesus.

John says, “Try the spirits whether they be o£ God, for many false prophets are gone into the world, and every spirit that does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ 'is come’ in the flesh, is not of God.” Not has come, but “is come,” for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, that is Satan. Every man that does not give the glory of his success and victories to the indwelling Christ, is not of God.

James tells us that a most orthodox congregation is an assembly of Devils.

These Devils have not forgotten how to play the angel role and some Christians cannot tell the difference between a white Devil as an angel of light, and the Holy Ghost. They cannot tell the difference between a company of mumbling Christian Scientists and a prayer meeting. They cannot distinguish between a seance and a Sunday School. The clean and the unclean are all alike — like that parliament of religions at the World’s Fair. There was no idolatry there, it was all of God, Midway Plaisance and all. But with this gift of discerning spirits we will read men and places and atmospheres like we read books, and we will not need to waste our lives in throwing pearls to swine. A sanctified preacher without this gift, goes to his congregation and preaches holiness, when one-half the people make no profession of regeneration, and the other half are backslidden, and the people say he is a fool or a crank, and he is persecuted for his indiscretions and lack of discerning spirits. No man can do altar work without this gift. He will not know whether the seeker needs enlightenment, conviction, regeneration, reclamation, sanctification or comfort.

VIII. The Gift of Tongues.

The gift of tongues was for a sign of God’s presence. Not to them that believe but to them that believe not. I think it was of the least value of any of the gifts. This gift was imparted in the exercises of prayer and praise, when the spirit would overflow the mind, so that the spirit of the man was talking but not the understanding.

This gift was not imparted for the purpose of speaking to men, but to God. It was never used in addressing foreigners. It was not used for the edification of the believers; for it’s use was forbidden in the assemblies unless there was someone to interpret, and never more than three were allowed to speak with tongues, and they had to do it, one at a time. The disciples did not seek for tongues, and Paul forbids it, telling them to covet earnestly the best gifts.

The Pentecostal gift of tongues was immediately understood by the people, and three thousand were converted. The modern gift of tongues is not understood by anybody on earth. They jerk and jump, roll and tumble, and twist their jaws, and out comes something, they do not know what it is and nobody else does.

IX. The Interpretation of Tongues.

This gift followed the gift of tongues, and where-ever men were speaking in tongues others were to interpret.

In a broad sense, the interpretation of tongues may mean the interpretation of language, and that is as much needed today as ever. Many sermons today need an interpreter more than anything else, except the waste basket or the fire. They are made in the head, made from books, made in the study, made from skeletons, made for the praise of men, and two-thirds of the congregation do not understand them.

I asked a Sunday School teacher how she liked her new pastor — “Oh, he is splendid — he is a wonderful preacher, but I don't understand him at all.” He was preaching over her understanding, and that was an unknown tongue. He needed an interpreter.

I once asked a boy how he liked my sermon, and he said, “I couldn't see any sense in it at all,” and I found I had used one word frequently that he did not understand, and that one word was like a fly in the ointment — it spoiled the sermon.

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace 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 teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation; abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.”