THE NINE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

CONTENTS.

Introduction.
The Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Co-ordination of the Gifts.

THE THREE GIFTS OF REVELATION AND INFORMATION.
1. The Word of Wisdom. 2. The Word of Knowledge. 3. The Discerning of Spirits.

THE THREE GIFTS OF POWER AND DEMONSTRATION.
The Three Spheres of Operation of the Power Gifts.

The Close Co-ordination of the Power Gifts in Some Circumstances.

4. The Gift of Faith. 5. The Workings of Miracles. 6. The Gifts of Healings.

THE THREE GIFTS OF INSPIRATION AND EDIFICATION.
7. The Gift of Prophecy. 8. The Gift of Tongues. 9.The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues.

Appendix A. An Examination of 1Cor.12v13. and Related Scriptures.

Appendix B. The Greek Words Used to Describe Spiritual Gifts.

Conclusion. Some Questions to Answer.


PREFACE.
I wrote the first edition of this book in the 1970's, and incorporated much of it into my larger book on the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. As a result this book covers much of the ground of that book, but in a less technical, and more readable way. My wife says that she likes it, for this very reason, so I am putting out this new edition of this study. I hope and pray that it will prove to be a blessing to those who read and study it. W. H. Turner January 28th. 2001.

INTRODUCTION.
There is a tremendous need for the manifestation of Spiritual gifts in our day.

The Church is today facing the greatest challenge that it has ever known. We are seeing an alarming increase in sin and lawlessness of every kind. There is an amazing increase of Satanic counterfeit gifts all over the world, and in a short while we can expect those monsters of iniquity, Antichrist and the False Prophet, to emerge with a Satanic fullness of power. There is also the challenge of evangelising countries under the control of militant godless governments, for open intellectual argument and evangelism is forbidden in these countries. The only answer is the gifts that Elijah, Christ and His apostles possessed, miraculous protection and miraculous evangelism is the only answer in such situations.

How do the majority of Christian leaders respond to the challenge of these days?

Most of them hide the key of knowledge of spiritual gifts, by wilful omission, false tradition, sceptical and untrue exposition, and unbelieving example. Lk.11v52. They deprive many Christians of the mighty armoury of spiritual gifts by teaching that the gifts of the Spirit are not needed any more, in spite of the Scriptures stating the contrary. Some teach that the only spiritual gifts that we need now are the word of wisdom, word of knowledge and prophecy, which are explained away as the normal Christian ability to teach and preach. However, these kind of expositions are lacking in consistency and honesty, for one cannot say that spiritual gifts are not for today, and then say that it is right and indeed obligatory to desire spiritual gifts, and in particular the higher gifts, and then explain away these higher gifts as the ability to teach and preach God's Word. Spiritual gifts cannot be explained away so easily as this. Spiritual gifts are God's acts in the world, and God gives us in the Scriptures the record of some of His acts and purposes in history, and we see that whenever the manifestations of God's power and purposes through the manifestation of spiritual gifts were lacking, there was invariably backsliding and apostasy. God has always manifested Himself in signs, wonders and miracles when His people have followed Him with all their heart.

Christ's ministry was a continuous manifestation of signs, wonders and miracles.

God earnestly desires to manifest the spiritual gifts that produce these signs, wonders and miracles, in His Church today. God intends that people should be astonished and caused to think upon spiritual things by the manifestation of His glory and presence, through signs, wonders and miracles, as they were through His ministry while He was on earth. Mk.2v12. 4v41. 6v51. 7v37. Lk.5v26. Acts.3v10,11. However, people are not intended to just be left in amazement and wonder, the wonders and miracles in Scripture, were a sign pointing the way to God, or to God's way. They are directing the watcher to Christ and His Father. Mk.6v14. Jn.2v11. Acts.8v6. 14v3. 19v11. Rom.15v19. Heb.2v4. These signs indicate the desire of God, the presence of God, the power of God, and confirm the good news of salvation in Christ. Jn.5v36. 7v21. 10v25,32,28. 14v11,12. 15v24. Mt.11v2,20. Miracles are the normal work of God, "He is fearful in praises, doing wonders." Ex.15v11. Ps.77v14, 136v4. Dan.4v2,3. God loves to do "wonderful works," "mighty works," and "miracles." Mt.11v20. Mk.6v14. Lk.10v13. Acts.2v11,22. 19v11. 1Cor.12v10,28. This is abundantly demonstrated throughout the Scriptures

Acts of divine power and gifts of revelation were given by God to fulfil His purposes.

God formed His creation by supernatural power. He guided, protected, and gave Abraham children by His miraculous power. Abraham's and Sarah's faith were strengthened by the manifestations of divine grace and power. Gen.17v15-19. 18v1-15. Heb.11v11. God equipped Moses with signs and wonders to convince Pharaoh and the Israelites that God had sent him and his message was true. Ex.3v12. 4v1-9. 7v9,10. God gave Gideon the signs of His presence and will. Judges.6v11-40. 7v9-14. Samuel gave Saul signs that God had appointed him to be king over Israel. 1Sam.10v1-9. The unknown prophet gave the sign that the worship of the golden calves of Jeroboam was a abomination to God. 1Kings.12v28. 13v1-5. Elijah called fire from heaven to show that the Lord was God. 1Kings18v36-39. Indeed, the ministry of the prophets consisted of a continual manifestation of signs, wonders and miracles, through the gifts of power and revelation. It is a remarkable fact that on occasions, even angels gave signs to convince people of the truth of their words. Judges.6v21,22. 13v15-21 Lk.1v18-20,59-65. 2v12.

God gave so many signs to His people in the Old Testament, that the Jews expected this of any prophet.

Paul said, "The Jews require a sign," and the Jews asked Christ, "What sign shewest thou?" 1Cor.1v22,23. Mt.12v38. 16v1. Though the Lord would not pander to their unbelief by giving them their own personal signs that they demanded of God, He gave them a multitude of signs through healings and miracles. The apostle Paul tells us that signs and wonders were the means by which the Gentiles were convinced of the truth of his message. These signs and wonders were the normal spiritual equipment of an apostle, and Paul tells us that they were needed by every local church. Rom.15v18,19. 2Cor.12v12. 1Cor.12v31. 14v1. We are told in James.5v14,15., that the elders of local churches are to possess the spiritual power to pray for the sick and see them healed, so we should expect all the other ministries of Eph.4v11., apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers, to pray for the sick and see them healed. Obviously, some ministries are more powerful and specialised in their ministry to the sick, than others, but every New Testament leader and elder was expected to have a ministry towards the sick. Even deacons in the early Church did mighty works of healing. Acts.6v1-15. 8v5-8. Stephen and Philip.

Sadly, many Christians have an ingrained scepticism concerning God's spiritual gifts, and reject them.

In spite of the ministry of Christ and His early Church, many Christians say, "I don't believe in spiritual gifts. I don't need any gifts of power and revelation. I don't believe in signs, they are only demanded by an evil generation." It is true that the Lord Jesus refused to give the sensational sign demanded by the sceptics, but He manifested a multitude of Scriptural signs before the sceptics, that were more than sufficient to convince the sincere seeker. The sceptic does not need a sign, for they will explain away any sign that is given just as Christ's enemies did, they need to repent of their sins and accept Christ and His Word, and then they will accept the signs and wonders manifested through the spiritual gifts. The final defence of the sceptic confronted by an undeniable sign from God, is to say that it is a manifestation of Satan's power. Mt.12v22-32. However, signs and wonders do help a sincere person who is seeking the truth to make up their mind and follow Christ, and are the means of convincing many doubtful waverers. Christ appealed to the miracles and healings that He did as proof of His authority, and He promised the people more of them to help them to believe. Jn.5v20,35-37. 10v37,38. Mt.12v38-42. Do away with the signs and wonders in the Bible and all you have left are the accounts of human failure, sin and unbelief. Do away with signs and wonders for today and you impudently affirm that God is " The Great I Was," instead of "The Great I Am;" but our God and Christ are the very same today in their compassion consecration, activities and abilities as they have always been. Heb.13v8.

Jesus said that people need God's miracles to bring them to a place of faith.

When Christ said in Jn.4v48., "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," He was stating the fact that many people will not believe in the goodness of God, or the willingness of God to meet their need, without some supernatural evidence. Jesus, therefore, did many signs to encourage people to have faith in God for the healing of their souls and bodies, the greatest of these being the resurrection of Lazarus. Jn.11v42,45. When the Lord Jesus sent out the 12 apostles and the 70 disciples, He gave them power to do signs and wonders. Lk.9v1,2. 10v1-9. Mk.16v17,20. 2Cor.12v12. Rom.15v18-21. These signs are to encourage the faith of beholders, and spring out of the compassion and love of God for the sinful, sick and needy. God desires to openly manifest His presence by the things that He does, God does not intend that we should apprehend spiritual things, or the Holy Spirit's presence, by blind faith alone. God desires that His presence should be plainly seen, in fact, people are brought face to face with the invisible but living God, by the manifestation of spiritual gifts. The healing of the sick, the working of miracles, the secrets of the heart being made manifest, make it very plain that God is in the midst of His people. 1Cor.14v25. Jn.2v11,23. Acts.8v5-8. etc.. Even Simon the sorcerer was amazed at the manifestations of God's power through the gifts of the Spirit, in the ministry of Philip the deacon, and became a believer and many others with him.

Rejection of the Divine miraculous is a rejection of the Scriptures.

Those who say that we do not need the miraculous, for the Scripture alone are all that we needs to work for God, are in reality rejecting the Scriptures. The Old Testament prophets and Christ and His early Church needed the signs and wonders that the Scriptures reveal and deem essential for the proper fulfilment of God's purposes and will. Those who hide behind a false spirituality and say, "All I need is the Scripture," should remember that the Scripture expressly commands Christians to earnestly seek for spiritual gifts, and that much of Scripture is a record of the manifestation of these gifts. The Holy Scripture tells us that Christ desires to do greater works through His Church than He did while He was on earth. Jn.14v12. The Scripture tells us that Christians need spiritual gifts to serve Christ and meet the needs of this dark hour and that Christians can expect the manifestation of them right up to the great day of God's wrath. Acts.2v17-21. God wants to manifest His love and power to the world and He wants Christians to be channels of His saving and healing power. 1Cor.12v7. There is no such thing as an unsupernatural, non-miraculous Christianity in the New Testament, indeed the Old Testament only manifests a miracle working God. The present non-miraculous Christianity is yet another fruit of the sin and unbelief of the dark ages of the Church. The present unbelief and rejection of the gifts of the Holy Spirit by many Christians will mean that they will be spiritually unprepared for the sin and Satanic miraculous that will be manifested in great power at the end of this age.

The fact that God does signs and wonders does not mean that everybody will automatically repent of their sins and turn to God, even the very mightiest manifestations of power and love of God fail to win some people. The Lord Jesus censured certain cities because they did not repent even though He had done such mighty works there. Mt.11v20-24. Like many of the Scribes and Pharisees, many of the people had clearly seen God, but they did not want Him, they hated both Christ and His Father because their hearts were bound by a love of evil. Jn.15v21-25. This was why the Lord Jesus refused to give them some sensational sign to them, they had quite enough evidence to convince a sincere heart. The confirmation of the Gospel by signs, wonders and miracles is the final appeal of God to the soul, rejection of God and His truth when confirmed by signs, wonders and miracles, is the final act of spiritual suicide. Jn.15v21-25. In pioneer evangelism, and in fact every church, it is essential to see the invisible God being made visible by the things that He is doing through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul said to the Corinthians, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." 2Cor.12v12. In 1Cor.2v4,5. Paul says, "my speech and my preaching of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Paul stated that the message of a crucified Saviour was confirmed by mighty signs and wonders and that it brought great fruit in the wicked city of Corinth. The gifts of the Holy Spirit make the Lord Jesus and the presence of God very real; so much so, that in the early Church, when unbelievers came into the meetings out of curiosity, or even with down-right hostility, they were forced to cry, "God is in the midst of you of a truth," because of the manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. The same thing happens today where those same gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifested. The gifts of the Holy Spirit enable the presence and will of God to be manifested on earth. 2Cor.14v24,25.

The challenging counterfeit signs of Satan being manifested today, demand that the Church of Christ should manifest their blood-bought inheritance of mighty signs wonders and miracles. Spiritualists, Mormons, and many other false cults have the zeal and power of Satan, and they deceive many. Even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, and Elymas withstood Paul, these evil workers challenge the experience of the Church of Christ. The Scripture warns us that we can expect further great manifestations of evil power in these last days. Mt.24v11,24. 2Thes.2v8-12. The only answer to the evil of the last days is the power of God. Intellectual argument alone has never been a sufficient answer to the powers of darkness. The anointed preaching of the Word of God and the powerful manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, has always been God's answer to the powers of evil. New Testament Christianity was not, and has never been, mere intellectual gymnastics, it has always been God's truth confirmed by spiritual dynamics.

The vast majority of Churches and denominations do not desire to manifest the powers of God through signs, wonders and miracles, some are quite content to manifest the "pop" of hand-clapping, chorus singing, intellectual argument, or even sheer noise, instead of the power of God through the mighty gifts of power and revelation. Israel ended up in captivity in Assyria and Babylon, because of its sin and unbelief, they are quite unable to fulfil the wonderful purpose of God to be a blessing to the whole world. Much of Christ's Church is in captivity, chained and defeated by the world, the flesh and the Devil because of its sin and unbelief, and God cannot use it to fulfil His beautiful desires to bring salvation and healing to the world. Many, we fear, like the Scribes and Pharisees, will only oppose true New Testament Christianity, but some sincere hearts will accept their Pentecostal Christian heritage and fulfil the beautiful and wonderful purposes and desires of God. Gifts of power under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ through the gifts of revelation, are the greatest evangelising force that the world can know, as the ministry of Christ and His early Church abundantly demonstrates. Nothing glorifies Christ and exalts His kingdom more than Christ manifesting His power and love through His Church and His spiritual gifts. We thank God that Church history proves that men of faith have ministered the saving and healing power of Christ to the sick and sinful, when the rest of the Church has been plunged in unbelief and spiritual gloom., e.g. Tertullian, Irenaeus, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Albigenses, the Waldenses, George Fox, John Wesley, John Welch, Dowie, Price, Branham, and many others. Let us follow their example and minister the love and power of the altogether lovely God of love, to this needy world.

The challenge of Christ's ministry and the experience of the New Testament ministries, is directed particularly at the more mature Christians and the Christian leaders in Christ's Church, for God does not expect too much of spiritual babes. 1Cor.3v1,2. Heb.5v11-14. Lk.6v40. Christ's ministry and the New Testament teaches us that the ministries that God has set in the Church are never intended to function without the manifest power of God. Eph.4v11. 1Cor.12v28-31. Intellectualism is quite inadequate and barren without the power of God. Intellectual argument needs to be anointed with God's power and presence to do any good, they have to be anointed words like the words of Christ, He said, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Jn.6v63. Some have mistaken oratory, earnestness and noise for the anointing of God, but those who live close to God can easily discern between the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the "strange fire" of humanistic endeavour. Lev.10v10.

The Lord Jesus commissioned every preacher He sent forth to work miracles, and every local church to be a centre of revival, salvation and healing, and every gift of the Holy Spirit to be operated there. Some say that this is to demanding, but the example that Christians should follow is the ideal one revealed in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and His early Church, and not any man-made substitute. I make no apology for the standard laid down in these pages, it is the standard laid down by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. No one should be a leader in Christ's Church, who is not prepared to accept the standard that Christ demanded for those He sent to teach and preach. To be a mere professional preacher without being a minister of God's life, means that a person is in for great condemnation when we meet the Lord. Jas.3v1. Preachers in the New Testament preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven and manifested the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 1Pet.1v12. We fail to read of one New Testament leader who did not manifest spiritual gifts. The Church of Christ was never intended to be a tower of Babylonian humanistic endeavour, Christ desires it to be a body energised with the power of God. It is imitation, not observation, of Christ and His Church that makes a person a New Testament Pentecostal Christian.

There will be no New Testament revival today unless Christians, and Christian leaders in particular, imitate Christ and His early Church by having a mighty life of communion with God and an earnest desire for full-salvation, holiness, and Christ's spiritual gifts. Some say that 1Cor.12v28-30. teaches that the manifestation of the gifts of power and revelation is mainly confined to the ministry gifts of Christ in Eph.4v8-11.. However, Paul tells us in 1Cor.12v31. that all Christians are to covet the more powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that in the local church the gifts will be manifested through the whole church as a body, i.e. one will manifest one gift and another Christian another gift, whereas the ministry gifts of Christ will experience a regular manifestation of the greater gifts through each individual. It is obvious that the different ministries will manifest certain gifts more than others, in fact one will be able to judge the ministry that Christ has given to a person by their manifestation of spiritual gifts. It is obvious that the more authority a person receives from God, the more they will manifest spiritual gifts, one cannot think of an apostle without thinking of the signs of an apostle, or a prophet without thinking of the gifts of revelation, of a New Testament evangelist without thinking of the gifts of healings. 2Cor.12v12. Rom.15v18,19. The spiritual gifts to a large extent made a persons ministry, and the greater the range and power of the gifts of the Spirit they possessed, the greater was their authority in God and their position in the Church. God says that apostles are first in authority, prophets second, teachers third, workers of miracles fourth, ministries of healing fifth, helps sixth, governments seventh, tongues interpreted for the church eighth. It is interesting to note that the administrative offices of helps and governments, probably the New Testament offices of deacon, come last in the New Testament Church and first in the modern Church.

It is a disaster when people are put in charge of churches who have no spiritual and supernatural ministry. A person who has no spiritual gifts should not oversee a Pentecostal church, for all the ministry gifts should exercise the spiritual gifts. The teachers of the early Church did not discuss technicalities, they led people into an experience of New Testament truth, not a mere intellectual knowledge of it. Like Paul, the teachers in the early Church taught the local churches to act as a body together, the gifts being manifested first by one and then by another to meet the challenges presented to them. The apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that God desired them to manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit is love as a body. Obviously an apostle or prophet will have to manifest all the gifts in doing the work that God has called them to do, but in the local church, God desires the gifts to be shared among his people, it brings a real sense of inter-dependence, and reduces the possibility of pride, or the grave danger of individualism. The emphasis upon intellectual qualifications at the expense of spiritual qualifications has resulted in a dreadful spiritual death in most Christian denominations and a complete absence of the mighty manifestations of the Holy Spirit in most churches. John Wesley says in Vol.2, page 204 of his works:-

"The grand reason why the miraculous gifts were so soon withdrawn, was not only that faith and holiness were well nigh lost, but that dry, formal, orthodox men, began to ridicule whatever gifts they had not themselves and to decry them all as either madness or imposture."

The Scribes and Pharisees of Christ's day did not accept the fact that God had passed them by and chosen ordinary working men to be the channels of His omnipotence omniscience and love, but God will always choose the humble, spiritual and loving soul in preference to the self-sufficient and proud, wise, prudent and intellectual person. God resisteth the proud and gives His grace to the humble and meek, the first beatitude tells us that it is only those who come as humbly to God as a penniless beggar does for charity, who will receive the treasures of heaven. Humble yourself before God, submit yourself to Hos Word, be subordinate to the Lordship of Christ, and you will experience the good gifts of the Holy Spirit, the good gifts that God delights to give His children, the lovely gifts that Christ bought for us with His precious blood.

W. H. Turner. December 16th. 1998.

Reformatted and Edited again November 23rd. 2000

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