PART ONE

1 Corinthians 12:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:

The Apostle Paul did not want the believers to be ignorant about spiritual things. If believers are ignorant about spiritual things this will greatly inhibit spiritual gifts from manifesting in their lives. There is a great need for definition and clarification and information about spiritual gifts so that believers will not be misinformed or ignorant about these things. God cannot bless ignorance and spiritual gifts will operate with the greatest accuracy through the believers who understand them and flow according to God’s divine protocol for spiritual gifts.

NINE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

1 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)

⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,

¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

These gifts are lumped together randomly this above scripture without regard to order but if these are placed into categories according to their order of importance they would be divided into:

CATEGORIES OF GIFTS

1. Revelation Gifts

2. Power Gifts

3. Inspiration Gifts

The Revelation gifts “reveal something” and these are:

1. Word of Wisdom (that reveals things in the future)

2. Word of Knowledge (that reveals things in the present)

3. Discerning of spirits (that reveals or discerns the human spirits of mankind if they are good or evil)

The Power gifts “do something” and these are:

1. Gift of Faith

2. Gifts of healing(s)

3. Working of Miracles

The Inspiration Gifts provide edification, exhortation and comfort. These are:

1. Gift of Prophecy

2. Gift of Tongues

3. Interpretation of Tongues

DIFFERENT KINDS OF TONGUES

1 Corinthians 12:28 (NIV)

²⁸ And in the church, God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

This scripture mentions those who speak in different kinds of tongues. For greater understanding and clarification, we have coined our own terms and divided the different kinds of tongues into three different categories. These are:

THREE CATEGORIES OF TONGUES

1. Tongues for Interpretation

2. Tongues for Personal Edification

3. Foreign Tongues

A definition for these terms would be as follows:

1. Tongues for Interpretation: These are related to the simple gift of prophecy except that a message is first given in tongues and then someone with a gift of interpretation of tongues stands up and interprets those tongues so that the congregation will have understanding of what was said. With “tongues for interpretation” the speaker of the tongues does not understand what is being said and the congregation also does not understand what is being said. Therefore, it is necessary that these tongues be interpreted for understanding. Tongues for interpretation are a public gift which brings edification and exhortation and comfort to the congregation. Tongues together with interpretation, equals the simple gift of prophecy for edification.

2. Tongues for Personal Edification: These are used in the personal prayer life of a believer. These will edify or charge up a believer much the same way that a car battery is charged up by an alternator. (Jude 1:20) This type of tongues is for private use and is used for spiritual refreshing and this type of tongues can also be used for intercessory prayer and also to sing or to worship God in tongues. (1 Cor. 14:15) There are many ways that tongues for personal edification can be used by the believer in his private time with the Lord. Tongues for personal edification are also the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:6) (Acts 10:46) (Acts 2:4)

3. Foreign Tongues: This is when the speaker gives an utterance in tongues but he has no understanding of the utterance that he has given. However, there may be a foreigner present who can understand the language perfectly. This often proves to be quite a shock to the foreigner when he discovers that the speaker does not know his native language but this utterance he heard came directly from God as God spoke to that foreigner in his native language and gave him a message. Sometimes God will speak directly to the foreigner and tell him to get right with God or maybe the foreigner may overhear the speaker of tongues magnifying God in his native dialect. This is what occurred in the Book of Acts when the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign languages. (Acts 2:4) The foreigners heard them magnifying God in their native dialects and this was a sign and wonder to them because the men were speaking their languages who did not know their language and had never learned them. (Acts 2:5-11) Thousands of these foreigners accepted Christ that day because of the speaking of Foreign Tongues. (Acts 2:41)

1 Corinthians 14:22 (7KB)

²² [Foreign] Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…

This scripture says that tongues are a sign for unbelievers but this scripture is most specifically referring to the type of tongues we call “Foreign Tongues” where a supernatural event transpires so that a foreigner hears his own native dialect being spoken by the power of God.

My own experience in speaking in foreign tongues occurred when I was visiting a bible school in Panay Island in the Philippines. This event occurred in the prayer house on campus when I was praying in tongues for personal edification. There was a student present who was from Basilan Island whose native dialect was Chavacano. She was a Christian but her denomination taught her against the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and taught her against speaking in tongues (so as far as these spiritual gifts were concerned, she was an unbeliever in this respect). When she heard me praying in her native dialect of Chavacano language she supposed that one of the two other students from her island must have entered the prayer house and she was hearing them praying to God in Chavacano. She was seated with her back toward me but when she turned around to see who was doing the praying, she was shocked to see me (an American) speaking her native dialect as I was praying to God! Her experience was similar to listening to someone talk on the telephone and she could hear what I was praying as I was making my petitions to God. But she was shocked to hear me praying in her native dialect because she knew that I did not know this language and that I had never learned it. It was a sign to her that tongues were of God contrary to what she had been taught by her denomination. As a result of this supernatural experience she believed this gift was from God and consequently that day she prayed for and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for herself (with the evidence of speaking in tongues)!

In the operation of the gift of foreign tongues a believer will speak out a language that they do not know and have not learned but a foreigner present can understand them perfectly. But instead of just overhearing them praying to God or magnifying God in their native language the foreigner may receive a message directly from God that is addressed to them. I heard of a testimony that occurred in Washington D.C. where a man gave an utterance in tongues in a church and there was a foreigner present who understood the language perfectly. Later after the church service was over this foreigner came to the American who gave the utterance in tongues and spoke to him in Persian. But the American informed him that he did not know any Persian language but this foreigner informed him that he had just heard him speak the most perfect Persian language and that he was told in Persian language to get right with God and accept Jesus! When the foreigner realized that God had spoken to him directly by the gift of foreign tongues, this man believed and accepted Jesus. There are times when a foreigner will overhear someone praying to God in their dialect or they may hear a message in their language addressed specifically to them from God as God calls them to repent and be saved.

FOREIGN TONGUES FOR UNBELIEVERS

1 Corinthians 14:22 (NIV)-M

²² [Foreign] Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…

This scripture says that tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. This scripture is most specifically referring to “Foreign tongues” because “Tongues for Interpretation” and “Tongues for Personal Edification” are most certainly tongues for the believers only. It is only the gift of “Foreign Tongues” that is specifically given for the benefit of unbelievers. Therefore it would be a much better translation if this scripture was written as “Foreign Tongues” then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…”

POWER GIFTS

The Power gifts “do something” and these are:

1. Gift of Faith

2. Gifts of healing(s)

3. Working of Miracles

GIFT OF FAITH

The gift of faith is a supernatural impartation of faith into the heart of a believer to accomplish something that is normally not possible by natural means. This type of faith is a “Gift” therefore it is something that God just grants according to His sovereign will and He imparts this gift for the purpose of accomplishing His will upon the earth.

It should be clarified that this type of faith is different than the measure of faith that a believer receives when they are saved.

Romans 12:3 (NIV)

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

When someone accepts Jesus and is reborn spiritually there is a measure of faith that is imparted to them and this is the type of faith that can be developed by use. A believer can develop their faith by asking for and receiving specific answers to prayer and these answers to prayer cause the faith of a believer to grow with each new level attained.

Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

Jesus compared a believer’s faith to something like a mustard seed which is one of the smallest seeds but is capable of growing into a large plant. In the same way, the faith that is imparted when someone reborn is similar to a tiny seed that has the potential to grow into something big. This faith that can be developed by use could be called a “believer’s faith” because it is something that is present in the hearts of those who have believed in Jesus and have become reborn Christians.

Mark 4:26-29 (NASB)

²⁶ And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;

²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.

²⁸ “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

²⁹ “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The operation of a “believer’s faith” can be compared to a man who plants seed into the soil and in due time the seed germinates, sprouts, grows, and produces a blade or leaf, then the head then the mature grain in the head and eventually there will be a time of harvest. The stages of plant growth such as the blade, head, and mature grain can represent the stages of growth of faith that grows in a man’s heart. It is the “believer’s faith” that grows stronger with each answered prayer and it can be developed so that a mature believer who exercises his faith on a regular basis can develop it to believe for bigger things than he did as a new convert.

But it must be clarified that the “Gift of Faith” is different in operation than the “believer’s faith” which can be developed by use. A believer’s faith can go from level to level by exercising it but the Gift of Faith is not dependent upon the development of the believer’s faith. The Gift of Faith is something that God just sovereignly drops upon a person and empowers them to believe for something that ordinary believer’s faith would not normally be able to attain. The Gift of Faith is something that God just drops within the heart of a believer to accomplish something great in order to fulfill the will of God.

Exodus 4:2-3 (NIV)

² Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

³ The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.

One example of the operation of the Gift of Faith was when God told Moses to throw down his staff and it became a snake! This had nothing to do with the type of faith that can be exercised by use. Moses just obeyed God and watched God move and he was even shocked when his staff turned into a snake and he ran from it! The Gift of Faith is something by which the possessor of this gift does nothing and watches as God does something supernatural.

One example I know is of a prominent minister who was obeying God to build a great church. He needed millions of dollars and frankly speaking that was way beyond what his ordinary believer’s faith could muster. He could not have worked his way up to that level in his entire lifetime even if he was exercising his faith every day! It was beyond what he could believe with his own faith as a believer. But he was commanded by God to bring this project to completion so he prayed fervently for the needed amount of money. He struggled for some months and often would get out of bed in the middle of the night and would pray all night! He was praying day and night with little sleep and his wife thought his mind would break under the stress! But one day as his wife had called him to breakfast and he was walking toward the kitchen table, suddenly the faith of God came down upon him! He knew it immediately because he received the Gift of Faith and this is a supernatural impartation of God’s faith into his heart. He shouted and said, “I got it!” and his wife got scared not knowing what he was shouting about! But he was speaking about the millions of dollars he needed to complete the project God commanded him to build. When the Gift of Faith entered his heart, he said that the huge “Mount Everest-sized” pile of money that he needed seemed like a small pebble in his hand! He received the faith of God to attain what he needed in order to fulfill the plan and purpose of God on earth! When a believer has gone as far as he can with his ordinary believer’s faith then sometimes God may sovereignly drop the Gift of Faith upon him to do what he naturally is unable to do. It was shortly after that this man received all of the money that he needed and he was able to finish all of the projects that God had commanded him to build. This was accomplished by the impartation of the Gift of Faith.

The Gift of Faith is a supernatural impartation of faith and it is given directly from God for the purpose of accomplishing some great feat that is not normally within the realm of the ordinary faith of a believer (which is developed by use). Being a “Gift of Faith” implies that it is something that is imparted supernaturally and this means that the possessor of this gift had nothing to do with it because it was God who gave the faith needed to accomplish what God had “willed” to be done.

I know of an apostle who left his country with no means of support and he just obeyed God went forward and he traveled all over the world without any income from his homeland. It was an impartation of faith for an apostle to do such a thing and he saw the provision of God wherever he went and always had the money for his needed travel expenses. This is something that goes beyond ordinary faith that a believer might use to get a job to earn a living. Leaving your homeland and traveling internationally without any financial support is something that indicates the operation of the Gift of Faith. God just sovereignly dropped the faith that was necessary in the heart of this man to accomplish His purposes of fulfilling the work of the ministry internationally. Normally ordinary believers could not do such a thing based on ordinary faith but this requires the supernatural Gift of Faith imparted to those who are called by God to do something extraordinary.

Even a farmer can have natural faith to plant his seed and have faith that it will grow according to the laws of nature. But this type of basic faith is not on the same level as the Gift of Faith that is imparted directly by God to do some unimaginable feat that is not normally obtainable by natural faith.

1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Paul was emphasizing that having love is more important that spiritual gifts. The believers in the church at Corinth were excited about spiritual gifts and Paul had to remind them that walking in love is more important because if they have no love, they are nothing. Love is the foundation of the operation of spiritual gifts. The gifts are not given to cause a human to be exalted and proud and think they are better than others. Paul specifically spoke of having faith that can move mountains and this most specifically is the “Gift of Faith” because ordinary faith (that can be developed by use) will never attain the level to move great mountains. The Gift of Faith is imparted instantly and it can cause the possessor to go great exploits like moving mountains! These mountains may be some huge expense that is worth millions and far beyond what ordinary faith can obtain or it can be travel expenses to travel the whole world with no source of income from your own homeland. These things are mountains or big things that can be accomplished that ordinary faith is unable to attain. It would not do anyone any good just to move a literal mountain made of rocks and dirt! The Gift of Faith is not given to put on a show or entertain people by showing what a guy can do with it. The Gift of Faith is imparted by God to accomplish some great feat that natural faith is not able to obtain. This is the mountain that can be moved by the Gift of Faith and this Gift of Faith is only given for the purpose of fulfilling the will of God on earth. God will not give the Gift of Faith for someone to exalt himself in the eyes of others or to show off by doing his own things or his own ideas. The Gift of Faith is always related to accomplishing the will of God on earth. The possessor of this gift just stands and watches what God does and his own ordinary faith has nothing to do with it. Typically, the Gift of Faith will operate in those called into the Fivefold ministry and it is imparted to them when God requires them to accomplish some great feat that is beyond what their “Believer’s Faith” is able to muster.

The Gift of Faith often works for both provision and protection. I know of an apostle who was on a ship at sea that was caught in a great storm and they were all about to perish but the Gift of Faith was imparted to him and he suddenly knew that they would live and not die. It was the Gift of Faith that was imparted to him to save his own life and the lives of his companions even when by all-natural appearances there was no hope for their survival! Ordinary faith (that can be developed) would not be sufficient to have saved them from a situation that was as fearsome as this storm! It was the Gift of Faith that was imparted to his heart that enabled him to save his life.

Daniel 6:22 (NIV)

²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”

Daniel was cast into a den of lions but the Gift of Faith was imparted to Daniel and he was spared from harm and the lions did not touch him even though he spent the night in their den. The same lions devoured his accusers showing that it was indeed an operation of the Gift of Faith for divine protection that kept Daniel alive.

Daniel 3:19-23 (NIV)

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual

²⁰ and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.

²¹ So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.

²² The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego also had the impartation of the Gift of Faith to keep them from being burned alive in a fiery furnace. The soldiers appointed to throw them into the fire were killed by the flames but these three men were not harmed. It was the operation of the Gift of Faith for divine protection that kept them from harm. It was something that no ordinary faith would have been able to save them out of. When the Gift of Faith is imparted it transcends natural faith and it obtains that which is impossible. This is what it means when the Gift of Faith moves mountains because it accomplishes great feats that are not normally possible by ordinary faith.

Daniel 3:27 (NIV)

²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Not even the hair on their heads was singed by the heat and there was no smell of smoke on them. This was a huge feat of protection that no ordinary faith could have obtained. It was the working of the Gift of Faith for divine protection!

GIFT OF HEALING(S)

This gift is plural because it is something that is given by God to correspond with specific diseases and sicknesses. There may be as many Gifts of healings as there are diseases. No one will have every gift of healing or he would be treated as if he was God on earth and would not be able to handle the praise and glory that people would bestow upon him! It is for this reason that God limits the Gifts of healing given each man.

Acts 8:5-7 (NASB)

⁵ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.

⁶ The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷ For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

The Gifts of Healing will most frequently operate with those who have a Fivefold ministry gift of Evangelist. Healing is like a dinner bell to attract the unbelievers to Christ. Healing shows them that God is alive and real and typically it will be unbelievers who are healed or baby Christians. The mature believers will be required to use their measure of faith for their own healing because receiving healing by the Gifts of Healings is like feeding a baby with a milk bottle. The mature will be required to receive their own healing by their own faith as a believer. It is for this reason that at a crusade that the people who are healed by the ministry of an evangelist typically are unbelievers or new converts whom God is showing Himself real to.

In the case of Philip, the evangelist he had three forms of healing manifest in his ministry. He saw those with unclean spirits set free and this deliverance can also be called a healing gift. Also, those who were paralyzed and lame were healed so there were three types of people healed. There were those healed who were demon possessed, those who were paralyzed and those who were lame. This is an example of three gifts of healing working in one evangelist but often an evangelist may be limited to only one gift.

I know of an evangelist who was gifted to heal those who had seizures so anyone afflicted with epilepsy would be set free in his meetings. But people with other aliments were not healed because his gift was only for those with seizures.

I heard of another evangelist who was gifted for healing the blind and over four hundred blind people were healed in his ministry. But he was not gifted for aliments other than blindness. Again, it could be that if a man could heal everyone in general then he might be lifted up in pride.

Some evangelists have seen many types of healing manifest that covered a wide range of aliments but few of them have ever seen 100% success with everyone that came to them for healing. God generally limits a man from having all of the healing gifts because if a man could see everyone healed of every type of aliment then he would be exalted beyond measure and fall into pride like many of the healing evangelists in past history have done.

Another factor that causes an evangelist to be limited in healing is that their gift is for winning souls and therefore few mature believers will be healed if they attend the meetings of an evangelist. Mature believers are required to use their own faith for their own healing. As a matter of fact, many of the healing evangelists have died of sicknesses because their Gifts of Healings do not work for themselves but only for others. If the evangelist needs healing for his own body he will have to use his own faith. It is for this reason that many of the evangelists who saw thousands healed in their own ministry died of sickness themselves. God requires all believers to grow up and mature and use their own faith and this includes those in the Fivefold ministry as well as the layman. So typically, at an evangelistic crusade those who receive healing will mostly be only the unbelievers and new converts whom God is showing Himself real to. The mature believers often return home with the same aliments because they are required to receive their healing by their own faith. Receiving healing by the laying on of hands is largely a bottle-fed method used for baby Christians who do not have the spiritual maturity to appropriate healing by their own faith and this method of healing will typically not work for believers who have been saved for decades and because God requires more out of them.

WORKING OF MIRACLES

In the first Power Gift-the Gift of Faith, God is working on behalf of or independently of a believer and the believer has nothing to do. In the working of the Gift of Faith God just does something dramatically and gloriously and the believer just stands and marvels and what is done. So, in the working of the Gift of Faith God does the work for the believer rather than through the believer.

But with the gift of “Working of Miracles” the exact opposite is true because in the working of this gift God is entrusting the believer with a strength or energy that they normally do not have.

A good illustration of this is the case of Daniel in the lion’s den compared to that of Samson who ripped a young lion to pieces with his bare hands. In the case of Daniel it was a “Gift of Faith” and Daniel did nothing but watch God close the mouths of the lions and do a work of divine protection on his behalf.

But in the case of Samson, God placed an enduement of power upon Samson that enabled him to do what is normally not possible for a human. Samson tore that young lion apart with his bare hands by using the divine enablement or divine energy of God. A “Working of Miracles” therefore is an enduement of divine power upon a human to do exploits that are not physically possible for an ordinary man.

There is some confusion however with the term “miracle” because the English language really has no other terms but this one to describe supernatural occurrences. So, the term “miracle” is generally used to describe any type of supernatural event in the bible.

Acts 19:11-12 (NIV)

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,

¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

This scripture is an example of using the word “miracles” as a general term to describe both healing of the sick and deliverance. This same term is used in a general manner throughout the bible to describe all supernatural occurrences. So, when the power gift of “Working of Miracles” is used to describe the enduement of divine power upon a human body then that can often be confusing when it is misapplied to all miracles in general which are listed throughout the whole bible. So, the English language is limited in this sense as English speakers really have no other terms to describe supernatural occurrences except the term “miracles”.

Therefore, it would be better if “Working of Miracles” was translated using other terms like the “Working of Divine Energy” to describe God’s divine energy working through a human body to do supernatural exploits!

The “Working of Divine Energy” can be used to describe when God enables a man to do great exploits by supernatural divine energy of God. It is God working through a human body to do something that is not normally possible for humans to accomplish. One example of this is the case of Elijah running faster than horses and a chariot for over 25 miles or about 40 kilometers.

1 Kings 18:46 (NIV)

⁴⁶ The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

After Elijah challenged the false prophets of Jezebel and had all of them executed, then the power of God came upon Elijah and he was able to run and overtake and pass by Ahab who was driving his chariot and horses on the road to Jezreel! Elijah ran under the power of God and arrived far in advance of Ahab who had left before him with his chariot! This was about 25 miles from where Elijah challenged the 400 false prophets on Mount Carmel to where he ran to Jezreel ahead of the horses and chariot of Ahab! No man could naturally run faster than horses and keep up this great speed for 25 miles!

This had nothing to do with natural physical strength but this was in fact the divine energy of God given for Elijah to do this. The purpose of this divine energy was that Elijah was empowered to beat Ahab to Jezreel so that he could execute the wicked wife of Ahab before he arrived!

But somehow Elijah failed to get the job done even though he arrived in the city of Jezreel ahead of Ahab and he seemed to have hesitated in this job. He killed the 400 false prophets of Jezebel but he failed to cut the head off the “snake” who was Jezebel herself! When Elijah failed to destroy Jezebel then Jezebel was able to intimidate him. Jezebel reversed the tables on him and she threatened Elijah with death instead, so Elijah ran for his life. (1 Kings 19:2-3) He ended up losing his office of prophet and had to train a replacement for himself. (1 Kings 19:16) This came about because Elijah hesitated when he arrived in Jezreel and failed to do the job of executing Jezebel as he should have done. It was Jehu who later finished off this wicked woman by having her cast to the ground from an upper story window, trampled with horses and then fed to the dogs! It was a fitting end to a wicked woman who destroyed the prophets of God and sought to replace the worship of the God of Israel with Baal worship. (1 Kings 18:13)

Divine energy can come upon a man of God to accomplish exploits that are not normally possible by natural strength alone. It was a “Working of Divine Energy” that Elijah could overtake and outrun a chariot with horses and run about 25 miles under the enduement of God’s power!

My own experience with “Working of Divine Energy” occurred several times. Once when I was in college in the early 1980’s, I went jogging with my roommate for exercise and when we were coming back toward our dormitory there as a long parking lot we had to cross. Suddenly I felt the power of God come upon me and what happened next could only be described as being supernatural because it had nothing to do with my natural strength. I had a tremendous burst of speed and I crossed a long distance within seconds! I have no way to measure the distance anymore or the time it took to cross that distance but I knew this was not accomplished by my own natural ability. This was the same sort of divine power that energized Elijah when he overtook and outran a chariot and horses for 25 miles!

My roommate was the only one present who witnessed this event and he was just astounded because I had accelerated with such great speed! He was amazed and went and told all of the guys on the dorm floor about my great acceleration that he had witnessed. The guys on my floor knew I was not athletic and when they had me go running with them it was soon evident that naturally I had no speed or endurance at all. One of the guys could literally run circles around me! It was evident that I could not naturally do what my roommate had reported to them because what had occurred was a supernatural enduement of power but I could not repeat that performance again because I am naturally not athletic at all!

But my roommate had been amazed when he had witnessed the anointing of God come upon me because what I did was not possible for me to do naturally as I seemed to accelerate like a rocket! But when that anointing was not upon me, I could not run any distance without being winded and I had no speed for running naturally.

The Lord spoke to me that He was allowing me to taste the power gift of “Working of Divine Energy” so that I would have some experience with it.

This anointing did not come upon me again until about 1993 when I was visiting a missionary in Thailand. At this time, I accompanied this missionary on a jog for exercise just as I had done with my roommate in college back in the early 1980’s. We jogged up a big hill and conversing as we went along. The missionary I was with said something just as we crested that hill but I do not remember what he had said anymore. But at that moment, the same anointing Elijah had come upon me again and I just cut loose with a sudden burst of speed and I went down that long sloping grade as if I was flying! I was so far ahead of the other missionary that I had to stop and wait a long time before he could catch up with me (as he was running at regular speed)! Again, that was not my natural ability because the guys on my dorm floor proved that naturally I am no runner and I am no athlete at all! The Lord allowed me to taste the power gift of “Working of Divine Energy” just so I would have some experience with this gift.

When this gift is activated then a man can do things that are not normally physically possible. With this gift men have torn lions apart with their bare hands! (Judges 14:6) With this gift they could do exploits such as destroying hundreds of enemy soldiers by themselves in hand to hand combat! (1 Chronicles 11:11) One of David’s men killed 800 enemy soldiers by himself in a single fight! (2 Samuel 23:8) Another of David’s mighty men struck down and killed 600 enemy soldiers using only an ox-goad for a weapon! (Judges 3:31) These exploits were done by the enduement of God’s power. The word “endue” means to provide a quality, trait, or ability and in the case of God enduing a man with power it is God providing a divine energy for a man to accomplish something that is not naturally possible for them to do!

In my case running with great acceleration several times did not accomplish any great feat like winning any battles or saving any lives. But it did accomplish something by giving me a taste of what the enduement of God’s power is like so I would have some firsthand experience with the power gift of “Working of Divine Energy”. Having personal experience with something is advantageous when one has to teach about these things.

I once heard of an apostle who was preaching in a large church in America and during his meetings some street gang guys entered and tried to disturb his meeting. He was standing behind the pulpit which was on a raised stage and behind the pulpit was some bleacher-type of seats for the choir members. These seats were elevated so that the seats in the back rows were higher than the seats that were in front of them. The back row was quite high above the floor level where the apostle was standing. Above these bleacher seats was a big square window that was open to allow fresh air to blow in because there was no air-conditioning in those days. This window was probably higher than a basketball hoop above the floor level where this apostle was standing. These street gang trouble-makers were quite brazen and they boldly walked to the front and ascended the stairs onto the platform where this apostle was preaching. They intended to go and sit beside the Christian girls seated in the choir behind the apostle. The apostle knew that the intentions of these gang boys were not pure toward these girls seated behind him. Suddenly the enduement of power came upon the apostle just as the first of the gang members stepped onto the platform and headed toward the girls seated behind him. He reached out and grabbed the first gang member by the back of his collar and by the seat of his pants and he supernaturally pitched that boy right through that open window above the choir bleachers! He did this with several more gang members and then the rest of the gang scattered and left the premises and decided not to mess with this apostle anymore! This was an enduement of power and it was not something that an ordinary man can do to cast a human through an open window that was elevated high above the platform and which was located some far distance from the pulpit where he was standing! Those gang boys when went flying through that open window as if they were an arrow shot at a target! The height and distance and pitch with which they flew through the air provides evidence that this occurrence was most certainly accomplished by the power of God in the form of “Working of Divine Energy”! This apostle put a stop to the devil’s attempt to disturb this meeting and they never had any more trouble with these gang boys again!

I know of another apostle who was holding a tent crusade meeting in Australia. There was a pub across the street and the owner of the pub did not want people to be saved because he thought it would be bad for his business so the pub owner sent some drunkards over to disturb the meeting. The apostle was an American so these drunks were mocking his accent and causing a disturbance when he was trying to preach. He asked the ushers to deal with the problem but they said that these drunkards were not bothering them but they were only bothering the preacher! In light of the passivity of these ushers the apostle opted to take authority into his own hands. He asked the congregation to stand and close their eyes and sing a worship song to the Lord. When they were doing this, he went to the back of the tent and dealt with these two drunkards! He wacked them both and threw them out of the tent by the seat of their pants! He did not know if the Australians would want to hear what he had to say after he made such a show of force or not! But what happened next was that the power of God fell down upon that congregation and many signs and miracles and healing took place and they had a landslide of people who were saved that night! The fact of the matter is that God gives authority to apostles to do the work of the ministry and this authority includes dealing with any demonic disturbances that would seek to distract or interfere with what God is doing! When the apostle put things in order then the power of God fell in that meeting! This was God’s endorsement showing that God was not displeased with the use of force exercised by this apostle! This apostle removed these drunkards by the power of God! He may not have pitched them through an elevated window like a basketball but he did remove two full grown men by himself without any assistance and these men were no match for him! That was because he operated by the power of the Holy Spirit in casting out these drunkards and he was endued with the power of the Spirit just like the mighty men of David who were outnumbered and went against hundreds of enemy soldiers by themselves and still won!

Judges 16:3 (NIV)

³ But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Samson once pulled out the two huge posts that held the gates of the city Gaza and carried both gates (and the heavy timbers that framed them) and placed them on top of a hill! He may have carried these gates about 37 miles up hill as a demonstration of power! This power was given to Samson to defeat the Philistines but this man really did not often utilize the power of God to help others but mostly he used this power for selfish reasons like revenge. He was not morally a good man but he is an example of the working of miracles because naturally no human being could pull out massive timbers and heavy gates that could have weighed thousands of pounds and just carry the whole assembly away as if it was nothing! When a man is empowered to do something far beyond what his natural strength is capable of this is an example of the “Working of Divine Energy.”

1 Samuel 17:34-36 (NIV)

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

David killed both a lion and a bear without weapons and this is not normally something that could be done by the natural strength of a man because these animals are much greater in size and strength than humans and could easily kill a man in unarmed combat. It was a “Working of Divine Energy” in David because this goes beyond something that a young man could do in his natural strength.

Judges 14:5-6 (NIV)

⁵ Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him.

⁶ The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

Samson also destroyed a strong young lion that came roaring against him. This scripture says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. This is the same word power that is used in Acts 1:8 to describe the baptism of the Holy Spirit saying that the believers would be endued with power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.

I believe that Samson was not a muscle-bound, body-builder type of guy like the Hollywood movies like to portray him as being. The strength of Samson was not from natural human strength or from developed muscles of the human body. Samson probably looked like any ordinary man and did not stand out physically because his strength did not come from natural muscles. The bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he was empowered to tear a strong young lion apart with his bare hands! That is a “Working of Divine Energy” because it was done by the power of the Holy Spirit not by natural human strength!

Judges 16:29-30 (NIV)

²⁹ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,

³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Samson was blinded by his enemies and placed on display in a great pagan temple that was large enough to hold thousands of people. Samson placed his hands on the giant-sized stone pillars that held up the great complex and it was by the power of God’s Spirit that he was able to cause the entire stone building to collapse and kill all of his enemies! This again was not natural strength but it was the power of the Spirit of God to do this great feat. In order to accomplish such a feat today we would need great machines and hydraulic cylinders to move a foundation out from under a huge stone building. It is not possible by natural human strength to accomplish such a task! This was done by the power of God’s Spirit and it had nothing to do with the natural muscles of a human. This was the “Working of Divine Energy” because it cannot be explained by natural phenomena!

The supernatural occurrences found in the bible can be divided into two types by placing some under the Gift of Faith and others under the Working of Divine Energy.

Those supernatural occurrences in the Bible that are done by God moving without energizing a human body to do the exploit could be categorized under the Gift of Faith because God moves and the people just observe what God has done.

All those exploits that are were accomplished through a human vessel by divine enablement can be placed under the category of the “Working of Divine Energy” because in this gift God empowers a man to do what he is normally not able to do physically. In the “Working of Divine Energy” God works through a human body and energizes the person with divine energy to accomplish some great exploit.

PART TWO

INSPIRATION GIFTS

The Inspiration Gifts are:

1. Gift of Prophecy

2. Gift of Tongues

3. Interpretation of Tongues

The Inspiration Gifts are first mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

All three of the Inspiration Gifts are listed in 1 Cor. 12:10. Prophecy is the simple gift of edification that is given directly by the speaker into a known language that is understood by the congregation. Tongues and the Interpretation of tongues are equal to the simple gift of prophecy except that it requires two utterances be made rather than one. First an utterance in tongues is given in which the speaker of the tongues does not understand what is being said and also the congregation does not understand what is being said. In order for this to be of any benefit to anyone it must be interpreted into a known language. The person who has a gift of Interpretation of Tongues will be able to interpret the message given in tongues into a known language so that the people will receive benefit from it. Therefore, the gift of “Tongues” plus the gift of “Interpretation of Tongues” will equal the simple gift of “Prophecy.”

The 12^th chapter of 1 Corinthians introduces the gifts then the next chapter explains that love is the foundation of the gifts. The 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians explains the importance of walking in love because without love the gifts are rendered useless. The Corinthian believers were zealous to operate in spiritual gifts but Paul had to warn them that love is of first priority more than operating in spiritual gifts. For example, if there was some guy who had a gift of faith and could go around casting mountains into the ocean just to show everyone how powerful he is then that would be spiritual pride! He would be just as useless as a witch-doctor who seeks to intimidate people and cause them to fear him so he can exploit them of chickens and goats or whatever else he can get out of them. The Gift of Faith is for accomplishing some great work of God that God has given a man to do rather than to just show everyone that he is a big shot. If a believer is spiritually proud, they will use the gifts only to show that they are important and show off what they can do. Such a proud attitude cancels out the gifts and renders them useless. Pride is selfishness and is the exact opposite of walking in love. Walking in love seeks the benefit of others rather than selfish ambition or trying to get praise or respect from mankind.

To walk in love means preferring others more than themselves and that means they seek the benefit of others more than helping themselves. This same principle can be seen with the Power Gifts of healing because these gifts are not given for the benefit of the evangelist. The healing gifts only work for others but not for the evangelist himself. This means that the evangelist will have to exercise his own personal faith for his own healing. He might see thousands of people healed but then die of sickness himself if he does not use his own faith for his own personal healing. This gives evidence that the gifts are given for the benefit of others (not for the benefit of the possessors) and are not to be used for self-serving motives.

But the Corinthian believers were so zealous for spiritual gifts that they lost sight of the purpose of these gifts-which is to serve others. So, when they came together in public as a congregation, they were speaking in tongues all at the same time! This was being done as a spiritual status- symbol as they tried to show others that they were spiritual and had the gift of tongues. But Paul reminded them that speaking in tongues in public is no benefit to anyone except the speaker of the tongues who is edified. Therefore, they should speak in tongues in private for personal edification not in public in the congregation because no one has any understanding of what is being said and therefore it was of no benefit to them. The gifts are not for self-exaltation but for being a blessing to others.

1 Corinthians 14:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

Paul said that praying in a tongue involves praying with his born-again human spirit but his mind is unfruitful meaning that the human mind has no involvement in the process. Therefore, those who listen to someone else speak in tongues are not going to have any benefit from it because they will not understand what is being said (unless it is foreign tongues and a foreigner understands the dialect being spoken).

1 Corinthians 14:3 (NKJV)

³ But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

The purpose of simple prophecy is to bring edification and exhortation and comfort to the congregation in the church. But if the people have no understanding of what is being said then none of them will receive edification, exhortation and comfort. They need to have the tongues interpreted into a known language or else it will be of no benefit to them!

If someone is babbling in tongues before the entire congregation, this will not be of any help to them in the least. This will be similar to the situation of the Tower of Babel when God confused the languages of the earth and the people could no longer understand each other. The people of Babel broke up into groups which spoke the same languages because they had nothing in common groups of people outside of their language group. They could not benefit each other at all if they had no understanding and had no common language to impart ideas or communications. The same is true of speaking in tongues in the church because if people do not understand what is being said then it is worthless to benefit them in any way.

1 Corinthians 14:2 (NASB)

² For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.

If a person speaks in tongues, they are not speaking to men but to God because no one understands them (with the only exception being the type of tongues called foreign tongues in which a foreigner is able to understand the dialect being spoken). But with the type of tongues we call “Tongues for Interpretation” the speaker of the tongues does not understand the message and the congregation also does not understand the message. Without an interpretation no one in the congregation will be blessed by this type of tongues.

1 Corinthians 14:3-4 (NASB)

³ But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.

⁴ One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.

The one who prophesies with the simple gift of prophecy is delivering a direct message from God in a known language so that the congregation can understand what is being said and can receive benefit from it. But the person who speaks in a tongue only edifies himself. He who prophesies will bring edification and exhortation and comfort to the congregation (provided they understand what is being said).

Jude 1:20 (NASB)

²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Praying in the Holy Spirit means that a person is praying in tongues and this builds him up spiritually much like a car battery is charged by an alternator in a car. Praying in tongues or praying in the Holy Spirit are “synonymous” because both terms mean the same thing. Praying in tongues will edify or build one up or charge them up spiritually. But this type of tongues should be used for personal edification only because it is of no benefit for the congregation to hear someone babbling in tongues in the church. Only if those tongues are interpreted will they be of any benefit to anyone in the congregation.

1 Corinthians 14:5 (NASB)

⁵ Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.

Paul wished that all of the believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues because it is a great source of spiritual refreshing.

Isaiah 28:11-12 (NASB)

¹¹ Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

¹² He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophesied of the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that came during the day of Pentecost when the disciples were first filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. (Acts 2:4) The prophet Isaiah spoke of stammering lips of a foreign tongue that are God’s means of providing refreshing to cause those who were weary and needed to be refreshed. This is why Apostle Paul said that he wished every believer would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit because speaking in tongues is a source of spiritual refreshing and every believer should be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues for this reason.

1 Corinthians 14:5 (NASB)

⁵ Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.

But speaking in tongues will largely be for use in personal edification only because if everyone is speaking in tongues in public in the congregation then it is just making noise. No listener can receive benefit from tongues that are not understood. Paul wished every believer would speak in tongues but even more that they would prophesy because the one who gives a prophecy is greater than the one who speaks in tongues (unless he interprets) so that the church might receive edification.

It is possible that a person can speak in tongues and then also give the interpretation into a known language so that the congregation can hear what the message is saying to them. If this occurs it would be equal to the simple gift of prophecy where the message is given directly into a known language without speaking in tongues. Paul said those who have the simple gift of prophecy are greater or more valuable because they can give the message directly in a known language. Paul encouraged the believers to seek for this gift of prophecy for this reason.

Again, this comes back to walking in love and love prefers to benefit others and is not selfish. If a believer wants to benefit others, they will seek to receive the gift of prophecy so they can speak directly to the congregation in a message from God in a known language which everyone can understand.

I know of an apostle who traveled extensively overseas to other countries outside of his homeland of America. While he was visiting a church in a certain country a person stood up and gave an utterance in tongues. He did not know that native dialect but he perceived in his spirit that this utterance in tongues was not the native dialect but a message from the Holy Spirit. He possessed the gift of interpretation of tongues so he stood up and interpreted the message into English. But the native people in that congregation did not know English so a man who knew both English and the local native dialect was able to interpret that message from English into the local language and then the people in that congregation had understanding of what God said to them and were blessed! Unless an utterance in tongues is interpreted into a known language the congregation will receive no benefit from it.

1 Corinthians 14:6 (NASB)

⁶ But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching?

Unless the congregation understands what is being said then it is just a bunch of noise to them. Paul said that his own utterance would not benefit the people in the least unless they understood what he was saying. So, it is worthless for the congregation to hear someone speak in tongues if there is no one present to interpret that message into a known language.

1 Corinthians 14:11 (NASB)

¹¹ If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.

If a person is speaking in tongues in the congregation then he will be like a barbarian to those who listen because they will not have any idea what the person is saying and therefore it is of no benefit to them at all!

1 Corinthians 14:12 (NASB)

¹² So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.

The Corinthian believers were zealous for spiritual gifts but Paul reminded them to seek for the edification of the church so this means they were not to speak in tongues publicly unless there was an interpreter. Evidence that a believer is mature is that they will care more about blessing the congregation than just selfishly using the gifts to bless themselves. They most certainly should refresh themselves with tongues in private but in the church, they should seek to bless others rather than themselves.

1 Corinthians 14:28 (NASB)

²⁸ but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God.

Paul said clearly that if there was no one present who possesses the gift of “Interpretation of Tongues” then the speaker of tongues should keep silent in the church. In fact, to speak in tongues in the church publicly without interpretation is as useless as banging some noisy symbols or hitting two pots and pans together. Speaking in tongues publicly is just making noise unless it has an interpretation to go along with it!

The people cannot receive edification, exhortation, or comfort unless they hear the message in a language which they can understand.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (NASB)

¹ Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

Paul said that the first priority is that the believers should pursue love (see the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul teaches that love is the foundation of the operation of Spiritual Gifts). Love is not selfish and love does not selfishly babble out-loud in the congregation just to show-off that they have the gift of tongues as some sort of spiritual status-symbol! Paul said that they should earnestly desire spiritual gifts but especially that they might prophesy because the gift of simple prophecy can deliver the message of God directly into a known language that can be of benefit to everyone who understands it.

1 Corinthians 14:3 (NKJV)

³ But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

The one who prophesies brings edification and exhortation and comfort to the congregation who understands their message.

The simple gift of prophecy has operated in my own life in a number of different ways. The bible says we should seek after the greater gifts so I sought after the revelation gifts and also the greatest of the three Inspiration Gifts which is simple prophecy for edification, exhortation and comfort.

One of the ways that I saw this gift in operation was when I was a working student in the late-1980’s holding a job at a pizza restaurant. This business was located near the ORU campus in Tulsa Oklahoma and many of the employees were Christian university students. When I came to work in the morning and was doing prep-work for the night shift and I would pray in tongues while getting the store ready. While doing this I suddenly had poetry come to me in the form of rhyming sentences. This poetry would describe employees who were working at this restaurant and it would come in the form of encouragement edification and comfort. Sometimes their personal names would be part of the rhyming sentences and it would often give praise for extraordinary work or services that they performed. I wrote these poems down on the white board for all the employees to read and I was told by those who read the poems that what I had said about them really made them feel good. They were encouraged and uplifted and energized to do their part in that business! As a matter of fact, this pizza restaurant boomed in sales and was one of the top producing stores in the nation among all of the stores that chain of restaurants! I believe it was because of the employees (who were mostly spirit-filled Christians) that did an outstanding job! It seemed they just worked together with great synergy like bees in a beehive! This group of employees seemed to be able to produce and deliver more pizzas and maintain the higher quality product than any other store in the nationwide chain! The corporate headquarters even offered the owner a large sum to sell his franchise back to the corporation to make it into a corporate store! I believe the secret to the success of this restaurant was because of the quality employees that we had and the unity that existed among them as they all worked toward a common goal. I also believe that the exhortation that I provided was one part of helping them pull together in unity and experience this synergism (that I have never seen in any other company) until today.

This is an example of providing edification, exhortation, and comfort using poetry and people were actually excited to come to work to see if I would have a poem for them on the board that night! Employees are the greatest asset of any company because they are the ones who produce the products and make the sales and deliver the goods and when they are all working together in unity nothing will be impossible for them! (Gen. 11:6) The simple gift of prophecy for edification can play a huge role in unifying a group of people and turning them into an unstoppable team together that can accomplish any type of task!

I have also had the simple gift of prophecy of edification come in the form of dreams and interpretations of dreams. This provided great edification, exhortation and comfort for those whose dreams I interpreted for them.

The interpretation of dreams also provided edification, exhortation and comfort for myself because sometimes I would interpret my own dreams and later these things lifted me out of discouragement and helped me tremendously when I needed them the most. I file all of my dreams and interpretations that I have begun writing in 1999 until present and when my wife brought me a dream written in December 2002 that was a perfect word that I needed to hear in October 2013. I was discouraged for some days over a problem I was not able to solve and this dream and interpretation broke that depression and heaviness and made me feel as if I was energized and on top of the world! It was just amazing that this dream interpretation had a specific application to me long after it was written! It provided edification, exhortation and comfort for me and was of a great benefit to me because it was a personal word from the Lord which fit my current situation exactly!

So, it is possible for someone to have a gift of simple prophecy of edification and use it for themselves and it can provide the edification, exhortation and comfort needed for them at the right time and season!

Sometimes I have sent letters to others that were in the form of a simple prophecy of edification and they really lifted someone out of a spirit of heaviness.

One time I was ministering in a church in Cebu City Philippines and a businessman had experienced a great discouragement and I could feel his pain and when he came forward for prayer. I just wept together with him and I could feel his discouragement and distress of spirit. In that case, the gift operated without words but spiritually I uplifted the man as I prayed for him.

Any occurrence where someone is edified, exhorted or comforted can be an operation of the simple gift of prophecy because the fruit of this gift is edification, exhortation and comfort. God can utilize many means of ministering this gift but predominantly it will be in the form or a message delivered in a congregation by a person giving that message in a known language. That message will have elements of edification and exhortation and comfort in it.

Sometimes an utterance of tongues will be given first and then it will be interpreted into a known language so that the congregation can understand. But this will always have the elements of edification, exhortation and comfort and it will uplift the people.

The gift of prophecy of exhortation can be specific to an individual. My wife attended a church in London England and no one in that congregation knew her. But a young woman she never met gave her a personal prophecy of edification saying that the Lord was with her and she should not be afraid. This prophecy came when she was facing great insecurity and financial lack and the word gave specific encouragement to her to let her know that God was watching out for her and He would not let her fall.

Sometimes the gift might work corporately and it can exhort a church congregation to holiness, consecration, or separation from the world. It can bring a corporate exhortation in the form of “Jesus is coming soon!” “Don’t stop here!” You will reap if you do not give up! Continue being faithful to the Lord! Keep moving with God! These are all forms of corporate exhortation that can be of great encouragement to an entire body of believers at the same time.

2 Chronicles 20:14-17 (NIV)

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

¹⁵ He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

¹⁶ Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.

¹⁷ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”

This is an example of a prophecy of edification because it encouraged the entire group not to fear but trust in the Lord. In this case, it was even mixed with a Word of Wisdom because this message even gave specific information of the location of the enemy and where the enemy would be at the next day (as the enemy would be climbing up the Pass of Ziz at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel). That was specific information about where the enemy would be at on the next day so this was a Word of Wisdom about future events. Sometimes different gifts may manifest together but normally prophecy of exhortation does not give directions or predict the future because these future predictions belong to the Revelation gifts and are commonly practiced by apostles and prophets. But it is possible that a prophet may operate in the simple gift of exhortation to comfort and edify the people and then switch over into the Revelation gifts and speak of specific directions and predictions involving the future. Multiple gifts will sometimes operate through the same man at almost the same time especially if he is called into the Fivefold ministry.

The part of this prophecy that exhorted the people not to be afraid and not to be discouraged can be classified under the simple gift of prophecy of edification and exhortation and comfort. The part that predicted the future in specific manner speaks of the operation of Word of Wisdom for future events.

Jahaziel, who delivered this message, was a Levite and the Levites are the Old Testament counterpart of the Fivefold ministry gifts which are found under the New Testament. It is not surprising that he operated in both simple prophecy of exhortation and also with Word of Wisdom for future events. Jahaziel started off with the simple prophecy of exhortation saying do not be afraid or discouraged and then he switched over into Word of Wisdom for future events and then he again returned to simple prophecy of exhortation by telling them a second time to not be afraid or discouraged by the innumerable horde of enemy troops that had gathered together against them!

The church needs divine comfort of Holy Spirit and this comes through the gift of simple prophecy of exhortation or its counterpart of tongues and interpretation. Some people are so sad that they are contemplating suicide. They cannot see any way out of their problems and are living in complete despair. The gift of simple prophecy of exhortation can give healing in the inner person and uplift people and energize them and help them regain purpose and vision and destiny in life.

Just knowing that God knows about their suffering and what they are going through and that God cares about them is enough to greatly encourage those who are feeling depressed. God uses the gift of simple prophecy of edification as well as tongues and interpretation of tongues to provide the edification and exhortation and comfort that believer’s need. It can come in the form of a personal message to a specific individual or it can come as a message of encouragement to an entire congregation of believers.

GENDER-SPECIFIC GIFTS

1 Corinthians 14:34 (NIV)

³⁴ women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.

This scripture says clearly that women are to remain silent in the churches and are not allowed to speak but must be under submission as the Law says. This Law or command was first given by God in the Garden of Eden when God instituted the fact that Eve was created as a helpmeet and she was not to assume leadership over her husband. The woman was to be under submission to her male authority and he was to rule over her. (Gen. 3:16)

1 Corinthians 11:5 (NIV)

⁵ And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved.

The only exception to the rule that women are to keep silent in the church is if they pray or prophesy in the Church but this must be done only with their head covered. The head covering is symbolic of a woman’s submission to her male authority in the form of her father (if she is unmarried) or her husband (if she is married).

See “Head Covering and Submission” for more details.

If a woman does not have her male authority present beside her in the church then she should remain silent because no utterance is to be made by a woman without her submission to her male authority.

1 Corinthians 14:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

The only two utterances permitted by a woman in the church are prayer or prophesy and the “prayer” referred to here is that of a woman praying in tongues. This scripture mentions “praying in tongues” and this is what is referred to when a woman is permitted to pray or prophesy in the church. Both prayer (in tongues) and the gift of simple prophecy belong to the category of “Inspiration Gifts” because tongues with interpretation equals the simple gift of prophesy.

This scripture does not mention that a woman should interpret tongues so this gives evidence that it should be her male authority that should pray for and receive the gift of interpretation of tongues for the purpose of interpreting the utterance in tongues that the female under his authority gives.

1 Timothy 2:12-14 (NIV)

¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴ And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

A woman is not to teach or have authority over a man because this goes against God’s divine order. The woman was created to be a helpmeet to the man and no helper is greater than the one she is created to help. Adam was formed first and then Eve was created to be his helper so this reveals that it is God’s divine order that men should be leaders and women serve in a supportive role to them. Feminine thinking is not created for leadership but it is designed to be used in a supportive role to masculine logic. Adam was not the one who was deceived but it was the women with her feminine thinking of equality that was deceived. Satan deceived Eve to reach out for the forbidden fruit on the basis that she could become equal with God! Feminine equality brought a curse to the entire world and it is still the chief means of deception that Satan uses to deceive women to introduce disorder into the home and the church and society and nation.

See “Divine Order for Women” for more details.

The reason that women are not permitted to speak in the church is twofold. First, they are not to assume a role of a teacher/pupil relationship over a man because no woman is permitted to teach or usurp authority over a man in any way. (1 Tim. 2:12) Therefore women are not allowed to address a mixed-gender congregation from the pulpit because if they did, they would automatically be assuming a teacher/pupil relationship over the men in the congregation and that is against God’s divine order.

Secondly, the prohibition of women speaking in the church is based upon the fact that they are not to introduce their feminine thinking from the pulpit. Not speaking in the church refers to them not being a public speaker or a teacher over the men who are present. The only teaching role that women can assume is that of the older women (like Levite women) teaching younger women (Titus 2:3-4) but this cannot include teaching men in any way.

The reason that women are not allowed to be speakers in the church or have a pulpit ministry is that they will introduce a feminine-point-of-view of God. Women will typically focus only on the feminine traits of mercy and grace and forgiveness and entirely ignore the fact that God is a masculine God who requires that mankind repent and comply with His laws or face eternal punishment. Feminine thinking introduces a perverted point of view of God by making God appear to be a big “Sugar-Candy” God who hands out nothing but hugs and kisses to everyone and does not require anyone comply with His laws! This is perversion and this is why women are not allowed to be speakers in the church and are not allowed to teach or usurp authority over men.

The carnal church today is entirely given over to feminine thinking and this came about because the feminine equality of the world was imported into the church! It is feminine equality that has placed women as leaders in the church and gave them license not only to teach mixed-gender congregations but also to introduce their feminine thinking from the pulpit.

Feminine thinking in the pulpit will typically give out only sugar-coated messages that tell people what they want to hear rather than speaking the truth in masculine manner. There are men who have been raised by women and have been conditioned to think like women. We have coined the term “eunuchs” to describe those men whose minds operate with feminine thinking. Whenever men use feminine thinking (like liberal males do) they are in fact eunuchs because they were castrated of their masculine logic when they submitted their minds to the leadership of women and have adopted themselves to feminine thinking. The carnal church is run entirely on feminine thinking which is dispensed by both women and eunuchs from the pulpits.

Focusing entirely on feminine thinking places an unhealthy emphasis only on mercy and grace and forgiveness and the result is a removal of the fear of the Lord from the churches. Doctrines like “Eternal Security” are feminine in nature and focus only on the feminine qualities of mercy and grace and so they go to the extreme of teaching that a person only has to repeat a “salvation- prayer” and then they are sealed up to go to heaven regardless if they live a totally vile and reprobate lifestyle and live in unrepentant sin continually! Feminine preaching removes the fear of the Lord and results in the worldly behavior of Christians in the carnal church.

The apostles and prophets are masculine ministry gifts. The apostles bring divine order and the prophets bring holiness and a fear of the Lord. But both gifts expose disorder and sin and deliver masculine rebukes and calls to repentance. But these gifts go largely unrecognized in the carnal church which is run entirely by feminine thinking and women leadership. Women (and the eunuchs who serve them) will typically not receive masculine rebuke or correction from God’s word but will even accuse apostles and prophets as being sheep-beaters! The ministry gifts of apostles and prophets are largely shut down by not being recognized or received in the carnal church so therefore nothing but feminine-preaching is ever heard in the carnal church. But this is like feeding a child a constant diet of sugar candy and it will result in them becoming sick and unhealthy. In the same way, anyone who is fed a constant diet of feminine teaching will become sick spiritually and have no fear of the Lord and carnality will be evident in their lives.

It is for this reason that women are not allowed to be speakers in the church or have a pulpit ministry over a mixed-gender congregation. The only two utterances that they are permitted in the church is prayer (in tongues) or simple prophecy of exhortation. But these utterances can only be made with their head covered-displaying their submission to their male authority that is present with them when they make such utterances in the church.

So, in this sense we could call the “Inspiration Gifts” of tongues and simple prophecy of exhortation to be “gender-specific” because these are the only two gifts permitted for women to exercise in the church. The scriptures do not mention them interpreting the tongues so this would be better off done by their own male authority. If there is any man who has females under his authority (which have the “Inspiration Gift” of speaking in tongues) it would be good if that man ask the Lord for the gift of “Interpretation of Tongues” because he could then interpret any utterance in tongues that his females should make in the church.

Acts 21:8-9 (NKJV)

⁸ On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹ Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

Philip the evangelist had four virgin daughters who prophesied but this is not speaking of the gift of a prophet and these were not “prophetesses” as the NASB translation mistakenly calls them. This is referring to the simple gift of prophecy for edification, exhortation, and comfort. But these four virgin daughters were not permitted to operate in either tongues (for interpretation) or the simple gift of prophecy for exhortation unless their father Philip was present with them to judge what they were saying. Philip was their spiritual head and these girls were required to have a head covering in the church indicating that they were submissive to their own male authority. They were not to give any utterance without his presence to judge what they were saying. If Philip should perceive that they were carried away in emotions then he would tell them to stop and be silent and they would have to obey him.

There is no contradiction when the scriptures say that women are not allowed to speak in the church and at the same time mentions them praying or prophesying in the church. They are to keep silent as far as being a public speaker in the pulpit but if they are under submission to their own male authority then it is permitted that they can pray in tongues (for interpretation) or utter the simple gift of prophesy.

See “Head Covering and Submission” for more details.

The “Inspiration Gifts” are feminine in nature because they focus exclusively on giving edification and exhortation and comfort to the church. This can be compared to an infant child who is given the feminine comfort of breast feeding. But after that child is weaned from the breast it is time for the masculine rod of correction administered by the father. In the same way, the “Inspiration Gifts” are feminine in nature and bring edification and exhortation and comfort.

The “Inspiration Gifts” can be of a great encouragement to baby Christians and as such they are milk-type of gifts. But when believers mature in Christ and are weaned from the milk (and have some teeth) then they can handle the hard rebukes of the apostle and prophet. These rebukes may be hard to chew and swallow but they are satisfying like eating a good steak! The rebukes of apostles and prophets are like the rod of correction administered by a father to a weaned child but the Inspiration Gifts are feminine gifts compared to breast feeding and these provide comfort for a new born baby Christian.

The carnal church does not typically invite apostles and prophets into the pulpit so masculine teaching is largely void in such churches. Only feminine thinking is dispensed from the pulpits of the carnal church and feminine thinking only focuses on the love and mercy and grace of God while ignoring the dominant masculine traits of God’s judgment and His masculine requirements to comply with His laws. Feminine preaching removes the fear of the Lord and results in the worldly behavior of Christians in the carnal church.

The Inspiration Gifts could be called “Gender-Specific” just because these are the only spiritual gifts permitted for women to operate in the church. This does not mean that men never operate in the Inspiration Gifts but only that women are limited to these gifts because of the prohibition of God for them to speak in the church (meaning teaching from the pulpit) and they are not permitted to teach men so this bans them from addressing any mixed-gender congregation.

See “Divine Order for Women” for more details.

The early church had 100% male leadership and women were taught to obey God’s command to submit to their husbands and honor them as the head of the home. If a woman made any utterance in the church it was only with her male authority sitting next to her to judge what she said and she had to submit to him if he told her to be quiet and sit down. Women did not serve as speakers in the pulpit because they were not permitted to speak or assume authority over a man in a teacher/pupil relationship.

OPERATION OF INSPIRATION GIFTS

It may be of some benefit to define what the simple gift of prophecy for exhortation is not!

1. The gift of simple prophesy for exhortation is not foretelling the future but it is only limited to edification, exhortation and comfort. (1 Cor. 14:3)

2. This gift is not related to the Fivefold ministry gift of prophet. A prophet is a man who has the “Revelation Gifts” in operation and exposes and rebukes sin and brings a fear of the Lord and holiness to the church. A Fivefold ministry gift of prophet is a “person” not a “vocal-gift” like the gift of simple prophecy of exhortation is.

See “Fivefold Ministry Gifts” for more details.

3. Having the simple gift of prophecy does not make the possessor of this gift into a Fivefold ministry gift of prophet. The four virgin daughters of Philip the Evangelist were not “prophetesses” but only operated in the simple gift of prophecy of exhortation which is feminine in nature. The Fivefold ministry gift of prophet may predict the future but the simple gift of prophecy for exhortation never predicts the future.

4. The simple gift of prophecy is not used for guidance because guidance is not one of the three uses of this type of prophecy. (1 Cor. 14:3)

5. The gift of prophecy is not preaching because preaching comes from the natural mind and the gift of prophecy comes from the spirit.

6. The simple gift of prophecy is not rebuke and is different than a Fivefold ministry gift of prophet who exposes and rebukes sin in the Body of Christ.

7. The simple gift of prophecy is not involved with criticism. Neither the simple gift of prophecy nor the Fivefold ministry gift of prophet will produce any criticism. The fruit of the simple gift of prophecy is only edification, exhortation and comfort and the fruit of the Fivefold ministry gift of “Prophet” is fear of the Lord and holiness. Criticism is a negative force that tears down people without producing any good fruit in their lives (unlike the rebuke of a prophet that will lead to the positive fruit of repentance and holiness). Criticism is from Satan the accuser of the brethren and those who operate in criticism will typically be tools of the devil to tear people down without any constructive purpose in their criticism. The simple gift of prophecy will build up and edify the body of Christ and it can be identified by its fruit. In whatever method the simple gift of prophecy is employed the result will be the same and it will edify and build up members of the body of Christ.

8. The simple gift of prophecy does not provide human sympathy and pity. The gift of simple prophecy will bring comfort and consolation or healing of distress or healing of sorrow of persecution or suffering. This is different than sympathy and pity which are not helpful to those who are suffering but only make them worse. The simple gift of prophecy will produce the divine comfort of the Holy Spirit and therefore it is not related to sympathy or pity of humans.

SOME GUIDELINES FOR OPERATION

1 Corinthians 14:32 (NKJV)

³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

The possessor of the gift of simple prophecy of exhortation can control that gift and it is entirely subject to that person’s own human will. The possessor of this gift is to control their gift and not use the gift in a disorderly manner in the church. The same is true of all of the Inspiration Gifts including Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues. Those who possess these gifts must hold them until the right time and release them in an orderly manner in the church.

1 Corinthians 14:27 (CJB)

²⁷ If the gift of tongues is exercised, let it be by two or at most three, and each in turn; and let someone interpret.

The “Inspiration Gifts” should be regulated so that only two or three utterances per church service are given. People should not be giving more than the prescribed number of utterances allowed in one service. They should hold what utterances they have if two or three utterances have already been made in the church.

1 Corinthians 14:33 (NIV)

³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

If people are all speaking at the same time and giving numerous utterances in tongues and trying to interpret those tongues with a number of interpreters speaking at the same time then there would be chaos or disorder in the church service. They should comply with the guidelines given and speak one at a time in turn and not have more than 2-3 utterances in one service

.

In past generations prior to WWII, the nation of Britain had a greater manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit than the churches in America and this was because they were better organized. In British church services (where the Gifts of the Spirit operated) they would assign a moderator. The moderator would announce who was going to interpret during that service and this eliminated a lot of confusion. Often times when an utterance of tongues is given there may be several people present who both have the same gift of Interpretation of Tongues and frequently, they will both stand up and start speaking at the same time. Then one of them will have to stop and let the other party continue. Sometimes both parties will stop thinking that the other will continue. So, this is confusing and disturbs the flow of the service as neither interpreter knows who is going to proceed with the interpretation. This is why in Britain they used to announce before the service began who was going to do all of the interpreting in that service. When any utterance in tongues was given then the same man would stand up and interpret those tongues with confidence (not having to stop when someone else interrupted him).

1 Corinthians 14:33 (NIV)

³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

This scripture says clearly that God is not a God of disorder so anything that is of disorder will cause the Holy Spirit to be grieved and this will result in the departure of the Holy Spirit and the cessation of the Gifts of the Spirit.

I describe the loss of the presence of the Holy Spirit as “catastrophic” because there is nothing worse for a group of believers than to have the presence of the Holy Spirit depart from them! They will become like a dead social club void of God’s spirit and they will be worthless to help anyone in such a reprobate condition.

Any type of disorder in the church will cause the Holy Spirit to be grieved and when He is grieved, He will depart and the anointing will be absent from that place.

I know of a preacher who was praying for the sick and had many of the people healed in his meeting. As he was praying suddenly the presence of the Holy Spirit lifted and he knew it immediately because without the presence of the Holy Spirit he was useless to help anyone. He looked up and saw that the line of people (waiting for prayer) had passed by some tape and book tables and some woman had uncovered these products and picked up a book and was looking for someone to complete the sale. The preacher was enraged at the irreverent attitude of this woman who had selfishly caused the Holy Spirit to be grieved and all healing stopped at that moment. So, he shouted at her to get away from that book table!

People need to be trained how not to grieve the presence of the Holy Spirit otherwise they can easily offend the Holy Spirit by their irreverent behavior.

I know of an American prophet who was invited to speak in a large church in Latin America. Their church was advanced with a large building and professional band and had thousands of members. But according to Spanish culture the church members did not come to church to worship God but rather to socialize with one another. The prophet said that all during the praise and worship there was a sound or “drone” of thousands of people holding conversations with one another in the audience. This drone (of human voices speaking) continued while the announcements were made and it continued even after the preacher was introduced! As a matter of fact, the drone of conversation among this large congregation had not ceased at any time since the people entered the large worship center. People were talking during all aspects of the church service (even when they were supposed to be worshiping the Lord). The prophet was filled with the anger of the Lord over this disrespect of the Holy Spirit. When he was supposed to preach, he did not say anything but just stood there and stared at them all in silence. Eventually the drone of thousands of people speaking to one another died down and they began to look toward the pulpit wondering why there was an American guy just standing there staring at them all. When he got their attention, he let them all have a prophet’s rebuke telling them that it is extremely rude to the Holy Spirit for them to be having conversations during the entire church service and paying no reverence to God at all! After he gave them a lengthy rebuke and a call to repentance the people humbled themselves as a congregation and repented of their disrespect toward the things of God! After that, there came a move of God in that place as the Holy Spirit manifested for the first time in the history of that church. Since that church was founded it had never experienced a move of God or the presence of the Holy Spirit because of the disorder of people talking and being irreverent with the things of God in that church. When this disorder was corrected then they had a move of God in that place!

The same is true of any church on earth and wherever there is disorder then it will grieve the Holy Spirit and cause the Gifts of the Spirit to cease!

PART THREE

There can be a long list of things that can grieve the Holy Spirit but basically anything that goes against the divine order of God will cause the Holy Spirit to be grieved. When the Holy Spirit departs that congregation, it will become nothing more than a dead social club and they will be powerless to meet the needs of anyone!

A real man of God has to be aware of all of these things because if he is passive and does not deal with disorder then he can be the cause of the departure of the Holy Spirit from his church! I call the departure of the Holy Spirit a “catastrophic” loss because once the Holy Spirit is gone then the Gifts of the Spirit will cease and that congregation will be nothing but a worthless and dead social club!

Passivity with disorder is a direct affront against God and many men of God have been removed from their office by God because of their passivity with disorder within their own churches. The sin of passivity of God’s leaders is what will cause the Spirit of God to be grieved away and it is disorder in the church that has caused thousands of congregations to become “Ichabod” meaning the glory has departed. That word “Ichabod” can be used to describe a “catastrophic” loss of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a congregation where disorder has not been dealt with!

An honest question to be asked here of God’s leaders is, “What is more important than the presence of the Holy Spirit?” If these leaders are passive with known immorality in the church and remain silent and do not take action to expel the offenders then they are in fact opting to keep those who are immoral in preference to keeping the Holy Spirit. If they are passive about rebuking Christian women who dress like the world then they are in fact, “preferring” keeping these carnal women in the church over having the presence of the Holy Spirit. There can be a long list of factors that can cause the Holy Spirit to be grieved but all of these things can be traced to something that is outside of God’s divine order. This can be unrepentant sin among individuals in the congregation or it can be a corporate sin like having the entire congregation showing disrespect to the presence of God by making the church service into a place to socialize with their friends! All of these things are disorder and sin and these things are the type of things that grieve the Holy Spirit and will cause the gifts to cease in operation!

A church can be organized so as to create an atmosphere that is conducive for the moving of the Holy Spirit. If the “Inspiration Gifts” are not operated in an orderly manner then it will grieve the Holy Spirit and cause Him to depart. A moderator should be appointed whose job it is to oversee the operation of spiritual gifts. For example, a moderator can list those members of the congregation who have a proven gift of simple prophecy of exhortation, and those members who have a gift of tongues and those who have a gift of interpretation of tongues. The two gifts available for women in the church are (simple prophecy of exhortation) and the (gift of tongues) so the moderator should also include on his list the men who are the male authority over the women having these gifts. If the woman is unmarried then she should have her spiritual authority of her father present and if she is married, she should have her spiritual authority of her husband present. The moderator can have these people check-in with him before the service starts and if they are female he can also check to see if their male authority is present. If no male authority is present with these women then they are to keep silent in the church.

The moderator will make a decision before the service begins who will be assigned to operate in these gifts in that church service. Any utterance in tongues will be assigned to a specific interpreter and so there will not be any confusion as to who is going to interpret in that service.

If things are done decently and in order then that church will begin to experience the move of God and the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit can be restored. Some simple organization can go a long way toward creating an atmosphere in a church where the Gifts of the Spirit will operate. All disorder grieves the Spirit and this disorder can be corrected by doing things in an orderly manner. Appointing a moderator who understands the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit and who is spiritually perceptive can be one method of restoring the supernatural to the church.

FACTORS THAT QUENCH THE SPIRIT

There are many factors that can grieve the Holy Spirit. All disorder will grieve the Holy Spirit and God’s people have to study to find out what is God’s divine protocol and then take action not to offend God in any point.

1 Chronicles 13:7-10 (NIV)

⁷ They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it.

⁸ David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled.

¹⁰ The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

This is an example of being presumptuous with the things of God! The ark of God was captured and spent some time in the land of the Philistines before the plagued Philistines decided to send it back to Israel. They did so by putting it on an ox-cart and letting some milk cows pull it back to Israel again. (1 Sam. 6:11) But the Philistines were pagans who did not know God and they were testing to see if their plagues were caused by God or by chance so they used the ox-cart and the two cows as a test. (1 Sam. 6:7-10) If two milking cows with calves went against their nature and left their calves and pulled the ark back to Israel it would be taken as a sign that God was the instigator of their plagues.

But David was presumptuous and just followed the ways of the pagan Philistines and he also tried to move the ark of God upon an ox-cart and it resulted in death! God held the Jewish people more accountable than the pagan Philistines who did not know God and did not know God’s ways!

1 Chronicles 15:12-13 (NIV)

¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

¹³ It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.”

Later David again resumed the plan to move the ark of God to Jerusalem but this time he inquired from God’s law about the prescribed manner in which it was to be moved. God had commanded that the ark only be moved by poles resting on the shoulders of Levites consecrated for this purpose of carrying the ark of God. They were not to move the ark with an ox-cart like the pagans did. The anger of God broke out upon them because they did not move the ark according to prescribed manner.

The church also must be operated according to God’s prescribed manner in every way and anything that does not comply with God’s prescribed manner will result in the absence of the Holy Spirit. Everything must be done decently and in order according to the divine order of God as revealed in His written word the Bible!

The same is true with the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit because their operation must follow divine protocol or the Gifts will cease because all disorder grieves the Holy Spirit. There is no need for the Gifts of the Spirit to leave the life of a Spirit-filled believer and there is no need for the Gifts to cease operation in a Spirit-filled church as long as they are operated according to God’s divine order and God’s people are not passive with any sort of disorder in the church. If God’s people will operate with wisdom in the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit then they will remain with them. Men are to be leaders and avoid passivity and do what is right and the church is to be led exclusively by masculine leadership! The women are to submit to their male authority and when everything is in its proper place then there will be an atmosphere for the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit!

WORD OF WISDOM

The Word of Wisdom deals with future events or things that have not yet transpired on earth. The Word of Wisdom deals with future things and it is a fragment of the total wisdom of God just like a word is a fragment of a sentence. A person operating in the Word of Wisdom does not know everything about the future but only that small part or fragment that God deemed was necessary to reveal to him. These gifts do not operate in a frivolous manner and God does not just give His people knowledge of all future events in general so they can make predictions and amaze or entertain others. The information imparted by God for future things is for a specific purpose only.

Acts 11:27-29 (NIV)

²⁷ During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

²⁹ The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.

There were a number of prophets that were in the church at Jerusalem and some of these men came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and through inspiration of the Holy Spirit he predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman Empire. This was a prediction of a future event that the Spirit of God revealed before this event transpired. The purpose of giving this information was so that the disciples in Antioch could prepare to send aid to the brothers who were living in Judea. They were able to prepare in advance because they had knowledge of the famine before it came. Whenever a prophet speaks of future events this is an operation of “Word of Wisdom” which reveals a fragment or bit of information of God’s vast wisdom about what is to come in the future.

The same can also be seen in the life of Joseph in Egypt. He had the operation of “Word of Wisdom” occur through the interpretation of a dream.

Genesis 41:14-32 (NASB)

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

¹⁷ So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;

¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.

¹⁹ “Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

²⁰ and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

²¹ “Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

²² “I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

²³ and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;

²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶ “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.

²⁷ “The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹ “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

³⁰ and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.

³¹ “So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

³² “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

Pharaoh had a dream that was repeated in two forms but he was unable to find any Egyptian who could interpret his dream. But God arranged events while Joseph was in prison and Joseph interpreted the dreams of the officials of Pharaoh who were in prison with Joseph. One of these officials survived and was restored to his post and he recommended Joseph to Pharaoh to have him interpret the dreams of Pharaoh. This was the hand of the Lord ordering events because Pharaoh had the authority to do something about the dreams that were interpreted for him. If Joseph had received the same dreams in prison it would not have done any good because he would have no authority as a prisoner to do anything about it and no preparations would have been made and everyone would have perished by starvation as a result.

Genesis 41:34-44 (NIV)

³⁴ Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

³⁵ They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.

³⁶ This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

³⁷ The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.

³⁸ So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.

⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³ He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”

In God’s wisdom He arranged to give the dream to Pharaoh and God gave the interpretation of that dream to Joseph and this resulted in Pharaoh granting all authority in Egypt to Joseph. Now Joseph had the revelation of coming future events and Joseph also had the authority to make preparations for those events. Joseph saved the lives of people all over the known-world in that time because he had revelation of future events by a “Word of Wisdom.”

In this case, the “Word of Wisdom” was given by a dream and interpretation of dreams and God did this is such a way as to grant full authority to Joseph under Pharaoh. Again, the operation of “Spiritual Gifts” does not occur for frivolous reasons or for entertainment but only for a purpose of God to be fulfilled on earth.

Genesis 45:5-8 (NIV)

⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.

⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

It was the purpose of God to send Joseph to Egypt to save many lives by a great deliverance from a worldwide famine. God worked all of the events to promote Joseph and place him in charge of the land of Egypt. This was the reason why God revealed future events to Joseph so that he would know what is coming and could make preparations for it.

Genesis 41:56-57 (NASB)

⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

People of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe in all the earth. Multitudes of people were saved from starvation because Joseph made advance preparations for a future event that was revealed to him by “Word of Wisdom”.

Noah and Word of Wisdom

Genesis 6:13-14 (NASB)

¹³ Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴ “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

God spoke to Noah and told him of future events and the coming of a worldwide flood that would destroy everything that breathed on the face of the whole earth. God also gave Noah specific directions of how to prepare for this coming flood. When God speaks to mankind and reveals future events this is an operation of the “Word of Wisdom”. A “Word of Wisdom” describes anything that has to do with the future and God communicates this to His people for a specific purpose. In the case of Noah, God wanted to communicate this knowledge so that Noah could prepare in advance for this event before it took place.

The Spirit Filled believers under the New Testament will commonly have an “inward witness” as a means of communication with God. This “Inward Witness” is the main means of communications of the Holy Spirit speaking to the human spirit of a born-again person. It is Spirit-to-spirit communications as the Holy Spirit imparts revelation to the born-again human spirit of a man without the use of any natural languages.

So, the primary means of communication from God to the believer will be the “Inward Witness” of the Holy Spirit imparting an impression “or knowing” within their human spirit. This will generally be how most of the revelation gifts will operate within a born-again believer. But there are times when a believer will hear an audible voice of God speak to them. This happened to my wife when she was praying for a spouse as a single woman and she heard and audible voice speak to her and say, “According to your faith be it done to you!” This startled her she looked around to see if someone had said that to her because she heard it audibly! But this was the only time this ever happened in her life and it is not something that will occur on a regular basis for the believer.

Sometimes God will give a message through a prophet and he will predict future events with great detail by the operation of “Word of Wisdom”. This occurred in the Old Testament frequently with the Old Testament prophets and continued under the New Testament with prophets like Agabus who gave predictions of future events that came to pass.

The Word of Wisdom can be communicated by various means such as an audible voice or by inward witness or a prophetic utterance or by dreams and interpretations of dreams. However, God chooses to communicate, those various means will have one thing in common that distinguishes them as a Word of Wisdom and this is that they will speak of future events that will transpire after this communication has been given.

My mother was driving from our farm to the city that was about five miles away and she made this trip almost daily for many years that they were living on the farm. But one day she had an inward impression to stop the car and pull over to the side of the road and pray. But she argued with the impression and thought that there was no reason that she should stop and pray and she thought that she could pray when she got home later. She proceeded down the hill and approached north toward the river bridge that leads toward the city. There happened to be a guy in a pickup truck facing south making a signal to turn left across her lane of traffic. He had his front wheels turned toward the lane where my mother was driving in preparation to make the turn after she passed by. But there was a woman headed south over that river bridge who was a distracted driver and was not paying attention to the fact that a man stopped his pickup and was signaling to turn left and she plowed right into the rear-end of his pickup and the force of the impact pushed him right in front of the car of my mother (at about the same instant that she arrived on that spot). If she had been delayed even a minute, she would have missed that collision altogether. Her car was completely totaled and she suffered some painful injuries that could have been avoided if she had obeyed the impression of the Holy Spirit to stop and pray. That impression that deals with future events falls under the category of a Word of Wisdom. Her impression was to stop the car and pray and that was enough information to have spared her from having a costly and painful collision!

This is an example of the short-term future revealed by Word of Wisdom because she was notified of an event that was about to happen only minutes in advance!

The Old Testament prophets often had prophetic words about events that would transpire hundreds of years after they were predicted.

Hosea 11:1 (NIV)

¹ “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Matthew 2:14-15 (NIV)

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,

¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

The prophet Hosea predicted hundreds of years in advance that Jesus would be taken to Egypt until the death of Herod and would be brought back to the land of Israel again.

(See the lesson called the “Atonement Series” and read about Jesus the fulfillment of the Old Testament for more details)

There are numerous prophetic utterances given that were predicted hundreds of years before they were fulfilled by Jesus and this is an example of Old Testament prophets operating by Word of Wisdom for future events.

A Word of Wisdom may predict events in the near future that could include things that occur only minutes after being predicted, or days or even months. In some cases, the Word of Wisdom may predict events hundreds of years before their occurrence as in the case of the Old Testament prophets. The Bible also has prophetic utterances that have not yet been fulfilled because these future events belong to the time frame of the far distant future that has not yet transpired on the earth. But whether the revelation is minutes in advance, days in advance, months, or years or even centuries in advance, whenever the prophetic utterance deals with future events this is example of the operation of Word of Wisdom.

John 16:13 (NASB)

¹³ “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

It is the Holy Spirit who will disclose to the believer what is to come. Those things that are to come are related to the future whether that future is the “near-future” of minutes, days, or months or “intermediate-future” in years or “distant-future” involving centuries.

Romans 8:16 (CJB)

¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our own spirits that we are children of God;

The Spirit of God “bearing witness” speaks of an impartation of revelation between the Holy Spirit and the born-again human spirit of a believer. This is the primary means of communication between God and man but God may use other methods on occasion as He deems appropriate. But whenever these communications deal with future events then this is an operation of Word of Wisdom.

Daniel 7:1 (NIV)

¹ In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

There are also other forms of communication that God may use to speak to His people. An open vision is such that a person has their eyes open and they are fully awake (not dreaming) but they are able to see into the spirit realm and even communicate with spirit beings like angels.

In the case of Daniel however his vision may have come in the form of a dream because he was lying on his bed when the visions passed through his mind. But he was able to interact and communicate with angelic beings who explained the vision to him. Daniel may have received his vision in the form of a dream and this vision depicted future empires that were yet to come. Daniel was operating in a Word of Wisdom when he said there would be a Persian Empire, a Grecian empire, and a Roman empire when at that time those empires did not yet exist.

Daniel 7:15-17 (NIV)

¹⁵ “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.

¹⁶ I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:

¹⁷ ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.

It was an angelic being that spoke to Daniel so possibly Daniel was in the spirit realm during this vision and was able to communicate with spirit beings-possibly the angel Gabriel. (Dan. 8:16 and Dan. 9:21) Daniel as informed that the four great beasts represented four kingdoms. There was the Babylonian empire in which Daniel lived and the then non-existent Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman empires which were to come after the time that Daniel received this vision. Daniel described these empires with great accuracy by the operation of the Word of Wisdom for future events. There was a fourth kingdom to arise but this kingdom has not yet manifested itself upon the earth and this kingdom belongs to the distant-future and is still to come.

Daniel 7:23-25 (NIV)

²³ “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.

²⁴ The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.

²⁵ He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

This fourth beast represents the fourth kingdom (possibly revived out of what was once the old Roman Empire) and a one-world ruler will come from this kingdom and he will oppress the saints and destroy the Jews during the time of his power on earth. There were future events mentioned in the vision of Daniel that spoke of the near future and distant future and the future that has not yet transpired on the earth.

Daniel 7:23 (NIV)

²³ “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.

Devouring the whole earth speaks of total dominion over the earth with a one-world government.

This speaks of future events and this was an operation of the Word of Wisdom for Daniel to be able to write about future events before these events transpired on earth. Daniel wrote of world empires that would come (in his near future) before they came into existence and Daniel wrote of an empire that has yet to come (in the distant future) and this is still part of the future according to this present time perspective.

APOSTLE JOHN AND THE WORD OF WISDOM

Revelation 1:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

The Apostle John was on the island of Patmos and he was in the Spirit realm and heard a loud voice behind him like a trumpet. It seems that he was having an open vision being caught away in the Spirit realm where he received revelation about future events. When God reveals things about future this is the operation of the Word of Wisdom.

Revelation 1:1 (NASB)

¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,

The book of Revelation contains the revelation that was imparted to the Apostle John by an open vision and it was communicated to him by an angelic being. The purpose of this revelation was to show believers what is going to happen in the coming future so they can get ready for it. The bible says that these events will “soon take place” but this word “soon” is from God’s perspective rather than human perspective. Humans have extremely brief lives on earth of only about 70-80 years so that is not much time and the lifespan of mankind passes in a moment like a breath of vapor on a cold day! (James 4:14)

Believers in any generation however should read the book of Revelation and prepare their hearts because they do not know if they are the generation that will be alive on earth when these events take place. They must be ready for them and have their hearts prepared in advance. This is the purpose of the book of Revelation to cause the believers to get themselves ready for the return of Christ and the events that will soon transpire on earth!

Revelation 13:16-17 (NIV)

¹⁶ He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,

¹⁷ so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

John spoke of a one-world government that was to come in which the ruler of this government will force all humans to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead and no one can buy or sell unless they have this mark. This means that this one-world ruler will have total control over the entire human population of planet earth and if they do not worship him as a god then they will be deprived of food and banned from the economy of earth.

John described things that were not technically possible in his day but in present times it is very easy to label all humans with a computer chip under their skin for identification. John was able to speak of things far more advanced than the day and age in which he lived. He spoke of these things by the operation of Word of Wisdom. It was the operation of the Word of Wisdom that enabled Apostle John to record events that will happen in the coming distant-future and these events have not yet transpired as of this present time.

Daniel 7:27 (NIV)

²⁷ Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’

After the wicked one-world ruler is destroyed his kingdom will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High God and they will rule and reign with Him on earth. Daniel wrote of this by a Word of Wisdom concerning future events that have not yet transpired.

Revelation 20:4 (NIV)

⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Those who refused to accept the mark of the one-world ruler were beheaded for their faith but later they came back to life again and return to reign with Christ for a thousand years on earth. It is because of the book of Revelation that the believers will know not to accept the mark of the beast even if they have to pay for it with their lives! This is an operation of the Word of Wisdom for John to record events in the book of Revelation that will transpire in the distant-future. But the distant future may be closer than we think because it is possible it could occur in this generation or even in any of the generations following the one that we now live in.

Jesus spoke of future events by the operation of the Word of Wisdom. All that Jesus did on earth was done within the framework of the operation of the Gifts of the Spirit. Jesus walked as a man on earth and served as an example of what a man can do who operates according to the Gifts of the Spirit. Jesus operated according to the Word of Wisdom when He spoke of future events that are yet to transpire on earth.

PART FOUR

The Word of Wisdom can operate in different ways such as by visions or dreams as in the case of Daniel or Joseph who saw future events in visions and dreams. But by far the most common way for the Word of Wisdom to operate is by inward witness. Inward witness is the primary method that the Holy Spirit uses to communicate directly to the born again human spirit of a man. So, the Revelation Gifts will primarily operate by the inward witness although other forms of communication are possible just as visions or dreams. In my own experience nearly everything that God speaks to me has come by inward witness and this is true also for the operation of the Revelation Gifts.

I once attended a church service in a large church and I knew in advance (by inward witness) that the pastor of this church was going to invite me to address the congregation even before he did so. I was aware of this fact by the operation of Word of Wisdom before this event transpired and I also was given the message that I was supposed to deliver to the people. Within minutes of knowing this (by inward witness) the pastor made an impromptu announcement that he would like to have me come to the pulpit and address the people. This was a Word of Wisdom for future events even though it was only minutes before that event transpired.

Another time I happened to be discussing some stock with a friend which he found in an investment magazine. He recommended a certain stock but as he was speaking, I had an inward witness that I was supposed to invest in something else. I did so and later when I sold this stock, I had made over four times the amount that I had originally invested. This is an example of Word of Wisdom because it dealt with things that were related to the future.

In my case the Word of Wisdom has always operated by inward witness. When I was newly saved in 1978, the man who led my mother to the Lord recommended certain books for her spiritual growth and from these books I had learned about “How to be Led by the Spirit of God” by following the inward witness. I began to practice this since age 16 and have lived my entire life until present by following this inward witness. So, it has been through this inward witness that God does most of His communications with me. It is by this inward witness that I was able to avoid all of the great disasters that occurred in the Philippines during my 14-years of ministry there.

For example, in a period of just 24 months there were some major disasters that I had missed but other believers that I knew had suffered a lot during these events in the Philippines.

See the link “Idolatry-Curse of a Nation” for more details.

In December 1989 there was a coup-d’état attempt against the government of Corazon Aquino and the transportation in and out of the city was cut off. People I know personally suffered a great deal when they were unable to leave Manila due to the disruption of transportation caused by the fighting. I was not present in this city when this clash of military forces took place because I always follow the inward witness and I was always in the right place at the right time. I was safe in another part of the country that was not affected by this upheaval. I normally traveled frequently from Manila to Northern Luzon but I was not present when this event took place.

In June 1991 Mt. Pinatubo erupted in northern Luzon Island and produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20^th century! The effects of this eruption were felt worldwide with more ash and aerosols ejected into the stratosphere than any other eruption since 1883. This eruption was followed by the arrival of a typhoon which brought a lethal mix of ash and rain. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from the region with mudslides and flooding occurring in conduction with this eruption disaster. Again, I was not affected by this great calamity because I was in another part of the country and so I was not affected. I normally travel frequently through the region affected by this disaster but I was not there when this disaster took place.

In July 1990 there was an earthquake of 7.8 (surface-wave-magnitude) that struck Baguio city. I would commonly travel to this city on a regular basis but during this time I happened to be in Panay Island (in the south) and I only felt the harmless aftershocks. This earthquake produced a 125 KM-long ground rupture and caused damage in an area of about 20,000 square kilometers. Many perished in this earthquake as buildings were leveled and people were buried alive. Hotels, factories, government buildings, university buildings and homes collapsed in the disaster. The disaster also destroyed electric, water and communication lines in the city. The main roads leading into the city were all closed by landslides and the airport was destroyed thus stopping rescue efforts. Large numbers of people were living in tents and clean water and food was scarce and looting was also occurring. Those who survived this ordeal suffered a great deal and experienced much trauma and deprivation. Again, I was not present during this disaster because I was in another region that was not affected.

In November 1991, in Ormoc city on Leyte Island there was a tropical storm that caused a huge flood. Thousands perished in this region and in Ormoc City alone they buried about 5,000 bodies in one mass grave but thousands more were missing and presumed flushed into the ocean.

My ministry travels brought me to this area only after the disaster had occurred and I was surprised to see great concrete bridges had been washed away as if they were made out of grass! A personal friend of mine told me that the water kept rising and he climbed on his roof then tied some big plastic containers together to act as floats to tie under his arms. Then he climbed a coconut tree as the water went higher than his roof! He said that during the disaster power lines fell into the water and electrocuted many of the people struggling in the torrent! He also said that many Philippine cobras were dislodged from the mountains by the flood and were swimming in the water and would bite people struggling in the waters. He told me that he had to strike them with a stick as he clung to a tree! He was a pastor and said that all of his members of his church survived except one back-slider but they suffered greatly in the aftermath because there was no clean water or food and everything was washed away. Again, I was not present when this disaster occurred but my travels brought me to this area only after the event had taken place.

The operation of the Word of Wisdom was given to me for personal guidance to move me out of harm’s way before the event took place. I was always in the right place at the right time to miss all of these great disasters.

GREATER GIFTS

1 Corinthians 12:31 (NASB)

³¹ But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

The Word of God teaches the believer that they should earnestly desire the greater spiritual gifts and based on this scripture I set my heart to desire the “Revelation Gifts” because these are the greatest of the spiritual gifts. The command to earnestly desire the greater gifts means that the human freewill of mankind has something to do with this. If believers do not desire these gifts then they will not see them in manifestation in their lives.

I actually know of an evangelist who resisted the operation of the power gifts simply because his denomination taught him against these things and told him that healing was passed away. He was in such bondage to his own denominational doctrines that even when God used him mightily in the power gifts, he still refused to flow in them. He was in the Philippines in a remote island and the healing anointing came upon him and nearly every sick person that he touched (for a period of 72 hours) was completely healed! But he resisted this anointing and kept saying, “I do not understand why God keeps healing these people?” He was not pleased with this healing anointing and supposed that God did not understand his denominational doctrines that taught that divine healing had been passed away! Rather than being of noble mind and realizing that he must have received wrong information from his denominational seminary, he instead tried to insist his own way upon God!

He did not eagerly desire the power gifts but instead he actually resisted them! Today there is no evidence of these gifts in operation in his life and they have gone dormant in his ministry. Any man who has evidence of the gift and office of evangelist should desire the power gifts because these will normally function through an evangelist for the purpose of winning souls. An evangelist who resists healing is like a bird resisting flying! They are actually going against what comes natural for them when they resist the power gifts! This illustrates that the human freewill is involved here and if a believer does not desire to have the spiritual gifts manifest then they will not be evident in their lives.

I know of a man who has an Evangelist/Pastor gift and he has a large church with thousands of members. The power gifts started to operate in his ministry in an unusual way. He would receive visions of people being healed in his congregation and when he would call out those healings then the people would be healed without the laying on of hands. This was a great benefit with a congregation of thousands of people when there was no time to have them all come forward to pray for them one by one. God would just heal them when this man called out their ailments that he would see in his visions. But at first, he had no experience with healing gifts and so he thought it was a hindrance of the devil trying to distract him from his ministry. He would often be in the middle of his sermon when these things began to manifest. So, he would rebuke the devil for these distractions but the visions did not cease but increased instead. You cannot rebuke the Holy Spirit in the Name of Jesus because what was happening with this man was not from the devil but the operation of the Holy Spirit. So, the end result was that he had to learn how to yield to the gifts of healing. Whenever he began to speak out the things, he saw in the spirit realm then people would rise up and receive their healing that he had called out. There were thousands of people who were healed in his congregation in this manner. But this man had to learn how to flow with the Holy Spirit and stop resisting Him. It seems that the Holy Spirit did not heal anyone until this man called out their healing by faith. The Lord moves by faith and speaking out the healing by faith released that healing to be manifested in their physical bodies. The point here is that those who receive spiritual gifts must yield to them and even eagerly desire them or else they will not be manifest in their lives.

Layman will not typically manifest the Revelation Gifts and the Power Gifts on a regular basis like a Fivefold minister may experience but these gifts will operate in a layman when the need for it arises.

My father is a farmer and as such he is not called into the Fivefold ministry and does not normally manifest spiritual gifts. But when the need for it arose, he did have this experience with Word of Wisdom. One time the price of soybeans (in America) went up to the then unheard-of price of $10.00 per bushel! All of the farmers in our area were excited and they all said, “Hold onto your beans because they are going to go up to $15.00 per bushel!” But my father believed they were not going to go over $10.00 per bushel. I encouraged my father that he was hearing God’s voice and that he should sell his beans for this good price. So being cautious he sold half his beans for $10.00 per bushel and the very next day the price plummeted down to below $2.00 per bushel. When a farmer has thousands of bushels to sell this can mean a great deal of money when the price falls this much per bushel! My father was having the operation of the Word of Wisdom for future events operate by inward witness. The Holy Spirit was communicating to my father’s human spirit to tell him about things to come. If he had been more bold in following this witness, he would have made double the money than he did by selling only half his beans at this good price!

So spiritual gifts will work for a layman when the need arises but my father did not see this operation on a regular basis. If a believer does see a spiritual gift operate, they should begin to cultivate that gift and develop that gift. This is what happened in the case of the businessman investor in Texas who learned how to hear the still small voice of his human spirit for investing and he said that he never lost on an investment as long as he was listening to the impressions that he received from his human spirit.

I know a fellow missionary who went through many of the disasters that I had missed in the Philippines. He also could have missed these but he had not trained himself to follow his inward witness and he typically just follows his common sense and uses his natural mind to guide his decisions. One time I mentioned that I happened to miss a long list of disasters and this missionary told me that he had gone through many of those same events and had stories of great suffering as a result of those experiences. He was riding on a Filipino Jeepney when the 1990 earthquake occurred and he was stranded on the road because of landslides. He was on foot for days trying to escape this ordeal. The same guy was also in Manila when the military forces were having a war and all transportation was cut off from the city. He told me of all of the troubles he endured during that event. He told me many of the things he had suffered during these major disasters and I realized that following the inward witness is not automatic for every believer but instead they have to train themselves to follow these impressions. If they go by natural common sense they will typically end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and can suffer a lot of discomfort and delay as a result.

I am not trying to brag about my experiences but I thank God that the Word of Wisdom for future events was working in my life and I was able to miss every great natural disaster by always being in the right place at the right time. I may have missed out on many other disasters that I am not aware of but I shared these few things as an example of events that I could easily have been in the middle of. Other believers found themselves in the middle of these events but they may not have been cultivating the ability to hear God’s voice or practicing following the inward witness as I have done since my youth. God wants to speak to all of his children but this does not come automatically. They will have to learn how to cultivate their ability to hear the still small voice of God’s Spirit communicating to their human spirits by the inward witness.

God does give information that is pertinent to the life of a believer so they will know what is necessary to prepare for future events. But this is not a “know-everything” type of situation which causes the possessor of these gifts to be like God and know all things! The revelation received is limited only to what is necessary for that believer to know in order to fulfill the plan of God for their life on earth. These gifts of Word of Wisdom for future events are most often on a “need-to-know basis” in that God reveals just what is necessary for them to know and nothing more. It is for this reason I was not given the specific time and dates that these disasters were going to occur but I was only given the guidance to be moved out of the area before these events transpired. That was all that I needed to know in order to move me out of harm’s way and save me from a lot of trouble! These gifts are not given to make someone proud or self-important as if they are all-knowing like God! If God revealed too much to the believer then they would not need to live by faith anymore. It is for this reason that God often gives general impressions and the believer has to go forward by faith and define his way as he goes.

A believer is still required to live by faith and go forward by faith so that is the reason that the Revelation Gifts often operate in a general manner. If God told us too much then we would no longer need to live by faith! But most certainly God does tell us things to come and this takes place by the operation of the spiritual gift of Word of Wisdom and most often this is revealed by inward witness.

WORD OF KNOWLEDGE

The Word of Knowledge deals with things that belong to the present time frame. It is a knowing of things that “are” and therefore anything that is revealed by God that does not involve future events can be placed under the category of Word of Knowledge. One example of this can be seen in the ministry of Elisha the prophet.

2 Kings 6:8-13 (NIV)

⁸ Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

⁹ The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.”

¹⁰ So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

¹¹ This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

¹² “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³ “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”

This was the operation of the Word of Knowledge to know present events. Elisha knew about the plans of war that the king of Aram made against the nation of Israel. One of the officers of the king of Aram said that Elisha tells the king of Israel the very words that he speaks in the privacy of his own bedroom. There was nothing that could be kept secret from Elisha because the Spirit of God revealed these plans to Elisha by the operation of Word of Knowledge. It was wisdom imparted by God to the prophet Elisha about present situations and what the enemy was planning at that time.

I know of an apostle who went to South Africa in the early 1900’s and he had the operation of Word of Knowledge to know and understand concerning the political climate and what was actually happening in that nation. He had a better understanding of that nation than the national people who were living there because he received this knowledge directly from the Holy Spirit by inward witness. The nationals were amazed at his understanding of their own nation but this information did not come from any natural sources or newspapers or television or other forms of media.

This same man pioneered many churches throughout that country and in the course of working with many nationals there a man came to him to report some troubles that were occurring among the many churches that he had pioneered. But as this man was talking about these problems, the apostle received revelation that the problem was in fact the man who was speaking to him. This man was trying to portray others in a bad light and was trying to usurp authority for himself. But the operation of the Word of Knowledge revealed to the Apostle what was really happening. Instead of listening to the lies and slanted report of this deceiver, the apostle was able to rebuke him and remove him from being a troublemaker among the churches he had started! Often people will try to portray a different story from what is actually the truth and if a leader listens to these lies, he may remove the good people and give leadership to someone who has evil agenda of control.

In my own life I often had the Word of Knowledge operate in conjunction with my missionary work. I worked in the Philippines for over 14-years and on occasion I would have a preaching schedule arranged for me on university campuses. On one campus there were some student activist people who tried to portray their country with a different point of view than reality. I however had the operation of Word of Knowledge to know what was happening in that nation. I experienced the same thing as the apostle to South Africa who knew everything about that nation through the operation of Word of Knowledge. Repeatedly I was able to rebuke and correct activist students who were trying to portray the country from their own slanted point of view. I would leave them speechless and they were unable to argue with what I said because they knew it was the truth! This knowledge did not come from any books or other sources of media but it came from the Holy Spirit who revealed to me what I was dealing with in that nation. Often false representations are given on television and the truth is not revealed by the secular media.

Often there are things which are depicted by the media that seldom in touch with reality but are often fabricated to support the slanted opinions of some activists trying to manipulate things for their own agenda. It is the Word of Knowledge that can cut right through all the deception and give the complete truth. I would often have the Word of Knowledge operate to know what was going on in a nation despite all of the false misinformation that was being dispensed by activist people!

The Word of Knowledge reveals what is occurring in the present realm so that God’s people will not be deceived by false reports or moved by things that are not true.

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

This scripture describes the spiritual gift called “Discerning of spirits” and some translations will use “Distinguishing between spirits” or “Judging between spirits. So whatever term is used (such as Discerning, Distinguishing, or Judging they all imply the same thing and a person with this gift can discern the difference between good and bad regarding the inward workings of a human.

It has often been assumed by the misinformed that this gift deals with demon spirits but in fact it actually speaks of the human spirits of mankind. But greater clarification must be given here as to what this scripture is referring to when it speaks of discerning the human spirits of mankind.

The human spirit of a person is either regenerate or unregenerate so when they are not born again, they are unregenerate and when they are spiritually reborn their spirits are regenerated. When a human believes in Jesus by faith and confesses Him as Lord then they become reborn or spiritually made alive.

See “New Creation Born of God” for more details.

Therefore, since the human spirit is either regenerate or unregenerate this means that “spirits” is not specifically the right term to use when speaking of the spiritual gift of Discerning of spirits. This would be much better translated as “Discerning of hearts of mankind.”

Some clarification about the heart of man is needed here. The part of man called the “heart” is portrayed in the following scripture by the response that God gave to the prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

God said clearly that humans looks at the outward appearance of men but God looks at the heart. It is the heart of man where his motives and human-will reside and it is the heart of a man that makes a man either good or evil.

1 Corinthians 2:11 (CJB)

¹¹ For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him? So to no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit.

The inner workings of a man refer to the heart issues that motivate a person to do the things that he does. This scripture speaks of a person’s own “spirit” inside of them knowing about their own inner workings or motivations. Often the word “spirit” and “heart” are used interchangeably and this reveals that the heart and spirit of a human are closely related.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The soul and the spirit of a human can be divided so this indicates they are actually two separate parts. Only the word of God can divide between the soul and the spirit of mankind. The soul and spirit of mankind are so closely related that they are nearly one and the same thing and that is why they are often referred to interchangeably in the word of God.

Mankind is made of three parts and this can be compared to an egg that has three parts. A human has a body which is the outward physical part of him and that can be compared to the egg shell. The egg shell can be discarded just like the human body will be discarded when it dies and is buried on earth. But a human being still has two more parts remaining that are part of his eternal being. The man has a soul comprised of his mind and will and emotions and the man still has a human spirit that will live forever. The soul and the spirit of man go together like the egg yolk and the egg white. They are two separate parts but are so closely related that it seems as if they are almost one thing.

When the rich man died and his body was buried on earth, he found that he was very much alive in hell. (Luke 16:19-31) Only his physical body was buried on earth but his soul and spirit were still alive in hell. His soul is made of mind and will and emotions. He indicated the presence of his soulical parts because he had a mind and could remember his brothers that were still alive on earth. He had a human-will and he did not “will” that his brothers also come to this place of torment and wanted someone to go and warn them to repent. He had emotions and felt sorry for his brothers who would go to hell. It was evident that he had a mind, human-will, and emotions and these things were present with his eternal human spirit in hell. Both the soul and the human spirit are eternal and this means that they never die. These parts go together like an egg yolk and an egg white.

The rich man had a spirit and it looked just like his natural human body that was buried on earth. His spirit had eyes because he could see across the chasm that separated hell from the place of comforted called Abraham’s bosom. (Luke 16:23) The rich man had a tongue because he wanted Lazarus to come and cool his tongue with a drip of cold water. (Luke 16:24) Lazarus was also a spirit being and he had a finger and the rich man wanted him to dip his finger in water and cool his tongue with it. (Luke 16:24) The spirit man has eyes and ears and all of the same parts as the human physical body that is buried on earth after death. The soul goes together with the spirit of man because both parts are eternal and will never die. If a person is born again or regenerated (and finish their race on earth) they will spend eternity in heaven but if they are unregenerate (or have not finished their race on earth) they will spend eternity in the torments of hell. It is the spirit and soul of man that will live forever in hell or heaven depending on the decisions that a person has made while alive in their physical body on earth.

See “Salvation’s Race” for more details related to the three parts of man.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NASB)

²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This scripture speaks of the three parts of mankind when it mentions that humans have a spirit and a soul and a body. The body is the physical part of man that is buried on earth after it dies but the spirit and the soul are eternal and they remain together forever after a human dies on earth. The spirit and soul go together as if one part because they are so closely related. But they can be divided by God’s word so this indicates they are in fact two separate parts.

The soul part of man can further be divided into parts because within the soul of man they have the mind and the human-will and the emotions which make up the inner workings of a human being. This is the place where their motivations arise which causes them to do the things that they do.

Often the word “heart” can be used interchangeable with something that deals with core issues. If someone says that they will get to the “heart of the matter” this means that they are searching for the key issues or motivations that affect a matter. In the same way, when the scripture is referring to the heart of a man it is not referring to the physical muscle (called a heart) that is used to pump blood throughout the human body. When the bible refers to the heart it speaks of the place where human motives reside.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

When God says that He looks at the heart of mankind He is not speaking of looking at the physical blood pump of the human body. God is referring to the core or center of a man where his motivations are found. It is these motivations that cause a man to be either good or bad. These motivations are found in the soul parts of mankind. The soul is made of the mind and will and emotions. The mind of humans thinks upon their choices or plots their way and their human-will decides what action they will take and their emotions are the feelings that follow along with these decisions. A person can have anger or hatred or revenge as negative emotions or goodwill, love, kindness and things that are positive emotions. Emotions will follow along with the motivations of a person within them. If they have bad motivations it will produce anger and hatred and desires for revenge. These will govern a person’s outward behavior and in fact these things are what put people in prison for breaking the laws of mankind on earth.

Matthew 12:35 (NKJV)

³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

This scripture speaks of a good man bringing out of the good treasure of his heart good things while an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. A good man will have the fruit of the spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control but an evil man will have evil things like sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, greed, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and evil things like these.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)

¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

All of these evil things are what is stored up within the heart of an evil person. Their mind and human-will and emotions flow together in unity together with all of these things. The heart of an evil man will cause them to go to hell because their heart is full of evil things and these evil things are the things that defile them. Before a person commits sexual immorality they first meditate and think about it. Any type of sin that can be committed outwardly is first conceived in the heart of man where his thoughts and motives and human-will and emotions reside. If someone steals, they first think about it in their mind before they carry out the act. The same is true of murder as they meditate on these thoughts and set their human-will to do them and their emotions follow along and as a result they commit murder. Only the outward physical act is punished by the laws of mankind but God sees the thoughts and human-will and emotions of a person and this is where these evil things are conceived before the crime is committed.

Matthew 5:28 (AMP)

²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who so much as looks at a woman with evil desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Outward physical sin can be judged by the laws of humans on earth but Jesus said that if a man looks upon a woman lustfully (having evil desires for her) then he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. How does a person commit adultery in their heart? This occurs first in the mind as they look upon a woman and then imagine having illicit sexual relations with her (meaning they are not married to her and therefore they are committing adultery or fornication in their minds). They meditate on sexual immorality in their minds and their human will decides to continue in mental fantasy and their emotions come into agreement. Lust is developed in the heart of a man when he feeds on pornography. This lust is developed just as a weed that grows from a seed that has germinated. Meditation on lustful things can cause a man to come into bondage to sexual sin. Sex offenders in prison will typically be pornographers who have fed the lust in their hearts until they became insatiable and they went out and committed the sexual crimes that put them into prison. The same process also applies to any type of sin found among mankind because it all starts with the thoughts and then meditating on those thoughts and joining the human-will and emotions in the process until a bondage to sin is developed. A man who has such a bondage will always follow the same course and that is why so many of these people will become repeat offenders and end up back in prison again for committing the same crimes.

Jesus said that out of the evil treasure of a man’s heart that they will bring for evil things and this can include things like murder, theft, adultery, perversion, sexual immorality, jealousy and a long list if wicked things that humans commonly commit.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.“

In this case where God said that He looks at the heart of mankind it would not make any sense if this word was replaced with “spirit” of man because the spirit of man is largely neutral in that it is either unregenerate or regenerate. This means that the human spirit of a man is either alive or dead spiritually depending upon if the person has experienced spiritual regeneration or not by faith in Jesus Christ. The motivating factors that affects if a person is bad or good is found in their heart and that word is used to describe the seat where the human-will resides. It is a place of the soul realm of mankind and is a product of the mind and human-will and emotions of a person which all work together to create their basic human motivations. What a person meditates on is going to be what motivates them to do the things that they do. When a person meditates on something, this will involve their mind and their human-will and their emotions and that will produce the motivations that reside within that person.

When a person becomes born again that means that their human spirit is spiritually regenerated. But this does not mean that they are saved in their soulical parts of mind and human-will and emotions. These parts need to be renewed by the new believer in Christ.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The mind of a believer is renewed by meditation upon God’s word. Renewing the mind causes a believer to gain the perspective of God and understand what God says is evil and what God says is good. A reprobate sees everything opposite of the way that God sees things because the reprobate mind has not been renewed to think like God.

Isaiah 5:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

One example of this is that God calls homosexuality as perversion but a pervert will say this is a meaningful relationship! So, this is obviously contrary to what God has said. Such people call evil as good and good as evil. They think following God’s laws are evil and having freedom to sin is a good thing. This is an example of a reprobate mind which has twisted thinking to think thoughts that are opposite of what God has said. They substitute darkness for light and light for darkness and bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. All is perverse in the mind of someone who is reprobate.

Romans 1:28 (KJV)

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

The KJV calls this a reprobate mind or it could be called a depraved mind because it is twisted in thinking to see right as wrong and wrong as right. This is the case will all secular and liberal minds who see the exact opposite of the way that God sees things. Such people have reprobate minds because they have not renewed their minds to think like God by meditation on God’s word.

Joshua 1:8 (NASB)

⁸ “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Joshua was commanded to mediate on God’s word day and night so that he would gain the perspective of God. To meditate means to mutter to oneself or think upon or imagine. This is the way to renew the mind and cleanse the believer from all that is perverse or reprobate within them.

When a believer is saved, it is only their human spirit that is regenerated but they will have to renew their minds by meditation on God’s word or else the spiritual defilement within them will not be cleansed away.

It is good for a believer to develop all three parts of their human makeup and this includes the body and soul and their human spirit. The physical body needs exercise, rest and nutritious food to maintain it. The soul of man is made of mind and will and emotions. The believer is to learn to keep their emotions under control and their human-will must be submitted to God and their mind must be renewed by the Word of God. The human spirit is developed by praying in tongues and exercising themselves in hearing and obeying the impressions given by the Holy Spirit. The mind should be exercised by use and scripture memory is a good thing that will benefit a believer mentally and spiritually as well. But if a believer focuses only on mind development, they will miss out on two major areas of importance in their human makeup and these areas will be left undeveloped.

So, the human spirit is just one part of the human makeup and the human spirit receives its personality from the soul that goes together with the human spirit much like an egg-yolk goes together with an egg-white.

Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Only the word of God can divide the spirit and the soul of man. They appear to be one part but they are actually two. If the soul was divided from the spirit, the spirit would be like a zombie or a dead mummy that has no expression or emotions or memory or human-will at all. The soul of man provides all of these qualities to the human spirit.

The heart of man however is a more general term that describes the part of humans where motives reside. It is the motives and secret thoughts of man that the Lord will judge and these are the things that God looks upon. The Lord will judge the hearts of humans and the attitudes of their hearts. Nothing will be hidden from the Lord on Judgment Day but all secrets of the hearts of mankind will be exposed.

When God says that a person has a good heart or a pure heart, He is speaking of them having good motives. A motive is the part of the human-will of mankind that drives them to do the things that they do.

1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

Concerning the spiritual gift called “Discerning of spirits” this would be better translated as “Discerning of the hearts” of mankind. It is by this gift that a believer can discern if someone has a good heart or not. This most certainly includes discerning the hearts of believers because there are a large number of believers who do not have good heart motivations. This is because they never renewed their minds since they were saved and therefore the evil motives they had as unbelievers still reside within them.

2 Peter 1:9 (NKJV)

⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Those believers who have not renewed their minds are not cleansed within by the washing of the water of God’s Word. They are spiritually blind and have forgotten that they were cleansed from their old sins so they are still following the sin nature just as they did when they were unbelievers.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NASB)

²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

²³ and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

²⁴ and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

The believer is to lay aside the old self or the old sin nature and refuse to yield to it anymore. They are to be renewed in the spirit of their minds to put on the new self which is created in the likeness of God for righteousness and true holiness. This comes by meditation on God’s word that causes their minds to be renewed.

James 1:23-25 (NASB)

²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

The believer is to be a doer of God’s word not just a forgetful hearer of it. Looking intently at the perfect law speaks of continual meditation of God’s Word to renew their minds so they will think like God and have proper motivations that are in agreement with what God has said. If they do not renew their minds, they will have a reprobate mind and view everything opposite of the way that God sees things.

It is for this reason that there are many believers who do not have renewed minds and these people do not always have pure motives as a result. They will typically be following the same impulses and the same sin nature that they followed before they were saved because their minds were not renewed and spiritual defilement still exists within them.

The motives of a human’s heart are that basic part of their character that governs their behavior. A character of a human is collectively their human-will and the motives that drive them. Their behavior will always be consistent along a certain pathway because of their character. So, character speaks of the behavior of a human that it is governed by their human-will and their motives.

Discerning of Spirits

The gift of Discerning of spirits deal with discerning human spirits and therefore is not referring to demon spirits. The spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” could be more accurately described as “Discerning of hearts” because the possessor of this gift sees into the spirit realm and perceives if a person’s basic heart motivations are good or evil. It could be called “Discerning of hearts of mankind” or “Discerning of human hearts” but there is yet another aspect of this gift that relates to discerning a Fivefold Ministry Gift.

The gift of Discerning of spirits also operates to discern if a man has a Fivefold Ministry Gift or if he is a layman impostor. Typically, those without the gift of Discerning of spirits cannot tell a fake layman impostor from a real Fivefold Ministry Gift. This is the reason that a large number of fraud people are in the ministry and can make money because they are supported by people who cannot discern that they are fake and therefore support them financially.

Layman Intruders Forbidden to Partake of Offerings and Tithes

Ezra 2:62-63 (NIV)

⁶² These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

⁶³ The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

In the time of Nehemiah and Ezra the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to rebuild the nation. At this time there were some people who were unable to prove their genealogy as priests. Apparently, they did not think it was important to keep such important records during the exile so these people were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor ordered them not to eat of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim were used to discern God’s will so the priest could inquire from God and receive God’s direction if those excluded from the priesthood by lack of genealogical records would be permitted to eat the sacred offerings.

There are two important principles to note here and it was that it took a fellow priest to discern and hear from God to see if another was called by God as a priest or was a ministry intruder. In the same way also, it takes a Fivefold Ministry Gift to discern another Fivefold Ministry Gift. Typically, this will be done by Apostles and Prophets who possess the gift of “Discerning of spirits” which also operates to discern if a man has a Fivefold Ministry Gift or if he is an impostor.

1 Samuel 2:36 (NIV)

³⁶ Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.”‘”

The family line of Eli was banished from the priesthood because they only wanted to use the office to feed their own bellies. The family line of Eli would seek the office of priest only so they could have some food to eat. This is the crime of the laymen intruder who assumes to stand in the role of the Fivefold Ministry without a calling from God. Whenever someone gives a tithe or offering to God then that becomes sacred or holy because it was presented to the Lord. It is unlawful to an outsider (one who is outside of the Fivefold Ministry to consume the sacred things given to the Lord). It is for this reason that only Fivefold Ministers with a proven gift of Discerning of spirits should be allowed to lay hands upon someone for ordination. Laymen generally cannot tell a fake laymen intruder from a real Fivefold Ministry Gift so they are not qualified to ordain anyone into the ministry. If a layman intrudes into the ministry and consumes the sacred tithes and offerings given to God this can bring judgment upon him and bring a curse to those sowing into cursed soil of a layman intruder.

Acts 4:34-35 (NIV)

³⁴ There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

³⁵ and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

It should be noted that financial donations were laid at the feet of the Apostles which speaks of having dominion or authority just as the devil is under the feet of Jesus who has authority over him. So, the apostles who operated with the gift of “Discerning of spirits” were in authority over the finances in the church. This solved a lot of problems because if some laymen intruder came asking for money the Apostle would know immediately that such a man was forbidden to touch the sacred tithes and offerings. If someone trying to get money as a needy widow when in fact they were living an unclean life full of vices, the Apostle would know this immediately and refuse to give them any money or feed them. All of the problems associated with financial fraud would be solved by the operation of “Revelation Gifts” by an Apostle or Prophet who would see to it that no money went to the wrong people and nothing would be sown into cursed ground!

Since it is forbidden by God that any laymen or outsider who is not called into the Fivefold Ministry touch the sacred tithes and offerings (given to God) then it only makes sense that financial decisions should be placed under the authority of Apostles and Prophets who operate with “Revelation Gifts” to discern who has a Fivefold Ministry Gift and who does not. The Apostles and Prophets can immediately identify a layman ministry intruder from a real Fivefold Ministry gift.

It therefore should be clarified that the gift of “Discerning of spirits” operated to tell human heart motives and it also can discern if someone has or does not have a Fivefold Ministry Gift. This is important to know because supporting and layman ministry intruder is cursed soil to plant into and will bring a curse to the giver and judgment upon the intruder who is consuming sacred things meant only for the Fivefold Ministry Gifts.

Perceiving Human Heart Motives

Discerning of spirits is a gift that readily finds application for believers within the church because the possessor of this gift will commonly see and perceive the motives of the hearts of believers who stand before a congregation within a church. But it also will work outside the church and the possessor of this gift will often see into the heart motivations of unbelievers as well.

This is not a gift of suspicion but it a spiritual endowment to perceive the hearts of humans and it is one of the revelation gifts. A revelation gift is a spiritual gift that reveals something and in the case of “Discerning of spirits”, the Holy Spirit supernaturally reveals the heart motivations of people to reveal if they are good or bad. This has great advantages when a person serves in a place of leadership or oversight because they will see and perceive those people among them who do not have good heart motives.

The Apostle Peter had this gift in operation when he supernaturally discerned that a couple in his church had evil motives for their giving. Often the gift of “Discerning of spirits” and the gift of “Word of Knowledge” may work together. The gift of “Word of Knowledge” deals with present things that exist and the “Discerning of spirits” deals with the motives of the hearts of humans.

Acts 5:1-5 (NIV)

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

This couple did not renew their minds and they still harbored evil motives within them as believers. They saw others sell their property and give 100% of the proceeds to God in sacrificial giving so they also wanted to have the praise of man for their giving. But they wanted to appear more sacrificial than they really were and they held back some of the proceeds for themselves and pretended that they were giving it all so that they could gain the praise of mankind for being more sacrificial in their giving that they really were. It was deception and they did not have a good heart motive in their giving. It is the heart motive that makes any action either good or bad. It most certainly is not a bad thing to give to God but if the motive for that giving is evil then giving to God can also be evil.

In the case of Ananias and his wife they had evil motives and a desire for the praise of mankind and this evil motive caused their giving to be evil. Peter discerned their evil motive by the gift of “Discerning of spirits” and Peter also had the “Word of Knowledge” operate to know by spiritual revelation that these two people had schemed and plotted at home to withhold a portion and pretend to have given everything to God. Peter rebuked the man because he had not lied to men but to God! Ananias did not stand up and lie directly to the people but in fact he implied he had given all of the proceeds of the sale and he did not correct this false assumption given to the people. He was giving with the wrong motive (not to give to God) but only to appear to be righteous in the sight of people when in fact he had evil motives in his heart for giving. It was by the gift of “Discerning of spirits” that Peter was supernaturally able to perceive that this believer had evil motives in his giving. The man dropped down dead as a punishment for his evil motives and this served to cause everyone to fear God and beware of harboring evil motives within.

Acts 5:7-11 (NIV)

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

The wife of Ananias later came into the church not knowing what had happened with her husband. Peter questioned her about the sale price of the land (not because he did not know the figure) but because he was giving her a chance to repent of this scheme of lying that she had agreed to do with her husband. Peter proved that she was in full agreement in the deception and she did not repent when given the opportunity and she dropped dead in the church for the same crime and was buried beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and fear seized everyone who heard about these events. People realized that God was not to be trifled with in careless manner and that God looks upon the hearts of man and God judges the motives not the outward appearance. It is by the spiritual gift of the “Discerning of spirits” that God reveals secret motives of people.

PART FIVE

Acts 8:9-11 (NASB)

⁹ Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰ and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

¹¹ And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.

When Philip the evangelist was preaching to the people of Samaria, he saw many of them become saved. There was a man among these people named Simon who practiced magic arts in the city. This man was newly saved and his mind was not yet renewed and his evil motives were still retained within his heart.

This man was involved with sorcery and he would amaze the people with his signs and tricks and deceived them to think that he was someone powerful. This type of thing is common among superstitious people who fear a witch-doctor and they will be intimidated to show him respect and they will often give a witch-doctor their livestock and food and other items of value to gain his favor. So wicked men will try to intimidate others by using their superstitious fears against them and thus they can gain both respect and a livelihood for themselves. This was what Simon the sorcerer was engaged in prior to Philip coming to preach the gospel in Samaria. From the least to the greatest of the people in Samaria all thought that Simon was a man who had the “Great Power of God!” But in fact, Simon was a sorcerer and he was only deceiving them.

Acts 8:12-13 (NASB)

¹² But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.

¹³ Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

When Philip the evangelist preached the gospel to the Samaritans they had a revival and many of them were saved and both men and women were baptized in the Name of the Lord. Even Simon himself believed in Jesus and was baptized for salvation and continued with Philip and was amazed by the miracles of God that occurred at the hands of Philip who operated in the power gifts as an evangelist.

Acts 8:6-8 (NASB)

⁶ The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷ For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸ So there was much rejoicing in that city.

The power gifts will commonly operate with those who are evangelists and many people with unclean demonic spirits were set free, and those who were paralyzed and lame were healed under the ministry of Philip. He had gifts of healing related to deliverance from demonic spirits and healing for those who were paralyzed or lame. The crowds of people gave attention to what Philip was saying because they heard and saw the signs he was performing as demon possessed people cried out and were set free and lame people rose up to walk. Signs and wonders like this are like a dinner bell to the unbeliever and the purpose of these power gifts is to show them that God is real. God can be compared to the wind because the wind is invisible. People cannot see the wind but they can see the affects of the wind as the grass and trees sway in the wind. The same is true of God in that humans cannot see God because God is a Spirit but they can see the results of God moving and in the case of the preaching of Philip the people saw the healing of demon possessed people and the healing of paralyzed and lame people. The healing of these people gave evidence that God was real and this caused them to accept Christ and be saved under the preaching of Philip the evangelist.

But Philip was not gifted in imparting the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was an evangelist and was limited to preaching the gospel and seeing people healed of demon possession and being paralyzed and being lame. Philip did not possess every gift but he only had some power gifts of healing operating in his ministry as an evangelist.

Acts 8:14-16 (NASB)

¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the successful ministry of Philip in Samaria and about all of the converts that he had there, they sent down to Samaria both Peter and John. Peter and John both had a proven gift of imparting the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The new converts were saved in Samaria and had water baptism indicating their spiritual rebirth but they were not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit. So this is why Peter and John were sent to pray for these new converts to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:17-19 (NASB)

¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter and John came to Samaria and began to lay on their hands upon the new converts and these converts were receiving the Holy Spirit. It is evident that something occurred when Peter and John laid their hands upon them because Simon the sorcerer noticed this. This was because the coverts began to speak with other tongues as an initial sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit (just as the apostles did when they were filled with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem). (Acts 2:4)

This Simon the sorcerer was accustomed to dazzling the people with is magic arts and he enjoyed the respect and livelihood that comes when superstitious people are intimidated by a witch-doctor to assume he has great supernatural powers. Simon was newly saved on that day and his mind was not yet renewed so he was still harboring the same evil motives that he did as a witch-doctor. He told Peter to give him this power so that he could also impart the Holy Spirit to whoever he laid his hands upon and he even offered Peter money for this gift. Simon the sorcerer wanted to have this gift to impart the Holy Spirit so he could gain respect and a livelihood for himself as he had always done before as a sorcerer. His motives were evil because he was not caring about imparting the baptism of the Holy Spirit to help people but he only wanted to exploit them and use them for his own agenda. This indicates that Simon had self-serving and had evil motives within his heart because he desired to have the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit for the wrong reasons.

Acts 8:20-21 (NASB)

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹ “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

Peter said that this man has no part or portion in this matter of imparting the baptism of the Holy Spirit because his heart was not right before God. The men standing in the office of “Apostle” will commonly operate in the “Discerning of spirits” and Apostle Peter operated in this gift when he discerned the impure heart motives of Simon the sorcerer. Peter delivered an apostle’s rebuke and death threat to hell when he said to Simon, “May your silver perish with you in hell, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!” It is by the “Discerning of spirits” that the possessor of this gift is able to receive divine revelation of the secret motives that are hidden within the hearts of mankind and Peter was able to declare that the heart of Simon was not right before God.

Acts 8:22-24 (NASB)

²² “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³ “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

Simon was rebuked by an Apostle but he did not drop-dead like Ananias and Sapphira did when Peter rebuked them. Simon the sorcerer repented immediately and was spared judgment unlike Ananias and Sapphira who both denied their sin and lied to cover up their sin rather than confessing it and repenting. Peter gave Ananias and Sapphira an opportunity to repent but they stuck with their fabricated deception and met with their judgment from God.

Peter called Simon the sorcerer to repent because the motive of his heart was not pure before God and God judges the motives. Peter perceived that Simon was in bondage to iniquity just as he had been as a deceiver of the people when he was acting as a witch-doctor. Simon still harbored the same evil motives of self-exaltation and self-serving and wanted God’s gift only to serve his own evil purposes before the people. Possibly because Simon was newly saved (that very day) he may not have been held accountable as much as Ananias and Sapphira where who might have been mature believers who were saved for a long time and thus were held more accountable before God than Simon. Ananias and Sapphira died instantly at Peter’s rebuke but Simon repented and was not killed even though the same apostle Peter rebuked both parties.

It is by the operation of this spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” that God reveals the secret or hidden motives of others and this may include either believers or unbelievers.

Acts 13:6 (NASB)

⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

When the Apostle Paul was preaching on the island of Cyprus, he came to Paphos and there they found a magician who was a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus. This Jewish false prophet was also called Elymas the magician because he behaved just like Simon the sorcerer (who lived in Samaria). Such men will typically seek to dazzle the people with magic arts in order to pawn themselves off as someone great. When the superstitious people fear them then they will be able to receive respect and a livelihood from gifts given to them. Sometimes such characters will try to intimidate or control someone in authority and thus come under their provision.

This happened in Russian history when a Czar family was intimidated by a witch-doctor type of man and this evil man intruded under the provision of the Czar family and used them to serve his own selfish agenda. This man was able to ruin the nation by giving his demonic advice to the Czar who followed it to his own destruction and the destruction of his own nation. This resulted in the ruin of the royal Czar family in Russia.

The same thing was occurring on the Island of Cyprus when an intelligent man there was deceived by a Jewish witch-doctor who had intruded himself under the provision of this government official.

Acts 13:6-8 (NASB)

⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

The scriptures say that this Jewish witch-doctor was with Sergius Paulus who was a proconsul and a man of intelligence. A proconsul is a governor of a Roman Province but even though Sergius Paulus was a governor and an intelligent man, this does not mean that intelligent government officials cannot be deceived by witchcraft. The Jewish witch-doctor was with Sergius Paulus indicating he had intruded under the care and provision of this government official by promoting himself as someone great.

This Jewish witch-doctor (also called Elymas the magician) opposed Paul from preaching the gospel to this intelligent man named Sergius Paulus. The reason for this opposition was that this Jewish witch-doctor did not want Sergius Paulus to become saved and follow Apostle Paul rather than following him. This witch-doctor had created a job for himself by pretending to read omens and give other superstitious advice for making decisions to Sergius Paulus. This sort of thing is typical of all witch-doctors just as the magicians of Pharaoh’s court also enjoyed a livelihood (under government expense) as they were retained to help Pharaoh make decisions regarding matters of State. Elymas did not want to lose his position of livelihood and influence under a government official because if Sergius Paulus got saved then he would no longer require the services of a witch-doctor! It is for this reason that Elymas was resisting Paul from preaching the gospel to Sergius Paulus.

Acts 13:9-12 (NASB)

⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹ “Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹² Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

The gift of “Discerning of spirits” operated in Paul and Paul discerned that Elymas was a man who was full of deceit and fraud and was a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness. There was nothing good in the heart of this Jewish witch-doctor and Paul gave a strong Apostle’s rebuke to this man! Paul discerned that this man was a fraud and that he used deceit to gain a position of livelihood and influence for himself and that he was resisting the gospel for fear of losing his position of control over this important government official. This wicked man was struck with blindness after Paul rebuked him and this blindness came in order to give this man time to consider his evil ways and repent.

Elymas was an unbeliever but the Apostle Paul discerned that the motives of his heart were not right and Paul exposed these motives and rebuked him. This is an example of the operation of the “Discerning of spirits” and it is a supernatural revelation given to a man by the Holy Spirit to reveal the secret motives of human hearts. It will work with believers as in the case of Apostle Peter rebuking Ananias, Sapphira and Simon who were all three believers and it also worked unbelievers when the Apostle Paul who rebuked an unbeliever named Elymas. The operation of this gift will commonly work with those who are called to have the Fivefold ministry gift of Apostle and both Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul had this gift in operation.

In my own case the revelation gifts started to operate in my life in about 1986 when I was attending a large church in Tulsa Oklahoma. I would be sitting in the congregation and suddenly I would know things about anyone who was standing before the congregation. I would know if they had a good heart or a bad heart. I would know if they were living unclean lives with immorality or if they were poisoned by greed or a spirit of self-exaltation. This gift of “Discerning of spirits” would work for anyone who stood before the people including choir members, song leaders, people who give announcements and guest speakers as well. This gift also operated to discern who was a real Fivefold Minister and who was a laymen ministry intruder.

At first, I thought that everyone could see what I could see but they could not. They would typically say something like, “Do not touch God’s anointed” and use this in context to defend a guy that I knew to be a fraud and a charlatan or an intruder! The Pastor of the church had a good and pure heart and I loved him dearly but he did not have the operation of Revelation Gifts in his life. He would actually invite fraud layman intruders to speak in his pulpit but I had no authority to cast them out of the church because I was not in authority there. So, I just had to sit quiet and learned to keep what I knew to myself.

It could easily appear to others that I was skeptical or a critical because of the things that I knew about people who stood before the congregation. This revelation did not come from being suspicious but rather it was a result of the operation of the spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” to discern the hearts of people to know if they are good or evil.

This gift also operated to discern if someone had a good heart in God’s sight. I always knew who possessed a good and pure heart before God that was free of evil motives and greed and self-exaltation. I would also know if those who stood before the congregation were harboring evil motives or were defiled by something unclean or if greed or self-exaltation was present.

As it turned out, every one of those people that I knew about through the “Discerning of spirits” all turned out to be just as I had said. They were all exposed but I was aware of all of these things before these things were made evident to everyone publicly. Over and over again God caused me to receive confirmation of what I had known in the spiritual realm through the “Discerning of spirits”.

This is not a gift of suspicion like some women assume to have who are suspicious of someone’s motives. This gift typically operates in Apostles and is used to expose and discern the hearts of mankind and it is used to set the church in order.

One time I went to church with my family in our home town and they had a guest speaker present and immediately I knew that this man was a charlatan and a fraud and layman intruder that was only in the ministry to get money. He asked me if I would take up the offering for him and I flatly refused in front of the whole congregation! I was not going to have any part in taking an offering for a fraud like him! When we got home my mother asked me about my unusual behavior at the church and I informed her that this guy was a fraud and a charlatan and he had no care for the spiritual growth of the people but only wanted their money.

Later the pastor of this church who invited this man had huge troubles with him as he was always demanding money and he was trying to intimidate and the Pastor had to call for help to get rid of this guy! It was at this time that my mother remembered what I had said about this man but I was in no authority to cast the guy out even though I knew that he had evil motives of greed and was intruding into the holy office. This was the operation of the “Discerning of spirits” which can discern the heart of a human to tell if they are good or bad and can discern if they have a Fivefold Ministry Gift or not. I knew this man was evil before he began to preach and I knew this even though I had never met him before and did not know him personally. Later this was confirmed because people who knew this man from other places told me the bad testimony of what this guy had done in their churches as he was pressuring people to get money out of them.

There are several types of frauds because there are some who have intruded into the holy office who are laymen that are not called into the ministry and there are some who have an actual Fivefold Ministry Gift like Balaam but they fell into greed and sold their gift for money.

The spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” operates as part of the office of Apostles to discern if someone is not called into the Fivefold ministry. This gift perceives when someone is only layman intruding into the holy office for which they have not been called by God to enter.

Numbers 3:9-10 (NASB)

⁹ “You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel.

¹⁰ “So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”

A direct Old Testament counterpart of this is the fact that the Levites were set apart by God for the work of the ministry and the priests were called from the lineage of the Levites because Aaron and his sons were pure-blooded Levite stock. The Levites and the priests are Old Testament types of the Fivefold Ministry Gifts and the biblical principle seen here was that the laymen were not permitted to intrude into the holy office for which God had not called them. Any layman who assumed himself into this ministry was put to death!

As an international minister my travels have taken me to a number of nations and one time, I was invited to speak at a church on a small island off of the coast of Cheju Island that was a part of South Korea. When I met this so-called “Pastor” of this church, I immediately knew by the operation of the gift of “Discerning of spirits” that this man was a layman intruding into the holy office for which he was not called. He had no evidence or fruit of the ministry gift of Pastor and later what I had discerned spiritually was confirmed when I heard this man’s testimony. This man entered into the ministry upon the wishes of his dying mother who begged him to become a Pastor. So, he listened to his mother and resigned his career as a politician and got a degree in theology from a seminary and tried his best to Pastor a church. He has no gift or calling for this ministry office and was a dismal failure. The wife of this man divorced him and left him because of his insistence to pursue this career change for no other reason than to keep a vow that his mother pushed him to make on her deathbed! He in fact shipwrecked his life and lost his wife and family and was living in misery! He was like a fish out of water because his gift was that of organizing people as a politician would do but this is not the same thing as being called to be a Pastor.

The gift of “Discerning of spirits” works within Apostles to discern who is called into the Fivefold ministry and who is not. In every country that I have visited and in any church I ministered in, I would always know if the people leading that church were called by God or if they had called themselves as laymen.

I would also know if laymen were posing as missionaries or if they were actually called by God as Apostles. I often met people on the mission field who were not called into the Fivefold Ministry but they were only seeking attention and limelight for themselves and were creating a social project in order to make a livelihood for themselves. Such people did not have a work based upon spiritual gifts or spiritual equipment for the ministry but only did things out of their own natural ideas.

The Apostles in the early church operated in the spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” and they were not feeding charlatans and freeloaders in the church because they could discern who had the wrong motives in seeking food or financial aid from the church. It was for this reason that donations were given under the authority of the apostles so that these funds would not be misused or wasted on the wrong type of people. (Acts 4:35)

I have numerous occasions where I have met men who were intruding into the holy office who were not called into the ministry. Typically, I was not in a place of authority to cast them out so I had to remain silent even though I discerned that these were laymen intruding into the holy office.

Apostles and prophets commonly operate in Revelation Gifts and this is why God has placed them in authority (1 Cor. 12:28) in the church so that they would have the authority to cast out those who have evil motives and remove those who are defiled by evil heart motives from leadership positions.

When Apostles and Prophets are not in a place of authority then the things that they perceive in the spirit realm are largely rendered void because they are not in authority to do anything about what they know. Apostles put things in order according to the divine order of God and Prophets expose and rebuke sin and bring holiness to the church. The early church was built upon the ministry gifts of Apostles and Prophets! (Ephesians. 2:20) The fruit of these two gifts is divine order and holiness and this was the foundation of the early church.

When Joseph was in Egypt God gave the dream to Pharaoh and then gave the interpretation of that dream to Joseph. In this manner, Joseph was given authority to do something in preparing for what was coming. If Joseph knew about the coming seven-year famine but he had no authority to do anything about it then he would have sat in prison and just watched as the entire nation starved to death and there would be nothing, he could do about it. This is why God worked to cause Pharaoh to grant Joseph full authority to make the preparations that were needed for the famine.

In the same way, if Apostles and Prophets are not received in the church, they will not have any authority to take action with the things that were revealed to them in the spirit realm. They will just sit there and watch charlatans fleece the congregation of money but they will not be able to do anything about it.

Matthew 10:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward…

This scripture speaks of anyone who receives a Prophet because he is a Prophet will receive a Prophet’s reward. The reward of a Prophet is holiness because they always expose and rebuke sin and call people to repentance. This is a masculine gift and it does not normally give out the breast-feeding of feminine comfort and exhortation as is typical of carnal churches! But if people receive a Prophet and honor his gift, they will receive the reward of holiness in their lives and this can cause them to cross their finish line and enter into heaven! This is true love to rebuke sin rather than comforting people in wickedness for fear of offending them and losing donors!

The same thing can be said of anyone who receives an Apostle because he is an Apostle and they will receive an Apostle’s reward. The reward of an Apostle is divine order and that is why they typically will deliver hard rebukes and expose charlatans and people who have evil motives within the church. Often the Apostles will deliver death threats to hell and calls to repentance but this type of preaching is masculine in nature like a father who uses a rod of correction to enforce correct behavior in his children! Apostle Paul often used the rod of correction of rebukes for the congregations and this is part of the office and calling of an apostle. (1 Cor. 4:21)

When the calling of Apostle and Prophets are rejected by the carnal church, they are in fact rejecting the rewards of divine order and holiness. That is why the carnal church is so out of order with frauds and charlatans and layman running the church and it is also full of carnality and sin and worldliness! They have rejected the masculine gifts of Apostle and Prophet that commonly set these things in order and when these gifts are not honored in a place of authority they are in fact put on the sidelines and are not able to take any action to set things in order that they know by the Spirit of God! Denying them their place of authority in the church is like denying Joseph a position of authority in Egypt and he would not be able to set things in order to prepare for the disaster that was coming! Denying authority to the Apostle and Prophet is not for the best interests of the people and the end result is that members of the carnal church will end up in hell!

The bottom line here is that both Apostles and Prophets will largely have to sit on the sidelines and watch disorder and unrepentant sin destroy the church and they will not be able to do anything about it if the entire church is following feminine thinking and rejecting the masculine gifts of Apostle and Prophet!

See “Fivefold Ministry Gifts” for more details.

The gift of “Discerning of spirits” works for both unbelievers as well as believers. But unless an Apostle is in a position of authority, then what he knows will actually be of little value! I told my mother about the charlatan who came to their home church but I was not able to cast him out or expose him because I was not in authority. After he caused a great disaster in the church then my mother remembered what I had said about him! The only thing that resulted from what I knew was to say, “I told you so!” but that was of little consequence!

One time when my brother was going to school in Tulsa Oklahoma, he attended a church run by a guy who called himself Pastor Bud. My brother wanted to have his mother and sister visit this church when they are in Tulsa but as he spoke about this, I immediately knew that this man was a layman and a fake pastor who had intruded into the ministry. When I told my brother about his he immediately got offended and said, “How do you know when you have never been to his church?” But I knew this information by “Word of Knowledge” and the operation of “Discerning of spirits” which operated together. Even though I have never been to this church in question I knew immediately by “Word of Knowledge” and the “Discerning of spirits” that this pastor was no pastor at all but a layman intruding into the ministry.

This sort of thing has happened on numerous occasions as the Lord was showing me how these revelation gifts operate and all of these things were later confirmed to be true. The “Discerning of spirits” readily works for discerning who possesses a real Fivefold ministry gift and reveals who does not.

When I first got started in the ministry, I once had a well-meaning preacher try to help me out by referring me to some of his contacts that he had. This was a big mistake to visit the churches he had set up for me and what I discovered was that most of these people he gave me were not called into the ministry but these were largely laymen who started their own ministry. I knew every one of those men who were not called by God into the Fivefold ministry but I had no authority to do anything about it so I just kept what I knew to myself. These fake churches were largely just social clubs and the men that led them were nothing but activity directors trying to entertain the people. They had no fruit or evidence of the Fivefold ministry gift of Pastor. When I was asked how it went, I told the guy who set up these schedules for me about what I observed and then he readily agreed that what I said was true. The only purpose I could see in visiting these churches was that God moved by the “Word of Knowledge” and the “Discerning of spirits” and later all that was revealed to me was again confirmed to be true. It was just a situation that God used to exercise the revelation gifts in me and to confirm that what I received in the spirit realm was true. Through all of these experiences God was training me in the operation and function of the revelation gifts. The gift of “Discerning of spirits” most definitely works to identify those who possess a Fivefold ministry gift and those who are laymen intruding into the holy office.

Another function of the “Discerning of spirits” has been to identify those who are the mixed-multitude type of people in the church. The term mixed-multitude comes from the scripture in Exodus that described those people who sought to stand among the Israelites in order to escape the plagues of God that terrorized Egypt!

Exodus 12:38 (NASB)

³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

These mixed-multitude types of people were various types of pagan peoples who were living in Egypt during the time of Exodus. They quickly discovered that the only place safe from plagues was the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. So, they went and stood among the Israelites hoping to avoid the plagues that struck all of Egypt.

The mixed-multitude people represent those unbelievers who stand in the church thinking that they will escape the judgment of God by standing among believers. The spiritual gift of “Discerning of spirits” also operates to identify those who are mixed-multitude type of people in the church.

When I was traveling and visiting churches, I would often see mixed-multitude people sitting among the congregation. I remember one guy in particular that I knew was living in unrepentant sin and furthermore he was a pestilent sinner and he was actively seeking to bring defilement to other members in the church. This man believed in the false doctrine of eternal security that teaches that if a person only repeats salvation prayer then they are licensed to sin and live like the devil and still enter into heaven when they die. He thought that standing among the Christians would make him into a Christian but this is as foolish as thinking that standing in a garage will make him into a car! I preached a strong sermon based on “Christians in hell” in that church and this pestilent sinner came to an understanding that church attendance was not going to save him and without holiness no man will see God! These types of people should be expelled from the church when it is made evident that they have no heart for repentance and they have produced no fruit of holiness in their lives. Again, if the Apostle is not in authority however he cannot take any action with the revelation that was imparted to him by the Holy Spirit. The Lord spoke to me that the purpose of revealing these things to me was to give me the experience I needed in operating in the revelation gifts.

The gift of “Discerning of spirits” can expose both the positive and the negative attributes of the human heart. The gift of “Discerning of spirits” can be used to do the following things in the church:

Exposure of the negative:

1. Expose who have a genuine ministry gift like Balaam but have sold that gift for money.

2. Expose those who are intruding into the holy office as laymen but have no ministry gift.

3. Expose those who are mixed-multitude type of unbelievers spreading defilement in the church.

4. Expose those who are charlatans who have impure motives.

Exposure of the positive:

1. Discern those who have a genuine ministry gift and calling from God.

2. Discern those who have a pure heart with good heart motives.

3. Discern those that God has chosen for leadership positions in the church, not based on outward appearance, education, or dazzling resumes.

4. Discern those who are worthy of financial support in the church.

The gift of “Discerning of spirits” can discern both those who harbor evil motives as well as those who have pure hearts. This gift is therefore created for the purpose of making leadership decisions based upon divine revelation imparted by the Holy Spirit.

When Apostles and Prophets are placed in authority in the church for leadership and they operate in the revelation gifts, then the church will be directed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Advance preparations can be made for future events based upon the operation of “Word of Wisdom” that reveals future things. Decisions can be made concerning current events based on the operation of “Word of Knowledge” which reveals the knowledge of things present. Good people can be promoted into leadership positions that have a good heart and pure motives by the operation of “Discerning of spirits” and the same gift can also prune away those who are defiled by evil motives and are unfit for leadership positions in the church. It is for leadership in the church that the Revelation Gifts are given and this is the avenue by which the early church received their direction and guidance from God.

Renaming Gifts for Clarification

In order to clarify and define the Spiritual Gifts new names could be given to them such as:

Revelation Gifts

1. Word of Wisdom could be called Knowing Forthcoming Events.

2. Word of Knowledge could be called Knowing Existing Facts.

3. Discerning of spirits could be called Discerning Human Hearts.

Power Gifts

4. Gift of Faith could be called Empowerment of Faith.

5. Gifts of Healing could be called Gift of Healing Specific Diseases.

6. Working of Miracles could be called Operating Three types of Miracles.

1. Enablement of Divine Power

2. Suspension of Laws of Nature

3. Unusual Signs

Inspiration Gifts

7. Prophecy could be called Gift of Edification, Exhortation, and Comfort or [Simple Exhortation] for short.

8. Interpretation of Tongues could be called Interpretation of Public Tongues.

9. Different kinds of Tongues could be called Three Types of Tongues.

1. Foreign Tongues

2. Public Tongues

3. Private Tongues

Examples of “Renamed” Gifts

1. Knowing Forthcoming Events: This would be knowing in advance something that is yet in the future time frame. A farmer knowing the soybean price will not exceed $10.00 per bushel before that transpires in an example of “Knowing Forthcoming Events” because when this revelation was received these events were yet in the future.

2. Knowing of Existing Facts: This deals with anything in the present time-frame such as someone knowing someone is in trouble without having received any outside information about this fact.

3. Discerning Human Hearts: This deals with perceiving heart motives and can also discern laymen ministry intruders or mixed multitude people within the church or those who have a good heart or those who have a Fivefold Ministry Gift.

4. Empowerment of Faith: This is a supernatural faith given by God to accomplish some great feat beyond that which can be obtained by the exercise and development of natural faith. Believing God for millions for a huge ministry project can fall under this category of faith.

5. Gift of Healing Specific Diseases: This deals with specific diseases such as an evangelist whose healing gift includes the healing of lame people and demon possessed. Each evangelist might have a different gift or several gifts for healing specific types of human diseases.

6. Operating Three types of Miracles

1. Enablement of Divine Power: Having supernatural power to accomplish a great feat that is beyond human ability (like outrunning horses and chariot or pulling up huge city gates with bare hands).

2. Suspension of Laws of Nature: Seeing the sun stand still or the water heap up for a river crossing are examples of the suspension of laws of nature.

3. Unusual Signs: This is having unusual signs occur such as material objects like handkerchiefs or aprons carry the anointing power to heal or drive out devils.

7. Gift of Simple Exhortation: Operating in this gift does not make someone a prophet but is the simple gift of edification and exhortation and comfort. An utterance like “Thus says the Lord I love you with an everlasting love!” can edify and exhort and comfort a new believer and such gifts are often operated by women in the church.

8. Interpretation of Public Tongues: This is when public tongues are given in a meeting and someone can translate the utterance into a known language for the benefit of the listeners.

9. Three Types of Tongues

1. Foreign Tongues: This is when someone gives and utterance in tongues and someone who is present can understand it clearly because it is their native language.

2. Public Tongues: This is an utterance in tongues in public typically within a congregation and is interpreted into a known language by the gift of interpretation of tongues.

3. Private Tongues: This type of tongues is for private edification of a spirit-filled believer.

7K-Bible Scriptures Employing New Terms

Below is an example of our 7K-Bible translation of 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 which mentions the gifts using our new terms for clarification. These 7K-Scriptures can be seen at the link 7K-Bible.

1 Corinthians 12:7 (7KB)

⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: [So that through the nine different gifts (found within the three categories of gifts) (the Revelation Gifts, the Power Gifts and the Inspiration Gifts) the needs of the Messianic community will be met.]

1 Corinthians 12:8 (7KB)

⁸ From the Revelation gifts, one is given (Knowing Forthcoming Events) and to another is given (Knowing Existing Facts) and to another is given the (Discerning Human Hearts)

1 Corinthians 12:9 (7KB)

⁹ From the Power Gifts, one is given (Empowerment of Faith) and to another (Gifts of Healing Specific Diseases) and to another the (Operating of Three-Types of Miracles)-including -(Enablement of Divine Power, Suspension of Laws of Nature and Unusual Signs).

1 Corinthians 12:10 (7KB)

¹⁰ From the Inspiration Gifts, one is given the (Gift of Simple Exhortation) to others are given the (Three-Types of Tongues-including Foreign Tongues, Private Tongues and Public Tongues) and to another is given the (Interpretation of Public Tongues)

Scriptural Examples of Renamed Gifts

Revelation Gifts

1. Knowing Forthcoming Events.

The revelation gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events deals with things yet in the future. It can be short-term future such as when I was informed that the Pastor of the church was going to ask me to come forward (only minutes before he actually did). This can also be distant future like David speaking of the coming of the Messiah thousands of years in advance. Whenever it deals with things yet in the future then these operations can be categorized under the heading of Knowing Forthcoming Events.

Coming Worldwide Flood

Genesis 6:12-13 (NIV)

¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Noah was warned of a coming flood in advance before this event transpired so therefore it can be categorized under the heading of Knowing Forthcoming Events.

Coming of Future Empires

Daniel 7:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.

Daniel the prophet operated in the Knowing Forthcoming Events when he predicted four coming kingdoms that did not exist when he predicted them. This was the operation of knowing forthcoming events before they happened. These four kingdoms were Babylon represented by the lion, Medo-Persia represented by the bear raised up on one side, Greece represented by the winged leopard with four heads and Rome represented by the mongrel beast.

Foretelling of Distant Future

The prophet Ezekiel had the operation of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he spoke in great detail of distant future events that have not yet transpired on earth in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39.

Foretelling the Coming of the Messiah

Psalm 2:1-6 (NIV)

¹ Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

² The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.

³ “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

⁵ Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

⁶ “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

David spoke of the far distant future by operation of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he said that the world would turn secular and godless and seek to destroy Judeo/Christian culture and replace it with godlessness and atheism. Those who are wicked view God’s laws as chains that hinder them from enjoying sin and they want to make a godless society. The world is fast headed in that direction in this present time in fulfillment of what has already been predicted by the operation of Knowing Forthcoming Events which operated in King David thousands of years ago.

Psalm 22:16-18 (NIV)

¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸ They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

David operated in the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he foretold the coming of the Messiah even 1,500-years before the Messiah was born. David predicted in great detail how the Roman soldiers would nail the hands and feet of Jesus to the cross and would cast lots for his clothing while he was being crucified.

Foretelling Messiah’s Sacrifice

Isaiah 53:4-11 (NIV)

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the substitutionary and sacrificial death of the Messiah in great detail centuries in advance by the operation of the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events.

Foretelling of Destruction of Temple

Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)

¹ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.

² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Jesus operated in the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he predicted the destruction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem before these events took place.

Foretelling Far Distant Future

Revelation 1:1-2 (NIV)

¹ The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

² who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John operated by the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he predicted the end of times and the events that will transpire on earth in the distant future. These events are yet unfulfilled because they are yet to take place but these events will take place in the coming distant future.

Foretelling a coming Famine

Genesis 41:25-30 (NASB)

²⁵ Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶ “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.

²⁷ “The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹ “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

³⁰ and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.

Joseph operated in the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events when he could supernaturally interpret the dream of Pharaoh. Joseph correctly predicted seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph also had wisdom in how to prepare for what was ahead as was revealed to him by the gift of Knowing Forthcoming Events.

Knowing Existing Facts

This gift deals with knowing things in the present time frame or knowledge that deals with things that exist.

Knowing of Existence of Faithful Believers

1 Kings 19:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Elijah said that he was the last one living who still served God but God revealed to him by the operation of the gift of Knowing Existing Facts that there were 7,000 faithful people in Israel who did not compromise with the idol worship of Baal.

Actions of Greed Revealed

2 Kings 5:20-27 (NIV)

²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹ So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

²² “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.'”

²³ “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.

²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

²⁵ Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. “Where have you been, Gehazi?” Elisha asked. “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

²⁶ But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?

²⁷ Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

Elisha operated in the gift of Knowing Existing Facts when he knew that his servant Gehazi appropriated money under false pretenses because of his greed.

Enemy Plans of War Exposed

2 Kings 6:8-12 (NIV)

⁸ Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

⁹ The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.”

¹⁰ So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

¹¹ This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

¹² “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

Elisha operated in the gift of Knowing Existing Facts when he knew all of the secret war plans of the enemy and reported them to the King of Israel. He knew what was talking place in the present time frame and shared this knowledge to warn the king for national defense.

Knowing Lost Livestock was Found

1 Samuel 9:20 (NIV)

²⁰ As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father’s family?”

The prophet Samuel operated by the gift of Knowing Existing Facts when he knew that the lost donkeys of Kish were found.

Locating Man in Hiding

1 Samuel 10:21-23 (NIV)

²¹ Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.

²² So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

²³ They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.

Saul was hidden among the baggage and the prophet Samuel operated in the gift of Knowing Existing Facts when he knew where Saul was.

Knowing Woman’s Marriage Status

John 4:16-19 (NIV)

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.

¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

John 4:28-29 (NIV)

²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,

²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

Jesus operated by the gift of Knowing Existing Facts when he revealed that the woman in Samaria had cohabited with five different men but was married to none of them.

Revealing the Location of Apostle

Acts 10:5-6 (NIV)

⁵ Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.

⁶ He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

The angel imparting the knowledge of the location of Apostle Peter is an example of the gift of Knowing Existing Facts which revealed where Peter was staying at that time so Cornelius could send for him.

Discerning of Human Hearts

This gift can reveal human heart motives if they are good or bad, it can reveal if someone is a laymen intruder or has a real Fivefold Ministry Gift and it can discern mixed-multitude people who stand among believers in a congregation. This gift can appraise human heart motives which cause them to do the things they do whether good or evil. This gift is essential in appointing right leaders within the church because those with evil motives can be banned from leadership positions by the operation of this gift.

Evil Heart Motives Exposed

Acts 8:18-23 (NIV)

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money

¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Peter operated in the gift of Discerning Human Hearts when he discerned that the heart of Simon the sorcerer was evil and he had wrong motives for desiring the gift of imparting the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Exposing a Witch-doctor

Acts 13:6-10 (NASB)

⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Apostle Paul operated in the gift of Discerning Human Hearts to know the evil heart condition and wicked heart motives of a witch-doctor.

Evil Motives for Giving Exposed

Acts 5:1-5 (NIV)

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Peter operated by the gift of Discerning Human Hearts when he discerned the evil motives of Ananias in lying about how much he gave to the church.

Power Gifts

Empowerment of Faith

This gift deals with a supernatural faith that goes beyond just normal faith that can be developed by exercising it. This gift provides for the person without them doing anything themselves. It is a sovereign move of God on their behalf.

Empowerment for Protection

Protection from Lions

Daniel 6:20-23 (NIV)

²⁰ When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

²¹ Daniel answered, “O king, live forever!

²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”

²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

This was an operation of the Empowerment of Faith because Daniel did nothing but just beheld the power of God at work for him to work divine protection on his behalf.

Protection from Fire

Daniel 3:22-27 (NIV)

²² The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.”

²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire,

²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

These three men had the operation of Empowerment of Faith when they were thrown into a blazing furnace but were unharmed. They just enjoyed the divine protection of God and simply reveled in God’s deliverance!

Specific Healing Gift for Paralyzed, Lame, and Possessed

Acts 8:5-8 (NIV)

⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.

⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.

⁷ With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.

⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

Philip had a Fivefold Ministry Gift of Evangelist and he also had the gifts of healing in three areas which were healing of those who were paralyzed, lame, and those who were demon possessed. These three specific cases of aliments were being healed in his ministry. This is an example of the operation of the gift of Healing Specific Diseases because Philip specifically saw paralyzed, lame, and demon possessed people healed.

Examples of Three-Types of Miracles

The three types of Miracles are:

1. Enablement of Divine Power

2. Suspension of Laws of Nature

3. Unusual Signs

Enablement of Divine Power

An example of the Enablement of Divine Power is seen in the life of Samson.

Judges 16:3 (NASB)

³ Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

Samson was able to pull up the city gates and posts and cross bars (weighing thousands of pounds) and carry these great timbers over 37-miles away and then he deposited them on top of a mountain. This feat was not accomplished by natural human strength but it was done by the gift of “Enablement of Divine Power” which is a type of operating of miracles.

Suspension of Laws of Nature

An example of the gift of “Suspension of Laws of Nature” is seen in the following:

Joshua 10:12-13 (NASB)

¹² Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.”

¹³ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

Joshua commanded the sun to stand still so he could defeat his enemies and his prayer was answered when the sun did not go down for an entire day thus giving him more daylight to win the battle. This is an example of the suspension of the laws of nature.

Numbers 22:28-30 (NIV2011)

²⁸ Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said.

Normally a donkey cannot speak with a human voice but this was a suspension of the laws of nature to enable this donkey to give God’s rebuke to Balaam.

John 2:6-10 (NIV2011)

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,

⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside

¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

Normally the process of making wine starts with a grapevine drawing moisture from rain out of the soil as it produces grapes. The grapes are then crushed to get the juice and then this juice is fermented to make wine. But this process was all bypassed and the water was changed into wine instantly without the use of a grape vine or the process of fermentation. This was an example of the suspension of the laws of nature to create wine instantly out of pure water.

Unusual Signs

An example of unusual signs is seen with the ministry of Apostle Paul:

Acts 19:11-12 (7KB)

¹¹ Now God worked unusual signs by the hands of Paul,

¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

It was an unusual sign that Paul could pray over objects like handkerchiefs or aprons and when these objects were brought to the sick, they were healed. It seems that the healing anointing was carried in these objects so this is an example of unusual signs.

I know an Apostle who worked as a missionary on the Thailand/Burma border and he had Burmese students who would cross the bridge on market days to attend his bible school. This Apostle was not permitted to enter Burma because it was still a closed country in those days. However, the students asked him to pray over a bunch of bananas and they carried these bananas over the border into Burma and when they gave one of these bananas to a demon-possessed man, he was instantly healed (as soon as he took a bite). He instantly become sane again and all evidence of demon-possession was gone! This is an example of an unusual sign when an ordinary object like a banana can carry the anointing of God to heal the sick or to cast out demons!

Inspiration Gifts

Simple Exhortation

1 Corinthians 14:3 (NKJV)

³ But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

This scripture could be translated as:

1 Corinthians 14:3 (7KB)

³ But those who operate in Simple Exhortation speak edification and exhortation and comfort to others.

Interpretation of Public Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:13 (7KB)

¹³ For this reason anyone who speaks in a public tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.

A believer can pray for the gift of interpretation of tongues so that they can interpret the public tongues of others as well as their own utterance in tongues.

Three types of tongues

Foreign Tongues

Acts 2:4-12 (NKJV)

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

⁶ And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

⁷ Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

⁸ And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?

⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

¹¹ Cretans and Arabs–we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

¹² So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

The gift of foreign tongues means that the speaker does not understand the language he is speaking but a foreigner listening to him can understand it. This is a sign and wonder to foreign unbelievers to cause them to be saved when they realize God is speaking to them in their native language through the mouth of someone who does not know their language.

Public Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (7KB)

²⁷ If anyone speaks in a Public Tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.

²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

Public tongues must be interpreted or else they will have no meaning and will be of no benefit for the listeners. If there is no one with the gift of interpretation of tongues present they should keep silent in the church and hold their public tongues.

Private Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:18 (7KB)

¹⁸ I thank my God I speak with Private tongues more than you all;

Apostle Paul thanked God that he spoke in private tongues but when he was in the congregation he wanted to edify or bless the people and private tongues only benefits the speaker so therefore this type of tongues should only be prayed at home in private.

Fivefold Ministry Topics

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Fivefold Not by Lineage

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Levites Commanded to Live of Ministry

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Apostles Abolish Disorder

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Ruth-A Spiritual Analogy

Sword of Division

Gift Gone Dormant

Heresy of the Evangelist

Sin of Denial

Pastor’s Dilemma

Endorsing Laymen Intruders

Idolatry – Curse of a Nation

Glossary

Church at Ephesus

Root of Bitterness

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Valley of Decision

Curse of Bitter Water

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Handwriting on the Wall

Leave Not Post

Never Apologize for God’s Word

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Precious Hungry Hearts