APOSTLE EDWARD SSEWANYANA: THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT: PART 1 (A)

The body of Christ is in need of knowledge in the area of spiritual gifts. Apostle Paul himself made it a priority to impart the knowledge of spiritual gifts to the believers wherever he went. He said, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (1Co 12:1). You can be ignorant of any other thing but concerning spiritual gifts, God can not have you to be ignorant. You can be ignorant of you birthday or even your own name, but concerning spiritual gifts, God would not have you ignorant. This ignorance of God's gifts has led many believers to become ineffective in their witness to the world and also to their fellow Christians. The book of the Bible that speaks about the spiritual gifts is the epistle of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. There are three specific categories of gifts mentioned in the New Testament and these are the gifts of the Father in Romans 12:3-8, the gifts of the Son in Ephesians 4:11 & 1 Corinthians 12:28 and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. The gifts of the Father characterize basic "motivations", that is, inherent tendencies that characterize each different person by reason of the Creator's unique workmanship in their initial gifting. The gifts of the Son are leadership gifts within the body of Christ to facilitate and equip the members of the body, they are also referred to as the five-fold ministry or offices. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to profit the church and to make our witness for Jesus to unbelievers full of power. This is shown in 1Cor12:7, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to PROFIT withal." The gifts are given to profit which is the Greek word sumphero, which means to bring together, to benefit or to be advantageous. The gifts of the Hoy Spirit are necessary to convince unbelievers since even Jesus commented that some will not believe till they have seen them, "Then said Jesus unto him, EXCEPT YE SEE SIGNS AND WONDERS, ye will not believe" (Joh 4:48). If Jesus acknowledges that some will not believe till they have seen signs and wonders, who are you to refute Him and say that everyone will believe because of your convincing talk. Apostle Paul made it very clear that his gospel was not mere persuasive gibberish but was accompanied with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER: That your faith should NOT stand in the wisdom of men, but in the POWER OF GOD" (1Co 2:1-5). The Apostle did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom, which is what is emphasized by most preachers today and is called by various names like communication skills, sermon delivery and oratory. All these have their part but should not be exalted above the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Today, the majority of the believers have their faith standing or grounded in the wisdom of men rather than in the power of God. That is the reason why backsliders prevail in the body of Christ worldwide. Members of so-called "mainstream churches" who depend on the theological qualifications of their leaders will quickly backslide when they find a quack or false pastor who teaches false doctrines but has demonically inspired miracles following him or her. Without the power of God, Christianity becomes another philosophy on the same level with Buddhism, Mormonism, Islam or Papism. As a believer you need to have a working knowledge of these gifts to enable you to have an effective witness for Jesus Christ to the lost and not merely depend on flashy media campaigns and skilful choirs to draw men to crusades. In the days of Jesus Christ and the early church they never had television or radio advertisement but their meetings were packed to the brim because the gifts of the Holy Spirit would advertise louder and wider. The Holy Spirit has been given to bear witness of Jesus Christ and publicize His work, "He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify me (Jesus): for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you" (Joh 16:14). The Holy Spirit's gifts, including the gift of prophecy are given to testify about Jesus, "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev 19:10). We are going to define each of the gifts and give examples from the Bible, from contemporary history and personal testimony.