What are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit?

When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, you receive a measure of the Holy Spirit. Just as it was the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, so it is the Holy Spirit who causes one to be “born-again”. After being born-again, there is the need for another work of the Holy Spirit and that is to “fill you” or indwell you. Just as you asked Jesus to come into your heart, you should ask the Father to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:13

“But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. ” John 14:26

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:38

Once filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit, the believer can be used of God in the supernatural manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit. Contrary to the belief of some, ANY believer who is filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit can be used by God to demonstrate the Gifts of the Spirit. It is important to understand that these gifts are not operated at the will or desire of the believer. They are under the sole administrative authority of the Holy Spirit.

The purpose of the Gifts of the Spirit is to lift up Jesus, advance the kingdom of God and defeat the works of the devil. The Gifts of the Spirit are common and we should expect them to operate through any of us who are filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit; but again they operate only as the Holy Spirit wills them to operate.

None of the Gifts of the Spirit are”natural” gifts and none of them are the “possession” of the believer. When one is used in the manifestation of the gifts, they should consider themselves as “vessels”, “transmitters” or “relay stations”. The Holy Spirit is using or moving through the believer, and He is doing it as He decides.

These gifts can be classified in sets of three’s (3's), according to their common attributes:

Revelation Gifts -Gifts that reveal something:

• The Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge and the Discerning of Spirits.

Power Gifts – Gifts that do something

• The Gift of Faith, the Working of Miracles, and the Gifts of Healings.

Utterance (Vocal) or Inspirational Gifts – Gifts that say something

• The Gift of Prophesy, the Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues and the Gift of The Interpretation of Tongues
  

The nine Gifts of the Spirit are supernatural manifestations of the knowledge of God, the vocal inspiration from God and the physical power of God.

• 1. The Word of Wisdom

• 2. The Word of Knowledge

• 3. The Gift of Faith

• 4. The Gifts of Healings

• 5. The Working of Miracles

• 6. Prophesy

• 7. Discerning of Spirits

• 8. Divers Kinds of Tongues

• 9. Interpretation of Tongues

Three Gifts that reveal something

The Word of Wisdom is the supernatural manifestation that speaks of the future. It is a fragment from the mind of God which reveals information of the future to us. The Book of the Revelation is a book filled with the manifestation of the Word of Wisdom. The pronouncement to Mary about the birth of Jesus was a Word of Wisdom.

“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. _{(2 Kings 20:1)}

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (:32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:” _{Luke 1:31-32}

2. The Word of Knowledge is the supernatural manifestation that speaks of past and present events. There are many examples of the manifestation of the Word of Knowledge in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well contained the Gift of the Word of Knowledge. It spoke of both her past and present marital status.

Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place [shall be] my camp. (:8) (:9) And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. (:10) And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice . _{2nd Kings 6:8-10}

“The woman answered and said, I have no husband.(:17) Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: (:18) thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” _{John 4:17-18}

3. The Discerning of Spirits is a supernatural look into the spirit realm. This gift reveals both angelic and demonic spirits. Your eyes open for a glimpse of time and you see into the spirit realm.

“And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” _{2 Kings 6:17}

“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.” _{Acts 7:55}

Three Gifts that do something

The Gift of Faith is not the normal faith. This supernatural manifestation is sometimes called the “God kind of faith” or “Special Faith”. This Gift empowers the believer to receive a miracle without any action on their part. Miracles are so phenomenal that the natural faith of man cannot accept them so the Holy Spirt must exercise the Gift of Faith through an individual or group so a miracle can be received.

“Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. (:22) My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” _{Daniel 6:21-22}

“While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.” _{Matt 9:18}

The Working of Miracles is the empowerment of a believer to “work a miracle”. Unlike the Gift of Faith, the Working of Miracles requires the believer to perform some type of action. Every miracle that Jesus did was a manifestation of the Working of Miracles.

“And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.” _{Exodus 7:10} [NOTE: a miracle can be defined as divine intervention in an impossible event]

"When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, (:7) And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing." _{John 9:6-7}

The Gifts of Healings are the supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit which causes healings from various diseases. The terms are plural, “Gifts” and “Healings”. The inference is that within this gifting, is the anointing for the healing for whatever sickness or disease needs healing.

“And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. (:15) And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.” _{Matthew 8:14-15}

“But when Jesus knew [it], he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;” _{Matthew 12:15}

Three Gifts that say Something

1. The Gift of Prophesy in the New Testament is different than it is in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, only Prophets prophesied. In the New Testament and in today’s church world,  any believer can be used of God to flow in the simple Gift of Prophesy.

Prophesy can be defined as a supernatural, inspired utterance which is given unto men for edification, exhortation and comfort. Prophesy is always given in a “known” tongue.

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;” _{Ezekiel 13:2}

“And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.” Acts 21:10

2. The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues and its companion gift of The Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues are unique to the New Testament. The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues is the supernatural utterance by the Holy Ghost in languages the speaker does not know. This is generally true of the hearer also.

These gifts are dependent upon one another. When a Divers Tongue is given in the congregation, someone, not necessarily the speaker of the tongue should give the interpretation.

The Gift of the Interpretaion of Tongues is not the translation of a message given in Divers Tongues. A translation is classified as relaying word for word meaning of a message from an unknown tongue or language to a known language. On the other-hand, an interpretation is classified as relaying the meaning of a message given in an unknown tongue or language into a known tongue. 

God the Holy Spirit will give you an unction or a knowing in your heart if He wants to use you in either of these gifts. The combination of these two Gifts is equivalent to the Gift of Prophesy.