Now, About those Spiritual Gifts

David M. Schmaltz  

This topic can make people uncomfortable, but only if you have already decided that the spiritual gifts are not in use today. But, if you have no idea what I am talking about, then let’s dive in and look at the most unique gifts that Jesus sent to us to succeed and prosper while we are here on the mission.

 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers, and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. I Cor. 12:1-11

 All of these gifts given to us as a manifestation of the Spirit are for our common good and for the building up of the body. Pretty cool. For today, I just want to look at one of these gifts that I have found to be the most powerful of them all – discernment. 

Discernment has a more extensive application than here since Paul is mainly talking about how these gifts work in the context of the Church. But, we see that discernment is a spiritually empowered natural gift that most humans can develop already. They call it wisdom, horse sense, or a good eye for things. But imagine taking a person who already has some wisdom and supercharging it with the Holy Spirit’s ability to give you a clue of what is behind what is going on. In other words, you can discern what spirit is behind what is making a person do what they do or if sin or grace is involved. I would say this is a potent gift indeed. 

For example: Have you ever felt like someone was trying to deceive you, but they seem like a nice person? Or, maybe you feel a strong sense of manipulation from someone. The Bible tells us that we can discern between what is evil, what is holy, and what is just a human force of will. Now, connect this discernment with the Holy Spirit, and now you are cooking with gas as they say. 

The Apostle John tells us to test the spirits.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.  1 John 4:1-3

Now, this is an excellent basic test, isn’t it? What’s a false prophet? Well, on a large view, it would be any person speaking about the future or our well-being and lying. Did you catch that? They are liars. Deceivers. John says they are Anti-Christ because they do not really believe in Jesus, AND anyone who does not believe in Jesus is subject to this deceptive spirit. 

Now, what if this gets complicated, and I don’t know who to believe? Ta da!! Enter the Holy Spirit and the gift of discerning spirits. The Holy Spirit is here to help us understand. This is the ability to “smell” whether a person has good motives or ill if a person is deceptive or not.

Want a little more help? Jesus said that you would know a person by their fruit! Did you catch that? Look at their lives. What are they doing? Are they prospering? Do their words, their philosophy, their lifestyle, their voting record, their thoughts on human life, their morality, their treatment of people, their treatment of Scripture, their treatment of the Church match what they want us to believe about them?

Wisdom would say, “Well, they lied to me before. They are probably lying now.”  “Their words sound good, but they conflict with their past.”  “Their organization is only interested in protecting themselves, so they will never tell me what is going on.” 

Sometimes we push past biblical truth or the Spirit’s discernment and choose to follow a worldly, carnal path. Mainly, this is because we have been taught to believe that the end justifies the means. That is, I can do evil and hope for something good. Well, that just isn’t right, is it?

Discernment is the ability to see in the spirit realm. It is the ability to know if God is involved or whether something sinister is going on. Want to know what can shut discernment down? Are you sure you want to know? 

Fear. Bitterness. Lust. And an unbroken will (pride) that holds them in place. 

“I just keep making the same mistakes over and over again.” We say. 

Want to stop this cycle? Time for an upgrade. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Ask Him to help you see the way He sees. Ask Him to help you discern what is going on in the world. Ask Him to give you eyes to see! And when He speaks or gives you that sense. Follow it.

By the way, using the above truths, it doesn’t take too much discernment to figure out that there is much evil deception going on right now. Many, many people knew that the “laptop from hell” was real. Did you “know?”  Just an example...

Have a great day!

Pastor David