The Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit

1. Types of Miraculous Gifts
 
 A.     I Corinthians 12:8-10
 i.     Wisdom
 ii.    Knowledge
 iii.   Faith
 iv.    Healing
 v.     Miracles
 vi.    Prophecy
 vii.   Distinguishing Spirits
 viii.  Tongues
 ix.    Interpretation
 
 B.     Mark 16:16-18 Some will be able to:
 i.     Drink poison and not die
 ii.    Be bitten by snakes and not die (Acts 28:5)
 
2. Types of Laying on of Hands:
 
 A.     Blessing (Acts 13:3)
 
 B.     Healing
 i.     Ananias heals Pauls blindness (Acts 9:17-18)
 ii.    Paul heals Pulius father on Malta (Acts 28:8)
 
 C.     Passing on the Gifts
 i.     Apostles would pass on the gifts (Acts 8:18)
 ii.    These people could NOT pass on the gifts they received.
 
 a)     Acts 6:1-8: Context is the choosing of The Seven.  This is the
first occasion that gifts were passed.  Nove v.8 - Stephen immediately
starts to perform miraculous signs among the people with Gods power.
 b)     Acts 8:1-2: Context is after Stephens martyrdom.  Great
persecution breaks out.  Many leave, but apostles stay in Jerusalem.
Philip, one of the Seven who had received the gifts in Acts 6:1-8, goes to
Samaria.  He performs many miraculous signs and healings to get people to
believe (v.12), including Simon the Sorcerer (v.13) and they are baptized
(They became Christians and thus receive the forgiveness of sins and the
gift (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38).  When the apostles come
to Samaria, Simon saw the Spirits gifts were only given by apostles laying
on of hands and offers them money for the ability (Acts 8:18).  Note:
Simon didnt ask Philip because Philip could not pass them on.  Simon is
rebuked for having the wrong motivation.
 c)     Acts 19:1-6:  Paul finds disciples in Ephesus who didnt know what
the Holy Spirit was because they had only received Johns baptism of
repentance.  Then they were baptized into the name of Jesus Christ to
receive the forgiveness of their sins and the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit (v.5).  Then in v.6 they receive the miraculous gifts of prophecy
and speaking in tongues by the laying on of Pauls hands.  Paul is an
apostle.
 
3. General Observations
 
 A.     Apostles were able to pass on the gifts because they were
apostles.  The Apostles possessed the ability to perform miracles even
during the ministry of Christ (Luke 9:1).  This abilities to pass and
perform the gifts were not given at Penecost.
 
 B.     I Corinthians 12 and 14 are not the directives on how to receive
tongues (the church has already received them), but rather the correctives
on how to use them because everyone was speaking at the same time and
misusing the tongues.  As a matter of fact                     I
Corinthians 12:28-30 shows that tongues as a gift were not given to
everyone in the church.  Thus the concept o a Pentecostal church (every
member speaking in tongues) is against scripture.
 
 C.     I Corinthians 13:8-10.  Perfection here could NOT mean the coming
of Christ because it is in the neuter gender in Greek, not the masculine
gender.  When perfection comes probably refers to the canonization of the
Bible sometime after the first century.  At that time, all the miraculous
gifts would be gone because all the apostles and those to whom they passed
the gifts would have died.
 
 D.     The purpose of the miraculous gifts from I Corinthians 14:20-22
 i.     To get non-believers to believe (Tongues were only to be used to
bring non-believers to faith).
 ii.    To edify the Christians and strengthen their faith.
 iii.   Now the Bible fulfills those needs - thus the church today does
not need apostles or miraculous gifts.
 
 E.     II Thessalonians 2:9-10 shows there can be miracles by Satan
today.  Satans purpose is to deceive people about the truth, so they will
not be saved.
 
 F.     Speaking in tongues is common in many religions (Mormon, Catholic,
Islam, etc...) because religion gets dried and staid.  Also called
ecstatic utterances- non-understandable sounds and fragments of speech.
 
 G.     A person can be filled with the Spirit without speaking in tongues
(Ephesians 5:18-19).
 
 H.     Jesus never spoke in tongues and he was accorded the full-measure
of the Spirit       (John 3:34-36)
 

Contact: Daniel de Sailles
Email: hbeng151@csun.edu
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