THE POWER GIFTS

Last Sunday, we concluded our discussions on the Revelation Gifts. 

Today we are sharing on another aspect of UNDERSTANDING THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – “THE POWER GIFTS!”

In 1 Corinthians 12:1, 7-11 the Scriptures say, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:…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 healing by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles…”

The Power Gifts include:

·        Faith (Wonder-working Faith or special Faith) (Dan. 6:16-17, 19-23; 1 Kings 17:2-6).

·        Gifts of Healings (Acts 10:38; 1 Cor. 12:9; 1 Cor. 12:28-30), and

·        Working of miracles (1 Kings 2:9-14; Jn. 2:1-11).

What then are power gifts? Power gifts are spiritual gifts that do something. Power gifts are supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit whereby some believers are empowered with a wonder-working faith (a faith that works wonders) to do miracles, and to heal the sick.

Today, we are going to focus on the greatest of the three power gifts, the wonder-working faith (1 Cor. 12:7-10; 1 Cor. 12:28). This is not the normal Bible faith you acquire by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). It is a specific gift mentioned among the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12.

“To another FAITH by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healings by the same Spirit…” (1 Cor. 12:9, 28).

What then is Wonder-Working Faith?

1. This is a supernatural ability given to some believers to do the extraordinary. It is a special endowment that the Holy Spirit has given to some believers to do wonders. Here the Holy Spirit empowers a believer with a wonder-working faith to do the extraordinary. The wonder-working faith is a unique form of faith that goes beyond natural faith. It is used to supernaturally empower a person to believe God beyond his or her own natural faith.

It supernaturally trusts and does not doubt no matter how hopeless or impossible the situation may appear to be. By this gift one can supernaturally, and against all odds, believe God for a miracle.

This gift is not imparted to all but as the Holy Spirit wills [determines, decides] (1 Cor. 12:11).  How does the Holy Spirit determine this? The Holy Spirit determines what you get according to the original plan and purpose of God the Father for your life.

Examples of the gift of “the Wonder-working faith” to do miracles abound in the Scriptures: For instance, this gift of special faith is manifested to raise the dead. The case of Lazarus (Jn. 11).

Raising someone who has died since 4 days ago from the grave is extraordinary and it is a wonder.

What really happen to the physical body when someone dies? Death is a sad, yet an inevitable part of life that must come to all.

The moment your heart stops beating to circulate blood in your body, your spirit comes out of your body, and you will be declared clinically dead.

The moment after you die your body will start to get cold. In fact, every hour after you die, your body will get about 0.8 degrees Celsius cooler, until it reaches room temperature.

And meanwhile your cells will start dying for lack of oxygen, since you know that you’re dying and your lungs are no longer functioning, and your heart has stopped beating.

But this lack of oxygen will not kill them right away, instead they will live for several minutes.

And during this time there are still certain chemical reactions occurring in your body that produce carbon dioxide and increase the acidity of the cell.

Enzymes in the cells then start to digest the cell membranes, causing the cell to breakdown and start leaking. And the enzymes that escape from the affected cells can go on to break down the other cells around it.

When your muscles relax after you die, it may lead to you peeing or defecating if you hadn’t used the bathroom in a while.

Later on blood will start to spill out from your broken blood vessels, and since it isn’t flowing around your body, you’ll start to look pale.

Now if you are lying down, the blood will begin to travel downwards according to the force of gravity, and will be settling in the lower regions along your back side. And this will eventually lead to discoloration.

About 2-6 hours after death rigor mortis will set in. When you are alive, you are able to contract and relax your muscles as well. But with rigor mortis, after your cells have used up the last of their energy supply, the protein filaments allowing your muscles to move become locked in place. And this is why dead bodies are so stiff. And the stiffness usually lasts for about 3 days.

A few hours after death, putrefaction begins as the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract will start to break down tissues and cells, liquefying your body and producing horrible-smelling gases like methane and hydrogen sulfide, and with the production of gases comes the bloating of your belly.

The gas pressure causes any liquid in cells and blood vessels to spill out, which may eventually start to leak out of your body. And sometimes the pressure is so great that the abdomen bursts open.

And since your body has gotten smelly, it will attract blowflies that will lay eggs in your rotting flesh, leading to the birth of maggots within a day. These maggots feed on your flesh attracting beetles and other insects.

20 to 50 days after death, a process called “butyric fermentation” begins as the flesh is removed and your body dries out.

Parts of your body touching the ground begins to develop mold. Then over the course of years, all your flesh has been decomposed and eaten by various insects and animals, and all that is left of you is your skeleton.

Therefore, in the raising of the dead, it takes the wonder-working faith to call a person’s spirit back after it has left the body. Then it takes the working of miracle for your body components to be pieced together, because the body would have started deteriorating, as in the case of Lazarus.

Jesus said, “Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days” (Jn. 11:39).

Raising the dead also requires the gifts of healings, because if the person who was raised from the dead wasn’t healed, whatever he died from would still affect his body, and he would die again.

So the person would have to be healed too. Notice that all the three power gifts are in manifestation when someone is raised from the dead.

By this gift, Jesus stopped a raging storm that threatened to wreck a ship at Sea and destroy human lives.

And Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the Sea, “Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mk. 4:39).

Smith Wigglesworth, a man noted for performing extraordinary miracles, raised a number of dead people from the grave during his life time. He operated in this gift.

2. The wonder-working faith is a supernatural ability given to some believers to passively receive a miracle from God. For instance,

a) This gift worked for Daniel when he was in danger. When Daniel was in the Den of Lions, he received a miracle. While the lions roared about in the Den, Daniel lay down and slept. The Holy Spirit gave Daniel “the wonder-working faith.”

The Bible says, “…Daniel was taken up out of the den of lions, and no manner of hurt was found on him, because he believed in his God” (Dan. 6:22).

Daniel did not do anything extra. But through this gift of the Spirit, he possessed a calmness and quiet assurance that was supernatural. There is no doubt that God gave Daniel the wonder-working faith, a special manifestation of this gift of the Spirit, to receive deliverance. He just lay down and slept, using one of the lions as a pillow. He slept in the midst of a terrible storm. His faith was passive instead of active, yet he received a miracle.

b) This gift also worked for the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:14-15). Look at the response of the three Hebrew children: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Dan. 3:16-18).

3. Jesus Christ operated in this Wonder-working faith. He exercised this gift as He slept in the back of the ship during a raging storm.

While the storm raged, Jesus lay down and slept soundly. Mark 4:38 says, “And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and said unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?”

While the raging storm swept the sea and threatened the safe journey of the disciples to the other side of the lake, Jesus was asleep in the hinder part of the boat. He wasn't bothered by the storm.

And while the lions roamed about in the den, Daniel lay down and slept in the face of danger in perfect peace and calm assurance.

Why? Because Jesus and Daniel, each possessed a faith beyond the simple general faith every believer can have through hearing the Word.

4. The “wonder-working faith” is a supernatural endowment by the Holy Spirit that causes what is spoken or desired by man, or spoken by God to ultimately come to pass.

By this gift, God honours your pronouncements as He honours His own Words. Those who operate this gift believe God in such a way that He honours their word as His own, and He miraculously brings to pass the desired result.

The human or divine miracle, utterance, cursing or benefit, creation or destruction, removal or change, will eventually come to pass when it has been spoken under the inspiration of this gift.

When the gift of special faith is in operation, it may be that nothing is seen at the time to confirm that the person has his answer.

Therefore, the gift of wonder-working faith may carry over a long period of time and be sustained or continued in its action of receiving a miracle.

For instance, it was by the gift of wonder-working faith that the patriarchs of old would lay hands on their children and pronounce a blessing or curse on them which would sometimes come to pass many years later.

We see this in the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was the gift of wonder-working faith in operation. By this in operation, these patriarchs believed that what they said would come to pass, even if it took many years.

Jesus spoke to (cursed) the fig tree and it dried up from the roots (Mk. 11:12-14, 19-24).

Conclusion: In this day and hour in which we live, these gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary to bring about that which God desires to do in the earth.

Watch out for the edition of Good News from the pulpit!

• Your friend, I. I. MADUBUNYI    (Head Pastor)                              12.08. 2018

Scripture for the week: This week, “The LORD will perfect all that concerneth you” (Ps. 138:8).