KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:8, 11 ” Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;”

In 1st Corinthians 12, we learnt about the nine a supernatural gifts of the Holy Ghost. We see in our key scripture another kind of gift. This time it is ministerial gifts.

A ministerial gift is a man or woman, who is divinely endued with abilities to function as an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor and a teacher. Each office has its unique supernatural gifts that go with it.

 The Bible says such men are gifts to the body of Christ that is the church. We would consider the office of an apostle into detail.

An apostle ranks first in the order of authority and impact of operation. The word apostle means one who has been sent with full power of attorney to act on behalf of another.   He is sent to act on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost. An apostle is not called by man or made by man. No one also makes himself or herself an apostle. It is purely divinely appointed Galatians 1:1  Paul,an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)He is sent to do a work for the Lord and therefore must be fully submitted and subjected to the Lord Jesus.

Some people also claim there are no apostles in our times, and rather it ended with the apostles in the bible.God still raises apostles in our days. The apostle is different from the other four offices because he has the ability to function fully in any of the other offices. This is the reason the apostle is ranked first in the ministerial offices and not the prophet. Any person,whether a man or woman with an apostolic calling has the ability, the authority and the anointing to raise up a church without any outside help. He could also stay there establish a school and send them forth to go and play various roles in the body of Christ. He can also set up a governing board for the church.Titus 1:5 “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee”:

In our day the title apostle has become common with one not having the gifts and divine authority that go with it. 2 Corinthians 12:12 ” Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds”.

I pray the church of God would be circumspect in the way we go about giving these titles or appointing ourselves into such offices.

   PRAYER

I pray that in these last days the Spirit of God would raise more men and women with an apostolic grace to speedup the end time work of the church of God, in Jesus name I have prayed.

FURTHER STUDIES

Acts 4:33 ” And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all”.

Acts 9:27. “But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:2.  Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

We continue with our study on the counterfeiting of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The gift of healing is one gift that Satan has counterfeited so much. The danger with this one is that anyone who seeks healing from a false or demonic healer is contaminated with the devil or demons. Sicknesses can be very distressing so anyone in a desperate condition is tempted to go anywhere that promises relief.

We see a lot of these demonic healers all over. They even advertise their activities both on print an audio-visual media. They put up their posters and signboards throughout the nation. Many people including some Christians patronise these healers. I wish to state that there are a number of herbal medicine practitioners that have no relationship with any occult (hidden) powers. They have studied the practice and use them without any rituals to heal. Christians, don’t seek healing from fetishes or Mallams. These are clear demonic agents, who would get you filled with demons.

I read about a cult in the Philippines that perform surgery without a knife. They do surgery without any incisions on the body, with just their fingers. These healers have been patronised by swarms of people from England, Canada, Australia, the United States of America and many others who travel to the Philippines for treatment.

There is a story of a brother of a medical Doctor who claims his gallstones were removed without any incisions made, nor leaving any scar. When this doctor asked his brother for an X-ray examination, the results showed that the gallstones were still there.

Most of these demonic healing cults only deceive their patrons. There are cases of people who go with a kind of condition, I will call it  problem A,only to find out that problem A is no more there but he now has problem B. The truth is that they do not give permanent and lasting healing Jesus heals excellently. There are countless cases of both terminal and demonic diseases that have been completely wiped away by the power of God.  Medical reports always prove the condition is gone. A pregnant woman who was healed from ovarian cyst in one of our meetings was confirmed healed and is still well. God performs it totally.

    PRAYER

Father, I pray for all Christians to know and trust you when suffering from some ailment so they would not visit fetish and occultist homes for help.

FURTHER STUDIES:

2 Chronicles 16:12 ” And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians”.

1 John 4:1.”  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Exodus 7:12 ” For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods”.

Every child of God must be very much aware that the devil always seeks to counterfeit the gifts of God. He does this to confuse men about the power of God and that of the devil.

In our key scripture Satan through king Pharaoh of Egypt caused his magicians to work a miracle to challenge God’s power and hardened the heart of the king. In this instance Moses’ rod which had become a serpent swallowed that of the magicians of Egypt.God would always overpower the devil if only Christians would stand for him.

The following story illustrate how the devil counterfeits God’s power.

A village in Java a town in Israelis dominated by mostly Christians. The following story explains how it happened so.

Some years ago a young Dutch Christian lady missionary came to that village preaching about Jesus and his power to save. A witch doctor confronted her, telling her to leave the place because both of them could not live on that land together. He explained that he works miracles there and she can’t also come and talk about miracles. This lady missionary said she was not going anywhere. The witch doctor said they should go into a contest to prove who was more powerful implying the winner takes over.

They announced this contest to the neighborhood, whilst this witch doctor fasted for three days and the lady missionary did her normal activities of preaching in the village. On the fateful day the villagers gathered, whiles the two people met in the arena. The witch doctor asked the lady to act first to prove how powerful her God was, but she declined and asked the man to go ahead. This witch doctor lay on the floor and instantly began to rise like a log of wood lifting itself from the floor.He got to about a knee high and remained there.

The lady did not know what to do.She asked the Lord and He told her to go push him down with her foot and cast the devil out of him. She did exactly that. The demons in him came out and the man came to his normal senses asking where he was?  He had been filled with the demons for so long a time that he had lost touch with the real world. This man accepted Jesus with the whole village.

All the miracles he did were demonic Satan is still using his agents to counterfeit the miracles of God and many are deceived. The lady needed courage to stop him. We have to also stop these people canvassing for people to come for money rituals etc. Christians have the true power and must be bold to confront these people with the gospel and the power of God.

   PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I pray for boldness for all Christians to arise and boldly preach the gospel stop these witch doctors deceiving many.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Acts 13:9-11.  Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?  And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Acts 8:9. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:    

KEY SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 11:13 ” For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ”.

As much as we learn and talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit we ought to be aware of the devil counterfeiting these gifts.

Our key scripture tells us clearly that, there are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. These false apostles abound in our times. In deed there are many genuine prophets in our times, yet there are quite a lot who are messengers of the devil.

The gift of the word of wisdom that is to know what would happen in the future is one of the gifts that these false prophets may counterfeit. The Bible tells us to test every spirit; 1st John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone into the world”. I believe the scripture is very emphatic about this. Try every spirit. How do we try them?

1. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart with the still small voice or let the peace of God check the things you are hearing and seeing. (Colossians 3:15)

2. You shall also know them by their fruits: Matthew 7:20: Check out for these signs: Do they exalt themselves? Are their moral life anything to be inspired about? How do they speak about their fellow ministers?

3. If his or her prophecy does not come to pass he is not speaking by the Spirit of God.  There are some who would rightly call out people’s names and give word of knowledge about them yet the predictions they make about the future does not come to pass.

4. Any prophet or man of God, who makes merchandise of the gospel by charging certain amounts before praying for the needy is very questionable. 1 Corinthians 9:18,   what is my reward then? “Verily that,when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel”.

5. Any prophet or man of God who tells you to buy certain objects to be used to pray or perform certain oblations (offerings) is questionable

Please note; the Lord Jesus offered His blood to make an eternal redemption for us and no more offerings for our sins. (Hebrews 9:12).  May we be careful lest we are deceived by the cunning deceptions of the devil and his agents.

 PRAYER

O heavenly Father, open our eyes of understanding so we would know the tricks and schemes of the devil and his agents.

FURTHER STUDIES.

2 Corinthians 11:15.  “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Matthew 7:20. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:10. To another the working of miracles …”

We now consider the gift of the working of miracles as the last of the supernatural gifts to look at. It is also the last but not the least of the power gifts for us to consider.

The working of miracles is always linked up to the gift of faith. In actual fact the gift of working of miracles is a product of the gift of faith.

Miracles are the intervention of the supernatural God in the affairs of men. Miracles are the normal happening of the supernatural, and faith is always the trigger for the supernatural to manifest. Galatians 3:5 “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith”.

Miracles always publicized the gospel. Everywhere in the world, even among the atheist, people would throng wherever miracles are occurring. Acts 8:6 “And people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did”. Every church and every pastor must desire and pray for the manifestations of the miraculous. It always brings Christianity alive.

When the gift of working of miracles is in operation, it does impossible things. By this gift, the dead is brought to life again, short people are made taller, and even some people can have certain organs which has been removed medically from their bodies restored.

Miracles are always wrought by doing something in line with the word. When Lazarus was in the grave, the Lord began declaring he would rise up again. John 11:23 “Jesus said unto her,thy brother shall rise again”. Inspire of all the statements of unbelief that went on around Him, Jesus kept assuring them that they only needed to believe and they would see the glory of God. Faith for miracles persist even in the midst of contrary situations. The Lord asked them to role away the Stone.This was the climax of the acts of faith leading to the miracle. (John 11:39).At that instant they were unbelieving, yet he kept declaring that if they were to believe they would definitely see the glory of God.. The stone was rolled away and then he finally commanded the dead man to rise up. You cannot see miracles if you do not put actions to your faith. Miracles are always worked out.

Do you want to see a miracle in any area of your life, start acting or working it out by your faith.  As your faith goes into operation miracles would be the result.

  PRAYER

Thank you heavenly Father for the revelation of your word. I pray that the Holy Spirit would stir the hearts of all believers to desire and also take actions to see the manifestation of these gifts in their lives and respective ministries.

FURTHER STUDIES.

John 2:5. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

Acts 3:7.  And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:9 ” To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit”;

The gifts of healing is a blessing to humanity. These gifts are given to the church as supernatural weapons to stop the evil attacks of darkness against the body of Christ.

Sickness is one of the greatest weapons of the evil one against mankind. Sickness has a terrible financial toll on men. The gifts of healing is a great blessing for men, and must be used extensively to stop the activities of the devil.

The gifts of healing becomes strong in operation when one commits himself to preaching the gospel consistently and ministers to the sick as well.. Please note; when one has this gift manifesting in his life, and he is faithful in ministering to the sick,the gift will graduate from a gift to a ministry. When it becomes a ministry you see its manifestation almost everywhere and every time you minister to the sick. The Bible speak about Philip who began as a deacon a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost. The Bible said he went to Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Acts 8:6-7 reads “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies, and they that were lame, were healed.And there was great joy in the city”.

God is therefore ready to empower as many people who would take Him (God) at His word, set themselves apart from sin and worldliness, commit themselves to prayer and obeying the word of God in their lives, so the gift of healing would function, to bless mankind as a whole.

One of the greatest joy in the life of every child of God should to, see the power of God work through them to restore the sick to their normal healthy state. You can also be used to bless many who are suffering.

         PRAYER

Thank you heavenly Father for this wonderful gifts of healing. Lord I pray you open up the understanding of all Christians to avail themselves for your use, to answer the cry of humanity.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Mark 16:18.  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Acts 19:11-12. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:  So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:9. To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

The gifts of healing is the only gift that is expressed in the plural. It is not gift of healing, rather it is gifts of healing

Why it is not stated just gift but gifts? There are so many categories of sicknesses, and although one may be graced to heal a number of sicknesses he finds it very easier healing a particular kind of sickness. There are some people who sing and lots of people would be getting healed. There are some who have a particular dance that they do that people would be healed. I know of some ministers who would bless water for people to take and they are made whole. They only requirement is that all these should be done in the name of the Lord and to His glory. Could there be a person who is graced to heal every kind of sickness? I believe it is possible.The scripture says with God all things are possible. Since He appoints His servants and declared that greater works than what He did would they do (John 14:12). I believe He can use someone to heal all manner of diseases. The Bible also said all things are possible to him that believes; if you can believe all things would be possible to you.

As i said earlier, there are certain ministers who minister to certain cases more easier than others.. What happens is the servant of God may be used to heal a number of the sicknesses but when it comes to a particular condition there is almost always a breakthrough. The late evangelist T.L Osborn was used mightily by the Lord to touch many lives. There were divers’ healings in His meetings, yet the deaf and dumb always predominate those that are set free.

There are others who are exceptionally successful when it comes to delivering the oppressed from demons

The gifts of healing always attracts a lot of glory and human praise. One must be very careful to always give God the glory when the Lord uses him or her in the healing of the sick. As we all know that no man heals anybody. It is the Holy Spirit working through us. We must be careful to always give God the glory.

The story is told of one man of God in the mid twentieth century called Stephen Jeffrey from Welsh, who was so mightily used of God to touch many lives. One condition he easily handled was rheumatoid arthritis. This man remarked one day that the whole world was at his feet.Within a short moment he was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis. The very condition he used to heal with ease. He died by this sickness.

Let’s always give the glory to God. To Him belong all praise, the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

  PRAYER

Father all glory, power and praise belong to you. You do all things to glorify your name. May you be praised for ever more.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Acts 14:14-15 ” Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea,and all things that are therein”:

Matthew 6:13.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:9″ To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit”;

How can one receive this gift of faith? I believe this is a question most of us would be asking.

The gift of faith goes with a lot of spiritual responsibilities. All things are possible to the man who has faith, and therefore one must not just be a wishy washy Christian to operate in this gift. 2nd Timothy 2:21 says “if a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master’s use and prepared unto every good work”. The first step is to be sanctified or to be set apart unto the Lord. It is a heart for God, and exalts the Lord,that would fully trust Him against all odds.

One can receive this gift by desiring for it. 1st Corinthians 14:1 “follow after love and desire spiritual gifts….” Fasting and prayer has been one of the means to accelerate your desire for the things of the Spirit, Jesus said “this kind goes not away but by prayer and fasting”. Matthew 17:21. Many great men of God who have been used mightily by God, were people who fasted a lot. Some were called into the ministry and imparted with the gift of faith because they were waiting before God in fasting and prayer. The following is how God speaks about the man who fasts and does it rightly in Isaiah 58:12. “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places, thou shall raise up the foundation of many generations and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach. The restorer of paths to dwell in”. This is description of the man of faith.

This gift can also be received through associating with a man of God, with the gift of faith. This could be a personal association that is to live and relate with him or her directly, or indirectly, through watching his teaching materials, listening to his teaching materials. In Acts 4:13 the Bible said the scribes and Pharisees said considering the boldness of Peter and John, that although they were unlearned, they had been imparted with the faith of the Lord Jesus.

Another way to partake of the gift upon the man of God is to honour him with your substance. Isaac asked his son Esau to prepare a special food for him so he could bless him.

 PRAYER

Heavenly Father I pray that, out of what I have learnt, help me to avail myself to these things, so I would experience the gift of faith and become a blessing unto my world. In Jesus name I have prayed.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus”.

Romans 1:11” For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established”;

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:9  ” To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit”;

We now look at the last group of the nine supernatural gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. This is the power gifts: This comprises the gift of faith, the gifts of healings and the gift of working of miracles.

These are called power gifts,because they all effect changes in situations. Power is the ability to cause a change.

We would consider the gift of faith in this study. Faith according to Hebrews 11:1, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is joining with the supernatural God to bring about changes in the natural world. Faith is God working through a man to do supernatural things in the natural realm by the agency of the word.

There are various kinds of faith.We have great faith (Matthew 8:10). Little faith (Matthew 6:30), (Matthew 14:31). Weak faith (Romans 4:19). There is also a supernatural faith: This is called the gift of faith. (1st Corinthians 12:9).

The Bible described Stephen as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. This simply means he was yielded to the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit had absolute control over him. The result is having the supernatural faith. Anyone with this gift of faith is an amazing man. He lives a supernatural life with great happenings all around him.

In the Old Testament men like Moses, who wrought great signs and wonders in Egypt, Elijah and Elisha who wrought so much supernatural feats had the supernatural faith. The Lord Jesus also operated with a supernatural faith. In Luke 4:29, the Jews out of hatred forced the Lord Jesus out of the temple and to the boundaries of the city to cast him down head long. The Bible said in Luke 4:30 “But he passing through the midst of them went his way”. This was an impossible moment of facing death, yet by faith he passed through them without they seeing Him. He did not panic but had to believe the word that God protects him and delivers him out of trouble. This is a supernatural faith or the gift of faith.

Apostle Paul also operated in the gift of faith. It takes the gift of faith for man to go through the kind of things he talked about in 2nd Corinthians 11.This kind of gift can operate in any child of God who yields to the control of the Holy Spirit as we saw in the experience of Stephen

 PRAYER

Heavenly Father the gift of faith is your delight for your children to walk in. I receive by faith this gift into my life today.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Hebrews 11:33 “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,”

Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:10“To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues”:

The gift of the discerning of spirits is very vital for every Christian in the light of the great proliferation of demonic activities in these last days

One of the cautions the Bible states predominantly about the last days is to be watchful against being deceived(Matthew 25:5). The Lord said many will come in His name, yet they are under the influence of darkness. One must be able to discern the kind of spirit influencing such people. There are some ministers of the gospel who do everything that may appear they are genuine, yet deep down the scenes they are of something different. One needs this gift of discerning of spirits to know what kind of spirit is in operation so you would not be deceived.

The gift of discerning of spirits is also very vital during some cases of deliverance. Through the discerning of spirits the spirit behind a particular condition could be identified, making its expulsion very easy.

There has been cases of certain agents of darkness who have paved their way into very sensitive roles in churches only to ultimately cripple God’s work. Some pastor or Christians have mistakenly married certain agents of darkness only to ruin their life and ministry after they have lived together over a time.

In the light of these uncertainties of satanic schemings the Holy Spirit is ready to manifest this gift in the lives of any child of God who would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth (John 16:13) and would be ready to guide every child of God into knowing the truth about all of such matters

How does the Holy Spirit do this when one finds himself or herself in a case of demonic imposition? Like the case of Paul in Acts 16:18, the Holy Spirit was grieved within Him. Whenever you are not at peace concerning certain issues, seek the Lord’s guidance.

One way to increase your spiritual sensitivity is to cultivate a spirit of prayer. This always keeps your spirit edified such that you know the voice of the Spirit concerning various matters and individuals who are under the influence of the devil. Let the peace of God always rule (be your guide) as you relate in all matters.

NOTE: DON’T GO AROUND SUSPECTING PEOPLE: RATHER BE OPENED TO ALL, YET VERY SENSITIVE TO THE SPIRIT.

 PRAYER

Lord I pray for the spirit of prayer that I would be very sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit,discerning whatever spirit may be in operation

FURTHER STUDIES.

Jude 1:20.  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Thessalonians 5:21-22 ” Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.”