DAY 3 : Br. Francis D'Souza - 21st November 2012 *Material also taken from the website given belowThe Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is God as the Father is God and as the Son is God. The Holy Spirit never comes empty handed. When we receive Him in Baptism and in Confirmation He comes to us bearing gifts in order to equip and empower us to fulfill our mission. When we use these gifts in accordance with their purpose the fruit of these gifts will become visible in our life.
The gifts that we receive from the Holy Spirit are to be
used to serve others in imitation of the Master who said,Mt 20:28 ‘Just as
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a
ransom for many.’
The gifts are given to us to fulfill our calling Mt 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit,
We do not decide what our calling will be, it is God who appoints
and chooses. This fact is made
exceedingly clear in
John 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And
I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father
will give you whatever you ask him in my name. Just as a date palm bears dates and a mango
tree bears mangoes so too the Christian call is to bring forth another
Christian.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.’
MESSIANIC GIFTS
The Isaian gifts mentioned below were found in their
fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself .
These gifts are meant to edify, and strengthen us. Unless I am fed I am unable to feed and
strengthen others.
Isaiah 11:2
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
The rest of the gifts are also called Pauline Gifts as they
are all found in the epistles of St. Paul.
MOTIVATIONAL GIFTS
These free gifts are talents given to us when God formed us in
the womb so we can contribute to our society and bring glory to Him as we
utilize them. They us help us to develop our personalities, character, and
often our vocations.
Rom 12:6-8 We
have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in
proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the
exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence;
the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
PROPHECY (Prophet / Perceiver) – one who clearly
perceives the will of God. (Such person would be a strong
intercessor, having great faith that God answers prayer)
MINISTRY (Server / Doer) – one who loves to serve others and
manifests hospitality.
TEACHER – one who loves to research and communicate
truth – a person of faith who leads others to grasp and hold on to the truth.
EXHORTER – one who loves to encourage others to live
a victorious life - one who moves others to achieve or accomplish or be what
God calls them to be and do.
CONTRIBUTOR (GIVER / ALMS GIVER) -one who loves to
give time, talent, energy and financial / material means to benefit others and
advance the Gospel; a person of faith who knows that God supplies every need,
and is willing to put themselves and their resources at the service of others.
ADMINISTRATOR (FACILITATOR / LEADER) - one who loves
to organize, lead or direct, knowing by faith that any project can be
accomplished by bringing together the right people to do it – one that is
"over others" - a person of broad vision, the administrator grasps
the overall picture and sees all that is involved.
ONE WHO SHOWS MERCY (PERSON OF COMPASSION) – one who
shows compassion, love and care to those in need; one who readily recognizes
the pain people experience and reaches out to bring healing and love into
action; as a person of faith, helping others to work together in love.
If we are to be truly charismatic we must have a full
understanding of what the charisms are in order to use them wisely and
profitably. The charisms are a Spirit
given ability for Christian service. We
are but servants at the service of our brothers and sisters.
Peter 4:8-11 shows us how to use our Motivational Gifts –
"As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good
stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of
God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in
all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen."
MINISTERIAL
GIFTS
Not all members of the body have the same function. The
ministry gifts are the gifts of function / position in the body. "And
he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as
pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ." Eph 4:11-12 St. Paul tells us that God has given
these ministry gifts to the church for the purpose of equipping the saints (the
people of God) for their work to build up the Body of Christ.
MANIFESTATION GIFTS
These gifts are also called the charismatic gifts or
charisms of the Holy Spirit. They are
given for the common good to build up the body of Christ. 1 COR 12:7 To
each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Cor 12:8-10 To one is given through the
Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another
the utterance of knowledge according to the same
Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to
another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment
of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.
1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are
wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the
Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and
perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in
readily obeying divine inspirations.
These gifts are
supernatural abilities bestowed upon individuals by the Holy Spirit. They are not
natural abilities. These manifestations are for the common good of the
Church and are not to be used to promote the importance of the person bearing
the gift. We do not ‘possess’ the manifestation gifts. We are the vehicles the
Lord uses for the outpouring of His blessings upon His people. We are the ‘gift
bearers’ and must function "with humility, willingness to take risks,
trust in God, and love for our brothers and sisters in Christ" –Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
The
Manifestation gifts consist of
- GIFTS OF COMMUNICATION - UTTERANCE
. -
GIFTS OF POWER – DYNAMIC GIFTS
- GIFTS OF INSIGHT – REVELATION
Knowledge Wisdom and Discernment of
Spirits
Knowledge Wisdom and Discernment of
Spirits
A.
GIFTS OF COMMUNICATION - UTTERANCE
·
Power to Say
·
Word Gifts
Fellowship Gifts
1.
Tongues
2.
Interpretation of Tongues
3.
Prophecy
These gifts are meant to edify the Body of Christ.
1.
GIFT OF TONGUES
It is an ability to worship God in an unknown and unlearned
language. To speak or sing in Tongues or "to pray in the Spirit," as
it’s called, is what happens when a believer allows the indwelling Spirit to
guide and form the words they utter. To pray, to speak or to sing in Tongues is
to pray in what could be an earthly or heavenly language.
Praying in tongues brings deliverance, inspiration, refreshment (both
spiritually and physically), revival, wisdom and is a means to victory in
spiritual warfare.
Two kinds of tongues – speaking in tongues and
praying in tongues.
There is a limitation to human vocabulary when words fail
the Spirit takes over Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit
helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that
very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. The end of vocabulary
is the beginning of tongues. Emotions of
the heart are not exhausted but words fail the Spirit takes over. It is the ability given by the Holy Spirit to
worship God or to pass on a message.
1.
Praying in
tongues – no interpretation required
In your prayer language you pray in tongues. It is a
permanent gift in which you are edified. It is the ‘gateway’ gift to the other gifts. If we
humble ourselves in our relationship with the Lord so much as to yield to His
Holy Spirit within us in order to ‘babble’ in a ‘strange tongue’, then we open
ourselves so much more to surrender to the other gifts to be manifest in us for
the good of the Church.
2.
Speaking
in tongues – interpretation required
The ministerial gift of tongues is really ‘speaking’ in
tongues.
When you minister to the community by anointed utterance
this is ‘speaking in tongues’ it is a transient gift used only when there is an
anointing. Rev Robert De Grandis SSJ
The gift of speaking in tongues, while praising God,
has as its goal, the release of interpretation, or speaking God’s message.’
(Rev. Msgr. Vincent M. Walsh) it is a calling forth of the ‘interpretation
prophecy’.
3. GIFT OF PROPHECY
There are three kinds of prophecy
Self prophecy - does
no harm but does no good either. The purpose of prophecy is lost.
Evil Prophecy – Dangerous
Genuine Prophecy - Effective
It is a supernatural communication from God to an individual
or a group of believers.
Prophecy builds up, encourages (this could include warnings), exhorts and
consoles draws us closer to God in worship, and stirs up a response in God’s
people such as joy, freedom, peace, tranquility, excitement, enthusiasm, a
willingness to give all to the Lord, and gives us guidance in our daily walk..
It always brings glory to Jesus. "…even if a prophecy corrects or calls
one to forgiveness, this is a positive message from the Lord for the
up-building of the community or person." (DeGrandis, The Gift of Prophecy,
p.31)
Prophecy is "forth-telling" of the mind and heart
of God to His people. Prophecy can manifest through a vision, words, and
thoughts or be prompted by a form of physical sensation to alert us to listen.
A person yielding to this gift must listen and expect that God will speak, and
always yield to the authority and order of the event and yield to the
authority/body for discernment.
B.DYNAMIC MANIFESTATION GIFTS
·
Power to do
·
Sign Gifts
·
Wonder Gifts
1.
Faith
2.
Healing
3.
Miracles
SIGN
Gifts are very important as they draw people to God through signs and wonders
FAITH
IS a supernatural outpouring or anointing of the Holy Spirit which enables us
to confidently believe without a doubt that what is spoken or undertaken in
Jesus’ name will be accomplished. Faith involves entrusting oneself wholly to
God and to believe absolutely and completely what He reveals. In order
to operate the other gifts we need the mother gift of FAITH. The kind of faith we require is a mountain
moving faith which moves at the unction of God. Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord,
‘Increase our faith!’ When such a
faith is in place wonders will happen.
MIRACLES are interventions into the
course of events which seem to contradict the so-called laws of nature. Through
‘working of miracles’ the Holy Spirit manifests the power of God to produce
works which go beyond the natural: overriding natural laws, such as turning
water into wine, multiplication of the loaves and fishes; healing beyond the
ordinary, such as healing the withered hand (Luke 6:6-10), The Lord bestows miracles to encourage,
strengthen and support the faith of His people or to correct a given situation
which cannot be accomplished by any natural means; or to show His power at work
in response to a ministry of preaching or teaching. A miracle brings about awe
and wonder at God’s power so that glory is given to God. Miracles , which
always happen instantaneously, are a much more powerful sign of God’s presence
and action than healings, which may be instantaneous, gradual or a speeded up
recovery.
D. MANIFESTATION GIFTS OF INSIGHT – REVELATION
·
Power to Know
·
Higher Gifts
·
Revelation Gifts
1.
Knowledge (Isaiah 46)
2.
Wisdom (1 Kings 3)
3.
Discernment of Spirits
EXPRESSION OF KNOWLEDGE (WORD OF KNOWLEDGE) -
a supernatural revelation of facts past, present, or future which we did not
learn through the efforts of the natural mind. This
is a supernaturally imparted Word. True supernatural knowledge starts with knowing God personally, through
Jesus Christ.
EXPRESSION OF WISDOM (WORD OF WISDOM / WISDOM
IN DISCOURSE) - a supernatural insight given to the members of the Body of
Christ which reveals God’s timing and method of ministry in a given situation.
It explains or illuminates a given revelation such as a word of knowledge,
discernment of spirit or the communication of revealed prophecy. A ‘word of wisdom’ is a supernatural revelation of
God’s timing and method of ministry in a given situation. Saying the right thing at the right time and
in the right way
DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS – a supernatural
ability to recognize whether a person or situation is being motivated by the
Holy Spirit, their human spirit, an evil spirit or a combination of these
spirits. This revelation
can come through a vision, a sense, or a specific word similar to a word of
knowledge. The gift of discernment of spirits is essential in ministry to
people who have been involved in drugs, premarital sex, witchcraft, and other
habits of grave sin, when they seek to change their lives. It is also important
to pray for the gift of discernment when we listen to teachings or prophecies,
read Christian or secular publications, and watch Christian or secular TV
programs, movies, videos, or view websites. As with the other gifts, a word of wisdom should be sought through
quiet prayer before bringing forth what is being revealed.
How do I develop these gifts?
1.
Accept the truth that we have received the
gifts and thank God.
2.
Join a community where we
can exercise the gifts, pray, receive advise and use the gifts.
The gifts are not instant seldom do they emerge overnight
they take time to develop. We must be
patient and not anxious. God is never in a hurry but always gets there in time.
Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling
of God are irrevocable. Once God has given us these gifts He does not take
them back. They can become ineffective
if we do not use them though. They are
given to us in order that we may use them as God intended.
I must be a contributor not a passive listener.
Matthew 25:14-30 The
parable of the Ten Talents serves to remind us that the gifts are given to us
in order that we may use them for the glory of God and in order to establish
His Kingdom on earth. If we do not use
them we will be asked to give an account for not doing so. With rights and duties comes accountability.
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