Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

A portion of Page 4, then Page 5 - - FIRST CORINTHIANS 12 - 14 by Brother Hobart Grazier

BUT THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO EVERY MAN TO PROFIT WITHAL.

A better translation of the latter part of this verse would be for the common advantage. The Greek word SUMPHERON used here, and from which our word symphony comes, means, to bring together harmoniously to confer a benefit and to be useful or profitable. Men do not receive spiritual gifts solely for their own benefit but for the edification of the assembly of believers who are present during the manifestation. This fact places a responsibility upon both the one exercising the gift and the observer. It is incumbent on the one exercising a gift to seek to excel in edifying the church. This should be done in the spirit of love, so beautifully described in the next chapter. Each member of the church being present and coming within the influence of the manifestation should seek what edification he can from it. We see, then, that to be used in a spiritual manifestation is a blessed ministry to the body of Christ. That the ultimate purpose of the gifts is to edify the church is evident from the following passages:

12:21 AND THE EYE CANNOT SAY UNTO THE HAND, I HAVE NO NEED OF THEE.

14:4 . . . BUT HE THAT PROPHESIETH EDIFIETH THE CHURCH.

14:5 EXCEPT HE INTERPRET, THAT THE CHURCH MAY RECEIVE EDIFYING.

14:7 - 17 Where the entire emphasis is upon intelligent communication for the benefit of the Church.

14:12 - SEEK THAT YE MAY EXCEL TO THE EDIFYING OF THE CHURCH.

What gravity attaches to a ministry where the saints of the most High God are being built up in the most holy faith.

Verses 8 - 10 Classification of Charismates

12:8 FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT THE WORD OF WISDOM; TO ANOTHER (allos) THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE BY THE SAME SPIRIT;

12:9 TO ANOTHER (heteros) FAITH BY THE SAME SPIRIT; TO ANOTHER (allos) THE GIFTS OF HEALING BY THE SAME SPIRIT;

12:10 TO ANOTHER (allos) THE WORKING OF MIRACLES; TO ANOTHER (allos) PROPHECY; TO ANOTHER (allos) DISCERNING OF SPIRITS. TO ANOTHER (heteros) DIVERS KINDS OF TONGUES; TO ANOTHER (allos) THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES.

8. FOR TO ONE KIND OF MAN IS GIVEN, THROUGH THE SPIRIT, A WORD OF WISDOM, AND TO ANOTHER A WORD OF KNOWLEDGE BY THE SAME SPIRIT,

9. BUT TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF MAN (is given) FAITH, BY MEANS OF THE SAME SPIRIT, AND TO ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND WHO RECEIVED FAITH (is given) CHARISMATA (gifts) OF HEALINGS IN THE SAME SPIRIT, 10. TO STILL ANOTHER KIND OF MAN KINDS OF TONGUES, TO ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND INTER PRETATIONS OF TONGUES.

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The categories into which the various manifestations fall can be readily seen by noting the words in parentheses above. The following chart is also helpful:

A person is said to be made up of three elements: intellect, will, and emotion. Theologians have shown that the Holy Spirit is a person by pointing out that He thinks, wills, and feels. When these three elements are present we are sure to have a person. Every normal person is aware of these three elements at work in his being. It is reasonable, also, to assume that most people, upon reflection, would recognize that one of these elements is somewhat predominate in their life. For example, the element of intellect is obviously more predominate in the life of a teacher than is the element of emotion, by and large. . . There are men of God whose lives are, for the most part, taken up with activities and accomplishments. With these men the element of intellect or the working of the mind, as such, is not as dominate as that of activity.

We must now try to show that such a classification was intended by Paul. It will be noticed that in the verses quoted at the beginning of this section, the Greek words, allos and heteros have been inserted following the English word, "another" to which they apply. We have in English but one word for another. The Greek language, however, has two words, allos and heteros. These two words do not have the same meaning. Allos means, another of the same kind. For example: if I have a category of bow ties, and as long as I display a number of bow ties in succession, I can say, here is another tie. But, as soon as I display a long tie, that is, a different kind of tie, I can not use the word allos. I must employ the word heteros since this word indicates another object of a different kind than the preceding object being shown. Allos, therefore is numerical distinction indicating another object like the preceding one -- a series of pencils, for example. Heteros indicates a change in the quality of objects listed -- bow ties, to knives, to pencils -- for example.

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It is evident from the above discussion that Paul is pointing out that the Holy Spirit gives to a certain kind of man the Charisma -- we use this word in preference to the word gift -- of wisdom and to another (allos) man of the same kind He gives the Charisma of knowledge. Do we have any difficulty in associating wisdom with knowledge? Hardly. These two go together in a most natural way. That the Holy Spirit would choose a certain type of man upon which to bestow these particular gifts is not surprising at all. In fact, it is what we would expect from an intelligent creator.

Paul continues to say that the Holy Spirit gives to another (heteros) man, that is a man of a different kind, the manifestation of faith; this is a change of category and the four charisma following, -- healing, miracles, prophecies, and discerning of spirits, to use the simple English terms – are connected by the word allos indicating that they all belong to the same category. These charisma are the communication of power since all of them are associated with will, activity, and power. The previous category could be termed the communication of light.

The third category is introduced by heteros and indicates that still a third type of individual would receive the charisma of tongues and that another (allos) individual of a similar nature would be given the charisma of interpretation, For lack of a better one, we are using the term communication of emotion to describe this category.

Note now that further proof that the Holy Spirit takes into consideration the kind of person involved when distributing these benefits, is given in verse 11.

Does this mean that the Holy Spirit gives the gifts of wisdom and knowledge to folk that have an intellectual inclination and that He does not give such a person a gift in one of the other categories? It does not mean this at all. The situation is not so rigid as that. It is a common observation that many men of God have received gifts in two or even three of the above categories, What we are saying can best be expressed, perhaps, by two statements:

1. The Holy Spirit, in bestowing gifts, certainly takes into consideration the temperament of the individual, For example, we feel that the Holy Spirit gives to men of activity, evangelists, missionaries, promoters, pastors and the like, the gifts of power. Certainly if Christ gave them a ministry that required activity He would have realized that they were men of activity by nature. Is it unreasonable to expect that the Holy Spirit would suit the gift to both the ministry and the man? We think not.

We hasten to add that this is not to say that such men could not and do not receive other gifts. This is to deny what is evident by observation. We must think of this as a principle and not as a hard and fast rule. Many men of God have strong intellectual content, strong activity content, and a strong emotional content in their beings. Such men are capable enough to be used in a variety of ways. Some of the apostles were such men.

2. The second statement we wish to make has already been hinted at. In addition to taking into consideration the temperament of the individual, the Holy Spirit certainly takes into consideration the ministry of the individual. Would we not expect the Holy Spirit to give the leaders of large church movements the gifts of wisdom and knowledge so that they might better guide and direct the affairs of the church? Is this to say that such a leader would not receive other gifts? Hardly, The writer knows of a noted church leader who, in addition to the gift of wisdom, exercised the gift of interpretation as well. Certainly

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he needed the gift of wisdom the most. Would the Holy Spirit give the janitor of a local church the gift of wisdom to enable him to perform his job more efficiently? Hardly. It is conceivable that the janitor could, on occasion, exercise the gift of wisdom, but this writer feels that such an occurrence would be a rare one. It is agreed that one might think of exceptional cases.

In industry and in the military service extreme care is given to select men equipped by nature and trained by experience to do certain tasks. It is not unreasonable to expect that God does similarly. The parable of the talents reveals this very thing.

12:11 BUT AS THESE WORKETH THAT ONE AND THE SELFSAME SPIRIT, DIVIDING TO EVERY MAN SEVERALLY AS HE WILL.

A better translation would be: BUT THE SAME SPIRIT WORKETH ALL THESE, DIVIDING TO EACH MAN HIS OWN (that which peculiarly belongs to him) AS HE (The Holy Spirit) WILLS.

1. It is one and the same Spirit Who is responsible for the distribution of the gifts.

2. The good pleasure of God is never exercised except in perfect harmony with all the perfection of His character: wisdom, goodness, righteousness, et cetera. Therefore in distributing the various gifts as He wills, the Holy Spirit exercises His wisdom, His goodness, His righteousness, and it is to be expected that the distribution will be in perfect harmony with these attributes.

3. Once again we mention that the Holy Spirit takes into consideration the ministry and the temperament of the recipient.

4. The word translated severally is a still further indication that the Holy Spirit selects both the man and the gift very carefully. The Greek word here is idia and is consistently translated his own throughout the New Testament. Lexicons describe this word as meaning that which is peculiarly one's own. So we can read the verse this way: THE ONE AND SELFSAME SPIRIT WORKETH ALL THESE GIFTS, DISTRIBUTING TO EACH MAN THAT GIFT WHICH IS PECULIARLY HIS OWN, AS HE WILLS.

SYNTHESIS

We see now three reasons for believing that the Holy Spirit adapts the gift to the man. First, the ministry of the individual demands a gift that would enable the man to carry out his task effectively. Second, we are told in verses 8-10 that the Holy Spirit gives to certain kinds of persons certain kinds of gifts. And third, verse eleven tells us that the Holy Spirit gives to each man that which is peculiarly his own as He wills.

DEFINITIONS OF THE GIFTS

An attempt should be made now to define these various gifts. The writer realizes all too well the difficulty attached to such a task. A few of the gifts are difficult to define as is evidenced by the fact that there are not a great many people attempting to do so, and those who do try, arrive at definitions which do not by any means agree with each other. However, we will make an attempt to come up with some workable definition for each of the nine gifts. We will reverse what would be called the normal procedure – that of starting

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with the wisdom gifts and proceeding to the emotional gifts – for the simple reason that the latter are more easily defined than the former, and they set a pattern of definition and usage that aids in the understanding of the remaining gifts.

GIFTS OF EMOTION

Interpretation of tongues can be defined as that graciousness bestowed on an individual which enables him to give the sense of a message given in a language other than his own. The Greek word, hermeneia is an interpretation, an explanation in words. It might be stretched to mean a translation, but this is not the meaning of the word. Basically, the word means to give the sense of. This accounts, at least some of the time, for the fact that some interpretations are longer than the message in tongues. We must state here that Paul makes no claim that the interpretations should be translations. Testimonies have been given rather often, however, by observers who understood both the language of the tongue and that of the interpretation, that the latter amounted to a translation.

Divers kind of tongues can be described as that graciousness bestowed upon an individual that enables him to give and ecstatic utterance in a language unknown to the speaker, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

It should be noted at this time that these two gifts are manifested at the prompting of the Holy Spirit and not as the individual wishes. It is the Holy Spirit Who is responsible for giving an individual the gift in the first place and it is the same Holy Spirit Who works (cf. v. 11), that is, Who prompts the individual to manifest the gift. However, it is, as we shall see (14:32), the responsibility of the individual to exercise intelligent control of the gift. We make one further observation: When the Holy Spirit is active in the manifestation of one of these gifts, the individual can and does respond with an undeniable manifestation. An understandable exception may be made to the last statement. Individuals who are timid by nature often go through a process of learning and at times hesitate to respond as freely and positively as others do. This is generally overcome rather quickly.

GIFTS OF POWER

Discerning of spirits is a much misunderstood gift, There are some who say that it is the ability to tell whether a matter is of God or of the devil. This, however, is insufficient; many folk who are not even Christian can do that. This gift goes far deeper.

The word here is diakriseis and is a distinguishing, a discerning, or a judging according to Thayer's lexicon (p. 139). The verb form refers to a judgment given in a dispute, a selection among several possibilities, and also a distinction or discrimination. As to spirits, we must recognize that there are various kinds. There are satanic and demonic forces at work; human powers are in operation both in a natural way and also in the flesh, and there are various kinds of movings of the Holy Spirit in genuine Pentecostal meetings. Most Pentecostal people are aware that there are irregularities in their services. Messages in tongues are sometimes out of order, being premature. At times there are manifestations that seem to be what is commonly called in the flesh, that is, they are operated without the blessing of the Holy Spirit and consequently do not strike a harmonious chord with the keen and observing Christian. There are times in Pentecostal services when the Holy Spirit is desirous of bringing about a particular response in the

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hearts of the believers; repentance, i.e., and along with the effort of the Holy Spirit there will be a counter trend to simply praise the Lord. Now praise is commendable, but if it is used as a substitute for, or as a means of avoiding, repentance, it is at that moment irregular and out of order. It has been observed that in meetings where the Holy Spirit is moving there are a great variety of shades of spiritual phenomena and of spiritual exercise. It is the belief of the writer of these notes that the man who has the gift of discerning of spirits is one who has a keen sense of discrimination relative to all those various types and shades of the moving of spirits in a meetings and who is keenly alert to the needs and can properly guide the meeting into proper channels. This, of course, is an ability that comes from the Holy Spirit – in that a sense of direction is given the service, there is activity involved and thus this gift belongs among the gifts of power.

Prophecy can be defined as that graciousness bestowed upon an individual that enables him to give an ecstatic utterance in his own language. Such utterances are common in the Pentecostal churches.

Why, however, is it classified with the gifts of power? Prophecies take the form of an exhortation; they move the individual to action, to response. In this respect they are properly classified with the gifts that have to do with action and will. It is recognized that there is but at thin line dividing tongues and interpretations from prophecies. That there should be an overlap in their function should not be difficult to understand. That God would put a gift of utterance in both the categories of emotion and will simply demonstrates the balance and variety that God employs in His wisdom.

The Working of miracles is that gracious bestowment upon an individual that enables him to bring about that which is normally considered to be above or beyond the normal course of nature. This includes healings; calming the waves, as Christ did; establishing churches under what would be considered impossible conditions; and the like.

The Greek word is dunamis which simply means "an ability." The type of thing that is accomplished is not stated, so the scope could be very broad.

I believe it to be a serious mistake to limit this gift in our thinking to those events in which there is a disruption of the normal course of nature, such as cursing a fig tree so that it dies shortly. Certainly this is a miracle in the accepted connotation of the word, but the meaning of the Greek word reaches far beyond such spectacular phenomena. In this charisma the central thought is that of an ability, to do that which is normally impossible for a man to do; that is, the Holy Spirit endues a man with an added dimension of ability to accomplish some particular task for the benefit of the body of Christ. If the Holy Spirit enabled a man to open up a work in some mission field against insurmountable odds, He would be bestowing the charisma of miracles. In the work of the Lord where difficulty is overcome, things are accomplished, and it is evident that the Holy Spirit has laid his hands on one of His children to accomplish that which without the Spirit's special aid could not be performed, we see the gift of miracles in operation.

It is the belief of the author of these notes that many men of God have done mighty exploits for the body of Christ in the manner just described and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, but that the folk in Christendom by and large have not recognized the gift of miracles at work because of a preconceived notion that this gift must be of a spectacular nature. Events that are spectacular are not as edifying to the cause of Christ as those that are of a more enduring nature.

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Charismata of healings is to be considered next. Note the plural: gifts of healings. We define this charisma as the that gracious bestowment upon an individual by the Holy Spirit which will enable him upon the Holy Spirit's prompting to pray for the physical healing of an individual with the resultant healing of the one prayed for. The Greek word for healing is limited in the New Testament to physical healing as is its counterpart, ropha, in the Old Testament. A careful study of these words reveals that physical healing alone is meant.

The question is often asked: why two plurals in the term? The answer is simple enough. The double plural points out that there can be a wide diversity in the kinds of physical disorders cured and also that the number of times healings can occur is multiplied. If there is a better explanation this author has not, as yet, discovered it. This is not to say that our definition is dogmatic but to say that as yet we have not discovered a better. The moment a better or more logical one is found, it will be accepted.

Faith is that gracious bestowment on the part of the Holy Spirit upon a man which enables that man to believe God for great things. The scope of this gift is large also. Several thoughts should be considered here.

First a definition of faith should be given. Biblical faith can be said to have three elements: mental assent, commitment, and perseverance. The first, mental assent, is readily understood; a person must know what he is to believe before he can do so. We must believe as a fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins before we can commit ourselves to His keeping and trust in that act. To commit ourselves to a matter is to acquiesce, to rely upon, to throw ourselves upon the proposition in question. I trust that ice on a river will hold me when I walk out on it. I believe in airplanes when I fly in them. To say and know that an airplane is safe but to be unwilling to utilize it is not to have what is known as biblical faith. Biblical faith requires commitment to a proposition. The book of Hebrews stresses the third element of faith when it instructs us to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. The minute we fail to commit we lose faith. Now the gift of faith must have these three elements present; FAITH, IN THE GIFT OF FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING APART FROM THE ACCEPTED GREEK CONCEPT OF FAITH.

Secondly, we must recognize that this gift, when in operation, enables a man to exercise faith in God to an extent which is not normally seen. The intervention of the Holy Spirit, the hand of the Holy Spirit, must be seen working through a man in a most remarkable way. The gifts of utterance operate in such a way that it is evident that the Holy Spirit is actively enabling a man to do that which he could not otherwise do. Faith must be that supernatural trust in God for the accomplishment of a matter that is far beyond human accomplishment. The faith born in the individual is born of the Holy Spirit; the matter to be accomplished is the will of God; the faith exercised is generated by the Holy Spirit and operates until the matter reaches the proper termination point.

Further, let us state that the dominant element to be observed is supernatural faith in God that He will do that which He has told His servant to believe, It could be to trust God for the healing of a particularly serious body ailment, Here we see that it would be possible for this gift to overlap with that of healing. This should not be thought unusual. This gift could be in operation when God tells a man to go to a certain mission field where there is no possible chance of preaching or of obtaining permission to build a church. When the man goes and trusts God to perform His word and trusts regardless of circumstances which make the prospects look extremely dim, the man is exercising supernatural faith, We must state that this can be observed in Christendom quite often if we care to

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make the observation. The writer feels that when the Holy Spirit enables a believer to trust God for an accomplishment that seems to be impossible or at least very hard to attain the gift of faith is at work. We feel also that it is the function of the Holy Spirit to give this gift to believers depending upon the person and the need.

This gift is not to be confused with a ministry of faith which every believer can exercise. We all are to believe God and God will honor our faith. The gift of faith as mentioned in our passage, however, is a SPECIAL GRACIOUSNESS BESTOWED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO PERFORM THAT WHICH IS NEEDFUL FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, The recipient of this gift is seen to function in a rather unique way, trusting God for the impossible. When this gift is operating, the matter will be accomplished, the church will receive edifying, and God should be given the glory.

It should be observed that where the gift of miracles is operating the dominant content is the ability bestowed on the man to perform, and where faith is operating, the dominating content is the trust in God exercised.

GIFTS OF INTELLECT*

The word of knowledge is difficult to define. Some folk would have us believe that this gift is limited to those peculiar occurrences when a minister will make a statement as: There is a man in the audience who wears a brown coat and is thirty-five years old; he is sitting on the right side of the church, and if he does not respond to the gospel tonight, he will have had his last chance. At times reference is made to folk who have a particular need of healing. Now it is possible that such phenomena can be classed under the word of knowledge, but the gift we are discussing can by no means be limited to such a meager area. In fact, the author of these notes prefers to call such phenomena by the word revelation, rather than knowledge since it is more appropriate, the word knowledge in the Greek language can hardly bear the strain of such phenomena.

The Greek word for knowledge (gnosis) refers to the collecting, study, and interpretation of data. It is the piecing together of the various elements of knowledge into a coherent picture. Let us say it in another way. It is a word, a matter, a manifestation, the substance of which is knowledge. Knowledge is what teachers the world over use in the classrooms; it is what scientists use to further their accomplishments; it is what we gain as we study and experience life. To make the word of knowledge something other than the meaning of the words as used normally in the Greek language is to do violence indeed to not only the Word of God but to hermeneutical principles to say nothing of human intelligence. It is the opinion of the writer of these notes that some prominent person years ago gave as a definition of the word of knowledge the strange phenomena above, and since then it has been widely accepted without questioning and without investigation.

Elucidation of the Word of God where more than natural intelligence is needed can be accomplished by the aid of the Holy Spirit who gives to a man this gift of knowledge. Whenever the Word of God is made clear; whenever we see problems solved and the truth made especially clear and helpful under the obvious anointing and intervention of the Holy Spirit in such a way that man alone could not be totally responsible, we have the gift of knowledge in operation. It is to be remembered that this gift, like the others, is an act of the Holy Spirit working through a particular person in a way that is not the normal pattern. For example, a teacher who is specially gifted to explain the truths of God's Word with the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon him might well be exercising this gift.

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Normally, this man, when about his daily routines, is not under such a terrific influence. Perhaps all of his teaching does not bear the stamp of this gift either. It will certainly bear that stamp when the Holy Spirit anoints or prompts the individual and, we might rather say, enables that individual to explain the Word in a most marvelous way. The author of these notes feels that many of the teachers in Bible schools demonstrate this manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit thus illuminates truth to an individual and enables him to interpret it to the edifying of the body of Christ, He makes Himself felt so that the listeners, if they are God's children, feel keenly the presence of the Spirit. Now this is not to exclude the fact that the Holy Spirit will use individuals who have given themselves to study and have accumulated considerable knowledge by their personal effort. Rather, we are saying that it is the Holy Spirit who will take these facts, possibly reveal new ones, and guide the presentation of the facts into a very helpful message to God's people. The church must receive edifying when this gift is manifested.

Again I must say that it is a misconception to assume that the only gifts we see manifested in what is called Pentecostal circles are tongues interpretations, and prophecies. A proper understanding of all the gifts will reveal that the Holy Spirit is using them all for the edifying of the body of Christ.

These notes are the result of the study we made in our many Greek classes through the years. At times we would assign students the task of condensing class discussion into some presentable form – I had to get a grade for them some way since they would not study (ha) –. One fine student, whose name I will not mention because I have not mentioned others, wrote the following:

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Thus wrote one student as an assignment. We hasten to add that we should not expect that when a teacher is thus used, it is exclusive of what he has learned by study. NOT AT ALL. The Holy Spirit uses what a man learns, puts it into a frame of reference, illuminates it, adds thereto, and then enables the individual to make a blessed presentation. PRAISE GOD.

The word of wisdom is, of course, related to and might at times overlap somewhat with the word of knowledge. These two form a category which we have termed communication of light. Here THE CONTENT OF THE MANIFESTATION IS WISDOM, GOOD JUDGMENT, A DECISION AS TO PROCEDURE. The Greek word involved is sophia, σοϕία, meaning according to Thayer's lexicon pp. 581, wisdom, broad and full intelligence, skill in the management of affairs, supreme intelligence, the knowledge and practice of the requisite for godly and upright living. Hence, when referring to the gift of wisdom, we are speaking of a gracious, supernatural bestowment by the Holy Spirit on the individual believer, imparting to him ability to make right decisions and to understand and know God's will. The notes taken in class relative to this topic have been summarized by one of the students in the following words:

Again, this is not acquired by personal experience or accumulation of facts but is given by the Holy Spirit to meet the time and occasion. From the notes of R. G. Mormon: A supernatural inspiration offering or revealing the right word for an occasion, This is not natural knowledge applied – nor is it wisdom having to do with age. An illustration is found in Mark 12:15 when Jesus asked, Bring me a penny. From Donald Gee: It is the function of the apostle and evangelist by supernaturally imparted word of wisdom to apply those facts to our spiritual condition.

One of the teachers, W. L, Evans, that the writer of these notes was privileged to study under gave an excellent example of the gift of wisdom. He said that for years he had been a member of committees where Brother Ernest Williams presided. Time after time problems arose which were beyond immediate solution by the members; a course of action that seemed proper to all seemed to elude them. The committee members would usually go to prayer at such times, after which Brother Williams would often suggest what he thought to be the proper course to pursue. It would be such an excellent solution that the committee would give wholehearted consent. Members agreed that the Holy Spirit had bestowed the gift of wisdom upon Brother Williams. This sort of guidance kept the committee functioning perfectly for quite a number of years.

The gift of wisdom is not limited to this type of situation but can be operative in a wide variety of situations. Individual counseling, for example, is another situation in which the Holy Spirit can use an individual for the purpose of expressing to a searching heart the mind of God. The present writer, on one occasion, at Northeast Bible Institute,was perplexed as to the proper course to pursue in a certain personal matter. He thought he had heard the voice of God, but there were certain rationalizations which made that voice seem contrary to good judgment Brother Walter Beuttler – and he rarely visits my office – wandered into my office just to chat. Remarks he made relative to my problem, after I mentioned it to him, were perfectly in harmony with what I thought God had told me. I immediately dismissed my rationalizations. I am confident that God led that prince of brethren to my office that day to give a word of wisdom.

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It must again be observed that the content of the gift of wisdom is WISDOM. It must be noted also that the body of Christ must be edified by a sense of guidance and good judgment. Praise God for men to whom the Holy Spirit can give a word of wisdom.

Verse 11
BUT ALL THESE WORKETH THAT ONE AND THE SELFSAME SPIRIT, DIVIDING TO EVERY MAN SEVERALLY AS HE WILL. AND THE ONE AND THE SAME SPIRIT OPERATES ALL THESE THINGS DISTRIBUTING THAT MANIFESTATION WHICH IS PERTINENT AND FITTING TO EACH ONE JUST AS HE (the Holy Spirit) WISHES.

The latter is a paraphrase used to bring out the meaning of the verse more clearly.

Two very important facts are mentioned in this verse. The first has to do with the word severally, idia ἴδια , the meaning of which is literally one's own. A look at the Englishman's Greek concordance reveals that it is almost always translated by such phrases as his own, her own, and the like. Why it is translated severally here is beyond my knowledge. The word means that which is peculiarly one‘s own or that which is peculiarly adapted to one particular person. Grammatically, it agrees and refers back to the word manifestation in verse 7. The meaning, therefore is: The Holy Spirit gives to each person that manifestation of the Spirit which is peculiarly adapted to that person. This thought agrees with the point brought out when we studied the two words allos and heteros.

A second thought of extreme importance here is that it is the Holy Spirit who chooses the manifestation to be given to each person. The Holy Spirit alone knows what we are best suited for and what would best serve the interests of the church and bring glory to the Lord. Consequently, He reserves the right to do the choosing. True, we are to be zealous for spiritual things, but we are not to tell the Holy Spirit what gift we are to receive. We are recipients, not selectors.

In concluding these verses we then can say that the Holy Spirit chooses that manifestation which is best suited to the individual and the need. There is a gift for each one since we are told that the Holy Spirit gives to each. These gifts are to be manifested for the benefit of the Christian community. When this is understood and practiced we will have an ideal church indeed.