Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 3
It is the will of the Spirit that gifts and ministries be in thousand fold more evidence than is true today. He desires to come and rain righteousness on us.
In such a day as the present, when God is ready to pour out on us the latter rain of His Glory and Presence, there is no limit to the blessing that the believer may receive if he continues in prayer and abides consistently in the place where he can be used by the Lord.
It is our belief that the return of the Master of the house to demand an accounting is not limited to the second coming of the Lord Jesus. There are seasons of refreshing that come periodically from the Presence of the Lord. We may be in one such season now. If we are diligently using what God has given us we ought to petition Him for more "talents" and expect to receive.
The Scripture teaches that to him who already possesses God's gifts and is flourishing in them will be given much more and he will have abundance. We have not because we ask not!
This is an hour in which to receive largely from the Lord. We expect exceedingly great endowments of ability from God—an abundance of gifts and ministries. In I Corinthians, Chapter 12 the Holy Spirit is informing us of the availability of gifts and ministries, not of restrictions on their operations.
God is not poor. He is more than willing to supply us richly with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Our part is to be diligent in the use of the gifts and ministries that we have no matter how important or unimportant our tasks may seem to be, and to covet, believe for, and expect a great many more.
Let us lay hold with all our strength on the Lord today so we may obtain an abundance of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Then, look at the table of good things we will be able to spread before the saints! They will be able to eat, drink and grow healthy and strong in the Presence of the King.
. . . to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; (I Corinthians 12:9)
The healing of the sick was one of the outstanding characteristics of the ministry on earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even with the increase of medical knowledge there seems to be just as much need for Divine healing today as there was two thousand years ago. Christ still heals today as He did then.
There are many tragic needs in the world and in the Church also. There is much suffering from bodily sickness. "By whose stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24). On Calvary, Christ healed us in spirit, soul, and body. When we reach out to Him for healing He hears us, He heals us: sometimes instantaneously, sometimes over a period of time, sometimes by the hands of a doctor, sometimes without human assistance.
The Christian who walks in obedience to God and lives in the expectancy of Divine intervention in his life is a likely candidate for a miracle of healing to take place in him. Miracles of healing are occurring in the world today. You too can receive a miracle if you will keep on serving and seeking the Lord, continually giving praise and thanksgiving to Him.
The Holy Spirit desires to open the channel of healing in many members of the Body of Christ so that those with the need of physical healing can obtain relief and deliverance. There are few operations of the Holy Spirit that bring the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ as does the healing of the sick. Truly, He comes to save the lost and to heal the sick.
To another the working of miracles; . . . . (I Corinthians 12:10)
Both Old and New Testaments describe the most astonishing miracles one could imagine. When we study the Scriptures we receive the impression that the Holy Spirit is able and willing to break through the laws of nature and put things together or take them apart according to the needs of the moment.
Perhaps the most spectacular miracle of the Old Testament was the forming of the heaven and the earth by the Word of God. The stopping of the rotation of the earth (or the moving of the sun and moon—whichever it was) at the word of Joshua was an operation of stupendous power.
There were so many instances of mastery over nature in the ministry of Jesus that one has only to read the Gospel accounts to realize that miracles were a common occurrence in the daily life of Christ. The raising of Lazarus from the dead after four days is one example of the power over the physical universe that Jesus demonstrated as He preached and taught the Kingdom of God.
Whenever Christ is active in His Church there will be mighty signs and wonders in evidence. The reason we do not see more miracles taking place is that our sins plus our pride of knowledge have hindered our faith until we do not expect the miraculous to occur.
In the day that we cease from our own works and turn to Christ with a pure heart, in that same day the working of miracles will return to the Church of Christ. There can be no testimony of the Church of Christ apart from the working of miracles, for the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power. Where Christ is there are miracles. Miracles are the way God states that the Gospel of Christ is from Him.
. . . to another prophecy; . . . . (I Corinthians 12:10)