BFBC-Glendive | Wednesday

1 Corinthians 12:1-14

1. This passage is written to the corporate church

2. The whole Church as a group is to covet these

things

a. As the whole group covets them, the Holy

Spirit will divide to every man as He wills

b. Not every man is going to operate in all the

gifts even though he has the ability

i. Vs. 8 “For to one...” (not everyone)

ii. The gifts are given by the Holy Spirit as

needed for particular ministry

The categories of the gifts

1. The reason we divide the gifts into various

categories is to help us in studying and

understanding them.

2. General

a. There are three primary categories

i. Revelation gifts

ii. Power gifts

iii. Vocal (inspiration) gifts

b. Within each of the three categories, there are

three subgroups

i. Revelation gifts - reveal something

1. Word of wisdom

2. Word of knowledge

3. Discerning of spirits

ii. Power gifts - do something

1. Gift of faith

2. Working of miracles

3. Gifts of healing

iii. Vocal gifts - say something

1. Gift of prophecy

2. Gift of tongues

3. Interpretation of tongues

c. Each category is distinguished from the

others by the work God is doing through it --

in each category He is doing something

separate and distinct from the others

d. It is by operating through these three

categorical areas that the Church becomes

an invincible force, stronger than any power

known on the face of the earth

3. The revelation gifts

a. Through these gifts, God reveals information

to us

b. There are certain facts and events which

man cannot have complete knowledge by his

physical senses but only by divine revelation

4. The power gifts

a. Through these gifts God imparts His own

divine powers and abilities to man

b. They involve a supernatural ability and

energy which man does not naturally

possess

c. Within this group is found the only gift which

is plural--the gifts of healing

5. The vocal gifts

a. These gifts have to do with corporate

worship

b. 1 Corinthians 14:3 gives the total blessing of

these gifts: edification, exhortation and

comfort

6. Each of the nine gifts in these three categories are

distinct and individual, but they are so linked and

interlinked together by the Holy Spirit that it is

sometimes difficult to determine exactly which gift

is in manifestation

a. The word of wisdom and the word of

knowledge frequently manifest together

b. The gift of prophecy often has in it a word of

wisdom or a word of knowledge

c. Interpretation of tongues can only operate in

combination with the gift of tongues

d. Discerning of spirits is essential for gifts of

healing and the working of miracles

e. The gift of faith will and often does work with

all the other nine gifts

7. A frequent question that is asked is “Can someone

who is born again but does not claim to have the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of

tongues operate in the gifts?”

a. The answer: There are times people who do

not meet this criteria will have a witness

from God in their spirits of certain things or

can pray for someone to be healed or

receive a miracle and they do but not to the

same extent as a spirit-filled believer will

b. The Lord is able to use anyone

8. We will spend the next several topics studying

each gift individually