Dave spoke tonight on the gifts of the Spirit (since we did not celebrate Pentecost fully last week!) The purpose of Pentecost is to build the kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. God knows we do not have what it takes to do His work in our own strength and so He gives us gifts to help us.
These spiritual gifts can be viewed with suspicion, however, with some saying there are no gifts nowadays or that they are no longer necessary. 1 Cor 14 reminds us that we need and should eagerly desire these gifts, but must also follow the way of love. The working of miracles is not of itself evidence of spirituality (as Matt 7:21-23 makes plain), but we should not dismiss the need for spiritual gifts. Instead, we must acknowledge that God gives these gifts to further His work; they are given for specific purposes (e.g. the gift of wisdom is given to remove confusion; the word of knowledge is given when specific knowledge is needed.)
Each spiritual gift has a purpose, therefore: faith is given when we need to believe something beyond our usual ability; healings are given by Jesus the physician; prophecy gives direction or reproof. At times we need the discernment of spirits to know if it is God, a person or Satan who is at work; tongues and the interpretation of tongues can help us in worship and also be prophetic.
We can be sure that God wants to give these gifts to us, Do we want to receive them?
