The Mystery of the Holy Spirit: The Gifts of the Spirit

The Mystery of the Holy Spirit

By A.W. Tozer

The Gifts of the Spirit

(Excerpts)

Paul says that these gifts are in the body. 

Mostly we say that there are nine of them. 

That is because 1 Corinthians, in the opening verses, lists nine; but you know that I have counted at least eighteen. 

Maybe there could be some that overlap and that they use synonyms, in which case, maybe it could be reduced to fifteen. 

But let me follow in the scriptures closely now. 

I am not using my imagination, I am staying by the word of God. 

Let me name the organs of the divine body which are named by Paul in the passages which I read.

 

First there is the gift of the apostle or an ambassador or messenger; 

then there’s a gift that makes a prophet, 

then there’s the gift that makes a teacher, 

then there’s the gift that makes an exhorter; 

then there is the gift that makes the ruler, that would be someone the old Presbyterian’s call the ruling elder; 

then there’s the gift of wisdom, gift of knowledge, gift of faith; 

gift of healing, gift of miracles; 

gift of tongues, gift of interpretations, gift of discernment; 

gift of helps, gift of mercy showing, the gift of government; 

the gift of giving, liberality, and the gift of the evangelist. 

Now there you have it. 

Those are the gifts, which are in the body. Now, if you cared to do it, and wanted to go into it, you could start and name the organs of the body, just as I have named eighteen organs of the body of Christ. Eighteen things, which enable the Holy Spirit to work. 

As long as you have the body members, the life within you can find its way out. 

If you are a musician, your hands are nothing. They don’t know anything at all; there they are, cut them off and they’re completely dead. 

But as long as your hands are obedient to the head you might be able to play the piano, or something else if you like it. 

Just as long as your eye takes orders from the head, your eye will be all right. As long as your feet take orders from your head, you will not be hit when you cross the street.

Just as long as the members of your body work and take orders from the head, you will be all right.

 

And just as long as the Church of Christ recognizes the Lord as being the head of the church, and the Christians and members in particular and these members are gifted with abilities to do, then we will have a revived and blessed church. 

But you see there are two mistakes that have been made, and I will talk about those two mistakes a little bit later, about these gifts of the Spirit.

 

Now the Spirit working through these gifts and through these gifted members does the work of the church. 

For if these gifts are not present, are not recognized or denied, the church is thrown back upon getting the work done. 

If you did not have any hands, then you would have to do the best you could without any hands. I have seen men afflicted without any hands. 

If you did not have any eyes, you would have to do the best you could without eyes. 

If you had no feet, you would have to crawl around as best you could with out feet. 

Therefore, if we deny or refuse to recognize that there are members and that there are gifts in those members, then we are thrown back upon humanism.

 

And here is what we have today, and we have an awful lot of it. 

We are thrown back upon talent, just talent; that is a good theatrical word but we are thrown back upon it. 

Let me solemnly tell you, ladies and gentlemen, the Holy Ghost never works with mere talent. 

Do not be mistaken by the parable of Jesus with the word talent; there it meant a sum of money. 

It had no reference of whether you could sing or imitate or whatever the theatrical people do.

 

Or we are thrown back on psychology. I am somewhat amused and downright disgusted with some of my ministerial brethren of the cloth, who are so busy studying psychology in order that they may know how to handle their congregations. 

How silly can you get? When you have a Bible and a mouth, and the Holy Ghost, why do you have to study psychology? 

It just so happens that when I was a young fellow in my twenties, I was a great student of psychology. I studied Watson, Jennings and particularly Freud, who was the pappy of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. I learned all the terms and all of that so I know about it. 

I am not dumb about psychology, but there is no use to bring psychology to the pulpit when you have the Holy Ghost. 

If you have the gift of the Spirit, you do not need to study Freud. You can study him all right; I do not say do not study him, but do not bring him into the pulpit with you. 

Just the same as you can have an automobile or a radio or a camera, but do not bring it into the pulpit. 

Get up and trust God.

 

Another technique is business methods. 

I get amused somewhat and hurt a little about the brethren and their business methods; trying to carry on the work of God after the fashion of the American business man. 

So we carry on as they do in Madison Avenue or Wall Street. 

It will not work brethren, just as sure as you let it, it will not work. It is all artificial limbs, it will not work.

 

Then political techniques and sales methods: That is what we are up against; we got that in church now. 

We are going to have to restudy this whole business in place of the Holy Spirit in the church, in order that the church can operate again.

 

If the life goes out of a man’s body, he is said to be a corpse. He is what they call the remains. 

It is sad, but almost humorously sad, that a man can walk around strong, fine man with shining eyes and vibrant voice; a living man, and then he dies, and we say the remains can be seen at such and such funeral home. 

The remains, all that remains of the man, and the least part about him, is what you can see there in the funeral home. But the living man is gone. You have only the body left and the body is the remains.

 

So it is in the Church of Christ. 

It is literally true that some churches are dead; the Holy Ghost is gone out of them and all you have left is the remains. 

You have the potential there of the church, but you do not have the church. 

Because just as you have in a dead man, you have the potential of a living man, but you do not have the living man. 

He cannot talk, he cannot taste, he cannot touch, he can not feel, he cannot smell, he cannot hear, he cannot see because he is dead. 

The soul has gone out of the man, and when the Holy Spirit is not present in the church, you have to get along after the methods of business or politics or psychology or something else. 

Not too much can be said, my friend, about the necessity of the Holy Ghost in the church, not too much.