"Spiritual Gifts: A Manifestation of the Holy Spirit" by Kathryn Kuhlman Gifts of the Spirit Part 2

Gifts of the Spirit. And today we're going to have another one of those heart -to -heart talks. And if ever there was a time when I prayed that the Holy Spirit would give me a definite anointing and give you an open heart and an open mind and an understanding, of the things the Spirit, I pray that prayer now. For some of you, perhaps, I will have come into your home today and will have left, and you'll have no understanding whatsoever of that which I am speaking. Others, sitting there receptive to the Spirit, And as he opens your understanding, it will prove to be one of the greatest times of fellowship and the greatest time of communing with him that you and I have had together. The gifts of the Spirit. And again, I am reminding you that nine gifts are mentioned here. in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. But don't limit the Holy Spirit. He who is limitless in power, then truly he must be limitless in his giving, even to the giving of gifts. I would not limit him to just nine gifts. I believe that there are gifts in operation today. in the lives of individuals, in the church that few of us recognize. But the nine that are mentioned here in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians are the gift of wisdom, the gift of the word of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of the working of miracles, the gift of prophecy, the discerning of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. All of these worketh by that one and selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Remember, the Holy Spirit controls the giving of the gift. He will also control the gift. First of all, I want you to see something. And that is that the key regarding the gifts of the Spirit is found in... one verse of Scripture. And it's that sixth verse of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Therefore, we see here that the gifts of the Spirit are called manifestations of the spirit therefore wherever you see gifts of the spirit in operation whether it's a gift of healing whether it's the gift of faith whether it's the gift of the working of miracles whether it's the gift of wisdom or of knowledge or the speaking in an unknown tongue or the interpretation of tongue or in the gift of prophecy wherever you see The gifts of the Spirit in operation through a life, through a human being, always know that it is the manifestation of the Spirit. That's the reason, again, I repeat to you, I am convinced that if one has been given a gift, and that one knows that they have been given that gift, that one will not speak of it, will not boast of it. That one cannot boast of it. That one will recognize the fact that it is nothing of himself. It is the manifestation of the Spirit. Spirit does these wonderful things through a body and all that that one gives is just himself. It is not some natural ability that the Holy Spirit blesses. All that the individual furnishes is just the body just the vessel the willingness the complete surrender to him a body soul and spirit and even jesus himself have to surrender himself completely to the father and to the holy spirit before he could be used even to those last hours when he faced the cross. Jesus, with the will separate and apart from the will of the Father, had to yield his own will to the Father. The words in the garden. Nevertheless. Not my will, but thine be done. When we yield ourselves completely unto him, he'll take that vessel and use it. But it is his power. It is the Holy Spirit himself. who gives the manifestation. Do you understand? I would know more. And God knows that never once in my life have I ever professed to have a gift. I feel that whatever the Holy Spirit has given me is something that is so sacred. It's so precious. It is such a treasure. And I know that in the final analysis, it is the manifestation of the Spirit and not Catherine Kuhlman. Without the manifestation of the spirit, without the power of the spirit, the greatest saint that ever lived was just an ordinary human being. Not a saint that ever lived had anything whereof he could boast. Paul himself never uttered a boastful word in his life. Why? The deeper you go in your consecration, the more will you realize that you are nothing, absolutely nothing, without the power of God. Without the manifestation of the Spirit, without the power of the Holy Ghost, man is just flesh and blood and bone. It is the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, who... gives the power. That's the reason whenever you talk about the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts are called manifestations of the Spirit. They are called gifts because the Spirit gives them. The apostles could only do the supernatural things as they were moved upon by the Spirit. I know when we read the account of the apostles, when we read regarding the manifestations of the power of God in their lives, we marvel, we thrill. But remember something, it's the same Holy Spirit that you and I know. And these precious apostles, the early Christians in the early church, could only do the supernatural things as they were moved upon by the Spirit. Jesus himself could only do these great and mighty things as he was moved upon by the Spirit. Not of themselves. And it was not something that was promiscuous. Not something that they could do at will. Oh, this is very thrilling. This is very marvelous. And I want you to see something. You know, it was one of the things for a long time that troubled me. I'm going to take the lid off of my heart for just a few minutes. That's the reason I pray that you'll understand. Please, if you have no understanding of what I am saying to you, then just forget this little heart -to -heart talk today. I would not have you misconstrue. Anything that I would say for any in the world. And yet I must say it because it may help another. I had been on the platform. And the power of the Holy Spirit has come and taken the vessel. There have been times that I was completely, as it were, out of the body. Completely detached from that which was going on. Many a time after a service, perhaps weeks afterwards, folk would say, Miss Cooman pointed a finger at me and she said so and so and so and so. And I would say, I have no recollection of it whatsoever. I tell you the truth. When the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon me in a great miracle service, Kathryn Kuhlman, my flesh, my bone, my blood becomes completely detached from that which is taking place in the service. I could well be one in the audience or somebody just sitting on the platform. It is not Kathryn Kuhlman whatsoever. I know that. That is the reason I am just as thrilled, perhaps more so, when there's a great miracle of healing. Because I know better than anyone else that I have had no part whatsoever in the healing of that sick body. Don't tell me that I am humble or speak of my humility. Please, it isn't that at all. It's that I know that I know that I have no healing virtue. That I have had no part whatsoever in that healing. I know better than anyone else. I know better than anyone else that it was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the power of God. And not something that Catherine Kuhlman has. And then, as I walk down the street, someone will stop me on the street and say, Oh, Miss Coleman, I'm so glad to see you. Would you just stop and pray for me here on the street right now? Pray for me now. And the one to whom they are speaking is just Catherine Coleman, an ordinary person. A sinner saved by the grace of God. I hesitate it would almost be a sacrilege for me to stop and lay my hands on that one and pray that God will heal them. Why? Because, beloved, without... the power of the Holy Spirit without that anointing, without that gift, without the person of the Holy Spirit manifesting himself, I am only an ordinary person like any other Christian, saved by the grace of God. I wanted to see something. Something that's very thrilling. Something that's very wonderful to me. And I've read it over and over again. It's recorded over there in, oh, it's the 16th chapter of Acts. In about, yes, here it is. It's the 16th verse. It's something in the life of Paul. And it came to pass that as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with the spirit of divination met us. In other words, she was demon -possessed, which brought her master much gain by soothsaying. And the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. Paul, day after day. Why didn't he cast the demon out of her the very first time that he saw her? She was possessed with a demon. Paul was God's servant. Watch this. On the surface, it would have seemed that the logical thing for him to have done was to have cast the demon out of her. the first time that she began heckling him. But he didn't. The Word of God says, and this did she many days. But he did not cast the demon out of her until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon him. Had he tried to cast the demon out of her the very first time that he saw her, he would have tried to have done it in his own power. But when the Holy Ghost came upon him and he was given that gift at that moment to cast out the demon, he did it without fear, without hesitancy. I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. Had he tried to do it before he was given the gift of the Spirit, it would have only been a Christian trying to cast out a demon. Mm -hmm. The gifts are all called manifestations of the spirit. All right? Go again. Something else is very, very marvelous. And let me see. It's in the book of Acts. See something. And always remember that even the apostles could only do supernatural things as they were moved upon by the spirit. Peter did not heal the lame man. And you all know that glorious incident. Every little child who has ever gone to a Sunday school knows the incident of Peter and John healing the lame man at the gate beautiful. But see something. Peter did not heal the lame man. the very first time that he saw him. Peter no doubt had seen that lame man scores of times, for day after day he was one of the beggars at the gate of the temple. He no doubt had passed him by many, many times. He had seen him, poor thing. But it wasn't until he was moved upon by the Spirit that he spoke to him. In that moment, the Holy Spirit came up on Peter. In that moment, he was given by the Spirit that wonderful gift of healing. Had he tried to heal the lame man, Without the Spirit, nothing would have happened. Nothing, absolutely nothing. For without the Holy Spirit, and without the gift of the Spirit, and without the power of the Spirit, Peter was an ordinary man. A Christian, sure. Saved by the grace of God. But there'll be no manifestations except the Spirit does the manifesting. Oh, that's wonderful. That's something. There they are. He had passed that lame man by many and many and many a time. Because as you read the scripture, the scripture reveals the fact that the apostles had a church established in Jerusalem and that they met daily in the temple long before this lame man was healed. Long before the lame man was healed. But the lame man was not healed until Peter was moved upon by the Spirit to heal him. And it's just like that. That's the reason Paul understood it. Paul says, it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. I pray the Holy Spirit is making this truth very real to your heart. You see, that is the reason that I don't believe that any one of us really fully understands this thing of faith. Faith is not something that we carry around with us. It's not something that we can put in our pocket and take it out every once in a while and look at it. I've often wished it was something that I could put in a little capsule and pass it out. And whenever you needed a little capsule of faith, I could send it to you. But, beloved, all I can tell you is that Jesus is our faith. And faith is not something that you can manufacture. Faith is a gift that's given of God. Jesus is our faith. It is something given us by the Spirit.