9 Supernatural Gifts: Tapping into God’s End-Time Power

Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

The Lord Jesus was direct and spoke with detailed precision—sign-gift ministry would inevitably accompany the true preaching of the gospel.

The inaugural sign that He announced would result in ruffling a great number of religious feathers—believers would cast out demons in His name. Those who would maintain that the devil and his diabolical underlings are not real are making a vain attempt to refute a New Testament doctrinal truth that was directed and affirmed by the resurrected King of glory Himself.

I have offered this recommendation to churchgoers for many years: if you attend a church where they do not believe in casting out demons, don’t walk from such a place, but run full stride and never look back. You must not place yourself and your family at such perilous risk. You have no idea what other biblical orthodoxy has been erased from holy writ by those who do not believe and practice such a divine directive as this. Your spiritual life and growth are too valuable to trifle with.

The next sign King Jesus declared would accompany believers is nearly as controversial as the first one—they shall speak with new tongues. This is undoubtedly referring to an initial physical evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that of supernaturally speaking in an unknown tongue— which is to say, a language that is unknown to the speaker. I will have more to say about this shortly.

I will deal with the next two orders given by our Commander in Chief and Head of the Church together: “they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.” Jesus was in no way ordering or even recommending that New Testament believers should physically handle snakes or drink poison as a test of their faith. To hold that the Master was so mandating seems an almost obtuse misrepresentation and misinterpretation of His words.

The instruction involving snakes had two meanings. One is that if you accidently became the victim of a poisonous snakebite, and there were no alternatives, you could trust God to protect you, as Paul the apostle did (see Acts 28:3-6). I would not recommend Paul’s course of action unless you are walking in Paul’s level of faith. Another meaning is as Jesus described the power available to New Testament believers in Luke 10:19: “Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Serpents and scorpions are representative of the power of the evil one, and the risen Christ assured us in no uncertain terms that we have total dominion and absolute authority over them all. Regarding drinking deadly things, it is unmistakably stated using the clarifying monosyllable “if,” indicating an accidental or inadvertent and not intentional ingestion.

The concluding sign gift given has also captured substantial attention over the past few decades: “they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Few doctrines are as comprehensively confirmed while being as seriously opposed as physical healing as part of the redemptive work of Christ. A thorough treatment of the subject would fill many volumes in itself. Let it suffice to say that Jehovah Rapha, the self-existent God who heals, desires for His people to be healthy in their physical bodies just as surely as He wants them to be well in their souls and spirits.

A very common objection to divine healing would be along these lines: “If God wants people to be well, why isn’t everyone well?” The most direct answer would be that if that logic applies then why don’t we question likewise, “If God wants all people to be saved (and He does), why isn’t every- one saved?” Faith is involved in both of these questions and in their answers. Faith in God is required to be saved (born again), and it is also required to receive physical healing.

I have often referred to the baptism of the Holy Ghost as the gateway to the gifts of the Spirit. While it is possible that believers may receive and operate in one or more of the spiritual gifts without receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is rare. Allow me to clarify my meaning by using the phrase the “gifts of the Spirit,” since there are three separate and distinct lists of such gifts in the New Testament. The first and most commonly preached and taught about and therefore understood is recorded in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. I refer to these as the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit. Another list appears in Romans 12:6-8. These are what I refer to as the motivational gifts of the Holy Spirit—this list is frequently overlooked entirely. The third listing is found in Ephesians 4:11, and these are referenced as the fivefold ministry office gifts.

My purpose here is to focus on the nine manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit chronicled in 1 Corinthians 12.They are comprised of nine gifts that can be easily divided into three distinct categories. This arrangement was revealed by God’s Spirit to Dr. Howard Carter, a British Bible teacher who became a mentor and friend to Dr. Lester Sumrall in the 1930s and thereafter. Dr. Carter was serving a prison sentence as a conscientious objector during World War I. While there, he was studying and meditating on the Word of God. The inspiration of the Holy Ghost filled that place with presence and his seeking heart with revelation knowledge and supernatural insight. Dr. Carter’s understanding of the manifestation gifts of the Spirit became and remains the gold standard in Pentecostal theology to this day.

There are three revelation gifts:

• The word of wisdom—supernatural insight into the purpose of God, having to do with the future

• The word of knowledge—supernatural information regarding people, places, and things that would otherwise be unknown and unknowable, and having to do with the present rather than the future

• The discerning of spirits—supernatural ability to sense the presence and identity of spirits, whether demonic, angelic, or human spirits

There are three power gifts:

• The gift of faith—supernatural ability to trust God, especially in times of difficulty or danger

• The gift of the working of miracles—supernatural ability to control, suspend, or alter natural forces

• The gifts of healings—supernatural ability to heal physical, emotional, or spiritual maladies or malfunctions

There are three vocal gifts:

• Prophecy—speaking a supernatural message of exhortation, edification, and comfort in a known language

• Diverse kinds of tongues—supernaturally speaking a message in a language not known to the speaker (it may or may not be known to the hearer or hearers)

• The interpretation of tongues—supernatural ability to show the meaning of a message in tongues (an interpretation, not a word for word translation)

Please note that each of these gifts are totally and completely supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They have nothing at all to do with a person’s education or level of intellectual capability. I am staunchly in favor of education, and I encourage everyone to gain as much knowledge as possible to aid and enable them in the pursuit of God’s purpose for their lives. However, the operations of the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit are for everyone, regardless of their academic experience or ability.