Acts 5:14-15 “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, (15) so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”
Before we answer the question as to how we operate in the gifts of the Spirit we need to first differentiate between operating in the gifts of the Spirit and walking by faith. So what does that statement mean? To understand the concept, we can look at the example in the above quoted passage of scripture, where we can see that there was a period in the Apostle Peter’s ministry when he was so anointed by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, that just his shadow healed the sick as he walked past them. After a while that degree of anointing was lifted from Peter’s ministry however, thus bringing an end to that type of phenomenon occurring in his ministry. So what caused the healing anointing to be displayed with such tremendous power at the outset of Peter’s ministry, only to diminish over time? Clearly it was not Peter’s faith that caused the healing phenomenon to occur, for if it had been his faith then that same degree of power would have been displayed throughout his lifetime on the earth, which clearly did not happen. And so the answer lies in the spiritual gift called “gifts of healings”. Peter operated in that gift, and initially was so anointed that he experienced the results of just his shadow healing people. Nevertheless over time that anointing began to diminish, resulting in a corresponding reduction in the results experienced through his ministry. If you read the book of Acts, it is clear that the gifts of healing continued to be manifested throughout Peter’s ministry, but never again reaching the same level of power as at the beginning of his ministry however. And so we can see that even for those who are used in the spiritual gifts of healing, that the level of power made available through that gift can, depending on various factors, vary over time.
Acts 8:5-7 “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is another example of the spiritual gifts being displayed. In this passage we see Philip the evangelist holding a healing crusade in the city of Samaria where multitudes were healed and delivered. Clearly in Philip’s case there was a specific anointing on him that enabled him to minister deliverance and healing to the multitudes. In other words Philip was operating in the gifts of the Spirit and not in his own faith as a believer.
Mark 16:17-18 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; (18) they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus has taught us that those who believe i.e. have faith, will experience the following results. By faith they will be able to cast out demons from those who are oppressed or possessed by demons. By faith they will speak with new tongues. And by faith they will lay hands on those who are sick and the sick will be healed. When our Lord Jesus taught on the signs that would follow His believers, He was talking about an individual believer exercising their faith to minister deliverance and healing to other individuals as the need arose. And so we see that these signs will be manifested through all Christians who simply exercise their faith in God’s word, i.e. a believer praying for someone and laying hands on them to be healed from the flu for example. Because the results are similar, these signs that the Lord spoke about can be confused with the gifts of the Spirit being demonstrated, for it is the same power of God that is being displayed. Nevertheless even though it is the same healing power of God that is being made manifest, it is not the same degree of power, such as we have seen displayed through both Peter’s and Phillips ministries for example, when they were used by God to heal multitudes of people. For the degree of power made available through the gifts of healings for example, far exceeds the level of power made available through one believer, who in faith lays their hands on another individual to be healed.
James 5:14-15 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. (15) And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
The passage of scripture quoted above is an example of what our Lord Jesus was referring to when He said that these signs will follow those who believe. For we see in this passage that the elders of a church are able to pray in faith, and lay their hands on a member of the congregation that is sick, and that the Lord will heal that individual. This example is in stark contrast to the healing results that occurred through both Peter and Philip’s ministries that we looked at earlier, for even though the elders could expect to experience the same healing power being made manifest through them, they could not expect to experience the same level of power that was made available through Peter and Philip’s ministries. And so whereas the elders are able by faith to heal one individual, in Peter and Philip’s case, because they were operating in the gifts of the Spirit, they were able to heal multitudes. And so I trust from this section that you can recognise the difference between a believer who prays in faith, and a believer who operates in the gifts of the Spirit. All the gifts of the Spirit operate on the same principle, i.e. far more power is made available to the one operating in spiritual gifts, which obviously equates to far greater results. As an aside, for various reasons, the level of power made available to those called to ministry and operating in spiritual gifts, is greater than the power made available to normal saints operating in spiritual gifts, which in turn is greater than the power made available to saints operating in faith alone.
Michael E.B. Maher
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