We need to remove the Mysticism concerning the Gifts of the Spirit
They are not Magical.
We need to clear our minds of all that we have hear or understand so that we can learn Gods way.
Paul even said that he had to lay aside all his human understanding to get Gods understanding.
A Gift is something that is given, something given free of charge

The Only rule we attach to the giving of the gift is the level of maturity, of the receiver.
In other words I will not buy a Land Rover for Matthew my 13 year old it would be dangerous, he is not mature enough to drive such a car

What is the purpose of the gifts?
This is so important, and fundamental to our understanding, and operation of the Gifts.
What are the Benefits
The are To Demonstrate, Confirm and Vindicate the Gospel Message
Exodus 4;1-8 God gave Moses signs to get the ear of the people

They are given to assist in the spiritual Battle against the enemy
Mark 16:15-16, 1 Timothy 1:18 (NKJV)
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

They are given to assist Faith, to help people to believe.

John 4:48 (NKJV)
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."
John 20:30 (NKJV)
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

The are not for entertainment, for staged performance, they are not to vindicate a so called man of God or a particular ministry.
They are to affirm the message of Jesus Christ

They Are Orchestrated By God

God is the conductor directing the various instruments

Exodus 5 :19 -20 God Knew already Pharaohs response.
Omniscience
Acts 2:1-14
God Knew that this would be the perfect time to address Jews from all over the world.
St John 11:1-4 11:17 11:39-44 Lazarus

Paul in I Corinthians 12 deals with nine of them, but I want to highlight that there are more, in the body but the are the main ones.

They are split into three categories
Revelation Gifts
Word of Knowledge
Word of Wisdom
Discerning of spirits

Utterance Gifts
Gift of tongues
Interpretation of tongues
Gift of Prophecy

Power Gifts
Gift of healing
Gift of Faith
Gifts for the working of Miracles

Word of Knowledge …….To tap into Gods supernatural resource of knowledge about a person, situation, it is usually the past but can sometimes be an event that will happen in the future.
Old Testament II Kings 6:32-33/7:1-2 Elisha
St John 1:47-51
Again in John 4: 16-19 Jesus reveals something about the woman at the well.

Word of Wisdom………..A supernatural gift enabling you to tap into God resource of wisdom for a given situation.
Old Testament I Kings 3:17-28
Jesus when confronted about whether to pay taxes remember their was no right answer. If he said yes it would have angered the zealots if he said no he would have been breaking the law, in situations like these we need Gods wisdom, " render to Caesar the things which his and to God his things.
Also the most amazing was the woman caught in Adultery Luke 10:13-17
Solomon had a word of wisdom concerning the baby

Discerning of spirits…… The Supernatural ability to discern and identify spirits as Paul did in Acts 16:14-20 he identified it and then cast it out

The Gift of Tongues…….The ability to speak supernaturally in another tongue, that you had never learned Acts 2

Interpretation of tongues………….The supernatural ability to interpret a tongue, interpretation and not translation.
I Corinthians 14:27-30 The Holy Bible, New King James Version
Daniel 5:25 (NKJV)
"And this is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
Daniel was given the interpretation for a language that was not known by any people of that time.
Gift of prophecy………John 2;19……Acts 21: 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 10And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"

Gift of healing…..Supernatural gift of Cures, Jesus throughout his ministry demonstrated this Gift alongside with the Gift of miracles which is a bit different, for healing is a process whereas instant Healing is a miracle.

Gift of faith………….. The Supernatural ability to be and trust God for the impossible

Gift of Miracles………….The gift produces miracle such as instant healing; in Acts 3:1-16 the lame man is healed
Jesus feeds the 5 thousand with a few loaves and two fishes, this is also a sign and a wonder, ….the bible said and all the people wondered.
Mark 6:38 (NKJV)
The Gifts are of God through God but they are operated by us at the will of the Lord.
It is impossible to be effective without these gifts in operation.
They are given for the benefit and the profit of the church.

The Question is this, what is the starting point or how do these operations come into flow?
The Baptism of the Spirit, the immersion of oneself into God, and God into you.

Notice Jesus even encouraged them to wait for the promise of the father.

They looked upward, we look around. In other words our faith is not exercised because we do not look up, we look to our own techniques and strategies to solve our problems.
We need to use these abilities because our foe is supernatural.
Fighting the Devil without the Gifts is like a man having bear fists against a canon or torpedo.
But through the Gifts we can avoid the attacks and plans of the devil.

The gifts must be exercised

Jacob was in a tricky situation with Laban, he had already served 14 years of hard labour and his life was not advancing. God came to him by revelation in a dream and gave direction.