Spiritual Gifts: Welcome to the Church

By Charles Elias Mahlangu

In Spiritual Gifts: Welcome to the Church, Charles defines and describes each gift. He persuades the believer to connect with individual gifting, according to the will of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He urges that every believer is entrusted with a gift that can be known and used to benefit many.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Sep 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482861075

Charles Elias Mahlangu

The author holds a PhD from Talbot School of Theology in the USA. Charles was ordained by The Evangelical Church of Southern Africa and pastored Manzini Evangelical Church / Manzini Fellowship Church in Swaziland from 1980 till 2003. He trains men and woman in biblical counselling. He and Delores, his wife of 40 years, have been building marriages and counselling engaged and married couples since 1980.

Book preview

Spiritual Gifts

Welcome to the Church

Charles Elias Mahlangu

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Copyright © 2016 by Charles Elias Mahlangu.

Cover art by Ryan Scott Davidson.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-6106-8

                eBook            978-1-4828-6107-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All scripture references are from various Bible translations and taken from the software: PC Study Bible. Copyright 1988 - 2007, Bible Soft, Inc. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Biblica]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa

Contents

Introduction Welcome to the Church!

Chapter 1 Of Dreams

Chapter 2 Of Visions, Impressions, Voice of Deity

Chapter 3 Of Impressions

Chapter 4 Of Voice from Deity

Chapter 5 Of Word of Wisdom

Chapter 6 Of Word of Knowledge

Chapter 7 Of Prophecy

Chapter 8 Of Healing

Chapter 9 Of Working of Miraculous Power

Chapter 10 Of Faith

Chapter 11 Of Giving

Chapter 12 Of Exhortation

Chapter 13 Of Service/Ministry

Chapter 14 Of Helps

Chapter 15 Of Mercy

Chapter 16 Of Tongues

Chapter 17 Of Interpretation of Tongues

Chapter 18 Of Leadership, Administration and Governance

Chapter 19 Of Teaching

Chapter 20 Of Distinguishing and Discerning of spirits

Part 2

Gifts to Equip the Church

Introduction Gifts as Equipping Personnel

Chapter 21 Of Prophets

Chapter 22 Of Evangelist

Chapter 23 Of Pastors and Shepherds

Chapter 24 Of Teachers

Appendix 1 Way of Salvation

Spiritual Gifts

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Dedication

To the wife of my youth. Thank you for companionship of a generation. Thank you for giving your life to serving me. Thank you for faithfulness of forty years to me. Thank you for not looking back through thick and thin of circumstances. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you in my life to the glory of God. Thank you for critical contribution of your gifts to this marriage and to the body of Jesus Christ.

You never resisted my spiritual leadership. You never doubted my leadership in your life. Thank you for qualifying me as Elder who must lead his own family well. Thank you for modelling biblical womanhood to other women as married, as unmarried, and as mothers.

Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for patience with me even when this was difficult. You believe in my calling. You are convinced that my gifts should be exhausted to serve the people of God. You have been my strongest supporter in this life.

Thank you for your love for the body of Jesus Christ. Your devotion to the church is great to witness. I glorify the Lord of the Harvest on account of your significant impact upon my life.

Book Review by Dr Shimmy Kotu

The modern-day Evangelical-Charismatic-Pentecostal stable has at most produced excellent orators, magnificent motivators, and very enthusiastic authors of (biblically-speaking) shallow, non-substantive, and insignificant concepts, beliefs, and doctrines; but very few scholars, deliberate (apologetics) advocates, and meticulous Bible ‘expositors’; an office, ‘shoes’, and ‘cap’ Charles Mahlangu seems to effortlessly fill, occupy, and wear.

You are holding in your hands a theological and scholarly masterpiece by Dr Charles Mahlangu; a book I know shall reside more in the higher walls and halls of learning than it ever will in ordinary suburban coffee tables and bookshelves. This is, without any exaggeration, biblical ‘educate the educator’ manual whose content the regular Christian laity should feel particularly privileged to be privy to as it is actually meant for their mentors, teachers, and leaders.

In this book, Charles breaks away from the age-old conventional evangelical approach of dealing separately with Ephesians 4 ‘Gifts of Christ’, Romans 12 ‘Administrative Gifts’, and 1 Corinthians 12 ‘Gifts of the Spirit’; a long-overdue, extremely expedient, and highly fruitful approach indeed which will ultimately break the PSYCHO-PHILOSOPHICAL-CUM-THEOLOGICAL walls to the approach of God’s gifting to his church which most scholars deem more competitive than complementary—as if Father God, Lord Jesus, and Holy Spirit are each battling for the attention, occupation, and use of the believer.

The book kicks off with a short discourse on what I would title the ‘Evangelical creed’, which details what Evangelicals are immovably united on regarding their fundamental beliefs yet dichotomous over on the matter of Spiritual Gifts.

The swifter you read through the book, the quicker you shall reach the honest, sincere, and sobering realization of the reality of what Charles calls the ‘Monster—the One-Man Minister, Solo Shepherd with no biblically qualified elders as Shepherds according to the New Testament’. Out of this phenomenon has evolved the church model I could only refer to as the ‘Grace-era Ogre’, which came about as a result of the church ignoring the Apostle’s warning from Romans 12:3: ‘For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.’

This argument, Charles puts forth thus—

‘All Black Evangelicals face the monster: one man minister, solo Shepherd with no biblically qualified elders as Shepherds according to the New Testament. No comprehensive doctrine of priesthood of all believers. No comprehensive teaching on gifts of all believers.

‘Apart from ordained ministers of the gospel in the Pentecostal Evangelical tradition, what other spiritual gifts from scriptures are seen to be promoted in the whole church? Like Traditional Evangelicals, Pentecostal Evangelicals observe no gift of administration (kuberneseis), according to 1 Corinthians 12:28ff, for pew or pulpit. It is assumed that those appointed to lead as deacons and elders are administrators and some have no trace and proven gift of administration. There is no observable operation of gift of leading, leadership (prohistemenos), according to Romans 12:6–8. The Pentecostal Evangelical pulpit and pew observe that ordained Shepherds are administrators and leaders, when the New Testament gives a comprehensive list on gifts of leadership and administration as distinct from Shepherds, Evangelists, Prophets, and Teachers.’

Charles’s argument on the matter is biblically sound—the church as one body is not just an eye, neither is it just the pastor. Biblical Apostles as models of godly leadership allowed themselves to be managed. Peter would say from Acts 6:3–4, ‘Choose among yourselves men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, men who are respected and we shall turn this responsibility over to them while we shall dedicate ourselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer.’ Peter said this after serving with the Greatest Leader who ever walked this earth, Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth; who let Judas administer the finances, who let Peter and others use their gifts of administration in organizing venues, borrowing donkeys, and preparing (transport) ships for his missionary journeys. Today, we have ordained ministers serving tables and leaving prayer to the laity, in complete ignorance, rebellion, or resistance to the biblical model, Apostolic instruction, and Holy Spirit’s leading. It is very ironic to realize that Peter the Apostle would (in direct contrast and contradiction to modern-day one-man-led churches) entrust the choosing of deacons to the church!

Charles correctly answers the question, ‘Can one believer have more than one gift?’ thus—

‘It is possible that the believer granted the assignment of equipping minister of Ephesians 4, to have in addition a manifestation gift of God the Holy Spirit from 1 Corinthians 12. It is possible for the believer who does not have the equipping ministering gift of Ephesians 4, to have gifts from both categories of manifestations of God the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12), and grace gifts of Romans 12. There is no pattern at to the number of gifts each believer receives. There is no person with absolute grasp on the nature of gifts, ministries, and manifestations. There is no individual who has been given supernatural expertise regarding the supernatural spiritual gifts: God alone is sovereign. If it is conceivable for the believer who already has the manifestation of God the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 12, to be gifted in this category exclusively, then it behoves this gifted believer to excel in this gift. This believer is going to be judged according to his faithfulness to fulfil the duties of his ministry.’

Charles also tackles with great wisdom, biblical soundness, and discernment the often misunderstood, hated, despised, and misinterpreted gift of a Prophet thus—

‘Prophets will operate effectively when they hate sin and even the garment spotted with evil: God has never been known in the scriptures to walk with mortals who walk in darkness. Prophets are at their best when they are intimate with the Lord: the God of the Bible indicates that God has never confided intimately with mortals who are friendly to evil. As channels who speak the mind of God, prophets are at their best when they hate this world, this flesh and the king of this world. The Prophet by definition of his calling is one who spends time with God. This is one who lives in the moment by moment sphere of the control by the fullness of God the Holy Spirit. For one who is perceived as having heard from God what must be passed on by private consultation, or public proclamation to a group, must necessarily be one whose life is lost and spent with a deep sense of the presence of God.

‘Prophets brood. Prophets grieve. Prophets wail on behalf of others. Prophets are melancholic of God. Prophets hear the thundering drumbeat of God. Prophets will hear from God from the written passages of scriptures where others cannot necessarily hear the tone that has not been developed. When proclaiming the word of God, Prophets will convey the prophetic element that shouts loud and clear about what the Lord is saying to his people right now, right here, in a compelling way. Prophets will reveal the tone of God the Holy Spirit in ways that the gift of teaching, or exhortation, or evangelism will not have divine capacity to convey from the same text. Prophets will mobilize saints to see the way forward in compelling ways since this is the inherent manifestation of God the Holy Spirit. Prophets will hear God from the text in an extra-ordinary sense of volitional persuasiveness. Prophets will remove scales from the eyes, and wax from the ears so that God is heard clearly from the text.’

The book challenges us to overcome the exaltation of others’ gifts at the expense of humbly and generously allowing Holy Spirit to minister to the church through the gift he gave us. This, Charles aptly puts thus—

‘Ignorance of one’s gift causes one to look at what the Lord has called others to do, to the extent of neglecting personal stewardship of one’s gift. Paul warned Timothy, Do not neglect your gift… keep on stirring up your gift by keeping it constantly sharpened through particular engagements. Avoid the trap: if you admire what the neighbour has been called to do and then neglect your own identified calling, you are bringing deformities to the body of Jesus Christ. You are neglecting to carry out what only you have been assigned by the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish Avoid the Wow, look at that one!" syndrome. God alone determines who to place where and how they are going to serve His greater purpose to glorify God through their grace gifts. Avoid the trap of praising the gifts and ministries of others in an unhealthy manner that trivializes the grace of God in your life: you have been extraordinarily blessed with grace measures of gifts for the supreme benefit of the body of Jesus Christ. Avoid the trap of glorifying other gifts, ministries, and manifestations to the sinful neglect of fulfilling your ministry with 100% sense of profound gratitude that God in his mercy saw it good for you to be granted privilege to be in the divine strategy of body life of each member serving others to the fulfilment of the blueprint of maturation of the whole body. Maturation of the whole body comes to fulfilment as each part of the body is playing its part, according to Ephesians 4:7–16.’

Imagine how different the church would be presently if these warnings were heeded to.

The book would be incomplete if Charles did not define, explain, and give examples of how each gift functions, works or manifests; and this he does meticulously in volume 1, chapter 7. He then transitions to issuing yet another valuable warning against attributing the manifestation of gifts to human effort, discipline, and works instead of recognizing them as an extension, benefit, and evidence of the grace of God. He also warns against the rampant modern-day ‘hyper spirituality’ many mistaken for spiritual mindedness and the ‘unnatural’ tendencies some confuse with being ‘supernatural’.

He argues this point thus—

‘A very Common Entrapment in the Church: Those saints God has called to perform mighty deeds by the power of God have often exposed themselves to this tendency: when they attribute the manifestations to positive confession, they open the door widely to people to work by faith to get the same mighty manifestations promised and sometimes guaranteed by authentic servant of the Lord. Do what I did, then the Lord will do for you what he has done through my anointed ministry. Many believers seeking very much to live in the realm of signs, wonders, and miraculous powers, strive to follow after the mighty messenger of God. They operate all biblical promises from Jesus Christ, from the Gospel: by faith nothing is impossible! Verily, have faith, if you have faith small as mustard seed you will move mountains. If you have faith nothing is impossible with God. Believe in your heart that God is able to perform the phenomenal, and if you do not doubt, it will happen with you! Many saints have sat at the feet of giants who genuinely were called by God to fulfil specific ministries: applying the principles of positive confession has called on the Lord to give them phenomenal breakthrough in signs, wonders, and miraculous powers.

‘Many have read chilling accounts by saints who live routinely in the realm of phenomenal signs, wonders, and miraculous powers. Many have sobbed through nights of agonizing intercession repeating the faith formula they were told to repeat over and over. Many have listened to Christian Television and radio accounts of supernatural encounters happening regularly to certain saints: they seek their own final breakthrough to also be able to perform the same miracles they were guaranteed by authentically called servants of the Lord.’

Innumerable survivors and victims of the ‘Word-Faith’ Movement would have appreciated to have heard this warning thirty to forty years ago: ‘Sincere biblical mistakes are made when those called with particular gifts take it upon themselves to make faith provisional for any gift, or ministry, or manifestations sought: "You too