Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. 1 Corinthians 12:1.
Before He left His disciples, Christ breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Again He said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” But not until after the Ascension was this gift received in its fullness. Not until through faith and prayer the disciples had surrendered themselves fully for His working was the outpouring of the Spirit bestowed....
“When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” ... The gifts are already ours in Christ, but their actual possession depends upon our reception of the Spirit of God.
The talents that Christ entrusts to His church represent especially the gifts and blessings imparted by the Holy Spirit.... Not all the gifts are imparted to each believer, but to every servant of the Master some gift of the Spirit is promised, according to that one's need for the Lord's work.
In all the Lord's arrangements, there is nothing more beautiful than His plan of giving to men and women a diversity of gifts.... Many have received but a limited religious and intellectual training, but God has a work for this class to do if they will labor in humility, trusting in Him....
Different gifts are imparted to different ones, that the workers may feel their need of one another. God bestows these gifts, and they are employed in His service, not to glorify the possessor, not to uplift human beings, but to uplift the world's Redeemer....
It may seem to some that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort; but when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached and that some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to the same truth as presented in a different manner by another, they will hopefully endeavor to labor together in unity. Their talents, however diverse, may all be under the control of the same Spirit. In every word and act, kindness and love will be revealed; and as the workers fill their appointed places faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of His followers will be answered, and the world will know that these are His disciples.—Signs of the Times, March 15, 1910.
From From the Heart - Page 305
From the Heart