The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit

For anyone who wants more of God, to understand Him better. We are a spirit, dwelling in a temporary body. This book really solidified the purposes, definitions, and signs of the gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit. It was just what I was looking for.

A very enlightening study of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. At least every minister should read and study this writing by the great man of God. The church as a whole is losing the understanding and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The author Lester Frank Sumrall was such a fine Christian and great pentecostal minister. Yet his book reflects the pentecostal views of the early and mid XX century, which has been reviewed to more reasonable theological views. The translation to Spanish is rather poorly done. At times It seems that someone used Google translator. I wish I had my money back to buy the English version. This book is not scholarly written. The author leans much on experience and lots of stories that might be exciting to some readers. But if you're looking for a book with good theology and scholarly written, this is not the book for you.

The author Lester Frank Sumrall was such a fine Christian and great pentecostal minister. Yet his book reflects the pentecostal views of the early and mid XX century, which has been reviewed to more reasonable theological views. The translation to Spanish is rather poorly done. At times It seems that someone used Google translator. I wish I had my money back to buy the English version. This book is not scholarly written. The author leans much on experience and lots of stories that might be exciting to some readers. But if you're looking for a book with good theology and scholarly written, this is not the book for you.

The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit by Lester Sumrall is a detailed exploration of the various functions of the Holy Spirit available to believers. This book is charismatic in nature, but not over the top. The first part of the book read quickly and mostly described why the gifts and ministries were important as well as Sumrall’s story. The second part of the book dealt with the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that are laid out in a single verse in the Bible by Paul. The author describes these gifts, how they work, and give Biblical examples. The last part of this book focuses on the ministries of the Holy Spirit including what they are and with examples of them in the Bible.
I appreciated that the author used Bible verses and stories to make his points on how these gifts were utilized by various people of the Bible including Jesus. I did not think some of these verses were used in proper context and therefore had to disagree with them, but the idea of writing this way is what is needed more in this day and age. I also appreciated that the author showed how Jesus worked through using these gifts and ministries to show that we are capable of accessing the same things. Many people do not understand that about the Holy Spirit and how we have access to the same power Christ did. The approach to this was fantastic. There were also several verses I had not paid much attention to the wording of, but having scrutinized it under the author’s insight became quite enlightening to me.
I felt shortchanged a bit on the ministries of the Holy Spirit and felt it could have used more information particularly with respect to teaching. I was sad to see it was short. The other thing that I found lacking was how one developed these gifts and what they have to do with spiritual warfare as was included in the description of the book. The clarity on the differences between some of the gifts and ministries are not exactly clear either. For instance, the gifts of knowing and prophecy are hard to tell apart. The author did attempt to differentiate between them, yet it’s not very clear in his explanation of what the actual difference is. For the ministries, it is hard to tell apart the pastoring and evangelizing ministries. A much more succinct and clear definition of the gifts and ministries is needed in most of the cases.
Overall, this is a well done look into the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. It is not the only resource one should look at as it can leave you clouded in many respects, but it does offer scriptural support for how others have used these gifts and what they may look like in our own lives. I think the inclusion of the Bible verses, particularly in respects to Jesus own ministry is very helpful to Christians; however I do recommend looking at the contexts in relation to how these verses are used. Most are accurate, however I do disagree with the way some were used to fit the criteria. The book is informative and a nice introduction to those learning about the Holy Spirit and his function in our lives.

Sumrall falls into just about every imaginable pit of error when it comes to explaining the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. His hermeneutic is harmful. First off, he wrongly comes to the conclusion that all gifts of the Spirit are all available to every believer. He also assumes if a given believer does not receive a particular gift it is due to an insufficient amount of faith and/or sin. Classic prosperity garbage reorienting the focus of the believer not on Jesus and our eternal reward in heaven but on the gifts of God and the here and now. This does more harm than good and gets folks off of the trustworthy path of faith. It's subtle, but he seems to give the impression we should desire the gifts of God more than God himself.

God has given His worshippers wonderful gifts and ministries that they are to share with everyone as a display of God’s unfailing love. God’s unfailing love must also live in us if we desire to partner with God to display these marvelous gifts and ministries. Without God’s love in us the gifts and ministries will not operate. Dr. Lester Sumrall’s book helps us to tap into these wonderful gifts and ministries that God has made available to us. He reviews how these gifts and ministries were manifested in the Old Testament, New Testament, and life of Jesus, ministry of Paul, ministry of the disciples, the early church, and even in the future out-pouring of God’s Holy Spirit in the end times. He describes each gift and ministry and its importance to the worshippers of God and to those outside the family of God. He is also careful to note the significance of some of the “perceived lesser gifts”. These “perceived lesser gifts” might be the “ministry of helps”. However Dr. Lester Sumrall reminds us that even Jesus said if someone fetches a cup of water for a prophet, he is also worthy of a prophet’s reward. Each gift has value to the worshippers of God to effectively transform broken lives, broken homes, and broken ambitions. Worshippers of God are to participate with God to carry these tasks out so that all may know the Glory of God. Dr. Lester Sumrall answers the following questions you may have about the manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as:
Can God tell me the future?
Can God reveal to me a past known fact that I need to know?
Can God help reveal to me if this person is telling me the truth?
Can God bring about a supernatural change without my own effort?
Can God use me to do a supernatural act?
Can God heal this sickness?
Can God use me to speak a message?
Can God use me to interpret an unknown language?
Can God use me to bring comforting words to someone in need?
The answers to all the above question is, YES GOD CAN DO IT! But he also teaches that these acts of God are not solely selfish driven motives to benefit ourselves. God’s Holy Spirit administers these marvelous gifts and ministries to help worshippers of God to show love to our fellow neighbors. Love is an action and is shown when people call on God to perform a miracle for their neighbor. We partner with God and witness the great miracles in our lives and the lives of our neighbors. Most importantly, Dr. Lester Sumrall shows us that these gifts tend to spring up mightily in the highways and byways where the need is great and the power of God is not known. God bless you and be encouraged to take God’s power to all those in need.

October 4, 2015

“The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit” is a very effective book aspiring to bring readers into the full knowledge of the Living God by explaining and describing the operations and functions of the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor. 11:13, 15 KJV). The purpose of the book is to explain how powerful the Holy Spirit is, how necessary it is in a five-fold ministry, and it becomes quite clear why Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave the Gift of the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ so that He remains all Authority, Dominion, Might, and Power.

The Author, Mr. Lester Sumrall, is anointed and superior in knowledge of the Work of Creator God and he conveys this in a clear and decisive tone of authority as a perfected son inspired by God. The book accurately distinguishes between the operation of the Holy Spirit and counterfeit spirits (Heresy, witchcraft, devil, evil cults/occultisms, etc.). (He. 4:12 KJV). As a tool in spiritual warfare, these wisdoms and knowledge of the Word of God in “The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit” will equip, build, and arm you with powerful weapons for victory. It is easily understood in terms of language and biblically sound
“The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit” is strongly inspired by Creator God and the impartations of His Spirit are equally strong and powerful. The reader will experience Creator God’s Omnipresence while reading this book. This is not a book for the faint of heart. The information builds accurately and purposefully on sound biblical doctrine with little fluff. The author reveals lovingly that Jesus Christ intended that His Kingdom stand victoriously against Hades everlastingly.

Unarguably, the content is to edify, exhort, and comfort the Body of Christ. It is to equip the Five-Fold Ministry to do the work. The Holy Spirit is the Power in testing evil spirits and giving victory in Jesus’ Name. (1 Jn. 4:1 KJV).

“The Gift and Ministries of the Holy Spirit” is highly recommended for Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers in the Body of Christ. It is recommended for all to understand why the Holy Spirit is a Power gift from Jesus Christ and this Power gift cannot be conquered because it is part of the Holy Trinity.

Agnes B. Levine
KCG/Cooling Well Water Ministries

This is an excellent book on the foundational teaching of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I found it quite insightful on the categories, manifestations backed up with real life examples of Bro. Sumral's experiences while serving God on earth. The additional portion on the Ministries leaves you craving for more and more knowledge of the Holy Spirit. I believe God wanted to spark a desire to know Him more by inspiring the author with this writings. I would recommend this to any beginner in a quest for discovering the truth regarding the Holy Spirit.

This book has good information and helpful understanding of the individual gifts. However, I found it not very well written, and also somewhat biased toward a pentecostal or "Full Gospel" understanding of the spiritual gifts, which is good, but I felt that he was not very well rounded in his understanding, presenting one interpretation only.