5 Necessary Gifts for the Church
and 9 Unique Gifts...for Us!
© by Gary W. Crisp
NOTE: I had truly hoped to finish this series of teachings sooner, although circumstances have impeded my progress. Even so, I will attempt to add new teachings monthly, or at the very least bi-monthly. I have already finished the lessons on the “Gift of Apostles”, “Gift of Prophets”, “Gift of Evangelists”, “Gift of Pastors”, and the “Gift of Teachers”. Then, the next few teachings will focus on the Nine Gifts of the Spirit: Words of Wisdom, Knowledge, Gift of Faith, etc. (see below, 1st Corinthians 12:8,9). I am currently working on Faith. You can really help me, if you will. If you have any questions concerning any of these Gifts, including usage and misusage, send me an e-mail here. Thank you for any help you may give in relation to any questions, for they will guide me more efficiently as I prepare and study. I also thank you for your patience as I complete these writings. I will add to them as quickly as I am able.Now, let us begin...
[7] “Unto every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. [8] Which is why he (David, in Psalm 68:18) said, ‘When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave Gifts to men’. [9] (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? [10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.) [11] And He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” Ephesians 4: 7-11 Gifts from the Lord, to the Church and for the Body
The Five-fold Ministry Gifts are the first part of the Primary Gifts given by Christ to the Church. The second part, Nine Gifts of the Spirit, must work in tandem with the first if “He is to fill all things...”, and these nine gifts are found in 1Corinthians 12:
[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man that all may benefit. [8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge; [9] To another faith; to another the gifts of healing; [10] To another the working of
miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another diverse kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; all of these by the same Spirit. [11] One and the same Spirit (the Holy Spirit) ministers all these things, distributing to every man individually as He chooses.”
[1]
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. [2] You know that you were Gentiles, seduced by these dumb idols, even as you were
led. [3] Wherefore I want you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God can call Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. [4] Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. [6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God Who works all in all.
These are the main, or Primary Gifts, that God has chosen to give to His Body, to His Church. There are other gifts which we will refer to (for simplicity’s sake) as “Secondary Gifts”, found in 1st Cor. 12:27, 28 and in Romans 12: 4-8. These gifts are exhortation, giving, ruling, showing mercy, helps and governments. We will deal with all of these later, as some of these work “hand in hand” with other gifts. While these secondary gifts may seem slightly less important or even to be “slight gifts”, no Gift from God should be viewed in that manner, for all Gifts are necessary if the Body is to grow and mature and be strong in Him.
God’s Gifts are priceless; none of them can be earned or “bought”, as we see in Acts 8:20 : “But Peter said unto him, ‘May your money perish with you, because you have thought that the Gift of God may be purchased with money’.” God’s Gifts are just that: freely given to whomever He chooses, whenever He chooses, and however He chooses. He does not reserve them for a certain denomination or to a certain kind of “special” individual. As 1Cor. 12:11 states: He “works all these things, distributing to every man individually as He chooses.” I like the fact that God decides who gets what Gifts, for man will always make a mess of such important decisions.
In today’s churches, there are questions, if not some confusion, concerning the Gifts of the Spirit. Maybe not so much as to what they are, as to what they are supposed to do in and for the church. Also, there is some question as to who is “in charge” of these gifts, and where do we “get” them? Hopefully, in this teaching, we will answer some of these questions. With God’s help, we will strive to answer all of them. I am not an “expert” on the Gifts that God has given the church. There are others who have far greater insight, more capabilities and even deeper understanding about this particular subject than I. Even so, I will attempt to share what the Lord has taught me over the years, and I will try to be as faithful to His Calling as I possibly can. With His Help, we shall reach this goal. First, let’s begin with the Greatest Gift ever given.
The Greatest of All Gifts
The Greatest Gift ever given, in any situation, at any time, was the Gift God gave the world: “God loved the world so very much that He gave His Only Begotten Son...” The word “gave” here means: “bestowed, committed, delivered up”; all of this on our behalf; for our good. Now, let us suppose that no one had ever believed in this Gift. I know it seems a bit absurd to think such a thing, but just suppose. What if no one had ever taken Him up on this wonderful offer? What then? He still would have given, for “giving” is at the very Heart of the Nature of God. We must believe that, in order to really move forward in this teaching. It’s when we believe in this Gift with our hearts, and when we can accept this Truth in our spirits that the Miracle happens: “...that whosoever shall believe on Him shall not perish, but they shall have Everlasting Life.” John 3:16 is usually one of the first learned and one of the most quoted of any verse, in the entire Bible.
God loved us so much...but why? Why does He love us? Very simply, because God is Love, and 1st John 4:7-16 explains this all very eloquently:
[12] “No man has seen God at any time, but if we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. [13] “Here is how we can know that we dwell in Him, and He in us: Because He has given us of His Spirit, [14] “and we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. [15] “Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God will dwell in him, and he in God. [16] “And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is Love; and he that dwells in love also dwells in God, and God in him.”
[7] “Beloved, let us love one another: For love is of God, and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. [8] He that does not love does not know God; for God is Love. [9] “In this was manifested the love of God toward us: Because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. [10] “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] “Beloved, if God loved us so very much, we ought to love one another as well.
Why am I dwelling so much on Love, if what we are studying is the Gifts? 1Corinthians 13, “The Love Chapter”, is the answer. Like John 3:16, this entire chapter, out of all the books of the Bible, is one of the most easily recognized, most quoted and most read at weddings, funerals and so many other occasions. It has been the inspiration of many songs, both spiritual and secular. Paul tells us,
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love), I am nothing more than sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (love), it profits me nothing.” (v. 1-3)
Without true Godly love, which is “agape” love, I cannot truly please God, and all the Gifts I may think I have or strive to acquire are meaningless, empty and vain. That is why, before we can truly understand the Gifts, we must truly know the Giver, and God is Love. We must begin with Love. 1st John 4:10 : “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [He Who atones and redeems] for our sins.” The word “atone”, derived from the two words “at” and “one”, was originally pronounced as such: “At one”, as in “Jesus Christ has made us at one with God.” Since the Garden of Eden, God has done all that He can to make man “at one” with Himself once more. And still, today, that is what God is desiring, and through the use of His Gifts we shall become more and more “at one” with Him.
God’s “Good Pleasure”...In Us!
To Christians at least, there is no doubt that the Greatest Gift to us, for us and in us is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Without Him in our lives, we would have no life. We live because He lives, in us and through us. I find this amazing that One so Holy, One so Pure, One so Utterly Perfect would even consider dwelling within these bodies of earthly, sinful flesh, much less to actually find a way to do such a thing. And yet He does. And it is His good pleasure to do so. What do I mean by “His good pleasure”? Let’s look at a portion of the Apostle Paul’s teaching.
Eph.1:5 : “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the Good Pleasure of His Will...”
Eph.1:9 : “Having made known to us the Mystery of His Will, according to His Good Pleasure which He has purposed in Himself.”
Phil.2:13 : “For it is God Who works in you both to will and to do of his Good Pleasure.”
We can see here that it was God’s “good pleasure” to initiate even a possibility that man could ever be “at one” with God again, for once, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had “walked with God”. They talked, shared and had an intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe; with the God Who ruled over all that was or ever would be. Whether they actually realized their unique relationship or not, we’ll not know until we “see them” one day. Their relationship was very special, and to this day, the Godhead -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- is working in us and through us to restore mankind to this “unique experience”. And God uses His Gifts within the church to accomplish that very thing.
The Father is the One Who gives the Gifts to us, although we’ll see that He does so through the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph.4:7,8). Even as earthly fathers delight to give gifts to their children, so does our Heavenly Father. We see this in the following verses:
Lk.11:13 :
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
Matt.7:11:
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father Who is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?”
I include both of these verses, although they seem identical, because they vary slightly. One, from the very last part of the Sermon on the Mount, tells us the Heavenly Father gives “good things”; the other, from one of the many times Jesus repeated a teaching or a principle, tells us He gives the “Holy Spirit”. Jesus re-taught things, not so much for the sake of the crowds in His presence, but for the sake of His disciples, who would one day repeat these same thoughts and ideas, to teach and build the church on what they had seen and heard. Jesus was laying the “foundation” of the principles for His Church, His Body. The Apostles would later build upon this wonderful foundation, with the Holy Spirit
“bringing to their remembrance” all the things they would need to teach and preach and spread the Word of His Gospel, not to mention all of the epistles (letters to the churches) yet to be written.
The Holy Spirit...Teacher and Reminder
How did the Spirit of the Lord
“remind them” of things? John 14:26 clearly tells us, in the words of Jesus Himself: “But the Comforter, Who is the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He [the Holy Spirit] shall (#1): teach you all things, and (#2): He shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.” This is an amazing thing. Have you ever had an experience when you were in a situation and you needed an answer, and you needed it “right now”? Then suddenly, out of “nowhere” you had a word of encouragement, a word of wisdom, or just a simple solution to some great problem? And in your heart you knew it didn’t come from your own “limited resources”. Very likely it was the Spirit of God “helping you remember something”, or maybe you were being “taught on the spot”.
When Jesus said “the Holy Spirit shall teach you all things, and He shall bring all things to your remembrance”, He literally meant that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to “teach”. John further explains, in 1st John 2:27: “But the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you do not need for any man to teach you; and the same anointing teaches you of all things. That anointing is His Truth, and is not a lie, and even as it [the anointing] has taught you, you shall abide in Him.” There are times in our lives where we learn things by the aid of the Holy Spirit. We learn things man did not teach us or show us. We learned “by the Spirit”. All of us do; we just don’t always know when He is teaching us. Maybe by the end of this lesson, we will understand a little better how the Voice of the Spirit operates, for His Voice is quiet and gentle, and not so easily heard.
Now, back to the disciples...have you ever wondered how they could have remembered all of the many thousands of words Jesus spoke, not to mention the intricate details and the subtle nuances of the many parables and Truths that He taught? After all, John says, in John 21:25 “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” Think how much they would have had to write! I’m glad one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to help us remember, for even as He “teaches” us, He also causes our hearts and minds to recall and remember necessary things. It is one of many things the Holy Spirit does; one of the many Gifts the Father gives to us. Not “total recall” every hour of every day; only when we “need it”; or when the Church or the Body needs it. The Spirit of God “quickened” the disciples to recall and remember and to “see more clearly”. He also did this with the first century church. And what He did for them, He’ll do for us.
Let us again turn to the disciples for a moment; more especially the authors of the four Gospels. Luke, while not an “original twelve”, was still a disciple of the Lord. Have you ever wondered why the four Gospels are all not “exactly alike”? One may change this part and vary on that part. And there may even seem to be some discrepancies, but there really aren’t. Oh, sure, there are “minor differences” in the four Gospels, but these only reflect the different types of people the four writers were, and it also reflects the various moods and thoughts of the Spirit of God as He “aided” them in their writing. He, the Holy Spirit, was the “Inspiration” of the writings in the Gospels (2Timothy 3:16).
The Man, the Lion, the Ox and the Eagle
No, this section of our teaching is not a C.S. Lewis book review, but rather a kind of “preview” of the four gospels in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 1:10 : “As for the likeness of their faces, they each had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side; and they each had the face of an ox and the face of an eagle on the left side.”
The Lion represents the Gospel of Matthew, signifying the King and His royalty. The first chapter shows His royal lineage (the “generation of Jesus Christ”, verse 1); the 2nd chapter begins with the wise men’s search for the King of the Jews; and “kingdom” is spoken of 55 times in the Book of Matthew, more than in any of the other gospels. And let’s not forget the “transformation of Jesus” before Peter, James and John in chapter 17, where they saw just a glimpse of His Kingly Glory.
Mark is typical of the Ox, or the manservant. In the Old Testament, the ox symbolizes working or servitude. We quickly see, in Mark, the service and the ministry of Jesus in progress. Mark “plunges right in” to telling of His work as a Servant to His Father, and Mark never stops; the “catchwords” of Mark (in the KJV) are “straightway” [19 times], “immediately” [17 times], and “forthwith” and “straitly” both 3 times, and the Book of Mark is only 16 chapters long.
Luke reveals the Man, or the “human side” of our Lord and is written in a very practical and casual manner for the “most excellent” Theophilus. [This Theophilus is most generally thought to be a prominent member of the early Christian church, either of the church at Antioch or from a church in Rome (perhaps even a Roman official). Luke also addresses Theophilus in his opening remarks in Acts.] We see mention of Christ’s human suffering that we do not see in the other Gospels, in particular His sweating of “great drops of blood” in Luke 22:44. An angel had just ministered to Him because of His great agony as He prayed (v.43).
Finally, we see in John a picture of the Eagle, who soars to great heights. We see these “heights” beginning in chapter one, where John is taking us to “the beginning” and linking us immediately with Jesus, as the Creator (v.3 ), the Word made flesh (v.14) and the Light shining in the darkness (v.5 ). We see more wonders as Jesus raises the dead Lazarus from his tomb (chapter 11), His secret late-night meeting with Nicodemus ( ch.3), the woman at the well (ch.4 ), the woman taken in adultery (ch.8 ), who is the same woman who later anoints Jesus with the ointment from the famed alabaster box, and who is Mary, sister to Lazarus and Martha ( John 11:1 & 2). All of these encounters with these people in the Gospel of John resulted in the most wonderful of teachings that carried them and now us to great eagle’s heights. The real zenith is found in the passage of chapters 13-17, culminating in the wonderful High Priestly Prayer in 17:1-26.
So, we have seen in John 3:16 that the Father loved us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus; then Jesus reveals (in John 14:26 ) that the Father also sent the Holy Spirit to us. And for what purpose did He do these two things? First, to save us; then, to teach us. He, our Father, only has “good things” to give us, and He also desires to give us the “Holy Spirit”.
The Free Gift
Rom.5:15-18...(Williams Translation -- Chas. B. Williams -- copyright 1937) “One man’s offense” is speaking of the Original Sin of Adam (verse 14). [All brackets are my input--- G.W.Crisp]
(15) “But God’s Free Gift is not at all to be compared with the offense. For if by one man’s offense the whole race of men have died, to a much greater degree God’s Favor and His Gift [the Grace of God, i.e. Salvation] imparted by His Favor through the One Man, Jesus Christ, has overflowed for the whole race of men.
(16) “And the Gift is not at all to be compared with the results of that one man’s sin. For that sentence resulted from the offense of one man, and it meant condemnation [i.e., death]; but the free gift resulted from the offenses of many, and it meant right standing [with God].
(17) “For if by one man’s offense death reigned through that one, to a much greater degree will those who continue to receive the overflow of His Unmerited Favor [Grace] and His gift of rightstanding with Himself, reign in real life through One, Jesus Christ.
(18) “So, as through one offense there resulted condemnation for all men, just so through one act of uprightness there resulted right standing involving life for all men.”
Simply put, Adam’s sinful act of rebellion cost him his wonderfully unique relationship with God and it was sadly passed on down to all men. Then Jesus came along, born of a virgin, and His Righteousness and His continual act of Obedience to His Father (all the way to and through the Cross) restored all of mankind back to that “original relationship” with God. Adam’s Sin Nature was passed to all born of woman, but the Righteous Nature of Jesus Christ was made available to be “passed along” to all Born Again of God. One man’s sin brought death; one Man’s obedience brought Eternal Life. Furthermore,
Rom.6:23 tells us: “...the wages of sin is death; but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” and 2nd Cor.9:15: declares: “Thanks be to God for His Unspeakable Gift”. Finally, we read, in Eph.2:8 : “For by grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourselves. It is the Gift of God...”
We know these verses, but I place them here to remind us and to refresh our hearts as to how Gracious and Merciful God has been to us in giving His Free Gift of Salvation and His Gifts to the Church, and to also call attention to the fact that if He gave these gifts to men and women then, we should expect that He will and does give the same Gifts today. The Father gives “good things”, and the Father gives the Holy Spirit. He gave both to the disciples, to the first century church, and to all who would believe in Him and His “good gifts” after that. Let us, therefore, also believe in our Father’s Goodness. Here are a few more verses, to expand that thought.
John 4:10 : “Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the Gift of God, and Who it is that asks you, ‘Give me to drink’, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you Living Water.”
Acts 2:38 : “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost’.”
Acts 10:45 : “And those of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the Gift of the Holy Ghost was also poured out upon the Gentiles.”
Acts 11:17 : “Forasmuch then as God gave them the same Gift as He did to us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, that I could withstand God?”
And finally, as James 1:17 says, let us know and believe that: “Every Good Gift and every Perfect Gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
When we were saved, we were baptized into Christ Jesus. We received the Holy Spirit, and can call ourselves sons and daughters of God, and even joint-heirs with Jesus. According to Acts 1:4 & 5, there is another baptism. Or is there? Let’s look at where we are so far in understanding the Gifts of the Spirit. To continue this teaching, click HERE.
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