THE GIFTS OF CHRIST TO THE CHURCH

made two provisions for the church: 1) the gift of the various ministries , and

2) the gift of the Holy Spirit . First, let us consider the various ministries that

Jesus gave to the church, for it is through these ministries that all of the provi-

sions of Christ and the Spirit are made available to the church.

THE MINISTRY GIFTS OF CHRIST

The Apostle Paul speaks of these ministry gifts in various places, in various

configurations: Ephesians 4:7-13, Romans 12:3-8, and I Corinthians 12:27-28.

Some believe that all of these gifts are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, I

make a distinction between the gifts of the Spirit, which are manifestations in

which the Spirit manifests Himself--a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge,

discerning of spirits, utterances in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy,

faith, miracles, or healings, and the ministry gifts of Christ--apostles , prophets,

evangelists, pastors, or teachers , which are offices, or persons, or functions set in

the church. The spiritual manifestations appear and disappear momentarily;

however, the ministry gifts of Christ are permanent.

In the letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes concerning the gifts of

Jesus Christ to the church:

Wherefore, he saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:8,11,12).

When Jesus ascended up on high, He gave gifts to men. The gifts that He

gave are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Paul states that

the purpose of the gifts was for

the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the min istry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of the stature of Christ (Eph.

4:12-13).

The immediate purpose of the gifts is "for the work of the ministry, for the

edifying of the body of Christ"; however, the ultimate purpose is to bring each of

us "unto the measure of the fulness of the stature of Christ," to edify the body of

Christ in love.

In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul combines the ministry gifts

and spiritual gifts as he asks certain questions concerning the spirituals:

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues (I Cor. 12:28).

In this passage Paul adds the gifts of helps and governments to the ministry gifts

that we found in Ephesians.

In the letter to the Romans, Paul gives us another schedule, another listing

of the ministry gifts:

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office....Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: Or he that teacheth on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: Or he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness (Rom. 12-4-8).

In this passage Paul adds other gifts to those he set forth in his writings to

the Ephesians and the Corinthians: prophecy, teaching, exhortation, giving,

ministry, ruling, and showing mercy. Some of these, however, we could cross-

reference with the gifts listed in other scriptures: prophecy to the prophet;

teaching to the teacher; ministering or deaconing to government; showing mercy

as one of the helps; ruling also to government; and giving as a separate gift. This

is how I developed the "Spirituals" outline that I am sharing with you.

Since the purpose of all gifts (spiritual and ministry) is to equip the saints for

a work of ministry, I have placed the armor of God (the equipment of the saints) in

the outline, showing that the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and the

ministry gifts of Christ, all contribute to equipping the saints for a work of ministry

that they may be able to edify the body of Christ in love.