Gifts For The Bride - Part 3 Series

This is our third week at discovering the gifts that were presented to the church, the Bride of Christ. So far we have discovered the gifts given to the church by Jesus. These are the equipping gifts. Ephesians 4:11-12 “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

Next we discovered the gifts presented to the church by God the Father. These are the service gifts. Romans 12:6-8 “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

Today we will discover the gifts presented to the church by the Holy Spirit. These are the power gifts. These gifts, as we will discover, are the most misunderstood and often abused gifts that are given. These gifts are given to complete the body of Christ in order to help one another. And everyone here today has one of these gifts prevalent in your life. My desire is that before you leave here today you will have recognized one of these gifts at work in you. Let’s begin by reading the list of gifts presented by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. There are nine gifts listed here. We will briefly look at each one.

The gift of wise advice. James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”

This gift is a combination of two Greek words, logos and sophia. Logos is Greek for word. The logos (word) became flesh. Sophia is Greek for clarity. Therefore it is a gift of speaking an inspired word of clarity into someone’s life. It is making spiritual truths relevant to a situation. If offers practical and proper decision-making in daily life situations.

An industrial titan remembered his farm boyhood. It was his chore to go to the barn in the dark to secure the farm animals before the family bedtime. He dreaded what lurked in the shadows on the way to the distant barn. His father gave him unforgettable advice.

The lantern from the farmhouse would cast its light to the yard gate and no further. When he came to the yard gate, the lantern cast its light to the corral fence and no further. When he came to the corral fence, the lantern cast its light to the windmill and no further. When he came to the windmill, the lantern cast its light to the barn door. The father reminded the frightened boy that he had only to go as far as the light took him, with the assurance that the light would take him further at the next point of need.

Simple advice that he took with him into the business world.

Gift of special knowledge.

Ephesians 4:13 “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

This gift is designed to bring maturity to the body of Christ. It is having a unique perception of the scripture. It goes beyond reading and memorizing. It is the ability to peel back the layers of the word for a greater understanding. It is an uncommon ability to explain scripture in such a way that the knowledge shared with others will be clear. It will reflect the standard of Jesus shared throughout the word.