God’s Gifts to His Church

Transcript

GR 2322
07/04/2021
God’s Gifts to His Church
Ephesians 4:7-8
Gil Rugh

We’ll be going to Ephesians chapter 4 in your Bibles. Ephesians and the fourth chapter. You know, with all that’s going on in the world, it’s good for us to be reminded and keep before us that the most important thing going on in the world today, is that Jesus Christ is building His church. Remember He promised and prophesied, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against us.

This is the period of time in which we live, called the Church Age. It began in Acts chapter 2 and will climax with the rapture of the church at any time. So, as we see even the deterioration and seeming crumbling of even our own country, internal dissension, disintegration, we know how it all ends. Important for us as the church, to keep our focus where God says our focus must be. Paul’s writing a letter to the church at Ephesus. Remember, he’s writing this while he’s a prisoner in Rome. He wrote four of these epistles while a prisoner, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. Ephesus was not a easy place to be the church of Jesus Christ. Remember in the book of Acts, Paul had much difficulty there when he preached the Word. It was a center of pagan worship. A world center of pagan worship. We get discouraged when we see what takes place around us. And it is disappointing but we’re reminded the whole world lies in the evil one. We see in Ephesians chapter 2, reminds you that we “were dead in our trespasses and sins.” We “formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in sons of disobedience.” So, we just have perhaps revealed in a fuller more clear way, what the bible says has been true. We oughtn’t to think, well this time we’re living in is all so difficult, so disheartening.

The church at Ephesus knows what it was like to live in the literal shadow of the temple of the goddess that was honored with so much of the world, That was the center of commercial as well as religious activity for the city as we saw as we looked at the book of Acts, as a background for Ephesus. Yet in all this as Paul writes the letter to the Ephesians, the political situation, those kind of world problems are not as focused. The Spirit of God directs him to write a letter to the church at Ephesus about what the church is to be. And the worse the situation is in the world around us the more important it is that the church be everything that God says it must be.

So, Paul has been writing to show that God is doing something new in the world, in this period of time. That period of time that began with Acts chapter 2. He’s created something new. Prior to this He had dealt with the nation Israel as a nation. His work of salvation in the world was focused in the nation Israel. With the rejection of Christ as their Messiah, the nation came under judgment. God is not done with the nation Israel. The church has not replaced Israel. But Israel has been set aside, if you will, and the focus of God’s work of salvation in the world. And He’s created a new entity for this period of time. We saw that in chapter 2:11 and down into chapter 3. It is a new man, a new body, a new building. A series of metaphors picture the church. And now He’s developing, it’s important to understand, the newness of the church as He’s bringing people of diversity together into one body. The focal point there was Jews and Gentiles. Whatever the background of those Gentiles, they’re being brought together with the Jews into a new entity called the church. It includes Jews. But the focal point of the church will be in the Gentile world. The nation Israel, as a nation is under the judgment of God. Their worst days are yet before them. But then their best days will finally come. But that’s after the judgments of Revelation chapter 6 to 19, that seven year period called the tribulation. After the church is removed.
So, very important to realize the special place that we have in the purposes of God. What He is doing in the world today focuses in the church. And we need to be clear and understand that. Paul reminds them, as chapter 4 opens up, that he is a prisoner of the Lord, as he writes to exhort them. He’s a prisoner of Rome, he’s been imprisoned by the Romans at the motivation of the Jews, but all of this is secondary, as we’ve talked about. He’s a prisoner of the Lord. And he comes as a result of his service to the Lord. Sometimes the more faithful you are, the more difficult your life may be. Because the opposition grows as we’ll see when we get to chapter 6 of Ephesians. We are not in a war against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.

So, we need to be careful “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called.” That was the subject of the first three chapters. God’s work of salvation and calling us to new life in Christ. That was part of God’s sovereign plan before the foundation of the world. We saw that in Ephesians 1. We’re to walk worthy. One man wrote a commentary, ‘Keeping in Step with the Spirit’, about the work of the Spirit, J. I. Packer. It’s good and the title is good. We’re to walk in a manner worthy. Another way to put that, walk in step with the Spirit. We want to walk in conformity with God’s will. If the church gets out of step in its walk that God has ordained, then the testimony of light in the darkness gets dimmed. Then pretty soon the church gets conformed to the world. So, we’re to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we’ve been called. That will take humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, because God’s put us together in a body. And His purpose is to put us together with our differences. That is the testimony of something unique. Our own country is being torn apart because of differences. But the church is to stand out as something unique. God put us together in spite of our differences. Because He’s joined us in a spiritual relationship which supersedes everything. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Gentile or if you’re a Jew, if you’re a slave or you’re a master and so on. We are one body in Christ. And we have to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in verse 3. The Spirit has produced the unity. That’s not something we have to create. But we have to be careful we don’t fracture it. We don’t weaken it. And he emphasized that oneness by mentioning the word ‘one.’ Using the ‘one’ seven times, in verses 4,5 and 6. One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. And you note that that one but that is all encompassing, because it’s one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all and in all. Four times, he uses the word ‘all,’ in that one verse, verse 6.

God’s working, He pulls us together. I don’t want to be working against Him. So His character will have to be evident in my life. Working in my life. Being produced in my life. That was verses 2 and 3, we’re in a relationship of oneness. That means in this love I’m operating for the good of the other person. It’s an unselfish love. It’s not thinking about me, it’s thinking about you. And we’re bound together that way. And even though there is a oneness and God has pulled us all together and He is working in us and through us and in all of us, there is a diversity. But it’s not the diversity that the world would look at. It’s not the external diversity, it is a spiritual unity that produces a spiritual diversity. And it doesn’t work against itself, it works in concert.

So, verse 7 begins, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s grace.” You saw in verses 4,5 and 6 that there is one, we are one unit. And God, the one God and Father, who is the Father of all of us as His children, “who is over all and through all and in all.” But now, lets get down to the individual, “But to each one of us.” So, you understand the unity. Now, lets understand the diversity, is what Paul is saying. Let’s talk about each one of us individually. Not particularly our nationality, not particularly our social standing. We don’t want to know, emphasizes that. The world thinks, well we’ve got to focus on these external things and resolve them. God wants us to understand, it is the work of salvation that He has accomplished in bringing us together, creating the unity. Has also provided for the necessary spiritual diversity. So, it’s not a bland oneness. It’s a beautiful, multifaceted, multicolored diversity. And each one of us has been uniquely prepared, gifted by God to make a contribution to the one body. And that’s why this is the common analogy, not the only analogy or metaphor, but the common one, of the body. This is one body, talking about our physical body, but it has a diversity of parts, put with all their differences and all their uniqueness, what happens? That functions together when it’s functioning properly, and each part is functioning as it should, in a beautiful harmony. And the body then is functioning as it should. That’s the picture here. It’s so simple, there’s no reason to misunderstand it. It’s not complicated. The picture almost explains itself, but we’re still going to go through it. And I was looking, probably this is the passage of scripture we’ve been to more than any other single passage in all the Bible. Because it tells us how we function as a church. God’s plan for us. People go all over, and I’m always being invited to join this group or become part of this or get this material that will enable the church. Well, we just go to the Word and find out what the Bible says about the church. It’s God’s church right? It’s Jesus Christ who is the head of the body, the church as we saw at the end of chapter 1 of Ephesians. Let’s go and find out what He says.

Here’s what He’s doing, “To each one of us,” that’s individually, “grace was given.” Grace was given. Here, we saw God’s grace brought us salvation, back in chapter 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” That salvation is “not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Grace brought us salvation. But the grace that brought us salvation and joined us to Christ so we are now in Him, also joined us to one another as believers. So, the grace here, the aspect of grace being emphasized in verse 7, is the gift that God has given us. The part that we will have, to contribute to the body of Christ, so that we can grow together in harmony as a unity. Bringing different abilities, we contribute something unique and different, but it’s all part of God’s plan that we can be a one unified body.

Again, the picture of the physical body is obvious. Every part contributes something differently. But they all work together when they are functioning as they should. But under the direction of the head. Jesus Christ, we’re told in Ephesians 1, is the head of the body. The Spirit of God is working in and through us. God the Father is accomplishing His purposes in and through us. So, all of this can work in perfect harmony. If not, it means there’s a breakdown. Sometimes in our physical body, a part of the body doesn’t function as it should. That inhibits the body. It keeps it from its normal, sometimes we compensate for it, but the body is limited.

A number of years ago, I had some mini strokes. One evening on a Saturday evening, I’m working at my desk for Sunday morning, and get up to walk around and my arm was dead. And I couldn’t do anything. I could lift it up, but it was just like a piece of wood. Now, I could decide, well I’ve got another one, that’s good enough. It’s why the Lord gave you two. You don’t need both. I thought, well it’s true. If I never got the function of that back, you could go on. But to that extent, the body is limited. I loose something by not having that capacity. Naturally then I go to see and get it worked out. The body goes on. And when parts don’t function, the body goes on, but the church is not as effective as it would be if every part contributed what God intended.

So, verse 7, “to each one of us grace was given.” Back in chapter 3, Paul wants to use himself as an example. Look at verse 7, “of which I was made a minister,” a servant, “according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me.” There he’s talking about his gift as an apostle. So, he could contribute. He says, I want you to understand why I am able to contribute in the way I am. It was God’s grace given to me. There he’s talking about a special gift beyond just the broad gift of salvation, not minimizing that, but then there’s a special application of that grace, that when He saved you, He’s placing you into the body. He just doesn’t make a collection of body parts. But when He saves you, He also at that time has the Spirit of God take up residence within you and that gives you a gift. The Spirit will give you an ability to contribute to the body in a special way. Now, you don’t necessarily recognize that. It doesn’t come with a note, ‘your gift is…’ And again, the picture of the body is as you would expect. What happens, a new born baby has all the parts but it’s a process of each part knowing what it is to do. Sometimes you put something on their fingers so they don’t scratch their face. They don’t know yet. But each part has a special role, it will take development. So, when you’re first saved, you say, oh my gift is, I’ll pick it out. No, you want to recognize what gift you already have. Because this is something given you by God. You don’t earn it. You don’t get it because, well I’ve worked hard enough, now God’s given me… You may develop your gift, but God has given you the gift from the time you were born into the body.

So, come back to Ephesians 4. These are sovereignly given by God, grace was given, by calling that gift a grace. The word ‘gift’, that we call them gifts, we have a word ‘charismatic’ that’s used in a theological position, but it comes from the word, the word grace is ‘charis’, the word gift is ‘charisma’. So, you can see it’s focus is on grace. These are grace gifts, so you don’t earn them, you don’t work for them, you don’t merit them. That’s part of what God has provided in the package of our salvation. So, that you’ll be able to be used of Him, in the body of Christ that is being built, the church, in a way that honors Him.

“Grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Let me just pick that up here and then I want to look at some other passages. According to the measure of Christ’s gift. Christ measures it out. So you not only get a gift, but you get the proper amount of that gift. Now, be careful in what we’re saying here. But not everybody is gifted to the same degree. And I need to realize that. I don’t, well boy I have to compare myself to pastors and teachers, boy if I keep working, I will be where they are.

I had a pastor a number of years ago, we were at a conference together and he pastored a very large church in a very beautiful city. And he asked me, we were having a conversation, Gil why do you stay in Lincoln? I said, well I need the money. That’s where they pay me. No, that’s not what I said. But I could understand, you know you think well, you move up, you move on. I said well, I called him by name, I said it’s where God put me and I really don’t want to be anywhere else. But you know, part of it was probably because God had gifted him with a greater measure than He gave me. So, it would be no good for me to say, well if I work hard I’ll earn stepping up. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t sometimes move us to different places and moves pastors to different churches. Sometimes He’s giving them experience and moves them to another work. But He’s measured out the gift. I can never be someone else. And that’s true of each of the gifts. So, the goal for me is to find out what my gift is and to use it to the maximum of my potential.

I sometimes in my conversations at my desk with the Lord, say Lord if you had given me a better mind, I could do a better job. As though it was His fault. Then I sort of hear this voice, understand this right, Gil’s gone full blown charismatic, the Lord’s talking to him. No, but I hear that voice in my mind, use what you have. You know, that’s the challenge for me, what God has gifted me with, the measure of the gift He’s given me, I want to use to it’s full potential. But I may never be like this other person. But I don’t have to be. Because I will be accountable for using what God gave me, to the fullest extent. So, it’s measured out by Christ’s gift. This is all why the sovereignty of God, as we started back in chapter 1, is so crucial to understanding all this. And realize, I’m part of God’s sovereign work. And sometimes people come to a church that is large and say, I don’t know, there’s probably nothing I can do here. They have a lot of people. We don’t have one extra person because God doesn’t work that way. Now, if you’re not a believer, you’re just here as an observer. But if you are a believer, God’s gifted you, He has something for you to contribute to make this body more effective in what He wants you to do.
I think the gifts are focused in the local church. There’s sometimes this discussion, well Ephesians is talking about the universal church. I don’t make much of a distinction. I understand the universal church includes everyone, from, includes the whole Church Age from Acts 2 down to the rapture. We’ll be part of the bride of Christ, the universal church. But the gifts are given in the context of the local church because that’s primarily where we function. And even when, we’ll talk about this when we get to the gifts, when some are sent out, they’re usually connected with a home church or a local church. Even though they may be sent out, like an evangelist to use their gift in far places.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 1, just a little bit before Ephesians. 1 Corinthians 1, he’s writing to the local church at the Greek city of Corinth. In verse 4, he’s mentioned verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 1, I’m writing “to the church of God which is at Corinth.” You note, its God’s church at Corinth. It means Jesus Christ is the head of the church. That’s the appointed place for Him. He’s writing “to those who have been sanctified,” they’re saints. We noted that’s the same basic word in Greek, it means to be ‘set apart.’ You’re a saint because you’re set apart from sin, you’re holy, same word. “Sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.” And that joins them with saints in other places. But, he says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you,” you the church at Corinth, “for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.” A grace that brought them salvation but more than that, or in addition to that, or as part of that, may be better. “That in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift.” So you see, the church at Corinth was not lacking in any gift. So, the effectiveness wasn’t that God had failed to provide the right gifted people, but there is concern. Something is going on at Corinth. These gifted people weren’t all functioning as they should as God’s gifted people. And that’s what Paul has to correct. But you’ll note, you were “not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you” blameless because of the provision He has made for us. But it’s of concern that you’re not functioning as you should. And you’re aware of the letter to the Corinthians.

Come back to Ephesians 4. And we’re going to look at a few passages. These gifts are given, in verse 7, this statement summarizes much of what we’re going to say, so we look at some of the details. They were “given”. They are grace gifts given. So, since grace is given, it’s not earned, it’s not merited. It’s not given because you worked harder. Your gift will be more effective if you’re more diligent in developing it and using it. But you won’t earn a better gift, a more important gift, a more recognized gift. You have the gift from the time you’re born, so there’s no sense in fighting over it, thinking well I should… What I really want to know is, where God has put me, what He’s gifted me to be in the body. And then maximize that as much as I can. We’re going to see that.

Come back to Romans 12. Look at some parallel passages. There’s three in particular, passages that develop spiritual gifts. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, Ephesians 4. And then you add 1 Peter 4, that has just two verses, but they’ll have a significance we’ll mention. Let’s look at Romans 12. We studied Romans recently. The first eleven chapters laid the doctrine just as Paul did in the first three chapters of Ephesians. Then with chapter 12 he says, now let’s put that doctrine to work, into practice. So, chapter 12 opened up in verse 1, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” Now, what you do with your body, how you conduct yourself, how you live, based on the mercies of God, what He has done for us in His work of salvation. Now we’re living it out. That’s why we said, justification and sanctification, to use just those two terms, are distinct but they are never separate. Because God’s work of salvation is a package. So, His instruction here, and where does it immediately go? Just as Paul did in Ephesians 4, to spiritual gifts, and how the church at Rome was to be functioning. He said in verse 3, “For through the grace given to me,” Paul’s gift. Not only the gift of salvation but the gift that enables him to have the ministry of an apostle that he has. “Through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you.” This is a word from God. I’m an apostle, the Spirit of God reveals God’s truth to me. We have it contained in the book of Romans. He’s writing here, I say to every one of you, “not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement.” Sound judgement, don’t think more highly. You know, I should be used in a greater way here, I am somewhat of an important person. Think soundly. Now that’s not to say, well I don’t have anything really to contribute, everybody has more, that’s not thinking soundly either. That’s an affront to God. God, you did a poor job, you really didn’t gift me with anything worthwhile. When He said He measured out His grace to you. That’s not humility, that’s arrogance, just the other side. Still pride, I’m telling God He made a mistake. He doesn’t! Think as to have sound judgement. What’s that mean? “As God has allotted to each,” here’s God’s sovereignty, “to each one a measure of faith.” There’s that measure again. Christ measured out the gift, His grace. He measured out the faith. And it basically is, my faith, not the original faith which is the beginning of an ongoing life of faith, to trust God to use me with the gift He’s given me. And that’s part of what my gift is. I trust God, in each of the gifts used in your own unique way. And you’re trusting God, yes and you see that God can use me here. I want to trust Him and I want to grow in the using of my gift. “As God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Again, it’s God’s sovereignty in it. But I have responsibility. That’s what He’s instructing. You better think biblically. And now conduct yourself biblically. “Just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” God does not repeat Himself just because He wants to have a longer book. This is material we’re to understand. As simple as it is, the church begins to drift from it. The sound doctrine, the teaching that formed the foundation. We just overlook that and say, let’s just talk about how we should function. No, we’ve got to understand what the foundation is. And it’s God’s sovereignty in doing it. We’re not battling one another for preeminence and prominence, because God has appointed the position. We have “one body in Christ,” verse 5.

Crucial, in Christ. And who is the head of this one body as we function in our connection to Him? We’re “individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ,” here we go, “according to the grace given to us.” So, there it is again. The grace was given to us to function in a certain way. That doesn’t mean that’s the only thing you do. We all are to be merciful, show mercy. Some have the gift of mercy and they will be especially effective and used of God in a special way in our ministry together as a body. Others have a gift of serving. Others have a gift of teaching. Others have a gift of… and you go on through the list of the gifts that He’ll develop more fully in 1 Corinthians. He’ll talk about some of them here.

Whatever our gift, if it’s prophecy (and we’ll talk about the gifts more in our next study) a person who received direct revelation, you do it “according to the proportion of his faith.” Again, it’s a balance. Not every prophet is going to be an Isaiah, to use an Old Testament prophet as an example. We have in our book, some that we call minor prophets. And they are of a smaller size. Not every prophet was going to be used in the way and extent that Isaiah was. You can use that as the parallel. But that doesn’t mean that Obadiah wasn’t important and didn’t have a contribution to make. Now he’s not part of the church of the body of Christ, but just seeing the contrast in the gifts and abilities that God gives. So, in the church there will be some like apostles, but who’s the most well-known? I said, what apostles could you name? Well right off I could name Paul, Peter, John, and then we start to think, some of the others are less well known. Well, that’s the way God worked.

If your gift is service, then concentrate on your serving. Again, it won’t be the only thing you do. But that’s where you will focus your attention. And you’ll find yourself. How do we find our gift? We’ll talk about that in another study but, basically look for something that needs to be done. Lord, where could you use me in the body? How could I be used? And then the more you function the more you get it narrowed down and focus. And you’ll say, well there’s probably areas here I gravitate to more. I seem to be more effective here, other people see my effectiveness here, encourage me in it. God’s using me here. Obviously, that will take more of your time then some of the other things. That’s why God made us different. And some of us will find more joy and fulfilment in one area than the other. I’m a very merciful person, but it’s probably not my gift. I won’t elaborate on that. But, I appreciate God brings people in that have this gift. And they can bring something to it that I can only do in a small way compared to what they can do. My prayer time, I pray for them and thank God for them and the way they contribute to the strengthening of our body and its growth. And the way on my own I never would. God didn’t create the church to be one entity. The weakness of some churches who hire a pastor to be everything. I think a strength of Indian Hills is that so many people contribute in so many ways. It’s what the body is to be. If you’re serving, the gift of service, then serve. Teaching, teach. Exhortation… he walks through these different gifts.

In it all, love has to be without hypocrisy. What drives this, if I’m really functioning always thinking about you, the other person. It’s a sacrificial, self-giving love. We spent some time last time reading 1 Corinthians 13 again, just a part of that. It’s good to remind ourselves, because it’s about the other person. What can I contribute? That’s how it develops and grows. We’re “devoted to one another in brotherly love.” Preferring “one another in honor,” verse 10, being “diligent.” All of this enables us to function being unselfish. And times, we’ll be overlooked. Times we won’t be appreciated. Times someone else may get credit for what we did, and we’re glad about it. Because what really matters is, God worked, and His purposes were done. And that nobody thanked me. I realize I get a uniqueness, I get more encouragement and more expressions of appreciation because of my prominence. But it’s what everybody is contributing to this body that makes it effective.

Come over after Romans to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And I think it’s important that the most extensive development of spiritual gifts is in 1 Corinthians chapters 12,13 and 14. And you know what chapter 13 is about? Love. Love. Why? Because it is the thing we’ll constantly come back to. What’s the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned? The fruit of the Spirit, love. God is love. It’s not all He is, but 1 John develops, that’s why if we say we love God, and we don’t love one another, the truth is not in us, we’re liars. Because when we love God, He produces in us a love for His other children. And that’s how it goes. So, here we are in 1 Corinthians 12. Note here, and you’ll note the emphasis on the diversity and the unity. Verse 4, “there are varieties of gifts,” that’s the diversity, “but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries,” ways of serving, “and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects,” workings, activity, “but the same God who works all things in all persons.” Very similar to what we had in Ephesians 4:6, the God who works in all. You’ll note the diversity but the unity. And you’ll note here, all three persons of the triune God are at work in what God is doing. Verse 4, its the same Spirit. Verse 5, it’s the same Lord, referring to Christ. Verse 6, it’s the same God, referring to the Father. You see how important it is, what God is doing in the world, in the church today, is the most important thing going on in the world. We’re talking about in the context of salvation. Of course God is working His purposes in the world, moving it toward its ultimate destination and coming judgement. But right now, the most important thing going on is, you know, not what’s taking place in our country. We all ought to be concerned about the deterioration. Paul doesn’t have anything to say about the political, moral deterioration going on in the city of Ephesus because the most important thing is, the church be the church. Function as it should in this world that is walking according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. We don’t expect anything but sin and rebellion against God from the world. The church stands out. And of course that makes it a target. That makes it the center opposition. We’ll get to that in Ephesians 6 with our war against spiritual forces. The whole world lies in the evil one. So, we can expect to be the target, not only individually but corporately as the body of Christ in this place.

There’s that diversity but the unity. “To each one,” verse 7, here we go. “Each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It’s not for you, it’s for others. That’s why love is so important. The manifestation, the evidence of the Spirit of God in your life, is that you are making a contribution to the body. Some people think, well you know I have a Bible, I have the Spirit, I can stay home, I’ll watch TV. Maybe there are physical reasons you are at home. Maybe there are limitations. God accounts for that. That enables the body to function in ministry with you. You pray for the church even though you’re not here. You’re not able to come. I have people who have the gift of mercy who may contact, a gift of encouragement to encourage you because you can’t be here. God is always doing the right thing. We wouldn’t want to discourage because I can’t come, so I’m really not part of the body, we are. Paul is in prison, he’s not attending church every day. He’s not, but he’s still part of the body. So, don’t misunderstand. But when we choose to absent ourselves from the body, we choose to just to be an observer, where’s the manifestation of the Spirit? “The manifestation of the Spirit,” according to this verse, I didn’t say it, you read it. “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” And he’s talking about it in the context of the gifts. Expected, everybody is going to be functioning. Now, that doesn’t mean everybody will have the same kind of visibility in their function. We have people who are working and making contribution and very few people know what they’re doing and what takes place. What a difference they’re making.

That would be true of people who right now are limited. About the only thing they can do is pray for us. We’ll find out, well it’s their prayers being answered, they’re making a big contribution. I remember an old saint, now with the Lord, that one day, here’s my prayer week. And every week she had broken down the body. I pray for each elder on this day of the week, I pray for the deacons on this day of the week, I pray for the Sunday school teachers, I pray for these workers. Every week had been broken up in the prayer list, so she’s encompassing the whole body in her prayers. Maybe not able to be here regularly, put she’s making a contribution to the body. So whatever, that’s what we’re talking about here.

It’s a manifestation of the Spirit. You can just sit every week, watch and then go home and on your way. You think, Lord do I really have the Spirit? How are You using me in the body? I’m going to give an account for this gift. We’re all slaves in the house of the Master to use a different metaphor. And we’re to be about His work. The spiritual gifts are called in verse 6, they are a variety of effects, that’s the word for ‘workings’. That means you’re doing something. That’s what they are, they are ways of serving. And then he goes on to different gifts and the variety of the gifts. Then we come to verse 11, “But one and the same Spirit works (in) all these things.” So, you see Ephesians chapter 4:6, that one God and Father is working and all the ways, those four uses of ‘all’, here we keep coming back. One in the same Spirit works all these things. So, there’s a unity there, produced because the Spirit is working in your life, my life, someone else’s life. He doesn’t conflict with Himself, it’s one Spirit working.

Now there’s a different spirit working in your life. There are different spirits in the world. But they are not from God. And we studied Jude together, those people living in the body caused descensions. Read Jude, toward the end there. These are the ones who caused descensions, they are devoid of the Spirit. So, they don’t fit. It’s like a foreign object, you know that’s invaded your body. Now, the body is diseased and pretty soon it’s working against itself. That’s what happens in the church. It’s one and the same Spirit working all these things. Distributing to each one, individually just as He wills. So again, I realize I’m repeating myself but it’s what the Spirit of God directed Paul to write. It’s God sovereignly, He has distributed the gifts as He wills. So, I can be sure I have the gift that God has given me. You have the gift that He’s given you. He’s measured out that gift for you. So, what you give an account for, is using that gift to the maximum in submission to the Spirit to help the body grow. That’s what all of us will do. Well, it doesn’t seem that it’s that important. It doesn’t matter, I won’t do the evaluation. And Lord, I’m happy, I’m pleased to be unnoticed. I’m but a slave in Your house. I praise You for Your grace that would use me in whatever way You would choose to use me. I’m like a pouting child, I’m not going to function, they don’t give me any recognition. I don’t think they consider me important. It’s not what others think of me, it’s what the One will be my judge evaluates me as. Have I been a good and faithful slave? That’s what we’re talking about with our gifts.

By one Spirit, verse 13, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free,” we all partake of one Spirit. “For the body is not one member, but many.” Verse 18, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” Verse 20, “But now there are many members, but one body.” How many times does God have to repeat this for us? You know why He repeats it? We quickly drift away. And so, individually, I have a responsibility, but corporately we have a responsibility. I want to be sure I am where I ought to be in my thinking, as a believer. And as part of the body. And the body helps me. I’ve had people help along the way. Gil, I don’t think your gift is in this area. I appreciate them telling me that. Because others can recognize where God is using me. They may encourage me to try this, to do this. And we do a variety of things. I’m not going to do anything until I know what my gift is. No, like that little child. A baby born, they just start functioning. Everything’s going every which way, and over time each part finds its place. We’ll talk a little bit more about that in a future study.

Come back to Ephesians. All of that out of verse 7. You see, Paul has to write it again when he wrote to the Romans. He writes it again when he writes to the Corinthians. He writes it to the Ephesians. It’s the Spirit of God, God wants His church to function the way He says. “Therefore it says,” he’s going to support it with an Old Testament reference. There was no church in the Old Testament, it didn’t begin until Acts 2. But what was said in the Old Testament is applicable here. Because the same God is working in the same way. The God who brought victory to Israel, conquered its enemies and also made the provisions for Israel. Now we have here, that’s what Christ did. “Therefore it says,” verse 8, ‘When He ascended on high, He lay captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’ ” The picture, we won’t go back to Psalm 68, you could read the entire Psalm. And it’s in the context of the victorious Lord coming down, so to speak, to bring victory to Israel. And then defeating the foe and returning, if you will. And the picture of God coming back on behalf of His people. Like we talk about God visiting. And then receiving the honor and gifts, and then bestowing the gifts. So, this is what happened, Christ what? He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives. Who are we talking about here? I think we’re talking about the Devil and His host, defeated enemy. I will talk a little bit about, we won’t get to it this time. I have a note in my notes, discuss this if there’s time. We’re not going to get to that, if there’s time, but next time we’ll talk a little bit about, did Christ descend to hell and so on. But what happened, He ascended on high. When did He ascend on high? Acts 1, no problem there. “He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.”

Let’s just look at that last statement. “He gave gifts to men.” That’s what He’s talking about, right? What did He say He would do when He returned to the Father as is covered in detail in John’s gospel, chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, in there He says, what is necessary I leave you so that the Holy Spirit can come. I will send the Holy Spirit to you. Acts 1, as He’s getting ready to ascend, the Holy Spirit will come upon you shortly. Ten days later the Holy Spirit comes. What does the Holy Spirit do? He brings gifts, the gifts that the Spirit would dispense to men within the plan of God the Father, God the Son. So, He gave gifts to men, that’s the context of the gifts, they are a result of the ascension to heaven. He’s creating what? Back in chapter 2 of Ephesians, verse 15, the last line there, “so that in Himself, He might make the two,” Jew and Gentile, “into one new man.” The new entity here, the new body, the new man. You need the gifts because they are all parts of this new man, new body. That’s what He’s talking about, He gave gifts to man. I take it that it’s in the context, His ascension is His victory, and it shows that He conquered the Devil, sin. Because remember that’s the issue back in chapter 2:2, “you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived,” and so on. But it was the death of Christ, remember in John 12, as Jesus concludes His public ministry. Chapter 13, you begin the last night, with the last supper and so on. He said, now the prince of this world will be judged, cast out. Judgement is brought. His death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection and ascension, He completed the provision of salvation. He conquered sin and death and the Devil.

Come over to chapter 2 of Colossians, and he’s talking in the same kind of context of what Christ did, His death on the cross and so on. Verse 15, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” He defeated the Devil. All the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of Christ because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, but it constantly reminded the people the penalty for sin is death. You need a sacrifice that could take your place. The animals can just picture what you need, reminds you of your need. When Christ came, He did what was necessary to bring salvation which involved defeating the Devil, freeing us totally from our sin. Those who were following the Devil, the captivity captive, were the Devil. We’ll talk more about that in some parallel passages. But we’ll leave it there now.

We’ll pick up in the middle and move on because we’ll have to pick up verse 9 now in Ephesians 4. “This expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above the heavens, so that He might fill all things.” This is part of the package that Christ accomplished in His death. So that now, salvation is offered as a free gift. You don’t have to live under the power of the Devil, his authority, controlled by you sin, your selfish lusts. A life that’s all about me. A life of hopelessness from despair to misery. Christ came to set us free. He defeated the Devil. We can live new lives. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And when He makes you free, he cleanses you, forgives you, brings you into relationship with God Himself and with every other believer. Then He brings us together in a fellowship as a church. To function in a way that we can grow, mature and manifest the power and wonder of His saving grace.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for the riches of Your word. Thank You for the time You spend in instructing us. In laying out in detail, clearly, picturing it simply, showing us just like our physical body, one body with many parts. So the spiritual body of Christ is one body with many parts. And in Your grace, You’ve gifted each individual with an ability to make an important, significant contribution, so that Your church in each place can function as a testimony of Your power. And bringing unity among those who are so different with a diversity that simply builds the unity and helps it to grow. Thank You for bringing us together as a local church. Pray You’ll bless our testimony for You in these days, as we grow to be more like Christ. Commit the day before us, to You, in Christ’s name. Amen.