Ephesians 4:7-12

Introduction

In ancient Rome a general would lead his army out to war. The battle would be fought and the enemy defeated. Then there would be a return to Rome. This return was a triumphant one. He would march his army through the streets in a big parade of celebration.

At the end of the parade would be the defeated foe. These opposing generals and leaders would be paraded through the streets as vanquished foes.

The general would also parade the spoils from his victory in these parades as well. These would be distributed to his followers.

Jesus stepped out of Heaven and came to earth in order to do battle against our mortal enemies. He descended to earth.

Philippians 2:6-8

Philippians 2:6–8 ESV

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

He died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. In His cross He defeated Satan, the demons and spiritual forces of darkness at work against us. He defeated sin and death. Colossians 2:15

Colossians 2:15 CSB

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

After the battle was won and He rose from the dead and walked the earth for 40 days as a testimony to His victory.

Then He ascended from the earth back to heaven. Heaven had a victory parade for the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. Satan, sin, death and the defeated spiritual forces of darkness were shown the defeated foes at the end of the procession.

Then God poured out His Holy Spirit upon mankind. If He had never left the earth and ascended to heaven this outpouring would have never happened.

Many of us would have preferred that Jesus remain on the earth. We would have loved the opportunity to see His face and hear His voice. But had He not ascended we would never have had the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Never been infilled with the Spirit, given gifts of grace for His work.

Remember, we are called to good works. God prepared those works in advance. He gifted us the resources, gifts and power to get the job done.

Grace

The sevenfold Ones were the focus of the first half of the chapter. These are the things that unite us and make for Christian unity. Now we look at what makes us each unique.

Part of what makes us unique is our unique share in the spoils. We are each given gifts and grace from our victorious Savior for His service.

Grace was given to each one of us — To each one of us is given a measure of grace to fulfill a unique role within the Body of Christ.

We all have a calling on our life. This call is to serve God in a particular ministry and glorify Him while serving the needs of His Kingdom.

Our calling is unique to us. No two callings are exactly alike. Every calling is important and necessary. If we neglect our calling the Kingdom suffers loss of what we are meant to add to it. Someone else will need to pull our weight for what we have left undone.

This calling is to do ministry — To serve one another. This can be anything and everything. It is how we love each other. We are meant to serve one another and in so doing build up the Body of Christ…His church.

But, God never leaves us to ourselves in order to fulfill our calling. He never leaves us to our own wisdom, resources or strength in doing the good works He has prepared for us to be a part of doing with Him.

When Jesus ascended the Spirit came and gave each of us spiritual gifts and grace so that we might have be a part of His work on earth.

The gifts and grace are a sovereign work of God. This means that it is not a product of our merit or asking. God decides what our calling with be and He assigns the gifts and grace to each one of us.

God has made you the way He has for a purpose. He created you just the way you are with a purpose in mind. He has filled you with His Holy Spirit and given you grace so that your purpose might be accomplished to His glory.

At this point there is the question of what and how. What is my purpose and how do I accomplish it?

God has given additional gifts to help us along the journey to our purpose and triumph in Christ...

Additional Gifts

We all need mentors, teachers and guides through life. They are a needed and necessary part of our journey. We need those who will equip, train and ready us for the calling God has placed upon our life.

God knows this and the gifts of Apostles, prophets, evangelists and the pastor/teacher are His gifts to meet this need.

Apostles — They were eye-witnesses to the life, ministry and resurrection of Jesus. They preserved and protected the doctrine Jesus taught.

We no longer have the office of Apostle on earth because we no longer have human beings who had a front row seat to the earthly ministry of Christ. We also have the canon of the New Testament which has preserved the message and teachings of Christ.

Prophets — These perform a preaching function in the church and speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Prophets are men and women who are given a special word from the Lord to give to the Body of Christ.

The prophecies of the prophets are for the purpose of glorifying God, building up the body and guiding believers into the purposes of God for them.

But we must always hold such to the plumbline of scripture. No prophecy can ever contradict scripture. And they must always come true or they are not of God.

Evangelists — Those who proclaim the gospel. These were missionaries as well. They were itinerant preachers who proclaimed the Gospel everywhere they went.

Pastor/teachers — These two are one and the same person. A man called to this position performs a dual function. He is called to shepherd the flock of God and instruct them in divine truth.

Pastor/teachers are with you for the long haul. Their ministry is not an itinerant one. They are with you day by day, week by week to love, guide, direct and help. They continuously build upon the ministry done by the Apostles, prophets and evangelists.

Together, all four of these gifts from God: Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers, are given to the church so that they might equip the saints for works of service so the Body of Christ might be built up.

Next Sunday we are going to dive much more deeply into what this equipping entails. But the important take away for us this morning is...

Conclusion

First — Jesus has won! We are not fighting a war with an uncertain outcome. We are fighting from a position of victory already attained. Jesus descended, fought on our behalf and ascended the victor in glorious procession.

He has paraded the defeated spiritual forces of darkness as vanquished foes. He has now given the grace attained in His victory to each of us according to the calling on each of our lives.

Second — Each of us have a unique place in the Kingdom of God.

Third — The necessary resources, wisdom and power to get the job done are given us through Christ. He has given gifts to His people.

Fourth — God has given us help along the way through those called to equip us for our task. He gave Apostles to protect the deposit of faith, Prophets to give us a special word from the Spirit when needed, Evangelists to lead us to Jesus in the first place! And He has given us pastor/teachers to shepherd, nurture and instruct us in the truth.

Is this the way you see your life? Victorious, with purpose, equipped with every resource in order to succeed and filled with those who will encourage you along the way?

Do you know God’s call on your life? Do you see yourself as unique, special and of particular purpose to the Kingdom of God?

If not there are things in the Kingdom being left undone right now because of your inaction. There are others pulling your weight and doing something you yourself were meant to do.

Could it be that someone else is right now, through no fault of their own, giving glory to God that you were meant to give to Him yourself?

Fulfillment, joy, the good works God has prepared for you to do with Him…all are waiting for you right now if you would just believe, pray and seek to know His call on your life. He has one…believe it!

If you know your call — Then do it. Do it with all of the courage, passion and faith given you for the task. Believe all things are possible with God. Believe He can and will do exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ever ask or imagine…through your life!

Trust and obey Him…Have faith! May each of us be a part of the works of ministry and the building up of the Body of Christ.

The church will become what we allow God to do through us. Loving one another, serving one another…ministering along side one another in the community and around the world.

We are a team, one body and each plays a part. Know your personal part to play and take the field!