Equipping & Envisoning the Church.

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:7-16).

Our first study in Ephesians 4:1-2 was about growing up! - “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

Our second study in Ephesians 4:3-6 was about making every effort - “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

This third study in Ephesians 4:7-16 is about receiving grace! - “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it”(v7).

Breaking the passage down...

Christ gives grace gifts to His people- v7-10.

Paul continues with the theme of gowing up by discussing the different gifts given to believers which enable them to live in unity and within the purposes of God.

Although there is one body, Spirit, hope and Lord, each believer receives a different measure of grace.

God’s church is not meant to be a place of uniformity, as He has provided a variety of gifts for the members of the body to use that it may grow up!

This is important and humbling for as Calvin puts it, ‘no member of the body of Christ is endowed with such perfection as to be able, without the assistance of others, to supply his own necessities.’

To each of us is given different gifts for the benefit of all. In this context, “grace” refers to spiritual gifts or ministry roles (see Eph 3:2, 7–8).

This reminds us that there is no room for boasting in the service of God. We are privileged to receive a special calling to the service of God and not only that, we are privileged to be endowed with the gifts needed for this service. (see 1 Cor. 4:7).

None of us has all the gifts; and no member of the body is without some spiritual task and spiritual gift for it. We receive according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The Lord aportions these in his wisdom with different kinds of gifts to different members. see Romans 12:3–8, 1 Corinthians 12:4

This leads Paul to a new thought - How come we get these grace gifts from Christ? How is this made possible?

In Eph 4:8, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18—a psalm celebrating God’s victory over His enemies (see Psa 68:1–3, 11–14, 19–23) and the resulting victory procession (see Psa 68:17–18, 24–27).

He employs this psalm to illustrate Christ’s victory over sin and death (see also 1 Cor 15:54–57). In other words, to give us these gifts, it cost Christ so much so we must never take His gifts lightly!

‘The measure of Christ’s gift’ is that of the ascended Lord who whilst here on earth, promised such abundant bestowal when he returned to the Father’s presence (John 14:12–14).

Paul cites, Psalm 68:18. In their original setting the words of the Psalm picture the Lord returning in triumph, either to the Jerusalem sanctuary or to heaven itself, after the overthrow of Israel’s enemies. He has made his enemies captive, and they follow, as it were, in his triumphal procession. As conqueror he has received gifts that he can bestow.

Like many of the Psalms, this found ready application to Christ. He has conquered his enemies, and returned to his Father’s throne in triumph, now to bestow blessings on his people.

In fact his former foes, whom he leads in ‘triumph in Christ’ (2 Cor. 2:14; av, rv), like Paul himself, are his gifts to his church.

This also echoes what Peter preached as explanation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:33: ‘Being … exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this …’. The ascension of Christ made possible the outpouring of the Spirit (John 7:39), and so explain these varied gifts of which he outlines in the next few verses

Verses 9–10 are a little tricky to unravel.

When we read that “He ascended...higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe”, the meaning is clear. After his resurrection he was exalted in glory, a fact that has been emphasized already in Eph 1:20–21 and Eph 2:6. meaning that Christ has been exalted to the highest honour and glory possible (Phil. 2:9–11); returning to the Father from whom he came into the world.

But what of this reference to Christ’s descent “to the lower, earthly regions”(Eph 4:9).

Grammatically it should be noted that ascended and descended are in the same tense and same verbal forms. So, this is not referring to something that happened before the Ascension of Christ to Heaven but to something that happens simultaneoulsy, even whilst He ascends to Heaven “to fill the whole universe”, He also descends here on earth which may simply be contrasting this earth, as low in comparison with his heavenly home (cf. Isa. 44:23). This act of humiliation was in order to give “gifts to men.”

He ascended to Heaven on Ascension Day but He also descended to this earth on Pentecost to disperse His “gifts to men.”

Regardless of its exact meaning, the point that Paul wishes to stress here is that Christ’s will and purpose for us is to be pervaded with his presence (cf. Eph 1:10). He has descended and ascended that he might fill all things!

He is supreme over all the powers of heaven and earth (cf. Col. 1:16–18); there is nothing that is not subject to him, no place or order of existence where his presence may not be known and felt. As William Barclay puts it, ‘the ascension of Jesus meant not a Christ-deserted, but a Christ-filled world’ because of the giving of his Spirit (cf. John 16:7).

Q1. How does Christ’s attitude to the Church, challenge our own attitude to the Church?

Q2. If ‘the ascension of Jesus meant not a Christ-deserted, but a Christ-filled world’, how should this inform our thinking about how we view the world?

2. Christ provides ministries to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up - vs 11-13.

Paul then lists several gifts—types of God-given abilities, titles or church offices—in Ephesians 4:11.

Notice that the gifts are the people! All the particular ministries, are God’s gift to the church. The church may appoint people to different work and functions, but unless they have the gifts of the Spirit, and therefore are themselves the gifts of Christ to his church, their appointment is valueless.

LIkewise, this serve to remind us that “the gifts of the Spirit are not for the enrichment of oneself but for the enrichment of the Church’ (Allan).

These ministries are also equipping ministries for as F. F. Bruce observes, ‘those that are named exercise their ministries in such a way as to help other members of the church to exercise their own respective ministries’.

(a). “Apostles” - come first in time and first in importance, which here refers to those, not just the twelve, who were given a special and distinctive position as custodians of the faith, upon which the foundation of the Church (Eph 2:20 cf. 1 Cor. 15:5; Rev. 21:14).

Note: Apostles later included Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:14), James the Lord’s brother (Gal. 1:19), Silas (1 Thess. 2:6), and Junias and Andronicus who are mentioned in Romans 16:7.

Indeed there may well be apostles not known to us by name(1 Cor. 15:7) but who qualify to this role becasue they meet the necessary condition of 1 Corinthians 9:1–2, to have seen the risen Lord, and to have been sent out by him, and thus to have come to be engaged as a foundation member (Eph. 2:20) and worker for the building up of the church.

The proof of an apostle was his labours in the power of Christ, even ‘with signs and wonders and mighty works’ (2 Cor. 12:12). It should be noted also that, according to Acts 1:21–22 (cf. Acts 2:42), the apostles gave definitive witness to the facts of the ministry of Jesus and to his resurrection.

(b). “Prophets” - we are famiiar with Old Testament prophets who were inspired to give utterance to God’s word through the propmpting of the Holy Spirit.

This carried on in the New Testament as people whose ministry of the word was of the utmost importance for the young church. On occasion they might foretell the future, as in Acts 11:28 and Acts 21:9, 11, but like the Old Testament prophets their great work was to ‘forth-tell’ the word of God. Bringing to light with convicting power people’s sins (1 Cor. 14:24–25), or bringing new strength to the church by the word of exhortation. (see Acts 15:32).

Some, including Francis Foulkes whose excellent commentary I used a lot for tonight, argues that “the ministry of apostles, as we have understood the word above, ceased with the passing of the first generation of Christians. The foundational ministry of prophets ceased also. Their work, receiving and declaring the word of God under direct inspiration of the Spirit, was most vital before there was a canon of New Testament Scripture....The apostolic writings were coming to be read widely and accepted as authoritative; the written word took the place of the authoritative spoken word of apostles and prophets making the essential nature of the gospel plain.”

However, whilst this conclusion has some logical justification for it as outlined above, it is not based on scriptural texts but on an inferrence drawn and it is clear that the references to the apostle and prophets go beyond those who carry the weight of those wh wrote Scripture.

(c). ‘Evangelists” - There are only two other references to these in the New Testament in terms of their function and work, in Acts 21:8 Philip, whose four daughters were prophets, is called an evangelist, and in 2 Timothy 4:5 Timothy is told to ‘do the work of an evangelist’.

This might suggest that they largely did an itinerant, travelling work of preaching the gospel, we might refer to them today as missionaries.

(d). “Pastors and teachers” - or becasue thet are linked together by the same article in the Greek as “pastor teachers” which may be more like our ministers of local churches, responsible for the day-to-day building up of the church.

As a pastor, you are literally a ‘shepherd’ with the responsibility of feeding the flock with spiritual food and ensuring that they are protected from spiritual danger. (see Jesus’ own use of the word to describe His ministry over His disciples in John 10:11, 14 and an example as the “great shepherd” (Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4) under whom others are called to ‘Shepherd God’s flock” (1 Pet. 5:2; cf. John 21:15–17; Acts 20:28).

Every pastor must be ‘able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2; cf. Titus 1:9), though some have pre-eminently the gift of teaching and occupy this ministry within the church, as a special gift of Christ to his people (Acts 13:1; Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28).

What is the purpose of these roles (see Eph 4:12–14)?

Paul tells us what they are for in Eph 4:12-13 “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

These gifts are given to equip the saints. The word used in Greek is “katartismos”, found uniquely here in the New Testament, but there is a corresponding verb in Matt. 4:21; translated “preparing” or better “repairing” of fishing nets. Likewise on Hebrews 11:3 the verb form is translated as “formed”, referring to the way God shaped the universe in the beginning into its intended order. and of restoring to spiritual health a person who has fallen (Gal. 6:1). It can also be used of ‘perfecting’ or supplying what is lacking in the faith of Christians (cf. 1 Thess. 3:10; Heb. 13:21; 1 Pet. 5:10).

So to “prepare God’s people for works of service” is to prepare them by the teaching and preaching of God’s word, not as an end in itself but for the purpose that they may be fitted for the work of the Kingdom, whatever that work may be! (Note: Grk: diakonia, a verb often used of menial domestic table service - Luke 10:40; 17:8; 22:26–27; Acts 6:2) - a concept which gave rise to the office of ‘deacons’, work done by the saints and for the saints, to build up the body of Christ. (Grk: oikodomē as also used in Eph 2:21)

The privilege of service here is shown in that the church is increased and built up, and its members edified, as each member uses his or her particular gifts as the Lord of the church ordains, and thus gives spiritual service to fellow-members and to the head.

Paul indicates that the goal of all of this is that “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The Greek verb is katantaō, used nine times in Acts for travellers arriving at their destination. They attain their goal when they arrive at their destinatin see Phil. 3:11).

The goal that Paul wants the Church to attain is described in 3 ways -

(i). they increase in the unity of the faith(see Eph 4:5) - as people, whatever their ethnicity or education or status come into a growing understanding of the ‘one hope’ (v. 4), in an increasing dependence on the ‘one Lord’ (v. 5), and develop an appreciation of the ‘one body’ (v. 4).

(ii). they grow in a deeper and more personal knowledge of the Son of God (Eph 1:17) - Paul is our example here. This was his passion! - see Phil. 3:10 and he sets this as the goal for us all! He wants us to have the deepest possible fellowship with Jesus! (cf. Rom. 1:4; Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 1:10).

(iii). they reach spiritual maturity together! - The Greek word teleios used here has the connotation of full development (see 1 Corinthians 2:6, 13:11; 14:20 and Hebrews 5:14). Note that this maturity is a unified one, we who are ‘many’ are to become ‘one new man’ (Eph 2:15; because there is but one Christ Jesus (see Eph 1:23). in whose image we are made into the ‘the measure of the perfect Christ’, which is filled by Christ as the complete possession of the gifts and grace of Christ that he seeks to impart to humanity, who is the very fullness of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9);

“Whether the goal can be realized in this life or not is irrelevant. The point is that the Christian is to press forward with no lesser ambition than this. This is human life as it is intended to be, measured only by all that we can understand of the human life of Christ himself.”(Francis Foulkes).

Q3. Read Romans 12:3–8 and 1 Corinthians 12:4–14, and compare these passages with Ephesians 4:7–16. How are these passages similar? How are they different?

Q4. Make a list of your gifts and how you can use them for building up the body of Christ.

3. Christ intends that we become like Him in all things growing and building ourselves up in love - vs 14-16

Earlier Paul emphasized knowledge of the love of Christ (see Eph 3:18–19). Here he stresses that knowledge of Christ Himself is a means of gaining maturity.

In Eph 4:14, Paul says we must not be like immature children(Grk: nēpioi which refers to those who are unstable in the face of pressure! Those who would easily be swayed by the different doctrines and standards of life - “every wind of teaching”).

‘Maturity brings with it the capacity to emulate various forms of teaching, to accept what is true and reject what is false’ (F.F Bruce).

The word translated tossed to and fro is the verb from the noun klydōn, used in Luke 8:24 of the raging of the waters of Galilee, and in James 1:6 for the ‘wave of the sea’ that are driven by the wind. On such seas the ships are tossed by the storms and carried about(Greek: peripherō carries the idea of violent swinging).

False doctine can lead to the unsteady and rudderless being turned from the true course of the way of life. This is why it is called deception and Pastors need to be aware of the danger that lurks around to make this a reality (see 2 Tim. 3:13).

Paul refers to this as the actions of “human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.”(Eph 4:14). The Greek word kybia, means literally playing with dice, and hence trickery or fraud; and the word panourgia, refers to craftiness which is the word translated “duplicity” with reference to our Lord’s questioners in Luke 20:23, and “cunning” in 2 Corinthians 11:3 of the guile of the serpent. When people wander out of the way of the truth (Gk. planē lit. ‘wandering’), they do not hesitate to use deceitful wiles, cunning devices, to lead others to follow them.

In contrast we are called to speak “the truth in love”(v15), without cunning or duplicity and with no other intention that having people grow up into Christ. (see 2 Cor. 4:2). Our job is to be straightforward and to beware of the means that their enemies may use.

We are ambassadors of the truth, and are to be found speaking the truth and ‘dealing truly’ in love, in order to bring spiritual benefit to others with a winsomeness that only love can make possible so that those who may be immature will grow in stability and spiritual maturity so that they become more and more like Jesus ‘in...all things’.

Growth, and indeed every activity of the members in the church comes from and leads us to Christ!

We can only be strong in the body as we are dependent on Him as our Head - “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growths of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.” (Eph 4:16 see on Col 2:19).

The Greek word harmos is used of a joint or fastening in the construction of a building, or for the shoulder-joint or ligament of the body.

The second Greek participle symbibazomenon, speaks of bringing things or people together to support and reconcile and promote growth.

The word translated knit or joint (Grk: haphē) basically means a ‘touch’, and so can mean ‘contact’, ‘point of contact’, or ‘grip’, which in this context could be referring to its medical usage as literally it can be rendered as ‘through every joint of the supply’, or every joint with which the body is equipped and supported that make growth and true functioning possible.

The overall point here is that body of Christ depends on the presence of Christ for its resources but also its growth and direction. This is where out energy comes from or as Paul puts in elsewhere, the “working of His power” in us (Grk. energeia - see Eph 1:19 and Eph 3:7).

Each member, in connection with each other member contributes to the whole body working properly. Each part, in its place and according to its need, must have this functioning that is made possible by the ‘energizing’ of God’s Spirit in the whole so that the Church may grow in spiritual wholeness and maturity. (cf. Eph 1:4; 3:17; 4:2; 5:2).

Q5. Paul stresses that these offices and/or gifts are intended to help believers grow in maturity—a theme he emphasizes in Ephesians 4:13–14. How does he characterize immaturity?

Q6. What are some ways you have matured as you have grown in your relationship with Christ?