Spiritual Gifts - Eph 4:7-16

Opening Question:

How are you doing on shaping the Masterpiece Progress?

Are you working on yourself?

Are you pouring into others?

Main Point:

Christ gives gifts to the Saints to equip the saints to grow themselves with the mission to grow others, using truth in love to stand firm and focus on the unity and maturity of the church to function as one for ONE.

Giving of Gifts

History of the Times — The context

Greek, Jewish, Pagan and Roman influence where the four major culture influences of the time when Paul wrote

Tensions were high when Paul was writing in the Early 60s - about the same times as Colossians Letter

AD 62 James Martyed by Herod

AD 66-73 Jewish Revolt and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70

This is the culture at the time of Paul’s writing

conflict, disunity, and earthy power seeking to push there way there influence

yet Paul is teaching that we are NOT part of this world any longer

King JESUS rules differently.

Christ Gives the Gifts

the HEAD of the Church — gives the gifts to each to grow the kingdom

let me show this to you in the next verse

Ephesians 4:8 “Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.””

our Lord gives in Victory

Ascending and Descending

eph 4:9 “(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?”

This indention in our Bible is Ps 68:18

it is a victory Hymn by King David

Paul does not quote this verse but rather paraphrases it

the words from King David state that God would receive gifts from man

and Paul changes the intent that in VICTORY

--- God is Giving gifts to men

the captives WERE us --- we were caught in sin and failure of the following of the Law

Christ and the Cross ushered in Grace and the Giving of Gifts

another sign of the change of dynamics in OT and NT.

Another proof of the NEW NATION that we are part of

Christ came from Heaven to Earth and then returns

but He sends spiritual gifts to each believer to be HIM ON EARTH.

There is reference here historically to sub earth Hell,

but i think the verse is referring to Christ coming to earth and NOT the existence of Hell in the center of the Earth.

This is great example of the wisdom of men seeking to expand on the PURE wisdom of God.

We must keep the emphasis on the ASCEND -- not the Descend

in the ESV it says in verse 9 “ but that He descended to the lower regions, the earth”

Tradition teaches that this is into the center of the earth.

hell, in many religious traditions, the abode, usually beneath the earth, of the unredeemed dead or the spirits of the damned. In its archaic sense, the term hell refers to the underworld, a deep pit or distant land of shadows where the dead are gathered.

This creates a hidden world, and modern commentaries state that this was teaching in the mid- church (next stage after early church likely 200 AD forward )

it was easier for people to envision -- focusing to the sky and the limitless boundaries in contrast to the limited CENTER of the earth they were standing on .

The focus must be on the ASCENT

Christ came from Heaven HE DESCENDED to EARTH -- lowering HIMSELF from the Mightly THRONE to the lower regions -- EARTH

Christ lived as man -- tempted but never sinning -- and taking on the Cross all the sins of the world.

Rising to display HIS power and victory -- Showing HIMSELF as LORD and SAVIOUR

Then ASCENDING back to Heaven to sit at the RIGHT HAND OF GOD

Equipping of Saints

APEST

verse 11

Apostles -- their experience one on one with Christ

Prophets - TRUTH OF GOD SPEAKERS

Evangelists - spreaders of the WORD to the unknowing in our life.

Shepherds -- goal in our church is to have the PASTOR become and focus on both.

Teachers - to our spouse, our children and our CIRCLE -- stay in our circle --- this is what Christ appointed to us.

PEOPLE confuse the Fruit of the Spirit and the gifts

a simple google search will reveal that to you

Most times the gifts are set as 7 gifts -

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians (B. The Cultivation of Unity (vv. 7–16))

Spiritual gifts are at the heart of Christ’s strategy for building his church.

The gifts are ministers (or ministries) for the church.

While this issue is strongly debated, particularly by Pentecostal and charismatic theologians,

evangelical doctrine has traditionally held that of those four gifts two of them are still in existence and two have passed away.

The foundations of the church, this new nation, was set by the Apostles and Prophets and carried on today by the Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers.

The building of the Church has been passed to us and we must use these gifts to build community,

build our walk --- to be worthy of our calling ( Eph 4:1) and to fight to keep unity in the Church.

Purpose of Ministry

Jesus gifted us to grow the church,

by gifting every Believer to Equip others

SO THAT they perform an intended Function in the body[church] for His Glory.

Staying truth to the one truth

We are to Equip the Saints to Build the body of Christ

Eph 4:12 “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

Ministers run or participate in the running of ministries

We are Administers of God’s Will and Plan

We are the quartermasters of God’s Plan

The officers, and servants that follow and ensure knowledge and adherence to God’s Word God’s Plan

Growing the Saints

Growing Self

Diversity was what Ephesians is teaching.

NEVER to make anyone lesser,

but rather in love discussing

and discovering an individuals diversity

to see where they fit in to the larger frame of God’s Masterpiece

Illustration:

Have you ever put together a puzzle

1000 of individual pieces — each a little difference each with a specific place in the overall picture ---

I love this analogy

A picture on the box to give us the Goal --- This is what the Evangelists do

the pieces emptied on the table all mixed up and even upside down

there is a sorting of the pieces seeking the common colors and identifying the gifting of each pieces some are the frame and others to fill the picture

We are called to identify the individual pieces --- it is not our calling to change the shape of any of the pieces but rather to discover HOW the pieces fit.

to do the work of putting it together bases on that vision of the end result

Every piece different --- but the diversity is key — every piece with a purpose to fit together to bring the fullness of the Masterpiece that Christ is forming in YOU and OTHERS.

Growing the Others

Diversity is what makes us UNIQUE --- God made you who you are

Phil 2:13 “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

we are called to build others up in the FAITH — that is our job and mine

you are here this morning to grow in your knowledge of Christ SO THAT you can build up others

It is a weekly training center — Then you get into GROUPS to fine tune, and build up the resistant to LIES and Falsehoods.

Ephesians 4:14 “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Sound Doctrine

Centered and Grounded

YOUR GOAL it to stay focused in ALL ways on CHRIST.

Christ is the Solid rock on which you stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Tossed To and Fro

False Teaching -- always has a part of Truth to create the allusion of Truth -- Relative Truth vs. Absolute Truth

Look we all go through this daily

What is right, what is wrong?

What am i justifying in my life, because i want it even when i know it is questionable

Well maybe that is true, but does it align COMPLETELY with Scripture

We need to be a laser beam on Christs Word , not a FLOODLIGHT seeking to simply fit into the light

You need direction and like driving a car

Fully focused on your LANE --- otherwise you are drifting and dangerous to others

Unity and Maturity

Speaking Truth in Love

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians (B. The Cultivation of Unity (vv. 7–16))

Speaking the truth in love is a mark of maturity, which will enable us to grow up spiritually.

Immature people often fall into one of two opposite errors.

They speak the truth, but without love,

or they love without speaking the truth.

When we do the first, we often brutalize others, pounding them with truth but doing it in an unloving way.

When we do the second, we don’t tell others the truth, thinking that by shielding them from the truth we are sparing them from pain

Unity of the Body

Unity is based on LOVE and TRUTH

our mission is to growing in learning how to apply this

We can love — meet, pray, connect with any one in SIN, rather than IN CHRIST

we can love without condemning or condoning

we can allow the Spirit to work in us and THROUGH US to lead others to the ONE path of CHRIST

Paul continues to preach the SIMPLE TRUTH and as CHRIST did

- HANGS WITH SINNERS —

realizing that there is one doing the teaching also that image in the mirror every morning.

Body of Christ

we must strive to be the body OF CHRIST

— not a body of event attenders, or concert attenders -

that is attractional

but it is NOT affirming

The attractional church entertains

The Disciple Church encourages, Trains and empowers

we must be focused on the BODY OF CHRIST >>>>> moving as ONE and BOUND in LOVE

Focused on being the Body

Moving as One

Bound in Love

Lets stand in worship ....