Ephesians 4:7-16

Each has been given a gift

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Welcome to God’s Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.Sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life.

Well, will you turn in your Bibles with me now to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, and then Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, and before we get into the reading, I was just told by Devin that it is very windy outside and there might be some lag. I apologize for that. I hope you'll be patient with us, as God is deciding whether or not you'll get a choppy video. Ephesians chapters 4, and we'll be looking this morning at verses 7 through 16. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at verse 7. I'll be reading out of the New King James Version. Please feel free to follow along in whatever version you have in front of you. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning at verse 7. Hear now God's Word.

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended” – what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

God's Word is active and living, sharper than any two-edged sword dividing even to the piercing of joint and marrow, soul and spirit, and is the discerner of the heart and of the mind. Let's pay careful attention to it.

Well here in Ephesians chapter 4, we're told that we're given gifts. And I remember, when I was in high school, there was a coach that took our high school team all the way to the state playoffs. And I remember some of the players from high school. He would have all sorts of players who would come in and try out for the basketball team. And I remember there would be some boys who were really good at street ball. I mean, they played at home all the time. They had perfected their moves. They knew how to do fade away shots, they knew how to get the “Ahhhh!” of people. Right? They had watched the professionals on TV and they had natural gifts, natural talents. And one of the things that the coach had to do was he had to teach these boys, who had natural talent and who had worked to develop that talent, to learn how to, instead of playing for themselves, play as part of the team. But there were also other boys who didn't have a show-off talent, but had a quiet talent. They were really good. They were able to run and they were accurate with their shots, but the coach had to draw out their talent. The coach had to bring them out of their shyness and teach them how to be more forward and participate in the team.

Well, God is telling us here that we all have talents. We all have gifts from Christ that need to be cultivated and used for the church. Remember, this whole series we're working on is “the church defined.” And here in Ephesians chapter 4, we've been looking at that, verses 1 through 16. And here we get to the gifts. Last week we looked at the Gift Giver. This week, now we are looking at how do you identify and utilize your gift? How do you identify and utilize your gifts?

And so, the first thing we need to do is remember that there is an ascended King who gives gifts. Look with me, again, just as a quick review, of verses 8-10, “Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended” – what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who first descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” It is Jesus Christ who is our triumphant King. It is Jesus Christ who sits on His throne in heaven, and distributes gifts to His people. It is Jesus Christ who gives these gifts. Now, He does not give those gifts in equal portion. We're going to get there, we're going to see the beauty of that in a second, but it is Jesus Christ our King, our Savior, who is giving these gifts. So, it's to Him we look for these gifts.

But the question is, what are the gifts to be used for? Look with me at verse 7, each gift was given for ministry. Ephesians 4:7, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.” And then drop down with me to verse 12 through 16. Why were these gifts given? “For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” We should be maturing and growing as Christians, building each other up. There's a word here in these verses that's used a few times. The word edification. Edification is a fancy word, or edify, is a fancy word for “building up.” Right? We don't want to remain as children, but we want to be built up.

And this is how Paul uses the idea of gifting and grace and ministry. Just turn over to Ephesians chapter 3 where Paul looks at the gift that he was given. Ephesians 3:2, “if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you.” Right? Paul was given a gift of stewardship for the people of the church. And he goes on with that in verse 7, “of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.” See, God had given Paul this ministry as a minister to benefit the church. That was his gift from God. His ministry was also a grace. And then in verse 8, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” See, Paul had received grace from God and he was a dispenser of grace to God's people. He was given that ministry. And here we see that our goals of the ministry that God gives us is for indeed no longer being children, no longer being tricked by deceitful cunning craftiness, and also for speaking the truth in love. See, we’re meant to build each other up with our gifts. Your gift was not given for you, but was given as a ministry for you to do. Gifts weren’t given so we could be selfish. Gifts were given so we could give out, build up, bring God glory, as we see His church matured and build up.

And so, the question that we have to ask is: how do we identify these gifts? How do we identify these gifts? Again, look with me at verse 7, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.” There are gifts given, and all throughout the New Testament, there are times when Paul and Peter and others show those gifts being displayed.

I’d like to start with one of the gifts that Paul talks about that you might not think of first off, and that's Paul being a bachelor. First Corinthians 7:7, where singleness is said to be a gift. First Corinthians 7:7, “For I wish that all men were even as myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.” Paul says that it is a gift for him to be single. Why? Because he's able to go on these missionary adventures, because he's able to focus all of his endeavors, he's able to zero in on his work. It's amazing to me that 80 to 85% of single missionaries are women. There are scores of missionaries overseas, and in America, who are single and they remain single so that they can devote their time and their focus to the ministry of the Gospel. For some of you, I've seen single people in our own congregation bless the church by their ministry of singleness, because they have time. Let's face it. I have kids, and kids require time. Let's face it. I have a wife and my wife requires time. And that's not a bad thing. That's the ministry that God has given me, to disciple my wife, to wash her in the water of the Word, but that takes time. That takes energy. My children need discipled. That takes time and that takes energy. But those who are blessed with a gift, with a ministry, of singleness, can devote that time, that energy, into the ministry of the church.

And we've seen it again and again in the church. I remember two men that I studied during undergraduate school, when I was doing my history report, and there was a single pastor named Clarence McCartney who was one of the most famous pastors of his time in the 1920s, 30s, and into the 40s. And Clarence McCartney was a single man and devoted his entire life to ministry. One of the great theologians of a few generations ago was the bachelor John Gresham Machen who wrote his wonderful book, “Liberalism and Christianity.” It was John Gresham Machen who could take all of his time and devote to theological orthodoxy, to studying the Greek and how to exegete passages correctly, who could pour his full emotional and spiritual energy into the establishment of Westminster Theological Seminary. Singleness is a gift. Some of you might be single and the question is: How are you utilizing that singleness for God's church today?

Another ministry or a gift that God gives is the gift of hospitality and generosity. These two often go together, the gifts of hospitality and generosity. If we turned over in our Bibles to the book of First Peter, First Peter teaches us a little bit about this. First Peter chapter 4 verse 9, “Be hospitable to one another.” Be hospitable. That word “hospitality” is the gift of loving strangers. Often, we’ll hear the word thrown around right now xenophobia, fear of strangers, but here it's xenophilia, love of strangers. There are some of you who are gifted with opening up your home to people you hardly know, to care for them, to minister to them, to love them, and that is a gift that God has given. It's also a command here to be hospitable to one another. But it's interesting to know, it's interesting to know that this is also said, “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” Right? Be hospitable without grumbling. Oh, let me tell you, not every gift is easy to do. Some of you are given gifts that when you're given the opportunity to minister those gifts, you realize, “Oh, I don't really want to do this. This is going to take time. It's going to take money. It's going to cause me stress. This person is always a problem and this person…” Let's get real nitty gritty, you might just be annoyed by some strangers. But God has placed it in your life to be hospitable, to open up your home, to open up your life, to be hospitable without grumbling.

And we see that play out a few different times, in Colossians chapter 4, Paul greets the church that meets in Nymphas’s home. She opens up her home to the church to meet there. We also see that type of generosity and hospitality when we remember the Good Samaritan. Do you remember how the Good Samaritan showed this mercy? He had this gift of love, and he showed that generosity, he paid for that man's care. He went out of his way to take him to the inn. He was hospitable and generous with his time and with his money and with his talents. We see that gift of generosity play out in the temple in Luke chapter 21, when the widow comes to the temple. And out of her poverty, gives everything she has, gives her two mites, everything she has, because she loves the Lord. Some of you are given that way. I remember hearing of a farmer out, I'm just not going to say where, but somewhere out here in the Midwest, and he would talk about how God had given him so much and he would put soybeans in his hand. And he would take out soybeans and he would say, “See, look here, I have one, two, three, four soybeans, and that's all I need to live on. These other two, I'll give those to the church.” He was blessed with that sense of generosity, donating lavishly to see God's Kingdom built up. It's amazing if you have that gift of generosity to support missionaries, to support the ministry of your church, to see things go forward, there is a blessing of that gift of hospitality in ministry. You also see it in First Timothy chapter 4 with the widows who are expected to show hospitality and generosity.

But others of you are given the gift of administration. There are two other places where the gifts given by Christ by the Holy Spirit are laid out. In Romans chapter 12 and in First Corinthians chapter 12. That's a good way to remember that both of them are chapter 12. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28 lays out a few of these gifts. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28, “And God has appointed in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, and administrations.” Some of you are given over to a gift of administration. Let me tell you, that is a huge blessing in the church. That is a huge blessing to the family of God. I'll tell you, in my life, my wife is blessed with the gift of administration. Olivia keeps me on track. She'll tell me when I'm supposed to be on a meeting. She’ll tell me, “Hey, remember, you're supposed to do this thing today.” And it's a blessing to the church for her to have that gift of administration, because she keeps your silly pastor, who's thoughtless, in line. There are others of you who are shown that gift of administration in the church. I think of Rosalie who, every week, no matter what, always has the bulletin done and ready. I think of Marie, who in the church, again, every single year prints out the congregational report, compiling different committees work and seeing what's done. I think of Kim in the congregation who does the church finances and organizes when bills need paid and does all these things. The church can't operate without these things happening. And some of you are given the gift of the administration.

Now, I'm going to put a help wanted sign up here, I'm going to hang it up there and I'm just going to put it out there, maybe some of you are given to the gift of administration online. By all means, I would love your help with our website and social media. Some of you are given over to that gift of administration. Are you using it for God's kingdom?

Some of you are given over to the gift of mercy. Romans chapter 12 verse 8 tells us that there is a administration of mercy. Some of you are given that gift where you look at people and you have empathy and you want to step in to that situation. It’s interesting though in Romans chapter 12 verse 8, God commands us to show that gift of mercy with cheerfulness. Isn't it interesting that First Peter chapter 4 says that we should show hospitality without grumbling, and then in Romans chapter 12, we're told to exercise mercy without complaining? Sometimes it gets old, doesn't it? When you've helped this person again and again and again and they find themselves in need of help again. Brothers and sisters, if you are given to this gift of mercy, do not grow weary of doing good. Galatians 6 is encouraging you to continue to exercise your gifts for God's kingdom.

But some of you are given over to also a gift of service, Romans chapter 12 verse 7. Some of you are given to a gift of service. I think of the deacons in our church. Some of them are given to the gift of service and they work here at the cemetery and they organize things and they get that done. I think of our brother Kurt who goes outside and he serves the church by keeping the grounds beautiful. I think of my brother Robert who works outside and paints the church and fixes the siding and does those acts of service. I think of Judy downstairs and Emma downstairs after fellowship meals who are doing the acts and the work of service cleaning up the kitchen. I think of our sister Lynn as she was just in here yesterday, and as she was cleaning all the pews and working on the woodwork and trying to make sure things are ready so that when we come into the church, when we're able to come back, everything will be how it's supposed to be. These are gifts of service that God has given. Are you exercising those gifts? Have you identified those gifts and are you utilizing the gifts in your life?

There's another gift though and we're going to spend all next week looking at some of these gifts. And that's the gifts of the offices in the church. Now, not all of these offices are still in play. Right? Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 4 and let's look at these. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, “And He [Jesus] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” It is clear that God gave the gift of apostleship to the apostles. He commissioned those apostles to send out the gospel in Jerusalem and in Judea and then Samaria and throughout the ends of the Earth. And they did that. They proclaimed the gospel. They made known the mysteries of Christ. They made known what was to be done.

But it's important to recognize that prophets and apostles, that day was meant for the first century. There's a reason we don't have apostles and prophets in the church anymore. Why? Because Ephesians chapter 2 told us that. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 through 22, and I'm just going to run through this. We're going to focus in more on the offices of the church next week, but Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of,” who? “the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” The foundation has been laid. The apostles and the prophets have spoken. They have given us the oracles of God. We have them here for us to look at, to read, to remember, to think upon, to build our faith upon. The pastors and the teachers now go to their own words and we look at what they have said. We look at what Paul said, we will look at what Mark said, we look at what Luke said, we look at what Matthew, said we look at what John said, we look at what Peter said, we look at what James said, we look at the prophets and the apostles and we go, “Here is the very oracles of God and here is their deposit.” And so not all of these need to continue into the second, third, fourth, twentieth, twenty-first centuries. But they were first century offices that were laying the foundation. And now once that foundation is laid, now we are building up the rest of the house with Christ as our chief cornerstone.

And it's interesting as well in First Corinthians chapter 13, remember, chapter 12 was where he was talking about the gifts. And in chapter 13 verses 8 through 10, it is Paul himself who says, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will cease; where there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” See, prophecy was meant to vanish away. Tongues was meant to go away. And as we grow up in Christ, that is a sign that those things are behind us and we are focusing on building the church with that apostolic deposit.

Remember what he just said. Pay attention to what he just said. All those are going to fall away, but what will remain? What will abide? Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. And indeed, that's exactly what Paul was getting at in First Corinthians chapter 12. Look with me at verse 31, 12:31, “But earnestly desire the best gift.” And what is that best gift? “And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” And then follows that beautiful portion of First Corinthians 13 all about what love is. Love is that chief goal. Again, in Ephesians chapter 4, these chapters go right hand in hand with each other, Ephesians 4:15, “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – ”. Have you identified the end goal of your gifting? It is that you might love others. It is that you might be a gracious giver of your gifts that Christ has given to you. Do you see the nature of that? The Son who has ascended on high gives us gifts and what do we do with those gifts? We don't hoard them, “my gifts,” no. He gives us these gifts that we might then give them to others, that we might build up the church together.

But not all these gifts, this is by all means not a comprehensive list. I'm convinced that in First Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 and in Romans 12 and in First Peter 4, these are not comprehensive lists. But some of you have been given gifts that are hugely beneficial to Christ’s Church. What is Paul's gift that he's able to give to the church here? Paul’s in prison. Paul’s in chains. But how can Paul minister? Some of you are stuck in your house. Some of you right now are not allowed to go visit other people, but you're really good at picking up the phone and calling one another and encouraging others. That is a gift. I got to tell you, I'm not a huge phone person. I pick up the phone to talk to people as a tool, but some of you love to pick up the phone just to have conversations, just to encourage people. Are you utilizing that gift to encourage the shut-ins in the church and the zealously hold the unity?

Some of you are given the gift of prayer. Some of you can spend hours and hours praying for people. Are you utilizing that gift? Some of you have been given the gift of singing. Oh, one of the things I miss most during this quarantine period is hearing you all sing. There's a dear family in our church that when they came to our church it was like all of a sudden, the angels descended in the pews and all of a sudden, our singing got way better. They have the gift of singing. It was a blessing the church. Some of you have the gift of languages. Some of you pick up languages so easy and you're able to learn different languages. Are you using those languages for the church? Some of you are really good with finances. Some of you know how to read and to tell the stock market and you know how to make money. Are you using that for your own gain or are you blessing God's church with it? Some of you are really good at a whole bunch of other stuff. I know some people are good at flying. Can you use that for the Lord's service? Some of you are really good at farming. Are you using that for the Lord's service? How are you utilizing the gifts now?

Again, not all of these gifts come naturally. Not all these gifts are apparent right away. Don't get stuck in the trap, Christian, that somehow because you aren't given a gift, you can't meet a need in front of you. I'm going to encourage you, as you look to identify, there is a ministry, there's a ministry, there's a ministry, there's a way to build up, there's a way to build up, there's a way to build up the church, if God has put that ministry in front of you, if God has called you to do that ministry, He will equip you to do it. Go, seek out the discipleship to do it. I don't know very many NBA players who when they were young just went to sleep one day, opened up their eyes and it was all of a sudden like, “Oh wow! I can play in the NBA!” No, they’ve practiced and they’ve learned that craft and they’ve learned that skill and they devoted themselves to developing that gift. Some of you need to develop your gifts. This is not like the Matrix were you just plug in and, “Oh, I know karate.” Right? That's not what's going on here. How do you know, how do you identify and utilize the gifts that God has given you? Look at the ministry that's right in front of you. Look at the ministry that's right before your eyes. Ask yourself: How can I serve others in this time, in this place? How can I get the training I need that I can meet this need in front of me now? What are specific ways that I can minister in word or in deed?

Brothers and sisters, let me encourage you not to be afraid. There's a little phrase, it can be abused, but I think it's okay. God does not call the equipped, but He equips the called. If God has called you to a ministry, He will equip you with the gifts to fulfill that ministry. So how are you identifying and utilizing your gifts? You might have some homework to do today. I'd encourage you: Write down these three questions. Seriously, I encourage you, if you need to rewind this video and pause it later that's okay. If you need to come back to this later, what, number one, what needs are there in the situation where God has placed me? What needs are there in the situation which God has placed me? Number two, how can I serve others? How can I serve others? And number three, what are the specific ways I can minister in word or in deed? What can you do, or what can you say, to minister to others? I'm going to encourage you, as you look at those three questions, and as you pray about those three questions, you will see a vast opportunity of ministry before your eyes. And, let me encourage you, if you need help with that, especially if you're a member of our church, come and talk with me. Come and talk to the deacons. Come and talk to John or Jen, send us an email, and we’d love to help you with it. God is building up His church. He's given gifts to His church. He's given gifts to each one of you. Many of you are using them in remarkable ways and I'm excited to see how God continues to build His church through you, by the power of His Spirit.

Let's pray, “God, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for pouring out upon us gifts of grace. Lord, we pray, Father, that we would use them for Your glory. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website: Sharonrpc.org. We’d love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa 52640. May God richly bless you this week.