Taught 11/16/2008
Ephesians 4:7-11
The Gifts of Unity
Read…
1Cor. 12:4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Cor. 12:5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
1Cor. 12:6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
And…
1Cor. 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
Pray
Intro
√ The gifts of unity
As we saw in our last study Paul talked about the unity of the Church, universal and local, and our personal responsibility to create and maintain that unity…
Attitude of unity ~ a Christ-like attitude toward others
Foundation of unity ~ essential truths of the Christian faith
In this next section Paul reveals another marvel of the Church, that is…
…within the unity of the Church there is great diversity among believers who are unified in Christ.
Ex. Love feasts of the early church
Jews and Gentiles all over the Roman Empire were amazed by the testimony of love in the early church as expressed by the great diversity of believers in the church.
Romans, Jews, Greeks, Scythians, slaves, masters, men, woman, people with brown, white and black skin…
…all worshipping together and eating together at their “agape feasts”.
That kind of unity was not seen in any other environment! So great was their love for one another in Christ that a Roman historian wrote…
“Their Master makes them think they are brothers”
Or as Paul wrote…
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. “ ~ Gal. 3:28
And…
“where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” ~ Col. 3:11
The wonderful truth is that the Church is like a human body, made up of very diverse cells and parts yet working together in unity to make the body function properly.
Ap. We need to see that unified diversity again!
The unfortunate truth is that statistically the most segregate place in the United States of America is the Christian Church on Sunday morning!
Our own community has churches that are segregated by culture…
…we have Spanish churches, Pacific Islander churches, white churches, black churches, churches for the wealthy and influential and churches for the middle class and poor.
We need to make it a point to get out of our comfort zone and engage our brothers and sisters from different cultures so that the world can see the reality of our faith to knit us together in Christ’s love!
Grace (vs. 7)
Eph. 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
√ Grace
The diversity of the Church is not just physical (skin color, gender, culture, heritage, etc.) it is also spiritual…
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” ~ vs. 7
That is, the Holy Spirit has given each Christian a diverse portion of His Grace (gifting and enablement) to build up the church by serving one another.
Each believer is given a diverse gift, and different abilities to use that gift (ref. The Parable of the Talents).
As we use our diverse gifts according to the ability that God has given us we bring unity and spiritual growth to the local church in which God has planted us.
The point is that the diversity of the Church is God ordained and designed because the reality is that we function better when there is unified diversity!
Ex. The human body
Paul develops this same concept in his letter to the Corinthians where we find him comparing the Church to a human body.
He points out that every member of our body is essential!
We need hands, feet, a heart and a head to be healthy.
A body that was just a big nose wouldn’t be very healthy or attractive!
Ap. The body of Christ
Paul’s point here and in his letter to the Corinthians is that everyone has a gift of God’s grace.
Each gift is different and each person has a different level of grace to operate that gift.
So, the diversity of the gifts and grace is God designed so that the Church, the Body of Christ can function properly.
Every member is essential!
Practically that means that we should recognize and appreciate the diverse gifts within our fellowship rather than being critical because someone manifests their gifting differently than we do.
Victor (vs. 8-10)
Eph. 4:8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
Eph. 4:9 (Now this, “He ascended” what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph. 4:10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
√ Victor
In these three verses Paul summarizes the theme of Psalm 68 to show us the source of the diverse gifts.
Psalm 68 was written and sung to celebrate the great victories that God has won for His people.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, rewrites a portion of the psalm to celebrate the victory of Jesus!
Specifically he changes the wording of Psalm 68:18 from…
“You have received gifts among men”
To…
“and gave gifts to men.” ~ Eph. 4:8
The truth that Paul is communicating is that just as a military victor will give the spoils of war to his loyal subjects…
…so Jesus gave the spoils of His victory over Death, sin, and Satan to those who trust in Him!
Those spoils are the diverse spiritual gifts that He has given to us individually, and the diverse people He has given as gifts to the Church.
So, in vs. 11 Paul lists the kind of people that Jesus has given to the Church.
(Note – I’d love to cover the whole “He descended to the lower parts of the earth” issue but I just don’t have time! So, if you’d like to know more about it go to our website and download the study of 1st Peter 3:18-20).
Gifts (vs. 11)
Eph. 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
√ Gifts
This list here is different from the lists of gifts in I Cor. 12 and Romans 12 where Paul talks about the spiritual gifts given to individual members of the Church.
Here the gifts that Paul lists are the gifted people that Jesus has given to the Church!
It is important to note that the “He” in vs. 11 is emphatic in the original text to emphasize that Jesus Himself gives gifted people to bless His Church.
That is, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor teachers are not career choices!
They are callings from God upon the lives of people that He has given as gifts to the Church!
So, who are these people?
Apostles
The word “apostle” comes from the Greek word apostolos which means…
“one who is sent”
The gift of apostle is the special ability to introduce the Gospel message to a new group of people, or a particular group of people.
Then, to disciple those who have believed and plant a church.
In a broad sense a missionary or church-planter is functioning as an apostle.
The gift of apostle was given for the instruction and nurturing of believers in the Way of God as declared in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is different than the gift of pastor in that a pastor serves one congregation, while an apostle establishes and equips more than one group of believers.
Ex. Paul – didn’t stay long in any one city where he planted a church.
An apostle may stay with a congregation and serve as a pastor for a time…
…but will eventually turn the church over to a pastor.
Ap. Apostles
The “apostles” that Paul writes about include the 12 appointed by Jesus who had the “office” of apostle, I’d include Paul here also.
Others were recognized as apostles, men like James, Barnabas, Andronicus, Junias, and Apollos.
This second group operated the gift of an apostle, but I interpret the Scripture to make a distinction between the “gift” and the “office” of apostle…
…so that I don’t personally believe there are people today who hold the “office” of an apostle (ref. Luke 6:13, Eph. 2:20 & Rev. 21:14).
Prophets
Prophets are those people gifted by God to prophecy, they bless the Church by both telling-forth the word of God, and by foretelling the future as God reveals it.
Telling-forth the word of God means to speak God’s word for the purpose of edification, exhortation, and comfort (ref. I Cor. 14:3) ~ like Peter on the day of Pentecost applying Joel’s prophecy to their experience.
Foretelling the future ~ like John in the Revelation, or Agabus who foretold of Paul’s arrest (ref. Acts 21).
There’s a lot of debate in the Church today as to whether or not God still speaks through prophets, all I can say is that I know people who truly operate as prophets…
…and others who claim to be prophets but aren’t.
Ap. Test the prophets!
We don’t have time to get into the Biblical tests to distinguish between a true prophet and a false…
…but let me just say that the Bible exhorts us to test anyone who claims to be a prophet!
Evangelists
Are those people especially gifted to communicate the Gospel message.
They can share the same truths that you or I might share but they are gifted by God to bring people into the Church.
Guys like Billy Graham and Greg Laurie are example of present day evangelists.
4) Pastor-teachers
The word “pastor” in Greek means…
“A shepherd, one who tends herds or flocks (not merely one who feeds them), is used metaphorically of Christian “pastors”.
Only used once in the NT, and once in the OT!
More often the person in this role is called a…
Shepherd
Elder
Bishop
Definition…
“A pastor is one who is supernaturally called by God to oversee a group of believers.”
The pastor is to be the teaching elder within a local church, in fact in the original text the list here in vs. 11 doesn’t make a distinction between “pastor” and “teacher”…
…rather, it literally reads the “pastor-teacher” to indicate the pastor’s primary function in the church.
Ap. Biblical diversity
So, Paul’s point in this section is that God has built diversity into the Church…
Different gifts, different people, all working together to build up the Church.
But, don’t confuse the word “diversity” with the way in which the world uses it today!
Today when people talk about diversity on the one hand they mean that every human being has intrinsic value ~ that’s good.
But they also mean that every idea, philosophy, religion, and culture is equally valid (true) ~ that’s bad!
For example, Biblically I’m called as a Christian to love the person who is not a Christian, for example a Hindu.
But, it is not Biblical (nor true) to say that the Hindu worldview is correct, or good.
Hinduism promotes one of the most extreme forms of prejudice on the planet!
Teaches that people are predestined into a social caste from which they are never allowed to leave.
Some, like the Dalit people are condemned to live below the lowest caste and are denied equal access to jobs, education, health care, etc.
The point is that it’s naive to pretend that all ideas, religions, philosophies and cultures are equally valid in the name of “diversity”…
…that’s not the kind of diversity that Paul was promoting!
Close
√ The gifts of unity
It is by God’s design that we are all different.
That we all have diverse gifts and talents yet each person with their diverse gift is essential to building the unity of the Church.
Remember that each person in the church is a gift to you from God!
Make it a point to appreciate the diversity of the people at Calvary Chapel and to pray for greater diversity as a testimony of the reality of our faith.
Thank the Lord that we’re not all the same!
Thank the Lord that He’s put people in our fellowship who you’re not yet comfortable with ~ He wants to use them to grow you up!
Thank someone today, or this week, for their gift and how they use it to bless our fellowship.
Finally, if you struggle doing these things pray that God would open your eyes to see the value of those who are different than you!