THE GIFTS TO THE CHURCH

Ephesians 4:7-16 (KJV)

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

I want to repeat what I believe, is the general theme of the book of Ephesians:

·   What matters to God is Jesus

·   What matters to Jesus is the church

·   What matters to the church is unity

·   You must see God rightly in order to see Christ rightly

·   You must see Christ rightly in order to see the church rightly and

·  You must see the church rightly in order to see unity rightly.

Notice that this passage begins and ends in the same place – Christ.

Hear me now.

Church is EVERYTHING to Jesus Christ.

He compares the church to His bride whom He loved and gave Himself for.

He did come to seek and to save that which is lost, but He did not do that in a vacuum. His intent from the beginning was to organize those who are saved into churches.

Your view of the church, and your contribution to it, is vital to your relationship with Jesus Christ.

That’s why doctrines such as:

·   Universal church vs local church

·   Water baptism into the church and

·Lord’s Supper exclusively for members of the church

are so important.

All of those things speak to what is the church and what is a real relationship to that church.

Verses 1-6 is “drilling down” into church unity until we get to the place where he said in the church there is, Ephesians 4:4-6 (KJV)

…one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

It is impossible to say all of that of the universal church folks.

Among all those who are a part of Christendom there is:

·   A variety of subtle differences about the hope of salvation

·   A variety of doctrinal differences

·   A variety of modes and opinions about baptism and even

·   A variety of differences in teachings about the relationship between God the Father, the Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is only in a local church and really only in a local church that teaches there is no such thing as a universal church, Ephesians 4:4-6 can be true.

Having spoken about the unity of the church the Word of God now moves to the instrument that creates this unity – the preachers and teachers.

Without consistent teaching of the Word of God there would be no unity in the churches.

When I was in Bible college there was a student – a man I still maintain communication with – who was constantly causing problems.

·   On more than one occasion he got up and walked out of class angry.

·   Many times he was called into the Executive VP’s office for correction of his attitude

·   Often he would gather a little circle of students together to “preach” the truth that the teachers had missed

Because I worked for the college[1] I had a little closer access to the Executive VP than some other students did. Another student, Rob Hadley, who was the college’s maintenance guy, and I got to go to lunch and pick Dr. Schrader’s brain pretty often.

One time, after this student had gone into one of his “fits” Bro Rob and I got to go out to lunch with Dr Schrader and ask him about this guy.

Dr Schrader said this, “Dennis’ problem is that he has gone to several different Bible colleges that teach several different doctrinal positions and he is confused about what he believes.”

Dr Schrader said that Dennis’ real anger was not with the teachers of the college there but within himself.

He didn’t know where he stood so he was confused and angry.

I think a lot of people are like that in church.

·   Some independent Baptist churches accept just about anyone’s baptism

·   Some independent Baptist churches teach there is a universal church

·   Some independent Baptist churches let just about everything slide

·   Some independent Baptist churches are real tough on dress standards

·   Some independent Baptist churches believe that repentance is not necessary for salvation

Fact is, since there is no law forcing only certain churches to call themselves independent Baptist its is anyone’s guess what some independent Baptist churches teach and preach.

And without consistent teaching of the Word of God there can be no unity in the churches.

So the Word of God now touches on the subject of the preacher/teacher. They are called here gifts to the churches

Notice with me:

I. THE GIFTS ARE FROM CHRIST

Ephesians 4:7-10 (KJV)

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

I see three things in this passage

A. Christ gave gifts unto men

Vs 8

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

There is a supernatural element to those in the ministry that is, I am afraid, being lost in today’s Christianity.

·   I do not say that we are Popes who are substitutes for Christ

·   I do not believe we are priests who can turn bread and juice into the body of Christ

But I do believe that the Bible teaches that a God gifted preacher is more than someone who has chosen the ministry for his profession.

·   I know that there are charlatans

·   I know that there are people who have abused the ministry

· I know that there are fakes and phonies and people who should not be in the ministry

But I also know that there are some who are chosen by the Lord and gifted from heaven for this work.

And every one of us would do well to find one of them and get under his ministry.

B. Christ gives gifts according to His own measure

Vs 7

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Speaking now specifically of preachers/teachers,

·   Jesus determines which gift each of us has

·   Jesus determines the measure of each gift we have

In just a few moments we are going to look at these different gifts.

Here we learn that

·   Not every preacher has exactly the same gifts or combinations of gifts and

·   None of us have those gifts in the same measure.

But that doesn’t mean that one is less gifted or chosen.

They say that, during his lifetime, London could not build a building large enough to house the crowds of people who wanted to hear him preach.

That does not mean that Spurgeon’s message was any more anointed than that of the preacher faithfully preached to smaller congregation in a forgotten village.

When you trace it down through history you will discover that the charlatan, fake and abuser of the ministry is far more likely to be in those larger congregations than the less known ones.

C. Christ is qualified to give these gifts

Vs 9-10

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

·   The One who descended and became our sacrifice

·   Is the One who ascended to fill all things

Who could be better qualified to choose out His preachers and to choose out how and in what measure he will use those preachers than Jesus Christ?

·   It is He who gave Himself for the church and

·   It is He who loves the church more than any other

II. THE GIFTS ARE THESE

Ephesians 4:11 (KJV)

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

There are five gifts to the church listed here

·   Apostles

·   Prophets

·   Evangelists

·   Pastors

·   Teachers

A. Apostles

The term Apostle is usually limited in our minds to those twelve who followed Jesus in His lifetime and are called the foundation to the churches.

They are no doubt included here but they are not the only ones called apostles in the Bible.

Acts 14:14 (KJV)

Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,

The word apostle means “sent one.”

I tend to think in this case it speaks of missionaries.

B. Prophets

We tend to think of prophets as Old Testament foretellers of the Word of God.

There is another application of the prophet as not only

·   foretelling God’s Word but

·   forthtelling it

There is the one whose ministry is now ceased, who received revelation from god and delivered it to men in God’s Word.

There is the other, whose ministry continues, who having received that Word, proclaim it with boldness and urgency.

I tend to think this is the ministry we now call evangelist.

C. Evangelist

Paul told Timothy to stay in Ephesus and do the work of the evangelist.

An evangelist isn’t someone who travels and preaches.

An evangelist is someone who stays in an area and gives others the good news that Jesus saves.

D. Pastors

Many modern Bible teachers like to say that pastors and teachers is one ministry.

I do not believe the Bible says that clearly.

I see the pastor as the shepherd, who leads and comforts and loves on his flock.

E. Teachers

I believe the teachers are exactly what the word sounds like except that I believe in this case it is a gift of teaching and not merely a discipline.

There are five of these gifts.

But it does not mean that a person is one and not the other.

If in fact the term apostle refers to our modern day missionary, he had better be

·   A pastor and love on people

·   An evangelist and witness to people and

·   A teacher and teach people the Bible

·   He might sometimes also need to be a prophet and pronounce judgment on people too!

I am a pastor but

·I have, I understand, a gift for teaching and

·   I have a passion for “propheting”[2]

III. THE GIFTS ARE GIVEN FOR THIS REASON

Ephesians 4:12-15 (KJV)

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

No matter what gift or combination of gifts the “men in the pulpit” might have, they all have same purpose for the church:

A. To perfect the saints

Vs 12

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

B. To unify the faith

Vs 13

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

C. To solidify the doctrine

Vs 14

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

D. Submit to the Lord

Vs 15

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Finally,

IV. THE GIFTS CREATE THIS FUNCTION

Ephesians 4:16 (KJV)

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

When all of the above happens, the church

A. Fits together

B. Functions effectively

C. Sees increase

and

D. Edifies itself

Conclusion

I want to close by looking at the last two words in verse 16, “in love.”

Wouldn’t you call that the ultimate expression of unity?

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[1] As a part time janitor.

[2] In Bible college, Dr Barry Settle told me my gift was teaching. I was offended because I really wanted to be a prophet and “tell everybody off.”