Assessing Your Spiritual Gifts And Their Use By God: Part 3

 

 Assessing Your Spiritual Gifts And Their Use By God: Part 3

The Gifts United in the Body (Process) Ephesians 4:8-16

 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.

In Ephesians we are given the process by which the gifts are to work within the Church. It take place in three stages.

First Stage: Unity of Faith and Knowledge, Measure of fullness of Christ  Eph 4:11-13

Step One: Gifts Given to the church vs. 11

 Gifts now are to the whole body of Christ

 These gifts are the leaders and teachers of the church given by God to the body.

Step Two: Intermediate purpose of these gifts vs. 12

 These leader/teachers are to equip (fill-up/complete) the saints

 That those completed saints may do the work of the ministry

Many think this is the final purpose of the gifts. It is only the very beginning of the beginning of the purpose of the gifts.

 What is the work of the ministry? According to Paul it is the edifying of the body of Christ.

This word edifying means “building up.” I think Paul is saying the purpose of God’s spiritual gifts in the members and the gift of leader/teachers to the members is to equip them in the ministry of building up the church.

 But we still are only at the beginning of the beginning of God’s purpose of gifts in the church.

Step Three: First Transition Purpose vs. 13

 Till we all come, each of us, every member, every leader and teacher. Where? What is the destination of all of us using the gifts of God? Till we come in unity of the faith and in unity the knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete, mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

 This is the first purpose of the gifts in the church. It is not for boasting or bragging or show. It is to bring all of us in the church to a first stage of maturity that we now can begin to set as our spiritual and life goals as achieving the measure of the fullness of Christ!

When I was a boy I would stand back to back next to my dad and my mom would measure us and tell me how much further I had until I was as tall as my dad. This is what Paul is talking about. You have come to the place that you can see the kind of person, the kind of Christian God wants you to be. He wants you to be like Christ!

You can’t get to end of this first stage without taking each of the steps. Without the gifts, without the equipping, without the work of the ministry, without the building up in love, you don’t come to a mature child of God, to set your sights of the fullness of Christ. It’s not going to happen without these steps.

Now notice the connecting word “that” it shows the purpose of the now growing, maturing members of church.  Paul is not finished, no he has just begun. The first stage of setting our goals, our desire on “the measure of the fullness of Christ” is only a stage, a step, not a terminal goal.

Second Stage:  Grow Into Christ In All Things Ephesians 4:14-15

No longer children. The maturity and growth in the first stage give us the ability to withstand the false doctrine, lies and deceit that Satan and his henchmen will use to ambush us. This church now in its members has its eyes set on the measure of Christ and that is real strength that no changing wind of doctrine or sleight of man can overcome.

But, now speaking the truth in love, instead of being tossed to and fro by these shifting winds the body can now take the next step. It may “grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”  Now it is not just a setting our sights on the measure of the fullness of Christ as we saw in the first stage but now we can grow up into him in all things!”

Notice in both the first and second stages of God’s plan for gifts in the church the end result is Christ. It is not growth for growth sake, not unity for unity’s sake, not knowledge for knowledge sake. It is all for the sake of Christ.

 Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit says, “You keep growing, you keep learning, you keep edifying each other that you may be in Him all things. Walking with him becomes walking in Him. praying to Him becomes praying in His name. Talking about Him becomes speaking as the very oracle of Jesus Christ.

 Christ is the goal, Christ is the purpose!

Now notice once again the connecting word. It is “for whom” again showing the purpose of growing into Christ. This word connects us to the last stage of this process which began with the spiritual gifts given to the church.

Third Stage: Edification In Love Ephesians 4:16

Now we come to the ultimate purpose, the final reason, the end objective of why God gave gifts to the church. From whom, from Christ, the whole body fitly joined together and compacted. This is done by Christ working through those gifted members who have grown into Christ.  It is not done from heaven downward but from earth heavenward. We are the body now grown to walk, talk and live as Christ on earth.

 Now every joint, every part, every gift, every member, every leader, every teacher supplies what is needed. Every part is working effectually, not busy work, but work that accomplishes what God wills in this world. We become agents of God’s providence.

And look at the ultimate purpose of these gifts and growth into Christ. For the body makes “increase of itself unto the edifying of itself in love.”

The body grows, it is built up in love.

Isn’t that what we truly desire for our church?  A church in which everyone has a part, everyone has a place of importance. Don’t we want a church that is growing not by marketing techniques or advertising campaigns but by true, self-giving, self-sacrificing agape love?

Yet too often we are impatient. We want to a shortcut. We want it at the very beginning of our Christian life and the beginning of our church life. It is one of the problems of Christianity today, physical growth without spiritual maturity, self-serving growth without self-sacrificing love.

In God’s plan for his church we see its proper means and method.  The emphasis is always on Christ. The purpose is always unity of faith and knowledge with the goal of seeking the fullness of Christ. This emphasis on Him brings about the love that is needed for the right kind of growth God wants for the church.

But it can only begin when we understand the gifts of God and the purpose that those gifts were given to achieve in the church.

 Conclusion

Each of you has through God’s providence a gift that this church needs to grow. Some of you have the gift of teaching you need to be teaching. Some the gift of giving, you need to be giving. Some the gift of administration or mercy or judgment. You should be using that gift in God’s service within this church. That is what He intended it to be used for.

Do you want to see your gifts achieve the purpose God gave them for? Do you want your eyes set on the measure of the fullness of Christ? Do you want to grow up into Him in all things? Do you want to see a church truly edifying itself in love?

Then it begins with the surrender of your gift, of yourself to the Lord’s church, His body. You must allow God leaders and teachers to equip you and then you must submit yourself to the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the body.

A church can’t come to “Building itself in Love” if it neglects the gifts God has given to the church or leaves out the stages of “Unity in Faith and Knowledge” and “Growing into Christ in All Things.” Each stage builds upon the other, one course rising upon the lower courses until the Church of Jesus Christ stands in this sin darkened world, a lighthouse of Christ’s love.