Ephesians 4:7-13
March 3, 2024
What do you believe is the greatest miracle of God?
- Creation of the World
- Flooding the entire World?
- Drying up the flood?
- The ten plagues on Egypt?
- The birth of Christ?
- The resurrection of Christ?
- The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in mankind?
The greatest miracle I believe is the redemption of men and women, boys and girls, the “whosoever” of John 3:16 by grace through faith.
Did God say salvation is a greater miracle than creation? Yes, I believe He did.
At creation God created something from nothing…but at salvation he changes the very nature of man from sinner to saint.
He brings life into us though we were dead in our sin.
And God created us and recreated us in Christ for the purpose of serving His Kingdom.
Notice with me in Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
See we were created to serve God.
Or the way we say it MACC,
WE ARE CRAFTED TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now look at Philippians 2:5, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant.”
What should our attitude be as we are recreated in the image of Jesus – servant?
God is preoccupied with His people serving others.
It is truly a marvelous work that God performs…and that is what I want us to consider this morning.
Remember one of our biblical core values is:
CRAFTED TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER
and we believe that when we are serving God and others we are Transforming People Into Christ Likeness.
But in all of this serving talk there is a question that comes to my mind.
Why do we serve?
Our desire is to equip and assist you in discovering your spiritual gifts, that you might find God’s purpose for you as a member of His Body
Ephesians 4:7-13
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
BECAUSE JESUS SERVED, WE ARE CRAFTED TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER
Why do we serve?
WE SERVE BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE.
Do we have any charismatic people here this morning?
Raise your hand if you are charismatic, it shouldn’t be a problem if you are charismatic.
Honestly, we should all be charismatic, why?
Look back in vs. 7 the word grace it is the word χάρις [charis /khar•ece/] it is where we get the word charismatic and we usually apply it to our Pentecostal brothers and sisters in Christ but this word means that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech.
Let me ask you again are you charismatic?
Some of you are and it is written all over your faces, but some of us are not and that too is written all over our faces.
Some of us couldn’t pry a smile out of our faces with a crowbar.
Have you ever noticed those folks who look like they are constantly sucking on a lemon?
All wrinkled face, did you know it takes more effort to frown than to smile…
When we begin to understand and live as God has created us and recreated us, which is to live in a way that our eyes are no longer focused on ourselves but preoccupied with others created in the image of God our Father then we experience true joy.
We experience the gift of grace.
And once we have experienced the gift of grace we then become grace givers.
We have become grace receivers, I believe, for the express purpose of being grace givers.
So if you are not a grace giver and only a grace taker you have not the right perception of God’s grace in and on our lives.
There is nothing more enjoyable in life than extending grace to others by doing what it is God has called you to do and doing it for him.
Look also at the word apportioned in vs. 7 and measure in vs. 13 they are the same word μέτρον [metron /met•ron/].
In Ephesians 4:7 métron expresses the diversity of the gifts that God gives to his people, while in Ephesians 4:13 it is then used for the fullness that the gifts are meant to achieve.
All of this means that God has created us to express graceful joy through the diversity of the gifts that he has given us so that we can achieve God’s goal for His church which is unity in the Body of Christ.
Let me say it this way, working together in joyous harmony through the way God has wired us and encouraging one another brings the unity in Christ that is the underlying desire in every human heart.
We serve because of God’s Grace.
Why do we serve?
WE SERVE BECAUSE OF GOD’S GIFTS
Now the gifts list that Paul mentions here is a list comprised of leadership gifts.
Notice in vs. 8 that after Jesus ascended on high, he gave gifts.
The word for gifts here is the word δόμα [doma /dom•ah/] and literally means a present.
So looking at this in context, after Jesus ascended to the Father He presented gifts of people who were called and gifted to lead and train the rest of the Body of Christ.
So, unintentional ministry is to come to a halt.
We are to be trained and equipped for ministry.
Look at vs. 12 see the word prepare it is the word καταρτισμός [katartismos /kat•ar•tis•mos/] it is better translated equipping or getting people ready, training people for work.
As we understand our gifts we must understand how to use them and that we are to use them for the benefit of others and the kingdom.
Do you hear it? We are crafted to server one another…
It is also important to note that the word “some” is used to denote mankind.
Therefore both men and women are gifts to minister to the Body of Christ.
There are four gifts that Paul talks about here.
I won’t spend a lot of time on them, but I do want to touch on them.
- Apostle: one who establishes and strengthens the church. The word means “one who is sent with a commission.” Jesus had many disciples, but He selected 12 Apostles. A disciple is a “follower” or a “learner,” but an apostle is a “divinely appointed representative.” The Apostles were to give witness of the Resurrection (Acts 1:15–22), and therefore had to have seen the risen Christ personally. There are no apostles today in the strictest New Testament sense. These men helped to lay the foundation of the church—“the foundation laid by the Apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20), and once the foundation was laid, they were no longer needed. Of course, in a broad sense, all Christians have an apostolic ministry in that we have witnessed through the truth of the Word that Christ is resurrected. And we are sent with a commission, the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus’ last words to his apostles and to us, Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Prophet: one who speaks forth the message of God. We commonly associate a prophet with predictions of future events, but this is not his primary function. A New Testament prophet is one who proclaims the Word of God (Acts 11:28; Eph. 3:5). Believers in the New Testament churches did not possess Bibles, nor was the New Testament written and completed. Paul suggests that the gift of prophecy had to do with understanding “all mysteries and all knowledge” (1 Cor. 13:2), meaning, of course, spiritual truths. The purpose of prophecy is “edification, encouragement, and consolation” Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 14:3, 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.
- Evangelist: one who is called to preach the Gospel. All ministers should “do the work of an evangelist,” but this does not mean that all ministers are evangelists (2 Tim. 4:5). The Apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the church, and the evangelists built on it by winning the lost to Christ. Of course, in the early church, every believer was a witness (Acts 2:41–47; 11:19–21), and so should we be witnesses today. But there are people also today who have the gift of evangelism. The fact that a believer may not possess this gift does not excuse him or her from being burdened for lost souls or witnessing to them, because we are commissioned to seek lost people.
- Pastor/Teacher: one who feeds and shepherds the believers and instructs them. Pastor means “shepherd,” indicating that the local church is a flock of sheep (Acts 20:28), and it is his responsibility to feed and lead the flock (1 Peter 5:1–4, where “elder” is another name for “pastor”). He does this by means of the Word of God, the food that nourishes the sheep. The Word is the staff that guides and disciplines the sheep. The Word of God is the local church’s protection and provision, and no amount of entertainment, good fellowship, or other religious substitutes can take its place.
It is important to understand that these are not titles but functions.
Though these are nouns they are to be lived out as verbs.
A word of caution is wise here, some will excuse themselves from serving because they have assigned a title to someone else and then they see themselves as relieved of responsibility.
I consider Chuck Sackett a good friend of mine and he wrote a wonderful article in Christian Standard back in June of 2008.
He accurately describes the hazards of assigning titles to people, the noun replaces the action.
Chuck says, “That’s really the problem with nouns, it’s hard to keep them from becoming separatist, divisive. After all, if I was ‘The Minister,’ what was everyone else supposed to do? It didn’t take them long to figure it out: they were ‘to be ministered to.’”
The role of a “minister” is to equip and train up and challenge the Body of Christ to do the work of the ministry of the church. Like:
- Christmas Eve Dinner (Dawn and Kelly)
- Thanksgiving Bags (Ashley Swedell, Babbette Bice, and Steph Kerr)
- Haiti Meal Pack (Missions Team)
- Education Hour (Steve Clements, Andy Farwell, Bruce Eidson, and Christina Farwell)
- Children’s ministry (Amy Morris, over 60 volunteers)
- Youth Ministry (DJ Goble)
- Small Groups (Christina Farwell)
- Greeting (Doors – Wally, Section Host – Abby and Nancy, Greeters – Kathy Hamm and others)
These are the gifts of those who are to equip the body of Christ to do the work of ministry.
The interesting thing about these gifts is that they help others recognize their gifts and then encourage people to use the gifts God has graced them with.
We serve because of God’s gifts.
Why do we serve?
WE SERVE BECAUSE OF GOD’S GLORY
God desires to be glorified through his followers, you and me.
And one of the ways he desires to be glorified is through unity.
Circle the word unity in vs. 13 it is the word ἑνότης [henotes /hen•ot•ace/] and it means a state of oneness.
It is literally saying that we believe one in the same way.
And I find it interesting that as Paul has been laying out the fact that we are all so different and each of us has a different gift we are still to maintain unity.
And that unity comes through giving glory to God by serving others and in this case it is by equipping the rest of the body, because we are crafted to serve one another.
Paul sets an initial goal for our works of service.
We are to build up the body, “until we all reach unity in the faith … and become mature.”
The first ministry of believers is to other believers, crafted to serve one another.
It is vital that we “grow up into Him” if we are to be a valid expression of Jesus in this world.
The whole body “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
This is sometimes hard to accept.
We look at the world and are burdened by the need for evangelism.
We look at the poor and are burdened by the need to establish justice.
We look at the suffering and are impelled to comfort and to care.
So sometimes we slip into the trap of organizing the local church to undertake one or more of these tasks.
We program evangelistic efforts and buy more buses.
We commit ourselves to an active social welfare involvement.
All too often we lose sight of the fact that the first function of the body is to build itself.
Don’t misunderstand: this does not mean we become internalized.
This focus on building one another up is not “selfish;” it is essential.
Only as we grow toward maturity together can we respond fully to Jesus as He directs us to serve in the world.
Only a strong and healthy body can carry out the tasks assigned to it.
Our effectiveness in communicating the Gospel and the love of God to the world around us depends on our growth toward maturity.
This kind of growth takes place as we—members together of one body—build each other up in love, each part doing its own ministering work together with other believers.
What breaks my heart is that our churches today are filled with forty and fifty year attendees that are still infants in their faith and the unity is absent because there has been no maturity.
I believe one of the best ways to glorify God is when the church functions in unity, taking care of each other, looking out for each other.
Francis Chan, about a gang member who left the church, give this video your attention please.
And Paul is clear that there are a variety of gifts in which we can have and must share within the body and the world and even though we are different in our gifts we should all work toward one goal, glorifying God through His grace imparted on our lives.
The reason we serve is because God saved us to change us and to use us as agents of change in our community and our world.
As a church we want to give you as many opportunities as possible to serve in the church and to serve outside the church.
We believe in this so strongly that we actually hired a Discipleship Minister, Christina Farwell, she is doing an amazing job and I am so encouraged by all that she is doing, but she can’t make any of you serve, neither can I and we understand that.
That’s why we have been praying since the first of the year for God to put it on people’s hearts to serve in the church and in our community.
Take some time after our service and stop by the adult ministries table, Christina has put together a flier for you so that you can see all the areas we need help in…and if you aren’t serving you aren’t growing.
When we are about the business of serving God and His Kingdom, we won’t have the energy or time to spend in the Devil’s playground of complaining and negativity.
Don’t be caught in the Devil’s playground, be found…
