Empowered by Christ: Unleashing Spiritual Gifts for Unity

The first three chapters of Ephesians address doctrinal truth that is what a Christian should believe and the last three address practical matters that is how a Christian should thus live as chapter 4 begins the Apostle Paul emphasized the need for believers to walk worthily in regard to all they've received in Christ and to especially strive for unity based on a series of of ones that is uh that bind them together that is uh being one body having one spirit one hope one Lord, one faith one baptism and one God and father of all. [00:14:11]

Each believer has been granted the capacity to serve the church and thus to build it up in unity by the grace of Jesus as expressed in and through the spiritual gifts bestowed upon each one now of course the greatest of the gifts bestowed upon believers is that of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised he would send before he departed from this world and then who permanently comes to indwell us as believers upon our conversion working all the marvelous ministries of the Holy Spirit within our lives as he abides as he resides within us as saved people. [00:15:29]

Now as we look at these three passages and sort of mine out from them all the distinct gifts that are mentioned we find that it includes a list as follows there's apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, helping, administration, wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment, serving exhorting, giving, leading, mercy speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues well let's move along for a few moments to verse eight and take a look at it. [00:16:58]

Paul in verse 8 makes reference to Psalm 68 specifically verse 18 now if you read verse 18 of Psalm 68 in your Bible it's going to read a little different than what Paul quotes here he seemed to modify it a bit by drawing on alternate renderings that were available uh in the scripture world of of his day uh to make his point some Bible scholars believe that he even kind of uh takes what all of Psalm 68 says and summarizes it and uh then declares that in uh verse 8 but he wants to make a point that Jesus has the capacity to generously bestow gifts upon his church he can do that. [00:18:00]

But Paul takes verse 8 and properly makes application of it to Jesus himself who had conquered and been victorious over the enemies of sin and death to have ascended on high into heaven thus returning to his pre-incarnate position and to have been seated at the Father's right hand from where he generously bestows gifts upon his church but Paul also observed in verse nine that Jesus first descended into the lower regions of the earth bible scholars deate debate exactly what this refers to with various possibilities offered up. [00:20:13]

Folks I prefer an interpretation of verse 9 that sees it as referring to simply but profoundly Jesus incarnation that he descended into the lower regions the earth as the ESV renders it as meaning that he came into this world as we know it, as God clothed in human flesh that he was born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary that he lived s sinlessly on earth for 33 years faithfully and obediently teaching God's truth and ministering to physical mental emotional and spiritual needs that he demonstrated power over the devil over Satan by in numerous uh on numerous occasions casting demons out of those who had been afflicted by such beings. [00:22:02]

He demonstrated power over sickness and disease by healing many many different people, sometimes he healed them just with his spoken word sometimes he healed them by touching them physically, sometimes he healed them as they were in his very presence other times he healed them from afar when they were out of his physical presence, but he not only healed those afflicted with sickness and disease it goes further than that he even raised folks from the dead some who had been deceased for relatively short period of time and he raised them up and then in the case of Lazarus he'd been dead for quite a while scripture tells us for four days. [00:23:01]

Jesus demonstrated power by working miracles that only God himself could ever do, and after all that then he finally went to the cross submitting to God's will that he be the one and only and final atoning sacrifice for our sin he was the sinless one and he took our sin upon himself and paid the price that we would otherwise have had to pay he paid it in our place suffering the wrath of God poured out on him so that we would not have to suffer that very same wrath if we would but put our faith and trust in him. [00:26:38]

Now as we move to verse 10 it states in making application to Jesus Paul is making application again here to Jesus he says "He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things." The filling of all things has nothing to do with Jesus taking up physical space within the universe but has everything to do with him exercising his complete authority and sovereignty over every realm that exists in all of creation and in his place of authority and kingship he's fully qualified and fully capable of liberally bestowing gifts according to his will and to his ways. [00:27:59]

Here they're described as given by Jesus himself and these gifts as they're given become evident in certain believers who then serve so that the church may be built up and kept in unity now the first of those gifts as listed is apostles in the New Testament the twel apostles take on a very prominent role of course we read about them in what they're up to as we go through the New Testament afterwards Judas the one who betrayed Jesus and then went out and hung himself is replaced by Matias then later on Paul emerges onto the scene and is considered as another one of the apostles. [00:29:11]

To be understood that an apostle was one who had been with Jesus or one who had experienced Jesus directly and in person, we know that happened with Paul on the road to uh Damascus and then further as he is away for that period of time in the in the wilderness uh it appears as if as we read scripture that he is being taught by Jesus himself during that period and that's Paul had extraordinary influence and authority within that early church as a legitimate apostle and it's also understood that these men occupied the office of apostle but there's no scriptural evidence that the office of apostle remained after the New Testament era. [00:31:52]

However we may think of the gift of apostle as that one that still legitimately exists today as we take the meaning of apostle in Greek to mean one who has sent forth and then it describes those who with God-given influence and authority uh take the gospel out into new raw unevangelized or even under evangelized parts of the world through populations unreached with the gospel many Bible scholars comment that today's apostles include the domestic and foreign missionaries who dedicate their lives and calling to go into those unreached populations with the express intent of living amongst them learning their language and culture striving to evangelize and disciple them and to plant churches. [00:33:00]

As with the gift of apostle we may think of the gift of prophet as one that still legitimately exists today, that gift would be evident in those who boldly declare a timely and urgent word from the Lord calling believers especially to confession and repentance through their teaching and preaching, now folks unlike with many cultish and heretical groups today this kind of prophetic word has nothing to do with foretelling the future or adding any additional content to God's written word you will hear people today declaring themselves to be prophets and declaring themselves to have a word from God about perhaps the time of of say of Jesus return. [00:34:16]

There are those who will declare themselves as prophets who say we I or we have a word from the Lord and when you listen to what they say it's something that adds to scripture that's not already there or it's something that takes away from scripture something that is there and when that is the case because God's written word is a closed cannon there's nothing to be added to it nothing to be taken away from it when we hear something like that we are to turn away from that and have nothing to do with it. [00:36:28]

An evangelist is especially gifted by him to teach and to preach the gospel in such a way that people are compelled to listen and to respond in faith to the invitation to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, you know over the years gone to a lot of different uh conferences uh Christian conferences uh throughout the the country and uh sometimes there'll be a powerful speaker that will stand up and be be sharing a prominent uh leader in the Christian community and that person will talk about how on the flight to that conference they sat beside somebody struck up a conversation with within the aotted time of flight had won them to the Lord. [00:37:19]

I'm thankful for for people like that they seem to have a special gifting from the Lord to initiate those conversations and say the right things and and and and draw a response from people to receive Christ right then and there again I'm I'm thankful that there is that uh that gifting that we're all supposed to be sharing the gospel we're all supposed to be guess you could say small E evangelists but there are the large capital E evangelists who seem to have that special gifting. [00:38:31]

Finally the gift of shepherd or pastor and teacher now these aren't to be thought of as an office as such and folks probably I believe not even as two separate gifts that's why I'm saying there's there's really four gifts listed here not five because the they exist as as in tandem in the same person pastor teacher that man in particular has been gifted by Jesus to care for the needs of his congregation to lead them and protect them as a shepherd would a flock of sheep under his care and then in addition to build up and edify them by patiently teaching and preaching God's word the Bible in such a way that they're brought into maturity and more and more into conformity to the image of Jesus. [00:39:19]

Throughout history of the history of the church whom we may say had the gift of being an apostle, they may include in the New Testament of course Paul himself Silas Barnabas you know Paul takes Barnabas first and then he takes Silas and goes on his missionary journeys you four of them if we include the the trip to Rome and they go and they uh take the gospel message to places where it's never been before they go as missionaries to these raw regions and share Christ and establish churches and then uh write to those churches when those churches had issues or needs and then many cases revisited some of those churches. [00:40:19]

But beyond the New Testament they may also include men like William Kerry regarded as the father of the modern-day mission movement call it the modern day mission movement even though this like happened 300 years ago but went as a missionary to India and then there was Adnarum Judson who went as a missionary to Burma hudson Taylor who went as a missionary to China all these men going into all these places where the gospel had never been before these raw unevangelized regions countries going with the gift of apostle as as missionaries. [00:41:21]

Regarding the gift of evangelist we could cite men like John Wesley and his brother Charles who ministered all over England taking the gospel and seeing many come to Christ and then went to the southeastern United States and did the same thing there and George Whitfield preaching in England and the United States said in his lifetime he preached 18,000 itinerant sermons and under him many came to Christ now we can think of DL Moody great American evangelist billy Sunday who was a professional baseball player in the early 20th century and gave that all up to become an evangelist and then of course Billy Graham in our day and age. [00:44:53]

In all of these instances these are just a mere small handful of those who have over the centuries by been gifted by Jesus in these ways so what can we make of all this in a very practical sense let's first of all be reminded that the church any church all churches and this church Fellowship Baptist Church of Drumhiller Alberta are still being gifted that is being well equipped enabling to be and to do all that they need to be and to do for the honor and glory of God all of those gifts each of the 18 that we briefly reviewed described as being given by God through the Holy Spirit and particularly the four that we focused on today. [00:47:31]

They were described as given by Jesus himself apostle prophet evangelist and shepherd teacher are generously bestowed and need to be recognized by the church affirmed by the church and given the freedom by the church to be exercised with passion and power so that the church may be built up and kept in unity dean spoke Dean spoke this morning about a call a call to ministry don't think we preach that often enough in our churches and that call of course comes as men and women are gifted by the Lord to fill these roles and they do need to be recognized by the church affirmed by the church and empowered by the church to go forth and exercise those gifts with passion with power. [00:48:36]

So that the church may survive thrive be built up and be kept in unity and each of you be encouraged to yes seek after the Lord himself first and foremost that is our our primary to be our primary focus but also to seek after the gifts that you've been given for the sake of your church. [00:50:01]