Ephesians 4:7-16 Bible Study - Walking in His Gifts

Bible Study Series: Ephesians - The Third Heaven Epistle

Ephesians 4:7-16 Bible Study - Walking in His Gifts

by I Gordon

Well we are moving through this great letter of the Apostle Paul's and as we have seen, the start was all about the work of God and now it is the walk of the believer. You could say that the first three chapters of Ephesians were our position, now it's our practice. The first three were what we are 'in Christ'. Now it is what Christ wants to be, 'in us'. Another way would be to say that the first half of Ephesians is about saving grace, the latter half about serving grace. Ok... I can hear you now... we get it! Enough with comparisons already! Alright... I'll stop! : ) 

The passage before us today is about the purpose of the Church and that is to build up the body of Christ till we all come into maturity. But how is this going to happen? Well everyone has to play a part and we will all be given gifts to do so. We often think of Church as a destination where we go to listen to specific people that God has gifted to direct us in the way we should go. But the Church is meant to be a body made up on many parts, but all working together for a common goal and each with something to share. God has given some gifts of leadership, shepherding, teaching etc to lead the body, but all have a gift and role to play in this grand design of God. 

Now on most trips it's useful to know the destination so if you are someone that likes to know where we are going, before we go there, we'll be looking at Ephesians 4:7-16 exploring:

• The giver & the gift - the origin and cost of your gift
• The variety of gifts - but with the common need of being plugged in!
• The purpose of the gifts - and how we all need each other to grow

The scope of the gifts - Everyone has one!

Eph 4:7 (NASB) But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 

So straight off the bat we see that every believer has at least one gift. Yep, that's everyone. Yes, you! The Holy Spirit, who has been given to all true believers, is the One who enables the believer in different ways according to His will. These are gifts of His grace.

This gift is not just what you are good at naturally though the Lord can make use of that. But it is a gift from Him. It is supernatural, not natural. For me, I can tell you honestly that I never expected or even asked to be teaching the Bible. Especially not through public speaking. I really hated that! If it was speech day at school I'd fake a sickness! "Cough, cough... Oh poor me... Oh it's soooo bad! I think its boy-flu!" Or if I couldn't weasel my way out of it, I'd speak in some type of robotic state locked by fear! And yet, after becoming a Christian, I felt myself drawn to it! As I sat in church I found myself listening for parts that I could use when it was my time. Then I'd catch myself doing that and think 'What? You idiot! You can't speak! Why are you thinking like that?' Or back home after church, when my flat-mates got back from their churches I'd always want to know what the different church were talking about. They thought I was checking up on what they remembered and got a little bit annoyed about it... but I genuinely wanted to know what the different churches were preaching. I wanted to know what God was teaching through different people. So these gifts are gifts of His grace. You don't earn them or even choose them. They choose you. They come from above and are as the Spirits wills (1 Cor 12:11). 

The origin of the gifts - The Victor who gives

Eph 4:8-10 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

So let's look at the origin of these gifts. I love the imagery given in this passage. It's drawn from Psalm 68:18 specifically, but it really encapsulates the theme of the entire Psalm. John MacArthur writes: 

(Psalm 68) is a victory hymn composed by David to celebrate God’s conquest of the Jebusite city and the triumphant ascent of God (represented by the Ark of the Covenant) up Mount Zion (cf. 2 Sa. 6-7; 1Chr 13). After a king won such a victory he would bring home the spoils and enemy prisoners to parade before his people. An Israelite king would take his retinue through the holy city of Jerusalem and up Mount Zion. Another feature of the victory parade, however, would be the display of the king’s own soldiers who had been freed after being held prisoner by the enemy. These were often referred to as recaptured captives—prisoners who had been taken prisoner again, so to speak, by their own king and given freedom.

Now you can probably imagine what it was like when a conquering King came back into Israel, triumphant after a great victory over his enemies. He comes back with the spoils of war.  He comes back with his own freed countrymen. He comes back to great celebration and glory from the rest of the country. That is what Paul pictures here. Not, however, for an earthly king coming back into Israel but for the Lord Jesus Himself, ascending back into Heaven. He came back having won the victory over Satan, death and everything the world could throw at Him. Can you imagine the wonder and praise on the mouths of the believers who had previously died and gone to Abraham's bosom as they were freed and led back into Heaven?¹ Can you imagine the glory and worship from the angels and heavenly beings seeing their King having conquered sin, death and Satan's worst.² Or for that matter, can you imagine the coming wonder when the Lord comes and takes the complete church at the rapture back the place He has prepared for us! Imagine how we, with all of Heaven, will rejoice in our Victor-King on that day! Bring it on!

Now I want you to notice a difference from Psalm 68:18 which says: 'When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious....'

Psalm 68:18 pictures the conquering king receiving gifts from men, even the rebellious ones he defeated. But Paul sees what is implied in this Psalm where the spoils of the victory over those defeated are then given to His servants. Thus, when speaking of Jesus' ascension, Paul could write 'he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.' He is a Victor who should receive gifts of praise, worship and honour from each of us. But our King is gracious. He gives. And as well as the many blessings of salvation that we have focused on previously, He has given each one a gift for service in the edifying and building up of His body. Think also of what it cost our Victor, the Lord Jesus, to be able to give that gift. That is why we want to use what He has given us... because it cost Him His life.   

The power for the gifts - stay plugged in!

Eph 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

Paul now speaks of some of these gifts that have been given. 

1. Apostles - The word Apostle means 'one sent as an authoritative delegate'. They were specially equipped ambassadors of God who were part of the foundation of the Church³ (Eph 2:20). While people are still divinely commissioned and 'sent' today, and may fulfil the role of an Apostle in that way, it is not in the same authoritative sense that the first century Apostles had.⁴ 
2. Prophets - I agree with Pastor David Guzik who writes that prophets are those "who speak forth words from God in total consistency with the foundation of the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes they speak in a predictive sense, but not necessarily so, and they are always subject to the discernment and judgment of the church leadership (1Cor 14:29). As with the apostles, modern prophets do not speak in the same authoritative sense as the first century prophets who brought God's foundational word (Eph 2:20)."
3. Evangelists - those who are divinely gifted to preach the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. William MacDonald states: "They have special ability to diagnose a sinner's condition, probe the conscience, answer objections, encourage decisions for Christ, and help the convert find assurance through the word."
4. Pastors - They are under shepherds of God's flock, whom He has placed within their care. They are specifically gifted and enabled to guide, protect, feed, and lead the sheep through the challenges of this life. 
5. Teachers - those gifted to expound on God's word, explaining and interpreting what it means, for instruction, correction, exhortation and encouragement. They (hopefully!) do so in a way that makes the confusing passages clear, and not the clear passages confusing! (But don't always count on it!)

Now these are five specific gifts but it is far from an exhaustive list. Other gifts are listed on Romans 12:4-13, 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 and 1 Peter 4:9-11. They include what we would see as the prominent 'in the limelight' leadership type gifts (like these mentioned in Ephesians) but also less conspicuous gifts. But it matters not what gift you have. What matters is that you are walking in them, exercising them for the benefit of Christ's body. There are gifts of prophecy, faith, healing and discerning of spirits - we tend to think of these as the 'supernatural' ones. Yet other spiritual gifts are just as important and include 'serving', 'hospitality', 'helps', 'administration', 'giving generously', 'encouraging'... even 'showing mercy' is listed as a gift. They all come from one source. They come from the ascended Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit given to each believer. 

"These gifts are like so many electrical appliances. What a variety of appliances are available today! There are electric toasters, toothbrushes, mixers, irons, razors. I even saw an advertisement the other day for an electric shoestring tier! But if you look carefully at these electrical appliances you will see that though they are vastly different in what they do, there is one thing in which they are always exactly alike: They all have a cord with a plug on one end, designed to plug into a receptacle by which they utilize the same power. No matter how different the appliance is, the power is the same...
Ray Stedman

The purpose of the gifts - to build the body of Christ up...

Eph 4:12-13 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.

Next we see the purpose for these gifts. This wide variety of gifts are given to build up the entire body of Christ and equip the saints for service. So don't look at what you can't do, but what you can do. You may look at these five ministry gifts mentioned here in Ephesians 4 and think 'yeah but I'm not any of those.' Yet you will have a gift that can be used. As an example, I have never really been a successful evangelist. I try but it's not my gifting. And it isn't the primary focus of my ministry or website even though it is critical that the body of Christ has evangelists. My heart has also been to do what this verse says - Through teaching the word I try, in my little way, to build up the body of Christ and bring believers to maturity in Christ. That is my focus. In the words of Paul in 1 Cor 3:6, some plant and some water. My calling has been towards the latter - trying to help people grow in Jesus. Yet I am amazed and grateful to those with the gift of evangelism. 

Some people are so creative in what they use to spread the gospel with the lost. One example comes from a very frequent visitor to the jesusplusnothing website. Philip from Jamaica has a wonderful heart for evangelism and told me of a unique approach he sometimes uses. He wrote: "What I have also done, from time to time, while I am listening to one of your audio sermons while I am on my walks, is as follows - I walk & catch up with someone else who is walking, & then after a little while, I ask them if by chance they were overhearing what I was listening to. I then ask them to try to guess your (or Fraser's) accent & then use your audio to begin Witnessing to them :-)" So there you go. That made me laugh but also impressed me at the creative way used to open the door (using some crazy Kiwi accents) and start a conversation about the Lord Jesus! Even a 'pick the wacky accent' game with a stranger can be used to start a conversation about Jesus!

The bottom line is this - we all have different gifts. Whatever your gift or gifts are, use them for the Kingdom as the Lord leads. I like how 'Our Daily Bread' illustrates this point. 

A well-known coach was once asked, “How much does college football contribute to the national physical-fitness picture?” “Nothing,” the coach replied abruptly. “Why not?” the startled interviewer asked. “Well,” said the coach, “the way I see it, you have 22 men down on the field desperately needing a rest and 40,000 people in the stands, desperately needing some exercise.” A similar situation exists in many churches today. When you compare the members who actively participate, you often find a rather pathetic situation. It’s not unusual to have a small group of diligent Christian workers struggling “down on the field” while others in the congregation are acting like spectators, “sitting on the sidelines, eating hot dogs and popcorn.” God’s strategy for the accomplishment of His program is not like a sports event. It does not call for the job to be done only by the “professionals.” In the game of life, all believers have their own positions and spiritual gifts that they must exercise “for the profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7). My friend, if you’ve been sitting in the stands, you’re badly needed down on the field!
Our Daily Bread

So again... Whatever your gift is, whatever opportunities the Lord gives you, use them for His glory. We want to be people that hear 'well done good and faithful servant' when He returns. 

Who wants a 20 year old infant?

Ephesians 4:14-15 Then we will no longer be infants (children), tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

This next little passage gives a very important example of why we are to mature and no longer be children in the faith. Now there is something wonderful about children. They are so innocent and quick to believe and trust what people tell them. Yet, there is something worrying about children. They are so innocent and quick to believe and trust what people tell them! It can be a blessing and a curse depending on who they are listening to! Spiritually speaking we are told to grow and mature as we feed on the word of God. The word of God always encourages us grow and studying it leads to maturity. And yet there are 20-30 year old Christian infants! Big Christian babies spiritually speaking! While they believe, they have never really invested themselves in the word of God and thus are easily blown off track by the latest fad teaching blowing through the Church. And this can have a sinister side to it. The Bible is very clear that there are always 'cunning and crafty men' using 'deceitful scheming' even within the church. In the natural a child is often taught to be careful of strangers... "stranger - danger" they call it. In the spiritual it is no different. The enemy always introduces tares amongst the wheat and can himself minister as an 'angel of light'. That is, he has people doing his bidding, even from the pulpit of a church. There is a great example of this in Pilgrims Progress which speaks of how deceivers who look like the real thing can lead Christians astray if they are not following the word of God (the map). 

So Christian and Hopeful could have avoided this trap had they taken to heart the advice of the Shepherds (true godly Pastors) and followed the map they were given (the word of God). And we are the same! Let's look a bit closer at that...

Growing in Him, with one another

Eph 4:15-16  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

If we are to grow and not stay as infants, tossed back and forth by every wind and wave, what are we to do? We are to feed upon the word of God. We are to speak the word of God. We are to ensure that we have Christ as our Head. This is so important. We live in difficult days where lies can come from the pulpits and propaganda from our governments. Stay alert! Feed on His word and it will bring true understanding and discernment. Some important verses concerning this are: 

• Be innocent but not unwise... be mature in your thoughts! - 1Co 14:20 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
• Be innocent, but on guard... Growing in His grace and knowledge! - 2Pe 3:17-18 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• Be willing to grow through training yourself to distinguish good from evil - Heb 5:11-14 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
• Be receptive, but test what you hear by God's word - Act 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

A second aspect of growth is communal. If we are to grow we need each part of the body of Christ supporting one another. So stay connected to the Lord through His word and in prayer. And stay connected to other believers. That is what the word says here... the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, each part doing its work, grows and builds itself up. How fantastic it is when the body operates as one and supports one another... each with different gifting and abilities, yet all done for the common good. 

Conclusion

So this section of scripture has been about walking in your God-given gifts and thus growing up in Him. Jesus, our Victor, has ascended into Heaven and given gifts to men. So remember... every believer has been given a spiritual gift and we want to grow in our use of that gift, making use of this small window of time that we have left. I've found that my greatest sense of joy is not when someone is helping me, but when I am helping someone else. Especially in relation to spiritual matters. For spiritual matters are eternal matters and only eternal matters, matter, in eternity!

And there is no better feeling than to know you are walking in the will of God and doing what He has placed upon your heart!