Gifts that Transform the World
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. (Ephesians 4:7-8)
You and I have heard some disparaging news about the
economy lately, but let’s face it: we’re still doing well, and we’re still able
to be choosy consumers.
Sure, gas prices are high and the stock market is low, but
you and I still have a great deal of choice. For instance, I’ll need to eat
this week. I might choose Chinese; I might choose the country buffet. Or
neither. My main concern is sitting down and being fed something to my liking,
which still is very possible in this economy.
The “consumer mentality” might work wonders for a market
economy, and it might make you and me physically happy, but there is one place
– the church – where it has no place.
Many professing Christians, regrettably, have carried the
“consumer mentality” over to the church. You and I might attend one week, or we
might not. As soon as Church A stops serving food we prefer – “the sermons are
a wee bit long” – we move to Church B, or we stop attending altogether. And
certainly don’t ask me to do anything for the church or, for that matter, for
the Lord!
But when you and I take that approach, Paul tells us here
in Ephesians 4:7-16, we are making a mockery of Christ’s victory – of Good
Friday and Easter. The apostle teaches us three things about our roles in the
body of Christ: that the Victorious Lord Jesus gives gifts; that he gives them
to every member of the church; and that he gives them in order that we, his
body, might be built up in love.
You have a critical role to play in the body of Christ –
but you can fulfill that role only as you grow in the knowledge of Christ.
Paul first teaches that the victorious Lord Jesus Christ
gives gifts by virtue of his victory over sin and death.
The apostle begins this section by writing that every one
of us (a concept we’ll examine later) has been given grace, or spiritual gifts,
by Christ according to his design. St. Paul’s emphasis here falls –
significantly – on “Christ;” he simply could have said our gifts come from God,
but he doesn’t. He instead emphasizes the fact that it is Jesus Christ who is
giving the spiritual gifts to you and me, his church.
The various gifts that Jesus gives you and me are the
result of his victory over sin, Satan and death on Good Friday and Easter. To
bolster his argument, Paul quotes Psalm 68, a “warrior psalm” that speaks of
Yahweh defeating His enemies, parading them in defeat as He ascends to triumph,
and receiving gifts from them (“spoil”). The apostle applies this text to
Jesus, who ascended to the “highest Heavens” – the place of preeminence and
authority, which we studied in chapter 1 – after first having descended to this
earth. Now, Paul isn’t teaching (nor does any passage teach) Jesus went to
Hades and preached the Gospel to those who were doomed. Rather, Paul here
echoes his more-developed teaching in Philippians 2:1-11 – Jesus’ exaltation
came only after his humiliation, in which he became true man, suffered under
the curse in this fallen world and went to Hell for us on Good Friday. Only as
Jesus accomplishes what no other person could – the total remission of the sins
of the faithful and the defeat of Satan and death – is he given “the Name that
is above every name.” The One who ascends first descended, and he now ascends
in triumph.
But there’s a notable change in the quotation from Psalm
68: the psalmist says Yahweh received gifts from men, while Paul says
Jesus, Yahweh, gave gifts to men. Is Paul confused? Of course not.
Inspired by God’s Spirit, Paul is making clear that the Lord received gifts
from those he conquered in order to give gifts to His people. He disarmed
Satan’s minions so that He might arm you and me fully. Without Jesus’ victory,
the church would have no spiritual gifts, and you and I would be hopeless!
How curious that folks in our world long for proof of
Heaven, when all they need to do is look at the church. Consider the apostles,
the authors of Scripture: they weren’t Harvard PhDs. Some of them were plain
old fishermen – yet the Lord used them to communicate His perfect and infinite
Word and to lay the foundations of the New Testament church. Was it their
charisma? Their native intelligence? Of course not! The apostles’ gifts, and
your spiritual gifts, came about only because Jesus has disarmed his enemies,
taken the spoils and lavished them on you and me, his church.
Paul secondly teaches that Jesus sovereignly gives these
gifts to all of us, his church.
Verse 7 speaks of Christ giving all of us gifts according
to his measure, or the amount that he desires for us. In verse 16 Paul writes
of each part of the body of Christ working effectively. Clearly, Jesus gives
gifts not merely to a few of us but to all of us, all of you, in order to do
the work he has for you.
If you’ll notice, the apostle in Ephesians 4:1-16
masterfully captures the nature of the Trinity as reflected in the life of the
church. Last week we noted that Paul stressed the unity of all believers in
Christ, just as our God is one Lord. The unity of Christians, however, does not
contradict the fact that we also have great diversity as the body of Christ –
just as God is three Persons in one united Godhead. And just as the three
Persons coinhere and work together to accomplish our salvation, so too we as
the church play different, but equally vital, roles in living as the body of
Christ on earth.
In verse 11 Paul highlights the “Word-gifts” that Jesus
gives his church, as exercised in various offices in the church. The Lord gave
some men to be apostles; these laid the foundation of the church as they bore
witness to Christ and as some of them, inspired by the Spirit, wrote His Holy
Word. This office, of course, has ended. Some were given prophets; this office
also has ceased as an office in that men no longer receive extra-biblical
revelations from God in order to confirm the Gospel message. (Pastors and
teachers today are “prophets” in the sense that we are to do the work of a
prophet: to declare the Word of God to you.) Jesus gave some to be evangelists
– men specially gifted to bring the Gospel to new and/or pagan lands (such as
Jean Larroux and Al Baker in our own country). And he gave some to be pastors
and teachers; these two offices overlap greatly and continue today. Paul in the
Pastoral Epistles says pastors/elders/bishops must be apt to teach, and some of
us pastors/elders/bishops labor more intensely in the Word.
Certainly Christ has given you gifts as well –
perhaps the gift of hospitality, perhaps the gift of showing mercy, perhaps
another. But you are able to understand and to utilize your gifts properly only
as the Word-gifts are exercised in the church, and as you take advantage of the
ministry of the Word in this church.
How much does Sunday School matter to you? Or Sunday-night
service? Or Wednesday-night Bible study? If you are inactive in the church, and
if you have a “consumer mentality” in the church, take a look at your devotion
to studying God’s Word. The less you know of Christ, the less you will care
about Christ, and the more-obvious will be your failure to do your part in the
body.
These gifts are given, third, for the building-up of the
body in love.
Paul writes that the Word-gifts exist so that you, the
saints, might be fully outfitted and prepared to do the work of ministry, so
that the body of Christ – the church – is mature in this earth. You can’t
minister unless you know and receive the Word; but if you know and receive the
Word, you must minister through holy living, acts of Christian compassion and
daily service to Jesus.
One of the effects of the Word-gifts is that you and I, as
we attend to the study of Scripture, mature in Christ with the goal of arriving
at true unity in the faith and in the experiential, and doctrinal, knowledge of
the Son of God. If we’re united in the truth, you and I can stand firm in the
Lord and won’t be deceived, tossed about or blown around by false doctrine as
though we were children. Recently in our own denomination, a false teaching
known as the Federal Vision has crept in and led professing believers astray.
Without going into that heresy, note that it destroys the central gospel
teaching of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Professing Christians are falling prey to it, being blown around like a candy
wrapper in Katrina-strength winds. If only you and I would grow in the
knowledge of Christ, we would be built up as our Head, Jesus, directs us, and
we would “fill out” as a body of believers. Heresy kills. Speaking the truth of
God in love for one another builds us up, so that you and I perform our vital
tasks in the body and encourage each other in growth and in service.
It is football season, and – to change metaphors – I
recently saw two contrasting quarterbacks play football. One was a smallish guy
who didn’t seem to have much power in his legs. If the defense got hold of him,
he was down. The other quarterback, however, had strong legs and fought his way
out of tackles. You might say the one player was scrawny while the other was
full-grown, able to play the position completely.
Because of our consumer mentality in the church, you and I
as the body of Christ are awfully scrawny. No wonder the church gets pushed
around doctrinally and seems to be ineffective in the world. No wonder our
elderly go neglected and our poor don’t learn to work and our children grow up
to worship material.
Jesus died and rose again to give you and me
world-transforming gifts: primarily gifts of the Word, but gifts of the Word
that build you up in the exercise of your Christ-given gifts. But you must
attend to the Word, and then – guided by the Word – put your gifts to work, so
that we might be a strong body in the Lord.
I challenge you to come to service tonight, to Sunday
School next week, to Wednesday night service, as you providentially are able.
Make it a practice, a new and holy habit. Then mark your growth in a year.
If you live out your part in the body of Christ, your life
won’t be the only one that is transformed.