Apostles Church

Eph 4:7-16. A Gifted Community. Jesus has purchased our salvation; the holy Spirit; and spiritual gifts for his people. 4:7-10 one of the accomplishments of Jesus in his incarnation, death and resurrection is that he distributed to each of his people a gift that was an expression of his grace to us. This is similar to the language in Romans 12:6 and 1Cor 12:4-7. Grace is given to each of us, the manifestation of which is God giving a spiritual gift to each of us.  

What is a Spiritual Gift? A God given ability bestowed upon believers and empowered by the Holy Spirit, (to continue the ministry of Jesus).  Acts 1:1 – all that Jesus began to do and teach. So the Spirit is given to empower us to proclaim the words and do the works of Jesus. 1 Cor 12.11 ESV “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

What are the gifts of the Spirit? There are a few places in Scripture where the gifts are listed. Each list differs, so it would seem the list is not exhaustive. 1Corinthians 12:8-10, 28 (wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues, apostles, prophets, teachers, helping, administration); Romans 12:6-8 (prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy); 1 Peter 4:11 (speaking and serving) and our passage. Various attempts are made to categorize these gifts: miraculous and non-miraculous. We could get really simple and say that some are more the proclamation of words and others are the exercise of works. Words – prophesy, tongues and interpretation, teaching, wisdom, knowledge. Works – healing, miracles, discernment of spirits, helping, mercy, serving, leadership, giving). Each of us who have Jesus as Savior and Lord, have his Spirit and at least one spiritual gift. Maybe none of those jump out at you – again it is not exhaustive. More on that later.

What is the purpose of these Gifts? 1Co 12:7 for the common good. 1Co 12:25 so that we can care for one another. Romans 1:9-12 – to strengthen you and encourage your faith. Eph 4:12, 16 – building up the body of Christ; when each part is working, when everyone in the church exercises his or her gift, the body grows and is built up in love. Your gift is not about you. It is not about you feeling important or gaining power and recognition. It is about encouraging, serving, helping others. But, what we discover is that using our gifts also brings growth and maturity into our lives. Elevates your affections for God, your passion for his kingdom, your sense of need and dependence upon him, your love for his people, a seriousness about what is at stake. You find the child in you sitting down more and more and the man or woman standing up.

How do you discover your gift? People take tests, gifts assessments. But it comes down to this: What godly aspirations do you have? When are you moved at the level of your affections? How do you experience God using you? Where are you affirmed? Illus: Find your own Calcutta. This is the key to discovering your gifting. The exercise of your gift will be labor but it will not feel laborious. It will require strenuous effort, but there will be a joy to it that makes it feel effortless. Created Capacities. Some come to Christ late in life and find that their gifting is in line with what they were good at before they came to faith. But, the Spirit gives them a higher motivation and greater empowerment to use that gift with greater effectiveness and joy. Gift Lust. Don’t despise your gifting.

How do you exercise your gift? It doesn’t have to be programmed. You just exercise it in the church and not just when it is gathered. If you have the gift of encouragement, you encourage; giving then give; teaching then teach… KEY: If the gifts are given to build up the church and strengthen God’s people, you will not experience the unleashing of your gift in the power of the Holy Spirit until you love the Church. If the gift is about you, you will have a shrinking capacity to exercise it effectively. But, if you love the church and want to see God’s people be a pure and holy people with strength and maturity living on mission in its city, then God will give you an ever increasing capacity to use your gifting in an effective manner. Illus: Praying for the increase capacity for the prophetic. Rod Vestal conversation. You won’t even discover your gifting apart from a love for Jesus and his church.

Jesus Gives Gifted People to lead out in the Church. In v.7 he says to each of us grace was given; then in verse 11 he focuses on people Jesus gives to the church to lead the people he has gifted by grace. Apostles: Office/Secondary sense in function or gifting.  Plant the church – through evangelism, teaching, leadership, they begin congregations that worship Jesus and serve his mission together. Missionaries who enter other cultures. Heb 3:1, Jesus is called an Apostle – the ultimate Apostles - one who is sent by the Father into a cross cultural setting and begins the church. Prophets: There may have been an office that existed, but again there is a prophetic function. Prophets are those who spontaneously receive insight from the Lord and share it with clarity and authority. The receive immediate impressions about something from God they could not have otherwise known. Example: Charles Spurgeon, while preaching in London, pointed to a young man and said, “Young man, the gloves in your pocket are not paid for.” They discern and speak the mind of God intuitively, rather than deductively like a teacher. These people are uniquely called to lead out in the community of faith. Evangelist. Gifting in communicating the Gospel in clear and compelling ways so that others come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. It may have been an office - Philip is called an evangelist. But it was also a function of those who were called to lead the church. Paul tells Timothy in 2Ti 4:5 “do the work of an evangelist.” Pastors and Teachers. The grammar may imply that this is one group of people who carry out both functions; they are pastor-teachers. They belong together but it is more likely to mean pastors, some of which can teach. Pastor – a shepherd. They are good at caring for the people. They give wise biblical counseling and encouragement. Teacher – they teach the word of God. They can clearly articulate scriptural truths in a clear and compelling ways that help people go deeper in their faith.  So, these gifted people are given to the church to lead the church. Some do that vocationally and are compensated for it. Others do it non-vocationally. It is not their profession, but they emerge in the church as key leaders to help the church be what Jesus has saved it to be.
    What is the ultimate purpose of these gifted people in the church? To bring maturity to the Church. Happens two ways: through ongoing instruction. Notice, how the emphasis with these gifted people is on the ongoing instruction of the community – that we would attain the knowledge of the Son of God so that we could become mature and not be like children who are tossed by every wave and wind of doctrine. The way we grow is through developing a deeper understanding of God and the Gospel and continually aligning our lives with it. Knowledge fosters faith, hope and love. As we grow in the knowledge of God, we become convinced of the truthfulness of God and put our faith more and more in him. As we come to know the love of God more and more, we find our affections raised for him. As we come to believe in the unshakeable purposes of God we discover greater hope in him. We grow and mature. The second way these gifted people bring about maturity is by equipping the saints for ministry. As they use their gifts the church grows and matures. It doesn’t mean that these people who lead out in the church are doing seminars on how to use your gift of administration. Rather, it means that they are giving people such a vision of God that it sets the hearts of the people on fire for God and gives them a passion to rightly use their gifts for the glory of God, the mission of God,  and the good of those that God loves. It is not that these leaders are giving dance lessons – they are helping people hear music so that they can dance. And when we hear the music – when we get such a vision of God and his grace and glory, we naturally respond in laying all of our lives down for his glory and purposes and find our giftings unleashed.

Why our city needs a community gifted by grace: Because it is the best way for our city to get a more comprehensive picture of Jesus. Remember, we continue the ministry of Jesus through the exercise of our gifts. Are you unleashing your gift to continue what Jesus began. Through the church, the culture hears his prophetic voice, instruction, his exhortations; it learns his wisdom, knowledge and faith; it sees his mercy, generosity, healing power, and hospitality. We become a mature man, the full measure of Christ. We need each other for this. As we exercise our gifts, the city sees Jesus and is smitten by the vision of him.