Maturity: The Purpose of Gifts Pt. 1

 

Maturity

 

 

Sunday 01/14/18 

Series: He Gave Gifts

Message – Maturity: The Purpose of Gifts Pt. 1

Click HERE for Video

 

 

Maturity: The Purpose of Gifts

If you will turn with me to Ephesians 4:1 please…..

Who can tell me what the first two words of verse 1 says I, therefore…

Go back to chapter 3,

Who can tell me what the first three words of verse 1 says For this reason…

Go back to chapter 2,

Who can tell me what the first three words of verse 11 says So then…

Verse 1 And

Go back to chapter 1,

Who can tell me what the first three words of verse 15 says This is why…

So…I really want to start in chapter 4, but I think it would be irresponsible of me, SO what I am going to do is “speed scan” through some of these verses and summarize them quickly in order to bring you up to speed with the portion we are going to spend time with.

Paul is called as an apostle to the Gentiles believers in Ephesus.

The purpose of this letter is to bring the Ephesian believers to the place of maturity and an awareness of their mutual responsibility to edify the body through the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit.

He explains their privileged and blessed position as saints – that they are redeemed, forgiven and favored with God’s influence. They are called to be dedicated and blameless and exist to the praise of the glory of Jesus in maturity.

Paul tells them that he gives thanks for them all the time and prays that God would give them wisdom and insight into the knowledge of Christ – and know His great power and vast strength towards us which is no less that the power that rose Him from the dead and sat Him at the Father’s right hand in power and authority over everything. That even though we were lost and dead in sin, we have been made to sit with Him – so that for eternity we will know the richness of His grace which is immeasurable through His kindness to us in Christ…and that NONE of this was in the slightest way earned by good works but only by believing what He revealed to us of Himself. When we believed we became His special creation in Christ to walk in the good works He prepared for us to walk in.

He then encouraged them to never forget where they came from…that they used to be lost…outside of the covenants…having no hope and without God in the world. BUT NOW, IN CHRIST you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the promised Messiah. He the end of hostilities between the Jews and Gentiles and IS our peace with God as well. He broke down the wall dividing us all by His flesh and has created unity and reconciled us ALL back to God as one body!

We all now have access by one Spirit to God and the ability to grow to maturity in Christ.

 

So, because as Gentiles you…

  • have been brought into the covenant
  • are no longer strangers and foreigners but are one with Abraham’s descendants according to faith
  • are members of God’s household
  • are built upon the cornerstone of Jesus the Messiah Lord Himself
  • Together with us are one consecrated dwelling place for God.

For this reason I am making known to you the incalculable riches of Christ Jesus…and how through complete and total abandonment to Him in trust you have access to God and the promises with confidence and boldness. As Peter tells us, it is by these promises that we are partakers of the divine nature – or to say it another way, we Grow to maturity in the nature and likeness of Christ Jesus.

It is because of this that I bow down in homage and worship before the Father and pray that He would grant you power through His Spirit strengthening you in your innermost being and that He would make His permanent abode in your hearts through faith. So that you will be rooted and firmly establish in love so that you may be able to fully grasp the love of both God the Father and Jesus Himself – the kind of love that cannot be figured out so that you will be filled with all the abundance of God Himself.

Now to Him that is ABLE to do FAR beyond anything we could ask or even think by His power which is in fact working in you – to HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Himself throughout all future generations – forever and ever – let it happen!

Now, due to all this glorious purpose of God I am begging you to order the conduct of your life in all humility and gentleness coupled with patience accepting one another in love and maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the peace that binds us together – in short I’m urging you to live in a way which is worthy of this amazing invitation you have received. In other words – GROW UP unto Maturity.

Paul then says, “believers, there is…”

  • One Lord
  • One Doctrine we hold to
  • One baptism
  • One God and Father of all – who is above all and through all and in all.

Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. We know this because the Old Testament tells us so when it prophesied about Christ saying, “When He ascended on high, He took pour captors into captivity and He gave gifts to us.”

But what does it mean that He ascended unless he had first descended into the grave through death. The One who descended is the same who has ascended far above the heavens that He might fulfill all things.

And He personally gave some (corresponds to 1 Cor. 12:28): (these are in order and most likely. Also the first Apostles and Prophets were the establishers of Christian doctrine – the “one Doctrine” we mentioned earlier – Eph. 2:20; 3:5)

    • Apostles – Instructors and Teachers of foundational truths who establish a new body of believers in otherwise unevangelized areas.
      • Different than the first hand picked Apostles in terms of authority.
      • Ex. – Acts 14:21-23; Acts 15:23-36; Acts 11:26-30
    • Prophets – Teachers and preachers who speak from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the moment rather than from a prepared notes. Their focus is ALWAYS the testimony of Jesus, they are considered the friends of God and at least under the Old Covenant always have had God reveal Himself to them personally. They build up, exhort and comfort the church by means of their teaching.
      • Ex. – Acts 15:32; Acts 21:10-14

 

This service had no notes since it was an open discussion…Blessings! 

 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

 

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!