Transcript
Greetings in Jesus name.
It’s time to begin our service this afternoon. I am so thankful to have you here, and I am thankful that we have a little time to examine scripture together.
We are working our way through the book of Ephesians, and I am in chapter 4. Today we are examining verses seven through ten, but I will read starting at verse 1. I invite you to open your bibles, and follow along with me as I read.
Ephesians 4
English Standard Version
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Let us pray.
Lord God, we thank for the gift of grace you have imparted to each of us. For by grace we are saved through faith. Lord, let us understand these things in the depth of our being. Help them to be more than just thoughts in our heads. Let it be an experienced reality in our hearts. This we ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Introduction.
Well, we have a wonderful passage of scripture to examine today, and we will take a little time to walk through it together. This passage we are examining is fairly straightforward, verse 7 down to verse 10. But before I we dive into those verses let me first remind us of the context here, and the main point Paul is making.
Paul opened chapter 4 by calling on the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling. And as we come into verse 2 and 3, Paul makes it clear that at the top of his list, that means getting along with each other. So, walking worthy of their calling, begins here with the Ephesians getting along with each other. And Paul is making a case as to how and why they should get along, and how they should do it is by showing the fruit of the spirit in their life – being kind, and loving, patient, and humble. Then in verse four, five, and six, Paul begins to tell them why they should get along with each other, and the reason is because they are united with each other through Christ. And because they are united with Christ, they share these different things in common – one lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one God. And because they hold those things in common, that is a basis for them to seek to get along with each other. And then as we arrive at verse 7, Paul is still on this same overall theme, the theme of getting along with each other. And in verse 7, he begins to explain that the Ephesians are not all going to be alike. There are going to be differences from one person to another. And he is here explaining one of the reasons that those differences exist.
So, it is important to realize that Paul is offering a contrast here. In verse five and six, he has explained ways in which they are alike. But in verse 7, he is explaining ways in which they are going to be different.
And it is so important to notice that is what Paul is doing here. Because unity does not mean everyone is going to be alike. Unity is not uniformity. Those are two different things. Unity – that word means united. It means connected. And you are united with anything you are connected to. You have unity with anything you are connected to. You and I have unity with our nation – because we are citizens of our nation. We have unity with our family, because we are born into our family. We have unity with whatever we are part of. And unity – really – it just simply means we are connected by a common bond. It does not mean we are identical or fully alike. It just means there is a common bond that connects us.
And as Christians, that common bond is Jesus Christ. And it is these things that Paul listed there in verse four and five and six. And that does not make us fully identical or fully alike. We are united, but we are not uniform.
And verse 7 begins to explain one very important reason we are not uniform. It is not the only reason. But it is one of the most important.
And we can understand that Paul is offering a contrast in verse 7, by looking at the very first word in that verse. That word is three letters. BUT. B-U-T. BUT. In verse four and five and six he explained how we are alike. And now in verse 7 he says BUT. BUT
The Gift of Grace
Some make sure you notice, the first word in verse 7 is BUT. And that is because this is a clarification to the verses which came before.
There are ways in which Christians are alike. But there are ways in which we are different from each other.
There is One Body, One Spirit, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all. We hold those things in common.
BUT, grace was given to every one of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We each have a measure of grace, and our measure is not equal.
And you might need to really think about what that means. Because there is a whole lot contained in the idea that we have different measures of grace. That has many implications.
And one of those implications is that some people need more grace than others.
I think you and I know that, just in a natural sense. If you have children, maybe you have a family of five children. Those kids are not all the same. Some of those kids are going to need more grace and more understanding from you, as a parent. Some kids seem to hit most of the good marks, and it’s just their nature. But other kids need a lot of understanding. And so as parents, we have to give them different measures of grace.
You could think about it with a teacher in school. Some kids are math wizzes, you can show them how to add and subtract, and they pick it up right away. But other kids need time. You have to sit with them and help them, and repeat the lessons over and over, and it takes them a while to get it right. Some of them needed a little help, others needed a lot of help. Some needed the teacher to show them more grace than others.
It’s the same with reading. Some kids pick up reading really quick. You spend a little time reading with them, and they just take off. Other kids, you have to spend a lot of time trying to help them to read, and lots of lessons, and over and over until they finally get it. Some of them need more grace than others.
And our heavenly father is just the same. You and I are not all the same. We all need grace, but in different measures. And God gives grace in different measures.
And Paul places this in contrast to the things we have in common. And so, when he says we have different measures of grace, it implies God has to bear with some of us more than others. Some of us have further to go than others, you might say. Some of us pick it up right away. Others of us need extra help. And as we apply that to our Christian walk, that helps us understand we are not all the same. We are not all going at the same pace. We are not all growing at the same pace. And we are not all at the same place on our journey.
Some are fast. Some are slow. Some just started out. Some have been at it a long time. And we are all different.
That should help us to understand that we are going to encounter other people in the church who are not like us. They may not be like us in their behavior. They may not be like us in their understanding. They may be quite different from us in a lot of ways. And we are going to have to show some people more grace than others. Some people are going to have more shortcomings. Some people are going to understand less. Some people are going to be slower. And for some people, it will always be that way. Some people are going to be different than us. And some people are always going to be different than us, for our entire lives. And we need to allow grace for that.
Just like God allows more grace for those who need it more. We need to understand that we are going to have to do the same. And that should tell us something about what to expect the church to be like. The kind of church Paul is describing here is not going to match the idea that was held in the doomsday cult we escaped from. Paul is not describing a church where everything is always perfect. And everyone is always perfect. Paul is describing a church where, sometimes we are going to have to show grace to the people. And sometimes, it’s going to be an above-average amount of grace that we will need to show them. That is the kind of church Paul is describing here. And that is honestly what we should expect of a genuine Christian church. One where people need to be shown some grace. And some people who need to be shown more grace than others. Because while there are things we should have in common, the amount of grace that individual people require is not one of those things. People are going to be different from each other, in a way that requires some to be shown more grace than others.
I hope you can understand the point I am trying to convey here because it is very important. Because all of this works within unity. It is all acceptable, within this unity we have in Christ. The Ephesians are all in unity. Paul has already established that. And this need to show some people more grace than others is operating within this unity they already have. That person who has received more grace – that person is just as much in union with Jesus Christ and with his body as you and I. Whether they need more grace than me, or less grace than me, or the same amount of grace as me, that person is still in union with Christ. They are still in unity.
And there is grace to cover our differences. Grace will take care of those things. As long as we hold the common things, like Paul mentions in verse four and five and six. There is grace that covers our remaining differences.
And that understanding is contained right here in these verses we are examining.
Differing Gifts
Now, there is another point here, that is perhaps more obvious. Paul is also talking about the measure of this grace also in relation to the gifts that we have as individuals. And by gifts, you might think of it as functions or talents. We each one have unique abilities and unique capacities.
Just in the most basic sense, we know it to be true that we have different abilities.
If I examine myself, I will find there are things I am good at, and I will find there are things I am bad at. For example, I can’t play a piano. I do not have that talent, or that gift, to play a piano. That talent is just not in me. But that talent might be in you. My wife plays piano; she has that gift and talent. So if I was to compare myself to my wife, she has a gift that I don’t have. And I am sure if I got to know you, there would be gifts and talents you have, which are also unique. And as we look through scripture, there are a lot of passages about the gifts that God gives to people.
Where we come from, our minds, of course, go to the nine gifts mentioned in the book of 1st Corinthians. But there are gifts besides those, which also come from the Holy Spirit. In Romans 12, Paul tells about other gifts. And here in Ephesians 4, Paul is going to speak on gifts of ministry, which we will look at in our next lesson. But, as we examine this passage, we should notice Paul is writing this in part to also help us recognize that there are a variety of gifts and talents. And just like we are unique in the grace showed us, we are also unique in the gifts that are imparted to us by the same grace.
Even though we are united in Christ, there is a great depth of diversity within the body of Christ. And one reason it is important for us to recognize that diversity is so we can understand that there is a need for us to show tolerance for differences. Diversity is not the opposite of unity. Diversity is the opposite of uniformity. So, unity and diversity are perfectly compatible. And we should not expect everyone to be alike. And the range in which we can be different from each other as Christians is much broader than we were led to believe in the doomsday cult we escaped from.
There is a much wider allowance for Christians to be different from each other than the doomsday cult taught us.
Now another important thing to catch here – is that each and every one of us was given a gift. It says so right in verse seven. Each one of us was given a measure of Christ’s gift of grace. I want to emphasize – each one of us. There is no one left out. Every one of us has a God-given gift.
You listening right now, you need to know that you have a God-given gift. You have not been left out. And that is important for you to know.
Because, that means there is no one who can plow you over, belittle you, and make you nothing. We are each and every one, gifted people. There is no one in the body of Christ who is not gifted. You are gifted.
And if you come from a place that does not recognize that, then you have been in a place that has been stunting your growth. You and I are gifted people – because the Bible says so. And we are to use our unique gifts and talents for the greater good of the church. We all have a function to fulfill.
And, I am going to say something you may have never heard before. Your function is not to sit on a church pew, pay your tithes, and keep quiet and obey. That is not your function. That is not the function of any Christian. That is not an acceptable Christian lifestyle.
I know, where I come from – that is pretty much what our leaders would tell many people. They would be told their function was to sit on the pew, fill up the church, and to contribute. But that is not recognizing people’s gifts and talents. That is stunting people’s growth, that is what that is.
A good church will recognize the talents and gifts in its members. And it will encourage those gifts and talents to be used. And if there is no place in that local church for those gifts and talents to be used, then you should be encouraged to find ways outside of that local church to use your gifts and talents. What most Message churches do is tell people to bury their talents, to sit on them, to not use them at all.
And that tends to be what the churches in our doomsday cult were like. Most of them, the people show up to church, they sit in their seat, they pay their tithes, and that is all most of them ever do. And that is really about all the leaders want them to do. They might get in trouble if they tried to do anything else.
But we all have gifts to exercise. And the truth is, some of the most important gifts that people have are the ones no one ever talked about in the doomsday cult. If you went to Romans 12, for example, Paul talks about the gift of encouragement – a gift to encourage people, or a gift of service – in helping others, or a gift of generosity, or a gift for being able to show mercy.
I never met many people in the doomsday cult with a gift of mercy. Did you? If you had a gift of mercy, and you tried to use that in the doomsday cult, you were going to get in big trouble. I know I sure did. When our leaders were abusing people, and I wanted there to be mercy, I got in big trouble. They were not interested in a gift of mercy because it didn’t fit with their cult programming.
But it is important for us to remember, all of the gifts matter, and they all have a place.
Let me go to Romans 12 and read that to you. I think it will be helpful.
In Romans 12, verse 3, Paul says:
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
Romans 12 ESV
Notice that this is the same sort of language Paul used in Ephesians. We each have a measure, and contained in that measure are unique gifts and talents.
Verse 4:
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Romans 12 ESV
I will let you read on if you like. But Paul goes into even more detail here than he does in Ephesians. And I like the way it is explained here because it helps us see that the range of these gifts Paul is speaking of is a lot bigger than
what most people in the doomsday cult believed.
How We Came by These Gifts
If you want to turn back to Ephesians with me, I will read our passage again. Paul says, in verse 7:
“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
Now, I think we have talked this verse enough. I hope we can all understand that some of us need more grace than others, and we are all gifted people. We all have a function and a role, and that list of possible functions and roles is much bigger than we may have realized. And I hope we also see that verse seven is contrasting our diversity with our unity. We are united, but we are also diverse. We are united, but we are not uniform.
Now, as we come down to verse 8, Paul breaks away from his main thought. Paul is talking about the gifts we have, and he is going to pick that back up in verse 11. But here in verse 8, 9, and 10, Paul pauses to explain how it is that we have these gifts, how it is that Christ is able to offer us gifts. And let me read it:
Verse 8:
“Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)”
So, we have the explanation of how it came to be that Christ gave gifts to the church. And I think it is very fitting that we are reading these verses today because today is Easter Sunday. And this is the season when Christ did these things we are reading about. And these verses are speaking about Christ’s death, his resurrection, and his ascension.
In verse 8, Paul is quoting from Psalms 68. Paul is going back to the Old Testament to make this explanation to the Ephesians. And Psalms 68 speaks about when Christ ascended into heaven, and it says, when he did that, he obtained gifts which he shared with the church.
And I will not dwell long on these verses. But we know scripture tells us that Jesus humbled himself. He was born of a virgin, came into the world, and he lived here the life of a common man, just like you and I. He was on our level, in that respect. The Lord of Glory humbled himself in that way. And not just that, but he also humbled himself to go to the cross. And in his death, his body was put into the grave, and he descended into the grave.
And Paul is drawing the Ephesians’ attention to this great thing that Christ had gone through, in order to share these gifts with the church.
And in a most basic sense, Christ has to atone for our sins. He had to reconcile us to God through his sacrifice. And in doing that, Jesus Christ made it possible for us to draw near to God. And it is when we enter into a relationship with God, that is how and when we gain access to these gifts. And Paul is connecting those dots, so the Ephesians will be reminded of how these gifts were given to them. And as we read it today, on Easter Sunday, it is a good reminder to us as well, how it is that we came by our gifts, and how it is that we came by this amazing grace. It was through that act performed by Christ, that Paul is speaking of here in verse eight, nine, and ten.
Through his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven, Jesus Christ was able to offer us these gifts.
And I am so thankful that he was willing to do that for me. Because without his sacrifice, none of this would mean anything. Without his sacrifice, we have nothing to look forward to, except doom. But now, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Amen.
Now, as we look at verse nine and ten, there is something there I want to make sure I point out to you.
You have heard me say these verses are talking about the death, the burial, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ into heaven. And that is certain. And I believe most every Christian agrees on that, of everything I have looked into when I was studying these verses.
But there is one more thing here that most Christians would add. Most Christian teachers will tell you this verse is also speaking about the incarnation.
And that is different from the places we come from. There it talks about Christ descended. In the places we come from, we were taught that spoke of Christ descending into the grave in his death. And it certainly includes that. But most Christian teachers broaden it out and say this descending is also talking about when the Word became flesh, when the incarnation happened.
And I want to make sure I point that out to you. Because I am not out to hide anything from you here.
And you might ask me, brother Charles, is this verse talking about the incarnation? Is this talking about when the Word became flesh? And I would have to say, I don’t know. I have a hard time seeing that here myself. Because it’s not really clear. When it talks about Christ descending in the lower parts of the earth, Paul does not really spell it out with enough detail for me to be sure that it is talking about the incarnation. It could just simply be that he is referring to him descending into the grave, or it could be he has something more in mind. There is just not enough here to really be sure.
But, in the context of what all he is saying, we can be sure that it at least includes Christ descending into the grave. And if it also includes the incarnation, I will leave that up to you. But just from these verses here by themselves, it’s not clear to me.
And so, I wanted to make sure I let you know about that, since it is what most Christian teachers believe, even though I don’t really see it clearly here myself. And I will just let you make up your own mind on it.
Closing
And as I close, let me end with one final encouragement to us all.
We are all gifted people, and that really is the main point here. And the plain things are the main things. And the main thing Paul is getting at is an explanation of how it is that you and I have obtained these gifts from God, and that we are all – each and every one of us – gifted people. We all have a role and a function to perform, and I will be reminding you of that when we get into our next lesson. Paul has said in verse seven that all of us are gifted.
So come back next time, we will go into verse 11, and we will begin to examine these gifts of apostle, and prophet, and evangelists, and pastor and teacher. And as we do, I am going to point out a few things to you in these verses which they leave out in the places we come from. So, if that interests you, come back next time, and we will pick up from there.
Amen. Let me close in prayer.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the Bible. Thank you for helping us to understand that you have endowed each of us, as unique individuals, with unique talents and gifts. Thank you for helping us to understand that we should show tolerance and grace towards each other, and respect our differences. As Paul wrote – so that we may maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one spirit, and one Lord, One faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. But we as individuals are still unique, and you have given us a lot of room to have different convictions, yet still be part of the body of Christ. Thank you for writing that so clearly in scripture for us to understand. For those of us who still struggle to embrace this truth, I pray that you will strengthen our hearts with love so that we can see and know what is the height, and the depth, and width, and the breadth of the church. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.