Ephesians 4

September 25, 2018

THOSE CHRIST GAVE TO EQUIP GOD’S PEOPLE
Viewed as offices, at least one or two of these five roles would not remain active today. For instance, the office of apostle would include the qualification of having seen the resurrected Lord Jesus. Certainly, no one today could make that claim. However, viewed as “gifts,” as the NLT here translates it, the five may be considered not only active, but critical in the equipping of God’s people in the church.

Although the word “gifts” is not in the original Greek, it might be considered implied by the original, “he gave.” Viewing the five as gifts or as giftings, the characteristics of these five might be described as follows:

– APOSTLE – A gifted and passionate pioneer, who extends the mission of the church into new and healthy ways, breaking ground in new cultures, always looking to plant new churches where gospel hasn’t been heard.

– PROPHET – A gifted and passionate guardian of God’s Word, concerned with applying it to God’s people, calling for holiness and loyalty.

-EVANGELIST – A gifted and passionate proclaimer of the gospel as the core message of the church, a powerful enlister who invites people far from God to draw near.

– PASTOR/SHEPHERD – A gifted and loving nurturer and passionate defender of the flock, concerned for people care and maintaining unity in the family of God.

-TEACHER – A gifted communicator who is able to lead God’s people into deeper understanding of His Word, able to take complex things and explain them in simple, yet accurate and memorable ways, passionate about study and helping other to grow in knowledge and practice.

Viewed as “giftings,” doesn’t every church need all five in order to rightly equip the saints?

September 25, 2016

Both the goal and the means of our speech are described. The goal is maturity in Christ. The means is twofold: “truth” and “love.” The mission of the Church is to make disciples who are being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). The members of the Church are to speak the unvarnished, absolute truth to one another, so that they don’t fall prey to false doctrine and worldly deception. Yet, this truth should not be delivered in a harsh, judgmental way, but in a graceful and loving way. Our speech should have the goal of “building up” the hearer (Eph. 4:29). Some consider themselves truth-tellers and others are people-pleasers, but the Word calls for us to avoid both extremes. Instead, speak the truth in love.

September 26, 2015

Everything has a “seal” or a child-proof cap on it these days. Designed to insure that the right person opens it and that the wrong person can’t, these seals offer quality assurance to the purchaser. The Bible says that when we are saved that God seals us with His Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us assurance of our salvation through Christ. Yet, when we sin, especially when we sin against fellow believers, it “grieves” the Spirit. It grieves God when we have unreconciled relationships. Having reconciled us to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, and having sealed us with His Spirit, God has given us this ministry of reconciliation. We are to love God and others. This “grief” that we feel when we are not right with someone is further evidence of the Spirit’s seal. If you feel the Spirit’s grief today, move quickly to be reconciled and to feel His joy and peace again.

September 25, 2015

Some call the pastor the minister, but this is not biblical. The members are supposed to be the ministers. The pastor is to be an equipper. When Christ established the Church, he gave the gift of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the purpose of “equipping the saints.” When the members of the modern church realize that they are the ministers, we will see a return to the world-changing effectiveness of the 1st century church.