He Gave Gifts to Men

If you have your Bible with you this morning, I hope you do, turn to Ephesians chapter 4. We're
continuing our study through the book of Ephesians. We're in the second half of the book,
the half of the book that deals with instruction to us on how we are to walk in a manner worthy of
our calling. And I want to start this morning, as I have been studying and meditating on the
passage we're going to be looking at this morning, this week, I kept thinking about one of my
favorite books. It's a book I have read from and quoted from before. It's this book,
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Who here has read this book? Raise your hand.
I don't mean you've seen the movie. You've read the book. Yeah, the book much better than the
movie, all right? Who has not read this book? Raise your hand if you've not read the book. Okay,
church discipline for you afterwards. This is a requirement. You need to read this book.
I first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was in high school. And I could show you
the spot on Interstate 40 between St. Louis and Jefferson City. I was on a bus. It was a high
school event and we were being bused. And I was reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And
there's a spot in the road where I shut the book and I went, oh, now I understand what it means
that Jesus died in my place. And if you've read the book, you know where that spot is.
But it was... It was eye-opening for me. And I've read it over and over again because when we had
kids, I read all of the Chronicles of Narnia to our kids as they were growing up. And I took on
character voices. And I may or may not do that with the passage I'm going to read this morning.
And I've shared a number of passages. There's so many great passages in this book. I've shared
about the spot where Mr. Beaver is talking to the children, to Peter and Susan and Lucy,
and he gives them the prophecy, the great prophecy about the lion, Aslan. He says, wrong will be
right when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more.
When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death, and when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring
again. I love that prophecy. I love the part where I think it's Lucy who asks him about Aslan and
says, is he safe? Is he a tame lion? And he says, of course he's not safe, but he's good.
I tell you, he's the king. But this morning I want to read another portion of this story to you.
If you remember in Narnia, it's winter all the time, but it's never Christmas because they are
under the control of the white witch. She has cast a spell on the land,
and it's always winter and never Christmas. But this is the point in the book where the curse has
been broken and things are starting to change. So Mr. Beaver says, come on. He was almost dancing
with delight. Come and see. This is a nasty knock for the witch. It looks as if her power is
already crumbling. What do you mean, Mr. Beaver? panted Peter as they all scrambled up the steep
bank of the valley together. Didn't I tell you, answered Mr. Beaver, that she'd made it always
winter and never Christmas? Didn't I tell you? Well, just come and see. And when they were all at
the top, they did see. It was a sledge. Now, a sledge is a sleigh. That's what they say in English.
It was a sledge. And it was a reindeer with bells on the harness. But they were far bigger than the
witch's reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone
knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe, bright as holly
berries, with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy
waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because though you see people... of his sort,
only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world, the world on
this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia, it's far different. Some of
the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now,
as the children actually stood looking at him, they didn't find it quite like that. He was so big
and so glad and so real, they became quite still. They felt very glad, but also solemn.
I've come at last, he said. She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got it at last.
Aslan is on the move. The witch's magic is weakening. And Lucy felt running through her that deep
shiver of gladness that you only get when you are solemn and still. And now,
said Father Christmas, for your presence. There is a new and better sewing machine for you,
Mrs. Beaver. I will drop it at your house as I pass. If you please, sir, said Mrs.
Beaver, making a curtsy, it's locked up. Locks and bolts make no difference to me,
said Father Christmas. And as for you, Mr. Beaver, when you get home, you will find the dam
finished and mended and all the leaks stopped with a new sluice gate fitted. Mr.
Beaver was so pleased that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn't say anything at
all. Peter, Adam's son, said Father Christmas. Here,
sir, said Peter. These are your presents, was the answer. And they are tools,
not toys. The time to use them is perhaps near at hand. Bear them well.
With these words he handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was the color of silver,
and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment that you pick
it. The hilt of the sword was gold, and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed,
and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was silent and solemn as he
received these gifts, for he felt they were a very serious kind of present. Susan,
Eve's daughter, said Father Christmas, these are for you. And he handed her a bow and a quiver full
of arrows with a little ivory horn. You must use the bow only in great need,
he said, for I do not mean to fight in the battles. It does not easily miss.
And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then wherever you are,
I think help of some kind will come to you. Last of all, he said, Lucy, Eve's daughter.
And Lucy came forward. He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass, but people afterwards
said it was made of a diamond and a small dagger. In this bottle, he said,
there's a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire flowers that grow in the mountains of the
sun. If you or any of your friends is hurt, a few drops of this will restore them. And the dagger
is to defend yourself at great need, for you are also not to be in the battle. Why,
sir, said Lucy, I think... I don't know, but I think I could be brave enough. That's not the point,
he said. Battles are ugly when women fight. And now... Here he suddenly looked less grave.
Here's something for the moment for you all. And he brought out, I suppose from that big bag on the
back, but nobody quite saw him do it, a large tray containing five cups and saucers, a bowl of lump
sugar, a jug of cream, and a big teapot, all sizzling and piping hot. Then he cried out,
Merry Christmas! Long live the true king! And cracked his whip, and he and the reindeer and the
sledge were all out of sight before anyone realized they had started. There's the scene.
I know you'd like me to read more and finish the chapter but we have to get back to Ephesians. So
the reason I wanted to read that and the reason it's been echoing in my head all this week is
because in the passage we're going to be looking at this morning the Bible talks about Jesus giving
gifts to us. Tools, not toys, like it said in the book.
Spiritual gifts that are given to us. when we are adopted into his family.
In this book, Father Christmas Gives Gifts to the Beavers. and to the children in Narnia gifts that
they would need as they continued in the new Narnia. And in the same way God has given gifts to us,
gifts that we will need in order for us to be the church He's called us to be,
the people He's called us to be, and in order for us to use these gifts to see His kingdom advanced
in our world. So I want to get to our passage, look at what it teaches about these gifts and about
how we're to understand it. We're going to read Ephesians 4 starting at verse 4. We're going to go
all the way through verse 16, but our focus this morning is going to be on verses 7 through 10.
So let me read and then I'll have you stand as we... Read the passage.
Let me pray and then I'll have you stand. Lord, we need your help to teach.
We need your help to learn. We need your spirit to be at work in our hearts and in our lives this
morning. Speak to us by your spirit through your word and give us ears to hear and hearts ready to
obey. We ask in your name. Amen. Alright, stand with me. This is the word of God for the people of
God. This is Ephesians 4 beginning at verse 4. The Bible says there is one body and one spirit just
as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
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 to the lower regions of
the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above the heavens that he might fill
all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds, the teacher.
by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, Speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body,
joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working
properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Amen. May God bless this reading of his word. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our
God will stand forever. You may be seated. Okay, here's how we're going to approach verses 7
through 10 this morning. I want you to see first an overview of this issue of gifts being given.
Verse 7 says that grace is given and verse 8 says he gave gifts to men.
So we're going to talk about spiritual gifts at the beginning. Then I want us to spend a little bit
of time with three tricky interpretive issues. When you read this there are three things in this
passage. that can be a little tricky to try to figure out what's he saying exactly there. So we're
just going to dig in and deal with those three interpretive issues. Then we'll explore what I think
is at the heart of this passage, which is the focus on the relationship between the ascension of
Christ and the gifts that he's giving. And then finally I want us to understand that we all have a
responsibility before Christ to use the gifts that we've been given.
Peter Parker's uncle Ben would have said with great gifts come great responsibility. That's a
paraphrase but you get the idea. So look back again at verse 7. Grace was given to each one of us
according to the measure of Christ's gifts.
Now that doesn't mention spiritual gifts being given specifically. It talks about Christ's gift.
the measure of his gift. Verse 8 it says he gives gifts to men. Let me explain what Paul is saying
here. First when he uses the phrase grace is given, the Greek word for grace is a word you may have
heard, it's the word charis. In fact charisma or charismatic means grace gifts.
So here when he says charis is giving he's talking about grace and the kind of grace he's talking
about here is not saving grace. Back in chapter 2 when he said you are saved by grace he's talking
about the grace that God gives us that saves us. Here he's talking about grace being given,
sustaining grace. We need both. We need saving grace in order to be justified and to come into
God's kingdom. We need sustaining grace or sanctifying grace in order to grow in godliness
throughout our lives. And that's the grace he's talking about here. When he says grace was given,
he's talking about the kind of grace we need day in and day out in order to walk with Jesus and
follow him. And one element of sustaining grace, one element of this charis is the spiritual gifts
that we are given that we need to employ and that need to be activated in our lives in order for us
to be sustained and to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. Part of the grace that God gives us
to sustain us is the grace gifts that he gives us. when we come to know Christ.
There are four places in the New Testament where spiritual gifts are talked about. This is one of
them and this one talks about specific offices. We're not going to get to it this week but next
week we'll look at the offices of the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor and the
teacher. But probably the most comprehensive place where you find talk about spiritual gifts is in
1 Corinthians chapter 12. And we won't turn there and go through that, that would just take us off
track for this morning. But 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the reason for spiritual gifts,
it talks about different spiritual gifts that have been given. In fact there are two listings of
spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. It talks about a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge or the
gift of faith. It talks about the gifts of healings. It talks about workings of miracles.
It talks about prophecy, discerning spirits. It talks about different kinds of tongues and
interpretation of tongues. And it also talks about apostles and prophets and teachers. It talks
about works and administration. So there are different,
this is the big list. But we should not think of this list as the comprehensive list. You shouldn't
think that every spiritual gift is necessarily enumerated in the Bible. When God gives spiritual
gifts to us, He is giving us grace and empowerment to be able to serve Him.
And this list is just a listing of some of the kinds of gifts that are given. The two other places
that you find talk about spiritual gifts are in Romans 12. There's a brief section at the beginning
of Romans 12 that talks about spiritual gifts. And then there are two verses in 1 Peter 4 that talk
about spiritual gifts. And those two verses just say there are serving gifts and there are speaking
gifts. And that's pretty much all it says. And Peter summarizes his brief...
Now notice there, each has received a gift. If you're here this morning and you are in Christ,
you're a follower of Christ, you've given your life to Him, when you became a Christian, God gave
you spiritual gift. Let me just say, my understanding of this is that We tend to look at the list
and say, well do you have that one, do you have this one, do you have that? No, I think God gives a
gift that is a crafted gift for you, it's a customized gift for you that may include elements of
more than just one of those gifts that are listed or things that are outside the gifting. God gives
you spiritual ability and power to use those gifts that it's unique to you.
So each of us has received a gift and it says the purpose of these gifts is to serve one another.
These gifts that God gives us, these spiritual gifts are not for personal edification. They're not
for us to take care of ourselves. We put them to use serving one another in the body so that we are
good stewards of the grace that God has given us. Do not use your gift.
regularly is to be a poor steward of the gift God has given you. And as the Bible makes clear,
these are gifts of grace. These are not gifts you can earn. You shouldn't think more highly of
yourself because you have this gift or shouldn't think more highly of somebody else because they
have that gift. These are gifts of grace. Anytime you see the gifts of God at work in the body of
Christ, the glory goes to God for that, not to the person who's operating the gift.
These gifts are different than natural abilities or talents.
It may be that long before you were a Christian, you were already administratively inclined,
or you were already willing to help people, or you were teaching folks, or you pitched in with
whatever's needed. Those are natural abilities, talents, inclinations, that's your personality. And
both spiritual gifts and natural abilities come from God. So the spiritual gift that God gives you
comes from Him, but also the inclination that you had to be a helper came from Him. He shaped your
personality and your experience to form that in you. So when you were born you had certain natural
abilities that God had planted in you. Some of you were good at math, some of you had good verbal
skills, some of you were athletic or musical or organized. We all have different things we're good
at and that's how God made us. But when we're born again we get this package of spiritual
giftedness or abilities and they may or may not line up with our natural talents and personality.
So for example, before I was a Christian I was already inclined toward public speaking.
It's something that I did in high school and I enjoyed doing it. I looked for opportunities to do
it. No one was surprised from my high school class that I wound up on the radio later because
that's just who I was. I have natural abilities in those areas.
But I was not inclined towards study when I was not a Christian.
When I went to school, students listen to me on this, I had the wrong approach to school. When I
was in school my thought was this, okay we have an assignment, your job is not to necessarily learn
anything, just complete the assignment and get the grade and move on. So I went through school just
trying to complete assignments, doing as little work and actual learning as I had to do in order to
complete the assignment. I'm not proud of that, I wish I could go back. There are things, I wrote
papers on books that I never read, right? And I'd look back and go,
man, I had the opportunity as a student to learn those things. I had the time, I was paying the
money, but all I was thinking about was, oh, I got this paper due, I got to turn it in, I hope I
get a good grade, that's all I was aiming for. Not learning anything. When I became a Christian,
something different happened.
I had a hunger and a desire to want to learn the things of God in a way that I'd never had that
before. To study. To dig in. Not to complete an assignment,
just to know God and learn about His Word. I look back at that and go that's a part of the
spiritual gifting God gave me and it pairs up with the natural ability as a platform speaker to be
able to put those two together to serve the body of Christ. So ultimately what determines spiritual
giftedness in our lives is I think this. I think first of all, what's the aim or the purpose of the
activity you're involved with? If your aim or your purpose is to serve the body, that's functioning
in spiritual giftedness. If your aim or your purpose is something else, get glory for yourself or
because it makes you feel good or whatever else, then that's just you functioning according to your
own strength and power. And then that's the second thing. To what extent are you relying on God's
grace and power in your life as you carry out what you're doing versus saying, I got this. I mean,
when I come up here to preach on a Sunday morning, I could come up here in my own power and go,
I've got natural ability in this area so I can just do this. I don't need to rely on God. God, I
got this. Nothing good spiritually will happen if that's the approach I take.
I'm not functioning in spiritual giftedness at that point. I'm just doing my thing probably for my
own glory or self-aggrandizement. But when I come up here and say, oh Lord, all is vain unless you
work through this. And even if I fumble and stumble, even if I mess up a word, I'm depending on you
to take your word and plant it in our hearts. Then in that way God will use my yieldedness and my
giftedness to edify the body. Tomorrow I am headed to California for a pastor's event where I am
emceeing and I'm leading a breakout. And I have prepped for my time out there. I feel confident
about what I'm going to be doing. I'm looking forward to it. But as I look at what I'll be doing,
I think I can safely say this is intended to be a kingdom-building event, the one that I'm going
to. It has a God-exalting purpose. And as far as I know my own heart,
I'm not doing this for personal gain. I'm doing it because I want to participate in advancing the
work of the kingdom. and be a part of this. And even though I feel prepared and confident about
what my role will be I still have to rely on the Holy Spirit to be at work in the midst of all of
this. I'm still yielded to Him and saying Lord take what you put in me both natural abilities and
giftedness and use that for your glory. And I think that's a part of how we distinguish the
difference between spiritual giftedness and natural ability. And I'm just wondering if somebody
came up to you and said What about you? What's your spiritual gift? Are you confident in knowing
what it is? Could you give a quick answer to that? Would you stumble?
Spiritual gifts and our understanding of what they are come to us in the context of community.
We help one another learn what our spiritual gifts are. If you're not sure what your spiritual
gifts are, the community is here to help identify that for you and with you. We affirm and validate
each other's gifts. There's an acronym that I've found helpful. Rick Warren,
who was a pastor in California, came up with the acronym SHAPE in talking about spiritual gifts.
And he says, here's how you determine what your spiritual gifts are. You look at what your
spiritual shape is. And so the S in the shape, I think we've got, do I have a,
yeah. So shape, how God wires you for ministry, he says, shape, the first is your spiritual gift.
your special abilities that the Holy Spirit gives every believer. H is your heart. What are your
passions and your desires? A, that's your abilities. Where are your natural talents?
P is your personality. And then E is your experiences. You take all of those together to figure out
how God has put together a spiritual shape in you so that you can serve Him.
And thinking through these categories will help you assess What's God gifted me to do?
What's he called me to do? What's my shape? And assessing your spiritual giftedness and putting
your gifts to work to serve the body of Christ is a responsibility all of us have. But again,
keep in mind what ultimately determines spiritual giftedness, what's the aim or purpose of your
using these activities, you're doing these activities, to what extent are you relying on God's
power, and then do you have the confirmation of this giftedness in the community? Verse 7 says God
gives grace to sustain you in this journey. Verse 8 says He gives gifts to all men and we are to
steward those for His glory. Let me just note here the phrase at the end of verse 7 where it says
grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
What that means is ultimately It's up to Jesus to determine who gets what gifts.
Jesus is like Father Christmas in the story. He knows what you need more than you know what you
need. He gives out these gifts. knowing what He's made you for and called you to do.
Ephesians 2, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for the good works that He prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them. He's got a plan for you. He made you for a specific
purpose. He gifted you for a purpose. He gives those gifts so that your purposes can be
accomplished. Our assignment is to understand our spiritual gifts and steward them.
Not just to seek gifts. I've met people who are seeking gifts that they don't have.
They think my job is to go after, I should want all of the gifts. No, the Bible says Jesus gives
the gifts according to his gift. And to envy someone else for having a gift that you wish you had,
that's ultimately impugning God's character. You're saying... you didn't give me what you gave him.
You're envious, you're jealous, you're saying, God, you were wrong, you made a mistake. Don't do
that. Be content with the gift God has given you and steward it.
The Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness without contentment is nothing.
In fact, it's an oxymoron. To say you're godly and not content, that's not godliness.
But that's a different sermon. Alright, let's explain I want to explain to you what's on Paul's
mind here after he says he's giving these gifts to all men.
He's remembering Psalm 68 as he thinks about this. Psalm 68 is a psalm that portrays,
it's a picture of a victorious king coming back to the place where he's,
to his kingdom, to his palace, and bringing back the spoils of battle as he comes.
And all the people are there as the king is returning after the victorious battle. He has conquered
foreign lands and he is coming back. In fact, many people think that David wrote this psalm after
the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and remembering the Ark coming home and the
Philistines being defeated. And the verse in Ephesians 4 that Paul is quoting is Psalm 68,
18. Here's what it says in Psalm 68. It says, So the king is coming back.
to the kingdom. He's ascending on Mount Zion, ascending on high. He's leading a host of captives
with him. We'll talk about that in a minute. And he's receiving gifts among men.
And he's coming home with the gifts that are yours when you've conquered.
In the ancient world, if you went and conquered a foreign land, part of the way that they showed
that they were subject now to you is they gave you gifts. You're their new ruler.
They want to be on your good side. Here, take this with you. These are the gifts we have for you.
So kings come back from conquering loaded down with gifts. So that's what's being pictured here.
But now look at what Paul says when he quotes this in Ephesians 4. Therefore it says when he
ascended on high he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.
Psalm 68 says he received gifts from men. Paul says he gave gifts to men.
So this is our first interpretive question here. How do we deal with this? What's going on?
Is Paul misquoting the psalm?
Is the king receiving gifts or is the king giving gifts? Well it's pretty simple. Paul is not
misquoting the psalm. Paul is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit interpreting the psalm for
us. He's expanding on the imagery of the psalm for us. The king coming home from battle has
received gifts as a result of conquering foreign lands. And what does the king do when he gets
home? Paul says he takes the gifts he's received and he gives them. Doesn't keep them for himself,
he gives gifts to men.
What Paul is saying is that when Jesus ascended into heaven, He's taking Psalm 68 and say this may
be a picture of David coming home with the Ark of the Covenant but it's a bigger picture of Jesus
ascending, returning to glory, being enthroned on high and in the process then giving gifts to us.
And let me just say I think this image of the ascension of Jesus This is something that's often
neglected as we think about the gospel. We often think about the cross and the empty tomb as the
elements that make up the gospel message. But we saw back in Ephesians 1 that it is both the cross,
the empty tomb, but also the ascension, the seating of Jesus in heaven. Those are all essential
elements of gospel truth. We ought to remember the ascension as the coronation.
This was an essential part of early Christian doctrine which is why in the Apostles' Creed we say
the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of
God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. The triumph of
Jesus in his victory over sin and death and hell was announced at the cross when Jesus said it is
finished. It was confirmed three days later when he rose from the dead and it was made official the
inauguration took place when he ascended into heaven. We're about to have an election season,
right? And on the morning of election day we will be going to the polls. It will be in place.
The election is happening. At the end of the polling or maybe a few days later we'll know who won.
But there will be an inauguration that happens later when they come into power. When Jesus rose
from the grave He had been voted in but he had not yet been inaugurated into his office.
So the ascension of Jesus to heaven is his inauguration, his sitting in power and ruling and
reigning over all humanity. We saw this back in Ephesians 1. I want you to flip back to Ephesians 1
and just read through, look at verse 19. where Paul has been talking about all of the spiritual
blessings that are ours in Christ, and he concludes by talking about, in verse 19, the immeasurable
greatness of God's power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might,
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him,
this is the ascension, seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in
the one to come, he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Paul's making it clear that
Jesus is king of kings. He's been enthroned on high. His ascension was the inauguration which
brings us now to the second interpretive issue. The first one is he gives gifts. He receives gifts
but then he gives the gifts. The second one is who are the people when he ascends on high who it
says he led a host of captives. Who are those captives that he's bringing with him?
I'll tell you who I think those people are. When a king would come back from a victory in a foreign
land, he would bring back the rulers of the foreign land with him as his prisoners. He's not going
to leave them there to start a revolution after he's gone. No, anybody who's got power,
he's bringing them back with him in chains so that he can keep an eye on them and so that they're
stripped of their power and their authority. It's the same thing Paul talks about in Colossians 2
when he says Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing
over them in him. At the cross and the resurrection Jesus was victorious in his battle against sin
and death and hell. When he comes back ascending he is bringing with him in chains sin and death
and hell. The devil is chained under Jesus' rule.
That's a part of the captives that he's bringing home. I bring this up because some have
interpreted this verse to mean that Jesus went to hell after he died and that he preached to the
saved people who were in hell but couldn't go to heaven because Jesus hadn't opened the door to
heaven yet. He goes and preaches the gospel to them and they are the captives he's bringing home to
heaven. I don't think that's what this verse is saying, in part because they're not captives.
We are liberated saints. We may be captive to Christ, but we're not coming back as captives.
We're coming back as liberated. So I think it's talking about the rulers and principalities that
Jesus has conquered. Third interpretive issue, verse 9 and 10, it says, in saying he ascended,
what does it mean? But also that he descended to the lower regions of the earth. Again,
the issue, the lower regions of the earth, some have imagined that that's talking about hell. I
think this is simply saying Jesus came to earth and then he went back to heaven. The lower regions
of the earth are the lower regions below heaven. This is the same thing that Jesus says in John 3
when he says no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven.
the Son of Man. I don't think we should get hung up on the lower regions of the earth. I think it
just means the earth. And Paul brings it all full circle when he says, he who descended is the one
who also ascends far above the heavens that he might fill all things. Paul is telling us that the
ascension of Jesus is the climax of his earthly ministry. Without the ascension, like I said, the
gospel's not complete. The good news is that Jesus is ruling and reigning, and that's an essential
part of the good news. In fact, if you read verses 7 through 10 backwards, start in verse 10,
here's what you've got. Jesus descended from heaven. Jesus ascended into heaven. This time he was
victorious as a conquering king. He brings his defeated enemies with him,
bound and chained. They are captive. He displays his victory over them. And then he gives gifts to
those who are his that come from his victory. And those gifts include the spiritual gifts that he's
talking about in this passage. Peter, when he's preaching the sermon on Pentecost in Acts chapter
2, he connects this together. He says, Jesus is raised,
he is seated, God gives him authority over the Holy Spirit and he pours out the Spirit on all flesh
and gives these spiritual gifts to us. Paul is connecting the proper functioning of the church and
the essential elements of the gospel. They come together and it focuses on the climax of the gospel
which is the ascension. Do you remember singing this? Years ago when we would sing, he came from
heaven to earth to show the way from the earth to the cross,
my debt to pay from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky.
Lord, I lift your name on high. That's the gospel. That's the message. That little chorus reminds
us of the path. He descended, he went to the cross, he went to the grave,
he rose from the grave, he ascended into heaven in triumph. Before he could ascend as a victor to
distribute gifts he did have to go to the cross. And the reason I point that out is because I want
you to understand the gifts that we get from Jesus cost him something. These are costly gifts.
The spiritual gift God has given you was blood bought. For us it's a free gift given generously by
God. For Jesus It was a gift that required going to the cross and giving his life so he'd have the
gifts to give to you. One of the big themes in Ephesians is how God has brought us together in the
body of Christ. Those who were far off from him and apart from one another, he's united us together
in one family. So Jew and Greek are now together, not divided. Male and female,
now together. Slave and free, now together. Rich and poor, we're all one in Christ.
And we are to be eager to maintain that unity. And these gifts God gives us by grace are gifts that
He gives us in order for that unity to function. properly. We are all as individuals saved by grace
and that salvation was free for us but costly for Christ.
And as a church we are united together, sustained by His grace with spiritual gifts to use to
support one another and He paid a price for that as well. The nails,
the scourging, the beatings. All of it was done so God's will could be done so we would be rescued
from our sins and brought together as sons and daughters into the family of God. I'll just say
this, for you not to embrace and steward your gift for the good of the body is to devalue the price
that Jesus paid for your gift.
I'll show you what I mean. I shared this story years ago, but it came to mind as I was meditating
on this. When I was 16 years old, What I wanted for Christmas was one of these.
I wanted a Pendleton plaid wool shirt.
I thought the Pendleton plaid wool shirt was the coolest shirt around and I wanted to have one of
those to wear. In fact, first of all it had to be wool, it had to be a Pendleton,
it had to be plaid and I wanted the label. I wanted that label in my shirt.
Well, my mom. My mom grew up in the depression she in the depression she learned how to sew and she
loved sewing she sewed all of our clothes now i mean she bought some for me but my my sisters
everything they had my mom made for them when they went to a dance or a party it was something mom
had made that they wore and I don't know if it made them feel like we were poor people because we
were wearing homemade clothes or not, but my mom loved doing it. She was good. The clothes she made
were amazing. So knowing I wanted a Pendleton for Christmas, my mom decided she was going to do one
better. And so for me, a custom-made Pendleton-like shirt.
She found a great piece of green wool. It was not plaid,
it was solid. And she even topstitched this shirt by hand.
I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know. But if you're a seamstress, you know that
topstitching is intricate work. And she labored over this shirt.
So on Christmas morning, I opened my present. And here it is,
a wool shirt. And it's not plaid. There's no Pendleton label on it.
And I was like, oh, this is nice. And my mom, who had been laboring over this for hours,
was disappointed. Now here's what I thought. Because my mom grew up in the Depression,
she's also a bargain shopper. So I'm thinking my mom had been at TJ Maxx or something,
they didn't have that back then, but a place like that. And she'd found some knockoff Pendleton
that you could get for $7 instead of paying $25 for the real Pendleton. Those are old-timey
prices, by the way, right? And I'm thinking, my mom, bargain hunter, finds a knockoff shirt and
says, I know you want a Pendleton, but this will do just as good. And I could tell she was not
excited. And even when she told me, no, I made this shirt for you, I was still like,
well, great, but it's not a Pendleton. It's not plaid.
But I did wear the shirt one day to school in January. And the day I wore it to school,
Clark Cole, who was a year ahead of me and was one of the cool kids, said,
hey, nice shirt. That transformed that shirt right there. All of a sudden I wanted to wear that
shirt. I went home and told my mom that Clark Cole had commented on my shirt and she got a laugh
for years about the fact that all her work meant nothing but the fact that Clark Cole had said
something about it finally gave my shirt new value. I wonder if we are,
I know I am sometimes, guilty of taking for granted what it cost Jesus for us to have the gifts
He's given us. We look at our gifts and go, yeah, they're fine. Instead of saying,
this is the gift He gave to me for His purposes. I need to employ this gift.
I need to receive it. It didn't cost me anything, but it cost Him a lot.
And that's why the right response to knowing that He has given us gifts is to say, How can I put to
work the gifts He's given me to advance His kingdom? These are blood-bought gifts. How can I serve
the church with the gifts that I've been given? For the church to function the way God intends for
it to function, to be fully healthy as a church, we all have to be using the gifts He's given us.
When we use the gifts He's given us, it unifies us as members of Christ's body.
The goal is unity. Part of the way you get to unity, you use your gifts together. And the body
functions the way it's supposed to. Daryl Bach, who's a theologian, says this. He says, one of the
dimensions of preserving unity in the church is for each one to live out the giftedness each has
received. In order for unity to function the way it's supposed to, we have to be using our gifts.
He says we are tied to each other in part through the gifts that God gives to make the body
function effectively. The exercise of those gifts allows the church to be what God has designed it
to be. So we're going to look more at the gifts that are listed here next week when we get to
verses 11 and 12. But let me just ask you this morning, do you know what your spiritual gifts are?
How did you come to that conclusion? Have those gifts been confirmed by others in the body who
would say, yes, you have that gift. Are you using? your spiritual gifts regularly?
How did you use your spiritual giftedness this past week? Can you give me a specific example of how
you have used your spiritual gift this week? How does thinking about the connection between
spiritual gifts and the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ, when we think about what He
did so that we could have these gifts, how does that reshape your thinking about your own spiritual
giftedness? And if you took seriously this question, how can I use all that God has given me to
serve Him and advance His kingdom, what is one specific thing you would do differently this week?
Can you think of a way you can put your spiritual giftedness to work to serve the body,
I'm talking about our body or the extended body of Christ, how can you use the gifts God has given
you to bless others and in the process to promote the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace?
I want you to think about those questions, meditate on those, pray about those as you prepare your
heart for communion. We're going to take communion here in just a minute. Let me pray for us. Lord,
your word is sharper than a two-edged sword. It's penetrating.
We are grateful as we read in your word about the gifts you've given.
And we are sobered as we think about the cost that you paid for these gifts. Help us to steward the
gifts you've given us and to serve you and your body in the process.
Lord, I pray this morning for anybody who might be here who doesn't know you, who's never received
the gift of salvation, the first gift you give us when we come into your family. Lord,
I pray that what they've heard this morning, you might stir them. to consider their own
relationship with you, their walk with you, whether they belong to you, whether they are your child
in your family.
And Lord, I pray that you would draw to yourself those who are here who
don't know you. I pray that they would recognize their need and cry out to you,
surrender their lives to you, and choose today to be the first day that they say, I will follow
Jesus now.
I pray these things in your name.