Let us turn once again in our
Bibles to the letter of Ephesians chapter 4. Tonight I'm going
to read verses 7 through 16. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 7. But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill
all things. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him and all things which is the head, even
Christ. from whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. We see that the apostle continues
with the same subject, that is, the unity that must exist among
God's people. We looked at that last time in
the first seven verses, first six verses of this chapter. And
when we think about the unity among God's people, we always
think about the Psalm, Psalm 133, where the psalmist said,
behold, Behold, this is something to behold. This is something
to get your attention. How beautiful, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Behold,
how pleasant it is for brethren, for God's children who are one
in Christ to dwell together in unity. And the psalmist goes
on to say that this unity is like the precious ointment upon
the head. Remember, David said, Thou anointest
my head with oil. We're not as familiar, of course,
with anointing a person's head, but this is something that they
did in a very hot climate, evidently, and the precious ointment. Think
about the woman who anointed the Lord Jesus Christ and the
fragrance, the precious ointment that she poured upon Him. And
the Scripture says the fragrance filled the house there, and the
fragrance of the unity, the love among God's people, how pleasant
it is. And not only did the psalmist
say it's like the precious ointment upon the head, but he said it's
like the dew of Hermon, the dew that gently comes down and waters
the ground, waters the grass, waters the vegetation. And then
he ended that statement with, there, There, where? Where there is unity. There,
the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. We're just saying that hymn.
We know that in his hand, there's life and power. There, the Lord
commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Well, as we saw
last week, we as believers, as God's children in a local church,
we should endeavor, notice that in verse three, we should endeavor
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. I'm not
going to re-preach what we looked at last time, but I do remind
us of the fact that we should do everything we possibly can
as brothers and sisters in Christ to maintain the unity among this
church family. There are three parts to the
message tonight. First of all, all believers are
given grace. Notice that in verse seven. But
unto every one of us is given grace. Now the words every one
of us makes me believe that the apostle has reference to every
true child of God. Because we know that no one is
a child of God apart from God's grace. For by grace are you saved. In verse one, he spoke about
the vocation, the calling. We saw that that word vocation
means calling. And every true child of God has
been called by God's grace. Maybe you've heard the story
that the preacher was preaching and he mentioned, first of all,
I believe it was prevenient grace. Now, prevenient grace is grace
before grace. In other words, before God called
you, he kept you. Think about the fact. In my case,
I think about the fact if I'd been cut off out of the land
of the living before I was 20 years of age, I'd be in hell. Prevenient grace. And you look
back and you see cases, times when only God kept you. He kept you. Prevenient grace.
And then the preacher went on to say there's calling grace.
We mentioned that. The vocation, wherewith you are
called. God called you. There's quickening
grace. When He quickens you, you're
regenerated by the Spirit of God and made alive. There's justifying
grace, being therefore justified by his grace, the scripture says. And there's sanctifying grace.
A preacher just going on naming these various kinds of grace
that his audience have experienced. But after each one, he'd say,
ah, but there's one, one grace you haven't experienced yet.
And He just named these graces like I've mentioned here, prevenient,
calling, quickening, justifying, sanctifying, preserving. But He said, now there's one
grace you haven't experienced yet. And that is dying grace. Dying grace. But just as sure
as you have experienced God's calling grace, you will experience
His grace in the time of your death. And then, of course, we
would think about glorifying grace. Remember in Romans chapter
8, where the apostle said, them whom he did foreknow, he also
did call. And them he called, he also did
justify. And them he justified, he did
also glorify. We talk about that as a golden
chain, don't we? It stretches from old eternity
to everlasting eternity. whom he did foreknow from before
the foundation of the world. And he glorifies throughout all
eternity. Grace for everyone. Notice what
the apostle says here. But unto every one of us is grace
given. And remember this, grace is not
grace if it's not given. If a person merits, earns, deserves,
you can call it what you will, but don't call it grace, because
it's not grace. Grace is grace because it is
given, unmerited favor. Now, I said that these words
make me believe that they have reference to every true child
of God. But in the context here of the
next few verses, many of the commentators say that this especially
refers to the ministers of the gospel, the ministers of Christ.
But for you and I, I think we should understand the words of
every true child of God, with ministers maybe especially in
mind. But look at the rest of the verse.
But unto every one of us is given grace, now notice, according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. I want you to hold your
places here and turn back with me to John chapter one. John chapter 1, and these are
the words of the Apostle John. In the context, it may seem like
it's John the Baptist, but these are the words of the Apostle
John. First, in John chapter 1, beginning
in verse 14. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full. full of grace and truth. John bear witness of him and
cried saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. Now
notice, and of his fullness, that is, he who is full of grace
and truth, the Lord Jesus Christ, of his fullness have all we received
and grace for grace. All true believers have received
grace out of His fullness, and we have received it as grace,
that is, freely. Now, all believers, all believers
receive grace. All believers receive grace out
of His fullness, that is, the fullness of Christ. But all believers
do not receive the same measure of grace. The same gifts, in
other words. Some have received one and some
of another, but here's the thing that's so important, I believe.
And I want to emphasize this as much as I can for as long
as the Lord lets me preach. Every child of God is given grace
and has a ministry. I mean, he doesn't give us grace
just to sit on a log and take up time. Every believer, every
child of God out of his fullness is given grace and we're all
given grace to serve him, to minister in some way. Just like
every part of our body. This is where the analogy of
the human body comes in to play, isn't it? When Paul uses this
in several places, He speaks about the fact that every member
doesn't have the same function, but every member is important.
I told a member of our congregation yesterday he had done something,
and I said, that's your ministry. I want you to look at that as
your ministry. And it's important. Whatever
God gives you to do, do it as unto the Lord. That's a ministry,
and God gives you the grace to do it. And all the grace comes
out of His fullness. We all receive grace, and because
we all receive grace, and we do not all receive the same measure
of grace, but this means there should never be any envy in the
body of Christ. It'd be like the ear may be envying
the eye. Now the hearing is important,
no doubt about that, but so is the seeing, right? The ear is
much smaller than your foot, but what if your ear was the
size of your foot? I mean the symmetry of the body,
how God has fearfully and wonderfully made us, made our bodies in the
beginning, how they function. I speak for myself. I know so
very little. I was speaking with Lance Heller
the other night about his daughter. what she's experienced with the
digestive system, and I told him, it makes you appreciate
even more, doesn't it, Lance, to think about how that we are
fearfully and wonderfully made. I mean, our body, but the body
of Christ even more so. We are fearfully and wonderfully
made. We are stitched together in this
local body of believers, and every one of us has received
grace from His fullness and His grace that we might serve Him.
There never should be any cause for envy, for jealousy, or for
discouragement, for that matter. Whatever work, I think there's
a scripture in Ecclesiastes that says, whatsoever thy hand findeth
to do, do it with all thy might. Whatever God gives you to do,
then do it. and do it with zeal. Do it as
unto the Lord, whatever it is, as unto the Lord. So that's the
first thing I wanted to mention tonight. All believers are given
grace, verse 7. Now second, I want us to say
we have an Old Testament prophecy cited in these verses 8 through
11. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended
up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. I want you to keep your places,
and let's look back at this Old Testament prophecy that the apostle
cites here. It's found in Psalm 68. Psalm
68. The part he quotes is verse 18,
but I want us to read verse 17 and 18 and 19 as well. Psalm 68, beginning in verse
17. The chariots of God are 20,000,
even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as in
Sinai in the holy place. That verse of scripture tells
us that the Lord, the Lord Jesus, was there at Sinai when he gave
the law. And it was ministered by angels
unto the nation of Israel. Then verse 18, thou hast ascended. Who? The Lord. Thou hast ascended
on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord who daily
loadeth us with benefits. That's our God, isn't it? That's
our God. That's our Father. Every day,
every day, daily, loaded us with benefits. I think about what
Joseph told his brethren when they came down there into Egypt.
And he was sending them back to get Jacob and bring all the
family. All of them come down to Egypt.
He's going to take care of them. He's the second in command and
all the grain in Egypt is under his control. And he loaded them
down with provisions. And here they go back. And he
told them, see that you fall not out along the way. He told his brothers now, don't
you start fighting along the way. There's plenty. He loaded
them down, and there's plenty more. And the Lord God Almighty,
He daily loads us down, loadeth us also with benefits. Even the God of our salvation,
Selah. Think about that. That's what
that word Selah means, isn't it? Stop when you read and see
that word Selah. Stop. Meditate. Think about what you've just
read, what God has just said. Meditation is so useful and I'm
afraid it is so unused by so many believers. Don't you know, now Paul's writing
this letter to the church at Ephesus and he quotes this Old
Testament prophecy. And don't you know that he lacks
told of those words in that prophecy? Notice it again. Thou has ascended
on high. Thou has led captivity captive. Thou has received gift from it. Yay. Yay. For the rebellious also. I know all of us by nature are
rebellious. We've rebelled against our God
against our maker. But don't you know, Paul, he
last told of that. Of all the apostles, as far as
we know, the most rebellious of all, before God's sovereign
grace apprehended him that day on the road to Damascus. And
God fitted him, God, the Lord gave him gifts, just like he
did the other. And of course, this magnifies
the grace of God. When the Lord Jesus ascended
on high, He ascended, the Scripture tells us, to the highest throne
of God. He's on the throne of God. There's
no throne higher than that throne. And that's where He is. And in
fact, in the Revelation, it's called the throne of God and
of the Lamb. It's His throne. And He led captivity. It's better, the word captivity,
keep this in mind, He led captives' captivity. He led captives' captivity. What were the captives that Christ
led captivity? All, all. each and every one
of our spiritual enemies, he defeated, he conquered, and he
led each and every one of them captive on high. Satan, for instance,
he was our enemy, and yet the Apostle Peter tells us, believers,
resist Satan and he'll flee from you. How is that possible? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
defeated him, that's why. Because he is one of his captives. And then the world, the world
is another enemy that we have and yet we overcome the world
by faith, the scripture says. Who is he that overcometh the
world? He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. And then death, that was one
of our enemies. But, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?
It's gone. The sting's gone. The victory
that the grave has is gone. Why? Because Christ has defeated
each and every one of our spiritual enemies. Now, Paul uses an image
here that was very familiar at that time in Rome. When a Roman general would go
out and he would defeat an army, conquer a country, he would bring
those rulers and those in authority and the wealthier people, he
would bring them back with him to Rome. They would have like
what we would call a parade, and there's a Roman general,
he's at the head of the army, head of the parade, and all of
these captives are behind him in chains, and he gave gifts
unto men. In other words, the spoils that
he has gotten by the victory that he won over this country,
he brings them back, he brings them back to sell, no doubt,
to enrich himself, but also he gives gifts unto the Romans there
along the parade route. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he ascended on high, he led captives captive. Look back with me to
Psalm 24. I know you love this Psalm, Psalm
24, that speaks to us of the Lord Jesus Christ, his ascension. when he ascended into heaven. Psalm 24 and verse 7, lift up
your head, so you gates, and be you lift up, you everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord, the Lord, strong and
mighty, the Lord, Mighty in battle, he's defeated, conquered, vanquished
our spiritual enemies. Lift up your heads, O you gates,
even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. The gifts, back in our text now,
the gifts that the Lord has bestowed upon his church, which is his
body, remember, we read, first of all, some apostles. And they
are always listed first in any list of the ministers of Christ. The apostles are always listed
first. Remember in chapter two of Ephesians,
we read the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the foundation of his church. On Christ, the
solid rock, we are built. But he gave gifts to men, qualifying
them for the work. The apostles, now here's something,
there are no apostles today. Now, I know men sometimes call
themselves apostles. And in one sense of the word,
that may be okay. An apostle means a messenger,
I understand that. But the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ, there were certain qualifications that a man had
to meet to be an apostle. Number one, the gospel he preached,
he learned that directly from the Lord himself. He didn't learn
it from another man. Paul makes, he stresses that
in Galatians chapter one, doesn't he? How the Lord taught him the
gospel. And they had to have seen the
resurrected Christ. They had to have the signs of
an apostle. There were miracles that were
wrought by their ministry or in their ministry. And they had
infallibility attached to their teaching. That old man over in
Rome claims to be infallible when he speaks ex cathedra. There's no infallibility. In
fact, the man that's on that throne today, he's changing things
as the wind changes, right? Whatever society wants, that's
what he's going along with too. No, the only ones who had infallibility,
only men who had infallibility were the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They were inspired directly from
him and qualified to write the Word of God. That's the reason
every book in the New Testament is either written by an apostle
or an associate of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
inspired Word of God. Gave some prophets. Now these
men had the gift of foretelling the future. There's only one
prophet named in the Book of Acts, Agabus. But many believe
that these men, being prophets, they had a special gift to interpret
the prophecies, the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ. And then some, it says evangelists,
and these were men like, I believe, Timothy and Titus, who were assistants
to the apostles, and they would send them out to set things in
order in the churches. that the apostles where they
had gone preaching the gospel. And then you notice some pastors
and teachers. And I believe that's one office.
I don't believe there's two. You notice the word some, some
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, but
it doesn't say some teachers. No, some pastors and teachers. In other words, a man who is
a pastor, he must be apt to teach. There are three words in the
New Testament for the word for the pastor. He's called a bishop,
he's called a pastor, and he's called an elder. And all of these
words have a little different meaning, but they all describe
the ministry, the work of a pastor. And the word pastor, you know
what that means? Feed. He's to feed the sheep. That's what he's called to do,
to feed the sheep. Not to entertain the goats. No,
no. He's to feed the sheep. And the
sheep's food, the word of God. Now, skipped over that parentheses
in verses 9 and 10, For the Lord of Glory to have
ascended, Paul just makes this point, for the Lord of Glory
to have ascended, and He did, it was necessary that He first
descend, and He did. This speaks of His incarnation. This is how He descended. I want you to look again in John
chapter 1. John chapter 1. This is when Philip found his
brother Nathanael. John chapter one. Beginning in verse 44. Now Philip, John chapter 1 verse
44, Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found
him of whom Moses and the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith
unto him, Come and see. And Jesus saw Nathanael coming
to him, and saith to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no God. Nathanael saith unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith
unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King
of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou, thou shalt see greater things than these. And
he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you
shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man." Now, this has reference to the ladder when
Jacob was on his way fleeing from Esau, leaving his homeland
where he found his wife. Remember, he slept that night
out and he had a vision or a dream and he saw a ladder And the important
thing about this ladder was it was set up on the earth, but
it reached into heaven. And it is a picture and a reminder,
there's only been one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus. But what he saw was angels ascending
and descending on this ladder. Now, our Lord tells Nathaniel,
this is what you're going to see, in Christ. And when we think
about these angels ascending, And descending, think about this,
they ascend to get orders from the throne, and they descend
to minister unto those who are the heirs of salvation. And it's
a continuous thing. The angels, continually. And
we don't worship angels. We know better than that. But
I'm convinced that Angels do minister to God's people in many
different ways. And I'll close with this, verse
12, Ephesians 4 and verse 12. The work of the ministry, God
has chosen to use the preaching of the gospel, the work of the
ministry, in calling his people. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 21, Paul
said, but we preach Christ. The Greeks seek after wisdom,
Jews seek a sign, but we preach Christ. And to them which are
called, Christ, the power of God. salvation of God. God uses the gospel. Number two,
God uses the gospel to edify his people. That's the way we
grow. Peter said, desire the sincere milk of the word that
you may grow thereby. And not only does God use the
ministry to call, to edify, to teach his people, but to comfort
his people. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith the Lord. I pray the Lord will bless this
message to all of us here tonight. What a wonderful Savior, what
a wonderful Savior we have. Amen? Amen. We're going to sing
a hymn and we'll be dismissed.