Ephesians 4:1-16
Ephesians 4:1-16
New King James Version (NKJV)
Walk in Unity
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Spiritual Gifts
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:
“ When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended” what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
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My Thoughts:
- Let’s start with (v. 1) where Paul says “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”
- “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called ”I think it is important to remember that if God only called the people that were worthy of the calling then no man or woman would ever be called to serve. Just as the prodigal son called out and said that he was not worthy to be called his father’s son, we to must have a repentant heart (Luke 15:9).
- (v. 7) He says “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
- “each one of us grace was given” I see that every member of the church was given a gift and it is up to us to use the gift in a way would honor Him. (Rom. 12:6)
- Let’s continue with this thought for one more minute. I have had people come to me and say pastor I have no talents to offer. I have told each one of them that God would have not made someone that He could use. If the person is truly willing to be in the service of Christ, we have never failed to find that talent and that person has always been a true blessing to that area.
- I would like to finish with (vv. 11, 12) “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”
- “And He Himself gave” the Greek wording is also important here because it impresses that God Himself gave us these gifts.
- “some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” again I want to stress how important it is that we all understand that we all have been given gifts by God and all we need to do is look deep inside and we will find what we were made for. (Rom 12:6-8).
I would like to leave you with an Ellen White quote today;
“Learning talent, eloquence, every natural or acquired endowment, may be possessed; but without the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner will be won to Christ. But on the other hand, if they are connected to Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are theirs, the poorest and most ignorant of His disciples will have a power that will tell upon hearts.” {Col 328}
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- Compare (Eph. 4:7-13) to (Phil. 2:5-11) what are your thoughts?
- What talent has God given you to support His ministry?
- There are a few things I did not talk about today. So other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and let the new people know you are praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to bring understanding of your talent to your life.
- For God to strengthen your faith in Him.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- For today use the following Bible verse in your prayer (Psalms 92:1, 2)
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Even though we could read the whole Bible and come away with personal growth God seems very concerned with the total boby of the church, His body…His extention of Himself in us and therefore in the world. Vrs 13 stresses the perfect man is a unity of believers. We’re considered perfect, never on our own, but first in Christ, and secondly in connection with others. A life of a monk or hermit is not the will of God for us. God is working to reveal the mystery of the trinity to us. God is contantly trying to reveal Himself, not only in word or nature, but even through our very selves.
He really wants us to deisre to know him more. Prv. 2:2-7 ..Apply your heart to understanding, yes, cry out for discernment, lift your voice for understanding, search her out as hidden treasure; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge fo God.. and Prv. 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter”. It’s all a choice to get to know him… and him us. God is after a heart that longs for Him, that loves Him, and yearns to know Him even more intimately. The Lord only knows the wicked from a distance, but us he calls the apple of His eye.
I agree with your statement. We need the church, I have a lot of people tell me that they believe and we do not need the church, but we do, we are not complete without the church. Christ has given us a commission to “go forth and make disciples of all nations” if we just sit in a monastery are we doing God will.
I was always worried that I didn’t have but maybe one “gift” I have since been shown that I have several. I pray to use them to the honor and glory of our Father. Verse 2 talks about lowliness, gentleness and longsuffering. These too are gifts. Jesus demonstrated these traits while on earth but they are do not come naturally to us. Only the Holy Spirit can grant us these traits. As for verses 7 -13, wow. Like Amalia said, the church is like a body and to run well we,being a part of this body, have to use our talents to make it run smoothly. Verse 9 talks of Jesus lowering Himself to become like us. Showing humblenss and humility is going to the depths of the earth when you are the earths creator,Phil.2:8 says the same thing. Jesus humbled Himself to save us.
As we all have said, we do need the church for support, alone we are not strong enough to stand against Satan, but as a group and Christ on our side we will never fall.
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