Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Body of Christ Pt.7

Hallelujah. Amen! Let's turn to Matthew 25, and we're going to start wrapping up on some of the principles we've been sharing on body ministry and the recognition of the different gifts and talents that are functioning. The purpose of them, of course we saw, was for the glory of God.  In chapter 25 of Matthew, we know the parable of the talents; the Scripture says that the Lord had left and gone into a far country. In verse 14, he left to his servants of his own goods. That is the one thing that we need to get real clear: everything we have, we have received of the Lord. Amen? We're only stewards, nothing belongs to us. Our very life, and our abilities.

So, it says that he left of his own goods, "And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man [verse 15 says] according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey." We see these men beginning to put these talents that they had received into work. The one who had received five, brought forth five others; two, etc. The one who had received the one talent it says, he put it into the ground, and when the Lord came back he commended those who were faithful. He says, "...Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, [verse 21] I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

So, we see, then, that what's important is what God has given us that we invest it; it's not ours to squander. It's not ours to try to say, "Well, I just didn't have the time." "I didn't have the opportunity." The Scripture makes it very clear that these men were diligent with that that God had put into their hands. The Lord counted them faithful, "You good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things." I think that is an interesting phrase there. Regardless of the scope of the ministry. Whether it's the ministry that was as far reaching as the Apostle Paul's. It may be as obscure as a ministry that we're involved in. In scope of the Kingdom and the light of eternity, we've just been entrusted with a small part of the great master plan of God, but, what we are involved in is going to have eternal consequences and will reap in the eternal kingdom greater responsibility. We're not going to be just sitting around on a cloud. We're not going to be just sitting around playing the proverbial harp! Eternity--the God that we serve is infinite in all the expression of His being and in this little frame of time and space that we have our existence--like everything else is going to be static and non-productive? God has things that go so far beyond our imagination, things that eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the Scripture says, "...Neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). We seem to think that has to do with the quality of the house we're going to be living in--in heaven.

God created his original man to tend the garden. There was work to be done. There was productivity. There was to be communion with Himself. The ongoing carrying out of the purpose of God, and that which is limited will be infinite in that which is to come. If you're faithful in a few things, He's going to make us a ruler in great and many things in the Kingdom to come, and even give us some greater responsibilities, possibly in this life. What are we saying? We're not just investing for the temporal, for the momentary, but everything you and I do has an eternal consequence in reward or in judgement.

We see, then, that these were faithful and He told them to enter into the joy of the Lord, and he makes the same exact statement to the one who was given two talents. It's not how many talents you've been given; it's how faithful you are with what God has given you. You see, there are some of us here that are doing a whole lot more with less. The Scripture says that man has that tendency to make the mistake of judging himself by himself. We judge ourselves by saying, "Well, I put in a hundred bucks, that guy only put in ten." You put in token money! That guy gave of his very necessities of life. So, we see the economy of God when it has to do with our time, our talents, and our material blessings. The economy of God is totally different than the natural economy of man. What has God given you? What are we doing with what He has entrusted in our hands? Can we say because we haven't received five talents that we're not important? "They won't miss my two." "I'm not of the body." "I'm not that important to the body." "God thinks that I'm so unimportant that He only gave me one talent. So, what I think I'll do is just hide it in the ground and give back to God what He gave me." "What does God expect? I accepted the free gift of Jesus. I became born again. What else do I owe Him? He ought to feel privileged that I decided to allow Him to adopt me. You see, because God short-changed me, I'm going to watch out for myself."

As it pertains to the eternal, verse 24, "...I knew thee that thou art an hard man; reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent..." "I was afraid, you know, I didn't want to get too far out in the world and neither did I want to become so involved in the Kingdom and ministry that I got in over my head. I exposed myself for the lack that I had and did not want to be embarrassed, and I didn't want to embarrass the Lord, so it was better that I sit back in the shadows--so I went and hid the talent. Here, take that that's Yours."

Everybody else doubled the investment. Are you growing? What do you have to offer? He gave you, He invested into you, the very blood of Jesus Christ. Are you static in your relationship? Are you still just affecting the body to the same degree that you always have? It's not that you're not here, but there is no increase. Whatever the motive is, the point of the parable is very clear: Whatever God has entrusted to you is to bring forth multiplied benefits to the Kingdom of God. It's not to remain static, and the master responds to him and says, "...Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed" (verse 26). What is he saying? You knew that I expected some fruit. We judge God harsh from the natural mind, from the humanistic perspective, but listen to how God perceives this: He has given us everything necessary that pertains to [say it] life and godliness. He expected fruit from that fig tree. He expects that whatever that perfect seed touches, if it will find good ground, it will produce thirty, sixty, and one-hundred fold. Amen? What God has invested in your life must bring forth fruit if there is any good ground at all. It will not remain static. The Word of God is effectual and powerful, the Scripture says, and only one thing will make it static, and that's our refusal to be placed in the Kingdom and be productive because of our own lack of understanding of who the Lord is and what's required of us. He expects fruit. "[You would have been better off]...to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have [at least] received [some interest. But you kept it to yourself, you squandered it upon your carnality.] Take therefore [verse 28] the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

To him that has, the principal, shall more be given. So we see as it pertains to the economy of God, God is looking for faithful men that He can entrust more into their hands. Now, some of us in the fellowship say, "Look, I'm doing so much already, and you're expecting more!" It's not an expectation from the natural. Those of us who are overseers, it's not a thing of coming and trying to say, "You're not doing enough." What is happening is you're being recognized as the gift that you are, of what God has called you and gifted you to be. There is the gift of God's economy, more being entrusted into your care and your oversight. We all know that 90 percent of the work is done by 10 percent of the people. Others, based upon their talents and faithfulness, are just kind of banging around on one cylinder. But God is looking for you to judge your own heart and ask yourself: "How do I fit into this parable? Where am I? Are people seeking me to put more into my trust? How faithful am I being?" There's never a place for saying: "What I'm doing is sufficient. This is enough," because if you're producing to the fullest capacity, there will be more that will be entrusted to you. That's frankly why some of us say, "I'm not going to sell out any more. I'm satisfied with where I am. It seems like the more I yield my life up to God, the more He wants." Your life? You mean, God is inconveniencing your agenda? You mean God is kind of holding down the acquisition of your treasures? The audacity of thinking that He might want to add to His own treasury and His own glory. As we look at it from the eternal, then, we begin to understand this with a little clearer insight.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 4, verse 7 for just a moment. This principal here is spoken so precisely by the Holy Spirit, when the question is asked, "...who maketh thee to differ from another?..." You know, we're all distinct, we're all different, and we've all been gifted by the grace of God differently. We've all been placed distinctly and uniquely as it pleases Him, the Scripture says. "For who [the Apostle asks] maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" A very powerful statement isn't it? We love to throw around the words, "Everything I have is God's." "Everything I have, I've received of the Lord." Really? What is it that you boast in? Some of us, we don't go around articulating; you're just kind of smug. You don't express it, but internally, you think you're a little better than everybody else. You're a little more diligent. "I work harder. I'm smarter. I'm more organized. I'm a little sharper than the rest of these dull guys in the knife box. I've got this 30-year plan that I'm on and I'll be set for life." And the question is asked: "What do you have that you didn't receive of God?" How dare we boast and say, "Tomorrow I'm going to go and do such and such a thing. I'm going to go to this city and prosper. I'm going to establish this business and I'm going to make this mark on society." You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. If you're going to move in biblical humility, then, you have to say, "If the Lord [say it] wills." Do you really approach life that way? Do you approach every day that way? We say it almost as a token. We say it as some type of religious jargon. "Lord willing, I will..." Really? "The Lord willing, I will." Are we so bent towards a certain area that we wouldn't hear the will of God if He did try to change our course?

We're talking about how we affect the body of Christ, these talents as they are operating in our lives and how God has gifted us, placed us, and demands the glory from all of our productivity. It will never happen as long as we think we're doing anything for God, and it's not the consequence of everything God's done in us and for us. So, here we are with our investment and realize that what we have we have received of the Lord. With all of this, we talk about the fact that there is one body but there are different gifts. None of us can then boast. We go back to Romans 12 and I want to look there real quickly and then go on and see if I can tie this together out of Ephesians tonight.

Let's go back to Romans 12 tonight, quickly, where we started this study. We understand the mandate of "presenting our bodies as living sacrifices and not being conformed to the world but being transformed. Not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith." "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us..." (verses 1 - 6). Having gifts differing according to the grace given to us.

We saw what that diversity was today. It was the ability of God to minister through us to whatever the immediate need happened to be. He gives specific ministries that are here, but we saw this morning that they were not unique to persons. They're distinct in their functions but not unique to persons. They are diverse through the body of Christ to minister to whatever the immediate need might be. So we can't, then, limit ourselves to one of these categories. These categories are universal. They are distinct, they're diverse, but they are universal. They are able to be used by the Spirit of God through anybody who is part of the body of Christ. And, in fact, they should be operating in our lives from time to time.

We saw that it talked about prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, mercy, and he categorizes and says, these are the categories that you'll be able to identify specific needs in. There will be a time when you need to exhort. There'll be a time when you need to speak prophetically. There'll be a time when there are needs that you have to give monetarily into. There are going to be times when you have to rule or stand forth and give guidance, stand before others and make determinations as to the responsibilities of administration of your home, a particular ministry within the body of Christ, whatever it might be. But he's saying the good news is this: He will give you the grace to affect this ministry whenever He calls you to it, or places you into that area of responsibility. Now a lot of people seem to think that these are ministry gifts to the body of Christ.

I've been in churches and it used to be popular back in the late '70s and early '80s. People would be trying to identify their gifts. Some people would say, "I have the mercy gift." "I have that ministry of helps that the Scripture speaks of." Almost like it was an office, and that was exclusively what they did. There is no place to understand these gifts in that way. The only offices that are not only specific, but continuous, are seen in Ephesians, that which Jesus has placed in the church and operate directly from the head. Everything else operates in harmony and unity--cohesiveness with other members of the body. That is what we want to address tonight because it saves a lot of grief in our hearts of how we can best be used for the glory of God. If we think that somehow God is dealing directly with me, He has gifted me, He has given me this gift, He has given me this office, whatever it might be--administrations of helps--whatever, so that is my placement in the body of Christ. You're going to find out tonight that your placement in the body of Christ, as He puts everyone of us in the body as it pleases Him, is going to be administrated by the five-fold ministry gifts; and that's how God places and uses gifts in His body so that the head might receive the due glory in our midst and not any member in particular.

As he speaks here and categorizes the different areas where ministry is needed in our lives, and how the different members of the body are going to affect one another's lives, we see a statement over in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12 that gives us some insight into the other ministry gifts. Turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and then I'll tie this together for us.

First Corinthians 12:14, "For the body is not one member, but many." Then, we have spent time and seen that none of us can say, "If I am not the eye, I am not of the body...." None of us can say, "We have no need of another member of the body." We've seen the ministry that is the responsibility of the comely versus the uncomely members. We see that there is to be no schism, verse 25, in the body. But that the members are to have the same care one for another. We saw the suffering and the glorying or rejoicing together with members in particular. Then we'll pick up at verse 27 for tonight. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." Distinct! And God, out of all of us that are distinct, out of all of us that are responsible for those ministries that are spoken of in Romans 12, He asks this question. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. [You'll notice the distinction. Look! Apostles, prophets, teachers, after that--those are administrative offices. Those are offices that represent directly the head Jesus. After that, that He has placed, these ministries that are overseen by the placement of apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers. Corinthians says, "teachers." Ephesians talks about the pastoral teaching, shepherding function--perfect agreement with these two epistles. Those offices are there to make sure that there is no schism. To make sure that every member receives its care. How? Through miracles, healings, helps, unity, organization, structure, and edification gifts. So,] Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?" Do all "have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" Rhetorical question! No! We all have the capacity, but we don't all have the responsibility.

People have gotten themselves in trouble. One of the popular things in some of the third-world countries today--it's kind of a product of false doctrine here in America. There are still churches that do this today in America. But, mistakenly, people seem to think that every church must have an apostle, a recognized prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, a teacher, a worker of miracles--whatever it might be. It all has to be identified. People have these labels. What happens is we're limiting the Holy Spirit and His sovereignty and we're also limiting the spontaneity of the gifts and graces of God. A guy is sick and you think, "I would really like to pray for you, but I've got to go get the guy in the church that is the 'healer' of the sick." It limits! So there are those who have an emphasis in their lives; it's not exclusive that that's all they do, and it's not exclusive that they're not the only one who get to do it. Because, to every one of us has been given the measure of faith to affect whatever the gift is that the body needs at that particular moment. When God uses you, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. When He calls you into something and you think it is too mundane, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. When He does something that just absolutely blows your mind at the magnitude of how He has used you, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. That may be the last time you ever experience a word of knowledge like that, or the working of miracles like that. So, when he speaks to us here, we see the working together of administrative offices that represent the Head, and functional offices and gifts that operate and edify the body one member to another. It's seen most clearly in Ephesians. Let's turn over there for a moment, then we'll be back here to wind this thing up.

The passage in Ephesians, of course, all of us are very familiar with. We're in a particular place where we've studied and seen that it's the body of Christ being placed together. In Chapter 1, having recognized the authority of the Head and all things being placed beneath His feet of which He is the head of all things. Then, the recognition of His body, the fullness of Him, the full expression of Him. In other words, to make it very clear Jesus said, "I've ascended, you're not going to see Me any more. I will only deal with humanity through My Body, the church. I'm gone. You want to talk to Me? Here I am. Here's My Body." You don't come seeking special revelation.

Now, in His sovereignty, He can choose to speak to somebody directly, or He can chose to appear to somebody directly. It is an absolute sovereign act of God. Men will encounter Jesus Christ through His Body. That is His intention. Not only to hear the Gospel and be saved, but for daily operation and function to the mutual edification to every member within the body. So that is what becomes vitally important for each one of us to see.

Now in Chapter 4, verse 1, we go on; Paul is speaking, to us. He says, "...[I] beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. [What is our vocation? Well, we're Christians. Walk worthy of being a Christian. That word "Christian" is "Christ-like." If we want to apply this to our particular study, then we need to see that he is telling us to walk worthy of whatever the specific call is on our life at the moment. What He is asking you to do at this moment is to edify the body. It may be to prophesy, but as we saw this morning, it may only be once. So you're not a "prophet," you've got the little label that says, "I prophesied once." Okay, like we saw this morning. Most of us want to take on titles "I am a prophet." Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. What is that worthiness? It's a humility. It's seeking to realize that it's not me being identified as a special grace or gift, it's the fact that somebody got ministered to. The same humility that Jesus ministered in.] With all lowliness [verse 2] and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 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 watch. Every one of us is given grace, the measure of faith; the opportunity to care for one another, the opportunity to prophesy, to work miracles, to be involved in administrations, to be used in the gift of helps, to be a contributor, to move in hospitality. You can take all of these gifts whether it be here in Ephesians, whether it be the Corinthian's list, whether it be the Romans' list--all of those things are constantly being affected in our midst. All of us are candidates for any of those to function.

So, we're always ready to meet any need as God gives us the measure of faith. What happens is, in so many churches every one starts to pray: "God, what do You want me to do?" "Lord, where do You want me to go?" "Lord, what gift is it that You're wanting to evidence in my life?" "Lord, I'm ready to be used, praise God, however You do it. Of course Lord, I prefer the ministry of helps. I prefer the ministry of administration. I prefer the ministry of giving. Make me rich Lord!" We're seeking all of these things. We're open, but here's where I really feel inclined--here is what I really want to do. So, he says to clear all of this up there is one body, one faith, one baptism, multiple gifts and to make sure that all of those gifts function properly, He gave some gifts to the church. He gave gifts to the gifts. He gave gifts unto men: Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, verse 12. For what purpose? "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

Let's say it another way in light of the teaching that we're in; it will help you understand: To perfect the gifts for the work of the ministry. To perfect the gifts, the uncomely members, to bring them to completion. Remember what we said "uncomely" meant? It just means "not complete." The comely members, we said, the beautiful members--we talked about the fact that they were complete, entire. He said, I've given gifts to perfect the gifts so there is no schism in the body. So there is the care one for another. I've given gifts to perfect the gifts for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. We see, then, how this fits exactly into all the study that we've been doing. These five-fold gifts exist for one purpose: To make sure that every other gift is producing to it's fullest capacity. So that not one guy becomes that unprofitable servant that hid his talent. If these gifts are doing their job, nobody is going to hide talents in their presence. They're going to be approached and say, "Why are you here?" Or as another parable the Lord gave: "Why are you cumbering the ground?" Where is the fruit? Where is the evidence that you are part of us? How are you affecting other people's lives? What are you doing to make others stronger? What are you doing to protect others and not just yourself? What investments are you making in the good of the community? How is God being glorified in your life?

You see, that is the job of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. Tragically, in most churches today, especially in America, these five-fold ministry gifts are non-existent. Most pastors are cheerleaders in churches in America today. They're just "rah, rah, rah" telling everybody how great they are, and how great the church is that they are all members of, how great the kingdom is and how we're taking over the world. And men are getting the glory. Organizations are getting the glory. Para-church ministries are the most powerful organizations and the church is looked at as some emaciated step-child. The very existence--listen! And you all know the biggest ministries in America today are the para-church ministries. There can only be one reason for these para-church ministries and there can only be one reason for their success. Do you want to know what it is? It's because the church isn't doing its job. So they're there to "help" the church. Tragically, part of the reason is because these men who occupy these offices don't really understand what their role is and, so many are afraid of men's faces and seek the praises of men instead of the praises of God. That is a whole other story. We don't hear a lot of talk about this, because frankly, in America especially, independence, individualism has such a strong hold in the hearts of men--and it appeals to the depraved man, to the fallen nature that for decades, possibly centuries, people have been afraid to, in any way, approach the subject and to demand Biblical order again in the house of God. Those who have, we've seen some abuses. Some of the first emphasis on body ministry, or re-emphasis I should say, on body ministry and the function of these particular gifts was back in the '70s. It turned into a movement that they called the "shepherding movement." Some of you may have heard of men like Derek Prince.

I'm trying to think of some of the other men because it's been a while. Tragically, what happens so often because of this thing being something that was novel and a truth that was absent for so long, there was such a zeal for this that the pendulum swung too far one way. Now, many times that happens and it starts moving things towards the center, but in the Kingdom of God you can't ever move out of truth just to try to prove a point or to stop the momentum of error. We have to believe in truth and that God watches over His Word and that He does all things in His own time and in His own counsel. In this shepherding movement there were extremes that went like this. They actually operated similar to what we are operating today, off of Cho's ministry in Korea that started cell groups and these guys started what we call our Home Fellowship Groups. What happened was it was providing oversight so that everybody wasn't doing their own thing, which is biblically correct. But it began to come to the place where it crippled the body and it made a total dependence upon these set gifts. We shared it before, to where people didn't know whether to come in out of the rain without calling their overseer. We've tried to keep that from where we've heard people say, "I don't know if I should do that. I need to ask my deacon." You don't have to ask your deacon to come in out of the rain. Ask him to come and pray for you when you've been too stupid to come in out of the rain and got sick! Okay?

To what part do these ministries speak into our lives? Where is the authority? The problem is most of us have trouble with this. We want to relate from a prospective of legalism rather than relationship. "Give me the parameters, tell me the rules, how much do I have to submit and the rest I'm going to do to myself." Wrong spirit! It can't be administrated through a "Do" and "Don't" list, a list of responsibility. It's a body. We are joined together. It has to be that ministry of love. It has to be preferring others better than ourselves. It's what can I do to be more available to bring glory to God? Not how committed am I to the group. It's not about the group. It's not about individuals in the group. As we were sharing this morning, it's about the glory of God. It's about jealousy for the administration of God and the function of this one body with many members. So that none of us is running off doing our own thing. It may not even be the literal aspect of the time and energy to do our own thing, it's just the desire to be separate and do our own thing. We need to die to that and see how we're placed in the body of Christ.

The apostle speaks to us here. We were talking about these groups--it got to the place where the body began to be crippled in decisions that should be domestic decisions over seen by a mature head, the husband, were having to be brought to the body, to one of the ministry gifts, to one of the deacons or to whoever it is. So the deacons would then make next week's menu. "Let's see, let me pray. I believe that Monday it's Spaghetti Os night. Tuesday--ravioli, Wednesday--Dinty Moore® Beef Stew." You can see we're eating up the Y2K stuff; and it became that extreme. We don't speak toward those things. When would anybody in authority speak toward this domestic function? "Well, you know, my husband, he works hard. He works 12 hours a week. In our society, four days a week. When he comes home, as master of the house, he expects a 14-course meal. We would like to be at prayer, we would like to be at mid-week service, and we would like to be able to help in the discipleship training, we would like to be at home fellowship, but you see I'm always cooking." Now, we have something to say about your menu. We might suggest that this 14-course meal be pared down to three courses: Tomato soup, Spaghetti Os and a HoHo. Now you're at prayer, praise God, asking for prayer.

Is what we're doing individually, in what we would deem the secular, depriving the body of Christ? Then, somebody has to speak to it. Otherwise, you're free to function any way you want! In the perversion of this, took that liberty away. It became a very restraining type of a life style. It become very legalistic. It was motivated by fear instead of liberty and love, and appreciation for community. So it is very easy to see the error in what is trying to be done in the natural instead of the spirit. It was to combat this individualism. "I'm the priest of my house, bless God! As the priest of my house"--we'll speak towards things that we have done here in the fellowship, decisions that were made over the years. "As the priest of my house, I'm going to determine what my children are taught and how they're taught. We're going to 'home school.' We're not coming up there for prayer, because on that particular night, bless God, here is what I got; and when we feel like it, we'll show up in the community gathering!" Cool. You can do that.

This is where people, over the years, have misunderstood. They have really become angry that we wouldn't allow them to do that. How can we stop anybody from doing that? We've been accused--"They wouldn't allow us to do that!" How could we stop anybody from doing that? All we've said to those people is this: "You can do that, but you can't be part of us, because we're a community." We don't live to ourselves. We don't live exclusive from the rest of the body. And because we are a community, we recognize gifts that oversee the body, the whole, the community, that are the authority that pertains to community and to remain in the community you have to remain under the authority, or you're an individual. Now, for them to do that, we said we couldn't stop them from doing that; they're in error. They are not part of the body. God doesn't deal with individuals like that. He deals with these gifts specifically and these gifts prepare the rest of us to function to the mutual edification, to perfect the ministry "Til we all come in the unity of the faith, [verse 13] and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, [the mature Christian] unto the measure of the fullness [stature] of [Jesus] Christ [and become a people. Here is one of the main responsibilities of these gifts in our midst is to protect us from false doctrine.] That we [a people] henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine..."

You see, the individual members don't set doctrine, the gifts do. They'll perfect us, they'll protect us, they'll oversee, and they'll bring this unity and harmony so that we would not be tossed about by all these whims of doctrine, "...by the sleight of men, and [through] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But [we will, in fact, perform our community function of] speaking the truth in love, [and] may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom [these gifts, from whom] the whole body [is] fitly joined together and compacted [completed] 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" (verses 14 - 16). As these gifts orchestrate, place, recognize, bring instruction, reproof, rule, administrate, etc. and operate in this whole myriad of gifts. You see, the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher many times will function in every one of these gifts that we recognize. Whether it's the gifts of the Spirit, Corinthians 12; whether it's the gifts of Romans 12, whenever there is a need, God will minister through these five-fold gifts to meet these needs at particular times because they deal directly with the head. It will ultimately, then, bring about verse 16, the compacting, the uniting together. These gifts rally, these gifts perfect, these gifts unite, these gifts bind together this community to make us one to the effectual working in the measure of every part. To make increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The main purpose of these five-fold ministry gifts is to keep us all from running separate ways. Their job is to bring us all together. Tie us together. To cause us to be responsible to one another. To care for one another. To prefer one another to affect the work of the ministry. When each gift, then, is doing its job, the body is built up, the head is glorified, the church is preserved and purified and He can add to it such as should be saved, the Scripture says.

How does the Lord put us in the Body as it pleases Him? One of the very practical ways is one of these five-fold ministry gifts comes and says, "Here, we need you to do this." That is Jesus putting you over there. "Yeah, but I'm a singer!" "Well, sing to the baby and change his diaper." "I'm a cook! I want to minister in..." "Then pretend these weeds are carrots. Pull them up, because that is what we need right now." When we understand that that's the Lord placing us as it pleases Him, then, we're going to be able to be at peace. We're going to be able to rest and we won't spend all of our time saying, "God, what do You want me to do?" He will be directing you through the gifts that He placed as it pleases Him and it brings a perfect peace and rest into our hearts that that is God leading me by His Spirit.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God and we ask that we could come to that place of rest and assurance that You're ordering our steps, and that You are being glorified in our lives. What is that in me, Father, that says, "Well, you know, I would rather receive a word from the Lord"? It's thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. That is what that is. "But it would give me the assurance that I've really heard from God, and that my talent is not being squandered." That is thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think, that's what that spirit is. "Yeah, but I want to be a steward, a careful steward over the talents that God has given me. That they are not abused and not neglected." That is thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. You are not the only person gifted. The gift isn't yours, it's God. "Yeah! But God gave me that and I'm going to see to it that it's used properly." He gave gifts to see to it that it gets used properly. "Yeah, but I didn't chose those gifts so I'm not..." You see where that spirit comes from.

So, as each one of us daily crucifies the Adamic tendencies, as each one of us humbles ourselves, as each one of us grasps, by faith, the method of God to see that we have the same care one for another, that there is no schism, and every need is met, we can rest in our mutual edification and God will be glorified and men will know that Father has raised Jesus from the dead. Let it be real we ask, Father, in Jesus' name.

Let's stand together. Just sing this together and thank the Lord for His goodness. "Blessed be the name of the Lord..." Let's sing it one more time. Let's honor Him tonight.

Lord, we do bless Your name; we give You all of the praise and all of the glory. We submit ourselves to Your care, Lord, and we rejoice in Your placing us in the body as it pleases You. That men would see the good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. And with the prophet we say, "Here am I, Lord, send me." Be glorified in word and in deed, in Jesus' name, amen.

Before you go, turn to the person next to you and say, "We're members, one of another." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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