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Could we sing #10?
Those who came.
Later we're in Ephesians chapter 4, probably verse 7. But unto unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended upon high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he descended, 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, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and ***** craftiness.
Whereby they lay in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply, according to the effectual, working in the measure of every part, make an increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk.
In the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened.
Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart.
Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness.
To work all uncleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned Christ.
If so, that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands. The thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. But no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake.
Hath forgiven you.
I think you mentioned earlier that.
Grace is the unmerited favor of God.
And uh, you see here that gifts also are.
The grace of Christ and giving them to us.
Not something that we burn or that we.
Need to go to school to obtain or they're given out or.
Lord, and then it's like race that that the one receives them.
I think there's a.
There's two things that the scripture says are measured, and two things that aren't measured or given without measure.
And grace and faith are said to be given in measure, and I believe the measure is is varies with individuals. That's why you never try to live according to someone else's faith because they may have a different measure than you.
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Or to or to require them to live by your measure.
But there's there's two things that aren't measured. That's the spirit. It's given without measure. And the book of James Wisdom can have as much as you want.
We have that thought, brother, uh head and uh, Romans chapter 12.
All right.
Measured base.
Enrollment chapter 12 and verse four is verse as we have many members in the body. All members have not the same office.
So we being many are one body, and Christ, and everyone members one of another having and gifts different differing according to the grace that is given to us. Whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith or ministry. Let us wait on our ministry. For He that teaches on teaching, for he that exhort us on expectation, He that giveth, let Him do it with simplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence see that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
And so on. So we, we have there that, uh.
Were to uh.
Exercise.
What we have been given.
One one has been given a gift of prophecy. Shouldn't be worrying about being evangelist perhaps.
Stay within.
The realm of what the Lord has given to us.
Use it that way.
You know what to uh.
Don't want to be caused controversy, but you know in the scriptures there are evangelists and teachers and prophets and different gifts.
Things in our day, we have laborers and they're supposed to do everything.
That's that's not scripture. Umm.
The only time I mentioned labor is worth.
Leading ones in assemblies.
That, uh labored in the word, in teaching.
Other than that, I don't think we have quote quote laborers really in the New Testament.
So I think that's wise advice rather than.
We should stay within our gift.
And we should not expect.
You know, we should not expect someone who's a teacher to be a gospel preacher, and we shouldn't expect a gospel preacher to be something they're not. So we should neither go beyond our gift, nor should we expect anyone to go beyond the church.
Also verse three in that chapter, Romans 12.
Uh, the end it says God. It belts every hand and the word top is not there. In the Greek, God has felt every man a measure of faith.
In the face, you know the gifts, the faith. The gift can be the same. The measure of faith may not be.
You know you may, you may God's gift, you may be to be an evangelist, but you may not have the faith to stand up the podium.
Right. But you have the faith to speak to people on the street or at work or one-on-one or in a few groups and maybe not have the faith to get up before a lot of people. Still an evangelist. You know, you don't find Philip speaking to great crowds of people. He spoke to a few in Samaria and he's called Philip the Evangelist. But you don't, you don't say I'm speaking to thousands.
But he says he was an event, so he had a measure of faith that enabled his gift.
It's spoken of his grace here and in Romans, I think, Peter says, having received.
Uh, great, spelled minister the same.
Gifts are brought out in different ways, enrollments and the service of the Father, and he gives them in Corinthians. It's in the power of the Spirit of God.
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He.
According to his own sovereign purpose, places them, gives them where they are for the application of the whole body. Ephesians takes it up a little differently.
Umm adhesion takes up the gifts as persons themselves, and they are as person gifts of Christ to the Church also takes it up in this chapter in another way.
And that's joints of supply. And uh, we have, every one of us has given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
I would say not everyone of us. There may be very few of us really. If any of us, even here in this room are a gift of Christ to the church, I would say that that's a little.
More of a a rare thing, but everyone of us has been given grace in some way or another to be used of the Lord for His purpose, to nourish and minister to the members of His body. And each one of us is a joint of supply.
So each one of us has a joint action. And what is a joint? Do it. Because if you don't have any joints, you'd be stiff as a board. You couldn't even smile or anything, right? You? We have to have joints to give our bodies mobility. And you know, the wonderful thing about the body of Christ is Satan. Saudi got rid of the Lord, didn't he? First he was on the cross. Oh, then he raised from the dead. Well, then he went up to the guard. Good.
They have Pentecost, there he is again, and the members of his body here in this world. And Satan was aware of that fact a lot quicker than the Saints were.
And the body is here, our head, Christ is in heaven, all indwelt by the same Spirit of God, uniting us to Christ. And according to the direction of the head, the body moves.
And it reflects what's in the head. And so it's the same with our bodies, right? We want to do some kind of work in our head direction. Our arm moves out and our hand picks something up and maybe our mouth talking at the same time and something else. And it's all the direction of the head. And so my body ends up displaying what's in my head. And so here's the body.
Christ and his members here in this earth once again, and when functioning according to the Word of God, it's a display of Christ here in this world. And so each one of us lends mobility in some way to the body for the display of Christ in this world. But those joints are joints of supply too.
You know, when they put pipes together in the house, we're supplying water. You might have a joint to get around the corner, but it's also supplying water. It's getting water where it needs to go. And each one of us is a channel of supply to the to the other members of the body of Christ for something that the Lord has that he wants to minister to in some way or another to the whole body. So I would say each one of us has been given grace. We find from Corinthians, each one of us has a gift.
To be exercising the power of the Spirit of God. Each one of us has a gift in Romans 12 and exercise in service to the Father, yielding our bodies a living sacrifice. But in Ephesians, for each joint of supply, we've each been given grace. But on top of that, He has given particular ones as His own gifts to the church. Not every member could be a gift to the church, otherwise it really wouldn't make sense that He's given.
Some as gifts to the church, and that's really the emphasis. He gave some a limited quantity of apostles. He gave some prophets and teachers, He gave some evangelists, pastors, teachers. It's a it's limited in quantity. In that sense, gifts of himself to his church and they have a very special place that they fulfill.
May I should continue on that a little bit 'cause that can be kind of a confusing thought at first and often in the way we think of you in the Old Testament.
In the book of uh, Ezra, when they were building the temple and they left off for a time in building and got discouraged, God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and they prophesied to the people of Jerusalem, His people there, and they were stirred up and they all began to build and each one had a different job to do. Some were bears of burdens.
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This and that and so on. But he gave two special gifts, you might say.
To stir up and get the work going.
And that's really what we have. And verse 11 and 12, the gifts are given verse 11.
For first of all, the perfecting of the Saints, His work in the Saints at large.
For the perfecting of the Saints and.
For the work of the ministry, it literally could be translated with a view to the ministry. We're all in the ministry. We all are in a place of service. And so he gave these gifts to the church for the perfecting of the of the Saints with a view to the fact that they would be exercised and stirred up in their service. Each one and whatever they do, like all those builders and the MIFA, each one a Mason, a Carpenter, whatever they did.
Stir it up to that work and with a view to the ultimate and the edifying of the body of Christ, the building up of the body of Christ. And so each one of us is in the ministry. Each one of us is a joyous supply. Each one has been given grace, but he gives special gifts, these particular individuals, to the church for the stirring up of that whole thing.
That the whole body might be edified. So not everyone of us in the Ephesians sense of gift is a gift of Christ in the church, but in the Corinthian sense we each have a gift, and in the Roman sense we each have a gift from God in in service for him.
One, uh, one man once said that one of the problems is that the gifts as we have here.
UMM misapplied their gift and they thought the gift was burning and of itself and so they use it for their own glorification.
And that's been a problem in christened them all along. The gifts are for the protecting of the Saints. The gifts are not for direct ministry in and oven itself. And they're not the only ones that can minister. But that's the mistake that has been made. The gifts are not the only ones that minister. They are for the perfecting of the Saints and then the Saints minister.
Everyone in this room is minister to minister, the two other members of the body and the gifts are to perfect the Saints, that is, to perfect the means to equip them.
So the gifts equipped the Saints and you know, you get around an evangelist, you learn how to evangelize.
You get around a teacher, you'll learn how to teach.
You get around with the profit and you can learn how to prophecy. You know they perfect the Saints. They equip them.
I used to think about a brother. He's here, so I don't mention, but he's pretty good at the piano. You know, you might say in a natural sense, he skipped it. And by the way, spiritual gift is not natural. We say someone's gifted. What do we mean? If we mean they're naturally gifted? That's not spiritual gift. That's natural.
But in a natural sense, he's, he's a good piano player and, uh.
I I seriously doubt that I could ever be that good.
But you know, I'm sure he could teach everyone of us to play to some extent.
He's gifted, he's really good.
But we all could learn to fight someone.
And so, in a sense, the gifted these gifts here. They equipped the Saints.
To enable them to minister.
These different ways, but it's the Saints in general that minister to the to the end result that the body of Christ is built up.
The broader sense taking on gifts has been mentioned in in.
Believe you referred to Corinthians making out First Corinthians 12.
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As you mentioned there in the 27th verse now already in the body of Christ and members in particular, and God has set some in the Church. First apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that miracles and gifts of healings helps governments, diversities have done.
That little word helped. That's one thing every believer can be is a health.
And.
Over in.
Philippians, Chapter 4.
The Apostle Paul reigns us this gift out the forefront.
This is in.
Verse one of chapter 4 of Philippians. Therefore, my beloved, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord. My dearly beloved, I beseech Euphrates and Cynthia that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also through Yoko, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are written in the book of life.
Here, he has to stir up a couple that should have been helping.
The the sisters and the work that they were doing and they weren't. And so he, he gave them a little bit of a review to stir them up that they would help. Oftentimes we need that to ourselves, but it's something that each one of us can do. There's opportunities that we can help in certain situations in the assembly. There's always something to be done.
Say these are things that we can do.
Are they our responsibility to do them?
Are you responsible?
I believe it can be said that we should exercise the gift that the Lord has given to us.
And try to recognize that and stay within that to a great extent. In small assemblies there may be the necessity to go from one thing to another, but there are those perhaps that are better gifted in a certain way than.
And then you might be and.
I had this thought before me that we should recognize the gift that another has in the assembly, not only for ourselves, but recognize that others have a particular gift and can do things better than we can because they are gifted of the Lord. And here's an example in the book of Acts Chapter 11 which may help to illustrate what I mean.
Without reading the whole portion of.
Chapter 11, verse 19 speaks about how the things were scattered because of the persecution about Steven. And they went on their way and came to Antioch and they preached the gospel. So you might say, well, these ones, they had a gift in evangelism. I suppose each one of us should have some inclination.
Toward evangelism. But there are those that are definitely gifted in that in that regard.
And so when there were those that were believers and word came to Jerusalem, it says in verse 22 That they send forth Barnabas.
And verse 23 says, who when he came, had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted the mall. That was purpose of heart. They would cleave unto the Lord. Here's a man that had a pastor's heart, you might say cared about the people of God. It doesn't say that he preached so much, but that seemed to be his gift.
But then, uh, if we go on a little further, in verse 25, it says that Barnabas departed to Tarsus or seek salt.
And when he had found him, he brought him onto Antioch, and it came to pass. And a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people.
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Well here he recognized and believed that Saul had a gift in teaching and so even though Barnabas is included, I believe in when it uses the word they in verse 26.
Yet I believe that he recognized that Saul had a gifted teaching and so.
What did he do, Try to get along by himself? No, he went and he found some and he brought him there because he saw the need and recognized the gift in another. So I believe that it's important to to not only realize that we have a gift of some sort.
Uh, in terms of the body, as illustrated in First Corinthians 12, uh, a hand can do a certain functions that it's not as easy for a foot to do.
And so depending upon what is needed, the hand may be more convenient, but in another case it may be the foot. And so if we try to substitute one for the other, then it doesn't get done as well.
And so not only recognizing the only gift, our own gift, but also the gifts and others. And to support it as well, I think in the verses that we had just previous, is to not only recognize, but support someone if, if it's necessary for a person to travel to a certain location because of a need for evangelism, shall we say.
And they don't have the funds we can supply them and things of that nature so we can support.
Uh, I guess the point is that we don't compete against one another, we complement one another.
Subject isn't the body of Christ in Matthew 25, but responsibility is still brought out in the talents that were given. According to everyone, several abilities and the one who didn't take up his responsibility was cast into outer darkness. So.
Uh, really brings before us that the seriousness of the responsibility that were to, uh, take whatever service up and whatever ability he gives, uh.
To serve him. But the confidence of the ones who served him was that.
He was a a good master and so it's grace that's given to us. Isn't it a sense that this is his way of ministering to his people and it's a motive of love?
I believe so. I'm in that parable. Sometimes it gets mixed up between what's terrible and what isn't, but it's a parable, and the talents are not literal, and I don't think natural ability is literally either.
So what it What answers to talents Maybe gift, But what answers to natural ability in the parable would be faith. According to the scriptures, we're giving gifts according to the measure of faith, not according to our natural ability.
That call apparently did not have natural ability in speaking, but God chose him as the vessel to reveal the highest truth. Corinthians thought his speech was not very good.
He was naturally gifted in speaking. They would have said he was a good speaker, but they didn't. They said his speech was contemptible, but he's the one that God gave that gift to.
There is a promise of, of present reward too, and, uh, doing what the Lord gives us to do, says in John's Gospel, if you know these things, happier ye if you do them.
So there's a promise of being happy, being content. If we're we do what the Lord has given to us, we can have a happy Christian life.
That's the present thing, present possession.
In uh, the Apostles letter for the Colossians, apparently there was a brother there by the name of archipelas.
And watches for this 17, Paul says.
Say to our tippets, take heed.
Through the ministry which thou hast received in Lord without fulfilling. So there was a responsibility on a part of archivist to fulfill the ministry that was given to him. And I think that's very true that when we do what the Lord has in mind for us to do, it brings the joy and fulfillment into our souls and.
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I connected with uh, Proverbs 11 where it speaks there about uh.
There is that scatter.
And yet increased.
And there is that which withhold it more than is weak, and it tends to poverty.
And a liberal soul shall be beat, and he that waters shall be watered also.
So if the Lord gives us something to give out.
We need to do that.
Because I believe.
The other person is going to get a blessing.
I'm going to get a sense of fulfillment in my own soul. I'm going to get a blessing out of that, and it glorifies God.
And so.
You know, uh, with his mother, Jesus called the servants whatever he says unto me. Who?
So the Lord is leading you to do something. Do.
Because if we don't do it, it's really quenching spirit.
You know, I, I think while you umm.
Sometimes people hesitate because they're afraid. What if it's not of the Lord?
Well, it's good. It's good not to be loose.
Right.
And it's really bad if you ever obtain a position among the people of God where you're comfortable, so comfortable that you, uh, you're not worried about that anymore, that's bad.
We should forever remain in fear of the Lord, and we want to edify the Saints. We don't want to put something out that didn't come from the Lord. But.
But we're told to submit it. Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the others judge. And there's a brother who once said it takes love to trade, referring to that parable in Matthew 25. In other words, if love would say.
I've got to stick my neck out, so to speak, for the sake of my brother, because this might be from the Lord. They might need it.
And I'm going to trust that if it's not the Lord, my brethren are going to judge that.
They're still going to love me afterwards and no harm is done. We need to have that add to. I'm speaking especially to the younger ones. Don't be so concerned about whether you're gonna make a mistake. It's good.
Not to be loose and to try and follow the leading of the Spirit, but submit it to your brethren. Submit yourself to your brethren and be willing to have it judged and be willing to maybe find out that you made a mistake. You'll learn from them, but it's not love to withhold it out of fear of making a mistake. That's not love.
So David said that I believe in Psalm 18, Thy gentleness.
Has made you great.
Well, you know David, he made some mistakes.
But he knew the Lord is merciful. The Lord is not going to pound time. And I think that was the problem with the servant that went and hit the town.
Why do you do that? Well, he said to the Lord, I thought you were an austere person.
You know we can solve it on and so forth. The Lord is not in lost your person.
The Lord is gracious.
And I I, I'm off to myself. I found the the brother to be very great.
Think of that verse in a.
Proverbs 17 make an application bitter is a dinner of herbs where love is then a stalled office and hatred there with going back to our brother's question about who's responsible. Are we responsible? And you know in the small assembly there may not be a lot of gifts.
Great gift, but but there's still work to be done and really, and I think it's been touched upon, it's really love.
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Which is the energizing force. So we have in our chapter, you know, that the body is built up in love, not in gift. The body is not built up in gift. It's built up in love. The Lord gives gift and going back, you know, to our brother while he's coming, we, we can always be confident in our local assembly, whether there's just a handful of as, as the old brothers here used to say, a bunch of crooked sticks with just an old bunch of crooked sticks.
The Lord is faithful and he will provide. And so really we need to, we need to have love and as it says in our chapter, speaking the truth in love. So we're all responsible to to learn the truth. You know, that is a responsibility we all have is to learn the truth.
To feed on the truth, to judge those things that are not true.
But you know the Lord will bear with.
With the lack or or maybe the weakness in gift and we'll have a beautiful dinner of herbs you know he feeds his.
I'm thinking of the fact that you might say something and you don't want to bring it out too. You made a mistake and you said no. Upgrade you for you go to the first chapter of the book of James.
James chapter one.
In verse 5.
Any of you relax with let him ask him go. Give us all men liberally and upgraded not.
You might go into something foolish you're asking for, but the Lord isn't going to.
Judge you for he's not going to get upset with you.
Give you what you asked for, even if you ask it for, perhaps in the wrong way. In the wrong way. You don't have to remember though, that the.
Sometimes God's answer is no, but here He's not going to take it up with Him and say, why did you ask that? I believe it's the same with bringing forth something from the Word of God.
I know I was deleting one time when a brother made a comment. I'm not going to say what it was, but it was not according to scripture.
Pretty bad. So my other brother corrected him. Why didn't he, after meeting the brother who made the mistake, went up and put his arms around the other brother and thanked him? Well, that should be the right attitude, just like it says here.
The reason I asked that question was I was speaking to the brother recently. Just a few.
Days ago and I was surprised when we were talking.
That he felt that salvation was.
All that was needed and once that was achieved, once he had received that.
There's really nothing further you had to do unless.
God had a special work for him and and he'd be shown that and and that was really all there was.
So I asked the question on responsibility because I would fear that many of us might sit here and have that same thought.
The Lord would have us to go on to serve Him and take these things that we've been given.
And to use them for the best of.
Abilities that he's given us, so it brings glory to him.
I was reminded of verses at the end of Colossians. I thought of these after speaking with the gentleman. I hope they apply Colossians chapter 3.
Verse 22.
Servants obeying all things, your masters according to the flesh, not with thy service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fear in God. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing that of the Lord He shall receive the reward of the inheritance, please.
Serve the Lord Christ.
I feel we have a great responsibility with the privilege that we've been given.
That we should not take it lightly.
There's a verse in Ephesians chapter 2 That perhaps speaks to what you just mentioned.
00:40:03
Versus 89 of course. Remind us that.
Works have no value in salvation, as it says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of worthless any man should pose. So works are not in the picture there. But verse 10 goes on to say, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.
Unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in there.
So that's the natural progression of the believer.
First were saved by the work of Christ, not our own, but then we're all deserve to do the works that He had set out for us.
So, uh, it's true that, uh, what brother granted said was true of every believer. It's not true of just some just gifted ones or whatever. True of every believer.
We have that responsibility and it really comes down to when it says the body builds itself up in love.
You know, it comes down to.
Is your concern the Lord's body as a building up to the Lord's body? Where is your concern about you?
And your glory and your reputation or whatever. And you'll find in yourself that that's a conflict.
So that's all you need to say. What is my concern here? My concern about the Lord and His people, or my concern about me and my face?
And it's very liberating to be done with self.
Not only liberates you, but.
Helps helps the body, but it's good to remember as long indicated, the water. Not only is the Lord gracious, but so are your presidents and.
Those that have been saved know that they they had no place here more than anyone else. And so we can be gracious with one another. I know my president has been more than gracious with me so.
It's all about love. Love will erase a lot of the difficulties.
I've always enjoyed in the book of Acts in chapter 23.
Paul was brought before the council and he created a dissension there between the capacities and Pharisees fight.
Revealing that he himself was a Pharisee and so forth. And.
So.
The Roads of great Pride and.
One party saying, We find no evil in this man, and so forth, but it says, the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be a good cheer, Paul. For as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. As has already been mentioned in the previous meeting, Paul was not sent to the Jews, he was sent to the Gentiles, but he had that that love for his brethren, and the desire for them to recognize.
Who the Lord was that he was a fulfillment of all that they had been waiting for. But you know, there are times that.
That in our frustration.
We, umm, speak in a way that is not of the Lord, but yet here the Lord doesn't chide him.
You know, the Lord is very gracious. In fact, he commands him for his faithfulness, which is remarkable. And then he says you're going to Rome.
It's been stated several times already, but perhaps it.
A good summary of what's being said with respect to our responsibilities with gifts could be found in Colossians Chapter 2.
Was 19. It's in the negative sense, but I'll omit the word not and put it in a positive sentence.
Holding the head from which all the bodies by joint and band, having nourishment ministered in it together, increases with the increase of God.
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And it's at the direction of the head. If I have an itch on my back, my hand doesn't know.
But flowing from the head directions, my hand, I can reach around and get my back or if I'm hungry or the list goes on. And so we have these lists of the gifts, some of the gifts that were given profits, some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers. That there is a gift of an evangelist didn't mean that in a setting like this, the evangelist should get up and give the gospel and, and over and over and over again. There would need to be the teaching of of the teacher who would need to be the shepherding from the pastor. And so it's at the direction of the head.
And so just because there's a gift doesn't mean that it needs to be exercised right here, right now.
But there needs to be the holding the head and that's really where the direction comes from and that's where there will be the blessing and and the increase of the body at all.
I'd like to move on but I just wonder if his brother had a comment on.
Captivity Capital.
He he defeated Satan that cross, didn't they? And we who were as captives have now been freed and he's actually led the one who was our captor, captor and we who were in the service of Satan from his instruments and played against Christ are now been employed in Christ service.
And that very warfare, but on the opposite side, and it's all of Tarsus was certainly one of those examples of one who was in state and service and his captive, but now free.
And uh.
On the in the service of Christ. But Satan is a defeated foe. He's been LED captive and we should never meet him as anything else but that as a defeated foe, not in with any sense of carelessness. You know, we need to understand the power of the enemy. But he is a defeated foe and resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Why is that? Because when we resist, he meets Christ.
And Christ defeated him. If he meets me, I'm in trouble. So if he meets Christ in me, he's going to he's going to sleep because he's a Bethesda ball.
That's nice, an old brother that's going to be with the Lord now. I remember him saying one time that, uh, put it this way then.
We were held in captivity by a bad man, Satan, who sought to do us harm. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. He took us captive. A good man took us captive and the good and keeps us and he will all the way home.
The other thing those verses bring out is really where the source of all true Christian ministry is. It's from an offended Christ based on accomplished redemption. And so it's from Christ and glory on that finished work that it comes down and what is the end of the object of it.
And that's really given in verse 13.
Until we come, all come. That one left out. The apostle said that.
His desire, which is God's desire, was all men would come into the knowledge of the truth. All come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. A deeper and fuller acquaintance with the Son of God.
Is the object of that ministry. It could bring us into a fuller and deeper knowledge and appreciation of themselves.
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That's the quality of the eternal life.
And we have to know God, the only true God. And Jesus Christ says he has friends. This is my paternity.
The object of the industry, as you say. I believe this.
To bring souls.
Close to Christ.
Enjoy Christ to know Him.
The only true God.
And we'll be looking to the Lord for direction as to our ministry.
You know those syntax as you were pointing out there, because of the persecution in Jerusalem, they go out.
And they spread out with the message of the gospel.
Well, who sent it out to Cyprus or for those other places?
Was it some missionary board?
Some council in Jerusalem? No, I believe.
That they were so filled with the gospel of Christ.
The Apostle Paul, he said, we believe and therefore do we speak.
And so they went out.
And I believe they were looking for their ministry, their message.
And I believe that's very important.
That's how we can keep the ministry fresh.
Otherwise, if we're looking to some individual, it's throughout.
To give it out and so on.
You might die.
You might say.
To check the sink to the level of that individual instead of bringing up the other crust.
No, it's not that we should ignore our brother, you know, respect the ministry. I mean, the fellowship is important, but.
We look to Christ. Direct instructions is what he would have to say. Let's do it.
It really takes into all that has to do with the Lord.
To say why? I just want deeper acquaintance with himself as this person. But I really don't care about church truth. I really don't care about those things. Let other people worry about that. As long as my heart's just right with the Lord and I just go on the Lord with the Lord by myself. It's really to ignore those things that concern him. Where is his heart?
Where is his treasure? Our treasury is in heaven. Where is his? It's here on the earth. It's his own. And how intimately he is interested in his own and the the testimony that ought to be in display in the unity of the body here in this earth, He's intimately concerned with it.
And so to be increasing in our acquaintance with him is to be concerned with what he's concerned about, to be interested in what he's interested in. The more I grow interested in one who who is may become my mate for life, aren't I interested in what they are? It would be awful selfish if I wasn't say, oh, I love you dearly, but I'm not interested in what you are interested in.
Well, I don't know. How attached are you anyway? You know, you might come back to that, no?
If we really are growing in our acquaintance analogy and it's going to be with a growing interest in all that experience and all that, he's interested.
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And in Philippians chapter 2.
Umm in verse 20 it says I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state.
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ.
Well, in context, the things which are Jesus Christ are the Saints.
Hey, Paul's talking about it. I I don't have anybody who's like mine or they don't care about you.
Everybody is caring about themselves.
Everybody like mine will care about you. And then he says they all seek their own things, not the things that are Jesus Christ. Now in context of things that are Jesus Christ are the Saints.
Timothy wasn't a neglected gift within him.
What happens if those gifts are neglected and the person, the people that have them are not using them?
We have it here, I believe in our chapter.
Can be LED above. With every wind of darkness, we can lose that truth that has been given to us and trusted to us.
It doesn't just say if you hear that.
This is weed that we had for if you don't want children that takes in those that have gifts too.
Uh, those things are neglected.
Then.
He can be cost about with every windows doctor but a slight of men and craftiness whereby they lie and wait to the sea. This is an ongoing thing in the world.
Present day and every day that there are those out there that are seeking to draw souls away from the Lord and.
We need to be wise and the only way that we can be that way is is to maintain.
The word that God has given to us, entrusted to us.
And, uh, build one another up, encourage one another in those things that are that are true.
Otherwise it says here.
We're not immune to be LED away.
Anyone of those?
So it's, it's the Lord's will that believers would grow just like a child. You know, children are young, they need parental help. They'll get themselves in trouble. They don't, they don't understand and they, they got to be washed out or they get in trouble. They could get hurt. But we expect that they, as they mature, they're going to have those judgments and they're going to be able to discern and, and to, and to keep themselves.
Say and and to walk intelligently, so to speak. And that's God's will for every believer.
That we would grow as individuals and be able to have that discernment. And that's really the end, another end really, of Christian ministry.
That we would, you know, have that. And so you know that I think it's helpful to read that verse.
We can find it again.
OK, verse 14.
In order that we may be no longer I'm going to I'm reading it in the new translation in order that we may be no longer babes tossed and carried out by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men in unprincipled cunning, with a view to systematize era. And then it says, but holding the truth and love, we may grow up unto him in all things, which is so, you know, God's desire is that we would be able to discern.
And that we would grow up unto him.
And to understand as it's been brought out his thoughts and desires. But you know, we have this this unprincipled, cunning, systematized era. And you know, there, as has been said, there's there's opposition and it even comes in to the professing church and, you know, one of the very first manifestations.
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Of of really a.
An attack, if you will, was.
When Ananias and Sapphira.
Lied to the Holy Spirit and.
You know, they were acting as if the Holy Spirit was not present in this entity which is the body of Christ and they acted as if it wasn't so much that they didn't give the money to the apostles. They lie. They asked you this, the Spirit of God was going to be well, there is systematize era around that very thing today as a matter of fact.
You know you can and and you know it's cunning, it's clever. You can hear someone teach and it it there, there are very good.
You know, whatever doctrine it is, the people that push it are very, very good and they use scriptures, but it doesn't come from the Lord and it doesn't honor the Lord. And we have to be discerning in these things and we do have to challenge these things with Scripture and seek to know the Lord. And good ministry will help us always bring before us Christ and His purposes and His desire.
Verse 15 says but speaking the truth and love it.
J&D's translations holding the truth. Other translations too.
Holding the truth.
In love.
It's not holding the truth and pride.
Holding the truth in love.
If you're concerned about.
Getting things right.
Holding things.
Being in the right path and so on.
If your motive is love for the Lord and for his people.
That's the best way that I know to be assured that you you get things right.
And then even if you get things wrong.
Could be literally translated being truthful and love to God is light and His love this love without being truthful in love.
There is a display of that, but it leads down the wrong and lead down the wrong path. So being fruitful in love, God is light and love.
And so love needs to.
Have joined with it.
True if it's going to be X.
Exercise properly.
The proverb faithful are the wounds of a friend that has.
Has to do with that, right?
Faithful of the wounds of our friends so.
It's not a love, You know, if I'm if I'm teaching something wrong or doing something wrong or speaking something wrong, for someone to just sit by the way and be quiet, that's not love.
Lord Jesus Christ, He was full and He raised and truth.
I believe somebody said Grace.
Is the activity of love.
In the midst of evil.
Grace and truth is light.
Shining in this darkness.
Go back to 13 for a minute. We all come in the unity of the face to face. There is that whole body of truth committed to the Saints of God. There is one faith as well. We get it earlier in the chapter. And the faith brings us into unity, doesn't it? The Spirit of God would lead all the Saints down the same path. It doesn't have a different truth for you, different truth for me. The world has a saying, well, that's true for you, but it's not truth for me.
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Child of God should never say that ever. There's only one faith, there's only one truth in the Spirit of God with all lead us all in the same direction. And so when he is able to minister to us in that way, where is the end going to be? Till we all come in the unity of the faith, there is one truth.
Of God's Word, the unity of the faith. It has a practical outworking too.
And the endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and uniting bond of peace.
We've spoken of the knowledge of the Son of God, that deeper acquaintance with himself and all that concerns him unto a perfect or a full grown man. God does not want us to remain as we've had children or babes, a place of weakness and exposure where we're knocked all about, tossed about. Really. I think might even have the same word as Buffett is when they smoke the Lord. I think it may be the same word buffeted.
And.
He wants us to be grown up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. There's the natural stick. He wants us to be grown up in that measure. That's all it is, I believe, is to come into the fullness of the knowledge of the truth that is proper to us in our dispensation, Christian truth. He doesn't want us to just say, well, I'm saved and I know I'm going to heaven. Don't bother me with the rest.
Will be tossed to and fro. We'll be knocked right around.
Just like little children in the storm.
We won't be able to stand for a minute. He wants us to be grown up in the truth of God, and in that way children is looked at. Sometimes being a child is looked at in a good way. Is newborn babes. Desiring the sincere milk of the Word is a positive thing. I should never get out of the place where the Word of God isn't my proper food, just like milk is a proper food to a baby. But here it's not a desirable condition to be in.
He wants us to grow up.
To grow up. And so the psalmist speaks of that man's house and his children like olive plants around the table. And he says that our children might be grown up, and they're you.
He wanted them to be mature and.
Truth of God, and that's God's desire for us to that we wouldn't be henceforth children.
I'd like to make a comment on whether what our brother John brought out to systematize error.
There are whole bookshelves full of books called labeled systematic theology where men have, and even Christian men have taken up some verse, taken it out of context, put a certain construction on it, and then develop the whole system of theology in which they attempt to explain the Word of God, the truth of God and its error.
And they revolve all the word of God around that thought.
And say, this is how you understand and interpret the word of God. And they deny this truth, that it's only by the Spirit of God that we understand the Word of God and he is its interpreter, not a system of theology.
And I really believe the Spirit of God had that in mind and how the great systems of professing Christianity have developed around systematized.
Error, not just.
Here and there sort of a scattered popping up here. It's a systematized. There's a whole system developed around it that supports it and keeps it going. And if you're going to go on in that, then you've got about to that system.
Of key chains of theology.
Systematic Theology.
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It's not what we get in the Word of God. He has that which.
Everything revolves around and by which we understand the Word of God and the Spirit of God makes it good for us. Christ is the center of everything that God is doing.
Everything, everything hangs upon that, and that is where I think the Spirit of God would lead us to until growing up in the knowledge of the Son of God. He's the center of everything that God is doing.
Occipital and the 2nd grindin's tube verse 17 says we are not as many.
Which corrupts the word itself. The margins of others should deal deceitfully.
With the word of God.
But there's a sincerity, but as a God insight of God, speak me in Christ.
Safety is the master receipt.
And he has been so successful.
And today, I believe in turning souls aside from the truth.
What he does is mix.
Truth with error, which in the final analysis is no truth.
But he's very cagey.
Somebody said one time if you had a glass of pure water.
And then you're ready to drink.
Something comes along and puts a little drop of poise into the water.
Are you going to drink it?
Person said well, you know, it's just a little drop. No, we don't want to drink that.
So I'll say we look to the Lord that we might.
Be guided by His word.
And that he might be found in the truth as it is in Jesus.
We have later he's Shafter there's 21 if so be that in the third in and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
Just the way, the truth and the life.
I'm just looking at these verses in Second Peter chapter 3.
Second Peter three. We could probably read more, but verse 16.
And also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things.
Which are some things hard to be understood? Which they that are unlearned and unstable rest?
As they do also the other scriptures under their own destruction. Ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before.
Beware lest ye also, being LED away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
And just connect over to the Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8 says Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
You're not carried about with divers and strange doctors.
It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.
That's good, brother, because you know.
In the schools of professing Christianity, systematic theology is most often.
Based upon an error that the Hebrew believers struggled for. That really is that is true whether it's saying the covenants of the center of all that God is doing and by that we interpret the word of God or whatever it might be.
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The things that the Hebrew believers struggled over are the very roots of those systems of theology.
Colossians Chapter 2, it says.
No man beguile you of your reward and voluntary humility worship of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen mainly popped up by his flesh in mind and and really to focus on this verse and not holding the head from which all the joints as we have been speaking in bands having nourishment ministered and knit together increases with the increase of God, so.
These systems.
Are are very cleverly built.
And they work within, within the context of the system they work. And they are based upon scriptures. They will be based upon scriptures. So, you know, we have to not approach these things intellectually. Christ must. The Lord must be given His place. And that's the only place we can be kept safe. The Lord is the head as we've had. He's the head and he is in heaven. His body is upon the earth.
And it's the Spirit of God.
That he sent down and if we get any of those things in the wrong place.
We're not going to be in the right place and we should not be foolish enough to think that we're smart enough.
To delve into these things and figure them out on our own because the people, they're very cunning. It's scary. I, you know, I've been given, I was given, you know, I've given, people have given me things to listen to and I will sometimes do that.
So I prayerfully something that I know may know be coming from another direction, whether it be, you know, covenant theology or whatever. But it's a prayerful thing and and it's a thing you got to do and you can say just Lord.
Help me, I'm going to listen to it so I can respond to somebody in faith. I need to be very prayerful about that. I am not smart enough to outsmart these systems of theology. I have to pull the head and the and the Lord is faithful. You'll keep us if we give him his place, you know, and that's a beautiful thing. He needs to be given his place.
Any system, no matter how good it is in terms of what it does and all the good it accomplishes, the Christ the Lord is not given His place.
You know, it's, it's not of him ultimately.
#276.