His Love Ministries
Episodes
Monday Jun 30, 2014
EPHESIANS 4:7-10 THE GIFTS FOR UNITY Part 1
Monday Jun 30, 2014
Monday Jun 30, 2014
Ephesians 4:7 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.)
In this section we face a most important question. How is
the church expected to demonstrate the power of God and thus influence society? Is it by some miraculous, wonder-working, dramatic display
of divine power? Is it something that captures the attention of the multitudes
by miracles? Or is it by the power of numbers -- getting people together to
vote the same way and thus exert pressure upon the legislatures to obtain the
right kind of legislation? Is that the power of the church? Is it by agitating
for change by joining picket lines? Is it by attending conventions devoted to
discussions of various things and the passing of resolutions? Well, you notice
the apostle does not waste one moment on these kinds of activity. He suggests very clearly that the power of
the church lies in each Christian discovering and intelligently exercising the
spiritual gift that was given to him when he became a member of the body of
Christ. That is largely a forsaken principle today, and that is why the church
is so weak. If we ever recover the strength God intended the church to exert in
human society, it will be by a return to that simple thing, the exercise of
each person's spiritual gift.