Means to Maturity
We’ve seen the great things God has done for us, and Paul’s first and key application is that we should all walk in humility and gentleness. We should dwell in such humility together that we do all we can to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. That should be a fairly easy thing, for those who have been overwhelmed by God’s grace to us. We saw too that unity was something that needed effort to maintain, and we considered a number of things needed to gain and preserve the unity of believers. Unity is not the goal of Christian fellowship, but a condition and product of it. The goal of Christian fellowship is actually spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity requires humility as its foundation, but is attained with the help of key figures in our fellowship, as Paul is about to show us. From Ephesians 4:7-16.
Ascension Gifts
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." [Psalm 68:18] 9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
We pick up in verse 7. Paul tells us that each one of us has received a measure of grace as Jesus parceled out to us. We’ve seen this word “grace” again and again in the first three chapters, where it mainly indicated God’s unmerited favor toward us in choosing to save us. But here, Paul is introducing a different aspect of God’s grace: that of gifts.
He quotes (and some might say misquotes) Psalm 68:18 (NIV):
When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
Psalm 68 is a psalm of praise to God for His victory over the nations and the establishment of His rule over all the earth. It is prophetic, looking ahead to when Christ returns to set up His kingdom on earth. But Paul uses it to speak of Christ’s resurrection and return to heaven. In that process, Jesus gives gifts to men as He so chooses (as opposed to receiving gifts from men as the psalm originally says). The language is very similar to when Paul talks about the Holy Spirit parceling out spiritual gifts to every individual believer.
Paul makes clear that the one who gives the gifts is the one who descended from Heaven and now has returned to ascend to the highest place in order to fill the whole universe—and that’s Jesus! Though he changes “received gifts” to “gave gifts,” Paul is still speaking by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is borrowing and adjusting Psalm 68:18 to teach us about the gifts Christ gave through the Spirit in His ascension. Remember that until Christ returned to Heaven, He could not send the Holy Spirit. So don’t get bogged down in Paul’s “misquotation” and miss his point.
The Gifts
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
While we normally think of those gifts as spiritual gifts, like tongues or prophecy or healing and such, verse 11 tells us plainly that the gifts Paul is speaking of are men who have been given key roles and responsibilities. There is some overlap with spiritual gifts, to be sure. And certainly each person filling these duties is spiritually gifted in some way, but Paul isn’t speaking directly of spiritual gifts here. It is the men in these roles that are gifts from God, and the leadership team of any church should include at least one person of each type. To put it another way, every board of elders should include at least one man who majors in one of these roles. The leaders of a church should not all be of one type.
But having mentioned spiritual gifts, in a discussion about those gifts, Paul indicates that there is actually a rank and order to these roles or duties, that give different weight to each role’s influence. Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 (NIV):
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Paul’s list here in Ephesians 4:11 lines up with his teaching in 1 Corinthians 12.
Apostles
First among these gifts given by Jesus are those who are given to be apostles. I’ve mentioned before that the word “apostle” simply means “sent one.” Apostleship is not a spiritual gift, but rather a person who has taken Jesus at His word to give up all worldly ties and treasures to completely abandon himself to take the Gospel beyond its present boarders. It is equivalent to our modern-day missionary.
This is not exclusively the Twelve. Technically, Paul is not one of the Twelve: Matthias was given Judas’ place. An apostle is someone who has been sent out, commissioned by the church or the original 12 to take the Gospel to new regions. Paul first went out with Barnabas, sent by the church at Antioch at the direction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-4); they are both counted as apostles, though only one was inspired to record Scripture.
The apostle ranks first among church leaders because he is the one who has most fully followed in the pattern of Jesus Christ, having left everything for the mission of God, to proclaim the Gospel far from home. As we’ve said before, the more one obeys Christ, the more Christ reveals Himself to them (John 14:21). So these would be the ones to know Christ best of all.
Prophets
This is both a ministry role and a spiritual gift. Prophets are not just future-tellers but sin-identifiers. The Old Testament prophets are a great example of this. Agabus shows up twice in the Book of Acts, foretelling a famine and Paul’s imprisonment. In many of Paul’s letters, he illustrates the work of a prophet. They are watchmen who see the problems in the church and in individuals, point them out and call for repentance. They are wonderful people to be around when they are speaking of the great things God has planned for those who love Him. But they’re not so fun to be around when they’re calling people and churches on the carpet.
Evangelists
There is no spiritual gift of evangelism, but there are those specially used by God to proclaim the Gospel to their fellow man. An evangelist differs from an apostle in that he doesn’t normally go far from home. He remains mainly among his own people.
Philip the evangelist shared with the Ethiopian eunuch, but the eunuch was a seeker of God. Philip found him reading Isaiah! Philip remained mainly among his own people, evangelizing them.
We are all given the Great Commission, and that means we’re all supposed to be evangelists. But there are some who are more compelled to it, and they are a gift to the church.
Pastors
Pastors have no specific “pastor” spiritual gift, but there are many spiritual gifts that would help a pastor carry out his duties.
Notice this is fourth on the list, and it is correct to understand it as fourth in importance. Yet today, this and the next are the only two offices we usually talk about. And the church today has suffered for it!
The word “pastor” means shepherd, and in that sense, his role is one of guarding the sheep and making sure they get the food and water they need. He cares for the needs of the sheep, but he is not primarily a teacher. Rather, he is a gatekeeper who is alert to who is coming and going among the community, and where each member of the community is, both physically and spiritually. If someone isn’t in fellowship, why? If someone is in need, he probably is one of the first to know and to seek to do something about it. He is much like a deacon in that sense, but not mainly concerned about physical needs, but spiritual.
He is not to be the primary instructor of the flock, as we see today, but one of several key leaders with an emphasis on guarding and ensuring healthy provision. He follows apostles, prophets and evangelists in influence and instruction.
Teachers
The final gift to the church is the teacher. Again, this is not a spiritual gift, but may be boosted by one or more spiritual gifts. His role would be primarily an instructing role, an educator, passing on knowledge and information.
Christ’s Purpose
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
What is Christ’s purpose in giving these gifts? Paul tells us in verse 12 that it is to prepare all “God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
That’s no small task, but notice, it is God’s purpose and goal—and therefore it must be achievable!
God didn’t give these 5 kinds of leaders so that they would do all the work. God gave us these 5 different roles in order to train the whole body of Christ and every member of it. Some of us will give ourselves more fully to one or another of these roles. Some of us will obtain a measure of training in all five areas. As much as possible, we each need to be growing in all five areas, even as each of these leaders knows and does a bit of all duties.
The apostle brings all he has learned about Christ to the church, and brings the example and challenge to forsake everything for the Gospel and the lost. Prophets are needed to warn the church when it has fallen away from sound doctrine. They are needed to identify the failing and to call for repentance. Evangelists are given to the church to teach and train and exhort people to share the Gospel with their friends, family, neighbors and community. Pastors are needed to check in on each member and keep everyone safe and moving forward in training and service. Teachers bring more knowledge and understanding of God and His Word and our lives and practice.
All these roles are needed for every church. And for the church to grow in a healthy manner, in the manner God intended, all these roles need to be in their right places of influence, priority and leadership. With all roles operating correctly, you have “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”—the very thing the Word of God was inspired to bring us (2 Timothy 3:16).
You have the fullest expression of Jesus Christ dwelling among us, with each leader doing his part to teach and model according to Christ’s arrangement.
You’ll notice that the apostle and evangelist are outward focused, going to the lost near and far to bring the gospel to them. The prophet, pastor and teacher are primarily concerned with the growth and instruction of the community of believers—an inward focus. If a church lacks one or more of these leaders, they will become out of balance, either too outward focused so that they themselves overlook their need for personal growth and development, or too inward focused so that they bring little hope of eternal life to their community.
Outward ministry, the Great Commission, is the primary purpose of the church. But the members of the church still need training and growth and purification and sanctification—an inward-focused ministry.
Notice too that Paul says we need the training of all these leaders in order to reach unity in the faith. While we are united with Christ and with other believers as soon as we put our faith in the Gospel, we are not yet unified in practice and understanding. That requires training by the gift of these five kinds of leaders. Unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God—a unified understanding of all God has revealed to us and wants us to learn—is attainable! If we’re willing to humble ourselves and diligently learn and apply all that God has revealed to us through these leaders.
Paul links that to spiritual maturity, “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Obtaining a correct and full understanding of our faith and Christ brings us to spiritual maturity—if we receive all we’re being taught and conform our lives to it. We can reach a point of being completely filled with the fullness of Christ. We don’t become God or God-like in material, but we become like Christ in behavior and practice. This is what John means when he says that “whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6, NIV).
And with the help of these five gifts of leaders, with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with a heart of humility in the face of God’s incredible goodness to us, and with the standard of God’s Word, we can attain to the fullness of Christ.
Do not let anyone tell you it’s impossible! That’s not what God’s Word says! That’s the devil and his desire to keep you enslaved, ill-equipped, out of the battle and without treasure and glory to offer Christ when we enter His presence.
Protected
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
We need to grow because we are continually under attack. From Satan and from his minions, from those who remain enslaved to him. There are men who are deliberately devoted to the work of Satan, to trip us up and deceive us, even to discourage us and lead us to abandon our faith and our salvation. There are those who lack discernment and have accepted the false teachings of the devil without knowing where they come from; such men have also stepped into leadership and by their erroneous teachings have impeded the growth of far too many Christians! Whether deliberate or accidental, both kinds are false teachers and both kinds are doing great harm to the Church at large.
There is such division in the Church today because of immaturity and worldly passions and a love for the things of this world. That’s not what God wants. He wants each one of us growing into the likeness of His Son. He wants each one of us to know and have confidence in the Truth of His Word. To know and do what God calls right and good.
He does not want us to remain infants in the faith, people who subsist on milk, people who are confused and cast about by the variegated teachings of Satan masquerading as Truth. There is no reason for us to remain carnal in our Christianity! He saved us and transformed us to break free from the flesh and the world. He wants us to have the wisdom and discernment to know what is right and what is wrong, what is from God and what is not.
With the help of these five kinds of leaders, their teachings and examples, we can conquer the evil one and the deceitful scheming of those who deliberately or ignorantly aim to keep us weak and powerless, lost and confused.
Working Together
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Verses 15 and 16 show us God’s intent for each one who calls on the name of Christ for salvation: We are to speak the truth in love—something we talked about last time—so as to help each other grow up into Christlikeness. We need to be honest with each other, we need to be humble and receive training, rebuke, correction and teaching from one another—especially those who are counted among the gifts of these five kinds of leaders. That is true love for one another.
We don’t leave each other in rebellion or sin. We don’t let each other get away with sin—not if we love one another! If any one of us is unwilling to repent of wrong behavior and learn to do right, we are in danger of missing out on the glory of Heaven for the fires of Hell (Hebrews 12:26-27).
We belong first to Christ and then to one another. We need each other, even as we need these five kinds of leaders. We need each one of us growing in maturity, growing into the full understanding of Christ and His ways. We need each other growing in these five areas of leadership, so that we can use our experience and growth to help others come to know Christ better and better display how He lives.
We each have a part to play, but if we don’t grow in maturity and right understanding of Christlikeness, then as we play our part, we do more to tear each other apart. We sow division. We promote the devil and his lies. We are more like a disease in the body that will need to be removed.
Conclusion
- Humility, a teachable heart
- Apostles (missionaries), prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers
- God’s Word
- Our diligence to practice and obey
That is not God’s plan or purpose. We don’t want to harm each other. We don’t want to harm Christ. We don’t want to damage His body.
So we have the Word of God that each one of us can and should be reading. Reading not just to read, but to see what God requires of each one of us and to do it. We have apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, and we need to discern who truly know and represent Christ, and we need to learn from them. To receive their training and rebuke, correction and instruction. We need to humble ourselves and recognize that we all start out as infants in Christ, but not one of us should remain there.
We do not want the warning of Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV) to describe us:
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
We should not be slow to learn. We should not be people who have believed so long but learned so little, so that we still need someone to teach us basic truths. But by the grace given us in Christ and by His Spirit, we should be diligently learning and applying all we learn of Christ from His Word and from His appointed leaders. We should be diligently training ourselves to distinguish good from evil by our constant use and practice of His Word and commands.
There is one more thing we must deal with before we get into the nuts and bolts of Christlike living. We’ll confront that next week.