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1) Ephesians
4:7 - The
Purpose of Spiritual Gifts - Also
See (1Co 12:1-31)
Our Lord Jesus Christ gives each one of us who truly follows him at
least one Spiritual Gift (1Co
12:1-12).
The gifts are not for any
selfish or personal reasons, nor
to gain money or material gain
either. Instead the
gifts are
for the building up the Body of
Jesus Christ, his True Church (1Co
12:12-31)
and for advancing
his kingdom
through out this world.
Think
of it this way, look at Jesus as
a company and each gift is a
office in his company to which
we work
for and serve Jesus
Christ with the Spiritual Gift/s
that by Jesus Christ Grace has
given to each one of us.WARNING From Bible
Exposition Commentary on NT Puts
it; Ephesians 4:7-11 How
does
the
believer discover and
develop his gifts? By
fellowshipping
with other Christians
in the local assembly. Gifts
are not toys to play with.
They are tools to
build with.
And if they are not
used in love, they become weapons to fight with,
which is what happened in the
Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 12-14). Christians are not to live in isolation, for after all, they are
members of the
same body.
2) Ephesians
4:8-10 - Jesus
Christ Freed His People -
a) Eph
4:8 -
Quoted From (Psalm
68:18)
1) He
ascended on high, meaning Jesus
Christ who has ascended to
heaven, went upward toward
heaven (Luke
24:50-53,
Mark 16:19-20),
this also meaning that satan could not defeat, nor stop Jesus
Christ, for Jesus Christ has
defeated satans schemes! VICTORY!
2) Jesus
Christ has Brought those that
was slaves to sin to be slaves
of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18)
3) and
then once Jesus Christ has
completed that task of Salvation
he has given his new followers
spiritual gifts (Eph
4:11) to advance and serve Jesus Christ Kingdom. They are not ever
allowed to use any of these spiritual gifts for any personal nor selfish gain once so ever, nor any monitory
gain especially! (Php
1:16, 2:3)
b) Eph 4:9 -
1) This
Jesus is the Messiah, the one
that ascended to heaven
2) is
the same one that descended into
the grave, that is the Messiah
c) Eph
4:10 -
1) Jesus
Christ that descended and
ascended, to which he our
Messiah is above all that is on
or in earth
(John
1:41 -
See John for
Deity)
2) has
did the will of God and was
obedient to God even to death (Php
2:8)
and beyond, so that the
world
may have the
opportunity of hope in salvation
through Jesus Christ, that we
may have life
(John
5:40, 10:10),
that is not slaves to sin
(Romans
6:17).
3) Ephesians
4:11 - Christian
Offices (Positions)
After
a Christian is Truly Saved, Born
Again, Jesus Christ gives each
Christian Spiritual gifts, not
to use for
their personal selfish reasons, but instead to use for the Glory of God
for Service to Jesus Christ to
advance
his kingdom, to build up the church, the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7, Also Read in Entirety
1
Co 12:1-31, Eph 4:1-16).
All true Christians are called
to serve Jesus Christ in
ministry work for his
Glorious
Kingdom (Eph 4:12-16) We
are not called to comfort or
serve our selves ever!
There are many of Christian who likes to call their selves
Apostles, Evangelist, Pastors
etc. Yet many of
them do not do
the work of what they call them selves. Many are false and have not been
called to do the
work that they claim that they do. There are
some true Apostles, Pastors etc that has been called by God
though. It
is for those reasons why I
decided with the help of my
Bible
Software program to give the
definition of each office of a Christian.
The Following are just some
Spiritual Gifts that Apostle
Paul Covers. NOTE NOT ALL RECEIVE THESE
GIFS! (1Co
12:29-30)
a) Apostles;
means one who is sent with a
mission such as the 12 disciples
and Apostle Paul for their
mission was to lay the foundation of the church, the Body of Christ to start it up as
a forever church of
Jesus Christ
our Lord. The New Testament Apostles only Started Churches, by bringing the lost to
Jesus Christ for them to worship
God in Jesus Christ and fellowship together as children of God. The
Apostles also help
them learn not only about Jesus
Christ dying for their sins, but also in how to
fellowship together, how to conduct their
households and their church
fellowship with each other
to be
in unity in Love and
Truth.
b) Prophets; They get their instructions directly from God and no one
else.
Nelsons
Bible Dictionary;
The
main role of the
prophet was
to bear
God's word
for the purpose
of teaching,
reproving,
correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). Whether warning
of impending danger or
disclosing God's will to
the people, they were similar in function
to the modern preacher in
the church.
Prophets were
referred to as
messengers of the Lord (Isaiah 44:26; Haggai 1:13), servants
of God
(Amos 3:7), shepherds (Zechariah
11:4,7; Jeremiah 17:16),
and watchmen (Isaiah
62:6).
c) Evangelist; From Easton's
Bible Dictionary; — a "publisher of glad
tidings;" a missionary preacher of
the gospel (Ephesians 4:11).
This title is
applied to Philip (Acts 21:8),
who appears to have gone
from
city to city
preaching the word (8:4,40). Judging from
the
case of Philip, evangelists had neither the
authority
of an apostle, nor the gift
of
prophecy,
nor the responsibility of pastoral
supervision over a
portion of the flock. They were itinerant preachers, having it as their
special function to carry the
gospel to
places
where it was previously unknown.
The writers of the four
Gospels are known as the
Evangelists.
So my friend most of people in today's time's who call their selves
Evangelist that do not travel
and
preach Jesus Christ
in areas that has never heard
the gospel message are not true
Evangelist, they are
false
evangelist!
d) Pastors; My
friend Pastors are only those
that takes care of Gods People
through a physical Church,
the house of God, the House
of Prayer as the following from Nelson's
Bible Dictionary puts
it; The
feeder, protector, and guide, or
shepherd, of
a flock of God'speople in New Testament times. In
speaking of spiritual gifts,
the apostle
Paul wrote that Christ "gave
some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers" (Ephesians
4:11).
The term pastor by this time
in church history had not yet become an
official title. The term
implied the nourishing of and caring for
God's people.
The Greek
word translated pastors in Ephesians
4:11 is used elsewhere in the New
Testament of
sheepherders, literally or
symbolically (Matthew
25:32); of Jesus, the Good Shepherd (John 10); and of "shepherds," or leaders, of the church
(Ephesians
4:11).
The NKJV uses the word pastor only
in this
verse. Also compare Jeremiah
23:1-2 (KJV).
e) Teachers; My
friend in order for you or me to
grow in the Christian Faith to
become spiritually
mature,
adults in Christ we need some one who was called by God to teach us Christian Truths,
that
we may not ever know nor
understand unless some one teaches us. Nelson's Bible Dictionary puts it
really well; The act of instructing students or imparting knowledge and
information.
As used in the New
Testament, the concept of
teaching usually means
instruction in the faith. Thus,
teaching is
to be distinguished from preaching, or the proclamation
of the gospel to
the non-Christian world. Teaching
in the Christian
faith was validated by
Jesus, who was called "teacher"
more than
anything else.
Since sound
instruction in the faith is
essential to the spiritual growth of
Christians and to the
development
of the church, the Bible
contains numerous passages which deal with teaching
(Matthew 4:23; Luke 4:14; Acts 13:1-3; Romans 12:6-8; Galatians 6:6).
Special attention is directed
to
the danger of false teachings. Christians are warned to test those who pervert the true gospel
(2
Timothy 3:1-7; 1 Peter 2:1-3).
Sound
teaching was a concept
deeply engrained in the Jewish
mind since Old
Testament times. Moses
and Aaron were considered teachers of
God's commandments (Exodus 18:20). Parents were also
directed
to teach their children
about God and His
statutes (Deuteronomy
4:9-10).
4) Ephesians
4:12-13 - For
the Completeness Of The Church
a) For
Equipping (Perfecting) of the
Saints -
This is so all those that are
True Born Again Christians are
fully instructed and taught, spiritually mature in the Faith........
b) For
the Work of the Ministry -
.......so that they may
unselfishly minister to those of
the church , to
advance the
kingdom of Jesus Christ with no personal motives, (selfish ambitions (2Co
12:20, Gal 5:20).
c) Edifying
of the Body -
.........In all of this is so
that the body of Christ may be
in unity and complete in
harmony
with one another without diversity, and without heresy, instead with Love (1Co
12:1-31,
16:14).
We as well should never neglect
each other in bearing one another burdens and in doing so we
fulfill THE
LAW OF CHRIST (Gal
6:2).
So in all of this we shall
have the knowledge of Jesus
Christ to
fight against the evil
one with the full Armor of God (Eph
6:10-18).
5) Ephesians
4:14 - So
we can Avoid False Teachings,
Apostles, Prophets etc
a) Full
Armor of God (Eph 6:10-18) -
Also See Teaching (Full
Armor of God) - My friend,
by us
believers coming together
in fellowship (Hebrews 10:25)
with our spiritual gifts, with
love and the Full
Armor of God
there is no way that satan
himself can defeat us
for through Jesus Christ we have
strength
and power.
As Jesus Christ has said for
this very reason Matthew
18:19 "Again I say* to you that
if two
of you
agree
on earth concerning
anything that they ask, it will be
done for them by My Father
in heaven. 20 For
where two
or three are gathered together in My
name,
I am there in the
midst of them."
That teaching of Jesus Christ is not for people who are greedy,
carnal nor worldly, instead it
is for True
believers that work
in the ministry in service to Jesus Christ for the advancement of his
kingdom so they
can fight
against the schemes of the
devil! My
Friend there are countless
numbers of cults and false
teachings out there calling them
selves Christian it just blows
my mind.
In now days times there are even false Christ and false teachings
regarding Jesus Christ as it is
written;
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom
we have not
preached, or if you
receive a different spirit which
you
have not received, or
a different gospel which
you have not accepted
— you may well
put up
with it!
Galatians 1:6 I
marvel that you are turning away so soon
from Him who
called you in the grace
of Christ,
to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who
trouble you
and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
6) Ephesians
4:15-16 - Done
with Truth in Love
a) With
all of this
1)
salvation, 2) growing
in the faith 3) receiving
spiritual gifts 4) and
avoiding false
doctrines, then
the Body of Christ shall be grown in Love so that it Glorifies
God through Jesus Christ as
well. We must never forget that is our Love for Gods Truths (2Thess
2:10) that is a part of our Salvation,
Part of our Faith in God,
in Christ.
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These
Spiritual gifts were never given
to us so we can use them for
personal or financial
gain of
any kind! They were given
to us for the Building of the
Body of Jesus Christ,
and to
advance the Kingdom of Jesus
Christ through out the world..
Once we have
been set free from
our sins, Jesus Christ then
gives us at least one Spiritual
Gift for his
purposes.
These gifts are not for you
showing off about spiritual you
are or how godly you are.
If you show off that it only
shows how unspiritual you are!