1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,240 Well, if you have gone, some of you probably have gone to the 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,160 Contarelli Chapel at the Church of Saint Louis of the French in 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,680 Rome. Anybody been there? 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:13,560 There's a couple hands. That's amazing. 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:19,320 If you go there, there, there's three paintings on the wall. 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,160 They're called the Matthew Cycle, and they represent the 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,560 the Apostle Matthew's life from his calling to his commissioning 8 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,160 to his martyrdom. And if if you look at those, 9 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:30,880 those are beautiful, you should go, you should visit. 10 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,680 But I want to draw your attention to the painting on the 11 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,120 left. All three of these are the work 12 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,000 of a man named Caravaggio, and they come from the 1590s. 13 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,720 And this one that you see now is called the Calling of Saint 14 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,240 Matthew. It is the visual representation 15 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,280 of what we've been talking about, your salvation from 16 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,080 Ephesians 4, where we heard Paul record last week. 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,200 Ephesians 41I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you 18 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,280 to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have 19 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,680 been called. Calling to which you have been 20 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,200 called, you are now called to walk. 21 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,800 Worthy says you once walked according to the course of this 22 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,760 world. You walked according to the 23 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,120 darkness, your former life, you had your life, your schedule, 24 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,000 your worldview, your plans, and then you were called. 25 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,200 And as is depicted here by the light of divine grace pouring 26 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,600 into the room, it was interruptive on your life. 27 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,440 And if you look on the right as Christ points his finger, this 28 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,000 is the decisive moment that He calls Matthew to follow him. 29 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,200 And divine grace is entering from outside the room. 30 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,520 And grace is external to us. It's otherworldly and it's 31 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:45,000 shine. It's pictured as a brilliant 32 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,640 light shining in the dark room. What Carvaji was teaching in 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,040 images and not in words is that Christ calls sinners as they 34 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,480 are. There's a whole movement after 35 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,400 him where there's it's depicted He calls people out of tax 36 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,600 offices and he calls people out of pubs. 37 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,200 And it happened to Matthew when Jesus interrupted him extorting 38 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,640 his own people for financial gain. 39 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:12,240 It happened to you, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2. 40 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,720 You were walking in darkness, following the course of the 41 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,720 world, and then you experienced grace, which is why the only 42 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,560 commandment that came in chapters one to three, the only 43 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,680 imperative verb that came in chapters one to three was 44 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,680 remember. Remember where you were. 45 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,360 And I will ask you, where were you when God called you? 46 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,320 Where were you when grace interrupted your life? 47 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,320 What were you doing? What was your life like then, 48 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,320 and what is it like now? And Matthew in this picture 49 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,360 points at himself, who we think is Matthew points at himself as 50 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,240 if to say, Is it me, Lord? Could you be calling me? 51 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,880 And the men left of him, you can see the sudden and unexpected 52 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,680 nature of his calling by the surprise on their face. 53 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,080 Into Darkness comes this light. And even when you see this, this 54 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,400 painting, people debate over which one Matthew is. 55 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,560 Is it the one who's surprised or is he actually pointing at 56 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:11,280 someone else? Where these men are just 57 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:12,680 distracted, counting their money. 58 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,120 They're too distracted by their money to even realize they're 59 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,000 being called. And some say Caravaggio did this 60 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,600 on purpose because he he could be calling any one of you. 61 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,880 And that's the point 2nd Corinthians 4/6 for God, who 62 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,920 said light, the light, let the light shine out of darkness, has 63 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,960 shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the 64 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,360 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 65 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,560 I bring up this painting for two reasons. 66 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,320 Number one, to frame our text and to help remind you of the 67 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,040 words of Paul in their context. He has called you to a calling 68 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,600 and you are called to walk worthy of that calling. 69 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,280 And the second reason I bring up this painting is because there 70 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,840 was a time in very recent years, but years past, where I had no 71 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,040 value. I ascribed no value to artists 72 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,800 or to painters or to paintings. And I would say, according to 73 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,200 First Corinthians 12, to borrow their language, I have no need 74 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:05,760 of you. And what I've said to 75 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,080 Caravaggio, I would have said to him, you have a lesser gift. 76 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,360 I have no need of you. There is no room for you. 77 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,360 Why don't you be a pastor or a church planner or do something? 78 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,880 Because there's no category in my mind for how you could build 79 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,680 up the church. And we're going to see in this 80 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:26,600 passage that there's a a diversity of giftings in the 81 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,280 church. Think of Exodus 31. 82 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:30,760 It was the painters and the Craftsman that God fills with 83 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,440 his spirit so that they could build amazing things for him, 84 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,240 his temple, for his glory. And it's a diversity of giftings 85 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:38,760 in the church. It's whether you're a painter or 86 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,320 whether you're a pastor, a singer or musician or a 87 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:47,040 sculptor, God has a means for you of highlighting and building 88 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,880 our unity in this church for His glory. 89 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,640 Turn in your Bible to Ephesians 4, verse 7. 90 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,440 We're coming off of verses 1 to 6, which you, if you remember, 91 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,960 describe the unity of the church. 1 Lord, 1 faith, one 92 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,640 baptism, one God and Father who is over all and through all and 93 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,800 in all. And then the very next words 94 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,120 Paul's going to say, within that unity there is an incredible 95 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,040 diversity. It's not unity does not lead to 96 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:13,520 uniformity. It's not like Jesus is the 97 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,200 model. We're all being conformed into 98 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,600 this exact replica of each other. 99 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,160 No, the the conforming to Christ is moral and how we worship him. 100 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,120 And our spiritual giftings are incredibly diverse. 101 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,640 There's amazing diversity and it's by design. 102 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,920 Paul says to the Corinthians, there are varieties of gift, but 103 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,240 the same spirit. There's varieties of service, 104 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,280 but the same Lord. There are varieties of 105 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,160 activities, but it's the same God who empowers them all in 106 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,240 everyone. To each is given the 107 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,520 manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 108 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,160 He apportions to each one individually as He wills. 109 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,640 So as diversity of giftings from a diverse group of people 110 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:53,320 working in concert to buttress and support the ministry of the 111 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,400 gospel. That's Ephesians 4. 112 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,360 Read it with me beginning in verse 7. 113 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,480 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure 114 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,880 of Christ's gift. Therefore it says that Psalm 68, 115 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,080 When He ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and He gave 116 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,000 gifts to men. In saying, He ascended, what 117 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,440 does it mean but that He also descended into the lower regions 118 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,000 of the earth? He who descended is the one who 119 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,880 also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all 120 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,920 things. And He gave the apostles, the 121 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,600 prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip 122 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,040 the Saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the 123 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,680 body of Christ. Look back to verse 6. 124 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,600 There's a diversity of giftings, but we share in it says 1 body, 125 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,840 1 Spirit, 1 hope, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and 126 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:56,840 Father who is over all. And the transition again from 127 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:59,360 1:00 to 6:00 to 7:00 to 12:00 is a transition from discussion of 128 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,520 unity to a discussion of diversity. 129 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,720 So it's still tied to last week, but we're now talking about the 130 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,840 diversity of the giftings. And he makes that transition by 131 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:10,840 saying, but each one of us has been gifted. 132 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:12,680 So he's we're talking about the one church. 133 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,200 But now each one of us in the church, the individual members 134 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,680 have been given to steal his language, a stewardship of 135 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,560 grace, a responsibility so that we might continue on the 136 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,920 ministry of Jesus Christ in his absence. 137 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,360 He ascended that he might fill us with all things. 138 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,000 And so he reminds you by quoting this Psalm that Christ ascended 139 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,280 and he sat down at the right hand of God the Father. 140 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,280 And when he did, he poured out gifts on his church. 141 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,680 And then by his grace, he gave gifted men to equip the Saints 142 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,280 so that they might use those gifts. 143 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,560 And so we're going to divide the verse in half, Verses 7 to 10. 144 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,280 We'll, we'll, we'll put it this way. 145 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,560 He gave gifts to men and then when you look to verses 11 to 146 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:02,480 12, he gave gifted men. So he gave gifts to men and then 147 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,360 he gave gifted men to his church. 148 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,200 Read with me or look with me again to to verses 7 to 10. 149 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,320 We'll we'll start here with he gave gifts to men. 150 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,120 And when we say this, this is spiritual gifts, spirituals, 151 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,720 grace gifts. And Paul quotes the Psalms 152 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,400 because he wants to tie this not only theologically but 153 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:26,640 chronologically to Jesus ascension where he is taken up 154 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,560 into glory, He ascends into heaven, he sends out his spirit 155 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,520 and he pours out his gifts on his church. 156 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,240 When I was a youth, I remember reading just the Gospels and you 157 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,880 know, it talks about Jesus. He comes, this is what we're 158 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:42,919 celebrating at Christmas, that he's born in a Manger. 159 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:46,800 He's born as the God man and he lives and he dies and he's 160 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,680 resurrected. And I thought to myself, I 161 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:50,560 wonder if what happened to him after that. 162 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:54,640 I wonder if anybody knows what happened to Jesus after he was 163 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,360 raised from the dead. Has anybody looked into that? 164 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,520 And then come to find out, we're missing a huge, this is the the 165 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,360 pinnacle, right? He goes to be coronated, to be 166 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,000 crowned king and to pour out his gifts. 167 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,360 There's all these things that come with this ascension. 168 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:13,200 And Paul quotes Psalm 6818 to remind you of this beautiful 169 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,000 theology. Again, theologically, 170 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:21,160 chronologically, Psalm 6818 says when he ascended on high, he led 171 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,480 a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. 172 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:28,680 And it's helpful to understand the context there so we can see 173 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,000 kind of what Paul is doing. He does something shocking and 174 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,160 what he's doing is he's he's quoting these these verses that 175 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:41,880 lead up to verse 18 is all about a, a historical retelling of 176 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,520 Israel as they come to conquer Canaan and they conquer the the 177 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,560 promised land. There's this long historical 178 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,920 retelling of history, a historical survey which ends 179 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:58,960 climactically in verse 17 with God moving from Sinai into the 180 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,520 Temple. And interestingly, it says in 181 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,680 verse 17, the Lord is among them. 182 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,640 Sinai is now in the temple. Sinai is now in the sanctuary. 183 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,680 Remember, Sinai is where the 10 commandments came. 184 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:13,920 It's the mountain where there was Thunder and there was 185 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,120 lightning and there was fire and the people weren't allowed to go 186 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,240 near it and they were terrified of it. 187 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:19,800 If you touched the mountain, you died. 188 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,960 What does it mean when the psalmist says that Sinai is now 189 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:30,520 in the temple at Zion? And Don Carson says it means 190 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,360 that the image, the God whose power was, was so much evidence 191 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,440 that Mount Sinai, it's the same God with the same power that's 192 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,600 now at work in his temple on Zion. 193 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,880 And the Psalm is apparently referencing these victories as 194 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,720 Israel is going into the promised land and to Canaan to 195 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,040 occupy it. And the Psalm says that God 196 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:55,680 leads a host of captives in his train and receives gifts, which 197 00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:58,800 are literally the spoils of war of all these people. 198 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,840 He says there's going to be trees and vineyards that you did 199 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,400 not plant. They're going to be yours. 200 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,600 He's receiving tribute because in the ancient world, the normal 201 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,800 political decorum when a king conquers is that the the rest of 202 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,880 the world brings gifts lest they too be conquered. 203 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,280 You bring gifts so that you can earn favour with the conquering 204 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,640 king. And Paul does something 205 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,680 interesting with that context. He changes the language of the 206 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,960 Psalm when he quotes it. He changes the the word you 207 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:32,080 receive gifts to you gave gifts. And Paul reverses the words. 208 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,960 He's saying Jesus has risen as the conquering King and rather 209 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:40,000 than receiving gifts from men, he gives gifts to men. 210 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,760 Michael Allen, the theologian says the triumphant Messiah 211 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:49,040 messianic King gives rather than receives. 212 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,320 The verb is shifted from passively receiving gifts after 213 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,440 triumphing in glory to actively granting them as our Lord does. 214 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,800 Because this is God's character. Why does he change it? 215 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,680 Because our God. It's what's happening all 216 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,160 through Psalm 68. He gives gifts to men. 217 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,320 He doesn't conquer so that he can receive for himself. 218 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,480 He conquers so that He can fill all things is what Ephesians 4 219 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,280 says. And this, this should tie 220 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,080 together several theological points in your mind. 221 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,960 I hope you can kind of attach these together in your mind's 222 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,880 eye. The first thing I want you to to 223 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:21,640 remember is the ascension of Jesus Christ. 224 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,520 It's bringing that up. He descended to the lower 225 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,680 regions of the earth so that he might ascend and fill all things 226 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,720 and give gifts to men. That's the first. 227 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,080 And the second thing I want you to attach to His ascension. 228 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,480 That doesn't always go together in our minds, but it should is 229 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,040 that He pours out spiritual gifts to us. 230 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:41,680 He's equipped you for Christian service in his absence. 231 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,440 He did that at His ascension. And then third, this leads to 232 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,240 the third thing I want to have in your mind. 233 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,320 It's what we call theologically the priesthood of all believers. 234 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,440 Every believer is now a priest because Christ's ascension is 235 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,680 not Him leaving us, but Him filling us with all things. 236 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,320 It's what your Ephesians 4 passage says, that He might fill 237 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,520 all things, verse 10. So he ascends and he graciously 238 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,080 distributes spiritual gifts among his diverse church 239 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,880 membership. The gifts come by the power of 240 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,920 the Holy Spirit directly from the throne of the resurrected 241 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:16,840 Christ. That's where you got your 242 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,840 equipping, which means that no Christian is ungifted. 243 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,240 Nobody's belong. Nobody can't be in the gifted 244 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:24,840 and talented program in the church. 245 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,160 You're all gifted, you're all talented. 246 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,160 It came from Jesus. He ascended, and now this is 247 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,400 important. His priestly body carries on his 248 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:38,760 work, and so as Christ, he said to his disciples, as the Father 249 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,000 has sent me, so I am sending you. 250 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,840 That's what he tells his disciples. 251 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,440 He equips his disciple or his apostles, and his apostles tell 252 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,600 the disciples, go. The authority passes from the 253 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,480 disciples into the local church. This Is Us. 254 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,440 We are the priesthood. And Christ ascends in victory 255 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,040 because he defeated heaven and hell. 256 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,880 And then gifts proceed from the throne as he fills all things 257 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,480 and the believers carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ through 258 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,440 their faithful Christian service. 259 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,680 And there's emphasis that Scripture puts on your spiritual 260 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,240 gifts. We've we've seen it in the weeks 261 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:11,880 past. The first emphasis was that 262 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,560 they're not for you. Remember our our metaphor, 263 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:18,480 taking it even to the womb of the woman's body. 264 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,440 That's not for her. The womb is not for the woman. 265 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:22,760 It's for filling the world with worshippers. 266 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,000 It's for other people to nourish them. 267 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,080 And the same is true with your spiritual gifts. 268 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,280 They're not for you. They are for other people. 269 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,880 It's for the common good. Scripture says it's for others, 270 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,720 it's externally focused. That's the first emphasis. 271 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:40,000 And the second is that the gifts are many and they are incredibly 272 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,040 diverse. And that's what this passage 273 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,560 with First Corinthians 12 there's, they're saying there's 274 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,080 a diversity to our activity and our ministry and what we do. 275 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,160 The church is lacking if somebody doesn't walk worthy of 276 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,720 their calling. Paul says in First Corinthians 277 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,840 12 for again, hear this again, there are varieties of gifts, 278 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,280 but the same Spirit. You hear all the Trinity in this 279 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:00,920 as well. There are varieties of service, 280 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,600 but the same Lord, varieties of activities, but it is the same 281 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,520 God who empowers them all in everyone. 282 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,840 So with that, inferred is no one has all the gifts which we want 283 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,800 to think of ourselves. Yes, I'm a skilled administrator 284 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,840 and I can sing and I can preach and I can. 285 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,200 That's not meant to be any one of us. 286 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,920 Nobody gets all the giftings, which means we need one another. 287 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,440 We have if and if any part is missing, the church is lacking 288 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,400 and we fall short of our potential when people fail to 289 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,080 serve and, and this is the state of the church. 290 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,120 You read the Barnes studies. Half of the church is not 291 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,560 engaged in meaningful Christian service. 292 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,320 This is everywhere. Richard Cokin says most local 293 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,040 churches look more like soccer matches than churches. 294 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,760 And what he means by that is he says there's 22,000 people in 295 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,720 need of exercise that are watching, and there's 22 people 296 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,560 on the field exhausted that need rest. 297 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,240 And he says it ought not to be that way. 298 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,720 And I'll make a point when we say that we're to to be serving 299 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,440 and building up the church according to your gifts. 300 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,880 That means much more than you making coffee on Sunday morning 301 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,640 or handing out a bulletin on Sunday morning or distributing 302 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,320 doughnuts. Those are amazing ways to serve 303 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,320 the church. That's not what we're talking 304 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,400 about. I want to give you some 305 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,000 expressions of this in our church. 306 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,720 I want to linger here for just a minute because when we teach in 307 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,120 our membership class about faithful Christian service, 308 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:31,760 we're talking about sacrificial, costly service on behalf of 309 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,960 other people, meaningful service. 310 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,320 And some of the ways that this, that this happens at our church, 311 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,640 comes through our jail and prison ministries. 312 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,640 There are people in this church who go into Lexington Prison, 313 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,000 into Park County Safety Center every week. 314 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,680 There are some who help mothers who are inmates stay in touch 315 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,680 with their children while they're in jail and in prison. 316 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,360 Several are seminary professors who go to Lexington prison and 317 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,000 teach in the Prison Divinity program. 318 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,880 And many of us are evangelists who preach on Thursday and 319 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,480 Sunday afternoons to evangelize and disciple the inmates. 320 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,119 And there are some who are here who are employers who 321 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:14,359 intentionally hire ex cons so that they can give them a leg up 322 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,319 and care for them as vulnerable people and share the gospel with 323 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:19,839 them. And some of us work at the 324 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:22,920 homeless Resource Center where our church contributes so that 325 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,200 we can give birth certificates and IDs and food to individuals 326 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,560 who are in our community. It's just right over here, just 327 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,120 a few blocks away. We have those serving, providing 328 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,840 a safe place for them to be. Many, many in our church are 329 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,040 involved in caring for vulnerable children and we have 330 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,360 many who are fostering. We have many who are adopting. 331 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,000 We have many who are opening their home to Safe Families, to 332 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:47,920 care for kids and to care for vulnerable. 333 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,800 I'm so proud of Becky who has opened her home recently for the 334 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,720 first time, and then the second and then the third. 335 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,480 I'm so proud of the joins who are taking in their first kid at 336 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,960 Safe Families. I think this week soon, roughly 337 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,000 half of our church is on the care portal platform, 338 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,080 cooperating with all the other churches and ministries in town 339 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,000 to care for vulnerable. Many in our church are involved 340 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,720 with the Child Evangelism Fellowship where they host clubs 341 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,480 and local schools to share the gospel with the kids. 342 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,280 We have some 14 individuals now going through formal and highly 343 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,400 rigorous counselling training so that they can pour themselves 344 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,760 out not only for the people in this church, but those who are 345 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,480 in our community. There are several who have run 346 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,160 for public office so that they can enact structural change in 347 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,080 our community and create an ecology of righteousness for the 348 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,080 church to flourish. There are many in our church who 349 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,040 pair up and just go evangelize. They take the books from 350 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,520 downstairs, what is the gospel, and they go into the streets and 351 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,840 they go to the mall and they share the gospel and they do it 352 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,680 weekly. Some are at work among the 353 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,080 nations, which for this church, for whatever reason, North 354 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,600 Africa, it's Oklahoma that supports it. 355 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,000 We don't know why, we haven't figured it out yet, but Oklahoma 356 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,560 supports it. We have a group going in a few 357 00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,520 weeks to spend a week evangelizing. 358 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,720 Others will be going in January to spend 2 weeks in Liberia. 359 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,280 There's a member of this church who's going with a one way 360 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,160 ticket indefinitely or who knows how long this individual will be 361 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:12,760 in Liberia. And we have others who are 362 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,960 training with the IMB now to buy a one way ticket. 363 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,320 They may never come back from supporting them. 364 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,640 That's the calling. Many are entrepreneurs who are 365 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,400 light to the city and fund the church. 366 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,560 Many serve with our non, our partner nonprofits, Legacy 367 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:29,640 Parenting, World Haven, Cargo Ranch, Hope Pregnancy. 368 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,040 Not only that, they serve on the board as board members for those 369 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,960 ministries and the newest ministry initiative is a support 370 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,800 group for those caring for special needs children. 371 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,000 What amazing ministries that we're involved in, what diverse 372 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,400 ministries. And this is nobody does these 373 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,480 things on their own. You don't just happen to be 374 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,280 going by and suddenly this is the work and the fruit of 375 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,080 supernatural energy. This is God's Holy Spirit 376 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,600 empowering our church for the work of the ministry. 377 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,760 And you can hear the modern fulfillment of Paul's words. 378 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,360 There's varieties of gifts, there's varieties of service, 379 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:10,520 varieties, activity of activities. 380 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,400 But it's the same God, the same Lord, and the same Spirit who 381 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,360 empowers all of it. And this reminds me of the words 382 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:19,920 of Peter. As each has received a gift, use 383 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,680 it to serve one another. As good stewards of God's varied 384 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:29,760 grace varied is the word multi colored, multi colored grace. 385 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,440 He's poured out all kinds of gifts on this body, multi 386 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,640 colored multifaceted and so that doesn't exclude you from also 387 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,240 making coffee and handing out bulletins and serving in the 388 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,840 nursery. We but pour yourself out for 389 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,200 others and consider how has God equipped you? 390 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,000 What are you to be doing in this body? 391 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,600 Consider the stewardship that God has given you. 392 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,960 There's no such thing as a Christian consumer. 393 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,640 It's an oxymoron where you come and you consume coffee and you 394 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,080 consume doughnuts and you consume lessons and music and 395 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,320 sermons and you enjoy the AC and you enjoy the plumbing and you 396 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,120 enjoy people loving on your children and loving on you and 397 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:13,120 serving you. There's no category for a 398 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,920 Christian that enjoys being served but doesn't enjoy 399 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,200 service. And on the night that Jesus was 400 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,440 betrayed, that was the attitude of his disciples. 401 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,800 They wanted to be served. They wanted their feet to be 402 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,640 washed and they wanted the room to be arranged for them. 403 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,720 They wanted the bitter herbs prepared and they wanted the 404 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,520 lamb roasted, and they wanted their supper served for them. 405 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,240 They wanted to recline at the table. 406 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,440 And it's in this setting that the words are recorded of Jesus, 407 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,880 or it is recorded of Jesus. It says Jesus, knowing that the 408 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,280 Father had given him all things and he'd come from God and he 409 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,400 was going back to God, rose from supper. 410 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,680 He laid aside his outer garments and he took his towel and tied 411 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,640 it around his waist. And he poured a water basin and 412 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,200 began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel 413 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:05,080 that was wrapped around him. And so we are now the disciples 414 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,560 of Jesus and we still expect to be served. 415 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,920 And Jesus said, it shall not be so among you, for even the Son 416 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,200 of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give himself 417 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:22,240 as a ransom for many. So you have been given the 418 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,400 language of Paul and Ephesians, a stewardship of grace, a 419 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,720 responsibility to serve in Christ's absence. 420 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,760 Works have been written for you in eternity past that you might 421 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,440 walk in them. You've been given spiritual 422 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,280 gifts and grace that you might serve. 423 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,560 And you were gifted with pastors and teachers who are here to 424 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,040 help equip you so that you can serve. 425 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,400 Ian Hamilton says the Church of God's not like a train where all 426 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,400 the passengers sit comfortably and passively until they arrive 427 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,960 at their destination brought by the giftedness of their 428 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,400 spiritual leaders, but rather they are an orchestra where all 429 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,680 members play their part and contribute to the melodic 430 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,520 Symphony of service to God. And if you look ahead to verse 431 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,840 12, what are you to do? Your pastors are equipping you 432 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,760 for the work of the ministry. That word ministry is so 433 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,080 important for your service. It's the word diakonos where we 434 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:11,920 get our word Deacon. It means literally table waiter. 435 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,400 That's your function in the world. 436 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,400 You are a Deacon. You are a table waiter, you are 437 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,360 a servant. And so the very next passage 438 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,160 after Jesus speaks the words, the Son of Man came not to be 439 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:29,000 served, but to serve. 5 verses later, a need is brought before 440 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,600 Jesus. And I want his words to be your 441 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:33,400 word. As you go out of this place 442 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,160 Monday to Saturday, make his words your words. 443 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,280 He comes and says to the man who asks of him. 444 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:42,560 She says, what do you want me to do for you? 445 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,200 That needs to be your mantra. What do you want me to do for 446 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,320 you? And then what they say, you go 447 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,840 and do it. HB Charles, one of my favorite 448 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,760 pastors, my professor said that he was taught in his church 449 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,920 growing up. There's two basin theology. 450 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,280 You either take up the basin of Jesus and you wash the feet of 451 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,120 the disciples, or you take up the basin of Pontius Pilate and 452 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:03,760 you wash your hands of Jesus Christ. 453 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:09,120 There is no in between. Pick which one you'll do. 454 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,000 And so if you are a consumer, let me remind you of your higher 455 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,360 calling, that Jesus in victory has ascended into heaven, that 456 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,000 you might minister in his place. Hear this quote from Thalman. 457 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,640 He says Christ to his extended victory over all opposing forces 458 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,840 and his sovereignty over all creation, is the very one who 459 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,320 himself now equips the church to join him in his sovereign rule 460 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,880 over creation. And he says he does this through 461 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,240 gifts to discreet groups of people. 462 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,240 That's you, that's this church, that's this body. 463 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,080 What can we do for you? And Jesus ascended so that every 464 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,200 believer would be a priest, every Christian would be a 465 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,560 minister, the ministers of the church are you every church 466 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,040 would be a training church and every church would be a sending 467 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,960 church. And so if you are a Christian, 468 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,040 you are gifted for service. And the question is in your 469 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,080 mind's eye, where do you see yourself serving over the coming 470 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,720 years? What is God calling you to do? 471 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,600 What works Has he written out that you might walk in them? 472 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,640 Because this is the, the, the question that your pastors are 473 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,800 asking of you. As we look to our second point 474 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,760 in verses 11 to 12, we want to equip you. 475 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,960 We're called to equip you. What is it that you were 476 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,040 supposed to do? What is God calling you to do? 477 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,000 Because first we said God gave gifts to men. 478 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,920 And now in verses 11 to 12, now God gives gifted men. 479 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:29,800 Read, read these two verses again with me. 480 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,400 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the 481 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,320 shepherds, and the teachers to equip the Saints for the work of 482 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,120 the ministry, for building up the body of Christ. 483 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,120 This is apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, 484 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,400 teachers. The acronym that's become famous 485 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,280 to describe this is apest. If you hear people talking about 486 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:50,840 apest, this is what they're talking about. 487 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,400 And really interesting when we're talking about apest, what 488 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,160 we're giving in is, in summary, a history of God's Bible 489 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,720 teachers. This is how God has built up His 490 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,640 church from the 1st century until now. 491 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,800 It started with the foundation of the apostles and the 492 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,760 prophets. That was Ephesians 220. 493 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:10,720 Just a little over a chapter ago. 494 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,200 He says that the apostles and the prophets were how the church 495 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,800 began. And this wasn't the Old 496 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,800 Testament prophets. We established this and then 497 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,520 Christ's apostles. This is Christ's apostles who 498 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,200 wrote the Word. We're the bedrock foundation for 499 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,040 the church. And then the 1st century 500 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,320 prophets who went out into the world proclaiming the will of 501 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,800 God and planted churches with the evangelists. 502 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,520 That's the foundation of the church. 503 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,200 And once you lay the foundation, any subsequent building is not 504 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,280 the foundation. You're building a first story 505 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:39,680 and a second story and a third story. 506 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,640 The foundation was laid by the apostles and the prophets. 507 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:47,920 Now we have pastors and teachers and arguably evangelists. 508 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,160 We can't be dogmatic about whether they were the 1st 509 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,880 century or today. But whatever an evangelist is, 510 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,200 whether that office has passed as a formal office in the church 511 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,280 or not, they are the ones that go out and they win the world 512 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,760 and they bring the disciples into the church where the 513 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,760 pastors and the teachers build them up and send them back out 514 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,120 into the world. That's how this all fits 515 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:08,840 together. The apostles and the prophets 516 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,880 built the foundation. The evangelists gather in the 517 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,520 pastors and the teachers build them up. 518 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,360 Galatians 419 My little children, whom I'm in the pains 519 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:19,680 of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. 520 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,280 That's the idea. We equip you for the work of the 521 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,320 ministry. And the last two shepherds and 522 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,200 teachers are the only two that are linked by the Word. 523 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:32,200 And this, this conjunction. And this has LED some people to 524 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,480 say that pastors and teachers is is really one. 525 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,400 This is just one office. It's hyphenated, it's pastor 526 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,680 teacher and meaning that there are there are pastors and 527 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,960 there's teachers. Not all pastors or all pastors 528 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,640 are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. 529 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,840 And so there's kind of two ways to see that you can, you can 530 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:50,960 divide it up or you can even see it as one office. 531 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,760 The common way of taking it is two different offices. 532 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,920 Again, saying not all teachers are pastors, but all pastors are 533 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:04,640 teachers. And so God gives these pastors 534 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,520 to make sure that we are all shepherding our gifts well. 535 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,160 And I, I had an insight this week as I was studying this, I 536 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:18,040 realized that most large churches begin to err toward not 537 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:23,040 unity in diversity, but uniformity in their unity. 538 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,600 And so I, what I mean by that is I think there are, there are 539 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,280 churches who the bigger you get, the easier it is to hire a Bible 540 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,400 major and then more Bible majors and they hire Bible majors. 541 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,680 And before long you're not bringing people up out of the 542 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,160 workplace and you're getting these, this uniform picture of 543 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,720 what a man of God is. We have to be careful that we 544 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:46,480 don't fall into this. But I I think smaller churches 545 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,000 may have this right where they're pulling their pastors up 546 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,600 from the marketplace as much as they're hiring Bible teachers. 547 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,160 And I was thinking about the subject of pastors and diversity 548 00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,360 in the church. I began to consider our pastors 549 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,400 and I wrote down the occupations of our 10 pastors as we were 550 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,160 pulled from the marketplace. Are you ready for the diversity 551 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:11,200 that God has brought here? We have a marketing professor, a 552 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:17,720 sign hanger, an engineer, a used car salesman, a plumber, the 553 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,320 director of an education technology company, a chocolate 554 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:26,440 chemist, a counsellor, A musician, and an IT specialist. 555 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,280 I challenge you to come up with a more diverse list of people 556 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,400 than that. What can God do with a diverse 557 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,320 congregation like this? And the answer is a lot, right? 558 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,160 He can do abundantly more than we ever could ask or imagine. 559 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,040 This is amazing diversity that God brings in His church. 560 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,040 And yet, in all this diversity among the pastors and among the 561 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,680 congregation, we are united in our confession of Jesus Christ 562 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:53,680 as Lord. That's what we said last week 563 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,240 when we went and took the Lords Supper together. 564 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,720 We were united in theology and doctrine. 565 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:02,480 We're united in our core values. And Ephesians 411 to 12 is one 566 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,440 of the favorite passages of the elders of this church because 567 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,760 equipping the Saints of the work of the ministry is a core value 568 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,320 of this church. We have 5 core values. 569 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,960 This is the second one, theological education. 570 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:14,680 Theological education is the first. 571 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,480 Equipping the Saints for the work of the ministry is second. 572 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,240 Advancing the gospel, ministering to the vulnerable, 573 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,280 and seeking the welfare of the city. 574 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,040 And so our elders retreat this year that we got back a few 575 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,400 weeks ago. That was all we talked about. 576 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,920 That was the forefront. We can't we had James Wilder 577 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,440 came and preached a sermon on Ephesians 4, equipping the 578 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:35,520 Saints for the work of the ministry. 579 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,960 And he said this is what you do. This is what to look for. 580 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,120 Here are some tools so that you can do this well. 581 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:45,280 And before we left, we asked every team lead of this church 5 582 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:46,960 questions. The justice and mercy team, the 583 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,200 children's, the youth, the tech, the worship, the college, the 584 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,760 men's, the women's, the assets team and the counselling team. 585 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,560 We said what is your vision for your ministry in this church 586 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,520 over the next three years? Who are you equipping in your 587 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,360 role as a ministry leader? Number two. 588 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,080 Number three, what is your team need to grow in maturity in 589 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,920 Christian service #4 is there any resource or training or 590 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,840 support that we can give people in your area so they can better 591 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,640 minister to others? 5 What do you believe equipping 592 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,320 the Saints for the work of the ministry looks like in your 593 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,200 ministry context? And we read all of those 594 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,400 together. And that was the fuel that led 595 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,040 our entire prayer and our whole weekend. 596 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,320 And the reason we prayed that. And the reason we do that is 597 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,760 because we're commanded to here. This is the command of pastors, 598 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,880 equip you for the work of the ministry. 599 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,480 But it's because we don't want to move where God is not moving. 600 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,160 If God is walking through this door, then we want to walk 601 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,640 through this door. If God's equipping you to go 602 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,360 here in this season, then we want to equip you to go here. 603 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,640 We don't want to move where the Spirit is not moving. 604 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,800 And so today our churches are not given apostles and prophets. 605 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,960 They're given pastors and teachers and it's not the job of 606 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:57,520 the pastors to do the work of the ministry. 607 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,280 As a matter of fact, it feels like we do less. 608 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,600 It's your job to do the work of the ministry and we come 609 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,200 alongside and build you up almost like coaches. 610 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:09,360 And we share in your glory and we share in your victories. 611 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,200 And when we're equipping you for this, for the work of the 612 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,800 ministry, the word equipping is a rare word. 613 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:16,680 This is important for the pastors in the room. 614 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,520 Equipping was a word. It's only used here in the New 615 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:24,000 Testament and it means they're actually, it's used in medical 616 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,440 textbooks. It means literally straightening 617 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,440 or setting a a joint or a broken bone. 618 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,840 That's what equipping meant medically outside of the medical 619 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,600 field. It meant outfitting a guest room 620 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,200 with furniture. And probably how Paul took it to 621 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,560 mean specifically was it was the preparation of woof and warp. 622 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,720 Before you weave a garment, you're setting your machine, 623 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,200 you're, you're getting it all tuned up. 624 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,400 And then comes the service and the labour and the work. 625 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:53,920 And that's what we're doing. We lay the foundation, we 626 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,360 prepare you and you go and do the work of the ministry. 627 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,000 Because it says in Ephesians that God is building a building 628 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,960 and all the Saints are involved in the construction. 629 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,520 All Saints are Oikonamiya house managers. 630 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,160 That's your role. And which means that every time 631 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:13,600 a new member comes into the church, the whole dynamic of the 632 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,280 church shifts because now we're adjusting to those spiritual 633 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,400 gifts you hear in in John 3. The Spirit blows where it wills. 634 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,040 We don't choose what giftings get brought in. 635 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:25,960 We don't choose what God's going to call you to do. 636 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,960 We adjust as he leads sovereignly. 637 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,360 And so these are glorious things to a pastor. 638 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,080 Our glory is your fruitful service. 639 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,040 And never be jealous of one gift over another. 640 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:40,560 Never be jealous of the work of the pastor. 641 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,600 It's like the player being jealous of the coach when when 642 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,960 there's success, the the coach and the player share in the 643 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:49,480 success and they share in the glory. 644 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,240 There's nothing more that we want to hear as pastors than you 645 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:53,720 are engaging in fruitful ministry. 646 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,000 Paul says this too. 1st Thessalonians 219. 647 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,440 What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? 648 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,600 It's you. This is what he says to the 649 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,440 Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 3. 650 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,159 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation written not with 651 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:10,360 ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. 652 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,000 The highest compliment I ever was paid was Myles Britt. 653 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,040 When I was kind of pouting because I didn't get to do 654 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,159 another degree like I wanted to, he came to me and he said you 655 00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:23,679 don't need a PHDI am your PhD and he's what that means. 656 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:25,360 You don't have to go chase another credential. 657 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,960 I am your credential. You're equipping me for the work 658 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,719 of the ministry. You don't need another letter 659 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,760 after your name. And so his fruitful service is 660 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,639 my grounds of boasting. It's written not with ink, but 661 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:40,120 with the power of the Spirit. So Jesus ascends to heaven. 662 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:43,320 He gives gifts to his Kingdom of priests for the continuation of 663 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,320 ministry. He gives shepherds to shepherd 664 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:46,920 those people with their diverse giftings. 665 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:49,880 He gives men. And when everyone is doing this 666 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,400 part, Ephesians 412, the blessing of Ephesians 412 667 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,280 happens. There's the building up of the 668 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,040 body of Christ. You can look down to 416 where 669 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,240 we'll be next week. It says when each part is 670 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,080 working properly, when everybody's serving, it makes 671 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,400 the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 672 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,320 And one of the most convicted that I've ever been in a sermon 673 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,080 was in a sermon on Ephesians 4 at Super Summer a few years ago. 674 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,920 Many of the youth here were in the room and he was preaching on 675 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,640 at the diversity of gifts that God's given the church. 676 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,680 And his point was that was so convicting to me was that God 677 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,640 gives different personalities and different people and 678 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:31,120 different giftings. And yet we we try to fit all 679 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,240 these gifts and personality into these little molds that we want 680 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:37,880 to force other Christians into. And his application was that we 681 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:42,440 think my wife is too eccentric or my husband doesn't laugh 682 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,680 enough, he's too serious, or we think, why is she so intense or 683 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,640 talk so much? And he says, you can't force 684 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:51,640 people into this little box you've made for them. 685 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,080 The same in the Western church that we've kind of forced 686 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,800 Christians into a box saying a good Christian can do one of two 687 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,680 things. You can go plant a church or you 688 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,600 can evangelize and tithe. Those are your options to be 689 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,640 faithful in your Christian service. 690 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,480 And I would have said to Caravaggio, the painter, years 691 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,400 ago, why can't you just be a church planter and make yourself 692 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:11,560 useful? And everybody in his generation 693 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:13,280 said, why can't you just paint like everybody else? 694 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,960 Why do you have to paint this this weird stuff, these 695 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,240 Christians in Taverns? And it was actually the 696 00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:23,520 unorthodox style of Caravaggio that influenced the culture and 697 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,400 built the church because he brought the gospel to new 698 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,960 audiences who could see themselves in their paintings 699 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:32,000 for the first time. And the church was increased in 700 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,600 the pastor at Super Summer taught me you can't hide the 701 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,720 people. You can't change the people who 702 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:38,880 are around you to fit your mold. That's not the point. 703 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,080 He gifted them in this way for a reason. 704 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:43,320 It's not an embarrassment to you. 705 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,040 You're not supposed to change them. 706 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,440 You're supposed to steward their gifts for the Kingdom. 707 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,480 And so the apostles, as we look through this history, they wrote 708 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,680 the Word, they established the church, the prophets preach the 709 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,240 Word as the foundation to the church. 710 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,720 The evangelist won the hearts of and souls of men, and the 711 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:01,520 shepherds build them up and equip them for the work of the 712 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:03,360 ministry. All believers and their various 713 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:07,120 gifts have a part to play. And the church is a living 714 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,520 diversity. It's like a forest ecosystem. 715 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,520 It's like a coral reef. It's alive and teeming and 716 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,520 changing. And diversity is what makes it 717 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:17,480 beautiful. It's like the music of the 718 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,520 spheres is saying to us, diversity is a good and 719 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,080 beautiful thing. And so Paul says again, I want 720 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,200 you to hear this one more time. To the Corinthians, there are 721 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,080 varieties of gifts but the same spirit, varieties of service but 722 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,000 the same Lord, varieties of activities, but it's the same 723 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,800 God who empowers them all in everyone. 724 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,080 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for 725 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,720 the common good. He apportions to each one 726 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:42,160 individually as he wills. We have all received a measure 727 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,240 of grace and we confess. Like Paul, I am what I am, but 728 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:48,960 the but by the grace of God. I am what I am, but by the grace 729 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:51,640 of God. And so remember his words in 730 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,280 First Timothy 4. Do not neglect the gift that you 731 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,960 have. His grace has shown into the 732 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:03,400 world and we must respond in service Church, please pray with 733 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,880 me, God. Help us to do what we were 734 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,880 called to do, Lord. When every member is functioning 735 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:12,480 properly, when it's all in order, when everyone has been 736 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:14,960 inspired, inspired to serve, when we're a Kingdom of priests, 737 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:19,480 then amazing things happen. Lord, we're a Symphony that the 738 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,400 church builds itself up. The vulnerable are cared for. 739 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,200 The word is preached. There's adequate resources in 740 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,760 the church to do all that we've been called to do. 741 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,680 It's the Lord give us the the courage to to be selfless, to 742 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:35,960 not take up the the basin of Pontius Pilate, but to take up 743 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,480 the basin of Jesus Christ, to gird our loins and to serve, to 744 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,680 ask, what can I do for you? Beginning first with the 745 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,760 household of God and pouring out into the world. 746 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,280 Show us now, even as we sing and respond, what are you calling us 747 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,480 to do? And whatever it is, Lord, may 748 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:55,600 the pastors equip, may the people respond in service, and 749 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:57,760 may you be glorified. It's in Christ's name we pray. 750 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,440 Amen. Thanks for listening. 751 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,160 To learn more about Heritage Church or if you'd like to 752 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:06,600 respond to this sermon, visit our website at 753 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:10,160 www.heritageshawnee.org.