Ephesians 4:11-13 | Do You Know What You Were Gifted to Do?

Hallelujah. Let's clap for Jesus one more time and then let's grab ourselves a seat. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You can just take your seats and get yourself ready for the word of God. Amen. Amen and amen. Welcome to Colchester City Church. Welcome. If you're watching online, we hope that you're going to have a good time with us this morning there as well. Just let us know you're there in the comments and we'd love to hear from you and we'd love to pray for you, and if you want to join us one Sunday morning, then you're welcome as well. Amen. Well, I tell you what, we're still in our series and I want to tell you something this morning. I believe in the church. Amen. We said this. I was preaching at Kingsland Church on Wednesday and we were talking about just that. I was asking people, I know you believe in Jesus, but do you believe in the church? Hallelujah. A lot of times people don't know what to do with the church. They're like, I believe in Jesus, but I'm not sure church is for me. There's a lot of what's called church hurt around, isn't there? There's a lot of what's called deconstructing around. But I want to tell you that Jesus said, I will build my church. He said that I will build my church. He didn't say, I'll build my church. And when you're tired of it, we'll do it another way. He said, I will will build my church. And so as we've been going through this book of Ephesians, we've been learning about church and how God is building his church. That is how God is building us. Not how God is building me, but how God is building we, how God is building us, the church and the amazing things that he wants to do through us and in us as church. Amen. And you remember that we've been looking at chapter four, where he talks about grace has been given to each one of us. There's a gift, an ability, a talent that has been given to each one of us. And then he goes on to say as well, that when Jesus ascended on high, that he gave gifts to men, and that those gifts were certain people or certain ministers called apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. Amen. And we heard about that. And that made me think about what this passage is all about. Because normally when somebody looks at this passage from Ephesians, Chapter four, they'll begin to say, now, let me teach you what apostles are. Let me teach you what prophets are, let me teach you what an evangelist is, and so on. But actually, when you look at this scripture, Paul is not looking to teach us what any of those things are. He's not looking to teach us that. And it's interesting because when you listen to people teaching about apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers and evangelists and so on, you'll find that they often teach with a lot of confidence what they are. But when you study it, you'll find there's a lot of disagreement because as far as history is concerned, we don't quite know exactly how they functioned. And in the early church. So I can't tell you definitively this is every detail of what an apostle did in the early church. What I can tell you is that Paul is pointing us to certain kinds of ministries that have to teach certain kind of things. And from that I can tell you a few things that an apostle is not. Hallelujah. Maybe I should tell you that right now because we live in the days of the apostles, don't we, the ever increasing apostles. I had a friend who became a pastor after me. I'm still a pastor, very lowly man. I'm in that pastoral position. But I watched him slowly get elevated from pastor to bishop to apostle. I don't know where he is now. But, you know, it seems that we think that there's some, some kind of hierarchy in all of this, and that's not the case at all. There is authority, but not hierarchy. And so as we look at this passage, let me just very quickly tell you about those areas and then I can get to what I really think the passage is all about. First of all, he says there are apostles who are apostles. Well, apostles are. There's two kinds of apostles I think that we see in the Bible. First of all, there's the 12, and then there's Paul, who's number 13. These are all people who personally met Jesus, who were commissioned by Jesus. Those are what we call the apostles. And then we have what we call ascension gift apostles. And when you look at the writings of Paul, you can see that there were all kinds of different apostles. There was Andronicus, and that's a good name, isn't it? If you're looking for a name for your kids, Andronicus, I'd recommend that Andronicus. And there was Junia. Junia, by the way, was very interesting because a lot of churches still teach that women can't teach or lead in ministry. And yet Junia was a woman apostle. Hallelujah. Amen. I don't want to hear you coming to me afterwards and say, I've decided I'm an apostle. But I just want to encourage you that Junia was a woman. We had Timothy, we had Titus, we had Barnabas. There were many apostles around. And I think the idea was that apostles were sent or commissioned to go out and take new territory and plant new churches. And it does rather seem that apostles could operate in all different areas of ministry. So they were like, you know, when you build a house, you can put up props, can't you, to support the weight of the building while all the other things are being constructed? Well, that's an apostle. He goes in, he can carry the weight of the whole thing while the church gets established. And then we have prophets. And prophets are there to bring guidance and direction. We read about prophets, don't we? We read about prophets in the book of Acts. We read about the prophet Agabus. When Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, Agabus said to him, you know, if you go to Jerusalem, trouble's waiting for you. And Paul said, that's okay. I'm aiming for trouble. He was a brave man. And so he went ahead, but the prophet spoke to him. And then we read about prophets a lot in first Corinthians, don't we? And that's where we learn that just because you're a prophet, it doesn't mean that you're not somebody who is disruptive or troublesome. They were having all kinds of prophets in 1 Corinthians, and Paul had to bring them some guidance there, didn't he? And he told them that prophets were there to up build, to encourage, and to console. And so we have the apostles building and establishing. We have the prophets guiding and bringing encouragement and speaking to the congregation. And you can look at it this way, that apostles, or rather pastors, are bringing the doctrinal side of teaching, and the prophets are bringing that immediate kind of direction and guidance. And then you have, apart from the apostles and the prophets, we have the evangelists. And the evangelists, of course, are those that are building the church by going out and winning converts. But they also serve as an example, encouraging others to win souls. Have you noticed that whenever you see someone who is anointed as an evangelist, they don't just come along and win souls, but they are those that encourage others in the gift of reaching out. They encourage the church to reach out. They impart something because it says, doesn't it, that all of these ministries were given for what? To equip the saints. So if an evangelist is just winning souls, he's not equipping the saints. But equipping the saints means what? It means that he's equipping the saints to do something. So an evangelist is more than someone who just shares the gospel. He's someone who is contagious in that pursuit of preaching the gospel. And then, of course, we have pastor teachers. Now I want you to notice something. He says, God gave the apostles, God gave the prophets, God gave the evangelists. And then he says God gave the pastors and teachers. In other words, it's the opinion of many, and it's my opinion that pastors and teachers is one ministry and that pastors should always be able to preach. Because sometimes you see someone saying they are a pastor and all they are is an evangelist, or all they are is a prophet, or all they are is something else. But the primary function of a pastor who is. By the way, this is the only passage in the New Testament that uses this title pastor. Did you know that? It's nowhere else. Why? Because it uses other words. Bishops, bishops, pastors and elders are all the same ministry. Hallelujah. So when you find someone who was a pastor and now he's a bishop, know that all he's done is moved sideways or changed the branding, but it's still the same ministry. Hallelujah. But the most important thing about pastors is they are to teach. You see, when you say pastor, when someone says to you, pastor, what do you think about? Usually, quite often, somebody will think of a pastor and they'll say, oh, a pastor is someone that visits you when you're sick, or a pastor is someone who comes to your house, or a pastor is someone who prays for you or, you know, all sorts of what we call pastoral, pastoral things, but actually. The work of caring for members, the work of encouraging, the work of visitation is the work of the body. It is your work. It's my work because I'm also part of the body. But it is our work. And yes, the pastor does it too. But the primary work of a pastor is to teach. The primary work of a pastor is to teach the word and to build people up. In truth, that there is his primary job. Hallelujah. And that's so important that we understand that, because you need to know that a pastor's primary job is not to entertain. A pastor's primary job is not to cast out demons. A pastor's primary job is not even to get you excited and jumping and inspire you with a lot of hallelujahs and amens. A pastor's primary job is the impartation and understanding of truth to the people. That's why in this church, we stand up every Sunday and we don't just say, God is going to bless you, say amen and jump. That's why we don't just, you know, stir people up. That's why every Sunday we come here and we stand and we open up the word and we teach it. And hopefully I teach it in a way that is engaging. Hopefully I teach it in a way that sticks with you. But at the end of the day, I'm here to teach the truth. Amen. Amen. So there's our ministries there. But you see, Paul doesn't give you even as much explanation as I have given. He doesn't say pastor. And then someone says to him, paul, that's the first time you're using that word. Could you elaborate, please? No, he just says pastor and he moves on. Why? Because this is not about what the roles of ministers are. It's about what they are there for. And what they are there for, he says, is to equip the saints. It says that they are there to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Hallelujah. There to equip his people reading from the niv for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. That's why they're there. But you see, you began it all. And we shared this last week. We began it all where Paul says to them, to each one, grace has been given. He starts there. You are gifted. Your neighbor is gifted. Everyone in the church who knows Jesus is gifted. And then when he says you're all gifted to function and to do something, then he says, here are the ones that are going to help equip you so you can function. And last week we said that ministers are equippers and not service providers, isn't it? And so we're continuing this week in that vein and looking at the intention of what Paul was saying. And I want to ask you a question this morning. How many pastors do you have? How many teachers do you have? Because there's a phenomenon that has happened in the social media age which every pastor is aware of, which is, I am not your only pastor. There's that guy on TikTok. There's that guy on YouTube. There's that guy on Instagram. My congregation has so many teachers and even your pastor here, even as I stand here, I want to tell you that I have so many people that I listen to. I have people that I watch. I have people that I listen to. And so my job is not to tell you. How dare you. I am your pastor. Only watch me on YouTube. Only watch me on TikTok. A shameless plug, by the way. Like and subscribe. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. That's because I said, like and subscribe and God went right. If you carry on like that, we are definitely going to cut you off. Hallelujah. Pride comes before a fall. That's what they say, but they're there. My job is not to tell you. Don't watch anyone else. What I do want to tell you is choose your teachers wisely. Choose the people that influence you wisely. You know, they had a. I love this. They had a guide in the early church. It was called the Didache. And it was one of the very earliest discipleship manuals in the church. It's what they used to guide them in the church, the Didache. And I love what it says about apostles. They actually had some guidance on how to receive apostles. Do you want to hear it? Here's what it says. It says, let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord, but he shall not remain more than one or two days if there is a need. But if he remains three days, he is a false prophet. And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodges. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. That is how the early church looked at it. How do we look at it today? Choose your influences. Choose your teachers or wisely. Choose them wisely. Because you see, when you are on social media or you're on YouTube, how are you picking your teachers? It's usually a dopamine test. Are they getting me fired up? Are they getting me excited? What am I feeling? What's the vibe? Hallelujah. Well, we don't need. We don't need a vibe test. We need a truth test. We need to ask ourselves, what are they there for? Who are the teachers that I want? Hallelujah. If I decide that I want to fly a plane, then I will need to go and I'll need to go and get trained in that, won't I? And so if I go and decide to fly a plane and I go off to one of these places where they train you and I get in the plane there and the instructor comes in and I say, now listen, first time I'm meeting you. Can you tell me a bit about your experience before you take me up and teach me how to fly? And he says, well, actually I've been driving long distance lorries most of my life, but I'm very good at it and I don't think this will be much different. We'll be fine. Let's just see how we do. I'm getting out of that plane. Are you? Hallelujah. If you're going to train me to be a pilot, you better be a pilot. You better have some experience. You better know what you're talking about. And so when we pick someone to teach us whatever it is, we need to pick someone who is appropriate for that area that we want to learn about. And so Paul gives us the answer here, the things that we are to be equipped in. What is our end game? What is our goal as we look for teachers? Whether it be a church ministry, whether it be a training course for the church, or whether it be the people we're watching online who have an awful lot of influence on us because, you know, we see them more often than we see our friends in church. Sometimes they're there on our feet. That's the reality. Well then let's make some good choices. Let's start subscribing and unsubscribing to the right and the wrong people. Let's unsubscribe the wrong people, let's subscribe to the right people, let's learn to exercise our thumb in the right way and let's surround ourselves with things that are going to influence us. Let's get some books, let's go old school, let's slow down, but let's surround ourselves with people who can help us. So what is the goal? Well, the goal according to Paul here is maturity. He says, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Now in verse 13 it says, 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. So the reason we surround ourselves with teachers and preachers and prophets and evangelists and whoever it is, is so that those people will influence us towards maturity. And I think, and I don't know about you, but I think that so often today we are encouraged towards immaturity. Someone talked about the juvenilization of American Christianity. He said that juvenilized adults agree that the main purpose of Christianity is to help them make faith feel better about their problems. A God who exists, who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth to make me feel better, to give good vibes, to stimulate my nervous system in some way. But Paul says that the goal is maturity because. Why does he say that? Because we need a mature church. We need a mature church. Look at what is happening in Iran. What does the Bible say? The Bible says that I will make children your leaders. That's what the Bible says. The Bible says that that's the punishment that was upon Israel, that he would make children their leaders. He said that beggars would ride horses. Look at what's happening in the world today. What do we need to solve that? We need maturity. We need spiritually mature adults, and we need a spiritually mature church. Not a church. I love what Tozer wrote. The great writer Tozer wrote a book called Worshiptainment. Worshiptainment. Another writer, a theologian that I read, he wrote a book called the McDonaldization of the Church. But we need a church that is mature. The Bible tells us in Hebrews. Hebrews 5:12. The writers of the Hebrews was getting frustrated with his church as well. And he said this. He said, by this time you want to be mature. By this time you want to be eating solid food, but I'm having to give you milk. He understood there's a need for a church that is mature. A church that understands and knows the word of God and is walking in it. First Corinthians 13:11. Paul talks about giving up childish ways. Galatians 5:22 and onward talks about the fruit of the spirit, doesn't it? What is the fruit of the spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. All of these things are signs of maturity. How often do we see people who are far from self controlled in the church? There's so much controversy now because of a lack of self control. There's so much division now because of a lack of kindness, a lack of gentleness, a lack of peace. We need a church that is mature, a church that knows what it's doing. It says in Romans 8:29 that we are predestined. God has predestined us to what? To glory, to success, to breakthrough. What God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. That's maturity. And the thing is, when the church is mature, there's something that the world sees. There's an impact that the church has because people begin to see Jesus everywhere. Jesus is everywhere, in his church, in his people. Mature people, spiritual people, not people of whom your employer says I don't like to employ Christians because they are like this. There was a whole factory once back in Kenya and the employer said, we don't really like employing Christians because they're always getting in late. And then they want to pray before they start and they want to tell everyone about this and everyone about that. What the world needs is mature Christians, mature church, who goes in and shows people what diligence look like, what work look like, what faithfulness looks like. Maturity in Christ. That's the goal. So then the question is, are you surrounding yourself with. With influencers who are encouraging your maturity, or are they encouraging your appetite for conspiracy theory? Are you all about the mark of the beast all the time? Are they encouraging you that things are going on in the background and you're constantly investigating all these things that are going on in the background? Are they encouraging you in the area of conspiracy theory? Are they encouraging you in the area of how you can get wealth? All the time. It's all the time how you can increase your wealth. Hallelujah. Is that where they're encouraging you or are they encouraging you in the area of becoming Christlike? Do you watch them and think, you know what? I'm going to force myself to keep listening to this because I'm challenged right now. I'm tempted to scroll down because that's what I do. I just need something to give me a hit right now. But this person is challenging me right now. But I'm going to stick with it because I said, I'm going to surround myself with influences that are going to challenge me to change, to transform, and to become more like Jesus. Are we going to slow down, open a book or two, put down the phone and say, let me find somebody who's really going to challenge me. Hallelujah. Have you ever. I've read some books, and when I read those books, I go, I tell you what, I'm going to put the bookmark in and I'm going to. I'm going to read this tomorrow because right now I am too challenged. I'm all challenged out right now. This is really. This one is really getting me. Are we willing to surround ourselves with that kind of influence that spurs us on? What was it the writers of the Hebrew said? He says, spur one another on towards love and good works. Do we want to be spurred on or do we just want to be pampered? Choose your teachers wisely. Somebody's saying, I knew I should have laid in this morning. Choose your teachers wisely. Because I'll tell you what A mature church is going to do something that hasn't been done for generations, and that is that we're going to win the nation for Jesus. We're going to win the nation for Jesus. We're going to see the church fill up with people that are hungry and thirsty to know Him. That's what a mature church looks like. I love what it says about Solomon's Colonnade. Everyone was afraid to go there, but lots of them did. Everyone was afraid to go there, but God kept adding to their number. That means that God trusted the church with people. That's what that means. Because no one was going there because of the church people. They were going there because God was adding. Everyone was afraid to go there. But God added, I don't know about you. If I've got something precious and I need to leave it with somebody because I'm traveling, I'm going to choose wisely. When God sees that we are trustworthy, when God sees that we are mature, can we be trusted with the souls that God finds so precious? To do that, we have to become mature. God wants a mature church. So we choose them wisely and we test them. The Didache gave us such a great example, didn't it? If they're constantly asking for money. £777. If they're asking for money, I don't have to say it. They said it. Test them and know who it is that is influencing you. Look at what the Bible says about testing your teachers and your preachers. Look at what it says in Deuteronomy 13:1 5. He talks about prophets, and he says, prophets will come and they will do signs and wonders and miracles. How often do we hear of somebody coming and they say, come on here, Pastor, so? And so. And you go, and you see that Pastor, why? Because he does signs and wonders. And so you go to see him. I remember many years ago there was a minister who was very prolific in doing miracles, especially in the area of causing people to become pregnant. He had that. He would do that. And I remember that he would pray for people and, you know, they would give birth, amazingly. And everyone was talking about that amazing power that he had. And people were flocking to his church. And several years later, of course, he was arrested for human trafficking. Just because someone has signs and wonders. Deuteronomy says, if they have signs and wonders and they preach the wrong word, do to them what we do to them in the Old Testament and they would be executed because they were a false prophet. Signs and wonders and miracles do not Endorse a ministry. What endorses a ministry is the truth that they teach. And if you find that what they are teaching, you can't even tell if it's the truth or not because it's largely gibberish. You know, They say things, don't they, sometimes? And when you listen, you're not quite sure what they're even saying. You know, the cabbage anointing or something. There's just some things they talk that you don't even understand what they're saying. They're supposed to be people who are holding up the truth and challenging us to walk and to live in the truth. God's word. Test them. Are they bringing you truth? Scrutinizing them? Are they all about money? Jesus himself said in Matthew 7:15, many will say, on that day, lord, Lord, did we not do miracles in your name and cast out demons in your name and do signs and wonders in your name? And I will say, who are you? He says, I will say, who are you? Scrutinize them. The test is never miracles. Miracles were one of the marks of an apostle, but the test was the word. They preached the truth that they preached. Do they exhort you? Do they encourage you? In fact, Paul said, they are there to rebuke you. Ever since we invented the idea of having many churches, rebukes don't work anymore. Hallelujah. The moment I rebuke someone, they're like, I feel I'm being led. But they're there to rebuke. We have to be ready to hear the word and hear the truth and surround ourselves with. With people that elevate us, that lift us up. And not only rebuking. I don't want you to think it's just rebuking and telling us off all the time, but even just encouraging us to aim higher, to aim bigger, to see a bigger vision. Because, you know, it's not just about me pleasing him, it's about me becoming effective. Because he's going to go on to say later in chapter four that it causes the body to grow. Imagine what an effective church looks like. Imagine what a mature church looks like when we're going out of here today. And, you know, someone goes over there and sits in Pepe's and has their lunch with their family. And while they're there, somebody sits down and they say, hi, how are you? And they say, where have you been? You say, we've been to church. And someone gets saved over there because you know of what you do to them when somebody sees you in your workplace and they're not nice towards you and they mistreat you. Maybe they're a bit racist or prejudice or something like that. And because of the way you talk to them and the way you treat them, within six months they're sitting next to you in church and they found Jesus. Imagine that. That's maturity. When we love instead of protest, when we show them the opposite of what they're giving us, that's maturity. When we were diligent, when we work hard, when we do all of those things in the name of Jesus, a mature church, we can turn Colchester upside down. We can turn even the world upside down down. When the church is all that the church is supposed to be. Let me ask you, who is equipping you this morning? Who is equipping you? Who is teaching you? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Let's make some real decisions, shall we, this week about who we're going to surround ourselves with. Open up your phone, look in there, go through your subscription list, see who you're subscribed to, be intentional about it and say, you know what? I'm going to surround myself with people who are going to help me to be closer to Jesus, who are going to help me to grow up into Jesus, who are going to help me to aim for a better vision and a bigger vision for Jesus. I'm going to surround myself with those people. Hallelujah. Amen. What about when you turn on Spotify? Look at your Spotify playlist or your Apple Music playlist. What is on there? Are we going to make some decisions about what we surround ourselves with? What is influencing us? Us? Well, that's your homework this week, isn't it? Go and open your playlists. Go and look at who is speaking into your life and make a change. Make an intentional change in Jesus name. Let's stand up together and let's pray. And let's lock this in in Jesus name. Hallelujah. You want each and every one of us to be built up and equipped so that we can be a functional body. Father, thank you that you have given us everything we need to be equipped. You have given us your word. You have put gifts and abilities in us to use for your service. And you have surrounded us. We know that we have more access to ministry, to wisdom, to knowledge, to information than any other Christian generation in the whole history of the world. We have phones, we have TVs, we have tablets. We have all kinds of things that we can open up and instantly access your wisdom, instantly access ministry and worship. Lord, I pray that we would be a people who would use that wisely. That would make intentional choices about what we are allowing to speak into our hearts, what we are allowing to shape our thoughts. That we would make choices through which we'll be equipped in the way you want us to be equipped and mature in. In the way that you want us to mature and become the disciples and the church that you called us to be. In Jesus name, we pray and we say amen.