WEBVTT 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.219 Be seated this morning. 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:26.780 I'm going to invite you to take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to the book of Ephesians, back to Ephesians chapter 4. 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:31.579 I'm looking around right now and I'm realizing what the mistake is. 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.780 We're down a little bit in number, and I'm like, hey, I wonder what's going on. 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:43.579 And then it dawned on me that last week I mentioned that this sermon was going to involve an encouragement to sign up to serve in children's church. 00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:45.179 And that may be it. 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:45.820 That may be it. 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:47.500 And I so I'll tell you what we're going to do. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:53.019 Maybe, maybe we'll just re-preach this next week when everyone else gets uh gets back, but I'm glad you are here. 00:00:53.179 --> 00:00:57.820 This morning isn't really about serving in children's church, it's about so much more. 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:04.140 It's about you and me being used for what God intended us to be used for. 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:07.900 Of course, most of you are aware that Kim and I are currently moving. 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:18.140 Um I I do not enjoy that experience, uh, but uh in the providence of God, he has blessed us to be able to move to a place of our own and to settle down here. 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:22.539 And and and by the way, like we're approaching two years here and we're buying a place. 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:27.260 And so for those of you who were like hoping maybe he would move on, sorry. 00:01:27.579 --> 00:01:29.819 Uh we're gonna be around for a bit. 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:33.099 We love you guys so much, and uh thank you. 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:34.379 Thank you. 00:01:34.459 --> 00:01:38.540 Yeah, we love you guys so much and are just so excited to do ministry with you. 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:45.579 And so a couple of weeks ago, as we're you know how you do when you're moving, you're you know, you're going through and you're trying to organize things and get ready to move. 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:47.739 And we were in the basement working a couple of weeks ago. 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:54.859 Kim and I were, and and I remember like she was over in a corner of the basement, and and she came over to me and she said, What is this? 00:01:55.260 --> 00:02:08.459 And she held up these, I think they were two ziploc baggies full of screws and nails and bolts and brackets and uh a dowel little sticks. 00:02:08.540 --> 00:02:14.540 I mean, it all the stuff that you would use to assemble IKEA furniture. 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:21.579 And I've got two bags full of these things, and you know what they are because you probably have one like that yourself. 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:26.459 Whenever you assemble furniture, there are always leftover pieces. 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:39.500 Now I'm assuming they're supposed to be left over, I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that the manufacturer is just like, hey, just in case you make a mistake or maybe we made a mistake, we're gonna throw in a couple of extra bolts just for you to have. 00:02:39.579 --> 00:02:46.060 And so I always get to the end and I've got one or two left over, and the furniture seems to be no worse for the wear. 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:47.819 Spare parts. 00:02:48.379 --> 00:03:01.259 Now, the reason the spare parts are there for, of course, is because sometimes they may make a mistake and how many they put in, or the machine may make a mistake, and how many pieces or parts they drop in, or they may know that, hey, you may make a mistake. 00:03:01.339 --> 00:03:05.500 You may strip a screw or you know, lose a nut or whatever the case may be. 00:03:05.579 --> 00:03:09.660 And so there's always some extra parts in the process. 00:03:09.899 --> 00:03:12.379 And here's what I want you to know about this morning. 00:03:12.459 --> 00:03:22.060 If you get nothing else out of our time together, I want you to know that in God's plan for this church, there are no spare parts. 00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:34.860 There's no place in the basement of God's kingdom where He has a little baggie where he's got you place, and you're just hanging out for the just in case maybe someday you and I all have a purpose here. 00:03:35.019 --> 00:03:37.819 There's no such thing as spare parts in the kingdom of God. 00:03:37.899 --> 00:03:46.139 Now, and the reason for that, obviously, is because spare parts are there just in case someone makes a mistake. 00:03:46.459 --> 00:03:49.420 I mean, that's why that's why the manufacturer includes them. 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:57.660 God does not make a mistake, he knew exactly who you were and what your gifts were whenever he brought you here. 00:03:58.139 --> 00:04:04.540 Some of you have got some pretty interesting stories about how you wound up in this room here in this place. 00:04:04.779 --> 00:04:17.259 Kim and I learned loving those stories two years ago, whenever we went around and met with each of you, and we learned that you you came here by a set of circumstances that could only be ascribed to God. 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:21.100 And you are here and you are not a spare part because God doesn't make mistakes. 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:25.579 Now I know what you're saying, well, Pastor, but sometimes people do make mistakes. 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:33.180 And if they make mistakes and maybe you know they lose a screw or a bolt or a dowel or a glue or something, then then what we need a spare part. 00:04:33.339 --> 00:04:38.460 And yes, you're right whenever you're assembling IKEA furniture, but you're not God. 00:04:38.620 --> 00:04:41.819 God's the one who's doing the assembling, and we're not IKEA furniture. 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:44.220 If someone was going to mess up, guess what? 00:04:44.460 --> 00:04:46.060 God knew that too. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:49.580 And you're still here, and you're here for a purpose. 00:04:49.740 --> 00:04:53.420 And so there's no such thing as spare parts in the kingdom of God. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:05:08.860 Now, last week, as we were walking through, began this process of walking through Ephesians chapter four, at this, at these axioms, these truths, these untruths that we all should know and believe because Scripture teaches them. 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:14.460 We began with the first axiom, which is peace with God requires unity with others. 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:19.660 That you cannot be closer to God than you are to others. 00:05:19.900 --> 00:05:26.699 Now, Paul, he's going someplace with this after telling us that peace with him requires unity with others. 00:05:26.780 --> 00:05:36.139 He's he's going to point to that unity, and then he's going to move us on to looking at our distinctions, at our disunity. 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:37.660 So let's just do it this way. 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:39.900 Let's look at Ephesians 4, chapter 4 through 6. 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:53.740 We're going to walk our way through these few verses, and then we're going to stop and talk about some application for our lives, and then wrap up by discussing some ways that we can use what this text is teaching us today. 00:05:53.819 --> 00:05:57.340 So look with me, if you will, at Ephesians 4, verses 4 through 6. 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.340 This is where we left off at last week. 00:05:59.580 --> 00:06:11.819 You will recall that Paul's talking about our unity and that we're all here together serving, being patient and humble with one another, loving one another as Christ Jesus loved us. 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:18.939 And then he shows how deep that unity goes by saying, Hey, look, everyone here is in the same God. 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:22.860 Like we're all in the same room, the same space inside the heart of God. 00:06:23.020 --> 00:06:39.980 And he says, There is one body, one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:53.340 You get the idea that he's drawing with a deep black, thick marker, a circle around every person who has ever lived in the heart of Christ and saying, You are all here together. 00:06:53.580 --> 00:06:54.540 You are one. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:07:04.540 But even though we are one, unity, we are one together, unity, uh, we have unity, but unity does not mean that we have uniformity. 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:08.460 We are united, but we are not uniform. 00:07:09.020 --> 00:07:10.939 Now that's important, isn't it? 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:16.460 Because our sometimes our deepest conflicts come from our differences. 00:07:16.620 --> 00:07:24.620 Like you want to do things one way because God has given you the spiritual gift of prophecy, and you believe in telling people exactly what they need to know. 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:26.620 Right directly. 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:32.460 And then across the await from you is someone who has the spiritual gift of mercy or or gentleness. 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:41.660 And so they just want to come up and just very quietly and meekly say something more softly and maybe, maybe cut a cut around the corner in a very subtle way. 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:44.939 And so the two of you may not agree on how to handle problems. 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:48.460 You are unified and yet you are not uniform. 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:50.300 God makes us different. 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:53.340 We are one, but we are not the same. 00:07:53.660 --> 00:08:05.500 God brings us together so that we are like um we're like we're like metals of different types that are brought together to create an alloy that is so much stronger than we would be if we stayed apart. 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:08.699 We are like a dish of so many different flavors. 00:08:08.780 --> 00:08:09.819 It's not bland at all. 00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:10.620 How many of you know that? 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:12.860 That being part of church is not boring. 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:19.900 I mean, there is a rich variety of flavors inside of a body like this. 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:22.540 We are one, but we are not the same. 00:08:22.780 --> 00:08:28.939 Now, that's where Paul is heading to here in the very next verse, whenever he says, but we're one. 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:34.460 We're in Christ, we're all part of you know, the same God that we're in is also in us. 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:46.939 And so there is this tight knit knot that cannot be undone in the grace of God, but but he says, grace was given to each one of us. 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:54.379 You're one, you're one, you're one, you're one, you're the same, you're unified, but there's different graces that are given to every single one of us. 00:08:54.620 --> 00:08:58.940 Now, the word grace here, of course, is one that Paul has used multiple times already in the letter. 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:05.100 The most familiar use of the word grace so far in this letter comes from Ephesians 2, verse 8. 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:09.180 That it is through faith by what that we're saved? 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:10.060 Grace. 00:09:10.300 --> 00:09:12.220 Through faith by grace that we have been saved. 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:13.740 Karos is the word. 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:23.100 It's the word that we use to describe God's hand reaching down to us, offering us his nail-scarred hand of salvation. 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:28.940 Our response is through faith to receive that hand, to acknowledge who he is and who we are not. 00:09:29.100 --> 00:09:38.539 And so whenever Paul uses this phrase here and says it's but there are graces, different graces given to each one of us individually, we understand what he's saying. 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:49.100 That we're all saved by the same master, the same savior saves us all, but when he saves us, he kind of lets us bring some of our own identity into that relationship. 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:56.940 That we we come into this thing with our gifts and our abilities, and they're beautiful and they're unique. 00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:04.940 And he says, for each one of us, grace has been given according to the, I love this here, the in Greek it's matron. 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:15.019 It's uh measure, it has a very detailed math flavor to it, according to the measure of the gifts of Christ. 00:10:15.180 --> 00:10:18.300 The the the grace of Christ, the gifts that he has given us. 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:19.740 That's pretty cool, isn't it? 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:38.620 That when we talk about the grace that God shows to us in both salvation as well as the grace that comes by the Spirit who walks with us, that measure is given to us at this at the same weight, according to the measure, the matron of Jesus Christ. 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:44.060 That's that's something we could stop and meditate on for a while. 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:49.259 I mean, it's almost like um you you picture, maybe, maybe it's like this scale. 00:10:49.580 --> 00:10:57.500 And on the one side, you got the measure of Christ's gift to us, which is immense. 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:05.740 The crucified Son of God died so that you and I can experience oneness abiding with him. 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:13.259 And in my mind, the way I see it, it's almost like the Spirit comes along and says, okay, now it's my work in their life. 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:14.940 And I'm gonna give them grace. 00:11:15.100 --> 00:11:16.460 I'm gonna give them gifts. 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:18.379 In the Greek, it's do it's Doria. 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:20.700 I'm gonna give them Doria's. 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:34.060 And I want this measure of how much grace and gifting I'm pouring into them to be equal to the measure of the shed blood of the tri uh of the Son of God, the triune son of God. 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:46.460 Let me just tell you, that is tremendously gripping to me because when I think about, like it's difficult for me to imagine the gifts that the Spirit has poured into me. 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:58.139 But whenever Paul comes by and says they are in accordance, they are within measure with the gifts that Jesus gave to you in salvation, I walk away realizing I am a blessed individual. 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:00.620 Now I know what you're saying. 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:06.060 Well, Pastor, why doesn't that translate into the Sunday morning preaching experience? 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:25.580 Well, listen, we are all a work in progress, and so the point of this isn't about our efficiency, it isn't about our effectiveness, it is about the fact that the Spirit gives each one of us exactly what we need to do the job he is calling us to do. 00:12:26.060 --> 00:12:30.620 And he is in fact calling us to do a job. 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.779 Here's the the axiom for the day. 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:41.180 And so if you want to write this one down along with the one you wrote down, and I know you did last week, here is the one for today. 00:12:41.419 --> 00:12:45.100 When you are called to salvation, you are called to service. 00:12:45.340 --> 00:13:02.060 I may have said this one sentence to you more than any other most other sentences I've ever said to you because I think it's so important to recognize that whenever Jesus calls you to salvation, he doesn't call you to salvation and put you into a plastic bag and throw you in a drawer in the basement. 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:05.740 He has a plan for your life. 00:13:06.060 --> 00:13:10.940 You have a beautiful purpose with eternal consequences. 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:14.460 That's enriching, isn't it? 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:20.620 Because there is nothing more miserable than a person who feels like they don't have a purpose. 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:22.860 A person who has lost their way. 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:25.899 There's nothing more miserable than being that person. 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:29.340 A feeling like, oh, I've I don't know why I'm here. 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:33.340 I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know if I'm making any difference at all. 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:35.899 God made you that way. 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:42.700 God made us to contribute, to have presence, to have purpose in this world. 00:13:42.779 --> 00:13:53.580 That's why he took Adam and Eve and He placed them in a perfect garden and still yet said to them, This yard has to be mowed, and that plant has to be attended to and the fruit has to be picked. 00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:57.580 God could have made a creation that would have, but it would have been automatic. 00:13:58.060 --> 00:14:01.500 The grass could have been AI, but God didn't make the grass AI. 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:11.980 God made the grass to grow and weeds to pop up and places where you don't want them and branches to extend and the God made the grass to grow through your driveway. 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:13.740 God bless you, right? 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:16.379 It's there, and there's a reason for it. 00:14:16.460 --> 00:14:27.820 It's because you and I have this purpose, this desire for purpose, and that is especially true when it comes to how we interact and encourage and support each other in community. 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:31.740 God made us for a purpose, and he gives us such a great purpose. 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.060 This is one of the reasons Jesus came down. 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:36.539 Look at what Paul says here in verse number eight. 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:41.259 Paul is about to quote uh Psalm chapter 68. 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:45.820 Now, Psalm 68 is a it's a triumphal entry psalm. 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:56.620 It's the kind of psalm that might be sung or played on the radio whenever a general came back into Jerusalem after having victory over the Canaanites or the Philistines or somebody. 00:14:56.860 --> 00:15:04.139 And so this was a this was a way that the people worshiped nationally for victory that God had given them. 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:17.899 Ephesians 4, verse 8, he says, Paul says, Therefore it is written, he quotes Psalm 68, he says, Therefore it is written, when he ascended on high, he led a host captive of captives and gave gifts to men. 00:15:18.060 --> 00:15:19.259 Now pause there for a second. 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:21.899 Let me explain to you sort of what's happening in this passage. 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:28.379 In the book of Psalms, whenever this is originally written, the verse reads a little differently. 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:46.620 It mentions that whenever this great conquering king, uh in alluding to the fact that God himself enters his abode here, uh he says that when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, uh, which is what a military general would do coming back. 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.100 He would bring back the spoils of war. 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:57.419 He would bring back the nobility, he would bring back the people who were conquered, and he would present them for everyone to see, I have conquered these people. 00:15:57.500 --> 00:15:59.899 They now, they are now subject to me. 00:16:00.060 --> 00:16:02.139 And so that's the image of the text there. 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:10.300 And so we see that that whenever God saves us, when he conquers our heart, he brings us in, and we are now spoils of his war. 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:12.860 That's good, isn't it? 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:32.139 That whenever Jesus died on the cross and the enemy was conquered and death was overrun, you and I are led out in the gracious chains of Jesus Christ as the spoils of war, and I am so glad to have been part of the part of the bounty that he won on that day, aren't you? 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:44.779 Yeah, so he is uh he's leading a host captive, and then uh in in Hebrew in Psalms, it it says, He receives gifts among men. 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:56.860 That was fitting for the time that people would give gifts to the king, they would honor him and his new status as ruler over them by giving gifts to that king. 00:16:57.180 --> 00:16:59.500 But here's the problem with that. 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:13.980 Whenever you take this and you translate it fully to the work that God did on the cross and his sovereignty and his omnipotence and his omnipresence, the problem with that is you can't give God anything that he doesn't already own. 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.819 I mean, you you you don't you don't have anything. 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:20.460 He's he's yeah, you've been conquered. 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:23.019 We've been we've been graciously overrun. 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:29.740 I the darkness in our heart is graciously conquered by the power of Jesus Christ, but we have nothing to offer him. 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:32.779 Somebody needs to hear that this morning. 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:39.099 That you're here because you're trying to earn the pleasure of God by doing something for him. 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:41.099 Give me a break. 00:17:41.419 --> 00:17:44.779 He is the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. 00:17:44.939 --> 00:17:48.699 There are there are seven billion people other than you. 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:52.139 And there have been seven billion people more other than you and I. 00:17:52.219 --> 00:17:55.659 Do you think God really needs something of us or from us? 00:17:55.979 --> 00:17:59.019 No, we don't give him the spoils of war. 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.819 Instead, he is maxed out, he has it all. 00:18:01.979 --> 00:18:05.579 And so, Paul, I think he turns this on its end, he flips it around. 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:09.419 By the way, there's a there's a targum that gives this interpretation as well. 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:13.339 So Paul may be leaning on this ancient tradition or reading of this text. 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:20.699 He says that whenever this particular king ascended on high, he didn't receive gifts, he gave gifts. 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:23.019 What a great God we serve. 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:28.939 I mean, there's no other God in all of human history who is presented in this way. 00:18:29.179 --> 00:18:33.819 Every other God stands there with his hands out held out open. 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:39.819 Our God stands there with his hands held out open, and they are nail scarred for you and I. 00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:42.459 He's presenting gifts to us. 00:18:42.699 --> 00:18:46.539 And watch what Paul does in explaining this in verses 9 and 10. 00:18:46.699 --> 00:18:48.219 He's a little parenthetical here. 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:55.099 He says, Now in saying he ascended, or this king ascended, what does it mean but that he must also have descended? 00:18:55.259 --> 00:19:11.579 In other words, if a king's going to ascend up to the heights of Jerusalem to be held as the victor, he must have first descended into the valley to partake in war to the lower regions of the earth in this particular case. 00:19:11.659 --> 00:19:12.779 This is where Jesus came to. 00:19:12.939 --> 00:19:23.819 This, by the way, I'm I'm going to suggest to you is not a verse that describes Jesus going to hell and letting people go before he rose from the dead. 00:19:24.219 --> 00:19:27.099 If you want to talk about that, we can talk about the interpretation. 00:19:27.179 --> 00:19:28.859 I don't think that's what he is saying here. 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:34.139 It was a popular translation, even to this very day, and the patristics wrote about it. 00:19:34.219 --> 00:19:36.059 Some of you don't care because you don't know what I'm talking about. 00:19:36.139 --> 00:19:40.699 But, anyways, if you believe that, I'm just telling you, you're missing the point of what's happening here, I think. 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:45.740 I think what he's actually saying here is Jesus came down and descended into the depths of the earth. 00:19:45.979 --> 00:19:47.179 That's where I live. 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:48.139 How about you? 00:19:48.379 --> 00:19:57.419 The dirty space here on the earth, Jesus came down and he did war here in this valley, and he who descended is the same one who also ascended. 00:19:57.659 --> 00:20:09.419 The one who came down and won the victory is the same one who has risen now far above every, Paul says here in this passage, above every principality, above every power. 00:20:09.659 --> 00:20:27.500 He now ascends above all of those things, all of those entities, all of those realms, all of those governments, all of those rulers, far above all the heavens, that why he may feel all things. 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:30.059 Now I'm gonna tell you, I've read that many times. 00:20:30.139 --> 00:20:43.579 I preached from this passage uh uh probably a dozen times throughout my ministry, but I've never stopped to look at this phrase where he says that he might feel all things and to wonder, what's he doing there? 00:20:43.899 --> 00:20:51.659 I mean, why is it that the ascension of Jesus out there in heaven is connected to the feeling of all things here? 00:20:51.979 --> 00:20:58.619 And after all, if he's going that far away, isn't that like moving his presence away from all things here? 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:05.579 How is it that his ascension up there makes him more common, makes him more present here? 00:21:06.139 --> 00:21:07.740 Here's where I got to with it. 00:21:08.619 --> 00:21:17.579 You know, we are here in this space in Montgomery County, and the mayor is not here, but we do live under his influence. 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:20.219 And the governor is not here. 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:24.299 If if she is, I want to I want to chat with her for a minute, stick around after service. 00:21:24.459 --> 00:21:25.099 We want to chat. 00:21:25.179 --> 00:21:29.979 And and and um but she's not here, but yet we live under her influence. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:38.379 The president is not here, and if he's here, I really, really, really, really want to talk about him about that post earlier this week. 00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:44.779 We're not gonna go there, but he's not here, but we live in his presence. 00:21:44.939 --> 00:21:51.419 And the higher up we go, the more that presence spreads, the more that influence spreads. 00:21:51.659 --> 00:21:58.219 Jesus has ascended to the heights of the heights, he is maxed out on his ascension. 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:02.939 You can't go any higher than Jesus, which means you can't have any more influence than Jesus. 00:22:03.099 --> 00:22:09.179 His presence is full, he has become, he has become the filler of all things because of his ascension. 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:12.299 The higher he goes, the more influence he has. 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:14.219 What do you think about that? 00:22:14.459 --> 00:22:15.979 All right, that's my thought on it. 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:25.579 You may have a different one, but the point here that Paul is clear clearly Making is that what Jesus did with the power of his resurrection and his shed blood is to give gifts to us. 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:37.099 He fills us, which means that these gifts that we have been given, that Paul is referring to here, that they're not like tools that Jesus gives us and says, here, you go and you walk away. 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:38.619 You go do your thing. 00:22:38.939 --> 00:22:47.819 He gives us that gift and he's right there with us, like a loving father who's teaching his child how to use the gift and how to, he's empowering us. 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:52.059 Now, of course, um Paul continues here to talk about what these gifts are. 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:53.899 One more verse we have to read. 00:22:54.539 --> 00:22:58.539 He explains what God is doing here with these with these blessings. 00:22:58.699 --> 00:23:05.419 He says that he gave the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and the shepherds and the teachers. 00:23:05.659 --> 00:23:08.939 Now, there are some reasons for what's happening here. 00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:15.819 Um Paul is talking to the church about what God has blessed them with as a community of believers. 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:22.299 Maybe there was some idea that they didn't have everything they needed to do to do the ministry that God had called them to do. 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:28.139 And Paul is saying, look, God has blessed individuals with gifts. 00:23:28.459 --> 00:23:34.539 And then he has gone into communities like this, and he's blessed communities with people. 00:23:35.899 --> 00:23:38.459 People are a blessing. 00:23:43.819 --> 00:23:45.740 But people are a blessing. 00:23:45.899 --> 00:23:49.979 God has blessed us with people, God has blessed us with you. 00:23:51.019 --> 00:24:01.179 Now, here's what I want to do in the next very few short minutes that we have left, because I'm a pastor and I've I've I've not only been a pastor, but I've been a church member. 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:14.859 And so I know anyone tells, when someone tells me that I'm gifted, or whenever I tell someone else that they're gifted, the very first thing that my mind starts to do is it begins to create excuses for why I can't do the thing that I need to be doing. 00:24:15.099 --> 00:24:33.419 And I've jotted down, I wrote down four excuses, four categories of excuses for why it is that we we somehow don't live by the power of this text that tells us that we've been gifted according to the matron, the measure of Christ. 00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:46.859 I want to give these to you quickly and I want to show you examples from Scripture as to why they're not legitimate reasons to avoid using the gift that God has given you. 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:47.740 Here they are. 00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:49.899 You can write these down if you would like. 00:24:50.139 --> 00:24:57.179 Number one, especially if you run across one that hits you between the eyes, I I had one or two of these that really pierced my heart this week. 00:24:57.419 --> 00:24:59.500 Number one is the word season. 00:25:00.139 --> 00:25:09.579 Sometimes the excuse that we offer for not using the gifts that God has given us occurs when we say, I'm too busy right now. 00:25:09.899 --> 00:25:11.659 I'm too busy right now. 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:17.099 I think about the priest or the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:22.619 They're on their way to do a good thing, probably, they're down to Jericho. 00:25:22.699 --> 00:25:23.979 That's typically what they would have done. 00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:28.059 They would have gone down to Jericho and then out somewhere else to do ministry. 00:25:28.219 --> 00:25:35.019 And yet on the way down, they see this individual who had been wounded on the way down to Jericho. 00:25:35.979 --> 00:25:44.619 He was there on the side of the road and he needed help, but the priest walks by and leaves him untouched and unhelped, and the Levite walks by and does the same. 00:25:44.779 --> 00:25:46.779 And you wonder why do they do that? 00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:52.299 Well, this text seems to indicate, I believe, that they were focused on their task at hand. 00:25:52.459 --> 00:25:54.059 They were too busy. 00:25:54.299 --> 00:25:55.019 Now I get it. 00:25:55.099 --> 00:25:58.939 I live in this world just like you are, and I know how busy life can be. 00:25:59.099 --> 00:26:10.779 And whenever someone says to me, hey, you need to add this one other thing to your schedule, the very first thing I think is like I crawl up into my, into a fetal position in my mind, and I'm like, I don't know that I can add one more thing. 00:26:11.179 --> 00:26:23.099 But then I begin to do the math in my life, and I realize how much time I spend sitting in front of the TV and how much time I spend on my phone. 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:25.419 Now, we all need downtime. 00:26:25.659 --> 00:26:27.419 We all need downtime. 00:26:27.579 --> 00:26:45.979 But I think if you and I were to measure, use that little screen app, um, uh screen time app on our phone, some of us, present company included, might be embarrassed at how much time we have wasted whenever Paul is about to tell us later in this chapter we need to be redeeming the time. 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:47.419 Yeah. 00:26:48.379 --> 00:26:49.179 Season. 00:26:49.339 --> 00:27:04.379 Sometimes people say, I can't because I'm too busy, and I understand that time needs to be managed, but you need to remember that in Scripture we're we're told of the time that God made the sun stand still in the sky because the children of Israel ran out of time in a war. 00:27:04.859 --> 00:27:07.179 Do you think you think God's in control of time? 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:13.019 Don't mean to get too deep on this, but he dwells in the realm of unapproachable light. 00:27:13.179 --> 00:27:17.179 And if you know anything about physics, you know in inside light there is no time. 00:27:17.419 --> 00:27:18.619 Yeah, he's got time. 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:19.500 He's good. 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:21.339 Number two, skill. 00:27:21.979 --> 00:27:25.099 Sometimes people say, I am not gifted enough. 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:26.219 I think of Moses. 00:27:26.459 --> 00:27:34.379 You recall whenever Moses stands before God in the burning bush, what you think would be the only argument you would ever need is a fire talking to you out of a burning bush. 00:27:34.459 --> 00:27:35.500 That would get that would do it for me. 00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:36.459 How about you? 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:41.099 Well, God says to Moses, I want you to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go. 00:27:41.179 --> 00:27:58.939 And Moses starts giving this concophony of lists, but ultimately the the point that Moses uh of excuses, but ultimately the the point that Moses is making is he comes down in verse number uh chap verse uh 10 of chapter four and says, God, I'm just not a good speaker. 00:27:59.179 --> 00:28:05.899 I mean, I stutter and I stammer and I mispronounce my words, and he Moses was from Tennessee. 00:28:06.139 --> 00:28:10.779 And um so he um he says, God, he's I'm just not a good speaker. 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:15.419 You wanted me to go speak, and this job entails a rhetorician, and that's not me. 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:17.259 So you just send someone else. 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:22.219 And of course, if you know the story, you know that God finally gets tired of him and says, Okay, I'll send someone with you. 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:24.379 I'll send Aaron because Aaron's an eloquent speaker. 00:28:24.459 --> 00:28:28.699 And if you know anything about that story the way it ends, that was a huge mess for him. 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:37.259 I promise you, there were many, many mornings where Moses woke up and thought to himself, I wish I had just shut my mouth and nodded my head and left Aaron out of this. 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:39.179 Aaron was a huge problem for him. 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.859 All because Moses looked at his gifts and said, they're not enough. 00:28:42.939 --> 00:28:44.459 By the way, they may not be. 00:28:44.859 --> 00:28:45.979 That's okay. 00:28:46.219 --> 00:28:49.579 I mean, hey, guys, I'm just telling you, like, I'm with you on this. 00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:57.419 Like I look around at the things that God has called me to do, and I think to myself, there are people out here who can do it better. 00:28:57.659 --> 00:29:02.859 You know, God has, whenever I've said that, God has never said to me, No, no, no, no, no, you're you're you're perfect, Major. 00:29:02.939 --> 00:29:03.740 You're the best. 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:06.459 He's not said it because it's not true. 00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:09.339 But it's not, it's not about being skilled enough. 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:17.099 It's not about being the one who is like the most outgoing or the most collected or the most anything. 00:29:17.179 --> 00:29:21.259 It's not about, it's about being the person God has appointed for the job. 00:29:21.979 --> 00:29:26.219 Do you think Peter was the best person that Jesus could find to be on his team? 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:27.819 Give me a break, man. 00:29:27.899 --> 00:29:32.299 Those guys were a mess, and yet Jesus appointed them anyways, in spite of their skill. 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:39.179 So we use the season excuse, sometimes we use the skill excuse, other times we use the significance excuse. 00:29:39.819 --> 00:29:43.019 Probably the prophet who I can relate to more than any other. 00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:48.539 I like preaching from Jonah because he's good and easy, but the prophet I relate to more than any other is Amos. 00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:51.659 Because Amos was a southern boy. 00:29:51.979 --> 00:29:53.099 Carrie, you remember this. 00:29:53.259 --> 00:29:58.699 He was a good southern boy who God said, go up north and preach the gospel to them. 00:29:58.859 --> 00:30:00.779 That's how I felt whenever I was in Wisconsin. 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:05.899 I felt like Amos, Southern boy up in Wisconsin preaching the gospel there in Illinois and around. 00:30:06.059 --> 00:30:13.019 And so Amos was just, he he, so he gets up to the north, and there's this guy named Amaziah who was the professional. 00:30:13.259 --> 00:30:14.699 He was the professional priest. 00:30:14.779 --> 00:30:18.699 Like he was, you know, he had it all together, had a great resume. 00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:20.139 He he was significant. 00:30:20.219 --> 00:30:24.379 And Amaziah comes up to him and says, Who are you, anyways? 00:30:24.459 --> 00:30:25.500 What's your pedigree? 00:30:25.659 --> 00:30:28.139 You're you're not, I mean, get where are your degrees? 00:30:28.299 --> 00:30:29.259 Where's your resume? 00:30:29.419 --> 00:30:30.059 Who are you? 00:30:30.219 --> 00:30:32.379 And Amos says, Dude, I'm nobody. 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:33.659 He said, and I love this. 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:37.740 He says, I'm not a prophet, and I'm not the son of a prophet. 00:30:37.979 --> 00:30:39.500 I'm just a guy. 00:30:39.659 --> 00:30:46.059 I'm just a guy who God came to and said, You go and do this thing. 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:47.179 That's it. 00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:48.539 He wasn't significant. 00:30:48.699 --> 00:30:50.139 God doesn't use significance. 00:30:50.219 --> 00:30:52.059 He doesn't look for people who are significant. 00:30:52.299 --> 00:31:08.219 He looks for people who are the youngest son of some individual who's out somewhere tending his sheep, and his dad, he's so insignificant that his dad doesn't even think of him until the old priest Samuel says, Are you sure you don't have any more sons? 00:31:08.459 --> 00:31:11.259 And Jesse looks around and says, One, two, three, four, five, six. 00:31:12.139 --> 00:31:15.099 The redhead one, that guy, where's he at? 00:31:15.419 --> 00:31:16.859 You ever have to do that with your kids? 00:31:16.939 --> 00:31:17.899 You know, you lose names. 00:31:18.059 --> 00:31:19.500 This is the other one, where's he at? 00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:22.219 He's so insignificant that his dad even forgets about him. 00:31:22.379 --> 00:31:28.139 And yet that's the one that Samuel says, God, you're looking on the outside. 00:31:28.299 --> 00:31:28.459 Right. 00:31:28.779 --> 00:31:31.019 God says to Samuel, you're looking on the outside. 00:31:31.099 --> 00:31:32.779 Don't look on the outside, look on the inside. 00:31:32.859 --> 00:31:34.379 This is where I'm looking. 00:31:35.099 --> 00:31:37.339 Your significance doesn't matter to God. 00:31:37.659 --> 00:31:42.939 Number four, and finally, um, is sanctity. 00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:45.339 Of course, God wants us to be sanctified. 00:31:45.419 --> 00:31:46.299 He wants us to be set apart. 00:31:46.379 --> 00:31:51.259 He wants us to be holy, but sometimes we use the fact that we are imperfect. 00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:53.099 Anybody in here imperfect, right? 00:31:53.259 --> 00:32:00.619 We use our imperfection as a reason for not following God's God's giftedness in our life, and we say, I'm not holy enough. 00:32:00.779 --> 00:32:04.619 Which is true, we're not holy enough, but we're never going to be holy enough. 00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:06.619 And yet God used unholy people. 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:08.939 Do you know why God used unholy people? 00:32:09.179 --> 00:32:11.099 It's all he has to work with. 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:13.419 We're all unholy. 00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:17.019 Even Paul himself acknowledged that he was unholy. 00:32:17.179 --> 00:32:25.899 When he wrote to his son in the faith, his protege, which by the way, like whenever you talk to your proteges, the people who look up to you, you don't often want to tell them the truth. 00:32:26.059 --> 00:32:29.740 You want to, you want to kind of hide your failings because you want them to keep respecting you. 00:32:29.819 --> 00:32:30.619 That's not what Paul did. 00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:41.419 Paul wrote to Timothy and said, he said, Listen, I've been appointed a preacher of the gospel to take the message to sinners. 00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:47.179 And then he turned to Timothy and he says, he says, I he says, I'm the chief of sinners. 00:32:47.579 --> 00:32:50.059 I am the chief of sinners. 00:32:50.219 --> 00:32:53.659 He doesn't say past tense, I was the chief of sinners. 00:32:53.819 --> 00:33:00.699 Remember all the persecuting, all the bloodshed, all the beatings, how I used to persecute the church and cuss and swear and look at things I shouldn't look. 00:33:00.939 --> 00:33:02.139 Like he didn't, he didn't do any of that. 00:33:02.219 --> 00:33:05.419 He didn't say, I was a sinner, I was the chief of sinners. 00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:17.579 He says, I am the chief of sinners, which means if you think that you're the worst sinner ever, you're gonna have to stand toe-to-toe and argue with the apostle Paul, who said, under the inspiration of the Spirit, I'm the worst there could ever be. 00:33:18.059 --> 00:33:19.979 And yet God uses him. 00:33:20.699 --> 00:33:28.699 In fact, returning to Ephesians chapter 4, Paul says that he wasn't, he was called specifically. 00:33:28.939 --> 00:33:33.259 Look at what he says, Paul says in chapter 3, verse 7 and 8. 00:33:33.339 --> 00:33:44.699 He says, Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gifts, the gift of God's grace, which was given to me by the working of his power. 00:33:45.019 --> 00:33:46.779 Now look at that verse one more time. 00:33:47.019 --> 00:33:48.379 Look at the words. 00:33:48.779 --> 00:34:01.899 Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace given me by the working of his power. 00:34:02.219 --> 00:34:04.059 That does that look familiar to you? 00:34:04.699 --> 00:34:13.179 It's the same words, those three words, gift, grace, and given. 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:23.980 It's the same word, only in reverse order, the two of them, anyways, the two significant ones there, that he uses in four verse seven to talk about us. 00:34:25.420 --> 00:34:34.140 Paul says to the church at Corinth uh church at Ephesus, to me, grace was given this gift to minister the gospel. 00:34:34.300 --> 00:34:42.940 And then he turns to the Ephesian church and says, Grace was also given to each of you, to each of us, according to the measure of Christ's gifts. 00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:43.980 It's the same word. 00:34:44.220 --> 00:34:59.740 In other words, what Paul is saying here is the same person, the same God who gifted the apostle Paul to do the incredible work that he did has gifted you and I according to the measure of Christ's gifts. 00:35:00.220 --> 00:35:03.900 Which means our excuses are all wasted before him. 00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:17.820 Yeah, the season may not be right, but maybe the season isn't right because God wants us to realign our priorities and he wants us to trust him with our clock. 00:35:18.140 --> 00:35:29.340 Yeah, we may not be skilled enough, but maybe the truth is that God wants us weak so that through his weakness he can express his strength. 00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:43.579 Maybe it's the case that we're not significant because God doesn't want us relying on our significance for our identity, but he wants us to rely on his significance in our life for his identity. 00:35:44.059 --> 00:35:56.860 Maybe it's the case that, yeah, we're not sanctified enough, but the reason we're not sanctified enough and the reason we're growing in sanctification is because God doesn't want us depending on our own righteousness, but wants us depending on the righteousness of Jesus. 00:35:58.140 --> 00:36:00.380 This is a beautiful plan, isn't it? 00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:04.620 God calls us to the most important work in human history. 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:15.019 The most important work in human history is to see societies and families restored by the power of the gospel. 00:36:15.180 --> 00:36:16.700 What influence that is. 00:36:16.860 --> 00:36:23.099 But he calls us to that task in such a way so that none of us can be prideful about it. 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:28.940 We're all humble because we know for a fact that this isn't the season for us. 00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:33.180 We don't have the skill, we don't have the significance, we don't have the sanctification. 00:36:33.420 --> 00:36:36.220 All we have is him and his power. 00:36:38.940 --> 00:36:39.660 That's enough. 00:36:42.300 --> 00:36:44.780 Can I just ask you for a moment? 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:47.740 What is the gift that God has given you? 00:36:49.180 --> 00:36:50.300 You've been given a gift. 00:36:50.620 --> 00:36:52.460 Sometimes you have trouble finding it. 00:36:53.180 --> 00:37:00.860 Whenever I met with you all the church two years ago, and if I've not met with you, would um Kim and I would still love to meet with you and hear your story. 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:05.340