Gifts for Service

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 29, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 17.

Read the full edition

Gifts for Service

Chapter 4, Verses 7-16

Questioning the Text

1. What does the apostle say is given to each Christian, and according to what measure?

"But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Verse 7. Note 1.

2. By what scripture does he prove this?

"Wherefore He saith, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." Verse 8. Note 2.

3. What did Christ do before He ascended?

"(Now this, He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)" Verses 9, 10. Note 3.

4. What gifts did He bestow?

"And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Verse 11. Note 4.

5. For what purpose did He bestow these gifts?

"For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ." Verse 12. Note 5.

6. Till what time are these gifts to be manifest among His people?

"Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Verse 13. Note 6.

7. What would it save His church from?

"That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error." Verse 14. Note 7.

8. What would it do for His children?

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, even Christ." Verse 15. Note 8.

9. What does the body receive from the head?

"From whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love." Verse 16. Note 9.

Notes

1. "Unto each one."—There are no useless members in the body of Christ. There are no drones among His workers. Every soul who receives Christ, receives from Him not alone the Holy Spirit in general, but at least one spiritual gift in particular. The apostle Paul does not use the distributive term "every one," but he brings it home emphatically,—"unto each one,"—and "unto each one of us was the grace given." Note also that the gift is not bestowed according to men's measure, or men's estimate. Some would mark out for themselves great places which God in His wisdom clearly sees they could not fill. Others could use great gifts, but in their timidity and humility think that they can do almost nothing. Infinite Wisdom, who bestows the gift, also takes account of the measure. It is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We may therefore be sure that if we are Christ's we have some divine gift for service. We may have confidence in Him in the use of that gift; and if the life be truly consecrated, that gift, used for Him, will glorify His name.

2. "Wherefore He saith."—That is, God saith. The apostle quotes from Ps. 68:18, a prophecy of Christ, of what God has done for His people, of what He will do. The quotation is direct from the Septuagint version,—"Thou hast led captivity captive." The margin of our Common Version is, "Thou hast led a multitude of captives." When our Lord gave Himself, He gave Himself for all God's creation that had been touched by sin. Consequently He went down to the very lowest depths that sin can bring a soul to; that is, to death. He died and was buried, the portals of the grave closed over Him. Entirely apart from the power of righteousness and life, He would have remained there forever. He was victorious, however, in life, over sin, and was therefore victorious over death; for death is but finished sin.

We read in the account of the crucifixion in Matthew that when He died there was a great earthquake, the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and at the time of His resurrection many came out from the graves and went into the city and appeared unto many. Matt. 27:51-53. He had broken the power of the grave, and these first-fruits demonstrated that He had conquered. The captives of Satan that had been chained by death, because of sin in man, were redeemed and released by the almighty power of the Son of God. He led the captives of Satan captive, and when He ascended, there was sung that prophetic 24th Psalm,—"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in." Thus sang the angel escort of our Lord and His redeemed captives. The response comes from within the gates: "Who is this King of Glory?" and the answer is returned, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in." Once again the question is repeated, "Who is this King of Glory?" and the answer is returned, "The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." He has come home for the celebration of His triumph, and the captives that He brings with Him are not the captives of death, but the captives of life released from the chains of death.

3. Descended — ascended.—Our Lord descended into the very depths, that He might rescue all who would put their trust in Him, and demonstrate the surety of the faith of those who had put their trust in Him during past ages. Ascending, He fills all things. By the fulness of His power and His life and His righteousness He meets every need of the great, needy universe. And all those who are in harmony with His plan—with the infinitely wise, divine plan for the universe—will receive of His fulness to eternal perfection.

4. "And He gave some to be apostles."—It is not the design of this letter to tell us all the gifts bestowed in the church. These are simply named as samples. Elsewhere the apostle has given us more of these, as in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians and in the 12th chapter of Romans. There are not only apostles and prophets and evangelists and teachers and pastors, but there are miracles and healings and helps and governments, and ministrations of various sorts, tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Every gift that His people need, and have needed in the past or will need in the future, was bestowed by Christ when He ascended up on high. As the first of all these gifts He places that of apostleship. "Apostle" means "one sent;" and of course the outsending of God's gospel message is the first thing always. Very frequently—it may be said, almost invariably—the one who was called to be an apostle possessed other gifts, sometimes the prophetic gift, the evangelical gift, the teaching gift. The prophet is one who speaks for God. He bears an authoritative message. An evangelist is one who proclaims the gospel; the pastor, one who cares for the flock; and the teachers, those who instruct in divine things. Sometimes these are blended in one, sometimes they are individualized. Sometimes the very prophet may not be the best teacher, may not have the wisdom of an apostle. A right conception of the gifts which God has bestowed upon His church would help wonderfully in the consideration which would be given the individuals who possess the gifts. Read 1 Corinthians 12, where these gifts are likened to members of the body, where we are told that the members that seem the feeblest are necessary, where everything should be regarded because of the office work which belongs to it, because of the Giver who has bestowed upon it His own divine power and efficiency.

5. "For the perfecting of the saints."—These gifts were needed in the apostolic days. They are needed not less now. Proud man does not like to acknowledge his need. He wants to be all-sufficient in himself; yet he could easily understand, by the simple illustration of his own body, that the various members are needed. The various organs and members of the body do not work for themselves, but for the other members. Each is served by all the others, and so God designed that it should be in His church—each member should be served by all others, and then all are well served. The perfecting of God's church, the building up of His saints, must come through a recognition of these gifts not in ourselves alone, but in others as well. And there must be that willingness to learn and to receive from others those things in which we ourselves may be lacking; and at the same time, willingness to give to others that which, in His own way, God has bestowed upon them. And so the gifts are "for the perfecting of the saints." They are given "unto the work of ministering," that in all the various and multiplied gifts the fulness of Christ may be manifested in ministry to the world. They are given for the building up of the body of Christ by a continual gathering out from the world into the fellowship of Christ those who will glorify His name, and in developing those who are already in Christ into greater, more efficient, more unselfish laborers.

6. "Till."—How frequently are we told that these gifts were all right for the apostolic age, and then they ceased? But the apostle does not confine them to that age. In the 25th chapter of Matthew we find the parable of the talents. These talents, the highest denomination of Hebrew money, represent the gifts of God's Spirit. The one who went away and distributed the talents represents the Master, and the talents were to be used until his return; and so the gifts in the church are to be used in the church till Christ shall come the second time, used there as long as they are needed, and that need continues till the whole church attain to the unity of the faith, or come in the unity of the faith to "the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."—Christ the infinitely wise Head, and a perfect body fulfilling all the desires of the mind. The church has not reached her full stature as yet. She does not stand blameless before God. She is not yet without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, before His throne. The gifts of God are needed to make visible the imperfections, cut them away, carve and polish and refine the various members, till they will all reflect and declare to the world the glory of Christ's character.

7. "No longer children."—We love children—that is, the normal men and women do. They love the little innocent babe, and the wee, prattling child, and the growing and developing lad and lassie; but they do not want to see them always remain children. It is a most pitiful thing to see a child remain a child. We look for growth; and when we see growth neither in mind nor in body, we know that the form before us is abnormal; there is a lack of development, and our love changes to pity, and hope to utter discouragement. Spiritually, there are those in God's church who never grew. They were little children in Him yesterday; they are the same to-day. Instead of bearing burdens, they are anxious to be borne themselves. Instead of helping others, they are anxious to be helped. Instead of finding real, strong, virile encouragement and enjoyment in doing hard—perhaps onerous—work for God, they wish to be amused, petted, till the professed church is full of little children—old in years but undeveloped spiritually in mind and soul. It is pitiful, isn't it? And yet if God's gifts were recognized—if each one of these children, when he comes into the faith, were made to understand that God has bestowed upon him a gift to be used, a talent not to be hidden or buried—how many more would develop into strong, stalwart workers for God? That is the design of all the gifts which God has bestowed,—that the members of His church should be no longer children. They should not be saying, as the children in the market-places did, "We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced,"—we have played one thing, and you would not play with us. He would not have them carried about with every wind of doctrine, or be like children, amused or influenced by the sleight of men, after the wiles of error. It is not in such a way that God would have His church built; and yet every true, loyal, observing soul knows that it is of these largely that His visible church consists.

8. "But . . . may grow up."—It is the growing church which God desires, "speaking the truth in love," or, as the margin reads, "dealing truly in love." "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments," and speaking in love must eventuate in doing in love, and doing in love is that which develops moral muscle and strong characters. Thus God would have His church "grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, even Christ." He is the beginning and the end, the establishment of the eternal verities of God in the hearts of devoted followers; and if each soul grows up in Him, he will not grow away from his brethren, or the other members of the body. He will find that the Christ to whom he is consciously united is that which binds him the more closely to every other member.

9. "From whom."—The "whom" is Christ. The nourishment must come from Him, the body must drink in of His life. The plan is from Him. The fit framing and the life-knitting must come from our divine Head, and that divine Head will be assisted by all those various gifts represented by the various joints of the body. Union and organization of various gifts make up the centers in God's work, just as there are nerve centers and blood centers in the body in order to supply its need. The working of the gifts which Christ has given in due measure, the recognition of these gifts from our Lord, supernatural in their giving, requiring supernatural grace in their exercise, will indeed make for the increase of the body and the building up of that body in love.