Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/dojc/sermons/71697/the-5-fold-gift-and-the-true-ministry/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] I want to take you first to Psalms chapter 68. The book of Psalms chapter 68, verse 18.!

[0:30] One more time, thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men. And then in Ephesians chapter 4, the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 7 through 12.

[0:49] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Verse 11.

[1:25] And I just want to talk to you for a little bit from this thought.

[1:43] The five-fold gift and the true ministry. Help me pray over this word. Lord Jesus, I come to you today. God, I ask that you would anoint me to deliver your word in a way that it would be received.

[1:57] God, I pray, Lord, that you anoint our hearers today, God. That you would give them ears to hear your word. God, that you would help them, God, understand what we're trying to convey today to them, to your people, Lord.

[2:09] I pray, Lord, that this word would be conveyed properly. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. God has won a great victory over the enemy.

[2:20] So the last few weeks, we come out of Resurrection Sunday. We know that God has won a great victory over the enemy. And when God and the man Christ Jesus died and was buried and rose again and then ascended into heaven, he became victorious over death, hell, and the grave.

[2:38] In his death and burial, he descended first into the lower parts of the earth, the Bible says, into a grave. But then he came out of the grave victorious.

[2:49] And not only did he conquer death and the grave, he ultimately ascended above the heavens. And the Bible says that he led captivity captive.

[3:01] He led captivity captive. That means he not only conquered death, not only conquered the grave, but he conquered all of sin and all of hell and everything that comes with it.

[3:12] And now Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, reigns forever from a seat of majesty and glory. And the devil and his minions and all of hell have been defeated.

[3:23] Thank God for that. Amen. In Colossians 2, verse 15, it says, And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

[3:36] In the spiritual realm, he has completely defeated and annihilated the enemy. He made a show of them openly. It was an embarrassment to the enemy of our souls.

[3:47] It was a complete victory. Amen. And it wasn't even close. And our Lord and Savior not only defeated them, not only routed them, but he also spoiled them and has taken captivity itself captive.

[4:03] He has taken captivity itself captive. Ephesians 4 and 8, we read it. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

[4:16] The Holy Ghost and Paul, prompting him to write this scripture in Ephesians, echoes King David. And as David was prompted of the Holy Ghost to write in his victory psalm, in Psalm 68 and 18, Thou hast ascended on high.

[4:32] Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men. Amen. This is a victory song of a victorious king ascending a mountain or a hill after battle, leading a procession of all his defeated enemies that he's captured.

[4:52] And he's leading them captive. And he's spoiling them and their possessions. And then that victorious king is distributing the spoils of his victory to his loyal subjects as gifts.

[5:05] It was you and I that were once held in bondage of sin. We were in captivity, a state of spiritual imprisonment, where we were captive to the forces of evil, held captive by sin and death and demonic powers, and they held us in bondage.

[5:23] But when Jesus died, rose, and ascended, he triumphed over those evil powers of captivity. And Jesus took those defeated enemies of sin and death and Satan himself as prisoners in a complete victory.

[5:38] Amen. Now that once was our captivity is now itself captive by our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. When a king is victorious in battle, he receives the spoils of the battle.

[5:52] The victorious king receives the gifts. But the Bible says that Christ gave those spoils, those gifts. He gave those gifts to men. And so Jesus now holds captive what held us captive.

[6:05] Thank God for that. Amen. And Jesus has spoiled the enemy and has given those gifts to us. Amen. And he defeated our spiritual enemies. And now Jesus leads them in submission while empowering his people with gifts for ministry.

[6:24] Amen. Amen. The gift Jesus gives, they're tied to the five roles in Ephesians. Let's read it again. We'll read through this and take our time. I really want us to get this.

[6:34] Let's read it again with this new understanding. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

[6:46] Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. In verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.

[7:02] Verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Amen. The gifts that he gave us.

[7:14] The gifts that he gave us out of his victory spoils are the five roles of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And those gifted roles exist to equip the body of Christ for the work of the ministry.

[7:32] Amen. Catch that at the end. To equip the body of Christ for the work of the ministry. I'm talking about the five-fold gift and the true ministry today. That's my title.

[7:43] Okay. And the group of believers in Ephesus, I've mentioned this before, they are a great example. Because the church in Ephesus is all over the Bible.

[7:55] It's in the book of Acts. It's in the book of Ephesians, obviously. And it's also in Revelation. And Ephesus was a church plant. And so we get to see it from its launch all the way into Revelation.

[8:07] And there's a lot to learn from the book of Revelation. It gives us a lot of information. I'm sorry. There's a lot to learn from the church of Ephesus. It gives us a lot of information.

[8:19] And so when we talk about the church, when we talk about the church, it is the body of Christ. And the body of Christ are the collective of every single born-again believer.

[8:32] Okay. So I'm part of the body of Christ. You are all part of the body of Christ as individual members of that body. Okay. So in us together, we are the body of Christ, the church local in this assembly, in this area.

[8:47] But collectively across the world, there's a body of believers. And that's the church. And that's the body of Christ. Amen. Ephesians chapter 4 focuses on unity and the maturity of the body of Christ.

[9:02] And that is important, obviously, for the Ephesian church group as a new church plant. At the same time, and it is for us as a new church plant today, but really this is important for all the church body across the world to understand.

[9:18] One of the greatest challenges of the church in our modern times is achieving unity and maturity. And God's true purpose for the local church.

[9:28] And the greatest hindrance we have in that is the way that we think about ministry. See, it's common in our fellowship.

[9:38] It's common in our churches. It's common in Christianity today to have this thought and this understanding to have the five-fold ministry.

[9:51] We've probably heard this before. I've even spoke of this before. The five-fold ministry. Amen. But it's common here that the professional Christians, those that fill the five roles as described in Ephesians 4.11.

[10:06] Again, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. It's common in today's churches to call them the ministers and to refer to everyone else as saints or simply church members.

[10:18] And I believe that's a false mindset. And I don't believe that's biblical. It's not biblical. It's not a good mindset to have about the five offices described in Ephesians and then reducing of the most significant part of the body of Christ as simply just church members.

[10:38] It's this mindset that is the greatest hindrance to the purpose of God for His church. Amen. It really is. And the five offices were gifts given to the church from God.

[10:52] We read it. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

[11:05] What gifts? In verse 11, he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. To who? And for what? Verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints.

[11:15] For the work of the ministry. And for the edifying of the body of Christ. The five offices are five gifts given to the individual members of the body of Christ for the work of the ministry.

[11:30] For the work of the ministry. When we call the five-fold gifts the five-fold ministry, we detract from the whole point of and meaning of the rest of the entire book of Ephesians.

[11:41] When we have this false idea about these five gifts. These five roles. We detract everything else in Ephesians from Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13 on.

[11:53] Because it is who we call the saints, the church members that are the true ministers. Amen. The Bible calls you the true ministers. And without that understanding, we diminish the value of everything else in Ephesians after that point.

[12:10] We devalue all the lessons of Ephesians after that because we have the wrong understanding who are the true ministry. We should not refer to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as the five-fold ministry.

[12:24] They are the five gifts given to the church by Jesus Christ. And so they are not to be called the five-fold ministry. They are and should be called the five-fold gifts of Christ.

[12:36] Amen. The five-fold gifts that Jesus gave us is for the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Edifying means to build up or to construct.

[12:50] The five-fold gifts to the church are to build up and to construct the individual born again believer into the work of the ministry.

[13:01] Ministry is God's work done by God's people. That's what ministry is. It's God's work done by God's people. And when we falsely project that there is a line between the five-fold gift and the true ministers, we devalue the rest of the book of Ephesians.

[13:18] We devalue powerful teaching intended for those true ministers such as the powerful teaching to put on the new man. Amen. Or the teachings of the true ministers to walk in love and to walk as children of light and to put on the whole armor of God.

[13:36] All the other teachings beyond that point in Ephesians. Is devalued and diminished. Amen. Although we diminish those teachings to our entire congregations with the wrong understanding of ministry.

[13:48] Ministry is the body of Christ. The church serving others with all the gifts, resources, and power that God gives us. Amen. And that is hindered greatly by the mindset that assumes that the ministry is solely the responsibility of those that serve through the five gifted roles of the church.

[14:05] And so God's word says that ministry belongs to everyone. And every disciple of Jesus Christ is to be a minister. God gives gifts to each and every one of us to carry out his mission and his work.

[14:20] In Romans chapter 12, verse 4 through 6. Romans chapter 4 says, verses 12, verse 4 says, For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office.

[14:34] So we being many members are one body in Christ and every one member one of another. Verse 6. It goes on and on to name some of the spiritual giftings and how they should be used.

[14:54] All of us, anyone and everyone, when we have the Holy Ghost, we have a ministering spirit inside of us. And we inherently are gifted to be of service to others around us as ministers.

[15:08] In 1 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm sorry. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are differences in administrations, but the same Lord.

[15:20] And there are diversities in operations, but in the same God, which worketh in all. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit with all.

[15:31] We need to understand that. The manifestation of the spirit. The showing up of the spirit in a tangible way. The manifestation of the spirit is given to everyone to profit everyone.

[15:43] If you have the Holy Ghost, you have the gift of the Holy Ghost. No disciple of Jesus Christ filled with the Holy Ghost is ungifted. Amen. We're all gifted.

[15:54] We have the gift. When we have the Holy Ghost, we're gifted. And when you are born again of the water and the spirit, the gift of the Holy Ghost you have gives you a unique role in God's plan.

[16:04] And in his kingdom, you are equipped with a manifestation of the spirit. Amen. And we have to fight off the tendency to evaluate at an elevated level certain spiritual giftings or roles over others.

[16:21] And that was a problem in the church of Corinth. And it's a problem in our church today. Is we elevate certain roles and responsibilities within the kingdom of God.

[16:32] Or certain giftings within the kingdom of God. And we shouldn't do that. Remember Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of gift. The gift of Christ.

[16:43] The gifts that our victorious king gives us. Each of us. His loyal subjects. They're not just reserved for the five roles.

[16:53] The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But Jesus gives specific gifts to everyone he fills with his spirit. And so if you receive the baptism of the spirit, you have the gift of the Holy Ghost.

[17:06] And you are equipped by God. Amen. And you have to discover what your gift is. You have to discover your gifts. And God has given you his gift through his victory in your life.

[17:21] If you think about taking the captives captive. He delivered us. And he took those that bound us. And he gave us a great victory. And then he returned to us things that the enemy had taken from us.

[17:33] And really that was our God-given work and ministry to fulfill in this world. And the Bible says it's specifically for ministry. We need to encourage the individual members of the body of Christ to discover and use the gifts of ministry.

[17:51] Ministry isn't just for pastors, but for every person in the body of Christ. And we can use an illustration of a toolbox. Every tool, the hammer, the screwdrivers, the wrenches, whatever is in your toolbox, they all have specific purposes.

[18:10] And you can get even more granular than that. There's different types of wrenches for different types of jobs and different types of sockets. And Trevin can probably tell you all kinds of different ones that are specific for this.

[18:22] We get to see all. He gets excited about the different tools that he gets. And some are longer, shorter, whatever to me. I don't know the difference. But I know that they're for specific uses and purposes.

[18:35] Amen. But no tool is better than the other tool. It's just that tool is used for a specific purpose and thing.

[18:46] Amen. It doesn't make it better. It just means it's specific for something. Right? So no tool is better and all are needed to build a house or fix a car or whatever the purpose is.

[18:56] Every member of the body of Christ and their spiritual gift is a tool for building the kingdom of God. Amen. Not one is better than the other. Not one gifting is better than the other.

[19:07] They're all needed in order to fulfill the purpose. Imagine a toolbox with just a hammer and you want to build a house or fix a car. Are you going to, Trevin, are you going to be able to fix a car with a hammer in your toolbox?

[19:17] And that's the only tool you have. No. Right? So they're all for specific purposes and they're all needed for building the kingdom of God. So we have great value in who we are, who God's placed in us, the gifting that we have.

[19:31] The whole purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the entire body of Christ, to be effective in its mission in the world. Not to elevate or promote an individual.

[19:41] When we mistakenly put our emphasis on the five-fold ministry instead of the reality that is a five-fold gift, you get this thing where apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are elevated.

[19:55] When in reality, their gift is to serve the real ministers of the body of Christ, and that is each and every one. Amen. And so the phrase, to profit with all, shows us that our spiritual gifts are given for others' benefit.

[20:10] Ephesians 4 and 12, again, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Okay, so the five-fold gift is for the equipping of the saints, for their work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

[20:28] Anytime you see a situation where a pastor is elevated to a high level, we need to question the mindset of that group of believers. Because my job as a pastor is to equip you to be a minister.

[20:42] Amen. If I, as a pastor of this church, have a church full of people not walking in their gifts that God's given them and not ministering, then I'm failing at my job.

[20:55] Because that's my job, is to make sure that you are fully equipped and edified to be able to do your work as a minister. Amen. If someone has the gift of encouragement, I want people, I want them uplifting and encouraging people.

[21:11] If someone has the gift of administration, I want them organizing to serve in the church's mission. Whatever your gifts are, they need to be in operation. I want you all to understand that every act of service, big or small, contributes to the church's growth and maturity.

[21:26] Amen. And I, as the pastor, am supposed to be a gift to you from God, specifically to elevate you in your service to the kingdom of God. Not for me to be elevated and you not participate in ministry.

[21:39] That's not how it's supposed to be designed according to the word of God. But too many times we find pastors on power trips and they protect that power by limiting the people on the pew.

[21:51] And really what they're doing is they're quenching the spirit because those individuals on the pew have spiritual gifts given to them directly from God for the purpose of his kingdom.

[22:02] But instead, certain pastors try to make those on the pew subjects of their own little personal kingdoms. And those that do that are not a gift to the church body, but a hindrance.

[22:16] And surely God is going to deal with them one day. Amen. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. Now, there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.

[22:27] Okay? Because there's all kinds of spiritual gifts, but they come from the same one spirit of God that is in us. Pastors don't get a different spirit than you get when you get the Holy Ghost. It's the same Holy Ghost.

[22:39] Everybody's getting the same Holy Ghost. There's not a diversity of Holy Ghost out there. Okay? There's no difference in the spirit. Okay? What's different is the gift. And the Bible teaches God gives the gifts he wants to give to who he wants to give it.

[22:55] Okay? And it's none of my business what gifts God gives you. And it's none of your business what God gives me as gifts. It's up to God. He's sovereign in this. Okay?

[23:05] The Bible teaches us that. What business is it of a pastor of a church what gifts God gives to his people? It is only the pastor's job to know his own gift and to use it and encourage the people he pastors to use their gifts to the edification of the body to profit with all.

[23:25] Okay? So not to stifle their gifts, not to keep them tied to a pew chair, not to protect some elevated place of power at the cost of the local church body accomplishing the mission of Christ in the city that they've been called to.

[23:40] Amen? And that's my purpose. That's that I've 100% truly believe everything that I'm preaching to you today. It's in the word of God. I believe this is something that has hindered us as a movement for far too long.

[23:56] And as a pastor, I'm going to make sure that in this city, that's not how it is. And in this church, that's not how it is. And I want us as a body of Christ to be functioning fully.

[24:07] Amen? In our walk, in our lives with God, in our spiritual walk and lives with God. I want God to be able to use you fully with the gifts that he's placed in you because we all have gifts.

[24:19] Amen? And so think of the church body as an orchestra. Each instrument, whether it be a violin or trumpet or drum, it plays a different part. But together, they create a symphony.

[24:31] I don't want to get in the way of that. I don't want to be a pastor that just wants to be a director with no instruments. Okay? If everyone is led to use their gifts, the church produces a harmonious ministry and fulfills the callings that we have upon us.

[24:47] Amen? And so my job as a pastor is to make sure that you as a congregation, every one of you individually are growing and maturing in your spiritual giftings.

[25:00] That's my job. Amen? And if I don't do that, I'm failing. Okay? So the five-fold gift that includes pastors that fulfill their calling instead of elevating themselves creates an opportunity for the church to function like it was intended.

[25:15] So my job as pastor is to be a part of the five-fold gift that is given to you by God to teach you Scripture. Amen? That's my job, to teach you Scripture, to teach you what I'm teaching you today, to encourage you to discover and develop your spiritual giftings, and to lead you around the obstacles that keep you from carrying out your God-given ministry.

[25:34] Not to be an obstacle, but to guide you around obstacles. Amen? And I should be manifesting our spiritual giftings.

[25:45] We should all be manifesting our spiritual giftings in a tangible way, together, because a unified manifestation of the Spirit glorifies God and advances His kingdom.

[25:56] Amen? In Ephesians 4, verse 8, Christ's ascension leads to the giving of gifts. And in 1 Corinthians 12, 3, Paul says, No one can confess Jesus as Lord except by the Spirit.

[26:10] Okay? So what the Spirit's manifestations through each and every one of us and our spiritual gifts are Jesus' empowerment of His church to continue His work.

[26:22] Every individual's ministry reflects Christ's love and power and should not be limited by someone in a misconceived elevated position. Our gifts are not about us, but about pointing others to Jesus.

[26:35] No matter what you do as a minister, when operating in your spiritual gifting, your ministry should be drawing attention to Jesus' victory that He led captivity captive.

[26:47] Amen? What I'm saying is you should be using your testimony. Each one of us has a testimony. God has delivered us from things. God has kept us from other things. And God has placed us on a path.

[26:59] And so we should be using our testimonies to minister to the people around us. We're not just here to receive. You're here to give. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7 says, The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all.

[27:15] That means every one of you has a gift from God, not to show off or be elevated, but to build up the body. And again, Ephesians 4, verse 12 tells us the pastors and teachers are not to be elevated, but here to equip you for the ministry.

[27:30] And you're not to be a bystander. You're the true ministers. Amen? You're the true ministers. Your gift matters. Imagine what this church could do in this city if every one of us stepped into our callings as Spirit-gifted ministers.

[27:46] Amen? Let's all stand. Amen. Ministry is the calling. It's a privilege. It's the responsibility of every member of the body of Christ. Amen.

[27:57] I'm a pastor, part of the five-fold gift, and you are all ministers together. We are the five-fold gift in the true ministry. And when you're baptized in water and Spirit, you're ordained into the ministry.

[28:10] That's your ordination into the ministry. When you went down in the water, in Jesus' name, and when you received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you are going to become an ordained minister. Amen. You have a ministering spirit inside of you that wants to minister.

[28:25] The spirit inside of you is the spirit of Christ, and it wants to minister. It wants to minister to the people around you. And so we shouldn't quench that spirit.

[28:36] And as a pastor, we shouldn't get in the way of that, and we should be edifying the body, and we should be fulfilling our role in making sure that we're doing everything we can to allow the church body to function like it's meant to.

[28:50] And that each and every one of us can walk in our callings and our ministries. And so what I'd like for us to do before we leave is just I want us to reflect and think about our walk with God to this point.

[29:03] Think back to the time when you first felt the presence of God or when you first discovered that God is calling you to something and God's bringing you into something.

[29:14] Before you were saved, before you were set free from captivity, think back to that time when God was reaching for you, and then you answered that call, and then you met God somewhere, and God forgave you of your sins when you repented, and when you went down in Jesus' name and your sins were washed away, and then you received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

[29:35] I want us to reflect on that time, and I want us to pray and meditate today before we leave here. What is it that God placed in me? Because God has gifted you.

[29:46] God has gifted you. When you got his spirit, you got unique gifts that he's sovereign. He can give you whatever gifts that he desires for you to have. Amen. But I can guarantee you he has gifted you.

[29:58] If you have the gift of the Holy Spirit in you, you have the gift of the Spirit, and you need to be able to operate in that. So let's pray, and let's find out what our gifts are and how we can begin to minister as the true ministers.

[30:11]  Amen.