The Gifts

[Steven]

Blessings and Honor to All!

It is truly a Blessing to be able to communicate with you all once again. I
recently began reading again the book of Ephesians and was stumped with a
question concerning Chapter 4.  Where Paul speaks on the gifts given by grace to
men. Particular emphasis should be given to verses 11-16. Paul admonishes that
the some were given gifts to teach, preach, pastor, evangelize, prophesy, and
apostolic teaching. All of these gifts were given "for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby
they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into
him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase
of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

The question that stumped me is why are there so many gifts and how do we
use them in the church? Well the answer is not in the church in as much as it's
in what we do with those gifts after we leave the church building. Saints of
God, we are the church. We as the Body Of Christ are to use what God has given
us as a means to perfect the church, making ourselves available to the effectual
(what we do has an effect on the whole) working of the gifts God has given,
whether it be teaching or preaching or just simply giving of our time to
someone.  There are a few prerequisites;

1. Salvation- We must be saved first and foremost

2. Community- We must work within our community, not neighborhood, a
community is that group or groups of people we come in contact with day to
day.

3. Discipline- The Holy Spirit will discipline us when we allow it to. We
must accept the truth as a way of life. We have to have the truth of God's Word
engraved in our hearts. It is not enough to just know the Word, we have to live
it, and in so doing we live the truth. The Holy Spirit will make us grow up,
beyond that of Babies as we once were, but men and Women of God.

Then we must establish benchmarks with which to gauge the success of the
Church (Body Of Christ)

There are four benchmarks that gauge that success.

1. Stability- Ephesians 4:14

2. Truth- Ephesians 4:15

3. Love-Ephesians 4:16

4. Forgiveness-Ephesians 4:32

Once we have come to the realization that the church is not the place for
the Spiritually sick but the place where the people of God gather to sharpen
their swords for battle. The Gifts spoken of above are the reason we have the
Church Building, the Arms Room if you will. We go to Church to strengthen and
improve the Gifts God has given. The End Result Will Be Christ-Like People.  So
use what God has given and Love one another so when men see us they see Christ.