God's Plan for Believers to in Unity in the Faith Christians are given a gift from God. Ephesians 4:7-8

God's Plan for Believers for Unity in the Faith
Christians are given a gift from God.
Ephesians 4:7-8
by Cooper Abrams

Introduction:    When our church held its first service the piano and organ were not tuned together. Both Carolyn on the organ the our pianist at that time played the same song, but it did not sound good at all. Carolyn then quit playing the organ. We then had a piano tuner to come and they were tuned together.
          Last Sunday Heather Setzer played the piano and Carolyn played the organ. It sounded really wonderful and added greatly to our service.
           We can learn a lesson from the piano and organ. By the way...they are not tuned to each other, but rather tuned to a common standard. The piano is first tuned to the note... middle C. Then the organ is tuned to the same note and when they play together they compliment each other.
           The passage in Ephesians 4:7-16 is given to us by the Lord to explain an important truth to us. Members of a local church are like an orchestra. Each one of us are different, a different instrument of the Lord. This passage is explaining to us that all believers in Christ are given different talents, which are abilities to serve the Lord.
          God gives a church a leader, a pastor teacher who has the responsibility to teach the word of God and be a pastor to the congregation. He as the overseer of the local church, leads as a conductor leads an orchestra. God's plan is that each member of the church using their God given talents is to work in unison with the pastor and the other members of the congregation. When each member willingly uses their talents the church functions as God intended and people get saved and the membership grows strong in Christ.
          God then blesses ever member as they faithfully use their ability(s) and the Holy Spirit empowers them individually and as a congregation. This is God's plan and what pleases Him and in turn reaps us the blessings of God in our individual lives as well.
          This is God's plan. Like the tuning fork sets the standard for tuning an orchestra together, God's word is the standard of the local New Testament church.
          Have you ever heard someone in an orchestra play a bad note? It only takes one member of the orchestra to mur or destroy the beauty of the music being played.
          We all have been to children's recitals or to a children's band. Often there is one or two of the group who are out of tune with the rest. Guess who the audience's attention is on? You are right....the one out of tune.
          From this example we can see how important each member of a local church is to the work of the whole church. That is what God wants us to see in this passage.
          God explains this to us in 2 Thessalonians 1:10-12, He says:

"When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:10-12)" (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

          Paul is talking about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is talking about the Rapture when believers will be resurrected or changed and given their new bodies. He is referring to the BEMA judgment that will follow the Rapture where believers will be judged for reward. He is saying that because of their belief which produces service to the Lord in their lives....they would glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
          He is saying that he prayed they would be found worthy of the calling of service to the Lord, and that believers would fulfil God's purpose in their lives, and they would have the "work of faith with power."
          In other words God is telling us that we are to live by faith, seeking to fulfill God's plan for our lives and that are work is to come from our faith, and be sustained by our faith, and by the power of God. We are to be the willing instrument of God's plans and He empowers us and accomplishes His good purposes through us. Dear Christian friend....can there be any greater purpose or desire in your life than to be used of God to carry out His plan?
I. Each Believer is given a special measure of Grace. Eph. 4:7.

A. Read Eph.. 4:1-6. God is telling us in verse one to walk in worthy in the vocation in which we are called. In simple terms it means to live our lives in accordance with God's plans. God is telling us how to live the fullest and most rewarding life possible.

1. As a Christian we are called to live our lives as a Christian. We are to no longer walk....or live our lives as the unsaved world does. Our standards, purposes and goals are different. Our purpose for live should be to accomplish God's plan for us. The believer is to be directed to living a godly life to honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are His disciples, and we are to strive to live the life He has for us. As we live for the Lord we live the best life possible we can have.
2. Living for the Lord, or walking as Paul says "worthy of our vocation" has both present and future blessings. Presently we live filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph.. 5:18) we can live purposefully lives. We personally benefit by living this godly life and also it benefits our spouses, children, relatives, friends and the people we meet. Nothing on earth is more rewarding than to be a help to other people. You cannot serve God without serving other people.
3. Living for the Lord has a future benefit. As we honor the Lord by our lives God says that He will reward us in heaven. Our future service to the Lord in eternity will be governed by how we lived our present lives.
3. Jesus used a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 to explain this. Three men were given talents. One was given ten, the next five and the last one...one. Two used the talents and were greatly rewarded, but the third lost everything because he did not use it. 1 Cor. 3:10-15 explains the BEMA judgment of believers. The works of those wasted their lives was burned in the judgment fire and verse 15 says they "suffered lost." That is a chilling statement....they suffered lost. I can tell us assuredly that every one in this room, when they stand before Jesus Christ...will want to suffer lost.

B. Every believer is given "grace" which here refers to the privilege of being given a talent or ability to serve the Lord Jesus in this life.

1. 1 Corinthians 12:1f explains that God gives each person a special gift or gifts in which to serve the Lord. Read 1 Cor. 12:7-11.
2. These gifts are given by the Holy Spirit as He determines. 1 Cor. 12:7.
3. 1 Cor. 12:18 and 28 says it is God who sets people in the local congregation with different gifts to be used collectively in the local church to serve the Lord and carry out his purposes and plan.
4. The local congregation is referred to as a "body" and the unity of the different parts of a body used to demonstrate the importance of each part of the body working in harmony with the other parts. 1 Cor. 12:12-18.

C. Every member of the local church is important to the whole of the assembly. 1 Cor. 12:22-26.

1. Some might say " I can't do what others do so I am not much use." Many take this attitude and stand back and let others carry on the work of the congregation. But my friend God says that every one with what ever ability is important.
2. There was a lady who attended Central Baptist Church in Hampton, VA for many years. See could not teach adults, but God gave her a talent to working with children. With the talent God will give the desire to use the talent. She loved to keep the nursery and kept if for many years. When her husband retired he wanted to move about a hundred miles away from Hampton to the other side of Richmond, VA. He had planned for many years to retire to this beautiful part of Virginia. His wife told him that she would go with him to his dream home in the country, but only if he would bring her back to Central Baptist Church each Sunday to keep take care of the nursery. He loved his wife and the Lord and for many years till she went home to be with the Lord she traveled that long distance each Sunday to "walk worthy of the vocation" in which the Lord had called her too.
           Some may think her service was a lowly one..... She never preached a message, was rarely seen or recognized for her service, but she was a vital part of that church. She is in heaven now.....I am sure our Savior is greatly pleased with her and will greatly reward her faithfulness in using the ability God gave her.
3. Some let other things hinder their service to the Lord. It is easy to let the ordinary things of lives take our time and interfere with our service to the Lord. It is easy to let such things keep us from our service to the Lord.

D. Dear Fellow Believers....you need to know and accept this important truth. God has a purpose for your life and He says in this passage He has given you a special measure of grace....an ability to serve Him, which means serving others. It means having a testimony of faithfulness to the Lord that sets the example for others in your family, to your fellow believers and to the unsaved who know you.

1. Lets go back to the piano illustration: It can be quite a task to get all the keys in a piano in tune, especially if the piano has been neglected. A piano that has been left untuned or unused for a period of time may need what is called a "pitch-raise." Essentially, that means the piano tuner does an extended tuning, often taking several passes tuning the entire piano until everything will finally stay in tune. The person who has neglected using their gift from the Lord may have to make a new commitment to the Lord. They need to once again begin to use their talent and as they do they grow better at using it and become more effective. As a believer's attention is focus to fine tuning their talent....the become for confident and a more useful part of the work of their church.
2. Dear friends if we do not use our talent it will be of no usefulness to us and will decay. I once asked a friend of ours, Ruth Green who played the piano the most beautifully of all those I have heard, how she could play so well. She very "matter 0f factly" said....practice. It is no secret it takes practice....a great deal of practice.
3. The new Sunday School teacher is always a little anxious during their first classes. But in time, as she or he practices teaching, they learn and grow more effective and more useful as a teacher. The same goes for every service and task in a local church.

           There are two people who God cannot use even though they have been given a talent. One is the "know it all" and the other the one who will not try.
4. God's servants are to be humble people who do not let pride rule their actions. The person who thinks they know everything cannot be used of the Lord. They do what they do to bring attention to themselves. God is not honored by that.

          The other person is like the three men in a SS class I taught in Virginia in July 2007. I did not know the men so I asked one of them to pray. He blushed and said I should ask someone else. I then asked the man next to him...he too refused. Folks, do not let false pride or embarrassment rob you of your service to the Lord. We all can pray to the Lord and we need not to pray fancy or eloquent prayers. We need to see leading in prayer as a privilege and opportunity to honor the Lord.

          It may be difficult at first to try and witness to someone, maybe a family member or friend or someone at work. But as we use our talent....the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and strengthens and guides us. We may fail sometimes. I know I have many times. But we keep working at it and learning and God will bless our efforts.

E. Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins. He bore our sins in His own body that we could be saved and become a child of God. He made salvation simple that by belief in Him we could be saved and live the life God purposed for us to live. But there is more.

1. Ephesians 1 explains clearly that God's plan was that though belief in Jesus Christ we could become the children of God. We were predestined to be to His praise and glory. God says he predestined us to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
2. Paul is quoting in Eph. 4:8, Psalm 68:18.

"Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." (Psalms 68:18-19)

3. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he obtained certain gifts for men, and those gifts are bestowed upon his people in accordance with God's will. This reaffirms the truth that if you are a believer, a born again child of God....you have a gift or gifts God has given you.

II. The Question this Passage Begs to be Answered.

A. This vital truth is given to us for a purpose. God does not just hap-hazardly give us His word. He reveals truth from His word for a reason and that reason is always for our benefit.
B. The question is simple and most of us are thinking it even now. The question is that simple and clear....

Are we using the talent God has given us?

C. I like the nickname of the State of Tennessee. It is called the Volunteer State. In the war of 1812, and the Mexican War an unusual number of them volunteered to fight with Andrew Jackson in the battle of New Orleans and in the Mexican War. They were simple men, but men of purpose and they were noted for their unusual valor in the battle. They unselfishly volunteered to serve their country and defend it from our enemies. They brought great honor and praise on their state.

1. A local church is made up of baptized believers in Jesus Christ who voluntarily join together in the cause of serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. There is no draft or no one is pressed into serve against their will. Work done for the Lord must be done out of a love and devotion to Him. Reluctant, coerced, or begrudged service does not honor the Lord. It is not praise to Him if we have to be force to serve Him. That is why God gave us a free will. What honor Him and benefits us is when we freely desire and seek to serve Him.

Conclusion:

1. Do you believe God's word? It says all believers have a measure of Grace.
2. The question is not do you have a god given talent to serve the Lord, but the question is are you using it and using it to its fullness.
3. We all are called to be a witness for the Lord Jesus so that others could be saved. We all are called to be faithful in our attendance in church.
4. We have nothing to do with how much ability God has given us, or how little. What we are responsible for is how we use whatever we are given. Our part is to be faithful, doing our level best with every bit and scrap we are given. .....And we will be greatly used if we allow the Holy Spirit to empower the talent we are given.

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