Series:
Ephesians
Title: Given Grace
Text: Ephesians 4: 3
Date: March 30, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians
4: 7: But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ.
The Holy Spirit is teaching believers
how to walk.
Ephesians
4: 1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2:
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in
love; 3: Endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The Holy Spirit teaches believers to do
so because we are one.
Ephesians
1: 4 There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5: One Lord, one faith, one
baptism, 6: One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and
in you all.
The Holy Spirit teaches believers though
we are one, we do not all have the same gifts
Ephesians
4: 7: But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ.
Proposition:
If
believers would truly endeavor to keep our unity, it will help us to remember
that every one of us is given gifts of grace in different measure, according as
our Head, Christ Jesus, is pleased to give.
Title: Given Grace
I.
FIRST, IT WILL HELP EACH BELIEVER TO REMAIN LOWLY AND MEEK TO REMEMBER
EVERYTHING WE HAVE FROM GOD IS “GIVEN”—Ephesians 4: 7: But unto every one of us
is GIVEN…
This word “given” means it came as a
“gift” from a source outside of us. What is “given” to a believer? Our calling
is a gift. (v1) Our new spirit is a gift: “lowliness and meekness,
longsuffering, forbearance, love of Christ and of one another, v3: even our
endeavoring is a gift, our unity is a gift, the bond of peace is a gift, to be
of one body, one hope, one faith, one baptism is all a gift, to be born of one
Spirit, to be chosen of one God and Father, to have our Father sovereignly rule
over all, through all and in you all.” These
are all gifts given freely of God. But our greatest gift of all is our Lord
Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians
9:15: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
So our text speaks of gifts of the new
heart-new spirit, it speaks of offices and operations and administrations, it speaks
of talents—these are all gifts given in measure—different measure—to every one
of us.
Application: So we, believers,
have no reason to be anything but lowly and meek before God and before one
another because everything believers have is a gift given.
1 Corinthians
4:7: For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if
thou hadst not received it?of God.
Brethren, never seek the highest place.
If we do, we will have a lot of competition. If we choose the lowest place, we
will have plenty of room. That is one
reason it is more peaceful to be lowly.
There is not nearly as many seeking to be lowly. But Christ said to be
greatest in the kingdom of God is to be the least and servant of all. (Mt 18:
4; 23: 11; Lu 22: 26) The way up with God is down.
II.
SECONDLY, IT WILL HELP US TO BE MEEK AND LOWLY, TO BE LONGSUFFERING AND TO
FORBEAR ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING GIVEN IS BY GRACE—Ephesians
4: 7: But unto every one of us is given grace—
Note: He speaks of gifts here, because every
gift is the gift of grace.
What
is grace? Grace is God’s free favor—it is not based on any worthiness in our
persons; it is not based on any works we do—grace is the unmerited favor of God
freely given to sinners.
Grace
cannot be based on any good in us because Christ said, “there is none good but
one, that is, God.” (Mk 10: 18)
Psalm 14: 2: The
LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any
that did understand, and seek God. 3: They are all gone aside, they are all
together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Grace
cannot be based on God foreseeing that we would believe because faith is not of
us, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2: 8:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God:
Grace
cannot be the earned by our works, for God will not share his glory with us.
Ephesians 2: 9:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We are all sinners, deserving of nothing
from God but justice and hell’s eternal destruction. We broke God’s law in the
garden; we break the law given at Mt. Sinai, even in our thoughts.
Deuteronomy
25:16: For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an
abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Proverbs 28:9:
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
The
vain god’s of man’s imagination is abomination to God: the abomination of the
Ammonites, the abomination of Moab, the abomination of the Zidonians, the
abomination of the Americans, the abomination of the New Jersians
Our
problem is a heart problem.
Proverbs 16:5: Every
one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in
hand, he shall not be unpunished.
It
goes two ways: God hates the wickedness of sinful flesh; likewise, the natural
man is enmity against God.
Proverbs 29:27:
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way
is abomination to the wicked.
Application: So never despise grace! If God did not
give grace freely to some, none would be saved.
But
whether sinners or not, it is Gods’ prerogative to give grace, and gifts of
grace, to whomsoever he chooses.
Jeremiah 18: 1:
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2: Arise, and go down to
the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3: Then I
went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4: And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so
he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6: O house of Israel, cannot I
do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in
the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Romans 9:
10:…when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11: (For
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth;) 12: It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13: As
it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.14: What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15: For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. 16: So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy…19: Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? [We could answer because we all fell in Adam] For who
hath resisted his will? [We could answer all of us] 20: Nay but [here is the
right answer] O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21: Hath not the
potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour,
and another unto dishonour?
Application:
So
do not get angry that God gives grace to some and not others. None of us
deserve anything but hell. And it is God’s prerogative to be merciful to whom
he will. Instead, be thankful that God does gives grace to some, else we would
all perish in our sins. Members of Christ’s body were chosen freely by grace, adopted by grace, sanctified
by grace, preserved by grace, and we shall be resurrected by grace and glorified
by grace. “By grace are ye saved.” (Eph
2: 8) So grace makes us lowly and meek.
III. THIRDLY, IT
WILL HELP US IF WE REMEMBER FROM WHOM GRACE, AND THE GIFTS OF GRACE, ARE
GIVEN—Ephesians 4: 7: But unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.
Everything I just mentioned is in Christ
and given by Christ. By Christ Jesus, every one of us in Christ’s body, were
justified freely and made righteous by grace.
Romans 5: 6: For
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7:
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. 8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9: Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10: For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
By
our resurrected Christ we heard the gospel and by Christ we are given spiritual
life. But to prevent a haughty, proud, fleshly attitude, the Holy Spirit says, “But
unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ.” (Eph 4: 7)
Illustration: A cook uses a measuring cup to measure
the ingredients they put in the pot.
Every believer is an earthen vessel—a clay pot—into who Christ measures
various gifts of grace, as he will.
In
Christ’s body we all are one by these seven things which unite us. But there are:
babies in grace, adolescents in grace, teenagers in grace, men and women in
grace and elders in grace. Some weak in grace, some strong, some at all points
in between. It has nothing to do with age or time one has been under the sound
of the gospel; it is all dependent upon the measure of grace Christ gives.
We
each have an unction from the Holy One and know all things. But one may not be able to speak the truth as
plainly as another. We each know how we are to walk to honor God and Christ but
we are sometimes overtaken in a fault. So remembering that we each have
differing measures of grace we are longsuffering, forebearing one another in
love.
Galatians 5: Let
us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
6: 1: Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. 2: Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ. 3: For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself.
Romans 12:3: For
I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
If you or one of your brethren need more
grace: grace of lowliness or meekness, grace of longsuffering or forbearance, grace
of temperance, grace of faith, or whatever grace is needed, knowing grace is
given us from Christ:
Hebrews 4:16:
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.
He delights in mercy. Christ welcomes
every child at any time. The door of his storehouse is always open. He entreats
every one of us to avail ourselves of his fullness and grace. The only
qualification is a contrite, empty heart and an open mouth. ’Open thy mouth
wide, and I will fill it.’ (Ps 81: 10)
Application: So remember,
brethren, we are one! But unto every
one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So with ourselves and our brethren, trace
every blessing, every good word and work, to Christ!
James 1:17:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
How this simplifies things! This
concentrates all our devotions, all our praises into one—Christ our All. Christ’s
willingness to give us grace exceeds our conception as much as his blood
exceeds all our guilt. All our doubting will be removed if we remember his
grace is as free as it is boundless. Christ “is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
(Eph 3: 20)
Let us each ask ourselves, what has my
worship, my service, my consecration been to Christ? To my brethren? This is so
important. Let us use the gifts he gives for his glory and the good of our
brethren using every ounce of strength Christ gives us.
1 Peter 4: 10:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11: If any man speak, let him
speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the
ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus
Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Amen!