Ephesians 4:8,11-16 English Standard Version

8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Here we discover what gifts were given and why. These are the service gifts, they are not the natural gifts. The natural gifts serve a different purpose but they can serve the will of God.

What we seek to discover is which of these service gifts has any of us been given.

Over my decades of being in more than one church ministry I can bear witness to some events that might help shed light on how we might discover our callings in the gift(s) we have been given.

A man came into church one day and announced he was a bible teacher. He was pulled aside by the elders and was told that he would not be given a position to teach in the congregation simply on his word. Over time it was discovered that he desired the gift of teaching which was not given by the Lord. 

The lesson there is that our fellow believers will discover what our gifts are because we have allowed others to search out our hearts and submit properly as God intended.

Nothing brings out the identity of a calling as quickly as submission of will to others. That frees up the Spirit to speak into the hearts of others what Christ has done in us. Verse 14 above was included with this purpose,”by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”.

1 Corinthians 12:31 English Standard Version(ESV) But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Some will seek a gift without discovering the way.

• 3 John 1:5
  Support and Opposition
  Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,
  
• 3 John 1:8
  Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

We spoke yesterday about spending our time and that it is the only thing we can sacrifice to God. All things have been placed in Christ the Lord and all things are His. We are nothing more than stewards of the Lord’s possessions. We all want to be good stewards but there is so much to do and so many things that we care passionately about.

Passion is an emotional word and might not be the thing that the Lord wants of us.

Let us think in terms of what the Lord has given to us to serve Him.

Ephesians 4:1-7 English Standard Version

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Have we found our calling according to the gifts that we have been given?

If yes, do we know how to use them to serve our Lord?

These things take time to sort out.