7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 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;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 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 preceding portion of this Chapter has given particular emphasis to those great fundamental facts of the Christian faith which are at once its unifying features. The Apostle now turns to the consideration of that diversity of gifts which characterizes the fellowship of the saints in the prosecution of the ministry committed unto them; which ministry is, by divine intent, unto the building up and completion of the Church -- the body of Christ. The unity is not forgotten; it is rather that which binds together in one incomparable organism all those who, under God, may serve in the exercise of diversified gifts.

By the words, "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (verse 7), the important New Testament doctrine of the Holy Spirit's divine enablement in service is introduced. The Holy Spirit of God Who, as seen in 3:16, is the One Who strengthens with might in the inner man, and in 4:3 as one of the potent unifying agencies of the Body of Christ, is the Administrator of those varying gifts which are bestowed by the exalted Son of God. That the Spirit administers and gives strength for the exercise of the gifts is declared in other portions of Scripture.

In Rom 12:3-8 we read,

"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. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness";

and again in 1Co 12:4-11:

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will";

So, also, 1Pe 4:10-11,

"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 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."

The Diversity of Gifts

Thus all true God-appointed service is seen to be the exercise by the Spirit of the gift of Christ, and the emphasis in all this Scripture is on the diversity of the gifts. In fact, since no two of God's children are situated in identically the same circumstances nor called of Him to identically the same service, there are no two who are precisely alike in their divine appointments. Thus each and every believer confronts the solemn, individual responsibility of completing the task which is to be undertaken by none other than himself, and which he may believe represents a thought of God which is nowhere else to be represented in the world.

In the New Testament use of the word, a gift is quite removed from the idea concerning it which obtains in the world. So far from being merely a native ability, it is no less than the Spirit of God doing something and using the individual as His instrument in the accomplishment of it. It is distinctly the Spirit's undertaking, and therefore partakes of that supernatural and limitless resource which belongs to the Holy Spirit of God. Thus two important facts are disclosed: the gift is appointed and bestowed by the ascended Christ in glory, and it is wrought by the descended Spirit on the earth; for we read in verse 8, "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." This is quoted from Psa 68:18, and the glorified Christ is presented as the One Who, at His ascension, "received gifts for men." The gifts were by Him taken that they might, in turn, by Him be given. In fact the very men for whom the gifts were received and to whom they are given are themselves gifts from the Father to the Son (Joh 17:1-26 : 2 John 17:2, Joh 17:6, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:11, Joh 17:12, Joh 17:24), as the Son is Himself a gift from the Father to men (Joh 3:16). That it is declared in Psa 68:18 that Christ received gifts, and in Ephesians it is declared that He gave gifts, indicates that the receiving is unto the giving, and that, when applying a previous revelation to a new dispensation, the Spirit is free to vary or qualify the original declaration as He will. Much, indeed, was given to Christ both at the resurrection and the incarnation (Eph 1:20-23; Php 2:9-11), and what He has received He will yet share with all who are united to Him.

He that ascended (verses 9, 10) is the same also Who first descended to the lower parts of the earth. The undertaking is as much one achievement as it is wrought by One in all its parts. His descent is to lower regions than heaven, yea, even to the grave itself; and His ascent is to a position "far above all heavens." Previously (1:21) He has been seen in a glory incomparable to principalities and powers; but here He is seen, in the living majesty of His own Person, rising to the highest heaven in the exaltation which belongs to the Creator alone. The magnitude of His condescension and all it accomplished, with the surpassing glory of His exaltation and all that it secures for His redeemed, are both alike passed over in the one purpose to identify this adorable and ever blessed Lord as the Bestower of gifts.

Four gifts are here declared (verse 11). Some gifts are divine enablements bestowed upon men (cf. Rom 12:6-8), while others assume the more tangible form of gifted men bestowed upon the Church as a whole.

Apostles

The apostle is the envoy or immediate delegate with the highest authority from the Savior. The term is applied to our Lord Himself (Heb 3:1), to the Twelve, to Paul, to Barnabas, and to Matthias. Apostles were chosen by Christ or by the Holy Spirit directly and were heralds of the truth of God under divinely provided credentials. They will yet judge the twelve tribes of Israel in the coming Kingdom (Mat 19:28). Membership in the company of the apostles was conditioned not only upon divine appointment, but upon having been an eyewitness to the resurrected Christ (Act 1:21). By this credential Paul established and defended his apostleship (1Co 9:1).

Prophets

A prophet of the New Testament order (cf. 2:20 and 3:5) is defined in 1Co 14:3 as one who "speaketh unto men to edification, to exhortation and comfort." Beyond this illuminating declaration no explanation is needed. The message of the New Testament prophet is more one of forthtelling than of foretelling. He declares the message of God with exhortation and unto edification and comfort. In the higher meaning of the word, the prophet may be said, along with the apostle, to have ceased with the first generation of the Church; but in a secondary sense, as indicated above, he may be regarded as ministering still.

The evangelist, like the apostle, is unknown in previous dispensations. While the apostle's ministry is evidently limited to the first generation of the Christian era, and while he is given the highest authority to speak as one who has seen the risen Christ, the evangelist's ministry continues throughout the age; and to him is committed the evangel which is God's present and incomparable message of saving grace to all who will believe on Christ. The present peculiar conception of the evangelist as a revivalist and promoter of religious interest within the organized church is hardly the evangelist of the New Testament. Probably the foreign missionary or frontier preacher who enters into hitherto unevangelized fields is more the divine conception of the evangelist. Timothy was charged by the Apostle Paul to do the work of an evangelist (2Ti 4:5); namely, to proclaim the glorious evangel to those who are lost.

Pastors and teachers

The omission of the word some before the word teacher would imply that the ministry of the pastor and that of the teacher are, in the divine economy, committed to one and the same person; and it is well that it is so. In His great grace, God has provided for the comforting and guiding of His people through the ministry of the pastor and for their edification in the sanctifying Scriptures through the ministry of the teacher.

How important it is, then, that the prophet, the evangelist, and the pastor and teacher shall be fully trained for the great task committed to them; for not only do these men serve God in the direct proclamation of the Truth committed to them, but they are (and particularly the pastor and teacher) appointed to leadership in the Church of Christ. This truth, the importance of which can hardly be estimated, is declared in verse 12; for we read that these ministry gifts are "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Too often it is supposed from this Scripture that three things are here set forth as descriptive of the detailed duties of those pastors and teachers who are God's gift to the Church. However, the passage assigns to these men the responsibility of "perfecting the saints"; that is, with the view to the equipment of the saints for their work of the ministry. The word here translated perfecting is a noun which is but once used in the New Testament, and it signifies that equipment which all saints should have in their witness and service for Christ. The verb form of the word is found elsewhere (Mat 4:21, mending nets; and Gal 6:1, where, as a dislocated joint, the unspiritual believer is to be restored by one who is spiritual. Cf. 2Co 13:11; Heb 13:21;  1Pe 5:10).

In view of the New Testament commission in which all believers are directed into a vital witnessing for Christ (Mat 28:19-20; Mar 16:15; Joh 17:18; Act 1:8; 2Co 5:18-20), there is no strange message introduced here with reference to the fact that the saints have a great service to perform. The new truth which is introduced at this point is that the saints are to be equipped unto this ministry by the gifted men who are divinely appointed to this task. Thus it is ordained of God that the greatest service is to be wrought by the saints; but it is also recognized that the saints are to be specifically trained for their task. This is the original and never-to-be-improved evangelism of the Church. The multiplied ministries of Sunday School teachers, mission workers, and soul-winners should be not only under the direction of God's appointed leaders, but should be rendered true and effective by faithful instruction.

Indeed, the gifted men must themselves be trained for their tasks and, under modern arrangements, such training is supposed to be provided by the theological seminary. There is needed, likewise, those who, under God, are able to train the gifted men. Probably no greater responsibility could be committed to any man than that he should mould the ideals of the gifted men who, in turn, are to mould the ideals of the whole company of the saints. In this light of this sequence in responsibility, it can be declared that no man, who has not a burning passion for lost men and who is not himself an example of tireless soul-winning zeal, is fitted to serve in a seminary as a fountain source from which these streams of effective ministry flow; for the saints will be what their pastors and teachers equip them to be, and the pastor and teacher will be, to a large degree, what his seminary professor equips him to be.

This order and ministry is unto a divinely appointed consummation (verse 13). It is to go on "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." There is no thought here of perfecting individual men; it is rather the completion of that body -- the Church -- which must attain to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Reference has been made in 2:15 to this great divine consummation, and again it is declared in Rom 11:25 that the present age-long blindness which has come upon Israel will continue "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." The Apostle has likewise declared that the Church, which is Christ's body, is "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (1:23).

It is not the purpose of God that the saints shall be so neglected as to vital truth and so unguided as to leadership in service, that they as mere children are to be "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" (verse 14); but according to the divine plan they are, while speaking the truth in love, to "grow up into him [probably unto Him as the Pattern] in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (verse 15); not merely veracity, as in verse 25, but a faithful declaration of the message which is divinely committed to them, which message must, if to be effective, be spoken in love. Sad, indeed, has been the result when the truth has been spoken without love!

The continued emphasis in the New Testament on the importance of advancement in the knowledge of Christ, of growing in grace, of becoming an unashamed workman through the study of the Word, and of a tireless striving for full maturity, should not be unnoticed and unheeded. Likewise, it is true that the Church has lost her testimony and effectiveness in so far as she has turned from these vital, divine injunctions to the substitutes and deceptions which are offered by men. There need be no fear of the ravages of false teachers or their teachings where God's ordained program for His equipped Church has been executed. God alone must be the Judge of those who, sitting in the seat of authority and charged with the purity of doctrinal streams which alone lead to established Christian character and effective service, have allowed the Church to reach her present state of ineffectiveness as a witnessing, soul-winning company.

In the service committed to them, the whole company of believers is likened by the Apostle (verse 16) to a growing body in which each and every part is active in its effort to build up the whole unto maturity. Thus increase in the body is secured. Christ is the Source from Whom every vital increase must be derived. He it is Who has undertaken not only to build His Church (Mat 16:18 Mat 16:18) by calling out the elect company, but He must, as well, perfect both the individual believer and the corporate body itself.

From the beginning it has pleased God to use the members of Christ's body for the salvation of men, lacking though they often are in educational standing and leadership. Perhaps there is no more suggestive recognition of this self-building character of the Church which is Christ's body than that disclosed in Rev 19:7 Rev 19:7, where we read, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." This original divinely given program of personal evangelism is the method by which the early Church gained the triumph over the forces of the world, and by that same method she might have continued to triumph to this present hour.