silentreader wrote:
5. I WILL DEVELOP LEADERS
One of Jesus’ top priorities was to develop leaders. He did not mass-produce leaders but intentionally focused on a small number of them. I affirm that developing leaders as Jesus did calls me to build close, personal relationships with promising men and women, and to invest time in mentoring them. I affirm that the heart cry from many younger leaders around the world is for a spiritual mentor. I also acknowledge my calling to equip saints for ministry and to release them to serve as the Holy Spirit directs. I am aware that many leaders ignore this priority. I ask for grace and insight to intentionally equip saints and strengthen the hearts and lives of younger leaders.
(Matt. 4:18-22; Matt. 28:16-20; Luke 6:12-16; John 17:6-19; Acts 11:22-26; Acts 15:39-16:5; Eph. 4:11- 16; Phil. 2:19-30; 2 Timothy)
lester, I was impressed today for some reason to do this sooner rather than later, hopefully I'm not rushing it.
I want to look at the Ephesians reference but in a broader context than above.
Ephesians 4:7-16 (ESV)
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 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.
Verse 8, even though not a direct quote from either the Hebrew or Greek OT, is an allusion to Psalm 68:18.
There are various 'understandings' of what this verse means, but in my studies and comparisons, the following is my preferred understanding.
In those times, when a king, King David as an example, fought and had victory over the enemy, he would 'recapture' of his own people who had previously been taken captive by the enemy, and bring them up to and present them in his city, Jerusalem. They would then be given of the spoils of war, (gifts) that had perhaps also been recaptured from the enemy.
Paul then uses this to form an analogy on a spiritual level. In my mind Paul is telling us that when King Jesus won the victory over the enemy, the result was that He recaptured many who had been captives of the enemy, and when He ascended and presented them to the Father, He gave them gifts from/through the Holy Spirit.
I don't think Paul's parenthetical 'descended' statement is useful for this particular study.
The gifts/giftedness that He gave was used by some as apostles, some as prophets, and so on... to equip the saints for the work and ministry of building up and edifying the Body of Christ. In several ways he states that the goal was to bring spiritual growth and mature discernment to those who are in the Body, so that the Body is strengthened, works properly together, and is unified in love.
What do I learn from all this?
1) I was a captive of the enemy, I was recaptured by King Jesus.
2) When He ascended and presented me to the Father, He then gave me a Holy Spirit gift.
3) This gift was in no way intended for my personal advancement, but was to be used for, among other things,
the mentoring of fellow believers so that we can grow into a coherent, effective Body.
4) He gave me enabling grace so that the full measure of Christ's gift can be used for the benefit of the Body.
(This from v7.)
May I in humility look to Him for direction as to how I can use His gift for the eternal good of others.