Ephesians

Prepare Us for Service

God wants to use our gifts to produce two profound results in our lives: (1) prepare us for service, and (2) make us mature in Christ. In Ephesians 4:12, Paul says that the purpose of the gifts is “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” How does God shape up His saints and prepare them for service? The apostle Paul gives us an insight when he describes his own service in Colossians 1:28: “We proclaim [Jesus], admonishing [or warning] and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect [or mature] in Christ.”

Someone has defined preaching or teaching as “the art of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.” The truth ought to get under our collars and into our hearts and bother us greatly at times. When there is sin or error in our lives, the truth ought to itch and chafe and drive us crazy! Ultimately, the truth brings comfort, delight, and joy— but before it can bring us comfort, it must afflict us and disturb us and awaken us to our sense of need.

Teaching God’s Word demands being faithful to the whole counsel of God, not picking out a few favorite themes or verses. Scripture should not be taught piecemeal, but should be presented as an integrated whole. You don’t find in the Scriptures a chapter on justification and another on sanctification and another on baptism. God’s truth is woven seamlessly together. Whenever you take a sizable section of the Word of God and comment on every point in it, you are more likely to present His truth in balance than if you “cherry-pick” your way around the Bible.

It is truth in balance that truly prepares the saints for service. Only the Word of God can penetrate the hardness of our rationalizing hearts, cutting, melting, and ultimately healing our hearts so that we are fit for God’s service.