What is the Value of God's Ministry Grace Gifts to Us?

In this week’s episode, we will look at just one of God’s ministry grace gifts to us via the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s gifts are nothing, and I mean nothing, like the gifts that men give to one another. How’s this story as an illustration of this fact? “It’s not the gift; it’s the thought behind it.” You’ve heard that before. Well, these two brothers put a lot of thought into the giving of a pair of pants that they gave back and forth to each other every Christmas. First, the pants were tied to a car wheel and run over snow and ice, then removed from the wheel, wrapped in a lovely box, and presented at Christmas time. When the other brother got them the following Christmas, he placed those same pants in a form where wet cement was poured and allowed to dry. They were presented that year along with a sledgehammer. So, the following year they were placed in the framing of a small tool shed, and the entire shed had to be ripped apart to get to the pants. The following year, the same old sorry, miserable pair of pants sat in the front seat of a demolished car, compressed into a flattened piece of metal. It took a tractor and crowbars to get to that same pair of pants. Again, it wasn’t the gift—it was the fun and joy in giving it.¹ I am so glad Jesus didn’t put salvation in a demolished car or bury it in concrete where you would have to work to obtain it. No, Jesus’ gifts are free and clear and easy to access. What is the Value of God’s Grace Gifts to Us? — that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe on Stitcher Radio

The Value of Humility and Consecration in the Miracles of God

[Tweet “God’s gifts TO men is the gift OF men — special kind of men — anointed men — Holy Spirit empowered men.”]

Read the Notes

You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

We must learn to put the highest value on what Jesus died to purchase. Think about this truth and allow your life to be transformed.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: What has been the value of God’s ministry grace gifts to you? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

Subscribe to the Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

Stitcher Radio Spotify

iTunes PlayerFM

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

Podcast Notes

Ministry Gifts: The Power of a Parenthesis

Ephesians 4:7–12 (ESV) — 7 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,

Notice the parenthesis.
Parenthesis means you can take what’s inside these brackets and lay them to the side – take them out if you would – and, by doing so, the verse’s thought is not disturbed.
Now, what’s in this parenthesis is vital to this scripture passage.
There is big-time revelation here.
We will get to that but for now, read this passage without the parenthesis.
So, here is what that would sound like.

Ephesians 4:7–12 (ESV) — 7 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.” 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,

Do you see how this flows now?
The grace of God in ministry gifts referenced here is of a specific kind.
It’s not general grace or — even general saving grace.
This grace comes to each of us in the form of these kinds of gifts.
Know that grace and gifts are interchangeable in this passage.
You could read this as ‘but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.’
Or you could read this as ‘but gifts were given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s grace.’
Same thing.
What are these graces or these gifts?
Look at this closely.
God’s gifts TO men is the gift OF men — special kind of men — anointed men — Holy Spirit empowered men.
Men anointed to stand clothed in ministry gift offices.
Think about the life-changing Word of God that came through these ministry offices.
Think about the life that flowed through these men — the healing anointing — the words of encouragement from prophetic lips.
God’s gifts TO men is the gift OF men — special kind of men — anointed men — Holy Spirit empowered men.
When you think about the life-altering Word of God that came by tangible anointing, you will begin to understand why these gifts are all by the grace of God.

The Holy Spirit Is the Main Minister in the Ministry Gifts

Understand some things about the tools of the trade — the Word of God.
No one, and I mean no one, can impart truth to your life.
If you’ve seen any truth or received any revelation, its source is not man.
Anointed men deliver God’s anointed Word, but it’s only made real by the Holy Spirit, who is the chief agent in all these matters.
Revelation starts with the Holy Spirit, and it ends with Him.

Ministry Gifts: The Word Came by the Spirit

2 Peter 1:21 (ESV) — 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Utterance comes by the Spirit.
The anointing that accompanies the Word comes from the Spirit.
Revelation of the Word that was uttered comes by the Holy Spirit.
So, from the beginning to end, we have the Spirit of God at work.
That’s why you never lift people who God uses to teach – no one can impart truth.
So, you can ask this person or that person to go and talk to someone you know is in trouble.
You want them to see the truth, so they can adjust and be helped.
But, it doesn’t come by man — if the Spirit of God is not in it, no progress will be realized.
The problem is you are recruiting the wrong person.
Instead of recruiting someone you deem knowledgeable of the scripture, you need to recruit the Holy Spirit.
Pray Ephesians one — pray that the eyes of their understanding would be opened.
Ask the Holy Spirit how to deal with the person you are trying to reach.
Instead of looking to men — look to Him.
Instead of listening to men — self-help style — listen to the Creator of men.
Did God not make the hearing ear and the listening heart?

Proverbs 20:12 (ESV) — 12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.

Yes, He did.
He also anointed men to function by the Anointing.
Now let’s talk about these ministry gifts for a minute.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers — function by the anointing.
The work they can accomplish, they do so by that anointing that comes upon them.
When the anointing lifts, they are just as ordinary as everyone else.
Don’t confuse a person being knowledgeable of the scriptures with the anointing.
There is no such anointing as the ‘Bible answer man.’
You can be knowledgeable of the scriptures and not be anointed.
Sinners can memorize scripture.
You can be knowledgeable of the scriptures and not even know Jesus.
It’s the anointing that breaks the yoke – His anointing.
We need to grow up in these things.
How should we think of the anointing?
The anointing is a person.
Jesus Christ — what does that name mean to you?

Matthew 1:21 (ESV) — 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus is His name.
Christ is not Jesus’ last name.
Christ is Greek for the anointed one.
Jesus Christ is Jesus the anointed one.
But there’s more.

John 3:34 (ESV) — 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

Jesus has the Spirit without measure.
That means He was anointed the highest a human person can be anointed.
He was human – Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man.
He functioned in all five of these ministry gifts in His earth walk. — the point you are trying to get to is this: when the anointing comes into a room — that’s a person, not a thing. Jesus comes into a room with the anointing that the Spirit of God anointed Him with.
So, we can say it this way: Jesus Christ means the anointed one AND His anointing.

What’s the Value of these Ministry Grace Gifts?

What’s the value of these ministry grace gifts?
We need to look at the information inside the parenthesis to answer that.
Now with that thought, here is the question of the day.
What’s the value of these gifts of anointed men to us?
Gifts in the natural come in all sizes – some more costly than others.
During our Christmas Fellowship, we get ten-dollar gifts for one another.
Is God’s gift of anointed men a ten-dollar gift in your mind?
If not, what’s the level — what’s the value?
Is it a $100 dollar value or $500 dollar value or 1,000, 10000, or 100,000 – what’s the value?
Generally speaking, value is determined by the current going price.
If a 5 lb. bag of potatoes is $4.00, that amount is its market value.
The ‘market value,’ if we could say it that way, for the ministry gifts is the price that Jesus paid.
The value is strongly hinted at in the parenthesis that we laid aside.

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. And He gave some…)

The value of the gift of anointed men is in the price that Jesus paid.
Look at the word ‘descended.’
That’s a locater word.
There is up — that’s ascended, and we know that up is heaven.
And then, there is down, and we know that down means descended.
Jesus, when He died, went down.
He didn’t ascend to heaven before he descended first.
Jesus died, and He went down — what’s down?
What’s located below? — the lower regions.
Note that the word ‘regions’ is plural.
There is more than one region down below.
Let’s try to understand what those regions are.

The Region of Sheol

Jesus went to hell — not because of what He did but because of what you did.
He went there as your substitute.
Jesus went to hell, so you don’t have to go to hell.
The message of the gospel is amazingly simple.
If you don’t have to go to hell, don’t go.
Now how do we know that Jesus went to hell?
There is some that object to this from a scriptural standpoint.
Well, the principle of substitution makes it a very real fact.
Plus, we have several verses of scripture that also point to this fact.
Look here at Psalms eighteen.

Psalm 18:4–6 (ESV) — 4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Sheol is the most common word in the Old Testament for the afterlife.
Not heaven here – because we already saw the Jesus descended.

Psalm 31:17–18 (ESV) — 17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. 18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.

Can you see from this passage that Sheol is the place where the wicked go?
That’s where Jesus went.
Again, what is the value of God’s grace to us in the form of anointed men?
The value is the price paid.
Jesus descended into Sheol.
Chapter two of the book of Jonah is a chapter you should read because what happened to Jonah is a type of Jesus.

Matthew 12:39–41 (ESV) — 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

So, you see some of what happened to Jonah was an example of what would happen to Jesus.

Jonah 1:17–2:6 (ESV) — 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

The pit and Sheol are the same place! — Jesus went to the pit for you and me.
It’s one of the regions below.

Jonah 2:6–2:10 (ESV) — 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Here’s another passage for you to consider.
Do you remember Korah from the Old Testament — do you remember what happened to him and his family because he rebelled against the Lord?

Numbers 16:19–21 (ESV) — 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. 20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

Now, how many of you know, that’s not a good thing — to be consumed by in judgment by the Lord.

22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” 25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.”

So, I’m reading the whole of this so that you can see what kind of men these are who are facing the righteous judgment of God.
The scripture calls them wicked men.
The Hebrew word wicked is also translated as criminal, evil man, guilty, offender, ungodly.²

27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

Korah, a wicked, evil, ungodly criminal of man, went straight to Sheol.
Jesus went to Sheol.

Acts 2:22–27 (ESV) — 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.

Peter is preaching this on the Day of Pentecost, and he is quoting another of the Messianic Psalms that prophesy and point to Jesus’ death.

Psalm 16:10 (ESV) — 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

What’s the difference between Sheol and Hades?
The answer? — one is Hebrew, and the other is Greek.
Jesus descended.
He went to Sheol — He went to Hades.

Sheol is found in the Bible sixty-five times. It is translated “the pit” three times, “the grave” thirty-one times, and “hell” thirty-one times. Hades is used eleven times, being rendered “hell” ten times and “grave” once.³

So, I think it’s pretty plain, and we can go on and look at some other verses, but this should make the point.
But, the scriptures said there were regions.
Let’s refresh that.

He had also descended into the lower regions of the earth.

Regions are plural.

#007: Are You Tuned into God’s Heart? [Podcast]

__________

References:

Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 229. ↩
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic, and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998). ↩
https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/hell-sheol-hades-paradise-and-the-grave/ ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

What is the Value of God’s Ministry Grace Gifts to Us?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 19

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe on Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Question: What has been the value of God’s ministry grace gifts to you? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

Ministry Gifts: The Power of a Parenthesis

The Holy Spirit Is the Main Minister in the Ministry Gifts

Ministry Gifts: The Word Came by the Spirit

What’s the Value of these Ministry Grace Gifts?

The Region of Sheol

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe on Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Question: What has been the value of God’s ministry grace gifts to you? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

Ministry Gifts: The Power of a Parenthesis

The Holy Spirit Is the Main Minister in the Ministry Gifts

Ministry Gifts: The Word Came by the Spirit

What’s the Value of these Ministry Grace Gifts?

The Region of Sheol

Related posts: