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Skip Heitzig: Long-suffering is a word that is used to describe God himself. God says that he is slow to anger. And the word here for long-suffering has the same idea as slow to anger. It is the Greek word *makrothumeo*. And *makrothumeo* is a combined word of two different words: *makros*, which means large or long, and *thumos*, which means heat or boiling or liveliness.

And the word, when you put it together, means it takes you a long time to rile you up. It takes a long time to get you heated up. It takes a long time to get you lively in a situation so that you will get heated is the idea. *Makrothumeo* means, well, it's translated here long-suffering. That's an attribute of God. So, if you're going to walk worthy, you walk in lowliness, gentleness, long-suffering, and then I love just sort of summing it all up: bearing with one another in love.

Sometimes people are just aggravating and ornery and not fun to be around. They have personalities that are cantankerous, and you just have to put up. You'd like to change them; you can't change them. You can't change the situation, so you just have to put up with them, bearing with one another in love.

Jesus said if somebody slaps you on one cheek, what should you do? He said slug them back. No, that's the NSV, that's the New Skip Version. That's the version I grew up under. I had three older brothers, and for me to live in my family, I had to be a survivalist because I got slugged a lot by them. And eventually, I had to learn to put up with them until I got big enough and tall enough to take them on. But that's not Christ's way. Bearing with one another in love.

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We do all this. We have a lowly walk. We're gentle. We put up with one another. Why? Because we want to keep the unity going. Now please notice, we don't make the unity. We don't manufacture the unity. We aren't the ones constructing the unity. We're keeping the unity that already exists.

There already exists a marvelous unity in the body of Christ. Because Jesus is our head, we are the body—many different members. Sometimes we get cross with each other, sideways with each other. That's when we have to endeavor—try—to keep, to maintain the unity that Christ has put by his death, burial, and resurrection; to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body, says Paul, and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in—because he was from the South—you all. Seven times he uses the word "one." Three of those seven times are references to God.

He says in verse four, there is one Spirit, one Holy Spirit; verse five, one Lord, Jesus Christ our Lord; and verse six, one God and Father, God the Father. So there exists already a wonderful unity inside the Triune God, the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They do not compete. They know who they are. They know what their role is in relation to one another.

Our unity with each other is based on the unity that exists in the Triune God and that he has conferred upon the body of Christ. And I love all these ones. There's one body, there's one church, one Spirit, one hope of your calling. You know, when you get to heaven, there won't be one section for Baptists, another section for the Pentecostals, another section for the Lutherans.

We're all going to be together, fellowshipping together in the presence of the Lord. There's going to be a perfect unity. Why not start now? And how do we start now? By not making a big deal out of the walls that divide us, the denominations. Oh, you're a Presbyterian. You're amillennial.

Now, there are certain things that we divide over, but there are other things that we do not divide over. Because of the oneness. This is how you endeavor to maintain that in the bond of peace. You throw out these artificial walls that we put up that divide people into different camps.

You see, once you get past the essentials—we believe in God, we believe in the Triune God, we believe in the vicarious atonement of Christ, we believe in the bodily resurrection, the coming again of Christ—do we all agree on that? Yes. Then the other things that are secondary, we can debate over them, but we can never divide over.

We divide over essentials. If somebody denies the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, we can safely, with authority, say you're not a true believer. If you agree on the essentials but you disagree on the coming of the Lord, you disagree on the manifestation of spiritual gifts, tongues, et cetera, it's a secondary issue. It's not a core. It's not essential.

So, one of the axioms of the Reformation, borrowed from Augustine, he said: in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; but in all things, charity. So we love each other, and we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in you all.

We are going to disagree. And when we talk about unity in the church, I don't want you to get a false idea of what it is. I just sort of touched on it, but it doesn't mean that we're all going to put a bumper sticker on the back of our car that says "COEXIST." I would never do that because I totally disagree with the premise of that statement—that we're worshipping the same God, we just have different names. No, we don't.

If we look at the definitions of all those belief systems, the definition of God, they are, by definition, diametrically opposed to one another. So, I'll divide over that. But I also know that in the church, like any family, we're going to have different interpretations, different ideas, different values that are okay to have. And I shouldn't look down on you because of it.

I should get past that because I realize, for example, that even the twelve apostles didn't get along. Mrs. Zebedee, James and John's mom, went to Jesus one time and said, "Hey, can my boys sit one at your right hand and one at your left hand?" And a disagreement broke out between the twelve. So there was infighting going on with the original crew that Jesus had.

There were problems in the early church. In the book of Acts, chapter 15, there were arguments that you must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses—that was a family squabble that got rectified. There was an issue between Peter and Paul in Galatia over the kosher laws among Jews and Gentiles.

And there was a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts over John Mark. And it says the contention between Paul and Barnabas was so sharp that they parted company. And you could look at that and say, "Oh, it's such a shame." Maybe. Yes, it's a shame they didn't get along, but God redeemed it.

Because now he didn't have one group on a missionary journey, he had two different groups. Barnabas took John Mark and did his own thing, and Paul took his guys and did their own thing, but they both preached Christ. So this is why when somebody goes, "I can't believe this guy planted a church right down the street from me," I say good!

Pray for more churches to start down the street from you. In fact, call him up and congratulate him and say, "How can I pray for you?" So there's one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism, one family. But, verse seven—and that could be translated "in spite of the fact that there is unity," or "on the other hand, yes, I'm speaking about unity, but on the other hand, I now want to speak about individuality and diversity."

Different gifts that are going to be unique from one another that will blend and bring unity. To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says: when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.

Now this, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave—here's the gifts—he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching available to people searching for truth, purpose, and hope. And this month, we want to thank you with a pair of powerful resources to help you understand your identity in Christ and God's design for your life and relationships.

When you give, you'll receive the Expound Ephesians nine-CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's book, Beyond the Summer of Love. Together, these resources explore the richness of the gospel, reveal your place in God's family, and show how biblical truth brings strength, restoration, and lasting hope to your relationships. We'll send both resources as our thanks when you give fifty dollars or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: There are three main New Testament passages that speak about spiritual gifts. Ephesians 4 is one of them. First Corinthians chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians chapter 14 is the other section—a list of spiritual gifts. And the third is Romans. In fact, I'm going to turn and read to you out of Romans chapter 12, just a few verses that sort of complement what we're just reading.

Verse three of Romans 12, he says, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think"—very similar to what we've just read: lowliness of mind, gentleness, et cetera—"but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function.

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; and he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

Spiritual gifts. What are they? Let me tell you first of all what they're not. Spiritual gifts are not natural talents. Spiritual gifts are spiritual capabilities in order to accomplish spiritual work. So we have to differentiate between natural talents and spiritual gifts.

Everybody has some natural talent—believers and unbelievers. We call this common grace. So you might have a talent to paint or to perform music or to fix things. But there are many unbelievers who can play piano and paint beautiful pictures and fix things. So natural talents aren't spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are spiritual capabilities to accomplish spiritual work.

But your natural talents can often interface with your spiritual gift. For example, you may have a natural aptitude to organize things. Well, that would be great to have the spiritual gift called the gift of administrations. That talent and that gift would complement each other. And so you have a natural talent that you were born with.

Look at it this way: talents are what you were born with; gifts are what you were born again with. One is the result of your natural birth, the other is the result of supernatural birth. When you're born again, they're latent; you don't necessarily see them or know them yet, you discover them, but God gives you, imparts to you different gifts, different capabilities.

And the fun part of the Christian walk is finding out what those are. It's where the joy zone kicks in. That's why we tell people to go to our Life Track. Thank you. And discover how they're made, discover what their talents and gifts are and how they could be used in the body of Christ. And the reports are, what a blast I'm having! What a joy this is!

So, there's natural talents, there's spiritual gifts. And even in the realm of spiritual gifts, you can get two people, three people with the same spiritual gift, but it says in the Bible that there is one Spirit, but there are different operations of the same gift. So a person might have an evangelistic gift to speak to a crowd and not be embarrassed to speak to a large audience.

Another person doesn't like doing that, doesn't like to stand in front of a large group, but one-on-one evangelism, they're good at. Other people don't even like one-on-one evangelism. Some people can knock on a door and the door opens and they'll just start firing away and telling them about Jesus. A lot of people would be embarrassed to do that. They'll knock on the door, pray that nobody is home, go to the next door, pray that nobody is home, and make it through the day.

So they're not good at that. They still might have the gift of evangelism. They might be a writer, and they might write an article or a tract or a book on apologetics or letters to individuals. Same gift, different operations of that gift. So it is in teaching, so it is in any of these gifts.

So, rather than fighting the variety in the body of Christ, enjoy the variety. God is a God of variety. Look at us all. We're all different. And in looking around at us all, I must come to the conclusion that God loves variety. And as I look around the world, I discover God loves variety.

If every country, every state had the same exact terrain, how boring it would be. You could never go on vacation. Why would you? It all looks the same. Or here's another example: on Christmas, if every person that you got a gift from gave you the same exact gift. Well, there'd be no anticipation. So the variety is what is a beautiful thing about the body of Christ. Enjoy the variety.

So he has given, verse eight: "Therefore he says: when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, gave gifts to men. Now this, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" Now I need to unpack this because he is quoting from the Old Testament. Verse eight is a direct quote out of Psalm 68.

Psalm 68 is attributed to King David. It is a victory hymn. It is about God ascending up to Mount Zion and assuming control. And he then talks about the history of the people of Israel coming from Mount Sinai through the desert, God miraculously bringing them up to Mount Zion and God ascending to the place of prominence.

It is believed that David wrote that psalm when the city of Jerusalem was still a Jebusite city. Do you remember the story? We covered it in 2nd Samuel chapter 5. It's been a while. David and his army approached the Jebusite stronghold. The Jebusites had a wall around the city. They were so confident that their town could not be taken that they shouted out to David.

They said, "Even the lame and the blind can fight you guys off because we have such a vantage point. They can just drop a few stones on you guys, and you'll never get through the bulwarks of our town." So, David and his men discovered a water shaft from the city limits all the way down into the ground, down into the Gihon Spring, where they would drop buckets and bring water up inside the city walls.

He discovered the vertical shaft that goes from just above the pool of Siloam up into the city. And so he said to his men, "The first guy who can get up that water shaft, I'm going to make him commander-in-chief of my army." Well, a guy by the name of Joab did exactly that.

He scurried up, he broke through the forces, he put a breach in the wall, the rest of the army came in, and they took the city of Zion. David describes that and, by the way, if you go to Jerusalem whenever they open up again for tourism, that very shaft has been discovered. You can be at the bottom of it, you can look up where it goes from light into darkness.

You can look at the very water shaft that David's men, and principally Joab, went up to take that city over. So when that happened, evidently, David wrote this psalm that God has ascended. And he applies that to the ascension of Jesus Christ. But notice this, in quoting that, the victory over the captives.

"Now this," verse nine, "He ascended, what does it mean but he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above the heavens"—the ascension of Christ—"that he might fill all things." The descending is probably a reference principally to the incarnation.

He went from heaven to earth. He came from heaven to earth. He descended from heaven, came to the earth, became a man, died on a cross, rose from the dead, and then he ascended. But there's something besides just that, even though I think that's the initial blush of interpretation.

It uses the term: he descended into the lower parts of the earth. So, listen to how Peter puts it. This is 1st Peter chapter 3. "For," he says, "Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison."

It seems that when Jesus died on the cross, that though his body was dead, his body was buried in a tomb, his spirit was very much alive. And those three days, he went to a place and announced to the spirit realm what had taken place.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember: your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it's needed most. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of fifty dollars or more by sending you the Expound Ephesians nine-CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's book Beyond the Summer of Love.

These resources will help you understand your identity in Christ and see how God's design brings strength and restoration to your relationships. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.

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