`Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of

God given unto me by the effectual working of His power' (Eph. 3:7).

When he faced the work that he was called upon to do and realized

something of its character and the character of the opposition, he said:

`Our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers' (2

Cor. 3:5,6).

The reader will call to mind many of his other utterances to like

effect.  What was true of Paul the apostle, is still true for the humblest

member of the One Body.  We each have our part to play, work to do and path

to tread, and for each one of us grace is sufficient.  Let us therefore seek

grace that we may realize the blessedness of this third Selah of Paul the

prisoner.  In ourselves, we are like Paul `less than the least', but in

Christ we find grace for every need:

`"Selah" think of that, and go forward'.

The first practical Selah of Ephesians is the `but' of Ephesians 4:7,

the Selah of individual grace.  We now turn to Ephesians 4:15, for the next

Selah of Paul's epistle, and this we call `The Selah of Truth in Practice'.

There is a true sequence here.  Individual gift and individual grace,

if they mean anything at all, mean that such grace and such gift are

responsibilities; gifts must be used.  Power that is `worked in' (Eph. 1:19 -

21) is power that is to be `worked out' (Eph. 6:13 `having done all' = `work

out' as in Phil. 2:12,13).  The gift of teaching must be used for teaching

(Rom. 12:7); no one is justified in hiding his light under a bushel (Matt.

5:15).  Let us observe the links that bind Ephesians 4:7 to 4:15, the

essential association of the Selah of individual grace with the Selah of

truth in practice.

First of all there are three great links to be noted before we look

more closely.  These links are marked by the word `measure'.

Individual grace.

`The measure of the gift of Christ' (Eph. 4:7).

The perfect man.

`The measure of the stature of the fulness of

Christ' (Eph. 4:13).

Every joint of supply.

`The measure of every part'

(Eph. 4:16).

These great links are joined by lesser ones which we must now see.

He Who gave this individual grace is the Conqueror of all foes,

particularly those spiritual wickednesses that are associated with Satanic

opposition.  The words `led captivity captive' (Eph. 4:8) employ the figure

of leading prisoners at the point of the spear, and cannot refer to the

liberating of saints from hades at the Ascension of Christ.  The parallel is

found in Colossians 2:15;