June 22, 1997
The Church is a Body?
The Church is a Body.
By: Ron George Jr.
Today's Text:I Cor. 12:12-31
1Cor 12:12 (KJS) For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be]
Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit. {Gentiles: Gr. Greeks}
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing? If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where [were] the body?
20 But now [are they] many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness. {bestow: or, put on}
24 For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that [part] which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another. {schism: or, division}
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,governments, diversities of tongues. {diversities: or, kinds}
29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles? {workers...: or, powers?}
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. I was in the supermarket one day, and a lady came down the aisle whom
I could barely see over the top of her groceries. I got somewhat frightened because she seemed to be heading straight for me. She screeched to a halt within a few feet of me, peered over her load, wagged her finger, and said, "I left your church. I left your church". So I said, "Well, if it’s my church, I think that was a very wise decision. If it’s my church, I think I’m going to leave too." She said, "Don’t you want to know why I left?" I said, "No, not particularly, but I think I’m going to find out". And I was right. She said, "You weren’t meeting my needs". I answered, "I don’t ever recollect seeing you before, let alone talking to you, let alone knowing your needs. Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?" She couldn’t recall that she had, so I raised another question. "Can you tell me, if we have 5,000 people sitting in that church, all with your attitude, how anyone’s needs are going to be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody has that attitude, who on earth is going to do all the need-meeting?" Standing her ground, she demanded, "Then you tell me who will." Relieved, I said, "I thought you’d never ask. This is what will work: when people stop sitting in the pew saying, ‘They’re not meeting my needs’ and start saying, ‘Whose needs can I meet?’ Then needs will be met. When the servant spirit flourishes in a congregation, then they minister to each other as unto the Lord."
Are you ready to be:
1. Be born into the body: v. 13... for by one Spirit are we baptized..
John 3:3.. Creation by the Lord and or recreated in the Lord. The miracle of the new birth.. Whoever we are we have all been made to drink of that one Spirit..Have you been born into the body of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ..? The body is as God created it to be and it will become what God wants it to be ..If we will follow His will for our lives..
2. Be added to the body: V. 14-16 choose to join the local Membership/baptism Are you in the body? You have to make a choice to become a member of the local body of believers.. the Lord ordained and created the local body of believers so that we may be able to grow into the christians God wants us to become.
The purpose of the body is to do what the head wants .. Christ is the head.
Colo 1:18 (KJS) And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.
A German soldier was wounded. He was ordered to go to the military hospital for treatment. When he arrived at the large and imposing building, he saw two doors, one marked, "For the slightly wounded," and the other, "For the seriously wounded." He entered through the first door and found himself going down a long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For officer" and the other, "For non-officers." He entered through the latter and found himself going down another long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For party members" and the other, "For non-party members." He took the second door, and when he opened it he found himself out on the street. When the soldier returned home, his mother asked him, "How did you get along at the hospital?" "Well, Mother," he replied, "to tell the truth, the people there didn’t do anything for me, but you ought to see the tremendous organization they have!"
The soldier’s comment describes many churches in our day: really organized, but accomplishing little.
3. Be fitted to the body: v. 17-20 participation in the functioning of the body. What is your part and place in the body of the church? What is your gift..? What is your talent? What is your position? Do you have a place in the body? Must have the most important ability... The Avail.. ability.. Are you ready to find your place in the church.? This is the key to the church’s being able to meet the needs and help others with theirs.
4. Be joined to the body: Spirit and mind and heart in our attitudes..Have you committed yourself to Christ in the body: Christ is the head!!
Allow Him to pull us all together.
1Cor 1:10 (KJS) Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
One day it occurred to the members of the body that they were doing all the work and that the belly was having all the food. So they held a meeting and after a long discussion decided to strike work until the belly consented to take its proper share of the work. So for a day or two the hands refused to take the food, the mouth refused to receive it and the teeth had no work to do. But after a day or two members began to find that they themselves were not in very active condition. The hands could hardly move, the mouth was all parched and dry, while the legs were unable to support the rest. Thus they found that even the belly in its dull quiet way was doing necessary work for the body and that all must work together or the body would go to pieces.
5. Be profitable to the body: useful and thus the key to helping yourself is to help others and find the satisfaction and fulfillment that you and I can have in serving the Lord in his body the church.
More than a hundred years ago D. L. Moody lashed out as a loving critic to certain parts of the church of his time for its misappropriation of energies. The church reminded him, he said, of firemen straightening pictures on the wall of a burning house. In a single sentence he drew a vivid picture of what any of us can become in any generation when we forget the basic activities given to us by the Lord of the church.
What is your Part or job in the body? What is your position?
I’ve been a dead weight many years
Around the church’s neck;
I’ve let the others carry me
And always pay the check.
I’ve had my name upon the rolls
For years and years gone by;
I’ve criticized and grumbled too,
Nothing could satisfy.
I’ve been a dead weight long enough
Upon the church’s back;
Beginning now, I’m going to take
A wholly different track.
I’m going to pray and pay and work
And carry loads instead;
And not have others carry me
Like people do the dead.
I know that all of you were saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our church’s most valuable members—Someone Else. Someone’s passing created a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years, and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than the normal person’s share of the work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results. Someone Else can work with that group. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone’s lips, "Let Someone Else do it". It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the largest givers in the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone Else was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing super-human, but a person can only do so much.
Were the truth known, everyone expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone. We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did? Remember, we can’t depend on Someone