Expounds on the metaphor of the "body of Christ" from 1 Corinthians 12, emphasizing the unity, diversity, harmony, and responsibility within the church. It begins by establishing the foundational confession that Jesus is Lord, a truth revealed by the Holy Spirit, and highlights that this confession unites believers into one body. The message then explores the diverse gifts and functions within the body, stressing that each member is indispensable and that harmony is fostered through mutual care and shared experiences, not pride or jealousy. The sermon concludes by underscoring the responsibility of each believer to recognize, develop, and utilize their God-given spiritual gifts for the common good of the church.
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The blood of the dead on the flesh of the dead shall be before Christ alone. I walk the earth on earth.
Come with me and my father, let me go in the way, with me to the other, and for the Oh, And to the Lord, be blessed, be it with every day, be new.
The way that God will come upon you, Thank you. Be silent, be your neighbor, and you know my Lord.
Be with them on the way of the Lord. Be with them on the way of the Lord. let me of union with us with our churches in God.
Oh, our people stand holy, and give us grace and win. My strength shall be the glory, and my angel with me. Now let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the revelation that has come to our own hearts so that were our Lord Jesus Christ to address us this evening with the question, Whom say ye that I am?
We would gladly and immediately respond, Thou, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We have not come to this conclusion by logical deduction. Flesh and blood have not revealed this unto us. This, O Lord, this understanding of its infinitely great truth we attribute alone to thee, and the exercise of thy revealing grace to us by the Spirit. And so we bless thee, that we can make this great affirmation, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We hear thee say to us again, as thou didst say to us so long ago, Thou saith, Amen.
Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. We worship thee, O God, that thou hast been eliciting this confession of faith from the hearts of men and women throughout the ages, and in every realm under the sun, we thank thee that there are ten thousand times ten thousand of thousands of thousands this very night who in challenge would respond about the Christ our Son of the Living God we bless thee that the erection of thy church goes on a pace we thank thee for in every place those who bring this confession to thee and are thus constructed into the temple of our church We bless thee, our Heavenly Father, for this great truth, that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
We ask thee, O Lord, that we may derive great confidence from this information imparted to us by the Savior. We pray thee that we may be those who exult in the knowledge, and that thy purposes will triumph, and thou wilt bring to fruition that which thou hast committed. and none will withstand thee, none will challenge thee and say, What do is thou? We thank thee that in the coming day thou wilt present this church to thyself without blemish, without spot or ripple or any such thing, holy and without blemish, to be for the glory and honour of thy name throughout eternity.
That thou hast incorporated us into this. O Lord, we bow to worship and bless thy holy name. We beseech of thee, O Lord, that we may play our part in the church which thou art for. We thank thee for membership of it, but we realize that with this membership in thy church comes responsibility. Help us to recognize and understand that the part that we should play and help us by thy grace to fulfil it for thy glory and for the good of all. We thank thee for the fellowship of thy people in thy church and for all the stimulus that this is to our faith, the encouragement that it means to us.
We thank thee, O Lord. We return thee our grateful thanks for the fellowship of these days, for the way that thou hast bound us together in a common love to our Lord Jesus Christ. for the way that thou hast feed us from thy word as we meditate therein together, for the way, O Lord, that we share in prayer and in service, for these great privileges we give thee thanks, and for the reaction of blessing upon our own hearts. Now once again, our Father, we are gathered together that we might afresh turn to the Holy Scriptures, and we need the illumination of thy Holy Spirit if we are to understand it the right. and not only his illumination but his quickening in our hearts, making us the desire to do thy will.
We pray that thou bend our will to thy will, so that we may submit to thee in that which thou hast showed to us, and indeed may willingly, may gladly cooperate with thee in that which thou hast desired us to do. So it enrich us, we pray, as a result of our meditation in thy truth. Again, we remember those who would like to have been here and for various reasons are prevented, manifest thyself to them, and grant that they may find encouragement as they remember all thy former mercies to them. Hear us for thy people who meet in other places to share in the study of thy holy word. We thank you for those of whom we know who, at this hour, will be turning afresh to engage in prayer and in meditation upon thy truth.
Would thou make thyself known to them, and would thou meet their needs as thou discreet these needs, so that they may be helped and encouraged of thyself? So, our Father, we join together to praise and magnify thine air, to worship and to bless thee, for all thy goodness to us. And once more we commit of to thee, and both through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Now let us sing the hymn number four hundred and ninety two. Four nine two. Through the light of doubt and sorrow, onward goes the pilgrim band, singing songs of expectation, marching to the promised land.
Won the strains and lifts of thousands, lifts us from the heart of one, won the conflict, won the peril, one the march in God begun, one the gladness of rejoicing on the far eternal shore where the one almighty Father reigns in love forevermore, onward therefore. For thy truth. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
There is no one who can take it. Oh, I am the country of the earth, but no one must we die together.
and his voice over him alone On the river, how proud thou is. Every day that my disciples will be heard in the wind and in the wind.
And he turns for our final study to the twelfth chapter of the verse of Christopher Paul to the Corinthians. One Corinthians chapter twelve in verse one.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be on him for. You know that when you were Jesus, you were never straight down idols, however you may have been removed. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking about the Spirit of God ever says Jesus be cursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of service. but the same Lord. And there are varieties of working. But it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom. And to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit. To another faith by the same Spirit. to another gifts of healing by the one spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of talents, to another the interpretation of talents. All these are inspired by one of the same spirit who apportions to each one individually and he wills.
For just as the body is one and as many members For all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or priests, slaves or priests, and all were made straight to one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the book should say, And because I am not a man, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any lesser part of the body. And if the ear should set, and because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any lesser part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hue? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor, again, the head to the feet. I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and of those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with a greater honor and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty which are more presentable parts do not require them but God has so adjusted the body giving the greater honor to the inferior part that there may be no discord in the body but that the members may have the same care for one another if one member suffers all suffer together if one member is honoured or rejoiced together.
Now, you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, their works of miracles, their healers, healthers, administrators, speakers at various times. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all the best gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret, but earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more interested way.
May God make the vision of his holy work unto us. We have been considering together during these weeks expressions found in this first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians of similar form, the cross of Christ, the mind of Christ, of the servants of Christ, of the gospel of Christ, and tonight we come to the body of Christ. Now once the others occur each, once only, so this one occurs more than once, it occurs in chapter ten, for instance, is found also here in chapter twelve.
Now three separate stresses could be preached. One on chapter ten and the covenant or the truth of the body of Christ as it affects Christian conduct. On chapter eleven, the truth of the body of Christ as it affects Christian worship. And chapter twelve, the truth of the body of Christ as it affects Christian service. Now there is no time even to take a look over our shoulder into chapter ten or into chapter eleven. So we are going to concentrate only on chapter twelve, the truth of the body of Christ as it relates to Christian service. Now this is one of the boldest metaphors in the whole of the New Testament, the body of Christ.
It tells of the most intimate relationship. In fact in verse twenty seven you may have noticed that the Paul says, now you are the body of Christ. Originally, we are informed there was no article. And it just went, you are body of Christ. We find it necessary to insert an article in order to make it understood, grammatical, you are the body of Christ. But this isn't precisely what Paul said. He did not say you are the body of Christ as though they represented the whole body. Nor did he say you are a body of Christ as though there were a number. But you are body of Christ.
and as a tribal cause, if you like, descriptive of them. And all its properties and all its functions are true of them. Who are you? What are you? This group we can go. Who are you? What are you? Answer, body of Christ. A father might be digging in the garden and he is moving some earth from one part of the garden to the other part of the garden. And so he has a bucket. And he fills this bucket up with earth. and his little child comes and says, what's that? He doesn't say this is the Earth, because that would be a totally false impression. Neither does he say this is an Earth, or a Earth if you like.
That would be quite silly. He just says this is Earth. It partakes of all the politics that are found in the Earth. It is Earth. And so we say this is body of Christ, a part of, and yet partaking of all the functions of property of the full body of our Lord Jesus Christ. This particular metaphor is exclusive to the writings of the Apostle Paul. I submit to you that the truth dawned on him at the moment of his conversion. At least it is from this that he derived it ultimately. He was travelling that Damascus road when he was arrested with the Crestes Saul, Saul, why persecuted thou thee?
To which he might have replied, excuse me, I'm not persecuting you. I'm persecuting Christians. Why not? I'm persecuting believers in the Lord Jesus. As he thought about that, and asked the question, who art thou? And conference I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. He must have realized, that there was a strange relationship between the head in heaven and the body on earth. As one of the great occurians said, Paul saw the task was persecuting the body on earth and the head in heaven to play. And he realized that he thought about this, that there was this strange relationship, this affinity, that this oneness, this identity, so that they could be called body of Christ.
body of Christ. Now there are four words that I want to stress this evening in relation to this chapter. The first is unity, the second is diversity, and the third is harmony, and the fourth is responsibility. First is that we should appreciate unity. The first is stated over and over again, four times for instance, twice in verse twelve, once in verse thirteen, one body. And over and over again a series of expressions convey this basic fact of the unity of the body. The body, the whole body, repeated over and over again.
Now this fact is supported by two great unifying principles. And the first is this, that the church acknowledges one sovereign Lord. Once, he tells them of humans the chapter you were eaten. once you were led, controlled in your thinking and activity by submission to demons. But that no longer. You are now members of a new community. And the proof is this, that by the Holy Spirit you make the basic Christian confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is the basic Christian confession. You may remember it, Romans chapter ten and verse nine, a familiar gospel verse.
If thou shalt confess with thy tongue, with thy lips, that Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. This is the basic Christian confession that Jesus is Lord. Led by the Spirit, moved by the Spirit, they make this confession. Everyone who makes such a confession argues Paul must necessarily have been illumined by the Holy Spirit to recognize his Lord. No man can make this confession. He says, other than that, he is illumined and indeed inspired by the Spirit to make this confession. Now this is the hallmark of a Christian church, that individuals vow to have not one sovereign Lord.
The academic question is sometimes posed, is it possible to be saved by believing in the Lord Jesus the Savior and not by believing in him as Lord? To which the answer is no, it is not possible. He is the Lord Jesus Christ upon whom we are bitten to exercise faith. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul said to the Philippians, whose part the Lord had opened, this descriptive of Lydia's conversion. Even the dying thief said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And so they make this confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. This Lord is one with the Father and with the Spirit in the administration of the Church which is his bond.
together, we may know from this in four to six, they are the source of the object and the means of spiritual gifts. There are varieties of gifts, but it's the same spirit. They all originate with the Holy Spirit. They find a source in him. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are different ways of serving God, but it's the same Lord who is served. He is the object of his service. There are different means. There are varieties of working. but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. It is only by the power of enabling the Lord the true work is brought. And so the church is one and the knowledge is the triune God, the Lord who is the source of all its abilities, the object of all its activities and the means of all its achievements.
To each Paul goes on in verse seven to eleven, to one, to another. You are imparted with gifts by the sovereign Lord. He apportions to each separately as he wills. So the church's unity resides with this, that they confess him initially as Jesus the Lord. And they go on to admit that every spiritual gift that comes to him, derives, to them derives from them. But further they are animated by one spiritual vice, verses twelve and thirteen. But just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ.
How bold he is again to identify Christ with his church. And then he adds the significant and important that For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. The church is animated by those spiritual life. This might cause its fruit. Now how does this come to be? In or with one spirit, he says, you are baptized into this one There are seven references in the New Testament to baptism with the Holy Spirit.
And incidentally, it ought to be in or with rather than by. On six of the occasions, I believe the preposition is given in this translation with one Spirit. For the Lord Jesus Christ is said on four of these of the occasions to be the baptizer. And the element is the Spirit of God. Four of the references are in the commencement of each of the Gospel. where John the Baptist prophesied saying, that he who is to come will not baptize with water as he has done, but he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. The fifth reference is made by our Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter one, where he says, that he shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence, and Luke specifically to the day of Incost, which was just a few days off.
You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days. The sixth occasion relates to the experience of Cornelius, those Gentile believers in his home. Peter had preached the gospel to them, and then suddenly, and dramatically, the Spirit of God came upon them, and convinced that God had incorporated these into the one body of the church, though they were Gentiles, and he was deeply prejudiced against such have seen this dramatic vestige of the Holy Spirit that reminded him of what had happened at Pentecost, he had no qualms in baptism. When he got back to Jerusalem, he was hauled over the carols for what he had done.
And he justified his action in this sort of way. He says, I couldn't withstand God. He virtually pushed me to this. Like not to have done it if I had my own way. But God rebelled upon me despite my prejudice and my reluctance. And I did it for this reason. that I observed a similar phenomenon as that which had occurred on the day of Pentecost. Let me read you his actual words. As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remember the word of the Lord how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And then he answers, if then God gave the same gift to them, as he gave to us when we believed.
I would have said that Pentecost was when Peter believed. I would have said he believed prior to that. But he, in using this expression, I believe, expresses the normal Christian experience. He gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is I that I can withstand God? When they heard this, they were silent. to be baptized is to be put into one element. And the verse states that they all, without insurrection, come with Christians among them. And Paul has had so many strong things to say to the Christians at Corinth. For by once we were all baptized into one body.
Jews or Greeks, slaves or Christians. There is now, he says, no division between Jews and Greeks. Between those who were slaves and those who were free men. and were all made to drink of the One Spirit. When we are baptized, we are placed into an element. When we drink, that element is placed into us. And it seems to me that Paul is showing that at this moment of diversion, where we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are incorporated into the one body, for there are not two bodies, made up of Spirit-baptized Christians and non-Spirit-Baptized Christians. He uses the word one, he uses the word all. He says, you were all baptized into that one body by the one spirit in the one spirit.
And you were all made to drink of that one spirit. So they are incorporated into the body of Christ thereby, and they are indwelled by the spirit of God thereby. And so he expresses the same truth in these different ways. And so I believe describes the common experience of Christians. We were all. in the area of tense which means a decisiv and a Christic event. And so is created by the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. These things bind them all together. They acknowledge one's sovereign Lord and they are annotated by one's spiritual life.
We must appreciate this unity that we have. For this unity does not consist of subscribing to a creed. This unity does not consist of identities of view on every matter. This unity is not brought about by being able to come to some understanding, common understanding, about every matter of a Christian's way. This unity is, when I say from my heart, Jesus Christ is Lord. by his spirit I'm incorporated into that one body and are thus animated by that one spiritual body.
oft we are last forget that we are one with every saint that loves his day. To him you might it on the throne, their Lord, our Lord, and one who say, I haven't quoted it accurately, but you know the verse. oft we forget, do we forget? Do we put it into practice? We must appreciate the unity of the body of Christ. Secondly, we must recognize its diversity. Now, the figure of the body is just about ideal for illustrating the complementary terms of unity and diversity. In the one body, there is a fantastic variety, a tremendous variety. Unfortunately, when we read this chapter through, we always think of our external organs.
Well, I don't suppose that Paul was thinking of external organs. I doubt not that he was thinking of internal organs as well. What an infinite variety comprises the human body. One complex organism, the body does not consist of one organ, he says, full of many. And all his organs do not have the same function, he repeats in Romans twelve and verse four. There is always the danger of confusing unity and uniformity. Unity is the hallmark of divine activity. Uniformity is no part of the Spirit's work either in nature or in the realm of grace, either in creation or in the realm of the church.
The nature of this diversity is described by the word div. It is that which distinguishes one member from another. The chapter starts concerning I don't think that a better word could have been chosen for describing what Paul is saying here. The word gift. It is not something gained. It is not something acquired in any way at all. It is something gratuitously disturbed. It is precisely the same word as he uses in Romans six and verse twenty three when he says, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sin pays away. And that wage is dead. But God doesn't pay a wage, he makes a gift. Gospel preachers are willing to do their own little bit of amplification in this verse when they say, and a free gift of God is eternal life. It's the same word that is used here. It is a free gift. It is something gratuitously bestowed of the grace of God upon his children. Concerning spiritual gifts. Here again, in the original and in your authorized version you will see this, the word gift is in a habit and is therefore omitted, or to be omitted. She just uses an adjective which thus serves for a noun, concerning spiritual.
But in a month that hardly makes sense to us, we have the word gifts. But Paul left it standing on its own, as if to undermine the true nature of these gifts that we have. They are spiritual in origin. and they can be operated only in the power of the Spirit of God. This is their nature. This is their character. They are spiritual. Now he catalogues some of these gifts in this chapter. In the first part of the chapter he catalogues them as abilities, verses eight to ten, and then from verses twenty-eight to thirty, as persons. The gift is shown then to be an ability divinely disturbed. says, for instance, in verse eight, to one of you through the spirit the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge, and so on.
Now, I believe that this is a factual risk, and it's not to be treated as exhaustive. There is fact that the two lists in this chapter of abilities and persons don't coincide, nor can they be made to match up the one with the other, might indicate this. Moreover, there are two other lists given to us in the New Testament, one in Romans chapter twelve, which is a list of abilities, and one is Ephesians chapter four, which is a list of persons. And again, these are different. So it is quite contrary to the nature of Scripture for us to make a catalogue and to pretend that these represent an inventory of spiritual gifts which God is diverse and continuously disposed upon his church.
Some of them have sinned. not, as you might imagine, to tongues, but to apostles and prophets. Apostles and prophets on the level at which they were, in this day, are no longer with us. In a secondary sense, it might be argued that they are, in a secondary sense, as missionaries, and as those who speak the word of the Lord for the needy of the hour. But in that special sense of apostolic authority and of the prophet that spoke virtually under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, His words having equivalent authority to Scripture, such are no longer with us. And so clearly some of these gifts are temporary. And quite sure that God, in his great wisdom, bestows gifts that are linked to the need of the church at any given time and in any given place.
And those gifts that he might bestow upon his church need is easier today. Well, far could be the same as the gifts that are needed in Shetland. and the gifts in Chesham may not be precisely the same as they are in southern England. God knows the needs of his church and the needs of his people, and he will make requisite the sermon of gifts. There are appointments as well as abilities individually. In Ephesians chapter four, these are seen to be the largesse of the victorious Christ. he has conquered death, he has ascended on time, now to fill all things, and he sends forth, gives forth, for his church these gifts, and his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.
It is God who makes the appointment. The fact of these two catalogues are abilities and persons. shows the intimate relationship that there is between the two. God does not give independent of persons. He operates these gifts through individuals and thus he meets the needs of his people. There is a great diversity in these. It would be quite false enough to try and force everyone into the same mode. What a great pity when we think that there is to be some dreary mediocrity about the Christian church. all unlike in personality and inactivity.
No, God is the God of infinite variety. And He is the one who places these gifts in the body and the gifts pleases him. As we read in verse eight, but as it is, God arranges the organs in the body, each of them as He chose. May I dive in just like to hear, to say that some people say from time to time, if God bestows upon his church all the gifts that are required for the true and full proper functioning of that church, why is it that many a church has an inadequate supply of gifts? The truth of the sovereignty of God must never be played off against the truth of human responsibility.
And human responsibility in this matter is indicated in two scriptures. One is Acts chapter prayer and gospel. And then the Spirit said, Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work which I have called. I think those elders and prophets in that church, those teachers there, have been convicted in their conscience about the failure of our preach of that church. Jesus had said that they would go into all the world and preach, and they've never sent out a foreign missionary. They never commissioned anyone to go abroad with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they have a conscience about it. and they started waiting on God with prayer and fasting.
The Spirit was just waiting for this to happen. Then he points out those who are gifted for this task. When did my church, when did your church, lost a range, a day of prayer and fasting, the wake of them God, that he would give the requisite gifts for the full and proper functioning of the local church? I wonder if we humbled ourselves under the mighty hand of God in this way, confess to him the dearth of spiritual gift in our midst, cry to him that he would rectify the situation, whether he might not act for us, and that in remarkable ways.
The other thing is, in the thirty-first verse of this chapter, the individual is addressed with this, but earnestly desire the higher gifts. You are desired to desire them. And also in chapter fourteen, the same straightest man, you are to desire spiritual gifts. We are ourselves to seek the face of God for gifts for ourselves. But that I shall mention further in a moment. Thirdly, foster harmony. For this is the third distinguishing mark of the body of Christ. Now in this chapter, Paul tells of two great enemies of harmony. One is jealousy and the other is pride. He imagines that he eavesdrops.
Our two members of the body having a conversation. The foot and the ear are both complaining. The foot is jealous of the hand. Not so attractive, the foot, the foot. Many of us would be quite embarrassed about our feet if we had to walk around barefoot. We're not so worried about that. The ear is jealous of the eye. And one can see the point in that too. conscious of the fact that it's not so attractive, it's not so prominent, it's rolled in the body, it's not so pleasing. And feverishly, one explains, because I'm not the other member, I do not belong to the body. It's a blend of self-pity here.
They depreciate themselves. It's not modesty. It's an inferiority conflict. But it's worse than an inferiority. If I can't be what I want to be, then I'm not going to be an idiot. If I can't be, then count me out. You ever felt like that? Because I can't be a prominent member, then I'm not going to be an idiot. If I can't do what I want to do, then I'm not making any contribution at all. Paul says, this is utterly illogical. Someone has to be the hearing in the body, we can't all be the eyes, isn't it?
Somebody has to be the faculty of the spell, we can't all be ears. Common sense should tell us that every member of the body is vital to its proper and full functioning, and is equally important to the other. Jealousy basically is stupid. Jealousy basically is stupid. Why be jealous of another when God has made you where you are. Recognize what you are and operate according to your views. It's utterly illogical. But worse than that, it's irreverent. It is the censure on God. For he it is who arranges the organs in the body, each one of us, as he chose. If we have a chip on our shoulder about this, a grudge against God, then virtually we are exercising the prerogative of criticizing the divine arrangement of the members in the body, the criticism of his, of hearing.
So let's be redemptive against God. Jealousy is unlawful and irreverent. But how often this arises? Jealousy, giving rise to freshly ambition, for prominence, and with it an attempt to denigrate others. So now we see... It promotes discord rather than harmony. May God give us grace to search our own homes about this. Do we dislike those who are being used of God in a more prominent fashion in the church than we? It arises from jealousy. Do we say, I can't do anything, merely because we want to do something for which we are not gifted?
The second great enemy of harmony is pride. And again, Paul imagines the conversation between two members of the body. And this prime is the spirit of arrogance that marks through. The I addresses the hand and the head addresses the foot, whereas I have no need of you. This disparagement of others arises out of pride. Now, clearly, as I've already indicated, there is absolutely no room for pride, because if we possess a spiritual gift, it is a gift. and who can take any credit who has received a gift from God an endowment of his grace, never acquired, never milleted, but bestowed to judiciously. This also is wholly unfounded.
There are some members of the body, so far which apparently are less attractive or weaker than others, but they are indispensable, but it's obvious. There is no room for jealousy, there is no room for pride in the body of Christ. Instead, we must foster harmony. Now, how can we do it? There are two expressions in this chapter which, in my judgment, epitomize the true harmony that should be manifested in the church. The first is the expression, one, another. You'll find it in verse twenty-five, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
It is the opposite of selfishness. opposite to jealousy, opposite to pride, the true relationship of one and another. Now I looked up this expression, one another, in Young's Concordance, only to discover that there were twenty-one different verbs related to one another. Admonishing one another, care one for another, comfort one another, consider one another, confess your heart one to another, edify one another, exhort one another, fellowship one with the other, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, using hospitality one toward another, be kind one to the other, love one another, pray one for another, preferring one another, the same mind one to another, serve one another, be subject one to the other, submit one to the other, carry one for the other, teaching one another.
It's the church. Why? Another. Interrelationship. Interdependence. but it's a mutuality and concern, one for another. The other expression that is used in the chapter is the expression together in verse twenty-six. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. here again is an idea of being bound one to the other. The trials of one become the trials of the world. The joys of one become the joys of all. There's a bond that unites them. They are together.
This again is expressive of church life. Together. Gather together. Assemble together. List together. Join together. Build together. Strive together. Workers together. There is no place in the Christian church for the lone wolf. all from a spiritual trap. There is a sense of being together, of mutuality, of common responsibility, of care and concern. Now, you don't mean that I should amplify this in illustrations from the human body. One member suffer because you've experienced it. A speck of dust in an eye and the whole of a body suffers with that one member.
More serious complaints, the greater they suffer. only needs that one member suffer and are over-affected. And so it is in the Christian church that there should be this sense of harmony and considerateness for the one or the other. Finally and briefly, upset responsibility. Verse seven, and I'd like to emphasize this verse as we conclude, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To each There is no un-gifted Christian. To each is given a gift. There is no one in the church who is of no consequence.
Each one is vital. Each of the contributions are mentioned. The first essential, therefore, clearly is that we should recognize the gift that God has bestowed upon us. That humbly we should seek by prayer and thoughts and reflection to discover what that gift is that he has given to us. If the youngster came to me and said, how can I find out my spiritual gift? I think I would reply. Ask yourself three questions. First, what would I most like to do? Two, do I enjoy it when I do it? And three, do others appreciate it when I do it? The first, what would I most like to do?
For in all probability, your spiritual gift is related to your natural ability. And when we call it natural ability, we must not forget that that itself has been bestowed by God. Indeed, a spiritual gift, if exercised in the power of the flesh, may quite easily drop back into the category of a natural ability. And a natural ability be only elevated to the status of a spiritual gift. When it is sanctified and set apart for the master's use, and exercised by the power of the spirit, elevating there comes a spiritual gift. And so that's what you had from God, from childhood, which was maybe developed in your husband's birthday days, may be the ready spiritual gift that God wants you to exercise, for it is transmutation and partakes of this quality.
Of course it may well be that he will answer those natural abilities, spiritual gifts which are unrelated to any natural talent you have previously shared. what would you most like to do? What do you feel happiest doing? And then, technically, do you enjoy it when you do it? When you try it, so you find liberty in the exercise of that particular gift. And thirdly, to others, appreciate it when you do it. And this is a very salutary question to ask. It is largely a question of common sense, of the opportunity that exists, of the need that is clear before us, The guidance and advice of our brethren is not to be discounted.
Let us recognize our spiritual gift. Secondly, let us develop it. Paul wrote a givety and said, stir up the gift that is in me. And again he wrote, do not neglect the gift that you have. And again he said, practice these duties. Devote yourself to them. Any spiritual gift needs development. Just as any member of the body needs developing skills. see a child, he's got a hand, perfectly formed hand, perfectly formed ugly, and he will, the child may watch a brick being drawn across a pane or on a piece of strips, and his eye will follow, his hand goes out to try and cross the brick, but he can't put his fingers round it, he can't get hold of it, his skills are not yet developed, but presently he will be able to get hold of it, he'll be able to but he won't be able to do what he wants with it, as he tries to turn it up, he drops it again.
And it is only as the skill of the limb is developed that it comes to its true and proper usefulness in the body. No spiritual gift is fully developed upon the stone. And whatever gift it is that you have, it must be developed. Think not that you have a gift, if you have a gift of a creature or a teacher, that all you do is stand up and out it comes. A bit of it, I assure you. Indeed, hard work and constant hard work for the development of a spiritual gift. If God points out to you that you have such a gift, then you need to be exercised as to how it should be developed. You might direct you to go to some Bible college, though this gift might be fully and properly developed.
He might persuade you to take some correspondence course. It might be that he tells you to get up earlier in the morning and to spend hours pouring over this work. But in this way or that way, whatever your gift is, maybe a gift of an ordinance, maybe a gift of pastoral work, you will equip yourself for the task to which he has called you, developing the gift and then utilising it. Paul is very blunt when he writes in Romans chapter twelve, having gifts differing according to the grace given unto us, let us. will become useless unless it is used.
And so it must be used. It must be used in the body. It is not given for our personal enjoyment. Every spiritual gift as far as I can deserve is given, as verse seven says, for the common good. For the spiritual benefit of others, for the health and well-being of the entire body. And then finally, exercise it in the right way. To each is given, what is the gifts called in this verse? The manifestation of the Spirit. When your gift is exercised, when mine is exercised, what is it a manifestation of?
Self-adversity. Is it a manifestation of diligence, ability, loyalty to the effective, What is the impression left on others when we exercise our gift? The impression that should be left on others is this. It is a manifestation of the Spirit. And this must be our greatest desire, our earnest prayer, that as we each individually recognize, develop and use our spiritual gift, that it may be a manifestation of the Spirit.
Then and then only will the church be prospered. Then and then only will it be, as Paul has shared, for the common good. May God grant that none of us may fail in these matters to the inheriting of the spiritual health of the body of Christ. Now let us begin with our closing hymn number fifty-one. O Jesus, I have promised to serve this year, be thou forever near me, my master and my friend. In number four. Oh, ye
shall I have promised you to send me through the earth, Be of thy heavenly glory, thy love, and thy name. I shall not fear thy power, but thy soul. Now come and come, Oh, let me be guilty, guilty of my sin.
for forever saving the Lord he has been. But he has grown a children, and he has come away. Oh, let me be with you, and let me be with you, and let me be with you.
Oh, Jesus, make me live, now God will of my soul. Oh, Jesus, now I have promised you all the glory. He's a quiet story, just like you live.
Oh, give me grace to God, thy Father, my friend. And now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do thy will, working in us that which is well pleasing in thy sight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen. number two break down the bread of life dear Lord to me as thou did break the laws beside the sea beyond the sacred page I seek thee Lord my spirit pass for thee our loving word and so on in number two Thank
you. I shall make great love for you. Oh, I am
here to say to my heart, why you are to me. God, let me be, let me be, let me be, let me be. I will be with him and live for him.
Say unto him, never will you come upon him. I will be with the light of the day. Let us go into the rain There you can gather all the blood of Jesus, all the days of God, and all the days of God.
Let us put together a prayer. Our Father, we borrow once again in our holy presence in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And our Father, our prayer and deed would be as we have shown those words tonight. As we commenced to thy presence this evening, pray to those who pray the light, as dear Lord to me, we look to thee at the very commencement of this and other meeting that thou would draw near our Father and the presence thyself, brothers. We stand before thy servant here in omen. We bless thee, our royal star, thy good, protecting hands that have been upon him since we last met together, for journey and message today.
And we do praise the very outset of this meeting. Let us be reminded this platform, and open once more thy precious word, that thou will draw near and grant thy blessing. We do pray, Father, that thou will grant liberty of thought and speech as thy word is opened. grandfather and each of us might hear our voice. Lord, we thank you for this company, God. And thou knowest each point here, and thou wilt before thee. And we do pray that thou will draw near and meet our every gift that night. We pray, O Father, that we might be revived and blessed through our coming together as we are at this time. We pray, too, Father, that they will remember not only what God is here, but we will pray for us as well.
We pray for this whole company of thy people. Lord, that they will draw near and remember thy Lord. We thank of some Father who used to be regularly here to meet, and are no longer able. We pray that thy good hand will be upon them, that thou would bless them. We are this thy mind and world, that thou would raise them up again, to want his health and strength. And our Father, we pray for any who may be cold and thirsty, lost in one's hand. O Father, that thou would draw near and revive each of thine own dear people. Grant that we might be close and drawn to thine self and to each other. The Lord is an assembly of five people here. We might stand together and strive together for the faith of the gospel, that indeed we might be like a city set upon a hill that cannot be hit, that our lights might shine out into this town of its ownity, that many who tonight are still in darkness might be reached and saved with thy salvation.
We do pray, Father, that thou grant thy blessing, as thy word is minister, and as thy God's prescription came. Open down the line. We thank our Father and thy servant tonight, and we pray, really good word. Oh, that all draw near and bless them and use them. We do pray, Father God, that the outcome might be blessing to saints and sinners. We thank our Father Jesus Christ. Amen. fast drawing here we believe to the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ for he who shall come both of us and will not fast and we pray Father God that we die people might be sterile that we might be our lives our responsibilities And I must honor God that we might be here as workers together, and not only father or sky people, but die as their gospel goes forth, that many a poor sinner whose night is in darkness might be reached and saved and one for life shall.
We do pray, O God, for the white world over the night. We think of a world that is steeped in sin, a world our God that is stained with blood. We command and command in this world to live. We pray that they will command our Lord and that they will move and work. Grant us that be thy will of measure of peace in our time. And our Father, that as the gospel was told, may my tongue to the Lord through repentance. We have two of those who have sorrowed the night. O Lord God, that they will draw near and comfort them though of a long time. Those O God and Father who are passing through times of trial. We pray that such times over God may lead them to consider their true possession of possession before thee. Father, that might be a means in thy hands, of reaching and saving precious souls.
So, O God, here we are with a method for them. We do pray that thou shalt not thou shalt. We thank thee, Father, for such a Savior that come to, one that at thy right time. Have we been here over God, passed through thy sin, emptied in all points like us we are, yet without sin? We bless the hour of God that tonight is exalted to thy right hand, having accomplished the work of redemption, and is there as the one mediator between God and mine, the man of Christ Jesus. We stand the hour of God as such as Savior, and we do pray that the whole purpose to exalt him and make much as a man of Calvary. We look today to provide help and guidance now as we turn thanks for our coming together in our Savior's word of name.
Amen. We send together another hymn, and number three, six, nine. Take the bottle, forgive me, Jesus, all joys are put on him. But his life abides ever through eternal years to say. And number three, six, nine, after we send this hymn, the meeting will be open to our dear brother, John S., I was very glad to see him back here amongst us once again. We thank God for his good preserver, in the hands that has been upon him since we last met together. sure as he comes here and commences some weeks in the ministry and in the preaching of the gospel that he will desire all our prayers for God's help and blessing that God might commence these days to bless him and use him this time he's with us in the islands so after we sing this hymn