[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the service this morning.! It's been a blessing already.!
[0:30] Thank you, Brother Julius, for reading in Psalm 139. I was going to touch in a little bit there on verse 14.
[0:42] And I'll just reread that for us. It says, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.
[0:55] We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has designed us.
[1:09] He has created us to be who we are with various giftings. As our text this morning is in regards to giftings, chapter 12 and 13 and even into 14, I believe, talking about giftings.
[1:29] And so they are God-given. He has given us specific giftings, and He has done so as it pleased Him, according to His will.
[1:42] So, it's just a thought for us to ponder on as we work through our text this morning.
[1:55] And within that text, Paul, the author, he likens individual giftings or members of the church and their giftings that they have received.
[2:10] He likens them to the human body. He uses the human body as the example. And, you know, in that, it's an example for all of us.
[2:23] We're all familiar with it. We all have that as well, right? We all have a body. And so the things that I want to look at this morning is one body, many members, and that all members are necessary, and that these members depend on and have a concern for each other.
[2:50] And so I've titled the message this morning, Unity in the Body. Thank you, Brother George, for reading the text for us this morning as well.
[3:06] Starting in verse 12, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
[3:19] For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many.
[3:34] The Corinthian church struggled with giftings, you know, in giving greater importance to certain giftings, some over the other.
[3:50] That was plainly evident back in chapter 1 already, where it talked about the issue of sectarianism, where they were elevating one elder above the others.
[4:02] As Paul writes, some are for Paul, some are for Cephas, and so on, right? So, elevating individuals.
[4:15] And so, it was an issue of struggling with the giftings that, you know, that God had given these individuals. And so, you know, as much as they struggled with it, they recognized giftings.
[4:35] And they, at least they recognized them within select individuals. And so, Paul has already addressed early on in the chapter, there are a variety of giftings.
[4:53] But he made it very clear that they all have the same source. giftings. And so, giftings are God-given through his spirit. And so, knowing God, that he has created us all as equals, we know that he doesn't gift us that we might elevate certain individuals.
[5:21] That is not the design or intent behind it. that he has to be And so, being equal, you know, speaks of unity. That is God's will.
[5:34] That is his desire for us to be in sync with one another. Even here this morning, as a body of believers, to be in sync with one another like a well-oiled, perfectly tuned machine.
[5:49] But, we are not machines. We are even better. We are humans created by the hand of God.
[6:04] And so, therefore, Paul brings about the example of the human body. Me, I am one body.
[6:21] My makeup is one body, not more, not less. My left arm, it's not a body on its own. It's a member, a part of this one body.
[6:34] The same for my right arm, a member, not a body. And we could go on and list, you know, every body part.
[6:46] They are all individual members but coming together to make up one body. They are not their own body. And Paul writes at the end of verse 12, so also is Christ.
[7:09] What is he speaking of here? that, you know, we are one body, there's many members, but all of those members together make one body, so also is Christ.
[7:24] He is speaking of the universal church here. All who are in Christ are members of one body. and he states that fact in the following verses that by one spirit we were all baptized into one body from all nations, all races.
[7:52] If we have become born again and the Holy Spirit is indwelling us, we are one single body. we are part of the church one body.
[8:09] And Christ is part of that body. You know, that fact is evident by his spirit indwelling the individual members within the body.
[8:23] You know, we may have heard the expression that, you know, as believers we are the hands and the feet of Christ, referring to being different members of the body.
[8:40] And so what part of the body is Christ? Let's look at a verse in Colossians. Turning to Colossians chapter 1.
[8:58] Colossians 1 verse 18. Speaking of Christ, and He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
[9:24] Christ is the head. The church is the body, but Christ is the head. So why is Christ the head?
[9:36] He is the beginning. He is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence, meaning meaning that He is first in all things.
[9:56] Christ has gone on before us. If we are in Him, in His will, He is leading us.
[10:08] And so, which part of the body makes decisions and directs the rest of the body? It is the head. The mind directs the body as to what to do.
[10:27] And so, Christ is the head, and we, the church, make up the body. And so, if Christ is directing us, what should the movements of the body look like?
[10:49] Should there be resistance between members? Should disunity prevail? If we are in Christ and moving according to His will, there should be unity among the members.
[11:11] We all need each other, just as our body needs all of its members. Carrying on in verse 15, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
[11:33] And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?
[11:44] If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
[11:56] And if they were all one member, where would the body be? body, but now indeed, there are many members, yet one body. If we consider the body, consider the different members, the different parts of the body, are all our members equally important?
[12:22] Can we do without certain of our members? physically, we have need of all of our body parts. We need to remember that God created us and He didn't throw any parts into our body that did not have a purpose.
[12:48] A hand is not more important than a foot. An eye isn't more important than an ear. Consider what life would be like for us without any one of these, you know, that Paul mentions here, the foot or the hand, the ear or the eye.
[13:09] If one of those is missing, what would life be like? Every individual part of our body has a function and it is an important one.
[13:31] And if a member or a part is removed, can we go on without it? We can, yet the rest of the body suffers.
[13:45] if we lose a foot or a hand, we would suffer. They are important parts of our body for us to be able to stand, to walk, to reach out, to hold, to touch.
[14:07] They are important. If we're missing teeth, we suffer. it's more difficult to chew our food. So we see our body suffering if something is missing, right?
[14:24] I added one more internal part that I am missing, the gall bladder. I had mine removed about a year and a half ago, but if it is removed, the body suffers.
[14:39] Our digestive system is missing an important organ. It has a function. I can go on without it. So far, it seems, you know, things are okay, but I'm pretty sure there's other organs that, you know, are under more stress or suffering more because this other part is no longer there doing its part.
[15:07] important. And so, you know, some members are more obvious than others, and we might think that they are more important than others.
[15:20] But the reality is that our body was designed to make use of all of our organs to function properly. And so therefore, all the members of our body are important.
[15:38] Does that translate to the church, to the body? Is there anyone here this morning who is less important than someone else?
[16:00] Something to think about. Is there anyone here this morning that is less important than another? I put down in my notes to mention names.
[16:16] I think God would help us to see it. So maybe I'll pick on a few here this morning. Jacob, are you less important than Ben, the deacon who came and did the opening?
[16:31] Are you less important than him? Who else? Mike, in the back there. Are you less important than Pastor Wayne?
[16:47] You know, we could go through everyone in the church. We can look to our youth. We have a lot of youth sitting along this wall. Is any one of you less important than maybe Mr.
[17:02] Charlie Lecumon, someone older and who has experienced more life? Are you less important to this body this morning than he is? Something to consider.
[17:25] God has brought each one of us here this morning because he wants us here and he has a purpose for us here.
[17:40] Last Sunday in the first part of chapter 12 we heard how God has gifted each one of us. Every one of us has been given a gift.
[17:52] He hasn't left anyone out. We all have gifts gifts. And God wants us to make use of those gifts.
[18:07] And so when we come together and we all are making use of our giftings, the whole benefits. And it's a wonderful thing because then the whole body is functioning as it should.
[18:25] But if we start to think that a certain gift is more important or less important than another, what happens?
[18:39] We either elevate the individual that we think holds the more important gift or else we look down on the one who we consider holds a lesser gift.
[18:55] And then there is disunity. Corinth had this exact problem. And this letter was written to them and it was being addressed.
[19:13] In Corinth's case, this elder has a better gifting than the other elders. And so they elevated the one leader above the other.
[19:24] I'm just using that as an example of Corinth's struggle. And it could apply to any individual with any gifting. Not only do such things cause disunity, but we also learn in chapter 1, they are sinful.
[19:48] They are issues that must be dealt with, purged out of the church, that the body might be whole and healthy and in unity.
[20:04] The reality is that our gifting is from God and He has given it to us as it pleased Him.
[20:16] And so we ought to be content with the gifting that we have, not desiring another's gifting. God doesn't make mistakes and He doesn't love any one person more than the other.
[20:41] Reading on, verse 21, So in Corinth, they're still arguing that some members are more important than the others.
[21:08] And so Paul breaks it down even more and he gives us two examples in verse 21. Is the eye more important than a hand?
[21:22] Are we worse off without an eye versus without a hand? Is the head more important than the feet?
[21:35] So any way that you look at it, all members of the body have their significance? He says those which seem weaker are necessary.
[21:55] And so in the body of Christ, in the church, this is true also. This is what he is getting at. It takes many people and many giftings to bring about the many functions of the church.
[22:14] I went and listed some of the different functions of the church and it's not an all-inclusive list. I've probably missed some. But some that came to mind, you know, from janitors to yard and building maintenance, to care groups, to kitchen crews, to the ushers, to the sound and tech guys, to song leaders, piano players, education board, to the various Sunday school teachers, to those doing openings, to deacons, to pastors, you know, different giftings to be gifted in these different areas to make these things happen.
[22:55] Some are more visible than others, but we need them all to function as we do. I know if you're here this morning and you're not plugged into any of these groups or these positions that I've mentioned, you might be thinking, I'm not so important here.
[23:23] But you're wrong. Verse 22, I think, speaks of those people. They might seem to be weaker or less important, but the title doesn't make the person.
[23:41] I'd like to reread that verse. Know much rather those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. In my studies during the week, going through a couple of commentaries, years, I found a little write-up in one of them that I'm just going to roughly quote.
[24:08] I didn't write it down word for word, but it was along the lines that the weaker or the less visible members of the church are essential. Who are those?
[24:20] Those who pray, those who work with their hands and bring meager tithes into the church. Just because we're not plugged into one of these groups or into one of these boards, into one of these positions, doesn't make us of lesser value.
[24:45] There's the prayer warriors. There's those throughout the week going and working with their hands to earn an income and they come in on Sunday morning and give a tithe those are just as important as the person coming and doing the opening or the pastor who speaks or the song leader that comes up and sings or the kitchen staff preparing food for potlucks.
[25:16] We could add in as well, you know, those who have the giftings of offering words of encouragement to those who are struggling. the gifting of cooking, you know, just thinking of potlucks, you know, those throughout the week, they prepare a meal and they bring it to church on Sunday morning that we all can benefit from it and our bodies are fed.
[25:47] We are all equally important for the church to function as it does. Verse 23, And those members of the body which we think to be less honourable, on these we bestow greater honour.
[26:04] And our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body having given greater honour to the part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
[26:23] And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. So we begin in verse 23 here with bestowing or giving greater honour to parts of the body that seem less honourable.
[26:48] We've kind of touched into that already, but I want to pick up in the second part of the verse where talks about the unpresentable parts having greater modesty.
[27:04] And as it pertains to the human body, when it comes to unpresentable parts, do we not give them more attention?
[27:16] We do. We take extra care to cover these parts, to dress appropriately so that we are decently covered. And so extra care is given.
[27:31] And they, these unpresentable parts, they are put in this verse alongside the less honourable or the not so prominent. And so in church then, these not so noticeable people in the pews are to be given greater honour or more attention.
[27:54] Don't allow them to slip through the cracks. Fellowship together with them. Befriend them. Get to know them. Do your part to make each and every one feel welcome.
[28:09] Thank you. God has brought us all here. He has gifted us all. And we all have a special place in his heart.
[28:29] Is there room in our heart for those which seem to be weaker or less honourable? God has composed the body.
[28:48] Not us. Not some scientist in a lab somewhere. God. Our Lord, who is perfect, fit every piece together just as he wanted it.
[29:05] And when he had finished, as we read in Genesis, he saw his creation and said it was very good. I want to pick up again in the second part of verse 24 and reread that.
[29:24] But God composed the body, having given greater honour to the part which lacks it, that there should be no schism or no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another.
[29:42] Our body wasn't created to fight itself, but rather that every part should have the same care one for another. The church is created by God as well.
[29:58] He has put his people into different local churches as he sees fit, not to cause division in churches, but rather to complete the church as a body, that all the parts, all the giftings are there for the church to function as it should.
[30:25] When we all care for one another equally, then we have unity in the church, then it functions smoothly as it should, and God is glorified.
[30:47] So let us embrace all the giftings that God has brought into this congregation and have concern for the well-being of all, so that we function smoothly, that we are a healthy body without ailments, that the world around takes notice and they are drawn to us, that they too turn and seek the Lord.
[31:18] unity among the members is so important in our bodies and in the church.
[31:30] God created both. There is no such thing as more or less important parts or giftings. Each part serves a purpose in God's kingdom.
[31:45] may we desire to do our part in ensuring there is unity in Christ's body. Let's pray.
[31:58] Lord God, we thank you for your holiness. Lord, that your ways are not our ways, that you have created us, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, that there are no extra parts, that each part is needed.
[32:23] And Lord, so it is in your church as well, in the body of Christ. There are no extra parts. There are no parts that are unnecessary, that are not needed.
[32:39] Every one of them is needed. Every one you have gifted to make the body function as you want it to function. And so, Lord, help us to be aware of our giftings, to use them for your honor and for your glory.
[33:00] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.