WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:15.280 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:35.539 Today's scripture reading is from Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 8, as printed in the liturgy. 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.240 A reading from Paul's letter to the Romans. 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:48.159 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 00:00:48.620 --> 00:00:50.820 This is your true and proper worship. 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:57.020 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:04.000 Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:10.120 For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, 00:01:10.460 --> 00:01:16.620 but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:23.240 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 00:01:23.820 --> 00:01:30.040 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 00:01:30.520 --> 00:01:33.860 We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:38.320 If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.239 If it is serving, then serve. 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:41.799 If it is teaching, then teach. 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:44.399 If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.199 If it is giving, then give generously. 00:01:47.759 --> 00:01:49.679 If it is to lead, do it diligently. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.919 If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. 00:01:53.339 --> 00:01:54.899 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:55.259 --> 00:01:56.699 Thanks be to God. 00:01:58.219 --> 00:01:59.739 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:06.759 We are in this three-week series talking about the church as the body of Jesus Christ, 00:02:06.939 --> 00:02:13.400 and we're looking at these New Testament texts that give us a basic manual and fundamental instructions 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:20.419 for what it means to be the church that the resurrected Jesus launched by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:28.819 And we're hoping to equip you all with a vision, the New Testament vision of the nature and purpose of the church. 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:36.020 To help you see your role and the gifts that have been given to you by the Holy Spirit to build up the church. 00:02:36.700 --> 00:02:44.180 And then to think about the ways that your time and your talent and your treasures can be stewarded for the mission of the church. 00:02:44.320 --> 00:02:48.280 And so today, we're looking at this letter to the Romans. 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:54.140 And in terms of Christian doctrine, this is the greatest masterpiece that's ever been written. 00:02:54.260 --> 00:02:58.540 It's a colossal, incomparable statement of Christian truth. 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:02.219 And in our text today, the apostle opens up and he says, 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:06.180 Therefore, in view of God's mercy. 00:03:07.019 --> 00:03:14.439 And that word, therefore, as we saw last week, that word, therefore, always points us back to the first part of the letter. 00:03:14.579 --> 00:03:24.739 It emphasizes for us that the church and the body of Christ is something which follows as the logical consequence of what's gone before. 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:33.680 And what's gone before in Romans chapter 1 through 11 is that we've been given this panoramic view of the mercy of God. 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:39.780 We've been given this systematic, comprehensive exposition of what the apostle says. 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:45.540 And the very first line of the letter is the gospel of God, the good news of God. 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:51.299 And we worked through most of that in the spring and summer of last year. 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:54.479 But maybe it's a little bit fuzzy for some of us. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:59.919 And I just want to briefly summarize so that you can understand this word, therefore. 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:01.519 What is the mercy of God? 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:06.379 What is the gospel of God that's been unfolded for us in Romans 1 through 11? 00:04:06.379 --> 00:04:13.120 Well, if you go back and you look at Romans 1, you get this incredible doctrine of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:18.019 And the fact that each of us, every person you ever meet, is made in the image of that God. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:20.300 And yet, we're fallen. 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:22.379 We sin against Him. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:27.980 And we're worshiping and we're serving created things rather than the Creator. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:29.279 That's what Romans 1 says. 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:35.540 Romans 2 and 3 then starts talking about the way that we all try to live better lives. 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:41.439 And we try in all kind of ways to save ourselves and reconcile ourselves to God. 00:04:41.520 --> 00:04:42.460 But it doesn't work. 00:04:42.580 --> 00:04:44.040 We just, we can't do it. 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:52.420 And then, the good news in Romans 3 and 4 is this doctrine of God's one and only way of salvation. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:54.900 Justification by faith alone. 00:04:55.020 --> 00:05:00.640 That God comes to us and He takes all of our unrighteousness, all of our failures, all of our sin, 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:09.519 and He puts it on to Jesus and He takes Jesus' righteousness and He puts it on to us and He declares us just and He declares us right before Him. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:16.439 Romans 5 through 6 then gives us this doctrine of being united with Jesus. 00:05:17.539 --> 00:05:20.039 That we were in Adam. 00:05:20.339 --> 00:05:21.459 In Adam we failed. 00:05:22.099 --> 00:05:24.620 But now we're in Jesus and in Jesus we triumph. 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:30.199 We were dead with Adam but now we're alive with Christ, Paul says. 00:05:30.840 --> 00:05:35.800 And then we get into that great chapter, Romans 8, which gives us the doctrine of adoption. 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:40.160 That we've now come to share in the sonship of Jesus Himself. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.180 So that when we call out to God we can call Him our Abba Father. 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:47.579 And that means that we've been born again. 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:49.079 That we're new creatures. 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:50.459 That we have a new life. 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:51.839 A new nature. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.779 A new outlook on everything. 00:05:54.659 --> 00:05:56.379 And we want to live like Jesus. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:00.899 And not only do we want to live like Him but we have the power of the Holy Spirit to do it. 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:06.199 And then come these great doctrines of perseverance and glorification. 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:14.639 That nothing shall separate us from the love of this God who's prepared a glorious inheritance beyond the grave, beyond death. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:23.180 That when Jesus comes to establish the kingdom of God finally, fully, and forever, we will reign with Him. 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:28.019 That's my best attempt to summarize what the therefore means. 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:38.319 Therefore, in view of all of this mercy of God, we now turn to the subject of the Christian church. 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:40.740 And we turn to the subject of Christian conduct. 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:47.740 And we can see that all of it is simply a logical deduction from all the doctrines of God's mercy. 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:53.579 And what the apostle goes on to tell us, he wants to tell us about being a living sacrifice. 00:06:54.340 --> 00:06:56.319 A body with many parts. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:58.939 And different gospel gifts. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:04.060 Therefore, in view of God's mercy, we've got to think out what it means to be a living sacrifice. 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:06.280 A body with many parts. 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:08.800 And different gospel gifts. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:13.319 So let's talk first of all about being a living sacrifice. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:15.840 Again, verse 1, he says, 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:24.179 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 00:07:24.299 --> 00:07:27.079 This is your true and proper worship. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.839 And again, that therefore is turning us from exposition to exhortation. 00:07:31.579 --> 00:07:37.059 It's turning us from the indicatives of all that God has done for us and to us and in us. 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:44.319 And now it's turning us to the imperatives of what we must be and what we must do in response to the mercy of God. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.339 Doctrine to duty. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:48.300 Creed to conduct. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:55.500 And this therefore tells us that the church, the body of Christ, is not merely a human society. 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:59.779 It's way more than a gathering of just mere human beings. 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:03.600 It's rather a spiritual and a supernatural gathering. 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:06.240 That we're a family of brothers and sisters. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:14.519 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, people who've been radically transformed by the mercy of God. 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:22.219 God, this God, looked upon us in all of our folly and self-centeredness, all of our sin and our rebellion against him. 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:26.599 He saw us in our miserable condition that we had brought upon ourselves. 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:28.019 And what did this God do? 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:30.339 He had compassion on us. 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:31.799 He pitied us. 00:08:31.979 --> 00:08:33.439 He had mercy on us. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:41.779 And he lavished upon us all the incredible gifts and benefits of salvation that we've just talked about in Romans 1 through 11. 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:54.019 Therefore, Paul says, in view of God's mercy, I urge you, I'm encouraging you and I'm exhorting you to just simply remind yourself of who you are. 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:58.480 That you are a people living under the mercy of God. 00:08:59.259 --> 00:09:06.759 And if you want to show your gratitude to God for his great mercy toward you, then, Paul says, this is the way you should live. 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:16.379 And what follows is this remarkable summary of the new life in Jesus Christ, what we call the doctrine of sanctification. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:18.620 And again, here's how he says it. 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:22.819 He says, therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to what? 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:28.100 To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.519 To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.240 Now, that is calculated to shock us. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:44.519 And if you're not feeling shocked, you haven't really heard it correctly, this is the language of laying down a sacrificial animal before God. 00:09:45.319 --> 00:09:50.419 Of putting yourself, as if you're the animal, up on the altar to God. 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:57.460 And it's this totalitarian demand that you would yield yourself, you would surrender yourself entirely to God. 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:05.700 Now, this does not say that you should offer yourself as a sacrifice to God so that he might forgive you and accept you. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:07.259 No, Jesus has done that. 00:10:07.540 --> 00:10:10.900 Jesus is the once for all sacrifice for sins. 00:10:11.019 --> 00:10:20.379 But what it does mean is that you are to make yourself an offering of gratitude in response to the mercy of God. 00:10:21.280 --> 00:10:24.180 And it doesn't say to offer your things to God. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.960 It doesn't say to offer your heart to God. 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:30.400 It says, offer your, again, shocking, your bodies. 00:10:31.680 --> 00:10:34.300 Which means not just some of you, but all of you. 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:37.000 Your private and public self. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.320 Your individual and social self. 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:41.780 Your inner and outer self. 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:43.300 Offer your bodies. 00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:47.700 Not as a dead sacrifice, but as a living sacrifice. 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:55.700 Which means it's to be daily, continually, perpetually making yourself a living offering to God. 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:00.780 And he says you're to offer your bodies as a sacrifice. 00:11:01.780 --> 00:11:02.820 As a sacrifice. 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:06.879 And a sacrifice implies that something needs to be put to death. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:08.500 Something must be killed. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:10.919 And what is it that has to die? 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:13.840 What is it that has to die? 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:18.639 It's this idea that you have the right to live as you choose. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.159 And that you belong to yourself. 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:25.820 And that you know best what should happen in your life. 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:28.419 That has to be put to death. 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:34.259 You've got to renounce all of your rights to yourself. 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:38.039 And recognize that you no longer belong to yourself. 00:11:39.319 --> 00:11:41.659 But that you belong to someone else. 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:43.919 And so you have no right to live for yourself. 00:11:43.979 --> 00:11:45.759 But for that someone else. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:50.579 What he's saying here is we've got to take our hands off our life. 00:11:51.439 --> 00:11:54.120 And all the control that we like to have over our life. 00:11:54.319 --> 00:11:57.059 We've got to give ourselves completely to God. 00:11:57.059 --> 00:12:03.079 Now I've found that many people really like the mercy of God part. 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:07.500 But a lot of people aren't so excited about the sacrifice yourself part. 00:12:08.699 --> 00:12:10.099 And maybe that's you today. 00:12:10.219 --> 00:12:14.399 You're like I'm not really ready to take my hands off of my life. 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.659 Or you might say you know I trust the Bible. 00:12:18.079 --> 00:12:19.859 But I don't really like these things. 00:12:20.739 --> 00:12:23.359 And I'm only really going to do those things. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:28.139 And if that's you you need to know that you're actually still on the throne of your life. 00:12:28.259 --> 00:12:30.940 You're still in the driver's seat of your life. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:36.019 And you're actually telling God that his will is in fact not totally good. 00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:37.740 Not totally pleasing. 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:39.259 Not totally perfect. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:44.379 You are still acting as if you belong to yourself. 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:47.740 And deciding how all the things should go. 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.419 And assuming that God simply doesn't know what he's doing. 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.100 That he's not wise. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:54.860 Or that he can't be trusted. 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:57.000 And if that's you. 00:12:57.659 --> 00:12:59.700 I just want to lovingly invite you. 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:01.700 To look today at Jesus. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:04.200 Look at Jesus. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:06.679 And what did Jesus do? 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:08.379 Jesus offered himself. 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:11.059 Not as a living sacrifice. 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:13.799 But as a dying sacrifice for you. 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:19.000 He took his hands off of his life. 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:24.639 And he became this dying sacrifice out of love for you. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:28.960 So that you could take your hands off of your life. 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:33.740 And become a living sacrifice out of love for him. 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:39.379 And he's not asking you to do anything that he hasn't already done for you. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.039 We sing about this when we sing, when I survey the wondrous cross. 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:46.139 And we say this great line in that hymn. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.919 We say, love so amazing. 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:48.740 So divine. 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:50.779 What does it demand? 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:52.180 It demands my soul. 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:53.519 My life. 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:54.960 My all. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:59.700 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy. 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:04.620 To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:06.940 With me so far? 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.660 That's the general principle. 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:13.160 And now the apostle gets into some more specifics. 00:14:13.400 --> 00:14:15.420 And he talks about not just a living sacrifice. 00:14:15.660 --> 00:14:19.340 But being part of now a body with many parts. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.560 You're part of a body now with many parts. 00:14:22.680 --> 00:14:27.020 And I want to return to the apostle's favorite analogy of the church that we explored last week. 00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:30.159 Where he uses this term more than any of the others. 00:14:30.259 --> 00:14:36.419 It's this famous picture and this wonderful illustration of the human body and the physical frame. 00:14:37.379 --> 00:14:39.659 And this is where we left off last week in Ephesians 4. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:39.919 It says, 00:14:39.919 --> 00:15:06.819 What the apostle's saying there is that each part of the body are parts of a whole. 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:14.879 And that none of the parts have any meaning in and of themselves except in relationship to all the other parts. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:18.240 And all of them together to the whole and especially to the head. 00:15:19.540 --> 00:15:22.140 And so Paul is saying this yet again in this text. 00:15:22.220 --> 00:15:22.980 He says in verse 4, 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:40.560 See the church is a living body. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:45.479 And each part has its life from the head which is Christ. 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:53.619 And the head is the place that houses the skull which houses our brain. 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:59.960 And my understanding is our brain consists of about 100 billion neurons. 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:11.120 And out of our brain come various nerves and a whole nervous system that runs all the way down our spinal column into all the rest of our body. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.980 And all the control of the body. 00:16:15.060 --> 00:16:16.159 All the power of the body. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.720 All the movement of the body starts there in the head. 00:16:20.659 --> 00:16:27.019 And it's from the head which is Jesus that all the life and the energy is to go down into all the parts of the body. 00:16:27.860 --> 00:16:33.139 So that each part is vitally and organically united to the head. 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:40.340 And all the parts are really just extensions of and manifestations of the life of the head. 00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:43.120 And that's what a Christian is. 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:51.779 A Christian is somebody who's defined as a person who has the life and the energy of the head, Jesus, coming down into you. 00:16:52.840 --> 00:17:01.840 And a Christian is someone who says, you know, apart from the head, the body as a whole and the parts individually can really do nothing. 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:13.860 And to try to act on your own or to try to act independently apart from the thinking of the head, the mind of the head, the activity of the head, that's just outrageous, isn't it? 00:17:14.840 --> 00:17:18.680 But the apostle kind of goes beyond that. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:20.799 In verse 5 he says this. 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:21.160 He says, 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:29.259 So in Christ we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to all the others. 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:37.619 Now I wish we had time today to talk about the exquisite design of the eye, for example. 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:39.519 Or the hand. 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:40.519 Right? 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:46.000 Or we could talk about the intricate design of the ear or of the foot. 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:51.619 Each of these parts having a variety of functions and doing different tasks for us. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:57.000 But the question for us is, what would each one of these parts be without any of the others? 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:07.799 Can you imagine if I showed up today and my eye just decided to start functioning on its own in isolation from my head and from my brain? 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:14.400 Or if my hand decided I'm going to do stuff apart from my arm and from the rest of my body? 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:22.400 What good would it do if all the parts showed up today in me and said, you know, I don't belong to all the others? 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:28.120 My doctor would say, Jonathan, you have a serious disease. 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:29.980 You're in trouble. 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:37.780 You see, every part has meaning as it's related to all the other parts and to the head. 00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:48.180 And every single part, every single member has a function that's not merely important but that is essential to the working of the entire body. 00:18:48.420 --> 00:19:00.720 And that if that particular part is not there, if that part does not belong as it were, the body will not only be abnormal, it will be incapable of functioning as it should. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:03.460 Now, of course, people are resilient. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:10.319 We know people that have learned to live life and adapted their life without an arm or without a leg. 00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:11.140 And they're amazing. 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:13.440 But I'm not sure that's their ideal. 00:19:14.600 --> 00:19:21.620 And we all know, I think we'd agree, that there's a certain threshold, a certain baseline of organs and systems that we absolutely need. 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:40.979 If I showed up today without my eyes and my hands and without my ears and my feet, and I showed up today even more than that, without my heart and my lungs and my GI tract and my muscles and my bones, not only would I not be much use to you, I would be dead. 00:19:42.219 --> 00:19:45.359 I would be hurting very badly. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:52.819 Secondly, in a living church, there's no such thing as a non-essential Christian. 00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:58.919 And no, there's no such thing as a church member being unimportant. 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:05.939 If you just look around you at all the other parts of the body that are sitting around you today. 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:08.659 And last week I invited you to do that and nobody looked around. 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:10.640 So just look around for a minute. 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:16.259 You can turn your head and just look around at all the other parts of the body of Christ that are sitting around you. 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:24.460 And I want you to realize that these are all people, whether you know them or not, they can't go on without you. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.920 They are dependent on you. 00:20:28.820 --> 00:20:37.300 And all those people you just saw will suffer if you are not here and if you are not here in a fit condition to do your part. 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:48.500 But when the body is functioning correctly, when it's functioning properly, there's a belonging, there's a cohesion, there's a harmony among all of the parts. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.879 Now I called my brother this week who's a medical doctor. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:57.839 And I said, hey, just so I don't embarrass myself in front of the congregation this week. 00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:03.099 Are there actually any unimportant or non-essential parts in our anatomy and our physiology? 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:05.399 And I brought up the thyroid gland. 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:07.560 I was like, tell me about the thyroid gland. 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:08.700 I know nothing about that. 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:10.920 I'm just a simple-minded pastor. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:17.660 And he said, okay, hey, if you go back to the time of Hippocrates and Galen, and my brother's a big nerd. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.600 So that's kind of where he started and how he began the conversation. 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:27.040 He said, if you go back, they knew that there was something important about the thyroid gland, 00:21:27.340 --> 00:21:32.440 even though they didn't actually know for a very long time what its function even was in the body. 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:43.600 You know, we had to wait a really long time until modern medicine to discover that the role of those thyroid hormones in metabolizing our bodies is actually really important. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.880 So if you haven't given thanks to God for your thyroid gland recently, do that. 00:21:48.080 --> 00:21:48.700 Do that today. 00:21:49.120 --> 00:21:49.920 You need that. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.279 And then I said, well, hey, what about the appendix? 00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:55.380 I was like, I knew I got him on the appendix. 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:58.180 And he was like, well, actually, you know, you're right. 00:21:58.260 --> 00:22:01.500 For a long time, people considered that to be a useless organ. 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:06.840 You know, if your appendix ruptures, you just remove it as if it didn't really matter. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:11.120 But he said recent research shows that it plays two beneficial roles. 00:22:11.340 --> 00:22:15.260 And it's helping us, number one, to fight off invading pathogens. 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:21.660 And number two, it's helping to repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria after you have GI issues. 00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:25.160 And what was his point? 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:29.019 His point was there are no non-essential, unimportant parts. 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:38.580 That your thyroid and your appendix play a vital role in your health, whether you understand them or not and whether you appreciate them or not. 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:41.160 They're there doing work for you. 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:48.880 And here's the insight that he said out loud that really stood out to me. 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:50.759 He said, you know what, Jonathan? 00:22:50.900 --> 00:23:04.300 We're actually not, we're not really thinking about all the different parts of our bodies unless and until a particular part starts to break down and cause pain. 00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:07.740 Then you start to think about that part. 00:23:07.819 --> 00:23:13.680 It's not like you get home at the end of a long day and you look down at your toes and you're like, thank you, guys. 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.639 I mean, you did such amazing work today. 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:17.779 I'm so proud of you. 00:23:17.899 --> 00:23:18.579 Good job. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.940 No, your toes don't, they don't draw attention to themselves. 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.319 If they're healthy, they just do the work. 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:34.319 And, you know, if your toe gets infected, however, if your toe gets broken, it's going to send signals of pain through the rest of your body. 00:23:34.439 --> 00:23:40.039 And so the point is we've got to keep all these little parts that we never even think about healthy. 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:51.679 And in the Christian life, in the Christian church, this means that our supreme duty as individual parts of the body is to make sure that we are healthy. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:24:02.539 And that there is no spiritual disease in me because if I suffer disease, the whole body is going to suffer disease and pain. 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:14.820 And so the way you stay healthy is that every single part is always to be subordinate to the mind of the head, the will of the head, 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:26.759 the control of the head, receiving moment for moment life and energy from the head so that whatever the head is giving you as a little part to do, 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:32.539 you are able and ready to carry out what the head gives you to do. 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:34.960 Does that make sense? 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:39.799 Okay, I've beaten this analogy as far down as I possibly can. 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:45.159 And we've definitely gotten way beyond my medical knowledge. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:46.619 So that's it. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.759 But in view of God's mercy, we're to be a living sacrifice. 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:58.599 And the context in which we're to be a living sacrifice is in this body that has many parts. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:06.419 And finally, the apostle wants us to think about the different gospel gifts that are given to each of the parts. 00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:10.200 Different gospel gifts given to each of the parts. 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.200 And this is what he's talking about in verse 6. 00:25:13.300 --> 00:25:13.660 He says, 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.420 We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:24.640 And what he's saying is that when we become a Christian, when we're regenerated, 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:33.400 when we are born again from above and the Holy Spirit comes into us and we're made part of the body of Christ, 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:40.900 the Spirit himself gives us spiritual, supernatural gifts that we did not have when we were born. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.580 That are not natural to us. 00:25:44.280 --> 00:25:48.300 He just graciously gives us these amazing gifts. 00:25:48.540 --> 00:25:55.580 And along with those gifts, the Spirit gives us a desire to see the kingdom of God expressed in the visible form of the church. 00:25:55.579 --> 00:26:06.179 So that we want to do and play a part in the life and functioning of the thriving and the flourishing of that body, the church. 00:26:07.339 --> 00:26:09.460 And that's what Ephesians 4 meant last week. 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:10.179 Again, I'll read it. 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:17.519 It says that we're to grow and build ourselves up in love as each part does its work. 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:20.919 Or as each part exercises its spiritual gift. 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:27.100 And now the apostle is giving us a few examples, a few illustrations of particular gifts. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:29.240 These are not all the gifts listed in the New Testament. 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:32.759 And even all the gifts listed in the New Testament are not all the gifts. 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:38.259 But here are some of the gifts and the ways that we are to exercise them. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:41.740 He says, first of all, there's the gift of prophecy. 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.779 And prophecy is not foretelling the future. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.080 Prophecy is telling forth the Scripture. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:55.379 It's declaring and proclaiming God's Word that He puts into your mouth for the church's edification. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.319 And the apostle in 1 Corinthians 14, he says this. 00:27:00.419 --> 00:27:00.639 He says, 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:07.599 The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. 00:27:08.639 --> 00:27:14.559 You are to prophesy, he says, so that everyone might be instructed and might be encouraged. 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:19.980 And how are you, if you have the gift of prophecy, how are you to exercise that gift? 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:26.299 He says, you're to do it in accordance with your faith or in accordance with the faith. 00:27:27.679 --> 00:27:33.559 Prophecy is supposed to be done in accordance with the standard of the body of truth given in the New Testament. 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:36.559 That order and system of the apostolic truth. 00:27:37.259 --> 00:27:38.559 The apostolic faith. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:43.099 That's what prophecy is supposed to emerge and arise and be aligned to. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.460 Well, what else do we need? 00:27:46.919 --> 00:27:51.059 In addition to the gift of prophecy, the church needs the gift of serving. 00:27:52.139 --> 00:27:57.259 And somebody with this spiritual gift of serving, they share something with Jesus. 00:27:57.399 --> 00:28:00.599 Because Jesus describes Himself in Mark chapter 10, verse 45. 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:01.000 He says, 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:05.359 I've not come to be served, but rather I've come to serve. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.440 And that word that Jesus used means, I've come to wait on tables. 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:14.500 So, serving might mean for you literally serving food. 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:17.539 Doing maintenance for the church. 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:21.400 Organizing and providing for the material needs of the church. 00:28:21.539 --> 00:28:23.500 Doing administrative work. 00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:25.279 Serving our kids. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:26.200 Serving our youth. 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:26.740 Serving our youth. 00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:32.440 I was thinking this week about how important our welcome and hospitality teams are. 00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:44.100 And the reason their service is so important is because if you're on that team, you're the first people that are encountered as they enter into or exit from the church. 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:53.779 And so, what you do there, if you smile, if you offer love to people, if you give them a good and not a cheap cup of coffee, 00:28:53.779 --> 00:29:03.500 you are helping them and you are enabling them to receive all the other ministry of the gospel that's on offer in this place. 00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:06.519 Your serving is incredibly important. 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:11.740 But what else does the church need in addition to prophecy and serving? 00:29:12.579 --> 00:29:13.980 Well, there's this gift of teaching. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:16.220 This gift of teaching. 00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:21.299 People who teach are able, as Paul says elsewhere, to rightly divide the word of truth. 00:29:21.299 --> 00:29:26.319 And then to pass on the truth of the gospel as it's been preserved in the Bible. 00:29:26.879 --> 00:29:31.919 To help people understand what the divine author of this book actually intended. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:40.539 And to build up and encourage people to be built up in and established in the Christian faith. 00:29:41.819 --> 00:29:43.500 So, we need the gift of teaching. 00:29:43.659 --> 00:29:45.680 And we also need the gift of encouraging. 00:29:46.639 --> 00:29:47.700 What is encouraging? 00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:53.480 Well, encouraging is simply urging someone to live out the truth of the gospel. 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:55.120 It's what Paul's doing here when he says, 00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:56.299 Therefore, I urge you. 00:29:56.420 --> 00:29:57.740 Therefore, I encourage you. 00:29:57.860 --> 00:29:59.779 Therefore, I exhort you. 00:29:59.880 --> 00:30:00.319 Same word. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:06.319 I exhort you to apply all the doctrines of the gospel to your ethics. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:15.839 Paul is trying to drive the truth from our mind down into our heart and down into our will. 00:30:15.919 --> 00:30:19.240 That's what someone who has the gift of encouragement will do for you. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:24.779 They exhort you and they motivate you to a deeper spiritual commitment. 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:28.819 They rouse you and they stimulate you to further action. 00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:34.319 And my experience is that someone with the gift of encouragement typically calls you to prayer. 00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:36.460 Why? 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:42.240 Because prayer is the place where the Holy Spirit puts courage in you. 00:30:43.139 --> 00:30:46.019 And that's what it means to be encouraged. 00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:55.559 So we need all these gifts of prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging. 00:30:55.859 --> 00:30:58.720 And then he says there's that gift, that great gift of giving. 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:08.160 And this is a person who shares their resources of their food and their clothes and their money and their house to meet the needs in the church. 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.039 And how does he say we're to exercise that gift of giving? 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:26.539 He says do it generously, which literally means to do it in a simple, straightforward way with no ulterior motives, no strings attached, no weird power dynamics, no sense of patronage, no sense of expectations on a return on your investment. 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:29.299 Just give generously, period. 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:33.519 And then there's this incredible gift of leading. 00:31:34.659 --> 00:31:38.159 Or it's also translated providing for others. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:44.080 You might be an elder, you might be a community group leader, you might be somebody who coordinates care. 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:46.640 How are you to lead? 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:49.519 He says you're to do it diligently. 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:58.480 Or another way to translate that is to do it zealously, to do it with energy, to put your back into it. 00:31:58.540 --> 00:32:00.400 If you're going to lead, just lead. 00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:04.200 And is that all the church needs to be healthy? 00:32:05.140 --> 00:32:07.019 No, he adds this one final gift. 00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:10.740 It's an incredible gift that he calls mercy. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:13.819 And we're back to where we started, aren't we? 00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:24.940 Because as God met our misery with his mercy, people with this gift of mercy then take that mercy out to visit the sick, 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:28.740 to care for the elderly and the disabled, to comfort the grieving, 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:33.440 to provide for widows and orphans and the foreigner and the poor. 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:36.579 And how are we to exercise this gift of mercy? 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:42.720 He says we're to avoid that dutiful, grudging, downcast attitude. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:49.259 And we're rather to do it with cheerfulness because cheerfulness is what will lessen someone's pain 00:32:49.259 --> 00:32:51.819 and help them feel better the moment you walk in the door. 00:32:51.819 --> 00:32:57.899 So whatever your gift, and again, there are many more gifts than these. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:02.159 Whatever your gift, you need to exercise that gift to the full. 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:09.460 You need to roll up your sleeves and do it with all your might for the glory of God and the good of the church. 00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:14.360 Another translation of verse 6 says, 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:16.700 Having gifts that differ, let us use them. 00:33:17.660 --> 00:33:19.779 Let us use our different gifts. 00:33:19.900 --> 00:33:26.240 There should be no unemployed, passive Christians who only come to receive and not to give, 00:33:26.340 --> 00:33:28.819 who only come to consume and not to contribute. 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:29.600 That's not right. 00:33:30.660 --> 00:33:37.920 The head of the body is counting on you to work hard at the part and with the gift that he's given to you. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:42.240 And there are some people here, you need to know that there are some people here in this room today 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.380 that can only be touched by your gift. 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:51.300 There are some people here today, they have your name written on them. 00:33:51.860 --> 00:33:53.580 And you might not have even met them yet. 00:33:54.660 --> 00:33:59.640 And if they come here and you don't come and you don't exercise your gift on their behalf, 00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:03.080 you're resisting the will of the Holy Spirit in your life. 00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:09.940 But if they come and if you show up and you exercise your gift for their sake, 00:34:10.759 --> 00:34:15.019 we're told that the body of Christ will grow. 00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:18.019 It will grow healthy, it will grow strong. 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:24.159 It will, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, just simply build itself up in love. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:34.739 Each part doing its work, each person, each member exercising their gift as a living sacrifice 00:34:34.739 --> 00:34:38.259 in response to the mercy of God. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:44.599 So may God give us the grace to do this very thing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:34:45.399 --> 00:34:45.659 Amen. 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:45.799 Amen. 00:34:45.799 --> 00:34:45.859 Amen.