East Baptist Church – Denison, TX

The Church Is ONE BODY

1 Corinthians 12:13-27 (NASB77) ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the
body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as
He desired. ¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; ²³ and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness, ²⁴ whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵ that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

Before we read our Scripture for today I would like to remind us that the
Bible often refers to the N.T. Church as a Body, the Body of Christ to be accurate.
It is a very easy illustration for most of us to wrap our minds and faith around.

I love to teach everything in the Bible, but I get really excited when I talk
about the subject we are going to look at in our Message for this Lord’s Day. We
will be looking at the God ordained power of the local church. The reason I am
so enthusiastic is because people’s lives can be transformed by God’s work
through the local church. The N.T. Church is not a club, a social organization, or a
civic club, it is very much different because of the work done in and by the Holy
Spirit of God working in the Redeemed.

It means the ecclesia, the called-out ones. To be in the church and to be a
follower of Jesus is to be called by God. A calling is something that is not casual.
A calling is something that is deep down in your spirit, deep down in your gut,
deep down in your soul. When God calls you to something, you can’t quit. Even
when you are discouraged, even when you are disheartened at times, even
when you don’t know what to do, or when you’re called, you stay in it. You stay
in a marriage that’s difficult because you’re called. You stay in the game as a
parent because you’re called. You stay in a vocation, in a job, because you’re called. We stay in the church because we are called out and set aside by God.

Verse 22 tells us, In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least
important are actually the most necessary. The parts we regard as less
honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. We carefully protect those
that should not be seen. In other words, there are some parts of the body that
are very visible, like the nose, the head, the hands. There are a lot of parts of the
body that nobody sees. I doubt that many of us woke up this morning and said,
”I wonder how my spleen is doing. I wonder if my lungs are functioning at
maximum capacity today.” No, but those are a part of the body. Some are seen,
others are unseen, and they’re all important. They all play a role.

Before we leave this part of our Message today, please look at V;18: 1 Corinthians 12:18 (NASB77) ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. The Bible makes it clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon us when we were saved that God gave us gifts to elevate His Body the church, the only question for us as His own are we allowing God to use us through those gifts for His glory? We all have a free will to use the gift for God’s glory or our own.

Look at the very first verse of our Scripture for this Lord’s Day. 1 Corinthians 12:13-27 (NASB77) 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. The early church was diverse. There were Jews and Gentiles. There was racial diversity. There were people from all different countries. Our differences make us stronger just as our fingerprints are different.

If you have no head, you’re dead. And if you have several heads, you’re a monster. We need one head, and Jesus is the head. Let’s look at our life and ask, ”God, am I acting under the head which is Christ Jesus?” The Lordship of Christ is the Authority you willingly put yourself under the day you invited Jesus into your life and heart.

God is the One who is orchestrating. It’s not like God said, ”Here, start a church. Good luck, folks. Do the best you can.” No. He’s leading. He’s directing. He’s speaking to us, helping us. Our job is to listen to what God has to say, and then to follow through accordingly and do exactly what He said.