I Corinthians 12:12-31
Well, just a little overview for where we have been over the last few months. So, we spent about four months studying the book of 1st Thessalonians and finished that up a few weeks ago.
And I’m very comfortable in doing book studies. And so, we’ll get back to that. But last week we looked at a sermon entitled, Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
And we tackled this whole issue of worry in our lives. And we shared some spiritual disciplines that God has given us to have victory over worry. And the first one was to recognize that the Bible says worry is a sin.
You might say, well, where does the Bible say that? Well, we looked at Matthew chapter 6 and the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said four times, do not worry, do not worry, do not worry, do not worry. And so, we looked at how to have victory over worry. And I hope you have made some progress in your life this last week.
Something that I struggle with, worry, on a regular basis, but God’s given us resources to overcome it. This morning we’re going to think about a series entitled One Another. There’s a Greek word in the Bible, it’s allélón, it’s translated one another.
And outside of the Gospels, it’s found 58 times in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul uses it 40 times. And it speaks to the fact that the Christian life is not to be lived in isolation, but in community with one another.
So about 50 years ago, a pastor and professor at Dallas Seminary, his name’s Dr. Gene Getz, wrote a book entitled Building Up One Another. And he studied all of these 58 phrases in the New Testament that are found one another phrases. And he discovered that when you boil it all down, there’s like 12 one another commands in the New Testament.
Maybe to no surprise that the most common one is the command to love one another. It’s found 16 times in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus in John 13 says that’s to be the defining mark of a Christian.
By this will all men know that you are my disciples by how you, what, love one another. And so, this phrase is found over and over again in the New Testament. I think you’ve got this insert in your bulletin, and this might kind of illustrate where we’re going to head in the next few weeks.
So, as we look at these one another phrases, I picture this love one another phrase that’s found over and over again. It’s kind of an umbrella phrase in the New Testament that we’re to love one another. But then when we look at these 12 one another statements, it tells us how we’re to flesh that out.
What does it look like to love one another? Now we’re not going to study all 12 of these, but we’ll hit several of them. So, to love one another means we greet one another. We serve one another.
These are all found in the New Testament. Commands, bear one another’s burdens. We’re members of one another.
We’re to be devoted to one another, to honor one another, bear with one another, submit to one another, encourage one another, be of the same mind, accept one another, admonish one another. Those are all commands that are given us of how we are to relate to one another and to love one another. So, this morning we’re going to look at one of them, and it was found in Romans chapter 12, verses 4 and 5, that we are members of one another.
So, here’s the verse, Romans 12:4 and 5, for as in one body we have many members, and the members do not have all the same function. So, we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. So, the apostle Paul says we’re part of this one body, and we’re members of one another.
Now there’s two aspects of the church found in the New Testament. There’s something called the universal church, and that’s comprised of every believer on the planet that’s put their faith in Jesus Christ. And then there’s the local church, and Paul wrote letters to local churches in the New Testament, and that’s the second aspect of church that’s in the scriptures, and that’s our church here, Community Bible Church, the local expression of a church.
The Bible uses the example of human body to illustrate the body of Christ is to function
And so, this morning we’re going to look at 1st Corinthians chapter 12. If you have your Bibles, you can turn there, and we can discover that the apostle Paul, when he uses the phrase one another in 1st Corinthians chapter 12, he uses an illustration to illustrate how the body of Christ is to function. And the illustration that he uses is the human body.
The Bible uses examples of the human body to illustrate how we are to function as the body of Christ. So, this morning, and we’re going to go through this rather quickly, we’re going to think about six truths from 1st Corinthians chapter 12 that describe our relationships within the body of Christ, that we are members one of another. So, let’s begin to zip through these rather quickly.
i. the moment we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, we are placed into the body of Christ (the church)
Here’s the first one that I want us to realize. It’s this, the moment we receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior, we are placed into the body of Christ. So, you might say, well, am I a part of the church, the universal church? Well, if you’ve received Jesus Christ as your Savior, at that moment, the Scriptures say we were all baptized into faith in Christ.
Let me read the passage here. It’s 1st Corinthians 12:13, where we’re all baptized, that means placed into in this context, where we’re all placed into by one Spirit to form one body, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free. So, the moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Bible says you were placed into the body of Christ.
You are literally in Christ, and Paul references that many times. And so back in November of 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio, as an eight-year-old boy, almost 62 years ago, I knelt down in the upstairs bedroom of our home after a worship service with my father, who happened to be the pastor of the church, and he led me to Jesus Christ. And at that moment, I was placed into the body of Christ.
And so, the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become part of the body, and we sing these choruses, I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God, the body of Christ. Secondly, the body of Christ is made up of many different ethnic, socioeconomic groups. Paul goes on to say in verse 13 of 1st Corinthians 12, we’re baptized into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, we were all given to one Spirit to drink.
And so, I want us to think of this universal worldwide church called the body of Christ, and it is multi-ethnic, different economic groups. Paul lists Jew or Gentile, slave or free. Back in the first century, there were probably 20 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and many of them came to faith in Christ.
ii. the body of Christ is made up of many different ethnic groups and socio-economic groups
And so, the body of Christ is made up of many different ethnic groups and socio-economic groups. And look around our auditorium this morning, you would think that maybe the gospel is only for white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. There are more believers in Jesus Christ and the continent of Africa, twice as many than there are in the United States of America.
The body of Christ is made up of a huge, different ethnic, socio-economic groups. And here’s one of the most encouraging verses in all of Scripture, Revelation 7, it’s a future worship scene in heaven. And here’s what John writes, and I looked and there before me was a great multitude.
So, we just sang about when we all get to heaven, let me tell you what is going to happen in heaven. Here’s the scene that’s going to happen. I saw a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, from every ethnic group, from every nation, there will be people there.
Now there’s 195 nations on the planet and they’re all going to be there. And they’re wearing white robes and they’re holding palm branches in their hands and they’re crying out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And then John describes the worship scene that takes place in heaven.
Well, isn’t that going to be a great worship service someday? And I look forward to that, I hope you do as well. So thirdly, here’s the third truth about the fact that we’re all members of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is made up of many interdependent parts.
iii. The body of Christ is made up of many inter-dependent parts
The body of Christ is made up of many inter-dependent parts. And again, Paul references that and here in 1st Corinthians chapter 12, he’s illustrating the body and he says, some are the hand, some are the eye, some are the feet. So just as our bodies function differently with many different parts, that’s how the body of Christ functions.
Many inter-dependent parts. And so, Paul says, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them just as he wanted them to be. And so, the eye cannot say, I don’t need you, and the feet cannot say, I don’t need you.
iv. No individual member of the body is more or less important than any other member.
And so, for the body of Christ to function, and we’re going to see this, we all have a role and they’re all interconnected to have the body of Christ function as God wants us to. Here’s the fourth truth that Paul lays out for us, we’re members one another. No individual member of the body is more or less important than the other.
That this body of Christ, where we all come together and we worship the Lord and we want to find our place in the body and function, no individual member is more important than any other. Paul writes about it in verse 22, on the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor.
And the parts that are unpresentable, we are treated with special modesty. While our presentable parts need no special treatment, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body. And so, no part of the body is more important than the other.
Now let’s just illustrate that. On Sundays when we come together, there’s some parts of the body functioning that are more visible than others. And so, we have a worship leader that leads us in worship, and we have musicians that play the clavinova and the piano, and most Sundays we have someone that comes up and gives special music, and obviously there’s someone that gives a message.
Those are maybe the visible parts, but none of those roles are any more or less important than the rest of the roles. And having Hannah here as part of Ethnos 360 serving in the Home Office in a support behind-the-scenes role is a perfect example of that. That the frontline missionary in Papua New Guinea who’s trying to get God’s truth into the lives of those indigenous people who’ve never heard of, some of them, the name of Jesus before in their life, that person is no more important than Hannah in the support role who enables them to go.
And the same is true in the Church of Jesus Christ. And so, throughout the week here, there’s people that serve. Did you ever notice when you come into the church that the church is clean? That’s because we have someone who cleans the church.
And on Monday night we have a group that meets together and studies the Gospel of Mark and has a prayer time together, and on Wednesday we’ve got the AWANA program and about 20 of you work in that program, and we’re reaching 50 or 60 kids a week, and there’s ministry going on, there’s youth group going on, there’s a Bible study going on, and then someone on Thursday is leading a Bible study. Saturday morning, a men’s study. Many roles functioning.
You ever notice that the grass looks nice and the building is taken care of? Because people are serving and doing that throughout the week. And on Sunday there’s many behind-the-scenes people, people that come in early and make coffee. Although I noticed that, well, I’m not sure it was done this morning, but it usually is.
And there’s greeters at the front door, and there’s junior church teachers that are ministering to the kids while we’re worshiping up here. There’s nursery workers. And last week I heard that there…this is good news for us, that we had eight kids in the nursery, so we might need to recruit some more nursery workers here if that is kind of your giftedness.
We have sound engineers, tech crew, Sunday school teachers, people that keep up the website, a treasurer that pays our bills. We had a nominating committee that met this week, people serving in that area. And all of these roles are important, and none is less or more important than the other because we all need everyone to do their part for the body to function.
v. What affects one part of the body affects the whole body.
All right, number five, here’s a fifth truth from 1st Corinthians, Paul talking about we’re members of one another, we’re all part of this body. Verse 25, God puts us all together so that there’ll be no division in the body. Here it is, but that its part should have equal concern for each other.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices. So, here’s the principle, when you’re part of the body of Christ and part of a local fellowship, Paul says what affects one person in the body should affect us all.
In other words, when someone’s in stress, in crisis, or going through some major difficulty, we should all feel that. When we get up on Sunday morning and announce that a couple here had a new baby girl, we should all embrace that and rejoice in that. That’s what the body of Christ does because when one part is hurting, it impacts us all.
I remember years ago, we were down in Florida before new year’s, I had a toothache the day before, and it got worse. And I’m at Disney World trying to enjoy time with my family, and my tooth is killing me. And my whole body hurt.
I didn’t get to a dentist until January 2nd, and they pulled that tooth, and I finally got some relief. Paul says when one part of the body hurts, the whole-body hurts. That’s not only true physically, but it should be true spiritually as we enter into each other’s joys and sorrows.
And Paul writes about that in Romans 12, verse 15, rejoice with those that rejoice, and mourn with those that mourn. And the key to that is really in Philippians 2:5, where Paul says, let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ. Have the mind of Christ.
What was the mind of Christ? Others-oriented. To focus on other people, and their needs, and their concerns. That’s what the mind of Christ does.
vi. Each member of the body has been given a spiritual gift designed to edify the body.
And as we do that, we can enter into their joys, and we can also enter into their sorrows. Well, last one of these six truths about the body of Christ. Here’s truth number six.
Each member of the body has been given a spiritual gift designed to edify or build up the body. This is how Paul concludes this section. And this truth is true in many places in the New Testament.
There’s like four or five passages that talk about spiritual gifts. You might say, well, what is a spiritual gift? The Bible says the moment you were saved; God gave you at least one spiritual gift. There’s about 20 of them listed in the New Testament.
And our job is to discover what that is, and then to develop and deploy that gift as we serve others. There’s serving gifts in the Scripture, there’s speaking gifts, and there’s also sign gifts. But notice how Paul finishes this section.
Now, you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. God has placed in the church, first of all, apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, gifts of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? No, we eagerly desire the greater gifts. Now, when it comes to spiritual gifts, there’s 20 in the New Testament. There’s a little bit of a difference of opinion in are the sign gifts, which are healing and speaking in tongues, still functioning today? And there’s charismatic, what we call charismatic churches that believe that, that they’re still in use today, and so therefore their services have speaking in tongues and maybe a healing service.
Some of us believe in, this is from a passage in, I believe it’s in 1st Corinthians, it is in 1st Corinthians 13, that those sign gifts were given for a certain period and a certain purpose, and so they’re no longer functioning today. Love never fails, 1st Corinthians 13, but where there are prophecies they will cease, where there are tongues, they shall be stilled. So, but that’s not a disagreement within Christianity that should separate us.
There’s differences of opinion there, but the main truth is that God has given you a spiritual gift. Some gifts of pastor-teachers is a gift, the gift of encouragement, the gift of leadership, the gift of giving, the gift of serving. And so, as we study these passages, I’ll give them to you, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1st Peter chapter 4, 1st Corinthians 12, you see all these gifts listed, and God wants us to find what our gift is and to use it in the context of the body of Christ to build each other up.
As each one does its part, that’s Ephesians 4:16. And so, I really believe, and this is a sanctified speculation, but someday we’re going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ if we’re a believer. Not to have our sins judged, that’s already been taken care of, but we’re going to be evaluated and rewarded according to our faithfulness.
I really believe one of the questions on the final exam that God might ask us is, did you discover your spiritual gift? And if so, what did you do with it? In other words, did you find your place in the body of Christ, your role, and how faithfully did you serve me? And so, I’ll just give you a heads up, might be on the final exam when we stand before Jesus, and what I want to be able to say is, yes, and I serve you to the best of my ability. And so, each of us has been given a gift, and it’s been given to build up and encourage the body of Christ. All right, four questions as we close this morning for us to think about.
Application questions
1. am I a member of the body of Christ?
I don’t think they’re on the screen, but here they are. Number one, am I a member of the body of Christ? There are many people that sit in churches Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, and they’re going to church, but they’ve never understood the gospel. They’ve never personally received Jesus Christ as payment for their sin debt.
As I like to tell people, sin has to be paid for. Either you’ll pay for it, or you can put your faith in Jesus, who already paid for your sin debt. And so, am I part of the body of Christ? And so, that’s a crucial, crucial question.
2. am I living the Christian life in isolation or interdependence, interconnectedness with each other?
Number two, am I living the Christian life in isolation or interdependence, interconnectedness with each other?
3. am I entering into the joys and sorrows of the body of Christ?
And number three, am I entering into the joys and sorrows of the body of Christ? And so, when they come together as the body, do I look to encourage one another? Do I look to maybe reach out and say, hey, how can I pray for you? How can I encourage you? What’s going on in your life?
4. am I using my spiritual giftedness?
Great questions to ask. And lastly, am I using my spiritual giftedness? Have I discovered what that is? And am I using that to build up the body of Christ? Well, the apostle Paul says we all belong to this organization called the body of Christ. And I trust you’re a part of the body, the universal church, but also God designed us for you to be part of a local church where you can grow and serve, rejoice with others, and also enter into their sorrow.
And that’s how God designed us to live.