Good morning, everyone. It's good to see all of you. The weather's gotten a little chilly, but... It's always embarrassing when we talk to people on the East Coast and say, it's so cold here. It's just like summer for them. But I know that a lot of our members have gotten a little bit under the weather this past week, myself included. So I hope everyone's keeping nice and warm and toasty. But do take care. Keep yourself warm. Drink some hot chocolate or something, because it's the season for that. Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12. By now, you're all aware that, at least the members are, that starting next month, I will be away for three months on sabbatical, as is the custom for pastors, periodically, once every handful of years, just for necessary spiritual refreshment and rest and to be able to away from the peculiar demands of pastoral ministry. And so to prepare our congregation to not just survive but thrive during those months of my absence, I have three Sundays on the pulpit, including this one, leading up to my sabbatical. And so we start this morning here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We'll be in verse 12 down to verse 26. This is what God's word says. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye 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 that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division 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 honored, all rejoice together. Amen. Let's come to God in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, as we have come now to your word, to your holy food, would you feed us and speak to us, O Lord, by your Spirit. Speak to us through your words which you have written for us and now has been read and is to be expounded. Speak to us and shape and fashion us, even as a church, as a body, a congregation, shape and fashion us into the likeness of Jesus Christ himself. For whose glory and in whose name we pray, amen. The passage of scripture that we have just read is without a doubt a very familiar illustration of the church as the Apostle Paul lays out in verse 12 the church as the body of Christ. is like the human body, which consists of many members, as in bodily members, body parts. And this analogy, of course, helps us to understand that the church is a diverse group of all kinds of people of different makeups and different giftings and different abilities. And it's a basic blueprint of what the church is and how it functions. And perhaps it's so basic to us, the point of sounding almost cliche to our ears because we have heard this many times if we've been around the block in the church. But as it is with many things in life, sometimes the things that we overlook the most are the things that are right in front of our nose. And so it's quite good and beneficial to return to what seems to be to us the absolute basics. Because the question I want to ask all of us this morning is a very basic question. How do you view church? How do you view this church? If I can elaborate on my Question, in your mind, what makes a church what it is? What gives a local church, like this one, its identity and unique character that distinguishes it from other local churches, even here in the same business plaza? What makes a church what it is? And my fear is that in our generation and in our culture, the honest answer in many people's minds and hearts is that the distinct identity and the soul of a local church, the DNA as it were, what makes a church what it is, is the leadership, that it is When a church has a group of really strong and significant elders, oh, that's what makes that church worth attending. Or that one church over there, the head pastor there, a really gifted preacher. And he is really famous. He's written a lot of books. He has a PhD or whatever. These become the quote-unquote selling points of a local church. That this is what makes a church worth being a part of. It's the leadership in our minds. The leadership being the essence and defining mark of a church. And I think we operate more than we realize off of this top-heavy view of church. But this thinking really doesn't accord with God's design. Now, don't get me wrong. Strong and sound leadership is very important in a church, but it is not the church. Strong leadership or poor leadership, whatever it may be, leadership is only a small part of the church. It is a subset of the whole body. An important subset, a critical subset, but a subset nonetheless. Because see, as the apostle Paul reminds us and makes it clear here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, what defines and constitutes the church is not the leadership, but it's the membership. The congregation is what the church is by definition. Not the few people that you see that are supposedly the face of the church, but the congregation is the whole body of the church. And it is critical that we understand this and that we approach church accordingly because otherwise this top-heavy view of church will inevitably lead to a consumeristic mindset and attitude toward church where the few leaders who are expected to do the work of the gospel ministry And then all the members are there primarily to receive what they're selling, to receive what they came for, and to be spectators. But as we see here in our text, the church is a body of many members, not just one member, not just a senior pastor, not just a few key members of the different spiritual leaders, but all the members, the many of them. Listen, you are the church. Not you individually, you're not that important individually, but you all together. Y'all are the church. Okay? Y'all are this body. You all together are the temple of God. You are, we all are, together, Maranatha Bible Church. And only when we understand this body composition of the church, then we will be able to function as a healthy body and a healthy church. And so Paul begins first by presenting what we might call the anatomy of the church. What constitutes the body of Christ? How is it composed? Of course, he brings us to think about the analogy of nature as it pertains to our human physical bodies. So verse 12. For just as the human body has many members, meaning many different body parts, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. You know, our physical bodies, your human body, it's not just a container that contains a dispersed collection of anatomical parts, and all of it just zipped up in a skin bag. Yes, they might be in one location together, packed like sardines, but they're all just disjointed. That's not how it is. No, our bodies are cohesive units of all of the many individual parts coming together to form and to become one entity. One entity that is bigger than each individual part and merely the sum of them as well. And so in the same way, the church is not just some incidental gathering. of a bunch of Christians who happen to be inside the same building on a Sunday. But rather all the members have been brought into one body and each member now belongs to a greater whole. And here it's really important to be reminded that when a sinner is saved, saved from his sins and born again to a new life in Christ, he is not just saved to be an isolated individual who walks with Christ all by himself, just me and Jesus. But every believer has been individually and personally saved in order to collectively belong to a greater whole, and that is the church, a body of many believers. As verse 13 says, For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. No matter our background, no matter our upbringing and culture, our social status, what have you, The gospel is what saves all kinds of different people and brings them into the one body of Christ that we might function as one whole. All these many people, all these many men and women from all over the place, all nations, tribes, and tongues, the many men and women come together to form together one new man, as Paul described the church in Ephesians 2.15. One whole. But again, we have to remember that this one whole does not consist of one very influential or impactful individual member, nor a few key individuals, and the rest of the members just kind of tagging along for the ride, but it consists of many different individuals. Verse 14. For the body, the human body does not consist of one member, but of many. And he's talking about not only many in terms of quantity, numerically many, but of quality. Many in variety and kind. Like with the human body, not all the members, not all the body parts have the same function. In fact, really none of them do. But their importance and belonging, therefore, is not defined by their function and role, but rather their role and their function is defined by their belonging. As it says in verse 15, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that wouldn't make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, well, that wouldn't make it any less a part of the body. You know, when we think about our bodies, the hands compared to the feet, the hands seem to be, they seem to be far more important in everyday life because, well, you see the hand more. People usually don't walk around looking down at their feet. If you do, you've got to change your posture. When we see our hands more and we use our hands more seemingly, It touches more objects. It does the most basic and essential things. It's just more visible to our eyes. And because it makes more physical contact with different things on a day-to-day basis, one would think that it's more important, but that would be very, very mistaken. It would make no sense for the foot to say, well, I'm not essential to the body. It's all about the hands. I'm just following the hands. Now, if you had no feet, you wouldn't go anywhere. A body has hands and feet. Without hands and feet, it is incomplete. And likewise, with the eye, the eye is far more visible. You make eye contact with people. It's on the front of your face. It's on the front row, the front seat, whereas the ear, well, what if the ear thinks, oh, well, I'm not an eye. The eye is in the front. That's the most important thing, but I'm in the back seat of this bus. The eye is the bus driver. And so I'm not really that important. No, that makes no sense. A body has eyes and ears, equally essential regardless of their position in the body, regardless of their function in the body. It is all necessary to form a composite whole of a healthy functional human body. You see, the human body is a whole sum of all the many parts, all the members. The human body is therefore defined by the whole membership. All the members, not just a few key members, not just the one or two organs that we think are most important. They are all important. And so it is with the church, the body of Christ. The church is the whole membership. Not just a select few of the leadership, not just one member. That really makes no sense because that is not a body. Something is wrong with that picture. Something is wrong with that body if it is primarily about one or two or few certain members of that body. And so verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If your body is just a gigantic eyeball that's walking around, something is very wrong with you. No offense to Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc., the Pixar movie. But something's wrong with that dude. That is not a healthy and sound body. And so if the whole body were also an ear, where would be the sense of smell? That is not how God designed the body. It is an incomplete, dysfunctional body. Verse 18, but as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. God placed everyone in its proper place so that every member is essential and equal part. All members together form the identity of the body. To put it another way, the body is an organized, unified assembly of many body parts. not just an exhibition of one oversized body part. That is not a body. That is just a big organ donation in a plastic bag. As Paul says in verse 19, if all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. You see how much Paul repeats himself? It is so important to understand that the church is a body of many members, not just a showcase or a spectacle of one member. And look, especially in this, I don't know what you call it, this Bible church world, where everybody is on the hunt for good teaching, good Bible teaching. I want the best teaching available. It is imperative to understand that the church is not a venue where you come to listen to one preacher. And if that's how you think, you're going to end up going from one church to the next, to the next, to the next, just playing hopscotch along your merry way. And you don't understand what church is. You can say all you want, I love the church, but you don't get it. The church is not just a venue to listen to teaching. That is a very important part of the worship of the church, to be taught from the word, but that is not church. It is not a teaching center merely, but it is a body of interconnected members just like the human body. And so let me say it as clear as I can. I am not membered at the Bible church. I am not the body. I am a nobody. Really? I am just a member. I am one member. I get it, an important member, an ordained and anointed member for the work of the ministry. I understand. But nonetheless, at the end of the day, I am one member among many. And so, during my absence, we really shouldn't feel like something is terribly deficient with this church and that there is a giant gaping hole. And if that's how we feel, then the truth is, that we are not actually a very healthy church in God's eyes. Despite what might appear on the outside to man's eyes, but in God's eyes, He tells us what is a healthy, functioning, robust body. And, you know, when I'm gone, it's not as though I'm leaving this church completely unattended. There's still two out of three elders to lead this church. And this pulpit is gonna be filled with sound teaching from the bible and so these three months that i'm gone should not feel to us like a big parenthesis in the life of our church where we're just on standby mode waiting for things to go back to what it was and waiting for the light to turn green now i i lord willing i plan on coming back okay so you don't have to worry but but but those three months are meant to be a wonderful opportunity, a positive opportunity for this body to grow even stronger, even healthier and more mature precisely because of my absence, not in spite of it. Thanks to my absence. But seizing that opportunity is up to all the members. It's not up to me. It is up to all the members to have the spiritual life and vitality of this church flowing and being circulated through every member doing his or her part, just like a healthy human body. And that's what Paul begins to address starting in verse 21. If thus far he's been focusing on the anatomy of the church, the body's composition, if you will, he now turns to focus on the physiology of the church, the bodily function of the church. And so verse 21, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Now what the apostle is describing is how interconnected all the members are in a physical body. That's why we call it a hand-eye coordination because you need it and they communicate to each other and they're all connected to each other even though they're on they seem like they're on completely different parts of the body but they're all linked and the same way the feet the feet follow the head the feet follow where the head is inclined and vice versa even though they seem like they're completely on the opposite sides of the body and have nothing to do with each other You know, some time ago, I stumbled upon this book. It seemed kind of interesting to me. It was written by a former FBI agent who was an expert in body language, reading body language. That's what the book was about. And in it, he describes how you can always tell through body language what people are really thinking despite what they say on the outside. And for instance, if somebody is very uncomfortable in a given situation, or is very uncomfortable with the individual that this person is talking to then despite the smile on their face or whatever their feet will usually be turned a little bit away so as to make a quick escape as soon as possible as the opportunity arises their body is saying I don't want to be here I want to be somewhere else. And so listen, if you're a single guy and you ask out a girl, look at her feet, and you'll get your answer. And if her feet are pointed that way, just tell her, go in peace. Don't holler at her again. But you see, it's amazing how our bodies work. It's all interconnected. And what all this shows is the inseparable interconnection of the various members of the body despite seeming to have no connection whatsoever at first glance. But notice how this interconnectedness has to do with the fact that, as you can tell from verse 21, this interconnectedness means that we all need each other. That's what Paul said. That we have need of one another. To be a member of the body means that you are inseparably connected to other members of the body in such a way where we are obligated to one another. God has arranged the members in the body where they are to have spiritual responsibility for one another. and this is especially apparent when we consider weaker members, struggling members, members who are not very visible, members who are easily overlooked and rather than overlooking them or looking down on them as though they were just the weakest link or regarding them as just dead weight that stole the body down, they are to be seen as having greater need and therefore tended to with greater care from all the other members. That's how the human body functions. And so verse 22, on the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually indispensable. Isn't it amazing for those of you who watch sports, those towering superhuman giants of men, at least when we talk about the basketball world, but even football and others, I mean, they are just able to practically leap over buildings it seems. And yet, this tiny little tendon, just underneath your calf, that connects to your heel, called the Achilles tendon, when that thing tears, that whole behemoth is down. The weakest member are actually, they are actually indispensable. They are precious. They are utterly valuable in God's eyes. And also, verse 23, on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we actually bestow the greater honor. And our un-presentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. What's Paul talking about? Well, simply put the parts of the body that are not publicly presentable and for our private eyes only meaning our private areas in this way. They are less honorable. They are embarrassing as it were but what do we do with them? We instinctively know to cover them up with more clothing and in this way. with greater honor and so it is with the church the members the people who are weaker are actually more most precious in God's eyes and God calls us to provide more care for them and the members who are who are less dignified perhaps a little bit embarrassing a little obnoxious I don't know pick one they are to be covered with greater honor and love because love covers a multitude of sins this is the body of Christ unlike any social community on earth because this is a holy community a holy assembly brought into one body in one spirit in the spirit of the infinite love of Christ for sinners and his spirit abides in us insofar as we obey his command love one another bear one another's burdens take responsibility spiritual responsibility for your fellow members, especially the weaker ones. Because we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves, Romans 15.1. This is how the church is to function. Every member, every member, taking the responsibility, taking the initiative to make sure that other members are cared for, not to please ourselves, but to think about and to consider other members. To not come thinking about primarily about receiving care, but come focus on giving care. Verse 24, but God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. Now notice, Paul doesn't say, but so that the leaders may have the same care for all the other members. But he says, so that the members, all the members, the many members, every member of the body, may have the same care for one another. God commands unity in his church, such that every church member is spiritually cared for, accounted for, that no one is left behind, neglected, forgotten, untended to. But it is both untypical and practically impossible for that responsibility to be carried out only by the leaders. That is not how God designed his church. Notice verse 26. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. The whole body, the many members are to take note of one another. You are to minister to one another. You know everybody wants church unity, but little do people realize that it takes work from all the members to cultivate true spiritual unity in Christ. I can't unify this church by myself. If I try to do that, all I will accomplish is uniting the church to me. And then we'll really be in trouble. Because that's what cult leaders do. So Christ has commanded his body to function as a body of many members. And so it is a responsibility of each member of the church to take the initiative in providing not just temporal care and material care for others. That's all important and great. and to help each other out in life. Oh, you're hungry here. Come over, have some dinner. That's great. But ultimately to provide spiritual care for other members. And what that means is to take notice, to take notice of who might be spiritually struggling and do something about it. Who seems spiritually unwell? and go tend to them. Give your time and yourself and your energy to do that. Notice who has been absent. Man, I haven't seen this guy or this, I haven't seen her in a long time. I wonder how she's doing. I need to reach out to her and be like, hey, are you okay? Because unless you're out of town for a really long time or something, there's really no reason for you to not be here in the church. Are you okay? What's going on? Something must be going on. or to notice if somebody is going a little wayward and going a little bit astray, whether in doctrine or in deed, and bring them back. You see, this local church body cannot function unless all hands are on deck to take ownership of this church and to provide spiritual care for one another. and to all the members of our church, let me ask, with what mindset do you view this church and what it means to be a member of it? I know all the members, you've taken the membership classes and you learned it, but forget that for a second because that can go in one ear and out the other, and that's just a little class that we do, but really, in the life that you have lived in the life of this church, with what mindset Do you view this church and what it means to be a member of this church? With what objective do you come on Sunday mornings? Is it to minister to others? Is it to check up on others? Is it to exercise your God-given responsibility for other members? Or is it primarily you come because you want to be cared for? You want to be talked to? You want to be asked after. Those are all good things. But what is your objective? Is it all to receive? Is it all to just come and to be fed with a good sermon so that you can individually be encouraged and go on your merry way? Look, you can hunger for spiritual growth and seek to feed on the Word of God still in a way that is self-centered and immature. Because with that mindset, no matter how much you feed yourself, you will not grow. Why? Because spiritual maturity always, always results in spiritual responsibility for others. This is just like in life. How do you tell the difference between somebody who is a mature human being versus an immature human being? An immature human being, no matter whether he's 10 years old or 30 years old, an immature man thinks only about himself. But a mature man is able to get married and is ready to be a father because he has proven himself to be able to provide care for people just beyond their own selves. And so in the church, the strongest and godliest and most mature member, it's not about all this talk. It's not about all this Bible knowledge in your head and how well you can speak, but it is always, always you could tell by a man or a woman who is there to serve others, who is there for others, who is always thinking about others. Jesus said, the greatest among you must be your servant. It is the one who is in the church always taking notice of others, Always thinking about what's best for this body, for the congregation, not just for myself. Always takes initiative to minister to others, and goes to bear with the weakest. It's hard. It's much sacrifice. But, first of all, that's just life. That's what maturity is like. Parenting is hard, it's sacrifice, but that's what you gotta be. And so it is with the Christian life. That's the difference between a spiritual child and a spiritually mature adult. And this is why it is impossible for a Christian to grow and to mature in Christ apart from, disconnected from, being a faithful member of a local church. Because spiritual growth is about becoming more like Christ himself. Being more into the image of Christ, who so loved others, who so loved even His enemies. Sinners like you and me who have done nothing but offend Him all our lives. So much that He gave all of Himself to meet our greatest need, just to be saved from our sins. And the Son of Man, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, so that many would be accounted righteous by His righteousness. And so that many would come and enter into His body, grafted in as members of His own body. And He has placed us as members of His body so that we might learn to grow in His likeness, to learn to love one another as He has loved us. To grow to be a people who prefer one another above our own needs. To count other members as more significant than ourselves. It's hard. But growing is hard. Healthy exercise is not easy. No pain, no gain. And look, we all come. I understand we all come with our own problems and our own needs. I'm not downplaying that at all. Lord is God. But you know what's the greatest blessing of the church? What I myself have experienced? The blessing of the church is that God has blessed us with others who also have problems and needs. And when you start to bear other people's burdens, you know what happens to your own burden? It starts to feel quite light. My problems are really not that bad after all. Because here's my brother who is suffering. Here's my sister who is struggling. Our biggest problem at the end of the day has to do with perspective. And our biggest problem is that we live through life so focused on our own problems that we become so insular, so introverted, and so stuck in ourselves and we get tunnel vision. And we have to at some point just believe Jesus' words when He says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Meaning it is more happy. You are happier when you give than when you receive. Because it is more blessed to be in Christ and to be in His likeness. Rather than to just be in our own selves and stuck in ourselves. This is the blessing of belonging to the body of Christ. This is what we were saved for. And for those of you here who have not been saved by what Christ has done, look, there is nothing else in this world, you have to understand, there is nothing else in this world like the church, the body of Christ. I mean, the dwelling place of God, His own Spirit in His gathered people, the unity and the bond that we have in Christ that is not just of earth, but all the way into eternity. What other place bears with the weakest and the weakest are the most cherished? and the most love there is no place on earth like the body of Christ but just being physically present inside a church building doesn't make you a part of this church doesn't make you a member of the body of Christ we want you to be we welcome you to be we plead with you to be But you must enter, not by your flesh and blood, just by physically going somewhere. But you must enter by faith, by the Spirit of God being born again. And that is by repenting of your sins and placing your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your sinful self. To believe Him who died and rose again on behalf of sinners. To confess to Him that it was for your sins that He had to be crucified. And that He had to suffer the weight of God's judgment that was meant for you. That He swapped places with you. And to trust Him when He says, that if you come to Me, your sins are forgiven. And then, you will enter the family of God as His child. forgiven of all of your sins, belonging to Christ forever, and to be a member of His household from now and unto eternity, you must come to Jesus Christ by faith and enter into His invisible body, His eternal kingdom by the power of God's Spirit. Come and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent of your sins and put your trust in Him. And as I close, let me just exhort our dear members to be reminded once again that to never forget, you are the church. Not individually, but y'all are the church. Every single one of you has come into the membership of this body, not by accident. but by divine arrangement, because it is God who arranges the members in the body, each one of them, as Paul says. Each one of you is invaluably, invaluably precious and an integral to the life of this church body. And the spiritual life and vitality is dependent on all of you functioning and contributing to the life of this church. And those of you who might scoff at this and think, oh, no, no, no, I'm the useless one. I'm just a quiet one. I'm just the, no, I'm just the exception. If that's how you think, you are that much more precious to God. And you are actually that much more precious to the elders of this church. But that is not meant for you to just stuff into your own mind and heart so that you can feel nice and coddled and warm and fuzzy inside just for your own sake. But knowing this is meant to awaken you out of the misery of your inactivity and to keep you from indulging in just idleness but to strengthen you to be the church member that God has called you to be and that He has saved you to be and that He has empowered you to be by His Spirit. You have an ownership of this church that has not been earned, but that has been granted to you and entrusted to you by God himself who has arranged you into this body. That's how valuable each one of you is to this church. And so, be the church member that you already are by divine calling and design. And as we do so, may we as one body mature together into the stature of the fullness of Christ for his glory. Let's pray together. Our gracious God and Father in heaven, we thank you for the mystery of your grace in building up your most holy temple, your very own dwelling place, and that being your church, the body of Christ, of all who belong to you truly by faith, and that you have called and designed to be locally expressed in local churches just like ours. Lord, what an amazing and divine thing Lord help us to see the church as so precious as you see it. Help us to love your body as you love it and empower us by your spirit to walk in the ways that you have set for us so that all together as one body we might glorify you in a way that is impossible as just individual