I was thinking tonight, as we're gonna turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, about how God equips his church through gifted people. And there's all kinds of gifted people who God has used in each of your lives, hasn't he? And some behind the scenes, some through phone calls or visits, some through listening and time, some maybe through teaching or helping. But God grows his church through the body of Christ using their gifts for his glory. And we're gonna continue our study in 1 Corinthians. Now this is normally the Sunday morning message. In fact, I prepared it for this morning, but the Lord had other plans. It's like the Lord said, it's Palm Sunday, preach the gospel. And so I put this off until tonight and hope it doesn't mess anybody up too much. So 1 Corinthians chapter 12 is where we are. We think about what the body of Christ is. We understand it's not just a matter of giving a tag to the church. It's actually a very descriptive expression. The body of Christ. Jesus Christ died for his church. He died that we may be together in him, his body. But Satan, boy, he hates the church, doesn't he? He wants to dismantle it. He'll never destroy it. We know the gates of hell will not prevail against it, but he can certainly discourage the church. He can divide the church. He can cause us to come to disunity and dissatisfaction, and he can make a disaster of a church. even though it is Christ's church. There's going to be a danger, and we're going to find this with the church at Corinth, a danger of independence from the church. And there were those who were acting independently of the church. And there's also a danger of independence within the church. What do you mean by that? What's the difference between the two? Well, one person says, well, I'm a Christian, but I just don't do church. Have you met people like that before? Nod your head if you have, okay. All right, I'm a Christian. I just don't do church, for maybe many reasons why. Maybe they tried it, maybe it didn't go so well. Maybe they never have tried it. But they're professing believers, but they just don't do church. And to that person, I would respond simply, yes, you do do church, because you are the church. You're just not doing it very well. Because the church is not the building and it's not the services, it's the people that compose it, right? So that's one extreme. The attitude to them is the church is nothing, it's just an option. It's like, I've got many options in my life. You know, sometimes I pick church and sometimes I don't, or I choose not to, no thanks. And I'm a Christian, I'm good with God, thanks. There's that attitude. And then there's the other people, maybe on the other end of the spectrum, who would say, well, this church would never survive without me. Oh? Whose church is this? Is it really dependent entirely upon you? The attitude of that person is, you are everything. And both of these extremes is a danger, and the balance comes to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where God explains to us by the Holy Spirit, in the hand of Paul, is he writes a letter to a church. It's not a letter to a pastor. It's a letter to a church. And so the things he's saying, we do believe in the priesthood of the believer. We believe in individual soul liberty. And while we understand that God has called us to gather together, worship together, serve together, we do have an individual personal responsibility to this collective group that the New Testament identifies as the church. So on the one hand, the church is interdependent. That means that we are all dependent on one another. We have a responsibility to one another. If we were going on a hike today, and we're climbing up the trails at Hocking Hills, and there are some times where you might need a hand. Somebody reaching down from above, and you're reaching up, and they're helping you get your footing, get your step, and we're interdependent. We need each other as a body. But on the other hand, we're also dependent The church is completely dependent on who? Jesus Christ, our head. We are dependent upon him. It's essential, I learned this week. Melody passed on to me, she said, did you know that leprosy drastically is affected by the nervous system? It's not technically a disease of the nervous system, isn't that right? But it drastically affects it. And so much so, the reason that leprosy is so dangerous is because the nerves are disconnected. And that's why limbs fail and other things happen to a person with leprosy. A church, in a sense, could get such a disease as leprosy. We could become disconnected from our nerve center, from the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's dangerous. We're dependent. We are dependent upon Jesus Christ. So this letter is written by Paul to a church that's been having some trouble. They've had some problems. There's been some divisions in the church. And Paul, In chapter 11, brings him to the fact, here's something that's gonna help unify you, it's called communion. But in chapter 12, he talks about something else that's gonna help unify them and it's called community. It's us coming together, serving God together. I guess the theme statement of tonight is take care of Christ's body. It belongs to him and we ought to take care of it. Christ's physical body was made a sacrifice that you might become members of his mystical body, the church. his local assembly, our church. Christ died so that you could be part of his church. So I wanna look at four R's tonight, things that we need to do in reference to this. So looking with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, starting at verse 12. I take it back. No, no, let's go back to chapter 11, verse 27. Before we get to chapter 12, let's pick up here. Speaking of the Lord's table communion, he says in verse 27, wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, notice this, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. And the problem, as you remember, some of you were in that service a couple weeks ago, we talked about the problem was an attitude of disrespect they had towards one another in the body of Christ. They were serving themselves, not serving one another. So how did they take the Lord's table unworthily? They did it selfishly. So number one tonight, we need to reverence Christ's body. It's saying, I will show respect to them, to the church, to the people in the church, because of who we are in Him. I'm gonna show respect, I'm gonna show reverence for the church because of who we all are together in Jesus Christ. That gives us each value. And if I'm going to respect him, you remember how seriously Paul treated communion, the Lord's table. If there was this attitude of disrespect, if there was disharmony in the church, if they were taking the Lord's table selfishly, unlike the free grace that God offered through the cross, if they were bitter and divisive. And he says, I mean, there's consequences for that, physical consequences for that. There was illness and there was even death. So Christ takes his body very seriously. We ought to as well. In Ephesians 4.15, Paul said this, but speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head. Even in Christ, we ought to respect the church because it's the body of Christ. He is the head. And so we show reverence. Number two, we need to recognize Christ's body. Recognize it. Recognize that there is such a thing. You know, as the church, Christ's body. We're gonna pick up here at verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 12. It says, for as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. That's a picture of spirit baptism. This is what takes place the moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. At the moment you believe on him, you receive his grace. When you are saved, you are baptized at that moment by the Holy Spirit. You are brought into the body of Jesus Christ. And he says, no matter the background. Jews or Gentiles, bond, that's those who are imprisoned, those who are not slaves, those who perhaps are free men, we're all united in Christ. And so, we need to recognize that. Pick up with me at verse 14, for the body is not one member, but many. There's variety, God loves variety. He made the turtle, He made the giraffe, and He made you. God loves variety, and His church is made up of variety, unique, individual people who God brings together to form a body to serve His glorious name. Isn't that wonderful? It says in verse 15, if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body. And maybe you'd say, well, I'm a part of the body, but I don't know about them. Or perhaps you say, well, I know definitely they're a part of the body, but I'm not sure I'm the part of the body. He clarifies this. He said, is it therefore not of the body, verse 16, and if the ear shall say, because I'm not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body, verse 17, were an eye. Imagine that, okay? What if you just rolled in tonight and climbed into your new seat? You know, if you have If you blink for a moment, you'd certainly distract the preacher with these giant eyeballs looking at me, and then you're looking at an eyeball up here. But that's not really what it's saying. It's not saying that everybody is an eyeball. What if there was just one member, one big boss of the church? They're the eye, and everybody else is not important. That's what was taking place in the Church of Corinth. They had elevated some gifts above the others. They had seen some people as more valuable to the church because they had certain giftings. Look what he says in verse 18, but now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him. That word set there, it's an interesting phrase. It's a word that's also used in John 15, 16. That's the verse we used for our theme for our missions conference. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you. that she should go and bring forth fruit. That word set means we are placed by God, we are gifted by God. According to His sovereign power and control, you were made by God, you were planned by God. When you trusted Christ, you were gifted by God, by the Holy Spirit, with His spiritual gifting. And who chose that, you? No, God did. God sent the members, He says, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased Him. It's according to God's good pleasure, what God desires. You might say, well, I've got a bum rap. I don't have the gift that I would really want. No, no. You have the gift by which you will be the most fulfilled and satisfied as a servant of Jesus. God is gifted. He's equipped you and he will use you. Amen. Verse 19. And if they were all one member, where were the body? So if there was only one, I mean, what good would that be? I mean, if you Hopped on your phones right now, and you ordered from Amazon a body, and it came tomorrow in your mail. And you came and opened the box, and whoop, looking through the parts list. Okay, leg, leg, ear, ear. Uh-oh, where's the nose? Where's the nose? So when God built the body, it was according to His design and His plan. It wasn't for you and I, it's not a random chance. It was of His sovereign, eternal plan that He gifted and equipped you and put you into His body. Look what it says in verse 20, but now, are there many members yet one body? Though there's different people, different giftings, we're all made one, one in Jesus Christ. The church at Corinth had been divided, right? They were breaking themselves into more than one. What did that mean? They were spiritually handicapped. They were limited, they could not do all that God had intended for them to do. So we recognize, recognize the body of Christ, recognize here as we gather, as we gather week by week in services and some who are at home and not able to be with us in services, they are yet part of this body, but we are all part of the body of Christ and so We should show reverence and we should also recognize. I will verify that you are part of who I am. That's important for you and I to recognize, hey, we're all part of the same thing, same team. You know, and if you play street ball, sometimes you have teams, and I remember playing in high school, we had two parks by my house, and both of them were hot spots for drug dealers, but they were really good at basketball, and so I would go down, play basketball with them, and sometimes we would play, you know, individual, every man for himself would play 21, or other times we'd play on teams, and if two guys grabbed the same ball at the same time, and they were on the same team, The thing you said was same. Well, OK, I'm going to let you have the ball. I'm not going to take it away from you. You're on my team. And the same comes true in the church. Hey, same. We're all on the same team here. We're not competing with each other. We're not fighting one another. We're working together to do the will of God. Amen. So we recognize it. Ephesians 416 says from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted. by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working of the measure of every part, making the increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. So recognize that. God uses us to grow us. God uses the body to build the body. And so each of us, every one of us, has a part in the body. It's good to recognize that. We must reverence the body, but also recognize it. Number three tonight, respond to Christ's body. We have not only a place in the body, but we have a responsibility. We need to respond to one another. Picking up at verse 21, in the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet. I have no need of you. Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are, notice that word, say it with me, necessary. The feeble ones are what? Verse 23, and those members of the body which we think less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor. And our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, for our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked." God cares for the body, and he meets the needs of the body with the body. And there are some of us who are kneecaps, and some of us are elbows, and some of us are little pinky toes, you know? The one who went wee-wee-wee all the way home. We have different places, and if you've been a Christian for long, you realize the longer you're a Christian, the weaker you are, and the more feeble you are. But praise God, God sees you, God cares for you, and He has designed the church, the body of Christ, to care for the needs of the body of Christ. It's awesome. We are to value the weakest or the strongest. of the body. Ephesians 5.29 says, For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord of the church." God cares for His church. He knows how to take care of it best. And the best way He knows how to care for His church is to gift you other members of the body who are going to care for you and you are going to care for them. Look what it says in verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body. but that the members should have the same care one for another. God's designed us in such a way that we do not implode. He's made us fire retardant, okay? If we do what God has called us to do, hey, there shouldn't be any explosions. There shouldn't be any division. We are caring for one another. We're not thinking of ourself first. We're thinking of one another first, and we're serving each other to reach the lost and serve the King, Jesus Christ. He is our head. And so I respond to Christ's body. It says in verse 26, and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. So that should be the spirit, not competitive. That's my spot. No, I wanted that first, and not that. That's selfish, that's childish, that's immature. But as we mature in Christ, as the church at Corinth, God was calling them to grow in the gospel, So they should be looking towards other people as fellow members of the body of Christ, essential, necessary, invaluable. So we value them. Verse 27, he says, now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. So number one was reverence the body. Number two, recognize the body. Number three, respond to the body. I mean, be involved, get engaged, serve one another in the church. And then, number four, remember, it's Christ's body. Let's go back to that. It's Christ's body, this sovereign Son of God, sinless, sent to this earth to die in our place, who bore our sins. for our forgiveness, for our justification, for our freedom in Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ. It's his church. Hot dog. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's all about him. It's his church. So we must act like it. He gives the examples here beginning at verse 28. And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondary prophets. You might ask, well, why the numbering? I'm going to get to that in just a minute. The Corinthians had an issue of elevating one particular gift, the gift of tongues. We'll pick it up in chapter 14 in a couple of weeks. They elevated that above everything else. And so him by naming these things is talking about how God worked. Another place you could look to understand this a little better, and I won't do it tonight, is Ephesians 4. I may be mentioned in a moment of one verse there, but Ephesians 4 helps to explain this. So these were gifted people to build God's church. Apostles, secondary prophets, thirdly teachers. After that, miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Rhetorical question. Of course not. Are all prophets? Of course not. Are all teachers? Of course not. Are all workers of miracles? Of course not. Verse 30, have all the gifts of healing? Again, of course not. Do all speak with tongues? No. Do all interpret? No. There's a variety. God made a variety and it brings Christ the greater glory. As we talked about last week, the word sumphao is the idea of the Holy Spirit of God bringing us together, not just in unity, but in beautiful harmony, working together. What's the conclusion for us tonight? Number one, Christianity without community is calamity. See, I don't need the church, I don't need any church, I'm fine on my own. Hey, that's disaster in the making. It's like the old preacher went to visit somebody who had been missing many weeks of church, and this was back in the days when they were heating their house by a fireplace. Maybe you still do that, but the pastor reached into the fire, he didn't say a thing, he went into the man's house, he took the tongs, and he took out a coal, and he set it outside the fire, and he just sat there with the man before long that coal went out, and the man got the point. We need each other. We grow hot when we're together. Where the Spirit of God is, there's liberty, and we have privilege as we gather together, as we lift our voices in song and praise and service. There's a sweet thing. Boy, yesterday was work day. I love work day. I'm not great at most things, but I really enjoy watching you work. I do what I can, I run errands. I told you before, probably, about the time I was helping at a work day, and I thought, well, what can I do? We didn't have any more errands to run, and so I thought, well, we've got that big burn pile. I'm just gonna put some gasoline on it and light it off. Boom! I'm not kidding. Little Jericho Libran, he was a little fella at the time, said to me, Pastor, it's like the flames were going over your head like a wave. Praise God, I only lost a few arm hairs and an eyebrow. None of them died. And they're like, Pastor, give us the matches. We'll take those back now. Thank you. What happens on a workday? We have a simple list. I'm so grateful. Pastor Beard did a great job putting together a list. Here's things. Here's a handful of things. And people came. Oh, I can do that. I can do that. I jump in. Man, a couple hours later, Wow! Look what was done. In some ways a work day is a microcosm of what happens every week at the ministry of the church. We come, we're apart, we serve, we find our places and we jump in. Sometimes we're asked and sometimes we're not asked. We're just like, yeah, I can do that. I'll help with that, sure. I mentioned last week the best way to find your spiritual gift is to be involved in ministry. Start ministering today. Find out where there's needs. Maybe ones you see. Maybe ones you're asked about. But if you show up here faithfully on a regular basis, we're going to be asking you to do something probably. If we don't, come to me and say, what can I do? I'm looking for something. But there's so much that needs to be done. Not just building and maintenance, but there's people ministry. The most important thing we do is not this building. It's not eternal. The most important thing we're involved in is people ministry. In the work of God, the New Testament local church is not a ladder. It's not like, okay, pastors up here, you know, hey, someday keep on being faithful. Maybe one day you can become super spiritual like your pastor. No, no, the ground is level on the foot of the cross. There's not a hierarchy. It's not a flow chart. In fact, when I became a senior pastor, I stopped being in the ministry. According to Ephesians 4, verse 12, my job is to equip people, to humble myself to equip people to do the work of the ministry. That's my God-given calling. And so it's our privilege. We're not trying to find out who's top. No, it's no. We're one body in Jesus Christ. And we will one day stand before him individually for our participation in the collective body. We will answer for that. And so, Remember, this body is Christ's body. Without community, it's calamity. A church without a sense of community is also a catastrophe. It's important for us to come together. And we've been working, I've been working for a couple of years, finding creative ways in which we could bring our church together. COVID had passed. People were divided. Some have never come back since COVID. We understand that. Some have gone to meet the Lord. But part of, you say, pastor, what are you up to? I'm trying to get us together. And if we have to move chairs to do that, hot dog, we're gonna seek the Lord and we're gonna gather together so we have a sense of identity. We're not just divided people. We have a nice long building. It's a beautiful facility. But some from there never go there, and some from there never go there. And let's mix it up a little bit when we come in here, okay? Got really quiet, okay. According to Ephesians 4.12, You say, well, pastor, what about the higher calling? I heard a pastor say this this week. He says, don't pay any attention to that, that's Catholic. There's no pope here. We have one head and his name is Jesus Christ. So, let me ask you a couple questions, okay? Do you care about the church? I mean, do you care about our church? Like, I'm not talking about the building. I'm not talking about the services. I'm talking about the people. I was a little boy, you know. Here's the church, and here's the steeple. Open it up. You know, this is the church, right? The people. I was young in my faith. I came out of Bible college, and I thought of the church more of as a place to showcase my talents. All right, I'll use the church to advance my way of serving the Lord. And as I've read and studied the Bible, God continually has reminded me. The church isn't a means to God's will, the church is God's will. As we gather, as we serve, as we worship, this is how God accomplishes his will in our life. You're gonna find God's will for your life, be in church, be with God's people, listen to God's voice, seek together to serve the Lord. God often grows out of his church the most beautiful things. I'm looking forward to our teen sunrise service next week. Is that a chance to put on a talent show for the teenagers? No. We're giving them the privilege of serving. To serve Christ and to serve the church. And as we've done that these last several years, it's been a blessing. I want to support them. I want to encourage them in it. I want them to know that, hey, there's a There's a place for you in Christ's church for the rest of your life. I don't want you to abandon it. I know there's a lot of places, and people sometimes choose churches for a lot of different reasons. If you move to a new area and you've gotta look around, it's gonna be a challenge, right? But God has a way of growing and developing a church together. Maybe you don't like the warts at Blue Lick Bible Church. Well, if you go somewhere else, they're gonna have them too. As Brother Mike often says, no such thing as a perfect church. And if there was, by the time you showed up, it wouldn't be perfect anymore, would it? In John 17, verse 20, Jesus was praying, and he's talking to his Father about us. He says, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. And so we follow the example of the Trinity. Our unity in Jesus Christ is based on Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Father. What they are, Christ has prayed that we would be. We have two statues in our country. They're kind of like big object lessons. You're familiar with the one on the East Coast, the Lady Liberty. Just without the pedestal itself, she stands 151 feet tall. It's beautiful. How many have been to the Statue of Liberty? It's beautiful. And it's worth taking a trip just to see it. I think it's amazing. It's a beautiful thing. It represents freedom for all. It was a gift to us by France. On its pedestal it says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. It's a great object lesson for our country. Lady Liberty. There's another statue they put up this week in San Francisco. It's called Our Evolution. It's only 45 feet tall, but it's still 45 feet tall. Marco Cochrane, the artist, said when the team had first began making the sculpture, they said, let's bring the goddess energy into the world. Cochrane's website describes the piece as a symbol of feminine strength, liberation. In one hour every day, this giant statue breathes. I don't think I would take a trip to see it. But these are two giant human figures, right, each end of our country. And you say, well, there's lessons there, there's things to be learned there. Let me tell you about a greater body. It's the body of Christ, and it's living, and it's breathing, and it's serving, and it's worshiping, and it's gathering, and it's gonna remain faithful till Jesus Christ comes for us to take us home. We are the church, the chosen bride of Christ. We are Christ's body, visible, tangible, memorable, beautiful, but what do we as a church represent? Romans 12, 5, Paul said, so we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. Our strength comes through our unity, our harmony, and our ministry. The church is a beautiful thing. In verse 33 of 1 Corinthians chapter, excuse me, verse 31, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, It says, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way. You say, how in the world can we do this? How can we stay together, be unified, be walking in obedience to God without dividing, without exploding, without dismantling? How do we do that? It's gonna come in a couple of weeks when we come to chapter 13. Paul explains how that's done. It's through a great gift of the Holy Spirit of God. It's a great description of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's a word simply called love. And God will help us to love and to serve him. So, reverence the body. Do you reverence it? I mean, is it special? Do you understand the significance of the church? Recognize it. Do you realize you're a part of it? There's not one part that we don't need desperately. Respond to it. Be involved. Get involved. Enjoy each other. Enjoy the church. And then, lastly, just remember, it's His church. If you're coming here for someone here, you're coming for the wrong reason. If you're coming for Him there, you're coming for the right reason. It's His church. And so, this is His plan. We live in a physical world, but there is a spiritual world that you and I cannot see. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 tells us about strongholds. And Paul says you've got, the weapons of your warfare that you have are spiritual, they're not fleshly. And if we walk in the spirit, we use our spiritual giftings, and we raise our spiritual weapons, I mean, Who can stop us? No one, because we go in the power of Christ. Let's go forward. Let's build Christ's church. Let's love and serve and worship joyfully, right? Because we have the privilege of being a part. of the body of Jesus Christ. Father, thank you so much for your word and thank you for teaching us who you are and what we can be in you as your body. That's what a special privilege, what an honor to be considered a part of you. I pray that we would be a holy temple as a church. I pray that we would operate in harmony And that we would not say, hey, there's not a need for church in my life. Help us to never come to that. But also help us to never go to the other extreme and think that it only relies upon us. We understand this is your church. We want you to do your will in us and through us. In Jesus' name, amen.