Alright, well, praise the Lord. Thank you for my family coming up here to sing this morning. Worthy of worship, worthy of praise. Praise God for who he is. Benson and I used my door-to-door partner yesterday. Witnessed a Muslim man for about 40 minutes. He invited us in. His name's Muhammad. He's from down south. He's just up here with relatives for the festival that they're having as far as Islam is concerned. Interesting, in talking with him, their idea of God is that God has no sons. Not even the Son of God, Jesus, but has no sons. You know, you start to think about it. Praise God that we're not in a master-to-slave relationship with God, but that God has seen fit to welcome us in by adoption into his family through Jesus Christ, that he's personal and he's worthy of worship, he's worthy of praise. We met atheists too, another man that we witnessed too, and I said to him, the problem is this, that as an atheist, He gives you the food that you eat. He gives you everything that you have. His son, Jesus, died for you. And you don't stop to say thank you. You think about the ingratitude in the heart of man towards God. God is worthy of worship. I praise God. You know, we're here this morning praising God. There's other people here this morning that are bullied. And it's meaningless. It's empty. And it has its place. And recreation has its place. But this is the Lord's day. And it's a wonderful thing that we, as God's creation and God's family, are here to honor Him. And even as we're saying that anthem that we're singing, I don't know if you noticed this, but sinners in derision crowned Him, mocking thus the Savior's claim. Then it said, saints and angels crowd around Him, own His title, praise His name. And that's what we do as a church, isn't it? We honor Jesus, because Jesus is worthy of honor and worship. So praise God for those hymns that we sing. Many of them, actually, I think all of them this morning, ones of worship and adoration for who God is. All right. So anyway, coming to our text, I want to bring you to chapter 12. We're praying about God's will with regard to the building. We have for many years. And we get excited when we hear, oh, there's a building in the community. And we began to investigate and pray for that. I am seeking to investigate if there's any way for us to move forward. It is a public building owned by the NHS. And I'm looking into community asset transfers that are available through the Scottish government and keeping properties as community properties. So we're investigating that. God doesn't have to provide in that way. God might provide the finances. But we need to pray for wisdom if it be the will of God that would pursue that. But we know today, as we think about that, a church does not have to have a church building. You know, Pre-Baptist Church has existed since 2010, meaning the Miner's Community Center is a building, but it's not a dedicated church building. And that's the way it's been named. The early church met oftentimes from house to house. That's the way it started. They got saved in Jerusalem. Obviously, they're not going to go worship God in the synagogue as a local church. They met in their homes. In the Bible, it says in Acts 2, verse 46, they continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart in that transition time from Old Testament faith in the coming Messiah to New Testament faith in the Messiah who came to die for us in the church beginning. Acts 20 verse 20 Paul said, how I kept back nothing that was proper unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly from house to house. And so a house church, and sometimes church plants begin that way, they'll begin in a minister's home, that's not a bad idea, we do that a little bit as a church, as we have the baptismal services at our house and have that worship take place there. And certainly, again, in church history, there's often times where groups have not had buildings. The Covenanters weren't able to meet and worship God openly, and they often met in the open air. They had conventicles that were out in the woods, where people would come with tokens that would allow them access to that communion service, because they were persecuted. as a church. And I could share other history from Scotland where that's happened. And we understand it, because where we meet as a church is not as important as who meets together as a church. The word church in the New Testament occurs 114 times. The Greek word is ekklesia, and you probably know this, but it's the called out assembly. So a church in reality is not a building, a church is the people, and in our text here, 1 Corinthians 12, we read a little bit of it already, Paul does refer to the church at the end, but he uses another term referring to the church, and that is the body of Christ. And you'll see that in verse 27 and 28 where he says, now ye are the body of Christ, in numbers in particular, and God has set some in the church, okay, first apostles. So he's talking about the body of Christ and then he's equating that to the church. It's the same thing as he speaks about it. It's a very special group. And there are some special groups that you can aspire to be a part of. I read a neat story this past week that A young man in his 20s, he's 23 now, his name's Louis Loveland, alright? And he just got put on to Team England. And what's neat about the story is he tweeted a picture of him and his former primary school teacher meeting together after his first game. And it said this, 13 years ago, I promised my primary school teacher if I ever played for England, I'd get her tickets to my first game to thank her for her support. I can't believe we actually managed to track her down. It's kind of a neat story. Unfortunately, she's a Scot. Really hard for her to cheer for Team England, but she did because they were playing Wales, it's said. But what an honor for Lewis Ludlam to be part of a national rugby team. There's no greater honor for us today than if we're a part of the local church body. as God has put us into it. That is a great honor. You stop and think about it. The body of Christ. Think about just the title that God has given to this group that is the local church. The body of Christ and to think that God would honor us, as it were, by allowing us any part, whatever part that is, any part within that body. My message this morning is joining the body of Christ. You are a part of the body of Christ or you can be a part of the body of Christ. And what a privilege. And just a very simple question as we get started is, do you want to be a part of the body? OK, now you are possibly, whether you want to or not, as we'll see. But do you aspire to that? Is that something that excites you, that you're interested in? Hey, praise God, I get to be part of a local church body. That is something very special that God has intended And praise God. I hope you do want to be, I believe you do. And let's get excited about what God's given us the privilege of doing and joining the body of Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the text that we get to look at in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And Father, our desire today is that the Spirit of God would remind us of the privilege of what we have as a member of the body of Christ. Now, it might be that somebody here is not a part of the body, because they cannot be. And if that's the case, may that be clearly seen, that they need to join the body more specifically. But Father, where we're at, what a privilege, what an honor you've given. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would just open up this truth to our hearts and to our minds that I confess, Father, I can't speak, preach, teach the Bible without the enablement of the Holy Spirit. I desire very much that the Spirit of God enable me this morning as I open your Word before us. And Father, I pray, would you give us ears to hear? So often, Lord, you said, keep our ears to hear, let them hear. But Father, they were all audibly perceptive, but Father, only some were listening in their heart and applying the truth of what they heard. And Father, I just pray today, give us a church that has ears to hear, that has hunger to hear from heaven, that would say with David, that I'll run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart, that it's my desire to follow you wholeheartedly. And so Father, we lift up this service to you, we commit it to you for your blessing, and thank you for your help in this time. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. So the first thing, joining the body of Christ, obviously, to join the body of Christ, you've got to become a member of the body of Christ. And so, if you're not a part of the body, then you need to join. Our church has not had a chartering service yet. Praise God for where we're at after the nine years since God started this church in July 2010. I thank God that we are established, that we have all our services, we've got a youth ministry, we've got different ministries that we do every year that are big ministries, normal church ministries, holiday Bible clubs, evangelistic meetings, we support two missionaries, we are a registered Scottish charity, we have a church bank account, we have trustees. So there's a lot of organization that's taking place. But we have not yet chartered the church. A chartering service is when individual people in our congregation sign their name and say, I am signing the charter of the church, as the charter is the original membership of this assembly, saying, this is my church that God has brought me to be a part of. And I am committed to this assembly as a registered a physically visible member of the body of Christ here in Longham. That's a great thing. And so sometimes when I'm preaching, I might say something like, you need to join the local church and become a member of the local church. I might say that. But as we look at the text this morning, consider this idea of joining the body of Christ. I'm not speaking about signing your name to a charter membership, though that's a great thing and something that we're willing. in the near future God is going to allow us as a church to do. But it's speaking about becoming a part of the body of Christ, the local New Testament church, through salvation. In Acts 2 verse 47, the Bible says, as the church began at Pentecost, Pentecost was the coming of the Holy Spirit. You might wonder in your mind, when did the church start? You've got that transitional time, Jesus Christ coming, Jesus Christ dying, and then we call it the church age. And why is that? Well, the Church began at Pentecost. Why did it begin at Pentecost? Because it takes the Holy Spirit of God to baptize somebody into the body of Christ. The Spirit of God does that as part of His ministry. He also seals them. And so the Bible says in Acts 2.47, as the Church started its Pentecost, the Lord added to the Church the Ekklesia daily, such as should be saved. And so it does speak about even baptism there, as far as becoming a part of the body of Christ. It just says daily, as they got saved, they immediately became a part of that local New Testament church, in that case, in Jerusalem. John the Baptist said about Jesus' ministry of baptizing with the Holy Spirit, which he did beginning at Pentecost and since then. Matthew 3.11 says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost from the fire. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, again we'll see it in our text here, is what takes somebody and puts them into that local church body. And so the thing about joining the body of Christ, the first thing would be to get saved. Be born again. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Believe on Jesus and be baptized, and I'm not talking about water baptism, but be baptized by God's Spirit into the body of Christ. The Bible says in verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 12, our text now, it says, Provide one Spirit, the Holy Ghost. Are we all baptized into one body? whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. And there was a wonderful unity that took place as the Gospel came, and Paul deals with this in depth in some of his books, and that is Jew and Gentile. It says, bond or free, whatever your position in society, we've all been made to drink into one spirit and brought into that body, the body of Christ. Have you drunk of the Spirit of God? John 7, verse 7, Jesus said, in the last day to break through the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this stake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him shall receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And so that salvation experience that Jesus is talking, come on to me and drink, and he's talking about rivers of living water flowing from the very core of that person's being, that is the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ indwelling, sealing, and baptizing that person into the body of Christ, that reality takes place there at salvation. We've got the story of the woman at the well in John 4, verse 14, where Jesus says to her, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. So Jesus says that there is something that I can give that satisfies that is deeper than This physical water and that is spiritual water and it's the water of the Spirit of God the Spirit the Lord Jesus Christ it is tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. So the thing this morning would be this. You want to be a part of the body. And I mean, I desire by the grace of God that we're going to have just more and more that God brings into this local assembly and makes a part of the body of Christ. And there might be some that would come and say, well, I want to be a part of this body. I want to be a part of the local church. Well, they cannot be unless they are born again. They have to understand the gospel. Romans 3.10, there's none righteous, no not one. They've got to understand, Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. That they're not on their way to heaven because they're a part of our assembly, because they come to church on Sundays, because they've been baptized, because the reality is the punishment for sin is hell. But they also understand, Romans 5-8, that God commended His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That God's love is there for them, that if they'll repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus, Romans 10-9-10, that thou shalt confess with thine mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And praise God, when they get saved, They don't have a choice. If I can put it that way, that's where I want us to kind of understand when it comes to the Word of God. When they got saved, the Spirit of God put them into the body of Christ, the local New Testament church. Now, we have an outward membership. And that's important. There's government reasons from the standpoint of governing the local church body. There's governing reasons why it is important for us to have an assembly, to have even a doctrinal statement, to have a constitution. There is practical reasons for that. But the fact is this. When somebody gets saved, or as a saved person, God brings them to this assembly, that it is for the purpose of joining them into this local New Testament Church, the Body of Christ. Why? Because when somebody is saved, it's only at salvation, or post-salvation, that they receive the spiritual gifts to be exercised in the body. So when somebody gets saved, then the Spirit of God, as He comes into them, He also gifts them with abilities that they can then use for God. as part of the local church. And so verse 7, if we'll go back in our text just a little bit, it says this, but the manifestation, that means the exhibition of the Spirit, is given to every man to profit withal. So there's an evident enablement by God, or a gift given by God's Spirit, or multiple gifts given by God's Spirit, that makes somebody what they are within the local New Testament church. That's biblical. That says that there is, at salvation and after salvation, a giftedness given by God that's not natural, but supernatural, that God has given for the sake of edifying the body of Christ and building up this local assembly as a church. And so it goes on to say, verse 8, for to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. To another faith by the same spirit. And let me just stop there and just talk about a couple of men that were gifted in this area of faith. You think of Hudson Taylor. You think of George Miller. You think of others that you've read about. You think they had an unusual faith. Well, there are some that are specially endowed by God's spirit to have exceptional faith. And that's what's feeding them. To another, the gifts of healing by the same spirit. to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, different tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, but all these work with that one and selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. And so the Holy Spirit according to his wisdom, according to his plan, gives diversity of gifts to individuals that are born again and saved so that they can exercise that gift in the local church. Now some of these offices that you see in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and following chapters, some of the offices, as well as some of the gifts, have ceased. For instance, there's not apostles anymore. The apostles were put in position by Jesus Christ himself. And then there were also signed gifts that were given. And so the Bible even says in the next chapter, in chapter 13, verse 8, charity never faileth. But whether there be prophecies that ability to foretell, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, that's the gift that was a signed gift given at Pentecost and a couple other times in the book of Acts. they shall cease, whether it be knowledge, unusual knowledge, that's God given again, revelatory knowledge, it shall vanish away. Why? Because we have a complete revelation that God's given. So we understand some of these gifts have passed on, and yet the Holy Spirit is still actively giving gifts to be used in the church, and it's at salvation and after salvation, because at the end of our text, Paul says, covet earnestly the best gifts. That means this, that I can have a desire and a burden that I would like to be gifted in that way, and God's Spirit may gift me with those abilities. Covet earnestly the best gifts. OK, so there's an aspect where there's a development. But when I got saved, that all started. And so if you're born again today, and you think this idea of giftedness There are spiritual gifts that God gave you. They may not be readily evident. You might not look at them, or we might see a young person grow up in our church. And obviously, we're not going to expect a young person at the age of 15 to preach like they would, perhaps, later on in their life, as the Spirit of God teaches them to exercise that gift. D.O. Moody, from what I read about him, if you were to know him in his youth, or even after he got saved, they didn't even believe he'd really gotten saved. And then as they saw him develop, they didn't really think that God would use him that significantly, but God used him very significantly because he was gifted by God's Spirit. And so you might just look at your life today and you think, well, pastor, I don't really feel like I could Do whatever. But the thing is, identify what you can do, then ask God by His grace to grow that gift to be used of God, because God is certainly giving you gifts. If you don't have a gift, I would just say, let's consider whether or not you're saved, whether or not you're born again. Because God's Word says, when I got saved, God's Spirit gifted every man. And gave us abilities so that we could use that in the local church. And that's going to make a beautiful church body. And so, first of all, Become a member of the body of Christ. Secondly, become a worker in the body of Christ. Become a worker in the body of Christ. When I was an assistant pastor in Michigan, that was just pre-raising support to come to Scotland and those years of traveling as a family. We were three and a half years in Michigan and we had a Sunday night after church activity, we called it SNAC, or a cross day for Sunday night after church. And we go over to somebody's house. And always at that person's house, we have them share their testimony of salvation. And so we're at Jeff and Sabrina's house. Jeff shared his salvation testimony. His brother Earl was sitting in the corner, and Earl was this really shy kind of introvert. His head's kind of down, hardly would talk to us, engaged with the teens. We were there, he was there visiting the family, and so he heard us talking about the gospel. And interestingly, He had read Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series. It's fiction, but it's based on Revelation, the end times, Christ's coming. He had read that, and God had convicted him. He read Revelation, and he knew enough as he became convinced it was true. as a child, even taught to pray and ask Jesus Christ to come in at the heart and save you. He had done that, all right? So here he is sitting in the corner. He's saved, but he kind of doesn't know a lot about God or church. And it turns out he's saved, and we find out about that. This guy was unusual. He was a carpenter. And he came and built a room up in his brother's coal barn, kind of a metal barn shed that they had. Built a room there so he could live by our church so that he could come and he can grow in his walk with the Lord. We had a church building project Earl helped with. I had a project way out in the house. He helped with that. A lot of discipleship time is we're working together on the buildings. And Earl just had a love for God. And it came to a point where he's saved, he's accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, and we're talking about physical membership. And let me make a distinction again between spiritual membership, you become a part of the body of Christ, and physical membership, when you personally say, no, this is my local New Testament church that guided me. invisibly maybe a part of, and I want to visibly acknowledge that. And so Earl came to that point of doing that, and as I talked with him about it, Earl said a great thought to me, a great question. He said, what do I do when I join the church? Do I mow the grass? And I love this thinking. He's like, if I'm going to become a member, then that means I should do something. That's great thinking. That's great. And that's what chapter 12 is all about, is that God made me a member for a purpose. That there is something that I do because of that. And so, verse 14, become a worker of the body, because the body needs many members. For the body is not one member, but many. See, this local church is not, you know, one thing. It is many things. Praise God. That's why I say I look forward to God building this body and bringing more, even more members into this body because the body is not one, but many. We saw in our Sunday School lesson, Dr. Joe Martin Jobe, sharing some of the things about animals. He spoke about organs, and I don't know what he... He said something about hundreds of organs. I looked online, the human body has 78 organs. It's got 12 systems, so you have cardiovascular, digestive, muscular, nervous, and others. At adulthood, the human body has 10 trillion cells that make up our body. It's got many members, and understand this, we got hands and feet and eyes and ears and nose, and so we get that. A body is not one member, but it's many that make up the whole. And so again, as we look at our church, there ought to be great diversity in our church. Great diversity of gifts. Not just nationality, but diversity of abilities, diversity of interests, and ideas, and thought, and thinking. That is something that God has built into the body. Why? Because the body is not all the same. It's different. And the body needs each member. Each member is very important. The greater the diversity, the more complete the body. And so verse 15 and 16 says that the foot shall say, because I'm not the hand, I'm not the body. Is it therefore not of the body? If the ear shall say, because I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And so as we talk about the body of Christ, the local New Testament church, that the Spirit of God puts somebody into, somebody can say, well, because I'm not that member of the body, I'm not the body, or I'm not a part of the body. God says, you're wrong. OK? You can put it that way. I mean, God says, no, you are a part of the body. And that it's important that you understand that. Why? Because if I say, you know, well I'm not that, so I'm not a part of the body, then it doesn't matter if I'm present or not. Right? Because I'm not that. And see, if I am a part of the body, then it is important that I understand and I value that I am an important part of the body. Does that make sense? You all expect me to be here on Sundays, right? And Thursdays, and whatever. When we have church, you expect pastor to be there. Why? Because pastor is pastor. But is a pastor a more important member of the body? than any other member of the local New Testament body. It's not. You'll see in the text, okay, it's gonna spell this out very clearly. Or we could say, well, somebody, they're the pianist, they gotta be there. By the way, if you had a pianist, and we do, but she's also the crash worker, she's also whatever, okay? But we have this, a pianist, you expect a pianist has to be there. Why? Because otherwise the church is singing a cappella. That's important. But because I'm not the pianist, it doesn't really matter if I'm there or not. Well, that's like saying, I'm not really part of the body, so if I'm not there, it doesn't really matter. Or if I'm there, OK, but I'm not really important. But that's not what the Word of God teaches. So the Word of God is saying, I can't look at my position within the body and say, well, because I'm not that, I'm not the body. No. By God's grace, when God saved you, God's Spirit put us into the body in a very specific place. So the body needs each member, and the more diverse the body is, the better. Benson and I and some of the other boys, and I think Kaley helped too, when we were at the campground that we were at, There was a man, and we had just gotten set up. I was walking down the road, and there's some caravans there, mobile caravans, and he was at one of those. He's in his door, and he says, can you come here for a minute? And I said, sure. And he said, I hate to ask this, but your kids, and he started to say something about the kids, and I thought, oh, have you been too loud? He said, if your kids will come down and help me put up my awning, I'll give them 20 pounds they can go spend at the shop. And then I realized he's missing a leg. So he's an amputee and his name's David, great guy. I mean, this guy, nothing slows him down. I mean, he is out doing everything. But he's missing a limb. And what could have been a kind of simple task of putting up the eye, it wasn't hard for us to feed it up through. It would be almost impossible for David to accomplish that. And if David was here today, he's not ashamed of what has happened in his life. He would tell you, it'd be better if I had my whole body. If I had my whole body, those tasks that I've got to get other people to help me with, I could do it very easily. So again, as we come back to the church body and the importance of every member, if every member is present, it makes it so easy. But if members say, well, I'm not that, so I'm not important. then, all of a sudden, it gets very difficult. And tasks that, as a local New Testament church, that we could do very easily all of a sudden become almost impossible because we don't have the body present. And so the greater the diversity, the more complete the body. And then the body is not one member. We need each member, but the body is also not one member. So verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? And just take that train of thought and think about it from a human body. One member of the body can't do everything. Say the whole body is a nose. Well, a nose can't walk, a nose can't grab, a nose can't think and hear and smell. And so again, Paul is just in his, this text just kind of repeats again and again. But it's this, there's talents and abilities that God sends people to this church with that this pastor doesn't have, that others that serve in this ministry do not have, that make it possible for us to function. so that we can succeed as a body, and without that part there, that the Spirit of God intends to be there, because the Spirit of God saved, that person got saved, that Spirit of God gave them life, gave them gifts to use in a local church. But again, it's all about one, it's not going to happen. Just to put it this way, the most talented nose in the world cannot function as a human body, right? So we could have somebody come to our church and they're an incredible hand. I mean, they are the best hand. And everyone looks at them and goes, wow, they're the hand. That's great. We have a hand. But a hand by itself will never accomplish what God intends to accomplish in free Baptist church. I know I understand this, but that's Paul's emphasis that it is impossible to have other senses if it's all one. So it's diverse. And the body is being built by the wisdom of God. Verse 18. But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased him. And so God, with incredible wisdom, and I praise God, and I rejoice in this. We ought to rejoice in this as a church. We pray, God, build up this body. God is all wise. Jesus said, I will build my church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And he's actively working, taking members and putting them where they go. Benson has always been good with his hands, alright? From the time he was little. When he was two years old, I came home to find him and Kaylee up on the little island we had in our living room. It's kind of a living room kitchen that we had at the house in Michigan. And they've got blue ink all over their hands, and it's all over our new carpet that we're getting ready to sell the house to. And Benson had gotten into the inkjet printer and taken out the cartridges. And that's just the way it was. Also, within that time frame, he took the keys off my laptop and put them in the bin. Thankfully, he showed my wife where he put them. But when he got older, he put that to better use, and he still is good with his hands. But when we were on furlough last time, in the States five years ago, somebody gave us a jumbo jet Lego plane, all the pieces in one bag, and the instructions. And within a few hours, if I remember correctly, that night, Vincent had the full, I mean, big jumbo jet put together because he had the skill to identify the parts and put them where they needed to go. This pastor does not have the skill to look at a church and put the parts together. God's Spirit has the wisdom to take us as a group and to say, this is what you need, this is what you need, this is what you need. If the members understand that the Master put them there, that there's a position that is important, that they fulfill, that God has a reason for bringing them to this local assembly. Alright? It's being built by the wisdom of God. And the body is made by many members being united together and growing together in the Lord. Verse 19 says, again, if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. You know, it's a great thing. As a body comes together, and these different things come together, and as it grows together, it makes a very beautiful testimony, a beautiful body that brings glory to God. You know, we get excited when we see a child born. And the first thing, you know, the doctors might think you're a little bit weird, but you're counting their fingers, you know, and you're looking at their eyes, and they test their eyes, and they test their ears, and just kind of make sure everything's good to go and ready to go, and then they begin to develop. And, you know, it's exciting when they giggle for real for the first time. You know, when they begin to do those first things, take those first steps, and say those first words, and interact, and develop. That's an exciting thing. They go to school, and they begin to learn, they begin to interact with friends, they get sports abilities, and talents, and interests, and you begin to see their individuality, and then they grow up someday, go to university, they get married, and it's just great to see that body developing as it grows. That's the same thing with the local church. God never intended us at three years of age as a local church to be what God intends us to be at 20 years of age as a local church. But each member is important as part of the whole to make that united body again that's going to bring glory to God. And so, join the body of Christ. How do I do that? I get saved. I get gifted by God's Spirit. Work in the body of Christ. And that means I have to understand that I am a member, that God has given me some gifts, and if you want to talk about it with me, talk about it with me. Pastor, I just don't know what gifts I have. Let's consider what abilities that we have that we can use for God, because it might be multiple things that God would have us to do, or it might just be one thing that we can do well. But there is something that God desires me to do, so I've got to recognize God's Spirit, join me to the body of Christ, the local New Testament church, He's gifted me with gifts to be used in that body, so I am determined by the grace of God, I'm going to understand my importance to the body. Now I'm going to work. And then the third thing with the body is become a supporter of the body of Christ. Become a member, get saved, become a worker, understand the giftedness that God has given to you. But the third thing is become a supporter of the body of Christ. Okay, how can we support the body? And so Paul says we need to value each member of the body, verse 21 and 22. And I cannot say into the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. made much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. So every single part, again, of the body is vital. Now notice what the text says, and it says this twice, statements like this, which seem to be more feeble. Do you see it in the text? So in other words, as we evaluate, we might wrongly think, well, that's not as important. If we have that person, if we don't have that person, it's not that important. But the Bible says no. It says those things that seem to be more feeble are necessary things. In fact, they could be the great thing. There is a invalid that lived in the late 1800s down in London, and in the 1870s, She became very burdened to pray and ask that God would send D.L. Moody to their church to preach. She couldn't even go to church. And it says in the story about that, after the Chicago fire, D.L. Moody went to London to rest and to learn from the Bible scholars there. He had no intention of preaching. One Sunday morning, he was persuaded to preach in a church in London. Everything about the service dragged. He wished that they had never consented to preach. There was a woman in the city who had heard of Mr. Moody's work in America and had been asking God to send him to London. This woman was an invalid. Her sister was president at the church that Sunday morning. reached home, she asked her sister, that's the invalid, to guess who had spoken for them that morning. She guessed one after another of those with whom her pastor was in the habit of exchanging, never guessing right. Her sister said, no, Mr. Moody from Chicago. The sick woman turned pale and said, this is an answer to my prayer. If I had known that he was to be at our church, I should have eaten nothing this morning but waited on God in prayer. Leave me alone this afternoon. Do not let anyone come to see me. Do not send me anything to eat. All that afternoon, that woman gave herself to prayer as Mr. Moody preached that night, he soon became conscious that there was a different atmosphere in the church. The powers of an unseen world seemed to fall upon him and his hearers. As he drew to a close, he felt impressed to give out an invitation. He asked for all who would accept Christ to rise. Four or 500 people rose. He thought that they misunderstood him, so he put the question in several ways that there might be no mistake, but no, they had understood. And it continued. He left, but he had to come back, and he had to keep preaching. It's a marvelous story. But if you ask people at those meetings, hey, how did this happen? What took place? Where in the body of Christ was the power? Some people would point their finger, and they'd say, Moody! No. Moody himself would point at that ambulant woman and say, there's the power. And see, it may not be that God has given somebody, wow, an incredible gift that they can look at and say, this is so great. You know, I'm the janitor in my local church. I do this in my local church that some people look at and say, despise them. But that person exercising that gift in that body, as God intended them to, could be the most significant of the members of that local assembly, right? And so that's why Paul says next, not only value each member, so we have to look at who God brings into our church, and we have to say, praise God for each person that God brings and what they contribute to the local church. But then secondly, honor the members that appear less honorable. Support the body by honoring the members that appear less honorable. And again, it's appearance, verse point three, and those members of the body, again, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor. For 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 left. And I suppose it's a little bit like ears are kind of plain looking, so women adorn them, right? Make them a little bit more honorable. And as a young person, I had kidney surgery when I was a kid, so I had an x-ray of my guts. And I love taking that to show-and-tell, showing an x-ray. It was really cool because I had three kidneys, and I found that out when I had surgery. I've got, let's see, two on the left and one on the right side, and that's a bit different. But you know what? I never had somebody come up and compliment me on my kidneys. Maybe I'll do it after the service, but we don't do that. But we'll often say to somebody something like, you know, your hair is beautiful, or you look lovely today. And we acknowledge those things. And so God is reminding us that as the body develops, it is good for us. It's good for me as a pastor. It's good for you as a congregation to observe what the body is doing and to build up those parts that maybe have kind of an unseen ministry. It might be somebody that has something behind the scenes that nobody looks at. The pastor is always up here, the pianist is always up here. We see what somebody is doing for God, but we may have no understanding of what God is using somebody to do, unless we're observant and encouraging those members of the importance of what God is giving them to do within the body. and then unite the body. It says in verse 25 that there be no schism in the body. And so as we honor, as we value, that is going to take us as a body and bring us close together and say, no, you're important, and you're important. We understand the importance of one another. It's going to unite us, which is a vital part of a strong local church body. I've had experience in the past, I'll just put it that way, of a local church that was a very divided body. And so we had kind of the old church, the original church members, that their family had been in the church for 100 years, because the church was old. It was like 140 years for the state, so it's very old. And so they'd been a part of that church for a long time. There was a new part of the church that, for a good reason, had left another local church body because of something that was wrong within that body. And they had come to our church, and they were a new part of the church. And so you had the old church and the new church. And there was disunity. And it was evident. It was evident even sadly within the community. But God brought an older couple to our church that was just a Gali couple that loved the Lord. And as they came, they did this. They just kind of reached out this way. They reached out this way in the right way. No compromise. Neither side was right or wrong. It was just two different groups. And they were like glue that God used to bring that body back and unite that body. It's a very precious thing. You know, God puts a great value. By this shall all men know they are my disciples, if ye have love one towards another. There's a great desire that God has that, as a church, as God brings people that we reach out and love and say, man, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're a part of this church, that we unite together. That's a precious part of supporting this local New Testament body. And then as we support the body, we ought to care for the body. And so the Bible says, but that the members, verse 25, later part of the verse, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. That as a body, what happens to one never happens to us. Just kind of like a human body, you know, somebody's working and they hit their hand or their thumb with a hammer, what happens? The mouth comes to the rescue. I don't know why we do that, but it's kind of a natural reaction. You cut yourself, the hand comes, staunches the blood. You got a sore head, your brain thinks, I need some rest. We care for our body. But then also, if a member succeeds, we all rejoice. When we were at camp in Germany, we got to play some softball. It's kind of like baseball with a bigger ball. And playing softball, and the youth pastor that was the team leader at camp, he came up to bat. He's got a big guy, a 6'4". And I'm out in left field. I'm ready for him. And he hits the ball, crack, and it's a line drive to left field. And I'm sprinting. Picture this. sprinting away, alright? Blinded to what's taking place. Stick my left hand up, flying, and feel that ball just go right into my glove. It was an awesome feeling. My hand did a great job, my whole body rejoiced. Alright? I gotta tell you. When somebody does well, As a church, we ought to rejoice. I just read a great thing this morning. Les Hill, a good friend of mine in Ireland, his son, Josiah is probably, what, 18, 17? His son and another young man preached for the first time in church. And some of the church people came up and said, pastor, you better watch it. You're going to lose your job. But it's great to hear him say that. Why? Because he's rejoicing. Why? Because of the development of that one part of the church. He said, phew, 13 of us went on a mission trip, 13 of us got back, and these people have been so faithful and so excited about church since they got back. What's he rejoicing in? Hey, the body's succeeding. When we start to see God do good things in other people's lives in our church, we ought to just rejoice. And we're praying for unsafe family members. We're praying for, you know, teens and kids. And we're praying for one another. We ought to get excited and care, too, if there's a tough time. We've got tough times in our church, too. It seems like there's many of those things that we're concerned about, we're praying about, but we care. Why? Because we're a local body. And then that is also kind of the last idea. As we support the body, love the body. Love the body. Verse 27 says, now you are the body of Christ and members in particular. Okay, and let me just emphasize that. Again, what Paul said, you're the body of Christ as a group. but each one is a member in particular. God has a specific, I mean, whatever that position that God's given, it's very specific, okay? And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. And so there's all this giftedness that God's given. Great, and we need it as a church. We pray, God, give us giftedness. That's great. But not everybody's going to have those gifts. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? And so we're burdened for that, and we're saying, God, give us this diversity of membership within our church that there is a great abilities within the body. But Paul said, even if you have all that diversity, all that ability, he says in verse 31, but covet earnestly the best gifts, okay? Desire it, fine, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. He's saying there's something even better for the body than great diversity of gifts, and that's what chapter 13 is all about. We don't have time this morning to go through 1 Corinthians 13, but it's the passage about charity. And in that passage it says, though I could speak oratorically like incredibly, and I have not love, it's like a clanging cymbal. Or if I have all faith, the great gift of faith, and I can move mountains, but I don't have love, it's pointless. And so it is not this point that I can exercise my gift, and if I just exercise my gift of itself, that's sufficient. It's not. is we have to have what 1 Corinthians 13 is all about, and that's love. And it's sacrificial love. And you can study on your own as far as what that love is, but we have to have love for the body, and care for the body, and care for one another. And so here we are. As a church, we're almost 10 years old. We'll be 10 years old next summer. Nine years old, okay? As a local assembly. We don't have a church building, but a church building is not the important thing about the local church. The important thing is that this is a local body. And so this morning, as you think about this body of Christ, are you a member? Is there a time where you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know for sure today, could you answer this question to God, that you know for sure that you're born again, that you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you don't, there's nothing for you to do in this assembly. And praise God, let me say this, a Baptist church has a saved church membership. Why? Because somebody is not a part of this church, even if they're a member of this church, if they're not saved. They're not a part of the body. And so you have to be saved. But when you got saved, God's Spirit did gift you with gifts and abilities that God intends you to use. Now you may have to develop that. You may look at that and think, well, I don't have a gift. Well, I mean, there's a development process of God revealing that. But there is absolutely a gift or gifts that God intends you to exercise within this local body. And that brings us to the next thing. We need you to be a worker in the body. And God intends you to be a worker in the body. We need different gifts. We need each member to be present and to do what God intends them to do. And so God has put you here with a purpose. So what it means is this. A church member of the body is not somebody that comes and sits in church, whatever, how often, and is there in church. That's not it. A church member is somebody that is a hand, they're a foot, they're a nose, they're eyes, they're ears. They are a part of that body performing the function that God intends them to perform. And as they're there in that body, just like the body comes to itself and cares for itself, they're a supporter of the body as well. So they value each member. As God brings people, they get excited about the different members that God is bringing. They honor each member. They're aware of what somebody's doing and make sure that there's appreciation for what somebody may be doing behind the scenes. They unite with each member. They care for each member and love each member. And the exciting thing is, this is the body of Christ. So it's good when people look at us and go, they recognize something that identifies with Christ. It's bad if they look at it and it doesn't. So our burden ought to be this. God, we have grace. We're the body of Christ here at Free Baptist Church in Longhead. Our desire is this. God, make us the best local church that we can be for the glory of God. And for that to take place, I can't, you know, the hand has to do its own thing, the feet has to do its own thing, I'm not responsible for them. But whatever I am, by the grace of God, I have to function, I have to do something for God. Because if not, one, am I saved? And two, why am I not doing what God intends me to do, and why am I handicapping the body? and making it less able for the body to accomplish what God intends it to accomplish as the local church. And so praise God for this precious passage. It makes us understand how we come together, what this is. This is about God. This is about God's glory. And this is what God has done. This is what God is doing. And praise God we can be excited about this great group, the local church. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the time that we've had this morning to open up the Bible and to be reminded that salvation was with a purpose and that salvation wasn't the end, salvation was the beginning. And Father, just like we grow as a child of God, so we grow as the body of Christ. And Father, I pray this morning that somebody in their heart, having heard the Word of God this morning, is convinced that they're not saved. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would help them to humble their heart and obey the Gospel and ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and save them. But Father, those that are saved, may we understand we have a gift that God intends us to exercise, a gift or gifts that should we choose that we think that we're not important, that we're not a part of the body because we're not that part of the body. That's why the body is going to be handicapped. It's not going to accomplish what you intend it to accomplish. It's not going to bring the glory to God that it could. And so I just pray, Lord, help us to look in our hearts and say, you know, God, by grace, make me the member of this body that you intend me to be and help me to be the best I can be at that for God's glory. And then Father, I pray that we care for one another as members of the body together, that if one's hurting or accomplishing something great, that we come along and either sorrow with them or rejoice with them. And Father, that we unite together and that we care for each other and love each other. And Father, I am so thankful for each face that I look at as I stand up here and preach this morning. I'm so thankful for what you do in our church. And Father, we really desire you to be glorified. And so bless your word to our hearts this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.