The Body of Christ
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one 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 been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto 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 necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; 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 honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; 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 honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (1Co 12:12-27)
Today We are talking about the Body of Christ. Many people hear that phrase and think, ‘the mystical body of Christ” and because of the association with the word mystical they kind of think that it’s a topic they don’t need to study, however it’s a topic that is a great thing to study and understand.
First let me try and help change some thinking by letting you know the only thing truly mystical about the Body of Christ is that it consists of people, though unseen by us here, all around the world that are living for God just like you and I. So in other words its mainly a “mystical” or unknown number of people are part of the body. Now that were are able to move beyond the mystical part, we can begin to understand the true nature of the Body of Christ.
The most fundamental thing about the Body of Christ is that it is simply the Church without strife or envy or malice, doing what its supposed to be doing, dwelling together in the spirit of unity.
[illustration from SermonCentral.Com]
Imagine the Master Carpenter’s tools holding a conference:
Brother Hammer presides, but several suggest he leave the meeting because he is too noisy.
Brother Hammer replies, “If I have to leave this shop, Brother Screw must go also. You have to turn him around again and again to get him to accomplish anything.”
Brother Screw speaks up. “If you wish, I’ll leave. But Brother Plane must leave, too. All his work is on the surface. His efforts have no depth.”
To this, Brother Plane responds, “Brother Rule will also have to withdraw, for he is always measuring folks as though he were the only one who is right.”
Brother Rule then complains about Brother Sandpaper: “He ought to leave, too, because he’s so rough and always rubbing people the wrong way. Brother Sandpaper speaks up “If I go so should Brother Duct Tape, he sticks out like a sore thumb and after a while starts sticking to the wrong things.”
And so goes the discord.
In the midst of all this discussion, in walks the Carpenter of Nazareth.
He has arrived to start his day’s work.
Putting on his apron, he goes to the bench to make a pulpit from which to proclaim the gospel.
He uses Brothers Hammer, Screw, Plane, Rule, Sandpaper, and all the other tools.
After the day’s work, when the pulpit is finished, Brother Saw arises and remarks, “Brethren, I observe that all of us are workers together with the Lord, if we have unity, then He can use us.”
Saints, might I suggest that this workshop can be us sometimes, bickering back and forth with discord for what ever reason. Whether some else got to do what we wanted to do, or the wrong person gets the pat on the back for doings something for the Kingdom, or feeling left out, or mistreated or that you don’t belong, and the list goes on. But as ‘Brother Saw’ said, to be part of the body of Christ we must work together, that is why Psalms 133 says “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
It is when we are bound together with the cords of unity that the Body of Christ is most effective. That is the point of the 30 days of prayer and fasting throughout our fellowship, so that we all, not just a select few, have the power and authority over the enemy and the world and that we operate in the gifts of the spirit for the growth of the kingdom. Just as a side note, everywhere I have read about the Body of Christ, in scripture, someone near there is talks about the gifts of the spirit in operation and growth of the kingdom. If we become a unified body of believers, we will have not only growth and revival but the gifts of the spirit will be in operations among us.
But it is up to us one how we want to be. We can either choose to be a healthy member of the body or we can choose amputation. We remain part of the body by following the commandments of God and following peace with all men, but amputation comes after rebellion and/or refusal to submit to the unity of the brethren and the Will of God.
Obviously if we choose to remain part of the body, there are benefits of not only the temporal blessings of God while we are here on this earth, but also a home in heaven. If we choose to amputate ourselves from the body we will no longer receive the life-giving blood that sustains us, and we will wither away and die, not only killing us, but damaging other parts of the body that are close to us. The church provides us with much needed spiritual nourishment.
Let’s examine the wonderful creation known as the human body. Our blood is circulated through 60,000 miles of tubing reaching to every part of the body. This tubing could be stretched around the world more than seven times (if all the veins, arteries and capillaries were laid end to end). Every day the heart pumps 5,000 to 6,000 quarts of blood. The heart is an amazing pump which never seems to get tired and which never takes a rest. An adult has on average 206 separate bones. Also within the bones there is an amazing blood manufacturing factory. Blood cells are made inside the bones. There are more than 600 muscles in a person’s body. These muscles, along with many perfectly designed joints, enable man to move his arms, legs and body with amazing coordination. The nervous system may be likened to a highly organized postal system or telephone system, carrying messages to and from the brain. Nerve Impulses can move at a speed of nearly 350 feet per second. They can zip up from a person’s feet and back again more than 30 times in one second. The world’s most complex computer is the human brain. In fact, the entire human body is the world’s most incredible piece of machinery. Men have made different kinds of robots, but they have never made any robot which can do what the human body can do!
The body has 12 major systems that comprise everything that is done within the body, those systems are: the Cardiovascular system, Digestive system Endocrine system, Immune system, integumentary system, Urinary system, Lymphatic system, Muscular system, Nervous system, Reproductive system, Respiratory system, Skeletal system; without any one of these systems, the body would either completely cease to function or at the very minimum, would be severely crippled without being medically modified, its amazing how important each individual part is, just like us, no wonder God likens the church to a body.
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Now some people think they are not important in the kingdom of God, just because they aren’t a pastor or a preacher or a Sunday school teacher, or any other member the receives a lot of attention. Let’s look back to our text to see what God says about the matter. But the Bible says that we are all important to the kingdom of God, because if everyone was pastor, there would be no congregation to follow. If everyone was the preacher, no one would be left to listen. If everyone was choir director, there would be confusion and no choir left to direct. Do you get where I am going here? EVERY person is called to do a specific thing in the kingdom, but not everyone is called to do the exact same thing. Every has something to do for God, whether it seems big or small its all equally important to the healthy growth of the Body.
All of the bodily members are important and all must work together. For example, think about a baseball player catching a ball in the outfield. The ear hears the bat hit the ball, the eye sees the ball, the brain tells the legs to start running in a certain direction, the arms and legs and body all move together in a certain way and then finally-- he jumps and catches the ball in his glove! For a successful catch all of the members of the body were important and needed. If the eye refused to see or if one leg refused to run or if the arm refused to extend itself, then the ball would not have been caught. There needs to be unity within the body.
Why is unity within the body so important?
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[illustration]
A Father asked his young son to break a bundle of sticks. He returned a little later to find the boy frustrated in the task. He had raised the bundle high and smashed it on his knee, but he only bruised his knee. He had set the bundle against a wall and stomped real hard with his foot, but the bundle barely bent. The father took the bundle from the child and untied it. Then he began to break the sticks easily – one at a time. So it is with the church: united we are strong and the enemy cannot break us, this is why he attacks us on individual levels as well because divided we can fail or be broken.
The Kentucky state motto reads: “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” This motto should be one that our church should be able to readily adapt as its own. If the church wishes to stand against Satan and desires to see him bruised and wounded, then it needs to remain united so that the devil will only hurt himself in trying to break the church. Ecclesiastes 4:12 advises us, “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” We need to be the unified body of Christ, then we can work together and build the kingdom.
[close]
If there is someone here this morning that has had ill feelings toward someone else in the church, then please seek forgiveness. Or if you have ever felt useless or unneeded, ask God to reveal to you how needed and important you are to not only this church but also to the entire Body of Christ. Only then will healing take place in our lives, and only then will the lifeblood of the body surge in our lives once again. Also if you are someone who has looked down upon another, then ask the Lord to humble you and open you to be mended to the Lord’s will, and then can we all bind together and truly be part of the unified Body of Christ.
