We continue our study of His Church and begin by looking at 1 Corinthians 12.
(1 Cor 12:13 NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
1 Cor 12:14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
The word "baptized" is the transliteration of the Greek word, baptizo, meaning "to immerse." In other words, Paul is saying that "By one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), we were all baptized or immersed into one body."
By the way, some have taken this passage to teach what they call, “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit” which is a (false) doctrine that teaches in addition to getting saved, the believer gets a “second blessing” if they ask and tarry (wait) for it. They go on to teach that the “Spirit’s baptism is evidenced by speaking in tongues.”
It is obvious that this passage has nothing to do with speaking in tongues. Paul is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit where He baptizes or immerses the believer into the body of Christ.
If you are a Christian you have been immersed in one body (the Body of Christ) and were "made to drink of one Spirit" that is, the Spirit of the Living God who is living and dwelling within you.
Paul writes, “…we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free…” In other words, becoming a Christ-follower isn’t dependent on your race or your social or economic situation. Jesus Christ saves those from the gutter-most to the uttermost.
This is a wonderful passage of Scripture reminding us of the unity of the body of Christ.
Paul is letting us know that there are to be no racial distinctions in the body; there are to be no cultural prejudices in the body.
“We all were made to drink into one Spirit” which means that no one can be more of a Christian than another in the body.
In the body of Christ, everybody matters and no one is unimportant; no one is set up over and above the rest, for the body is not one member but many.
Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 12:15:
(1 Cor 12:15 NKJV) If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?
(1 Cor 12:16 NKJV) And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?
In March of 1981, President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. , and was hospitalized for several weeks. Although Reagan was the nation’s chief executive, his hospitalization had little impact on the nation’s activity. Government continued on.
Also in 1981 the garbage collectors of New York City went on a 17-day strike. That city was not only in a literal mess, the pile of decaying trash quickly became a health hazard.
Think about this, if the garbage collectors around the country all decided to go on strike this would paralyze the country. So who is more important—the President or a garbage collector? They both are important.
Verses 15 and 16 are telling us that in the body of Christ, those who seem insignificant might be the ones urgently needed. We are reminded in this text that the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
There are no big "I's" and no little "You's" in the body of Christ….thus Paul continues in verse 17 asking several rhetorical questions to prove this point: “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?”
In verse 18 we find an important truth. “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
God places the believer in the Body of Christ with a specific mission to accomplish. He has given the believer specific supernatural gifts to accomplish this mission (we will learn about those gifts next time).
God didn’t create the believer as an automaton. He uses our individuality and our uniqueness to accomplish His purposes. Each believer is like a spiritual snow flake—no two of us are the same.
Even those of us in the body who have the same spiritual gift manifest that gift differently—1 Peter 4:10 tells us that we use our gifts “according to the manifold or multicolored grace of God.”
This is how you can tell the Body of Christ apart from some of the religious cults.
The religious cults program their followers—they all get the same books and memorize the same pre-programmed responses to your questions when they knock on your door. One cult even builds their houses of worship to look the same way and puts the “authorized” music on their website for their followers.
The followers of another group have all been trained to say the same thing when confronted and cornered about their false teaching. When I have debated a Mormon and showed how their belief system went against the Bible, they give me their “testimony” which was a canned statement saying, “I have a testimony of Joseph Smith. I know he was a prophet of God, I know he was a good, righteous man, and I know that through him, God restored His church and true gospel doctrines. I know this through the witness of the Holy Ghost.”
But in our text Paul tells us that though the body is one, there is diversity in the one body. And all over the world there are Christians who worship the same Savior and Lord and believe the same essential doctrines about Him.
• Though their music is different, they sing of the same Lord we do.
• Their Bible studies are different but they teach and preach of the same Lord we do.
• Their habits of meeting together are difference but like ourselves they meet together to study the apostles doctrine, for fellowship, for the breaking of bread and for prayer.
In verse 17 Paul says, if the body was just one big eye (with no appendages) as you might see on a science fiction movie, how could it hear? If all the body could do was hear, how would it be able to smell?
The point that He is making is that each part of the body is unique and necessary and they all are necessary to form one body. He is also making the point that each part must be willing to perform its own function and not seek to function in a role for which it was not made.
Now verse 18 contains a very important truth: “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him.”
When Sister Debbie and I got married and got our first home together, she arranged the furniture. Period. Even if she asked me a question like, “Where do you think the sofa should go?” I would answer, “Wherever you think is best hun.”
And, if I dared to suggest a place for a piece of furniture, most of the time her answer would be, “Well…that looks nice but I think it would look better over here.” And so you know what I was thinking or mumbling under my breath, “Well, why’d you ask me then!!!”
When it comes to arranging the pieces of furniture in the home, the woman knows best and when it comes to setting each one of the members of the Body of Christ in places according to their giftedness, God knows best.
In fact, because God created us and because He is omniscient, He perfectly knows where you need to be placed in the church and He does so, according to His sovereign will, without consulting any; resulting in each one of us being placed in the best situation and position we could be put, and for the greatest service and usefulness to the whole body.
Not only does God placed you in the best situation and position you could be put, and for the greatest service and usefulness to the whole body, He places you in the best situation and position for the greatest ministry and cultivation for your own spiritual growth and protection.
Illustration: An inexperienced sailor who could not swim went fishing with a friend and after a while hooked a really big fish. He was so excited about catching this big fish that as he was reeling it in, trying to get it next to the boat, he leaned too far over and fell into the water. He was panic stricken, and began to yell, "Help, save me! Help, save me!"
So his friend just calmly reached out and was going to grab the man by the hair, pull him over a little closer and get him into the boat. But as he pulled, the man's toupee came off and he slipped down under again. He came up again yelling, "Help, save me!"
So the friend reached down again, this time catching hold of an arm. As he pulled on it, it came off because it was an artificial limb. The man continued to kick and thrash around, sputter and splash. The friend reached out again, grabbed a leg and as he pulled it, you guessed it, it came off! It was a wooden leg!
As the man continued splashing and calling out and sputtering, his friend turned to him in disgust and said, "How can I help you if you won't stick together?"
Last time I pointed out how vital it was for followers of Jesus Christ to forsake not the assembling as some people do because we are intricately connected to one another in the Body of Christ and while we do not see it in the physical, there is a unity that must be maintained in the spiritual (Ephesians 4:3). They only think that Christians are to find displeasure in sticking together is pasta and rice but when it comes to the Body of Christ, we can’t help one another if we don’t stick together.
We continue in verse 19 where it says, “And if they were all one member, where would the body be?”
Imagine for a moment a body that is just one member, like a big eye or a hand or a leg.
What is the Holy Spirit telling us through this text? God is telling us that if you are a Christian, you are important. It is also telling us that if any part of the body is not functioning because it is missing in action, the entire body is crippled or disabled.
If God has given you a gift and placed you in an assembly where it is needed, don’t neglect the use of that gift…because if you do, you are crippling the body.
In order for the body of Christ to function, verse 20 tells us that it has to be composed of many parts: “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.” Just like the human body is a system, the Body of Christ is also a system where each member is intimately and necessarily connected to the other.
The Body of Christ - A System
In recent years, stocks of high-fat fish have been declining in the waters off the west coast of the United States. This has caused the population of seals that eat the fish to decline as well. With fewer seals, the whales that normally feed on them have turned to eating sea otters.
As the sea otters have diminished, the sea urchins they normally eat have shot up in numbers, and because sea urchins like kelp, the kelp beds are being decimated. There is more to this story. But the point is to illustrate what we call a system—in this case, an ecosystem.
A system is a collection of parts that interact together for a common purpose. But a system is not just any old collection of parts. The parts are related in such a way that each depends on the others to do whatever job there is to be done. No single part can do the job alone, and any malfunction or delay is likely to affect the whole system.
A body system is a set of body parts that do a particular task. The human body itself is an example of a complex system—many sets of interacting parts that work to keep the human machine running.
On any single day, we can estimate that your heart beats 103,689 times, your blood travels 168,000,000 miles, your digestive system processes 7.8 pounds of waste, and your lungs take in 438 cubic feet of air. These are only a few of the multitude of functions the human body performs. And the least little mishap could cause a glitch in the system.
In verse 21 of the passage we are studying the Bible emphasizes the mutual dependency the members of the body have for one another. It is letting us know that the least little mishap, where one of the members of the body malfunctions, could cause a glitch in the system.
(1 Cor 12:21 NKJV) And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
(1 Cor 12:22 NKJV) No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
There are certain parts of the body which are smaller than other parts and not seen nor thought of.
Take for example the pituitary gland. It is located in the front of the brain and is responsible for regulating the secretion hormones which keep the systems in our body working properly.
We don’t hear many people talking about the pituitary gland… “I’ve got a pituitary gland ache” or “I better slow down, I’m putting too much stress on my pituitary gland” or “Hun, can you stop by Walgreens and get me something for my pituitary gland?”
We don’t hear many people talking about the pituitary gland unless someone has a dysfunctional one and when it dysfunctions, though a very small member of the body, it causes a multitude of symptoms:
When it presses on nearby nerves of parts of the brain:
• Blurred or double vision
• Loss of peripheral vision
• Sudden blindness
• Headaches
• Facial numbness or pain
• Dizziness
• Loss of consciousness (passing out) When it becomes cancerous:
• Nausea
• Weakness
• Unexplained weight loss or weight gain
• Feeling cold
• Feeling tired or weak
• Menstrual changes or loss of menstrual periods in women
• Erectile dysfunction (trouble with erections) in men
• Decreased interest in sex, mainly in men
When it secretes too much growth hormone:
• Being very tall
• Very rapid growth
• Joint pain
• Increased sweating
• Growth of the skull, hands, and feet, leading to increase in hat, shoe, glove, and ring size
• Deepening of the voice
• Change in how the face looks (due to growth of facial bones)
• Wider spacing of the teeth and protruding jaw (due to jawbone growth)
• Joint pain
• Increased sweating
• High blood sugar or even diabetes mellitus
• Kidney stones
• Heart disease
• Headaches
• Thickening of tongue and roof of mouth, leading to sleep disturbances such as snoring and sleep apnea (pauses in breathing)
• Thickened skin
• Increased growth of body hair When it causes the adrenal gland to produces too much steroid hormones:
• Unexplained weight gain (mostly in the chest and abdomen)
• Purple stretch marks on the abdomen
• New or increased hair growth (on the face, chest, and/or abdomen)
• Swelling and redness of the face
• Acne
• Fat areas near the base of the neck
• Moodiness or depression
• Easy bruising
• High blood sugar levels or even diabetes mellitus
• High blood pressure
• Decreased interest in sex
• Changes in menstrual periods in women
• Weakening of the bones, which can lead to osteoporosis or even fractures
When it causes the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone:
• Rapid heartbeat
• Tremors (shaking)
• Weight loss
• Increased appetite
• Feeling warm or hot
• Sweating
• Trouble falling asleep
• Anxiety
• Frequent bowel movements
• A lump (enlarged thyroid) in the front of the neck
When it causes the thyroid gland to produce not enough thyroid hormone:
Fatigue
Increased sensitivity to cold
Constipation
Dry skin
Unexplained weight gain
Puffy face
Hoarseness
Muscle weakness
Elevated blood cholesterol level
Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints
Heavier than normal or irregular menstrual periods
Thinning hair
Slowed heart rate
Depression
Impaired memory
Why the physiology lesson? Just to dramatically emphasize that all these symptoms happen as a result of just one little member of the human body malfunctioning and not doing its part. Verse 18 of our text says, “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
If doesn’t matter who you are and what you do, if you are a member of the body, you are vital to its function. Your ministry may not be as visible as the next person, but this doesn’t mean you are less important.
Paul says, “…those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. Then he goes on to say in verse 23-24: And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need.
In verse 21-22 Paul was speaking of the inconspicuous parts of the body, the ones that don’t stand out among the rest. And then in verses 23-24a he is referring to the parts of the body that we don’t want anyone to see. These are the “unpresentable” parts that we normally cover up with clothes. Needless to say, these parts of the body are important too.
In the church there are what some would be inclined to call the “unpresentable.” These are the poor, the despised and the less prominent who are to be nurtured and cherished as well as all the others in the body.
Some have gone as far to say that the “unpresentable” parts of the body are physically and mentally disabled that the church is disinclined to pay attention to. I think this could work as a proper interpretation.
You may have heard me say when I’ve talked about how God brought me and my wife together that it was my daughter Precious who introduced us. Debbie was a single mom when I met her and one of her two children was disabled. I stalked Debbie from a distance and noticed over the course of a few weeks how well Precious was cared for by her mother.
Some would be inclined to call my daughter Precious “unpresentable.” She doesn’t look like other people and doesn’t act like other people; yet she is to be nurtured and cherished as well as all the others in the body.
Continuing with the second half of verse 24, Paul brings the sovereignty of God into view when it comes to how the body is composed.
(1 Cor 12:24b NKJV) But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
Paul is arguing that God has so composed the body to achieve His purposes. While still speaking of the “unpresentable” parts of the human body such as the organs of intimacy, Paul says that God gives these parts greater honor.
One commentator has said that, “Paul means that through implanting modesty and self-respect in our hearts, God has caused us to protect our unpresentable parts (as the sex organs) from exploitation by properly covering them.”
What this is saying is that if someone’s clothing is unexpectedly torn from their body, they almost instinctively will cover themselves (with their hands). It should be the same way in the body of Christ. Each member should have the “spiritual instinct” to care about the exploitation of other members in the body no matter how insignificant they might appear to be.
We have people in our church who suffer with disabilities. We need to care for them. We need to be patience with them. We need to make allowances for them. We need to assist them.
And some of that is already happening at our church. Some of us can’t make it downstairs to AromaHouse for breakfast and others gladly go down to fix them a plate and bring it up. Praise the Lord!
We may have people in our church who suffer with trust issues—it takes them a while to trust and so they find it difficult to fellowship with others for fear of getting betrayed and hurt.
We may have people in our church who suffer with anger and bitterness issues—they fly off the handle sooner than others do when it come to things they experience and so people have a hard time fellowshipping with them.
Rather than saying, “Oh he has an issue” or “I noticed there is this coldness about her” we need to extend some grace and spend more time praying for this person rather than talking about them.
This kind of loving ministry and selfless service in the body of Christ is found in verse 25: “that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”
“Schism” - schisma, which means a split or gap ("schism"), lit. or fig.:--division. The word is used in Matthew 9:16 where Jesus says that no one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment because once the new cloth gets wet and shrinks, it will tear away from the old cloth.
Paul is saying in verse 25 that if the members of the body of Christ would have the same care for one another, there would not be that ripping effect that you see happening so often in our churches today.
Illustration: Six men were marooned on a desert Island. Two were Jewish, two were Catholic, and two were Baptist. The two Jews founded the 'Temple Immanuel.' The two Catholics organized 'The Church of the Holy Name.' The two Baptists broke ground for the 'First Baptist Church' and the 'Second Baptist Church'.
This is the state of the church today—when there is disagreement, the first thing we want to do when it comes to marriage or our church membership is tear ourselves from the flock away rather than work tirelessly and graciously and patiently to fix it.
Paul continues in verse 26 saying, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
Paul is saying that if the members had the same care for one another, what happens to one part of the body would and should affect the well-being of the whole body.
Charles Swindoll in his book 'The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart' makes this point about the Church. The ministry of the church is a ministry of people. When a church lives, it lives because the people within are vital and active. When a church dies, it withers and dies not because the brick and mortar and carpet and pews get old and begin to crack and rip and crumble. A church withers and dies because the people wither and die.
This truth is illustrated by the true story of a young minister in Oklahoma who went to this little, though long-standing, church in hopes of really reviving the ministry of it. He had stars in his eyes and great hopes for the future. He thought he could turn it around. And he gave it his best effort and his best shot week after week, to no avail.
Finally, he had one last idea, and it seemed to work. He announced in the local newspaper on Saturday that the church had died, and on Sunday afternoon there would be a funeral service at the church itself, and all who wished could attend. For the first time in his years there the place was packed. In fact, people were standing outside on tiptoes looking through the window to see this most unusual funeral service for a church.
To their shock, because most of them got there twenty or thirty minutes early to get a seat, there was a casket down front. And it was smothered with flowers. He told the people as soon as the eulogy was finished they could pass by and view the remains of the dearly beloved that they were putting to rest that day. They could hardly wait until he finished the eulogy. He pushed the flowers aside, slowly opened the casket and people walked by, filed by, one by one, to look in and leave sheepishly, feeling guilty as they walked out the door, because inside the casket he had placed a large mirror. As they walked by, they saw the reason church that had died.
There is only one body, but many members. We are all dependent on one another. It is not just the pastor’s job to care for the members of the body—that would be humanly impossible. Each member must function as he or she is called or the body will suffer.
Next time…Spiritual Gifts
Peter, before the Day of Pentecost, was rash and impulsive; he spoke before he thought about what he was going to say. He was the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth. Before the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out in the church, Peter said he would follow Jesus no matter what but “when the going got tough got going” and he betrayed His Lord.
After Pentecost, after the day when the Spirit filled the church and empowered believers, Peter no longer ran away from adversity but stood up and courageously preached the first sermon after the church was birthed…thousands were saved.
This is what the filling and empowering of the Holy Spirit can do. This is what the use of your spiritual gift can do!
Next time we are going to introduce the spiritual gifts to you and then in the message that follows that we will help you discover what your spiritual gift might be.
Let us pray.
