1 COR. 12:12-26: “When The
Body Functions Like A Body”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at the beginning of Paul’s exhortations
to the church in
1.1.1. We saw how important it was
for the church in
1.1.2. We saw that in the church
today, there tend to be two extremes amongst churches. There are those who believe that the gifts of
the Spirit are not for today, and they don’t want to have anything to do with
them, then there are those who believe that the gifts are for today however in
those groups any so-called spiritual gift that someone might display is
accepted as being legitimate by the church, and there is no attempt to regulate
or discriminate what is legitimate and profitable in the church. We saw though that in the
1.1.3. We saw that the Holy Spirit
is sovereign in the dispensing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and thus we need
to get ourselves in line with His will rather than try to manipulate Him to do
our will
1.1.4. We saw that Paul pointed out
to us that there were three functions regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit:
1.1.4.1.The gifts
1.1.4.1.1.The gift(s) that tends to
dominate our life is our ‘motivational’ gift as it tends to affect all areas in
our life
1.1.4.2.The ministries we might have
with those gifts
1.1.4.2.1.We all in time should have a
ministry for the Lord
1.1.4.3.The various manifestations
of the Holy Spirit as He works in our lives
1.1.5. Finally, we looked at an
overview of each the gifts of the Spirit which Paul listed in the first 11
verses of this chapter
1.2.
In our study today we are going to look at what it means when the body
of Christ begins to function like a body
1.2.1. Paul begins to teach the
church in Corinth about what is the true nature of the Church, the body of
Christ
1.2.1.1.It is an organism consisting
of each member whom Christ has called and placed in the body
1.2.1.2.Each member is in
communication with and under the direction of the head of the body, who is
Christ
1.2.2. Each and every member is
equally important and necessary for the proper functioning of the body as a
whole
1.2.3. Each of us in the body of
Christ is also interdependent upon every other member of the body
1.2.4. What one member experiences,
good or bad, the entire body experiences and shares in
1.2.5. Above all, we in the body of
Christ are to love one another
2.
VS 12:12 - “12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the
members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” - Paul
begins to tell the Corinthians about the fact that each of them is part of the
body of Christ
2.1.
In this verse, Paul tries to instill in the Corinthians the idea that
the church is a body, consisting of the sum of all of the members, and that as
the body of Christ it is a living organism that exists as ‘one body’ in unity
under Christ.
2.1.1. As I have mentioned several
times, the nature of the body of Christ is such that it is not a “religious
institution”, rather it is a “spiritual organism” with Jesus as the Head, and
each of us as members of that body through which Jesus works in this world.
2.1.2. Most of the problems that
churches always have arise because of a misunderstanding of the nature of the
church.
2.1.2.1.The body of Christ is a
spiritual organism consisting of all of the various members.
2.1.2.2.Christ is the head of the
body and thus He regulates and monitors ever part of the body, for truly it is
His body.
2.1.2.3.Each of the members of the
body must work under the direction of the head and in inter-dependence with
each other.
2.1.3. Most of the problems that
the church in
2.1.3.1.Rather than seeing
themselves as being an essential part of the body of Christ and under His
control and leading, the people apparently tended to look at their involvement
with the church based upon what they might be able to get out of it.
2.1.3.2.As I mentioned in our last
study, they tended to think of their own needs and desires as being more
important than what was good for the body as a whole.
2.1.3.3.They also didn’t see
themselves as being under Christ as the head of the body, and that they were to
function in all aspects under His leading and counsel.
2.1.4. Terry from our fellowship
here, gave me this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer concerning the
importance of our understanding that we are part of the body of Christ, “We
are all members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole
existence. Every member serves the whole
body, either to its health or to its destruction. This is no mere theory, it is a spiritual
reality.”
2.1.4.1.This quote points out how
important it is for each of us in the body of Christ to be faithful to fulfill
the function that God has for us in the body.
2.2.
This verse brings an inherent exhortation to ‘unity’ in the body of
Christ, since we are to be as ‘one’ under Christ who is the head, and He should
lead and direct the body in all that is done.
2.2.1. As much as is possible and
through all that we do, we Christians must try to promote unity amongst all of
the members of Christ’s body.
3.
VS 12:13 - “13 For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we
were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
- Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit
baptizes each believer into the body of Christ at the moment of conversion
3.1.
In order to help each of the Corinthians to better realize the
importance of their proper functioning in the body of Christ as wells as to
promote unity in the body of Christ, Paul tells the Corinthians here that it is
‘by one Spirit’ that every member of Christ’s body was at the moment of
salvation ‘baptized’, or immersed’ (indicating the finality of being placed
into Christ’s body), into ‘one’ body.
3.2.
Nationality or parentage didn’t make any difference in God’s sight
regarding acceptance into the body of Christ.
By ‘one Spirit’ Jews, Greeks, slaves, free men, i.e. everyone who comes
to know Christ as Lord and Savior, is baptized into His body and made to drink
of His Spirit.
3.2.1. This shows us Christians how
important it is that in the body of Christ we have the same love for one
another and not show any partiality towards any.
3.3.
Many Bible expositors and church leaders who believe that there is no
subsequent work or baptism of the Holy Spirit for a believer use this verse as
their proof, however this verse says that the Holy Spirit Himself baptizes, or
immerses, every believer into the body of Christ. Yet, if it were the case that the initial
experience of receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation was all that was possible
or necessary for a believer to receive, why did Jesus appear to the disciples
in John 20:21 and tell them to receive the Holy Spirit and then at a later time
tell them in Acts 1:8 to wait in Jerusalem until they received ‘power’ when the
Holy Spirit would come ‘upon’ them?
3.3.1. We in the Calvary Chapels
believe that this verse does not teach that a believer cannot have a subsequent
work of the Holy Spirit in their life after coming to salvation. Rather, we believe that Paul was saying that the
Holy Spirit immerses each believer into the body of Christ, and that it is then
within that body of Christ that all believers are to function.
3.3.2. We in the Calvary Chapels
believe that there is a subsequent work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of
believers after coming to Christ. We
talked about this ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ in our last, as wells as in
previous, studies.
3.3.3. For more information on the
baptism of the Holy Spirit you can go to one of my web pages in my study on the
gifts of the Holy Spirit: http://www.calvarychapel.com/greenbay/gifts/gifts.htm
4.
VS 12:14-17 - “14 For the body is not one member, but
many. 15 If
the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this
reason any the less a part of the
body. 16 And
if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for
this reason any the less a part of
the body. 17 If
the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were
hearing, where would the sense of smell be?”
- Paul emphasizes to the Corinthians the
importance of each individual member of the body of Christ
4.1.
Paul uses a few analogies found in the world and in life to give us
mental pictures of Christ’s church. In
this chapter, Paul gives us a picture for Christ’s body, by using the example
of the human body. The human body is the
most complex and fascinating of God’s organic creations. There is such a diversity found in each of
the elements of the human body. For
instance:
4.1.1. There is a variety of very
complex and interrelated organs.
4.1.2. A highly complex and very
misunderstood nervous system.
4.1.3. A very diverse and unusual
structure of bones.
4.1.4. A very diverse and unusual
combination of muscles, ligaments, and tendons, etc.
4.2.
With each of the different elements of the human body working together
as one interrelated unit, the human body becomes something that is very much
greater than the mere sum of its parts.
4.3.
No element of the human body can be removed from the human body, and
the body still function normally.
4.3.1. Thus, Paul makes the point
that if just one member of the body of Christ is not functioning as God
intended it to function, then the body of Christ is not able to function quite
as God intends that it is to function.
4.3.2. Many times Christians can
begin to think that their spiritual gift is not as significant as some other
brothers’ or sisters’ gifts, and therefore they hold back from using their
gift(s) in serving the Lord. Paul encourages
those who feel inadequate or that their gift is insignificant, that our use of
our own unique gift(s) is essential for their to be a healthy body.
4.4.
No part of the human body functions for its own benefit, but rather for
the benefit of the whole, and if it does not function in this way the results
can be disastrous.
4.4.1. When one member of the human
body begins to function just for itself there is a name for this condition, it
is called ‘cancer’, and if cancer is not quickly removed from the body it will
permeate the entire body and bring about the death of the body.
4.4.2. It is so important that
everything that each of us as Christians do is really good for the whole body.
4.5.
Some in the
4.6.
Paul tells the church then that if there is to be unity in the body of
Christ that it must occur as a result of diversity. Each member of Christ’s body must function in
his or her own God created way in order for the church to be healthy and
functioning efficiently for His kingdom and glory.
5.
VS 12:18 - “18 But now God has placed the members,
each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
- Paul tells us that it is God who calls
and places each person in any local body of Christ
5.1.
The church belongs to Christ, and He is sovereign in the way He plans
for all aspects of the establishment and growth of each individual church.
5.1.1. The Lord calls and brings
each person whom He has given a spiritual gift(s) to populate each church, all
according to His perfect will and plan in this world.
5.1.2. Each local body of Christ
therefore is unique, has a unique ministry function, and is filled with people
who are uniquely gifted to function right within that body of Christ and in
their community.
6.
VS 12:19 - “19 And if they were all one member,
where would the body be?” - Paul asks the Corinthians a rhetorical
question regarding the gifts as if to say, ‘If there were just one gift or
ministry in the body of Christ, what kind of a functional body could it be?’
6.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians that there would be no body of Christ at all
if everyone exercised the same gifts.
6.2.
God has placed diversity in the body of Christ, which is similar in
kind to the diversity found in the various organs, elements, and systems of the
human body.
7.
VS 12:20-25 - “20 But now there are many members, but
one body. 21 And
the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the
head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, it is much
truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body, which we deem less
honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant
seemliness, 24 whereas
our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 that there
should be no division in the body, but that
the members should have the same care for one another.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians about the important interdependence of all the various members
of the body of Christ
7.1.
Not only is each member of the body to be led by the head of the body,
which is Christ. Each member must also
work in inter-dependence with the other members of the body, if the body is to
function in the way it is intended. This
concept has infinite implications for the body.
7.1.1. For instance:
7.1.1.1.The hand performs wonderful
functions, however if it is not working closely with the arms, the work that it
performs can be worthless and even endanger the rest of the body.
7.1.1.2.This past week my tongue and
my teeth didn’t work well together and my tongue received a nasty bite.
7.1.2. Imagine for instance, if one
morning as you were taking a byte of your breakfast with a fork which your hand
was holding that all of a sudden your arm decided that it didn’t want to move
where the handed needed it to move and instead of the fork going into your
mouth it went into your eye?!
7.2.
Many of the members of the church in
7.3.
Paul uses an analogy from the human body to show the importance of each
individual member of the body of Christ.
He tells them that the eye would not tell the hand that it wasn’t
necessary since the only thing that is important is seeing. The head wouldn’t tell the feet that they
were unnecessary since the head does all of the important communication and
thinking.
7.4.
Paul tells the Corinthians that, in fact, the weaker brother or sister,
whose gifts are not used in as public of a way as others, need much more
special attention than the others. We
need to bestow more “abundant honor” upon these brothers in order to help them
and encourage them in their growth.
7.4.1. It has been documented
several times and with different parts of the human body that when one part is
failing that other parts of the body around that part often will begin to try
to compensate for that part.
7.4.1.1.For instance, for many years
it was thought that since we knew which part of the brain produced our ability
for speech that if someone had that part of their brain damaged that they
wouldn’t ever be able to talk again.
However, there have been a few cases where a person has actually been able
to learn to speak again after that part of the brain was damaged. Other parts of the brain began to compensate
for that damaged part and help it out, so to speak. That is what the members of the body of
Christ must do for the member who is struggling. We must encourage and help them out in their
walk until that point in time when they can begin to exercise their proper
God-given function within the body.
7.5.
Once those weaker brothers and sisters are revived and built up through
our encouragement and help, it is hoped
that they too will want to reach out and share the gospel and in turn help
others in their spiritual growth and walk.
7.6.
Paul tells the Corinthians that by each one of them properly exercising
their gifts, as well as preferring in love the weaker brother or sister, then
the church will avoid destructive divisiveness that Satan would like to cause
in the body.
7.7.
Paul tells the members of the church in
7.7.1. We in the church must always
be careful not to treat differently some classes or ethnic groups within God’s
church.
7.7.2. Rather, we should always
reach out in love to all of our brothers and sisters.
7.7.3. We must never look down on
anyone within Christ’s church.
7.7.4. We must always maintain the
same love for each of the members in Christ’s church. If we do not love everyone equally and
impartially we are sinning against the Lord and dishonoring His beloved sons
and daughters.
7.8.
We in the church must also avoid dividing up in little cliques and
groups that are exclusive-oriented.
Also, churches must never believe or teach that their own little group
is the only one who will make it to heaven.
8.
VS 12:26 - “26 And if one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it; if one member
is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
- Paul tells us about how as a body that
what one experiences, good or bad, we all experience it, for we are all family
8.1.
In this verse, Paul describes one of the aspects of being a part of the
body of Christ: What effects any
member of the body effects all, and all share in the sufferings as well as the
blessings of any member.
8.1.1. If you drop an anvil on your
toe, you will see that all of the members of your body are affected by this for
you will begin to jump up in down in one place, yell something, your blood
pressure and heart rate will probably rise, etc.
8.2.
In this verse, Paul speaks of a type and a depth of caring for each
other that occurs in the body of Christ because of the ‘agape’ love of Christ
which each member of the body has for each other.
8.3.
We definitely do not want to rejoice when someone suffers, nor grieve
at someone’s rejoicing.
8.4.
We in the body of Christ need to always be careful not to get too
carried away with our own life’s problems and difficulties. As we take our eyes off of ourselves we will
see the needs and blessings of our brothers and sisters, and learn how to respond
appropriately as we do this.
8.5.
We Christians need to learn to make everyone around us feel
important. We need to be a good
listener, and we need to learn what true empathy God would have us to have for
our brothers and sisters in Christ, in all of the things that they are going
through.
8.6.
My wife and I were discussing just last night how that we have been so
blessed to have been able to see up close the body of Christ function as a
body. In a few of the churches that we
have been a part of we have seen how the body is supposed to function. There is no more powerful witness of Christ in us
for the world to behold than the body of Christ if they are truly loving one
another as Christ intended!
8.6.1. In John 13:34-35,
Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another and that it would be by their
love that all men would know they were His disciples, “34 “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another.35 “By this all men will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another.””
8.6.2. In 1 Peter 1:22,
Peter exhorted his readers to fervently love one another from the heart, “22
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere
love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.”
8.6.3. In 1 Peter 4:8, Peter
writes that “above all” they should keep fervent in their love for one another,
“8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love
covers a multitude of sins.”
8.6.4. The apostle John wrote in 1
John 4:11 that if Jesus loved us in such a great way that we ought to in
turn love one another, “11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another.”
8.6.5. In 1 Thess. 4:9-10,
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about what a loving church they were, and how that
God had taught them to love one another, and yet, he asked them to strive to
excel even more in loving each other, “9 Now as to the love of the
brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are
taught by God to love one another;10 for indeed you do practice it toward all
the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel
still more.”
8.6.6. At the recent Upper Midwest
Calvary Chapel Pastor’s Conference which I attended Gayle Erwin was one of the
teachers, and he told us that in recent years he had heard about a high school
in
8.6.7. I was talking with my son
yesterday about a group of boys which he hung around with in
8.6.8. In the first two churches
that we attended, one for 7 years in Phoenix, and one for 3½ years in Seattle,
we experienced in many ways the body of Christ truly caring for and loving each
other. Jill and I would cook meals and
bring them for a family who had just had a baby or who had someone who was very
sick. We also learned that when a person
was in the process of moving that it was a tremendous blessing for them if
people came together and helped them move.
So, we would always try to lend a hand when a family would move. We learned that we could trust God with our
vehicles and lend a vehicle to someone in a pinch if they needed. I loaned my trucks that I’ve owned on many
occasions to people who needed to take trips to the dump, etc. There was always a risk in doing this, and
indeed one day a friend of mine got into a wreck in my car which she had
borrowed. It was a shock at first, but
God helped me to get it fixed, and I never let that keep me from lending my
vehicles.
8.6.9. The Story Of Dottie: Our home church in
8.7.
Can you imagine what a testimony the body of Christ could have to this
lost and dying world:
8.7.1. If we, the members of the
body, truly had such an uncommon regard for one another as they had in the high
school in
8.7.2. If we accepted one another
as my son’s group of friends in
8.7.3. If we truly shared both in
the joys and sorrows of one another to such a degree that for one member to
just be made aware of a need would cause that member to try to meet it, if
possible?
8.8.
I have to say that I am blessed because I have seen a lot of this type
of love occurring here in our fellowship.
Keep it up: My prayer for you is
that your love for one another become more fervent, come from even a purer
heart, and, that you seek “above all” things to love one another.
8.9.
It is written in history that the apostle John, the only apostle not be
martyred, was over 100 years old at the early part of the second century and
the people would carry him and his bed into the church at Ephesus, and that he
would utter to the church just three words, “Love one another!” Do you understand why he said that now?