Show how true believers live. Let us sing it with joy every
mood. Show how true believers are. Okay, thank you Sherry. Go back to 1 Corinthians 12 now
with me. Look at verse... 12, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12, as
the body is one and hath many members, and all members of that
one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. That's our subject tonight, the
body of Christ. And I think that we have something
very special here in this church. Now, when I don't think, I know
we do. We have something very special.
This church enjoys a peace and a unity which very few enjoy. That's just so. And if you look
around, you will see some of the finest people on earth. I
know you agree with me. You men who meet together in
a study beforehand, I know each one of you, like me, look around
and see just the finest fellows you know. And you ladies, I know
you feel the same way about one another when you get together. No church has more or better,
finer people than we have here. I believe that. Why is that? Why is it this way? Well, you
can directly attribute all these blessings, all these blessings
in this church to the grace of God through the means of His
Word. Faith cometh by hearing. Faith
cometh by hearing. All who believe, believe because
they heard from God through His Word. And growth cometh by hearing. Growth cometh by the Word. Peter
tells us to desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may
grow thereby. Growth comes by the same Word. And this church has peace and
unity because this is what we do. This is all we do, is preach
the word. And this church will be at peace
and continue to have peace and unity as long as we do that.
As long as we walk in God's Word, stay right here. And the church
will grow spiritually, and yes, numerically. Maybe not in great numbers, but
nevertheless, as long as the gospel is being preached, Christ
has his sheep and they will hear his voice. One here and there. As long as we feed on God's Word.
As long as we use God's Word. We have studied together. Thirty-four
books in this Bible, out of sixty-six. Seven of those we have repeated,
a couple of them three times, like Romans. That's over forty-two
books that we've studied together, verse by verse. We are being
grounded and settled in the truth. Grounded and settled in the truth
and in a day which Amos prophesied in the last day famine of the
hearing of the word. He said, there will come a time
when there will be a famine, not of bread, there'll be plenty
of that, an abundance of that, but a famine of the hearing of
the Word. You have to go a long way to
actually hear verse by verse by verse by verse from God's
Word. This is what God uses, nothing
else. This is it. And in the day when
there's a famine of God's Word, we're feasting every time we
eat. 1 Corinthians 12, and we go through
verse by verse and book by book because this is the way God put
this book together. This is how he wrote it. That's
the way we do it. Occasionally, we feel led to
go to a certain area when something blesses me or whatever, but nevertheless,
we go through the way God put this book in his providence.
And I'm always amazed how we come to a certain part of his
book that speaks exactly what we need at that time. That's
what I like about doing it this way. That's what I like. All right, you remember what
this is about, what this whole chapter is about. Look down at
verse 25. It just wrote several things,
and he said in verse twenty-five, here's the reason he said what
he said, that there be no schism in the body, no division in the
body. He said all that he just said,
that there be no division. You remember how this whole book
started? You remember? Go back to chapter
one. Back in chapter one, there was a problem at Carth. They
were actually choosing up sides. There were divisions, and they
were choosing up sides. Look at chapter 1, verses 10
through 13. See, I said, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, you all speak the same thing, that there
be no divisions among you, that you be perfectly joined together,
maturely joined together in the same mind, the same judgment.
It hath been declared unto me, brethren, of them in the house
of Chloe, that there are contentions among you." And some were saying,
I'm a Paul, I'm a Paulist, I'm a Cephas, I'm a this and that
and the other. They were actually choosing up
sides. And so there were problems. Now go back to chapter eleven.
Do you remember chapter eleven where he said this? Verse eighteen. He said, when you come together
in the church, I hear that there be schisms among you, divisions. And he said, I believe it, partly
believe it. I don't believe everything I
hear, but I believe that there are no inhuman nature, he said.
And so this whole chapter, chapter twelve, is about the body of
Christ, the church, and how that every single person, For every
single person has his or her place in the body, and this will
be a comfort to each one of us, I hope. That's what the Lord
told me to do, comfort, comfort ye my people. Every single part
of the body has its place, and none are more or less important
than another. If we learn that, we'll have
peace here always. All right. Chapter 12. Chapter
12. Now remember, this is Christ's
body. He's the head. Who gets the preeminence? One. want all honor and glory. That's
why the body exists. That's why the church exists.
Verse 1, he said, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I
would not have you ignorant. Now, the early church, you read
some of these things with me about tongues or languages, healing,
knowledge, wisdom, this and that and the other. The early church,
before this book was completed, Before this book was completed,
the gospel was going out all over the world, into foreign
lands even, and God miraculously gave gifts to men, mostly men,
to speak in other languages they hadn't gone to school and learned.
There wasn't time. He gave them gifts of healing,
prophecy, and so on and so forth, before this book was finished. Before this book was finished.
Now, after this book is finished, there's no need for those things,
because we have the whole revelation of God. Those gifts of healing
and languages and so forth were proof that God was in a man. When people at Pentecost heard
these unlearned fishermen speaking in their languages, they They
sat up and listened, didn't they? They knew that they were unlearned
fellows, and they were speaking in various languages of the people
that had come there from all over the world. And so they knew,
the people knew, this has got to be of God. And so they sat
up and listened. And the whole purpose for those
things were that they might get a hearing, and that the people
would hear the gospel. That was the end, that was the
goal, that was the purpose for these saints, is that people
would hear the gospel. People would hear these apostles
and say, these men must be from God, they're healing the blind,
they're healing the deaf, they're healing the dumb, they're speaking
in various languages, it must be from God. And they listened
to what they had to say. Now the test of a man comes from
God. He speaks according to this word.
We don't need those things. Spiritual gifts. He says, I would
not have you ignorant about these things. Don't be ignorant. And
we're going to get into that later on. Chapter 14 deals with
languages or tongues, as they're called, in particular. We're
going to deal with that in depth. Be here. It needs to be known. I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, in the midst of a generation of people who are all ignorant
about this. Any old Tom, Dick, or Harry can stand up and claim
to speak in tongues, and people are taken by that fellow, and
they follow him by the thousands. I would not have you ignorant
about it. How are you not going to be ignorant? Right here. Right here. All right, and now
evidently the church at Corinth had many gifts. There were people
in that church. It was a large church. It was
right in the middle of Greece, and there were many people whom
the Lord blessed with these gifts, because the gospel was going
out of them, and like human nature is. Some of them were getting proud
of it. Some of them were real proud
of that. And, as human nature is, the
ones who didn't have the gifts felt real inferior, and they felt useless. And so Paul writes this. That's
what this is about. Now, I want you to know, I want
you to remember, every one of you, I want you to remember where
you came from. You were Gentiles carried away by dumb idols. Paul said, the greatest of all
the apostles, Paul said, I'm less than the least of all of
them. I'm not fit to be called an apostle. He was the greatest
of all apostles. Yet he did not boast or brag.
He did not set himself up. But he said, I'm not fit to be
called an apostle. I'm less than the least of all.
I'm not even fit to be a saint, he said. I was before an injurious
and a persecutor, a blasphemer, the chief of sinners. Do you remember where you came
from? That thing which we need the
most is humility, humility. That'll keep us glorying in whom
we should glory. We're all idolaters, former idolaters. That'll keep us from boasting
of our knowledge of the gospel over people that don't know it
won't. Sure will. You're all a bunch
of idolaters, you say. You remember that. Verse three,
now I give you to understand, you need to understand, he says
that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus a curse
and no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. This is very simply saying that
no fellow who demeans and diminishes the Lord Jesus Christ, his glory,
his honor, who takes away from his honor, his glory, his person,
his work in any way, shape, form or fashion. is speaking by the
Spirit of God Almighty. Now, is that relevant today?
Nobody, nobody who diminishes from the Lordship of Jesus Christ
in any way, and it's so subtle today, Men do what they do in
the name of Jesus, and they say, Lord, but they're taking their
glory to themselves. That's not of the Spirit of God.
And they talk about the Spirit a lot, don't they? Don't be ignorant
of their devices. We'll see that a little more
in a minute. And, though, no man can truly say that Jesus
is Lord. No man can truly give Him the
glory. It's just not human nature to give Him all the glory, except
by the Holy Spirit. That's how you know. And you
know the difference. You know the difference. You can tell
the difference when you hear these preachers, can't you? You can tell who's getting the
glory. That's how we need to judge them all, by who's really
getting the glory here. Now, if a man is really giving
Christ all the glory, God sent Him. But if a man's taking any
oath, pointing you to himself, he's not speaking about the Spirit
of God. The same goes with any preaching that takes place at
any time. Well, verse 4, there are diversities, he said, of
gifts, but the same Spirit. Nobody has the Holy Spirit more
than anybody else. Nobody. All of God's people have the
same spirit. They're all indwelled by the
same spirit people. There are different gifts, but
it's the same spirit. Same spirit. I'm telling you
the truth from God's Word. Don't think one person is more
spiritual than another, or has the Holy Spirit in a greater
measure than another. No, sir. That's not true. All have the same spirit. If
the Spirit of Christ dwells not in you, you're not a bishop.
Everybody, all of God's people, have the Holy Spirit, and there
is no second baptism of the Spirit. There is not. And Jesus Christ is the only
one who did not have the Spirit by measure. Verse 5 said, There
are differences of administration. The word administration, do you
see what it says in the margin? Ministry. There are differences
of ministry, but the same Lord. Different ministries. Ministry
means ways that we minister. Minister means service, doesn't
it? You minister to someone. You serve them. What is the ministry? There are diversities of gifts.
There are differences, not different ministries, but differences of
the ministry. We all have one ministry. What is that? In 2 Corinthians
4, 1, he says, Therefore, see, we have this ministry, this one
ministry. What is that? We're the body,
Christ is the head. It's to hold up the head. Remember
what he said in one place that some people don't hold up the
head. No, no, that's not talking about Christ people. They're
talking about folks. They're not holding up the head.
They're holding up themselves. They're holding up the body.
They're holding up their denomination. They're holding up this man or
that. Don't be ignorant of this now. If you hear any man stand
up and say and talk about his ministry, it's not about the
Billy Graham ministries. The Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn, Benny
Hill, it's one and the same. Benny Hinn Ministries. I'm telling
you the truth, don't be ignorant. Any man who has that behind his
name is not a believer. Paul never wrote anywhere, the
Apostle Paul Ministries, the Apostle Peter Ministries. We're all in the ministry, and
the ministry of who we serve is the glory of the head. The
purpose of the body, that's all about. The purpose of the body
is to hold up the head. This whole body is covered. There's one thing showing right
now, basically. Right? The head. We adorn the head. Well, I'm
getting ahead of myself. But the different parts in this
one ministry, the body exists to serve the head. Christ is
our ministry. Again, let me repeat it. If you
hear anybody, I don't care who it is, an angel from heaven talking
about his ministries, he's not the God. They're not holding up to Him.
Verse 6 says there are diversities of operations, that is, spheres
of operation, ways in which we operate. But verse 6 says it's
the same God who's working all in all. God's doing all the work.
Doesn't matter what anybody's doing, it's God that's doing
it. Right? It's God's work. It's not mine,
not yours, not ours. It's God's work. The manifestation of the Holy
Spirit is given to every man to profit with God. The Holy
Spirit is given and dwells in every part of the body to do
what? To make him or her feel special? No, to profit without. It's not for that use, it's of
no profit. It's to profit the body, especially
the head. Verse 8, the one is given by
the Spirit the word of wisdom. Let's just read down through
verse 11. To one is given by the Holy Spirit the word of wisdom,
to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another
faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another discerning of Spirit. to another different
kinds of languages, to another interpretation of languages.
All these work at that one and self-same Holy Spirit, dividing
or proportioning out to every man severally as he will. But there it is, these gifts.
Now, boy, how the religious world loves these things, and they
use it all the time. You hear it, don't you? I've
got a word of knowledge. This word of wisdom here, it
means good judgment, good discernment. Some have more than others, don't
they? Especially in spiritual matters. This word of knowledge
Word of knowledge of Scripture, types, symbols, prophecies, types
in the Scripture. Brother Charlie Payne, back in
13th century, he had a knowledge, he could look into those old
types and just bring out Christ so clearly that the average person
couldn't see it. Knowledge of Scripture, read
on. The same spirit, another faith,
you mean every believer doesn't have faith? You know he's not
saying that. Some seem to have stronger faith
than others. Huh? Some seem to just bear up
under the most difficult trials that you and I face. Some have that. To another, the
gifts of healing by the same Spirit. The apostles had this.
There were others who had it. Everybody didn't. Nobody has
it now. Nobody. I believe these charlatans,
if they'd raised somebody from the dead, I'd believe them. If
they'd really healed a blind man, I mean blind man, I'd believe
them. No, I wouldn't, because they don't preach the gospel.
If they preached the gospel, Lee, I would. Then I'd believe
them. God doesn't sanction a false prophet. Verse 10, it says the
working of miracles and other There was still a need for prophecy.
We don't need that now. We have the final chapter in
the book, don't we? It's a revelation. To another
discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of languages,
to another interpretation of tongue, we see this. Brother
Bill Clark, a missionary all over the world, he knew five
languages, to speak them fluently. Brother Milton Howard, whom you
know well, the best interpreter, translator that I've ever heard. Well, Brother Cody's right there
with me. I told you before about preaching
in Mexico, and Brother Cody's standing beside me, and never
have to stop, never even have to pause between sentences. He's
going on and on. And sometimes I'll even quit
talking and he'll go right on. And I think, man, did I say all
that? He's got a gift. Brother Walter will tell you,
he does not have the gift. One thing, he's got bad hearing.
But Brother Cody does, Milton does, interpretation of these
languages. All these, verse 11, work at
that one and selfsame Holy Spirit, dividing to every man severally
as he will. It's his decision. That's a bad word. It was according
to his purpose. He gave it to whom he will. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? All right, verse 12 says, As
the body is one, and hath many members, all members of that
one body, being many, are one body, so is the body of Christ.
We're many members, but one body, one body. And by one Spirit,
we're all baptized into one body. You see that? There's no second
baptism. This regeneration is the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. One body, we're all baptized
into this body that is immersed, put in Christ. Of God are you
in Christ Jesus. That's the baptism. Whether Jew
or Gentile, bond or free, we've all been made to drink into one
spirit. You see that? Read on. The body
is not one member, but many. Many. Many. We're not a bunch of individuals.
Break down the word individual. What's in the middle of it? Divided.
Individual. We're not a bunch of individuals. We really aren't. We're one in
the same. We're many members, but we're
one body, united, and it's one cause. Not a bunch of individuals. There's one who should stick
out in this body. There's one who should stand
forth in this body, and it ain't me. Jesus Christ. That's who I endeavor to point
you to. Now, that's the purpose of the whole body. The head should stick out. Verse
15, go on now. The foot shall say, because I'm
not the hand, I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of
the body? It's not visible like the hand,
is it? Your feet. Most of you are probably glad
of it. I told you about that girl I used to know down in Florida
that never wore shoes. How long was I there? She never
wore shoes. She had feet that looked like
a duck's feet. She couldn't even get shoes on
after a while. The foot is covered. The feet
are covered. The hand is always visible. Because
the hand is visible and the foot's covered, does that mean the foot's
not a part of the body? Because you don't see it very
often? Huh. It's just as important as the
hand, is it not? Verse 16. If the ear shall say,
because I'm not of the eye, am I not of the body? Is it therefore
not of the body? Which is prettier to you, an
ear or an eye? I guarantee you that every person
will say the eye. Cut off your ear and see how
you look. The eye is no prettier than the
ear of God. He made it. I bet if you saw Adam's ears
when God created him, you'd stand and gaze at them for a long time.
The ear is a beautiful thing, really, because it's part of
the body. Just because it's not as beautiful
as the eye? No one member, what he's saying
throughout this chapter, is no one member is more or less important
or less a part of the body than the other. And he goes on down there to
say that parts that are hidden, we put more honor upon. We devote more attention to and
all that. Everybody in here right now,
except me, is depending on a part of your body that you pay little
attention to. What, how could you do without
it? Could you do without it? I'm talking about your gluteus
maximus. Everybody but me is using it
right now. What if you didn't have one? You couldn't sit. Now that's a good basic illustration,
isn't it? That every part of your body
is vital. And he talks about the part giving
more abundant honor down in verse 23. What is it that God Almighty
looks upon? Not the face. He's not listening
to your voice. He's not looking at your walk,
per se. God's not listening to anybody.
In that respect, God is no respecter of persons. We are. We can't help but be enamored
with and taken up with. God is not. Where does He look?
A hidden part. The heart. The heart. Well, everybody can't be a hand. He goes on down to say that.
Verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?
Can you imagine if you just had one big eye in the middle of your head? If the whole were
hearing, where were the smelling? One big ear? Everybody can't play the organ,
everybody can't preach. If everybody preached, where
would be the hero? If everybody played music, where would be
the singer? And so on and so forth. But now God, verse 18,
has set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath
pleased him. Everybody can't be a hand, an
eye, a mouth. The preacher is the mouth. Spokesperson. Just because you can't express
yourself, like the preacher, doesn't mean that you're not
a part of the Bible. One of the highest esteemed members
of this body, ever since I've been here, was Brother Joe Parker. Was he not? He was a man of few words. That
characterizes your daddy. A man of few words. You rarely
heard him say anything. Rarely. But he had a great presence,
didn't he? Andy Roy, you told me what an
impression that man made upon you. Though he didn't say much,
did he? An invaluable work, that man.
Invaluable work for this body. We still miss him, right? I told
someone recently, I was talking to someone about Brother Kelly.
And I said, well, it's true of every believer in the body. When
the Lord removes a member of the body, he generally replaces
that member. He just does. And I told someone recently I
said the Lord took the job. Valuable part of the body of
the job. But yet he gave us since then
he's given us a little. Game. Kelly. And. The way others. But I told that same person,
I said, it took seven men to replace Joe. But he didn't say much. Spirituality is not this. And you're no less part of the
body because you don't say much. And that man is irreplaceable.
Seven men did not replace him. They have their place. He'll
never be replaced. Well, 17 verse 18, now God has
set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath
pleased him. If all were one member, where would the body
be? Now there are many members, yet
one body. I can't save the hand, I have
no need of you, or the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
No, much more of those members of the body which seem to be
more feeble are necessary. Here's another illustration for
you. Remember Virgie? Look how many faces lit up. Will
you ever forget Virgie? I was speaking to Virgie one
time in her latter days, and she was bemoaning to me, bemoaning
the fact. She said, I don't do nothing
for this church. That's how she spoke then. Did you? I'm still talking about
it. I'm still talking about it. To God that you still talk about
me when I'm gone like that. She being dead yet speaking. Was she a vital necessary part? What did she do though? Did she
ever preach a sermon? Did she ever sing a solo? No. What did she do? She did what
every member of the body is required to do. That which is required
of stewards is to be found safe. These doors were open, but she
was there. She sure was. Well, Hans, in verse 24, he says,
our comely parts have no need. God hath tempered the body together,
having given more abundant honor to that parts with lack. This
is the rule which Christ set forth. He said, the last shall
be first in the kingdom. The thief on the cross. See,
this honors his mercy, his great mercy and his great grace, in
that the thief on the cross will have a prominent place. Well, you know what I'm saying.
A thief on the cross will be right up there beside Abraham. You see, that doesn't honor the
man, that honors his master. That honors the Lord. That honors
the Lord's mercy and grace, not the man. Let him that gloryeth,
glory unto the Lord. Well, that's the rule. That's the way the Lord has always
done things. Verse 25, I've got to hurry,
that there should be no schism, division in the body. That is,
and the reason this happens is one setting himself up over another. No, the member should have the
same care for another, the same esteem, the same need, the same
consideration. We should suffer. Well, read on. That's
what it says. Verse 26, If one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it. If one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it. The least, the least in here
is just as valuable and we need to mourn with them and honor
them and we need them and consider them as much as the so-called
greatest. Verse 27, now, you are the body
of Christ. Do you believe that? Let me put
it a different way. Do you believe Christ? Do you believe Christ? Do you
trust Christ? So you're a member of the body. You're a member of the body.
And what a privilege, what a high honor, huh? Why do we need a
higher place? Let me be a little tough. David,
who was a great king, David said, Now I, all I want to be, is a
doorkeeper. David said, I would be content
to be just a doorkeeper in the house of God and to dwell in
the tents, the palaces of the wicked. Read on now, your members,
members in particular. Remember that peculiar treasure
of Christ? Oh, I'm not. Oh, yes, you are.
Peculiar treasure. And God had set some in the church,
verse 28, and we'll go in depth into this later on. God had set in the church first
apostles, secondarily prophets. These men did have a leadership
role, did they not? Certainly. And I don't rightly
understand those twelve thrones in heaven, I don't, no man does,
but apparently there will be somehow. Thirdly, teachers, after
that miracles, gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities
of languages, but are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are
all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles?
No. Have all the gifts of healing?
No. Do all speak with languages? Do all interpret? No. Well, covet
earnestly. Ask the Lord to give you gifts.
That's what he's saying in the last verse. Ask the Lord to bless
you. Why? So that you can be a great
preacher. No. You have to find the right
to honor Christ. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom,
a word of wisdom. Why? So that people can look
up to God. So that you can And he goes on to say, now, I'll
show you a better way. I'll show you a better way. Love. And that's what the whole
next chapter is about. What is love? What is love? All right, stand with me. Our Lord, thank You for Your
Word. Without it, we are in darkness. This is a light. A lamp unto our feet, a light
unto our path, Lord, we thank You. You've opened our eyes to
the whole wondrous thing from Your Word. You've enlightened
us yet. We preach in part. We know in part. And let us not
glory in that little that we do know, but rather glory in
this, that our names are written in heaven. And Lord, we do thank
you for what we do know, but yet if any, if we think we know
anything, we know nothing as we ought to know. We thank you,
though, for imparting and instilling in us some knowledge, some wisdom,
but Lord, we long for more. We long to grow in grace and
knowledge of Christ. So let us learn of Him. Let us
never grow tired of hearing Your Word. Lord, use Your Word for
Your glory, for the good of Your people, the comfort of Your church,
Your body. Make every member of the body.
Give them that assurance that they are indeed a member of the
body, a vital part. And it's Your doing for all Your
glory and Your honor. In Christ's name, amen. You're
dismissed.