Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Just hold your place right there. I'm going to read a passage out
of Romans 12, 3 to 5. Then we'll ask our Lord's blessing.
Romans 12, 3 to 5. For I say through the grace given
unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly. according as God hath dealt to
every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in
one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of
another." Let's pray together. Our Father, We ask this evening,
for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, would you bless
the word tonight. Would you bless it, Lord, to
the salvation of your people and for the comfort of those
that you've everlastingly loved. Forgive us for Christ's sake.
Amen. The Apostle Paul, in that passage
in Romans, exhorted us, under the inspiration of God's Spirit,
to not think arrogantly of himself. He exhorts us to be moderate
in our thinking. Why? Well, the Apostle James
answered it, said in James 4, 6, God resists the proud but
giveth grace unto the humble. The Apostle Paul reminded us
of our need and our dependence upon each other. as we collectively
follow Him. We are a body. All of the members, not only
of Katie Baptist Church, and that is so, but this church with
all of the other believers in this world, wherever they be,
We're a body. You know, the human body has
many members. We're going to look at this out
of 1 Corinthians 12. And every member of the body,
of the human body, contributes to the unity of the one body,
whether it's physical or whether it's the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every member of the body, human
or spiritual, is needful. I have eyes and I can see you. I have some ears and I can hear. Every member has its function
and no member can do without the other members. We just can't
do without them. Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter
12, and in verse 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 12, the Apostle Paul states,
for as the body is one, it's a unit. It's an entity. 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, by the one and only Spirit. When it says by one Spirit,
by the only Spirit that unites, that joins, by the one Spirit,
regardless of our background, Jew, Gentile, bond-free, rich,
poor, male, female, by the one spirit, every believer, the scripture
says, we've all been baptized, we've all been immersed spiritually
together into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've
all been made to drink into one spirit as branches grafted into
the vine. The Lord said, I'm the vine,
you're the branch. And by the Spirit of God joining us in time. Now, the Father has eternally
purposed it. The Son procured it. procured God Almighty in being
just and the justifier. God Almighty by the Spirit has
joined us in time into Christ eternally and mystically. Eternally
so, God chose us to be there. But in time, the Spirit of God
called us out of darkness. And we all drink of the life,
that spiritual sap. We speak in terms that we understand. And you can understand, you take
it and cut a branch, and you'll see some sap. I mean, there's
life there. There's life, and it's that life,
spiritually speaking, that we drink, we all drink in Him. through him, of him, by him. So by one spirit, we're all baptized
into one body, whether Jews, Gentiles. So many things I relate to going
to Mexico. It's been over the years. I started
going back in 2001. It was the first time I ever
went. And I've been many times. And every time I go, I'm always
amazed. We would go into these villages
and I meet people and I cannot understand one word that you're
saying. Maybe one. If it's real simple. Hola. I might get that one. But I mean, as a general rule.
And bless their hearts, I will say, I'll say to them, you know,
no habla espanol. Well, they hear me say, I don't
speak Spanish. They hear, they understand, and
they start speaking to me. If they were to come to me, we
were in an airport, Glenda and I were in an airport one day,
and a man in perfect English said to me, my wife and I don't
speak English. They were from the Netherlands.
And I was tempted to respond back to him and say, well I understand,
that's okay, you know, but he had just told me. But, when these
people down in Mexico began to speak to me, and Cody or Walter
is there to interpret what they're saying, and they're a believer
speaking to me. They say the very things that
we say. They relate the struggles that
they have. They relate to us the war within,
the battle of the flesh and the world and the miracle of God's
grace. They speak the same language
spiritually. You know why? Because by one
Spirit, we've all been baptized into one body. This body, speaks
the same language to every part of my body understands me and
has me and my best at heart. Spiritually speaking, the body
has their best at heart looking and drinking from the Lord Jesus
Christ because He's our life and we know it. So we've all
been baptized into one body where the Jews, Gentiles, bond-free
have all been made to drink in one spirit. Verse 14, for the
body is not one member, but many. No member makes a body. No one member makes a body. No nose or eye can say I'm a
complete human body. No, you're not. You're not a
complete human body. You're an eye. You know, an organ donor may
donate, when they pass, organs. But an individual organ, separate
from the body, doesn't make a body. That's one member. We, the body
is not one member. It takes many, all the members
to make a body. We need each other. We need each other. Verse 15,
if the foot shall say, because I'm not the hand, I'm not of
the body, is it therefore not of the body. Each member of the
body, whether physical or especially spiritual, what we're dealing
with, has the duty of being content in its position. You look, and the Apostle Paul,
under the inspiration of God's Spirit, used the human body as
an example of how God's body operates. My eye or my ear or my hand has
no rebellion in it in wanting to be another member. My eye
doesn't want to be an ear. Someone would say, well, that's
just ridiculous. Well, no, it's not ridiculous
if you're relating it to the position of man by nature, that
selfish and arrogant thinking himself. That's why I read that
no man ought to think higher than himself. Don't think arrogantly
of yourself. We are a body and Almighty God
has placed us exactly where He's placed us. We are the church,
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. I began to think the other day,
when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, and His body, this
is my body, He said, it's broken for you. Now you think about
this. He had a body prepared Him. God gave him a body. God Almighty gave him a human
body that possessed all of the frailties of our body except
his had no sin. God made him a body. That body aged. Ours ages because
of sin. His had no sin. And he aged. He thirsted. You know why I thirst? Because of sin. Because this
body breaks down. Without water, it's not going
to make it. I need water. He thirsted and
had no sin. But that body, spiritually speaking,
was a picture, a type of us. Of us. We are His body. And His body was broken. at Calvary. He gave Himself and we're in Him. When He died,
we died as His body. Here is the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One, many members and no member
says of this physical body and of the body of Christ is to say,
I don't see myself needing that member. I can do a better job
than that member. Wherever God Almighty calls us,
that's the place that almighty God wisely placed that member
and every member needs every other member. I need you. I need you. There is a need that
is met by every individual member that no other member can meet.
I'm thankful. I'm thankful for those I thank
God for my nose. I was out yesterday afternoon
and I was having to wear a respirator, doing some stuff, and I had a
respirator on. And after a while I noticed, especially after I
was doing some climbing and I was starting to breathe more deeply,
And I was thinking, boy, I tell you what, there's nothing that
takes the place of just an unobstructed nose. Just take a deep breath. I thank God for my nose. But
you know, I thank the Lord, you know, for my lungs. You can see
my nose. But I thank the Lord for my lungs.
I need them. I need them. But you know what
I got to thinking about, too? And I'm not a medical person,
so I'm thinking back now, when you teachers may have to help
me, I'm thinking back on years and years, I'm thinking of biology
100 years ago. And is it alveoli? in the lining
of the alveoli, in those little finger-like things inside the
lungs that takes the oxygen, I think, and distributes it.
I thank God for that. I thank God for a nose, but I
thank God that I can get oxygen to the rest of my body. You know,
I just, every member needs every other member. I can't, you take
anything away from me and this body is not going to function.
The way God Almighty designed this body to function, verse
17, if the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where
were the smelling? If we stopped for a moment and
realized, if everything, if the whole body were an eye, You don't
have a body, you have a monster. That's just one eye or just a
bunch of eyes. Well then where's the hearing?
That's what Paul's saying. If every member had the same
office, same talent, same function, you would not have a body. A
body is that which is made up of many members. It takes many different members
to make a body. Verses 18 to 20, But now hath
God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it has
pleased Him. And if they were all one member,
where were the body? But now are they many members.
yet but one body. My eye did not, by its own decision,
make itself an eye. You know how I got an eye? God
made it. God made it. Likewise, every member in the
body The Lord placed every member exactly the way they are. He's called to each assembly
that he's pleased to send a pastor. He sends one pastor. And every other member in that
assembly has that special, precious calling that is just as vital Now I'm going to tell you something.
You know me well enough to know I take nothing away. It is absolutely
essential that the preaching of the gospel be set forth. But the position that I hold
before God Almighty, God put me here, and where He put you,
it is vital, vital for the unity, for the oneness of the body. We cannot be functioning as a
body without each other. The Lord made us this way. He
made us this way. You have your talent. You have
your purpose. You have your ability. according
to God's good pleasure and counsel and will. Here, put your place
right there. Turn to Psalm 139. Psalm 139,
verses 13 to 17. Psalm 139, 13 to 17. Now this, I'm going to read the
scripture, this is talking about first, the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, I see the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, us, His people. And thirdly, you can relate it
to the human body. Psalm 139 verse 13, for thou
has possessed my reins, thou has covered me in my mother's
womb. I will praise thee for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works, and that my soul
knoweth right well. My substance, my strength, my
body was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." It is a miracle of
God's grace. God was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh. And the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Messiah, was conceived by the Holy Spirit
in the womb of a virgin. And for nine months, nine months,
God in human flesh developed. God from an embryo just like
you or I. God Almighty for nine months
grew in the womb of a virgin and came forth just like you
and I did. born of a woman, curiously, marvelously, wonderfully
made, you and I, in the eternal counsels
of God Almighty, purposed to call us unto Himself, and in
time, mysteriously, under the sound of the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace. God Almighty created life and
brought us forth in regeneration, wonderfully, marvelously made
us, gave us a new heart, a new will, a new mind, a new love
for Him, and made us so and gave us all the personalities that
we have. As long as I can remember, I
guess, I don't know, my mama know better than me, I've always
been the personality that I have. I guess I've always had it like
that. I mean, I can always remember trying to, you know, kind of
joke around and have fun and, you know, I've always been that
way. As far as I can remember, I've
always been that way. I've had a problem being serious about
something. But when God Almighty called
me out of darkness, He didn't change my personality. I'm still
like that. But when I step in this pulpit,
it's serious, marvelously made, curiously made. And this body,
look at this body. I mean, I know nothing, nothing
of how this body works. I mean, the little bit I know
is just pitas. But I'm talking about people
that know and study and just see how and things that we don't
know. Why does that work like that?
God made it this way. And if there's things that you
and I can't figure out about how the human body works, think
of the mystery of the body of Christ and the need that each
member has of each other. You cannot do without one of
the other members. You think that we can't. We cannot. We cannot. What part
of your body would you give up right now? Name one. Which one can you just
say, well, I'm just not going to have anything to do with that
one. I'll just, I don't need it. I don't need it. I can do
without it. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ
was marvelously made, the body of Christ is marvelously made.
Verse 21, And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no
need of thee. Or again, the head to the feet,
I have no need of you. No part of the human body, no
part of the spiritual body can say, I don't need you. I don't need you. Let me tell
you something. My nose can't see. My ears cannot grasp. My feet can't eat. I need every
part. Verse 22, nay, much more those
members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. There's parts that I don't see. I try to get up in the morning
and try to take a shower and wash my face and brush my teeth. things like that, but you know
these parts that I give more attention to, because that's
the presentable parts, you see, is what you're going to see.
But you know I have a liver, I have a stomach, and those are
vital parts. I have a spinal cord. And they're
not physically in sight. But if they're neglected, it's not going to go well. If
they don't function as they should, this body is going to hurt. Verse 23, And those members of
the body which we think to be less honorable, Upon these we
bestow more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more
abundant comeliness. I know I keep going back to the
human body, but do you know we all understand a little bit more
when we relate as the Spirit of God has related to the human
body speaking of the spiritual body. Again, I thank the Lord for my
eyes. But you know, just then when I just blinked, I thank
God for my eyes, but I thank God for my tear ducts. And I
thank God for an eyelid that spreads it, kind of keeps my
eye moist. I know, you know, if you have
dry eyes, I know Glenda has to put drops in her eyes, you know. Dry eyes. has to put something
there to help. And you know, if you just stop
and think, if your eyes are dry and you try to blink and there's
no tear ducts there and they're scratchy, Margaret, you can relate
to something like that, and they're scratchy and they hurt and you
blink and you're trying to, you just want some relief. Do you
know what you're thinking about? Right here. It affects this whole
body. That's when one part is hurting,
the whole body hurts. The Lord made it so. This body
is made as a picture, a type of the spiritual body. Which
part do you not need? Likewise, let us give abundant
thankfulness to every member of the spiritual body, just like
we do the physical. If something is wrong, if something's
wrong with this body, you know what I'm going to do? In time,
I'm going to go to a doctor. That's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go to a doctor. What do we do for each other? The great physician, what are
we going to do for this body? When there's one part of the
body that hurts, the whole body hurts. Every member, be in prayer
for every member of this body. Pray for one another. Talk to
the Lord. about everyone else, including
yourself. Ask God. Samuel, Samuel, the
prophet said, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord
by not praying for you. God forbid that I should sin
against you by not praying for you. God forbid that I shouldn't
sin against the Lord by not praying for you. Pray for one another. Call one another's names before
the Lord. Ask God Almighty, Lord, unite
us together in Christ, in union. Verse 24, for our comely parts
Now this is kind of a hard verse at first. For our comely parts
have no need, but God has tempered the body together, having given
more abundant honor to that part which lacked. When it says our
comely parts, and what it means is comely means noble in rank. Noble in rank. the comely parts
of the human body, the parts that you see. I'm looking at
your faces. I see your face. I see your nose. I see you all have two ears. Every one of you have two ears.
I see you all have one nose, two eyes, a mouth, That is a
noble in rank. That's the part that we see. When it says the comely parts
have no need, what it is is they have no need of special attention,
especially to be mentioned or recognized as being part of the
body, is what Paul is saying. Everybody beholds It means simply
this. I don't have to be told that
you have two eyes. I see them. I see them. I recognize them. And I acknowledge. I see. I see. I see Sarah, you
have two eyes. I see that. I recognize that.
They have no need of being told that you have two eyes. I can
understand that. But that which lacks the obvious. That which lacks that obvious
recognition. The Apostle Paul says, God has
tempered that body together having given more abundant honor to
that part which lacked. Man by nature is prone to give all the honor
and all the glory and all the recognition to those parts that
are most obvious. I think about for myself, I'll
just share what I'm thinking so you can understand me. Nobody
has to just tell me, you know, concerning the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ and those prominent preachers that I so love and
understand. Nobody has to tell me about Brother
Henry Mayhan or Brother Scott Richardson. That's just two men
that I just, all of us know and love and respect. But I'm telling
you, those comely parts which have no need, you don't have
to tell a believer that knows these men. These were faithful
men. They know that. They know that.
But those members that, by and large, people would say, well
I don't really know if I know them. The scripture says the
Lord has given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. That person that you or I don't
have any idea how often or how much or how sincerely they've
prayed for you. That they've called your name
before the throne of God's grace and asked God to have mercy.
You know, how many times you mothers, you dads, How many times
have you prayed for your kids? See? Nobody sees that. Nobody sees that obvious part.
Why? Because it was done in secret.
And that's the way the Lord ordered it to be. When you pray, enter
into your closet and speak to your Father in secret. And the
Father which heareth in secret will reward you openly. How? Whichever way he does. Spiritually,
the Lord's going to honor it. We must realize we don't know
everything that's going on in this body. In this body and in
this body. We don't realize what God Almighty
is doing. I have the responsibility of
being in this study, and asking God, and seeking the Lord's message,
and for those of you that sit, and as I mentioned, that are
praying for one another, and you have jobs, and you have to,
you know, this is my job, this is my calling, right here, of
being in this study, and seeking the Lord, and asking, and studying,
And those of you that have responsibilities, you have a job, you go out, and
you're out in the workplace, and you're exposed to a lot of
things that I'm not exposed to. And the grace that God Almighty
gives you, in keeping you, and providing for you, and through
you, providing for this assembly, that we can be here, we can turn
these lights on. The Lord provides. How long are
we going to do it? How long are we going to stay
here? As long as God provides. We're not going to browbeaten
the body to do anything. The love of Christ constrains
a man. That's why He does it. Why do you come? Love of Christ.
Why do you give? Love of Christ. Why do you pray
for one another? Love of Christ. The love of Christ
constraineth us. And we're here by the grace of
God because the Lord has provided. The Lord has provided. And day
in, day out, you have a vital part. And your part that is so
needful. I thank God for you. I thank
God for the time that you put in. And for the attitude that
you have. And for the prayers for me and
for one another. and for the witness that you
have in the community, and the spirit in which you set forth
and exhibit. You know, I'm here at Katie,
I go to church here at Katie Baptist Church, and I know a
lot of people look down on that. Well, I thank God for you, verse
25 to 27, that there should be no schism, no void, that there would be nothing as
a gap in the body. Every need met, every need supplied. That there be no schism in the
body, but that the members should have the same care, one to another. The care that you have for one
member of this body, you have for the other members of the
body. Same care. And whether one member suffer,
all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ
and members in particular. In closing, every member differs. There's not one person, not one
member of this body that's exactly like another member. You don't
look like another member physically. You don't exactly act like every
member. You have your own personality,
your own talent, your own office. But every member is equal in
their importance. Every member. You think about
it. Think about that human body. Do you really want to give up?
Which organ do you want to give up? Which finger? Which finger do you want to cut
off? Which one? Which ear do you want to give
up? Which ear do you not need? When one member suffers, they
all suffer. When one member rejoices, they
all rejoice. I was walking out of this church
here, I was walking a couple of days ago and I walked and
it was, as I walked by, this hand, I wasn't paying attention
obviously, and I got a little bit too close to a pew and hit
the top of that pew right here, on this wrist right here. Still
sore. I mean just walking and bam,
hit it. And you know what? Immediately,
this hand came to its aid. Bam! I just looked at it. This
eye looked at it tenderly. This brain thought, what do I
need to do to fix this? This hurts. Bam! It was just instantaneous. This
hand didn't contemplate, I don't know if I really have time to
fool with you right now, to be honest with you. No, every member
One suffers, all suffer. One hurts, they all hurt. And God has set some in the church,
first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of healings and helps. I think about that,
helps. What, you know, governments are,
you know, Diversities of tongues. 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 verse 31,
I truly believe, goes with the first verse of chapter 13. It
says, But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto
you a more excellent way. And he begins to speak on love.
You know, the excellent way, love. Every time a need arises in this
body, it's a miracle to watch how things just get done. They
just get done. I don't have to have a committee. About the greatest extent that
I do, I might bring it up. we have a need here. And I'm
telling you, it just happens that something goes wrong with
my computer, I know who to call. You know? Something breaks, plumbing,
electrical, what, somebody's sick, you know, it just, it's
a marvel of God's grace where one body The Lord made us this
way. And we love one another. We pray
for one another. And when one suffers, we all
suffer. When one laughs, we all laugh. When the Lord pleads to call
one out of darkness, we all rejoice. Just thank God for His mercy. Brethren, pray for one another.
The Lord made us this way. For Christ's sake.