May it please God to bless us
this evening as we consider his word together. Let's turn to
the epistle of Paul to the Romans, chapter 12, and we'll read verses
four and five. The epistle of Paul to the Romans,
chapter 12, and reading verses four and five. 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 everyone
members one of another. The Apostle Paul clearly was
concerned that the Church of God should recognise that every
person is a member of the true body of Christ, all those I mean
who are the children of God, those who have been called by
his grace. And we read this evening two
chapters which illustrate that. There is also another longish
one in the first of Corinthians, the twelfth chapter, which also
deals with this situation. So we should be concerned and
aware that it was God's will that such words should be set
before us so that we might have a right understanding and a right
appreciation of the Church of God. There is only one true Church
of God. We need to realize that. There
are many false churches, many false people, but those who are
formed for the true Church of God, there are many parts to
it. And that's what really the Apostle
is directing us to, and he gives us this very simple illustration
of a physical body. We are one body, and each of
our bodies has lots of parts, don't we? We have eyes, we have
ears, we have fingers and toes and arms and legs, and every
part is important to us. We know that's to be true, isn't
it? If we cut our finger, we know how that affects our hand
and perhaps many things that we can do. And if we injure our
foot, we can't get about very much because we're dependent
upon everything working together and everything to be healthy
and in good order. And so it is in the true Church
of God. And that's why the Apostle gives
us such detailed instructions, so that we are aware that there
are many different aspects to this. There are many parts to
the true Church of God. And those who are in the Church
of God have different functions. And we should not belittle any
function. We should not think, well, that's
not as important as a function I'm involved in. We should recognise
that the Lord has ordained what you and I should do in our spiritual
walk, in our spiritual conversation, and as we form a part of this
great Church of God and are united in the true body of Christ. Now, that should be very central
to our walk and our conversation day by day. We should not think
it only applies to us when we gather together as a little congregation. We should recognize it's appropriate
every day in our lives, wherever we're found, to recognize the
truth of this. And it's wonderful sometimes
when we come in contact with other Christians, perhaps in
other lands, and we realize they are part of the body of Christ. and they are serving the Lord
in their situation. And so may we all be found walking
together in love and desiring to do that which is in accordance
with the true work of God. And the Apostle commences his
chapter with these words, I beseech you therefore. It wasn't something
which he was not concerned about. He uses this word beseech, which
means he's really concerned that the brethren, by the mercies
of God, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is our reasonable service. Often perhaps we forget
the truth of these great words, that our bodies, we are living
and we are to sacrifice our situation, not in a physical way as it were,
being burnt at the stake, although that was sometimes true and it
is sometimes true indeed today, but nonetheless we are to present
our bodies as this living sacrifice. That really means that we are
not to please ourselves, we are to do that which is in accordance
with the will and purpose of God, and therefore be willing
to sacrifice ourselves to do those things which are pleasing
to God, even as they are costly to us, as we mentioned this morning
in that case of Jonah. And so, realizing that here we
have this statement that we are to present our bodies a living
sacrifice, we are to be holy, and acceptable unto God, which
is our reasonable service. We must not think it is unreasonable. We must think it is reasonable,
that decree given to us here, that we desire to do that which
is holy and that which is acceptable unto God. It's a good test, isn't
it, as I told you sometimes, as to whether we should be involved
in something or not, and that is to ask God's blessing. You may remember in the days
of C. H. Spurgeon, a very eminent minister
in the 19th century, and his preaching was wonderfully blessed,
and once he was with a gathering of people and they said to him,
Mr. Spurgeon, we're going to play
a game of cards, will you please join in? And he said, well, yes,
as long as we can ask God's blessing on it. Well, they didn't think
that was too appropriate, so therefore they didn't proceed
with the game of cards. Well, there are many things,
perhaps, which we may be invited to take part of, to get involved
in. Well, the great question is,
surely, can we ask God's blessing? That is, is it acceptable unto
God? It's good, you know, if we do
just hesitate in our response and think, well, hold on a minute,
is what I've been asked to do acceptable unto God? It might
be acceptable to us. We might want to do it. We might
want to be involved in it. The great truth is, is it acceptable
unto God? That's why the Apostle Paul makes
such a statement here. And he tells us, therefore, it's
just our reasonable service. And he goes on to expand that
statement and says, and be not conformed to this world. How easy it is to go along with
the world, to be involved in all the entertainment. to be
involved in all the things that they like to worship and fall
down before, as it were. Well, here the Apostle gives
us this good instruction. You know, we should be very thankful
that we have the Bible, which speaks to us so clearly on so
many aspects of our life. And be not conformed to this
world. And is there an alternative?
Yes, there is. But be transformed by the renewing
of your mind ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.' Isn't that good to realise God has a perfect
will? Our will is not perfect, left
to ourselves, but it's good if we desire to operate and be found
walking in the will of Almighty God. What is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God? God has a perfect will. Let's
remember that and seek that his will might be shown to us so
that we might be able to walk in that way. And he says, for
I say, through the grace given unto me, through 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 has dealt to
every man the measure of faith. So let us realize that God gives
faith. God gives a measure of faith.
He gives more faith perhaps to some and to others less. And therefore we are not to think
because God has given us more faith and perhaps more grace
that we are able to produce ourselves as somebody Who is more important? We must always recognize the
great example of Paul when he explained what he was. And he
said he was less than the least of all saints. And he was a most
able man, wasn't he? A man most blessed of God. And
yet that was his statement, less than the least of all saints.
And as I've said sometimes, You know, when we are all little
people, little people in our own eyes, there's never any problem. It's when we try and exert our
authority, or think we're more important than someone else,
or think we have a better view of things, than it is, you see,
when that wretched sin of pride comes up, and what a killer pride
is. Well, my friends, may we understand
this great grace of God and to think rightly. And so remember
here that the apostle says, not to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think, but to think soberly according to, as
God hath dealt to every man, the measure of faith. We should
all be very thankful if God has given us a measure of faith to
believe the truth of God. and to walk in his ways in accordance
with the Word of God. Thankful for it. And so then,
the Apostle comes on to these two verses, which we've read
together tonight. As he explains, 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. So we are together as the Church
of God, and we are to work together in unison. We are to each seek
each other's good above ourselves. We should each be concerned to
operate within that position the Lord has placed us. And we
don't know, do we, the great details of what that might be. I remember years and years ago,
I was working with a man, a Christian man, and he was an eminent man
in Christianity. He was an architect and he'd
done very well. And he said to me one day, he
said, you know Stephen, he said, if God told me that my job was
to go and wash out the men's toilets, he said, I'll be very
willing to do that. Now that surely shows the grace
of God, doesn't it? willing to do the most menial
task, not expecting to be put on some important aspects that
everybody bowed down. No, to be humble before God. It was a good testimony. I always remember it. And it's
good to think of those things. And so here we are, part of the
body of Christ. Now, what a great, wonderful
privilege it is to be part of the body of Christ. What an amazing
favour to think that Almighty God has looked down upon us,
has caused us to hear his voice, has caused us to realise our
lost and ruined state before a holy God, and to be brought
to that place to plead and to cry for mercy, to perhaps be
like the publican was who Was we're told prayed that simple
prayer God be merciful to me a sinner not like the Pharisee
Who was so proud of what he was doing in his? Wonderful prayers
and desire to be seen by all the people heard by all the people
It's good when God comes in and shows us that our true condition,
and we need to be in there seeking for God's mercy. Merciful to
me, a sinner. Well, when the Lord shows us
something of what we are before a holy God, we won't then be
very high on our own thoughts. We won't think, well, I'm a wonderful
Christian. We'll realise we're a very poor Christian. We'll
realise what Paul meant when he said, less than the least
of all saints. And he also told us that he was
the greatest sinner. Yes, the Lord dealt with Paul
in a wonderful way. We're thankful those words are
recorded for our instruction as we have again that example.
And so may we be thankful if the Lord has come and caused
us to recognize the state of ourselves, nothing to be exalted
in ourselves. only the grace of God which is
in us, to be thankful for it if the Lord has come and as Paul
tells us, called by grace. That means God has called us,
unworthy as we are, God has come, God has called us to have heard
his voice which has directed us to our need of a saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. and then directed us to the Lord
Jesus, to Calvary, to see there the Lord Jesus Christ suffering
in our place, dying in our place, shedding his blood that we might
have all our sins washed away. It's a wonderful thing to know
that we are truly in Christ. Christ has died for us. It's
the most important thing. How often we're concerned, aren't
we, about the things in our life, how we progress. Don't forget
that Lord Jesus said of Mary, one thing is needful. And Mary
has chosen that good part. What was that part? She wanted
to sit at the feet of Jesus. She wanted to hear his voice. She wanted to hear his words. Is that true of you and me? Are
we seeking to hear the words of Jesus, those words of comfort,
those words of encouragement, those words of forgiveness, to
know that the Lord Jesus Christ did come to die for me. He came to shed his blood that
I might be redeemed. To know this personal aspect
and then to realise because of that Great blessings, you and
I, are part of the body of Christ. Now, as the Spirit of God may
apply these truths to our soul, it should really humble us, shouldn't
it, to think that in this world there are millions of people
who have never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. Millions who
have never read the Word of God. Millions who never have the Word
of God in their own language. And yet, What a favour to know
that God has brought his grace into our hearts. Unworthy as
we are, we will never think we are worthy. If we are, you can
believe that your religion is false. You will have to realise
that you are unworthy of the least favour from Almighty God
and to praise him for his great grace if it's come upon us. And therefore to think then that
yes, by his grace, I am a member of the body of Christ. And if
you and I, my friends, are a member of the body of Christ, we've
been chosen, we've been called to serve the Lord. Not to serve
the devil, not to serve ourselves, but to serve the Lord, which
is indeed our reasonable service It's not unreasonable, is it?
If you think that the great God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in order
to redeem our souls, gave his life, gave his life, is it not
reasonable that you and I should be found serving him as part
of his body? For as we have many members in
one body, all members of not the same office we must not look
and think well that person's not doing much and I'm doing
much more. We should do that which God enables
us to do and to do it with all our strength and all our might
as unto the Lord. Remember you and I have a great
debt we will never be able to repay Because the debt we owe is the
death of Christ. Never forget that. That's the
debt we owe in Christ dying for our sins. He gave his life. And therefore what a privilege
it should be to be found united to Christ, united to the body
of Christ, and found serving Christ. And so he says, so we
be many, are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. We are joined together. Let us
remember that, joined together in Christ. And the apostle then
gives us some evidences and some examples of this situation. He tells us that having then
gifts differing The Lord gives us each different gifts, and
we should recognise that. First of all, it is the gift
that God has given us. He's given us a gift, and we
are to use that gift. We are to, as it were, trade
with it. You may remember that parable
the Lord gave of the talents. Ten talents, and five talents,
and one talent. He gave the ten talents to one
person, five talents to another, and one talent to another. And
they were all told to go and trade with that talent, the talents
which God had given them. And after some time, the Lord
returned and asked the one who got five talents, well, what
have you done with your five talents? And he said, well, I've
gained other five talents. He said, well done. The person
with the 10 talents, what have you done? Got 10 talents, well
done. The person that had one talent,
well, what had he done? He'd buried it in the ground.
He hadn't done anything with it. And the Lord spoke very harshly
against that person and said, go and give that talent to those
who have more talents. Well, it's a good example for
us, you see. God gives us talents. One talent, perhaps. Five talents,
perhaps. 10 talents perhaps, but whatever
the Lord has given us, remember it's a gift and we are to use
those talents for his honour and for his glory. Therefore
we're told having then gifts differing according to the grace
that is given to us. Grace of course is the unmerited
favour of God. We didn't deserve any favour
And if God has given us favour, whatever quantity that is, we
should be so thankful for it, shouldn't we? Because the Lord
has given us grace, by His grace we shall be found in glory at
last. What a privilege and what a favour to think, unworthy as
we are, and yet to realise that this great God has come and blessed
us. And so here we have this statement,
having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us.
When a prophecy, and prophecy really means preaching, it doesn't
mean prophesying as we might think in the Old Testament terms,
it is preaching. And therefore, whether preaching,
let us prophesy or preach according to the proportion of faith. And we should be aware that those
who God sends to preach, some are more gifted than others.
But we are not to despise those who are not so gifted. Those
who have been blessed with more talents are not to be sat in
any higher place than those who have less talents, less gifts. It's that which God has ordained
and that which God has granted. And therefore, here we have this
great truth, let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith. that faith which God has given
to us, we are to preach in accordance with that. And we are not to
judge others, we are to always look to ourselves. So there are
those who are given this position to preach the gospel, or ministry. That's ministry in the Church,
the Church of God. That means perhaps like deacons
who are called to serve and to help and to arrange for all the
necessary things which are needful in the Church. So this ministry,
we are told let us wait on our ministering. Let us wait and
do that which is in accordance with the will of Almighty God. And then the apostle goes on
to two statements really, teaching and exhortation. There are those
who are called upon to teach, to teach the people. You may
remember in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people were
gathered together to hear the preaching of the word and those
who were ordained to help instruct the people, help to teach them.
There are those then who are raised up to be teachers. There
are some who preach the gospel who are teachers. There are some
who preach the gospel who are exhorters. And we shouldn't therefore
judge and say, well, that person didn't speak very well on that
thing. It may be God has called him to a different ministry. to a different aspect of preaching. And we should not therefore put
everyone into the same category and expect everybody to be the
same. The Lord has chosen people to
all form part of the body of Christ. And so there are those
who are called to teach and there are others who are called to
exhort. Well, we should not again give
more eminence to one or the other. We can easily do so. We can come
and draw a wrong conclusion, because it doesn't just perhaps
fit the little ideas that we have. We may think, well, that's
not very suitable. Well, let us remember the gracious
word of God, all part of the body of Christ. And so he says,
or let or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth,
let him do it with simplicity. There may be those who are able
to give far more than others, and they are to do it with simplicity,
not with any ostentatiousness, but in real humbleness. But there
is that necessity to give for those who are able to give, and
so they should. And therefore here we have this
statement, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. He
that ruleth with diligence. We are always to be diligent. There are those who are called
to serve to be diligent in their operation. And he that showeth
mercy with cheerfulness. It gives a wonderful view, doesn't
it, of the Christian church. How it should operate and what
it should be like. To think there should be everyone
being diligent and cheerful in the aspect that God has placed
upon them. And then he says, let love be
without dissimulation. Dissimulation means hypocrisy. Let love be without hypocrisy. And that's a very important consideration,
isn't it? Because some people can pretend
to be loving. In actual fact, there's no love
there at all. They're just acting it out to
try and appease their conscience. But you see, if there's true
love, love to the brethren is an important aspect It's a great
evidence of the life of God in the soul. It's a great evidence
of being joined together in Christ. Let us not forget the great love
of Christ to his church. Let us not forget the great love
of Christ to you and me if we are his children. Love which
we never deserved to receive. And yet what wonderful Truth
it is that God should have loved us with everlasting love and
drawn us, drawn us to himself. And therefore we have that great
example before us. And therefore we should be true
in our love. Let love be without hypocrisy. It's good, isn't it, to have
these things pointed out to us. Sometimes we may think, well,
we know we should love somebody. We're told, aren't we? To love
our enemies. That's the word of God, isn't
it? Love those that despitefully use us. We're to love them. Lord Jesus did that, didn't he? You think in your life and my
life, how we've treated the great Saviour. Just think of that. Go back in your life. How have
you treated the Saviour? He loved you. How have you responded? Rebelled? Turned your back? Yes, perhaps spoken against him?
Perhaps blasphemed his name? Did the Lord turn away from you?
Did he say, well, you're just too bad? No. His love is great. And here we have, therefore,
the example, and here this testimony, therefore, let love be without
dissimulation. You see, if we are part of this
body of Christ, and this is that which the Word of God describes
to us, part of this body of Christ, what an amazing favour and blessing
it is. And we should desire, therefore,
to be united together in this way and to pray that we may have
a right view, a right consideration, and walk before our God in the
words of Scripture. Let love then be without dissimulation,
but let us love, let us love one another more than ourselves. Oh, that's a great statement,
isn't it? How often we love ourselves. Oh, and we favor ourselves. Well,
remember the Lord Jesus Christ, what did he do? We're told he
pleased not himself. Surely that exemplified his great
love to his church. May you and I, therefore, not
be left to please ourselves, but to love one another, to do
that which is in accordance with the will and purpose of Almighty
God. And so he says, then, abort that
which is evil and cleave to that which is good. We need grace
for that, don't we? We may think it's obvious, but
The truth is that it's a battle, isn't it, to abhor everything
that is evil. Turn away from everything that
is evil. Our heart often goes after evil
things. And yet, you see, if we are united
as part of Christ's body, here is this important statement to
abhor. We need perhaps to pray that
we may be able to abhor that which is evil. We have an evil
nature, don't we, which goes after evil things. And so how
necessary it is, perhaps, that the Word of God directs us in
this way. We read these words, don't we? But do they actually
touch our heart? Do they actually instruct us
to think, well, I don't think I really abhor evil as I should. Well, if you and I are part of
this body of Christ, if we are united to Christ, we should be
concerned and desire to be able to abhor that which is evil. We need to ponder these things,
don't we? To think whether we do actually hold on to evil things. Abhor that which is evil, cleave
to that which is good. Oh yes, seek after good things,
godly things, righteous things, holy things. We may not always
want to, that may sound strange, but there is that continual battle
between the devil in our lives and desiring to turn us away
from that which is good. He always wants to turn us away
from that which is good and we need to be continually on our
watch. That's why the Lord has given
us such great truths here to give us that direction and instruction
that we might be able to pray earnestly, that we may really
be part of this true body of Christ and to set a good example
in this world so that the name of our God may be honoured and
glorified, not for our own gratification. It's very easy. to fall under
that snare, to try and gratify ourselves and think, well that's
a wonderful day's work I've done today and how I've honoured God
and everything. It's only by God's grace, don't
forget that. Because left to ourselves, left
to ourselves, we would fall under every sin. Every sin. And so, cleave to that which
is good. Be kindly affectioned one to
another with brotherly love. Kindly affection. Affection is a lovely word, isn't
it? We understand what it means,
don't we? When we're affectionate one to another, that means we
try to please another. And we're affectionate to them.
We don't want them to be offended. We want to see them doing that
which is right. And so here we have, be kindly
affection. one to another with brotherly
love, in honour preferring one another, preferring others better
than ourselves, preferring one another. When there's a position
perhaps to be taken, which we perhaps would want for ourselves,
to be given grace to advance someone else, prefer someone
else, preferring one another, not slothful in business. Whatever
the Lord has called us to, we are to work well, we are to be
diligent in that business which God has set before us. We might
perhaps not always want to, especially if we have been asked to do something
which we think is not very fair, Yet, if we possess the grace
of God and want to show forth the grace of God in our lives,
then we should be fervent in that slothful, not slothful in
business, and fervent in spirit, remember, serving the Lord. Surely this is so vital, isn't
it, in our consideration. to think that we are serving
the Lord, we are serving the Saviour, we are serving the blessed
Lord who did so much in order to redeem our souls. Rejoicing
in hope, looking forward, rejoicing in hope, hope of a good end,
hope of eternal life, hope of that day we should be found in
glory with the Saviour and rejoicing in that prospect. That should
be that which would give us joy, the prospect of glory, and rejoicing
in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.
We know that the life of the Christian is never easy. We know
the life of the Christian is always difficult in one way or
another. There will always be difficult
situations. And what does the Lord say? Patient. Remember the God's servant David
said, I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined unto
me and heard my cry. And therefore, he was in tribulation,
wasn't he? Because he tells us he was in
a horrible pit. He was patient there until the Lord brought
him out. And when the Lord brought him
out, what occurred? He was given a new song, a song to praise
God. Praise God for his deliverance.
And so therefore, patient in tribulation, continuing instant
in prayer. These are the situations which
indicate to us that the Lord is blessing us and that we are
part of the true family of God and we are joined together in
love one to one another, and love to Christ, and Christ's
love to us. You see, this is really that
which should direct us when we consider the great love of Christ
to such unworthy sinners, that that might influence us greatly
to do those things and walk that way which is in accordance with
the Word of God, not the Word of man, this is the Word of God. And so he says, continuing instant
in prayer. Prayer sometimes is hard work.
Perhaps prayer often is hard work. And here the word of encouragement
is to be instant in prayer. The Apostle further on when he
writes to the Thessalonians, he instructs the Thessalonians
to pray without ceasing. We don't have to be in any particular
position or place. We can pray wherever we are,
going on the road, at home, in bed, wherever the position might
be, we can pray to God, instant in prayer. And then distributing
to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality. Again, these
are good testaments, aren't they? Distributing to the necessity
of saints. who need help, who need support
for one reason or another, and it's good to be able to distribute
to such. In the New Testament, in the
early church, we find that the disciples, they had one bag,
they brought it all together, they sold all they had and brought
it together so they might be able to distribute to the poor.
Well, here we have this statement, distributing to the necessity
of the poor, given to hospitality. We should always be hospitable
in our lives, in our home life, hospitable to others, because
we don't know, as the Word of God tells us, that we might entertain
angels unawares. We should never turn our back
on anybody, however disgraceful they may look, because the Lord
may have sent them to us. a purpose, and therefore we are
to be hospitable in our entertaining one another, and not always looking
for the most eminent person, but perhaps the worst person
to entertain. Bless them which persecute you,
bless and curse not. Well, we haven't got time to
go through this tonight, but just meditate on it when you
go home. Rejoice for them that do rejoice, and weep for them
that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Minds not
high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise
in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. but rather give place unto wrath,
for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord. Therefore, if an enemy hunger,
feed him, if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou
shalt heap coals of fire on his head, be not overcome of evil,
but overcome evil with good. Well, what words they are from
the Lord himself of exhortation to us today in our daily life
and to remember this great truth, 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 everyone members one of another. Amen.