Wouldn't it be a blessing if
you and I are enabled to worship the Lord Jesus Christ? What could
be better than that? What could be compared to that?
If tonight, through the preaching of the gospel, we might be enabled
to worship him. I've entitled this message, Are
You in the Body? The church is called the house
of God. It's called the building of God. The individual members are called
living stones in his temple. The church is called the bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is called the sheep
of whom Christ is the shepherd. But perhaps the most mysterious
name for the church is that of the body of Christ. I want you to think of the relationship
you have with your body. You care about your body. You
love it. You take care of it. You are
your body. If it hurts, you hurt. If it feels pleasure, you feel
pleasure. You cannot separate you from
your body, can you? The body and the soul are the
closest relationship. I mean, the relationship between
a husband and a wife is very close. But as far as what we
experience, the closest relationship there is is the relationship
between the body and the soul. And the church is called the
body of Christ. Now you think of your body. The
church is called the body of Christ. Let me read some scriptures.
Turn to Romans chapter 12. verses 4 and 5, for as we have
many members in one body, and all members have not the same
office, we have hands, we have feet, we have eyes, we have ears,
all with different functions, so we being many are one body
in Christ, and every one member is one of another. Turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 12. Verse 12. For as the body is one. And has
many members and all the members of that one body being many or
one body, so also is Christ. Look at verse 22 of the same
chapter. Now, I'm sorry, verse 27, now
you are the body of Christ. That's what he says. You are
the body of Christ and members in particular. Look at Ephesians
chapter 1. I think this is one of the most
amazing scriptures. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22. God has put all things under
his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness, the completeness of him that
filleth all in all." Now, do you hear what that's saying?
That's saying the church is his body, and it's saying that he
would not be complete if he didn't have all the members of his body.
That means he would not be complete without you. Now I want you to think of that.
That's what that passage of scripture says. Look in Ephesians chapter
3, verse 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise by the
gospel. Chapter 4, verse 4, there is
one body and one spirit even as you're called in one hope
of your calling. And then Ephesians chapter five,
verse twenty-three. For the husband is the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he's the
savior of the body. Verse 28, So ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. For we are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father, and mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. In Colossians chapter 1, verse
18, we read that he is the head of the body, the church. And I love that passage of scripture
we just read in Matthew chapter 25, where the Lord said, inasmuch
as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, He didn't
say it's just as if he did it to me. He didn't say that at
all. And if that's the way we viewed
it, we viewed it wrong. He said, when you did it to them,
you did it to me. And when you didn't do it to
them, you did not do it to me. Remember when he said to Saul,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, the Lord's at the right
hand of the Father. Saul was unable to persecute
him. He was already ascended into glory. But when Saul persecuted
any of his body, he was persecuting him. Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Now, with that in mind, let's
go back to our text in Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 3. Remember them that are in bonds.
And when he's speaking of those people that are in bonds, he's
not simply talking about remember all the people in prison who
have committed crimes. He's talking about people who
are in prison for preaching the gospel. Paul spent a lot of time in prison
for preaching the gospel. He said, remember my bonds. And
in this passage of scripture, we're told to remember those
that are in bonds as bound with them. That's how close this relationship
is. If you're bound, I'm bound and
I'm to remember you that way. And then which suffer adversity,
this word adversity. Look over in Hebrews chapter
11, verse 37. They were stoned. They were sawed
asunder, talking about what they suffered for the sake of Christ.
They were tempted. They were slain with the sword.
They wondered about sheepskins and goatskins being destitute,
afflicted, tormented. That's the same word, tormented
for the cause of Christ. Now, the writer to the Hebrews
says, remember them which suffer adversity as being yourselves
also in the body. If they suffer adversity, you
suffer adversity because you're both in the body, in the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, these people were imprisoned
for preaching the gospel and they were suffering adversity.
They were being tormented for preaching the gospel. Why? Because the natural man has no
love for the message of the gospel. And as a matter of fact, We don't
have to guess what that message is that men persecute other men
over. Turn with me for a moment to
2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Now Paul says
to Timothy. You have to think Timothy was
just a timid person. There are too many exhortations.
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a power of love
and a sound mind. Here, he says in verse 8, Be
not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me, his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. Identify with me. You be a partaker in my afflictions. You're to partake in the same
affliction by preaching the gospel. Now, he tells us what that message
is that will create persecution. And here it is. Verse nine, he
saved us. That's all our theology. He saved
us. Salvation is of the Lord. And
He called us with an holy calling. I've got a question. And this
is a very important question. What came first? The saving or
the calling? What came first? The saving or
the calling? According to that passage of
Scripture, the saving came first. He saved us. And then He called
us. He saved us before He called
us. He saved us. Now, if He saved
us, He's going to call us. That's going to take place. But
this is talking about the salvation the Lord wrought for His people.
When He said, It is finished, all of the elect were saved.
That's so isn't it? Every single one. He saved us!
I love thinking of salvation accomplished by what Christ did
without any reference to me doing anything. It's what he did for
me. I love thinking about that. I find such joy in that. He saved
us completely. And then he called us by irresistible
and invincible grace. He called us with a holy calling. And this calling was, according
to this passage of scripture, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose, salvation by the purpose of God. He saved us, He called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now that tells me that everything
I have was given me in Christ Jesus before time began. How long have you been justified? A long time. A word I know how to say. How
long have you been sanctified? A real long time. Before he was
born? Yep. Yep, that's what that says. I love this. Now, somebody else
doesn't love it. You know why? Because they're
looking to their works in some way for salvation. And they're
going to hate this message. But he says, you'd be a partaker
of the afflictions of the gospel, the afflictions of this message,
according to the power of God. Verse 10. But it's now this salvation
that was given us in Christ Jesus before the time began is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. You see, the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world had to be slain in time, didn't he?
He had to come in time. And here's what he did. He abolished
death. He put death to death. And he
had brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. Now,
regarding this message that I'm telling you to be a partaker
of the afflictions that are involved in it, I'm appointed a preacher,
an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles, verse 12, for the which
cause I also suffer these things. He was in prison when he was
writing to him. He knew he would soon be put
to death. He said in this same passage of 2 Timothy 4, I'm now
ready to be offered. I'm ready to be put to death.
The time of my departure is at hand. He knew that was going
to take place. But he said, For the which cause
I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed. For I know
whom I believe, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed to him against that day. Now you remember those, like
Paul, as being bound with them, and them that are tormented for
preaching the gospel as being yourselves also in the body. Question, are you in the body? And before the incarnation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that means before he was
made flesh. He did not have a physical body, did he? He's the eternal
son of God, but he did not have a physical body. Turn to Psalm
139. I know that we usually read this
thinking about the Lord seeing us before we were born, and that
has an application, but the first application of this is this is
speaking of Christ, God the Father, seeing Him. Psalm 139, beginning
in verse 14. I will praise thee. Now, we can
say this, but I have no doubt that this is primarily a reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in 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 was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them." Now that's talking about the body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that's talking about us too. We're his members, remember?
And they were written in the book before this ever took place. Now, before he had a body, He
was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he was going
to save his people who are flesh and bones, who are in bodies,
who sin in bodies. And for him to save me, he's
going to have to have a body, a physical body. The word was
made flesh. Remember in Hebrews chapter 10,
where he says, a body has thou prepared me. Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God, a body hast thou prepared me. Galatians chapter
4, verse 4 says, When the fullness of time came, God sent forth
his Son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them
that were under the law. Now, let's read what took place
when our Lord came into this earth. Luke 1. Luke 1. Beginning in verse 26. And in six months, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God into the city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin. A virgin. Someone who had never
known a man. Someone who could not possibly
be pregnant. Now this is in answer to Isaiah
chapter 7, verse 14. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child. This was prophesied 700 years before it took place. To
a virgin. A spouse to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly
favored. Thou art much graced, is the
word. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. Now, what if an angel came to
you, you women, and said that to you? What if you found out
you were going to be become with child when you've never known
a man, but you are still going to have a baby by the Holy Ghost. Would you worry about what are
people going to think? I don't think you would. Not if the Lord
came to you like that. Put yourself in Mary's place.
Verse 29, and when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,
and gasped in her mind what manner of satanization this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast
found favor with God, and behold, thou shalt conceive and thou
won't. and shall bring forth a son, and shall call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end." Now, you understand Mary's question. Then said Mary
unto the angel, How shall this be? Saying, I know not a man.
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth,
she also had conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her which was called barren. For with God nothing
shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid
of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her. Now, all this was in answer to
the prophecy of Isaiah chapter seven. Let's look at that. Isaiah
chapter seven. Verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel." And you know
from Matthew chapter 1 what Immanuel means. It means God with us. I'm a man. I've got a body. Flesh and blood, body and soul,
and I've sinned in this body. In order for him to save me,
he had to assume my nature. He had to take upon himself a
body. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Now, in a body, very much like mine, without
sin, but still subject to the same weaknesses. Oh, when he
sat down at the well being wearied of his journey. I've heard people
describe the Lord Jesus in his body. They said, well, you know,
he didn't make mistakes, you know, he could always measure
perfectly and so on. I'm not so sure about that. He's he's
in a he had the same limitations that you and I have in this body
now. In a body subject to the same
weaknesses as mine, he kept God's law perfectly. He never said. Not once did he ever sin. And
in his sinless body, he was nailed to a cross. Why? Peter answers that question.
He says, who his own self bear our sins in his own body. On the tree. You see, the wages
of sin is death. My sin became his sin. It was in his body. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't. But that's what the scripture says. And he died
because of sin. Now look in John, chapter 19. John, chapter 19, verse 30. And Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar. He said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Death couldn't take him until
he allowed it to. The Jews, therefore, because
it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the
cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day,
besought Pilate that the legs might be broken, that they might
be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of
the first and the other, which was crucified. But when they
came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, They break
not his legs. Now look down in verse 40 of
the same chapter. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound
it in linen clothes with the spices, after the manner of the
Jews is to bury. Now that body that died did not
go through the process of decay. Ever thought about that? Thou
wilt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption. And what that's
talking about is that process of decay. When you and I die,
you know what? We're going to start rotting.
Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return. But when our Lord died,
complete satisfaction was made in his body. And therefore, he
was not subject to decay. Sin was absolutely and completely
put away by what he did. They took that dead body there,
his precious body, and they put it in a tomb, but it didn't decay. And the reason was, he actually
put away sin. Complete satisfaction to God. The moment, the millisecond that
he died, complete satisfaction was made. And you know, he was
given a rich man's burial. You look, the Lord took great
care at the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was buried the
way a rich man would be, because the father's going to... He cares
about the body of his son, doesn't he? He walked out of the tomb with the same body that he walked
in with, but it was glorified And this is the body that is
right now seated at the right hand of God. This body that walked
out of this tomb. I love to think about this, because
I can't understand this, but I love to think about it. One
of these days, I'm going to be exactly like Christ. I'm not
going to have sinful thoughts. I'm not going to have sinful
memories. I'm not even going to remember what it's like to
be a sinner. It'll be past. Those things are past. I'll be
without any consciousness of sin. That's going to be over
for me. But you know what? Every time
I look at his body and I see those scars, I see the nail prints
in his hands and in his feet, and I see the place in his side,
I'm going to know there's one reason I'm here. Only one. I won't be conscious of sin,
but I'll know the only reason I'm here is because of what took
place in his body. Look once again in Ephesians
chapter 1. Verse 22, he has put all things
under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church, which is his body. The fullness, the completeness
of him that filleth all in all. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, would not be complete without me. That's true of every
believer. Now, you want to know why you
have a reason to have significance in this life. So what's my significance? Well, I'll tell you what, if
you're a believer, this is your significance. Christ would not be complete
without you. That's the that's the most dumbfounding
concept. I mean, for us actually being
the body of Christ, he says, remember them as being in the
body. Now, a couple of other scriptures
turn first Corinthians 12. Regarding your body, what part
do you pay attention to the most? Well, either the part that hurts
the most or the part that you dislike the most. That's the
part you pay the most attention to it. So is the body of Christ. Beginning in verse 12. For as the body is one, and have
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. For the body is not one member,
but many. Now if the foot shall say, because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? And if the ears shall say, because
I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of
the body? If the whole body were an eye,
where were the hearing? If the whole body were hearing,
if you were nothing but an ear, where would be the smelling?
But now God has set the members, every one of them in the body
as it hath pleased him. Isn't that a good place to be?
You're right where God has pleased to place you. I'm right where
God has pleased to place me. That's good. That's good. That's
where I want to be. Verse 19. If they were all one
member, where were the body? But now are there many members,
yet but one body, and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have
no need of thee, nor give the head to the feet, I have no need
of thee. Nay, much more those members of the body which seem
to be more feeble are necessary. And those members of the body
which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant
honor. You know, liver's not a pretty
sight, but I can do without my liver. Not near as well as I
can't do without my liver. It's not pretty, but what's going
to happen to me if I don't have it? What he says, those members
of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these
we bestow more abundant honor. I'm putting honor on my liver.
And our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, they have
more need. For our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered
the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part
which lacked, that there should be no schism, no division in
the body, but that the members should have the same care one
of another. And whether one member suffer,
all the members. Suffer with it. And when one member be honored. All the members rejoice with
it. Now, you are the body of Christ
and members in particular. If you're honored, you know who
else is? I am, because we're both in the same body. If you
hurt, you know how it hurts. I do, because we're both in the
same body. This is, this is mysterious. It's beyond what God's word says. Do we grasp it all? No, but this
is what God says. We're all in the body. Are you
in the body? Well, how can I know if I'm in
the body of Christ? I got a way of knowing whether
you can know whether you're really in the body of Christ. That passage
of scripture I read from second Timothy. that Paul said, you're
going to suffer if you preach this. What do you think about
that? What he said? What do you think about him saying he saved
us? Yes. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. You rejoice in that message. Can you say with Paul, I'm not
ashamed of that message. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I've committed my salvation to
him, and I'm persuaded he's able to save me. Do you rejoice in
that message? Then you are in the body. Take care of your body. 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. Verse 15. Know ye not that your bodies. Your physical bodies are the
members of Christ. Literally, yes, yes, this is
not just figurative speech, no, we are his body. This is speaking
of union, eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ, being
one with Him. I mean, I'm united to Him. Now, shall I then take the members
of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? A prostitute? God forbid. What? Know ye not
that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? But the two
say he shall be one. That's what the Marriage Act
pictures. The two say he shall be one flesh,
but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. He's one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look what he says. Because of this, flee fornication. He's talking about sexual sin.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth
against his own body. Now somebody says, explain that
to me. I'm afraid I can't. I'm afraid I can't, but I know
it says when we commit sexual sin, there's something different
about that in the sense that we're using our body, which is
the body of Christ. And that's why he warns us against
it. He says, flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth
against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you? God dwells in
your body. Boy, that's an awesome thing
to think about. Christ in you, the hope of glory. God, the infinite God, dwells
in your body. What know you not, verse 19,
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you,
which you have of God, and you're not your own, for you are bought with a price. Oh, the price. that the Lord
Jesus paid to save us. Who can even begin to understand
when in His holy body He was made sin? Sin just doesn't much bother
us really, we're used to it. I wish it wasn't that way, but
we talk about sin and we feel guilty and so forth. What did
it do to him when in his holy, sinless body, my sin became in
him? What horror he experienced in
Gethsemane's garden when he began to sweat great drops of blood
because he was made sin. Now, we can listen to this, we
can think about it, we can't understand it, but what a price
he paid. for me. You're bought with a price. Therefore,
he says in verse 25, glorify God in your body. In your body. And in your spirit, which are
God's. This is so mysterious, it's about
the only word I know to use to describe God dwelling in me,
me being every believer, being the body of Christ. But that
being said, how carefully, how lovingly, how tenderly you and
I ought to treat each other. a member of Christ's body. We're to have the same care,
one for another. When one member suffers, all
the members suffer with it. You know, when I hurt my thumb,
the rest of my body doesn't say, well, you know, it's just the
thumb. I don't care. You know, I mean,
the rest of the body. No, my whole body hurts. I don't
ever think, well, it's just my thumb hurting. No, the pain goes
all the way through me when my thumb hurts, or any other part
of my body. Weep with him that weep, and
rejoice with him that rejoice. If you're honored, I am too. Isn't it wonderful to be a member
of His body? Are you in the body? Well, the evidence of being in
the body is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what a privilege
to be in His body. and to have him dwelling in you,
so that the immense, omnipresent, living God actually resides in
your body. That's glorious. Let's pray.