GIFTS IN THE BODY

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (KJV)
For as the body is one, 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.
For the body is not one member, but many.
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 ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am 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 were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
But now are they many members, yet but one body.
And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
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 honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Paul is speaking in this of how the spiritual gifts work in the local church, which he calls here a body.

Don’t ever forget, almost every Word of the New Testament epistles is written, not to a lone Christian, but to a local church.

Most of us have been taught to “write our name” in the portions of the Bible that we read.
That is only true in so far as we see ourselves as one piece of a whole body, which is a local congregation – a church.

There is no such thing as living Biblical Christianity outside of membership in a local New Testament (Baptist) Church.

In Ephesians 1:22-23 Paul calls the church Christ's body;
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.(KJV)

Romans 12:4 says;
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:(KJV)

The passage we are to consider this morning is a local church passage.

Notice with me
*I. THE UNITY OF THE BODY
1 Corinthians 12:12-14;
For as the body is one, 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.
For the body is not one member, but many.(KJV)

GOD uses the number "one" seven times.

A church has to have unity. It is vital to the church.

But unity does not mean that everyone will do the same thing.

For a body to be
· healthy,
· whole, and
· helpful,
it must have many members performing many separate functions.

The Bible uses several types to describe the church, three of those help to describe the relationship each Christian in the church has with the others.

First,
A. There is the body
Each member of the body gets its life from the same source.

· Some do their jobs voluntarily, and others have to be told what to do.
· Some members of a body are never seen. Others are the center of attention.

But if the body is missing any portion of any member, that body is not whole. It is a cripple.

We have the same dependence in the church.
Every member relies on every other member. There is a vital union between the members. If any member is severed from the body, no matter which member, it may kill that body. All members are vital to the life of the church.

The second type,
B. Is the family.
As Christians, we all are children of God. We are all in the family of God.

A church needs to relate one to another as members of the same family.
· We take the Lord's Supper together. That's a family experience.
· We call each other brothers and sisters. We are a family.

It would do a church well to learn to accept each church member as a member of our family.

The third type,
C. Is a building.
Buildings are solid and unmovable because each member is nailed together.

A church ought to be unshakable in its doctrineand in its practices.

It also ought to be a solid influencein its community.

A church gets this way when each member does what it does best, while being firmly committed to the church as a whole and to each member in particular.

Notice next
*II. DIVERSITY IN THE BODY
1 Corinthians 12:14-20 (KJV)
For the body is not one member, but many.
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 ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am 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 were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
But now are they many members, yet but one body.

A. Every member has a place
Vs15-18.
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 ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am 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 were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

In any body
· Not all can be eyes.
· Not all can be ears.
· Not all can be mouths.

Somebody has to be a hand, and somebody else has to be a foot.

God decides who is going to be what in the church;
Vs 18
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.(KJV)

Too many Christians today try to decide for themselves what member they will be. And it creates a monster.

B. Weaker parts of the body are not to consider themselves unimportant.
Vs 16
And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?(KJV)

Some people feel useless unless they can teach a Sunday School class or sing specials they are not as important as those who have some fancy, visible duty in the church.

Some members who do have those more visible roles think or themselves more highly than they ought to think.

Verses 15 and 16 point out that even those who may not have fancy talents are still desperately needed as parts of the healthy church body.

Note verse 21;
And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.(KJV)

One member has no business belittling another member.

My wife thinks I have ugly feet, but I am going to keep them anyway.

Those who give more than others, do more than others, and bring more guests than others should be careful not to think they are better than others.

Applying that to the Spiritual gifts, there are basically two types of gifts;
· The charismatic gifts, and
· The serving gifts.

Some people are given by God those charismatic, fancy gifts that really draw attention.

Others have serving gifts that are really worth something.

The people with the fancy gifts have no business belittling those who have the more useful serving gifts.

*III. ORDER IN THE BODY
God places more value in the serving gifts than He does the others.
Note especially verses 22-26;
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 honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.(KJV)

A. The word honor
there does not mean reverence. It means valuable.

God says that the
feeble parts,
the lesser parts, and
B. The uncomely parts are the more necessary and valuable parts.
They are even, in God's eyes, the more beautiful parts.

God thinks more of these parts than the fancy ones.

The serving gifts are more highly favoured of God than the charismatic ones.

For instance, verse 21 uses the feet as an illustration of a feeble member. We know, however, that two times the Bible says, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel..."[1]

C. God's most important work for us today is soul winning,
and I believe it is, we may ask legitimately, "How many people get saved these days whenever someone witnesses to them in tongues?"

God is not nearly so interested in those fancy gifts like tongues as He is in one that can win the lost to Christ.

So, the illustration God uses to teach about the spiritual gifts is this:
· While there are many different gifts and ministries necessary in the work of the local church,
· All those ministries complement each other for the good of the church.

And no one gift ought to consider itself more important (or less[2]) than another.

[1]Isaiah 52:7 (KJV)
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Romans 10:15 (KJV)
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
[2]It is as sinful to shirk your Christian work because you feel inferior to others as it is to take glory for your Christian work because you feel pride in self.